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GameMastery Guide / Player Characters / Player Interactions

Glass Jaw

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 73
Some characters have a weakness that constantly reveals itself or is easily exploited in virtually every encounter. Examples include characters with ultra-low ability scores, those unable to defend themselves in combat, characters cursed with the lowest possible number of hit points, and the like.

Many sorts of glass jaws appear during character creation, giving the GM the opportunity to drill down into the player’s real motivations before play begins. While it can be fun to occasionally include glass jaw characters as an opportunity to add additional roleplaying elements to the campaign, serious design flaws can handicap the rest of the party’s enjoyment, and are best caught early. This is not to say that every character must be optimized to the fullest extent of the rules, but characters with crippling deficiencies—like a wizard unable to cast 2nd-level spells, or a bard with no Perform skill—should be addressed. Find out why that particular player has created the character with such a glaring weakness. For example, if the wizard player wants to play a sickly character for added drama, you could always adjust his Constitution score back into the normal range and instead let him roleplay through a less crippling affliction like a disease or curse.

It’s possible that the player isn’t looking for a roleplaying opportunity. Depending on the creation method and the player’s level of experience, he might just have rolled poorly or not know the rules well enough to make his character viable. If that’s the case, working with the player to build the character and re-rolling or using a point-buy system for ability score generation is likely to resolve the situation.

If none of the above suggestions fix the problem, it’s best to talk to the player privately and determine what he intends to do with this character. Explain your concerns about what you perceive as the character’s glass jaw and the impact it might have on the rest of the group. Together, you and the player should explore creative solutions to help improve everyone’s time around the gaming table, modifying the character concept as necessary.

Power Gamers and Glass Jaws: As players finish character generation, level up, or make other choices related to their character’s statistics, encourage your players who are skilled at using the rules to offer suggestions to those less adept. While the final choices in such collaborations lie with the player running the character, having someone else point out potential problems or advantages can make the game’s sometimes daunting rules and options more manageable.

Archives of Nethys

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Glass Jaw