[quote="RuinsFate"]A few things worth knowing about the Character Optimization board:

There's also a CO IRC channel!

The boards aren't the only place to discuss CO. Feel free to join us in ##4eCo on freenode.net. If you don't have an IRC client, there's also the browser interface at webchat.freenode.net/?channels=##4eCO It's a great place to hang out, meet some of the regulars and fine-tune ideas or ask questions. Many of the board's iconic builds spent a long time in development on the channel both before and after being posted. New faces are always welcome.

There are a lot of abbreviations and jargon used here, but don't let that scare you.

Regular posters such as myself and the handbook writers frequently refer to things such as NADs or PrP or DSCS. If you don't know what those, or any other examples mean, feel free to ask, or there is a glossary to them in this thread by Valenkosh. We know what they mean, but we also know that not everyone does – asking will not make you seem stupid or "n00bie-ish", it shows a willingness to learn, which is always welcome. If you find one you don't know, and isn't in the glossary, suggest it! Adding to that list will help everyone.

This is not the Character Creation board.

Despite the numerous wealth of suggestions you can be given, and the number of complete builds that often get posted here, this is not the place to come expecting someone to build a character for you. The purpose of the board is to fine tune your existing character through, for example, feat selection, or to gain suggestions as to what you should be playing for mechanical effectiveness. A good example would be "What is a good leader for a group with a Fighter, Rogue and Barbarian?" and being told "A Warlord who grants them attacks, because you have a lot of strong melee". Asking for suggestions for that warlord, such as a good race choice, or a couple of feats to go with whatever race you'd already chosen is fine, but expecting a 1-30 breakdown of a Warlord build tailor-made for your campaign, desires and table rules is not.

Just because this is a commonly viewed board, does not mean it is a generic one.

If your thread does not relate to the Optimization of a character in some way, please do not start it. There are other boards, such as General Discussion, 4e Rules Q&A, or Character Development which are more suited to those relevant discussions, or there is also the "Ask a simple question" sticky for basic rules or mechanical queries, which also do not need a new thread started to ask. Posting these threads wastes page space, and may force more valid threads or questions out of view.

The more you give, the more you get in return.

If you need help with something, please be as specific as possible. The more information you give us, the easier it is for us to help you. Someone who comes in asking if we can "please help pick a paragon path for their Longtooth Shifter Ranger in Dark Sun" or "What is a good feat for me to take 8th level after I've taken X Y and Z" is more likely to get a swift and useful answer than "I need a good monk feat" (To exaggerate a little).

A little patience and politeness goes a long way.

Sometimes, people bring questions here and they go unanswered for a little while. It can, and does happen, usually because there isn't anyone around who can answer it. It's quite common among the CO regulars to think "If you can't post something constructive, don't post", or rather that people tend not to post on subjects outside their field of expertise. If you don't get an answer within a few hours, or the first day or so, bump your thread once, to get it a bit more attention, but please don't do so excessively, or lose your patience and mouth off at us for not posting (It does happen, and makes no-one happy to see). Also, remember that there are many resources here within the boards, all catalogued in this thread, containing a wealth of useful information. Hopefully checking one of them will provide you with an answer, or at least a starting point.

'Just because we, in CO, deal in strict RAW because TheoOp has no DM, does not mean you, your group or your DM has to. Remember this.'

It is common here in the Character Optimization boards, to see builds or concepts that exploit odd rules interpretations, or specific combos of material that produce unexpected and often powerful builds which result in them, and by extension, those of us who are regular to the boards being called 'overpowered' 'min/maxing(ers)' 'munchkins' etc. This is what's known as Theoretical Optimization, and is often irrelevant to actual gameplay. The true purpose of Character Optimization is Practical Optimization.

What is Practical Optimization? It's about making a character fun because it works well. It's pointing out which options are good to take if you want to play X race as Y class with Z build. It's when someone brings a concept, such as a cold-using wizard, a fighter with an odd weapon, or even their favourite movie/tv/anime/comic book character and trying to work out the best way, mechanically, to build that character or concept as a playable fun build.

For a good discourse on the matter of Theoretical Optimization and it's (valid) place in CharOp, please read AlphaTheGreats Theoretical Optimization Manifesto.

Theoretical Optimization, while it does have a place, often needs to taken with a grain of salt and a sense of perspective. Yes, there are those who go out of their way to break the game for the sake of a character that can solo gods or what have you. This does not mean we all do. Nor does it mean this character will come along and ruin your game.

1.) Just because we can, doesn't mean we will. Yes, it may be possible to build a character that's completely unkillable, or can kill an entire encounter in one action. (I'm exaggerating a little here) But any decent player, even one who likes to optimise, won't. Why? Because it's not fun! It removes all challenge from the game, and ruins it for any other participants by completely outshining them.

2.) Just because we can, doesn't mean you have to let us. Remember Rule Zero? If you don't like how an interpretation of the rules or an item combo allows something bad to happen or the game to break, don't let it! This isn't an MMO, the game isn't run on some unalterable server that's out of your hands. You, as the DM, or with your DM, as a player, control how the game works, and have the right and the responsibility to squash such things if they would ruin your fun.

3.) Just because we can, doesn't mean we should. Take a close look at some of the oft-called 'OP' or 'Broken' High-DPR or Uber-Nova builds. Many of them are unplayable in a real game outside of one specific form of combat, due to poor defenses, bad skills, a lack of versatility, poor compatibility with RP or Campaign choices, etc (and sometimes, more than one of these at a time). The best built builds in CO are ones that are capable of high performance, but are still fully playable, well rounded characters. These are often NOT, I repeat not, the encounter-wrecking, game-breaking, rule-book-burning builds. Even one such build that can slay a god in one nova round still usually only does so once a day, and that's assuming the god sits still and lets that build hit it – any decent and interesting god will have some kind of defensive mechanism, or the build will rely on the group (You know, the other players? The other people there also to have fun?) to work together, at which point it's fully complying with the spirit of co-operation that the game is about.

To summarize:

Please just remember these simple little concepts when browsing the CO boards. Remember, most of us are D&D players too. We have our own groups, our own campaigns, and we love the game just as much as you do.[/quote]