Back in the day we had some players who tried really hard to mini-max their powers, and this didn’t always work out so great. Here are two fun examples. 

As we approach the trolls, my pal Ken Kaufer shouts loudly, “Follow me!” Then he cast Invisibility on himself and (we assume) charged the trolls. But who knows? 

My player Jeff Okamoto casting Silence Sphere on his elf character, so no sound would penetrate the magic globe while he snuck up on an evil sorcerer. Meanwhile, we can all see an elephant burst out of the jungle, trumpet, and charge him. We tried to shout to Jeff, but of course how could he hear us? He couldn’t even hear the elephant. RIP Jeff’s character. 

The campaign went on — it turned out that Blackbeard, Simon Magus, and the Old Man of the Mountain were far more difficult to overcome than Superman. Who’d’ve thunk it?

This one’s on me: I used to run a modern-era campaign that included characters from all sources. The players, one of which was playing Judge Dee of mystery-tale fame, were trying to break into Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, so naturally I had Superman show up to stop them. (Supes had been tricked into working for the bad guys.) Anyway Superman stood stolidly right in front of his massive door, and informed them that they had to leave. Judge Dee pulled his sword, so of course Superman laughed in his face. Then he stabbed Superman. I said, “Of course your sword break, foolish China person.” Then Judge Dee’s player explained that his sword was magic. I didn’t believe it at first, but he showed me chapter and verse. So naturally, since Superman is totally vulnerable to magic, he was stabbed through the heart and died on the spot. So my great plan of “How can the players possibly defeat Superman?” was nipped in the bud. Ah well.