Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop roleplaying game (RPG) that’s been around for decades. Lately, more and more people are trying it out for the first time as it begins to penetrate the mainstream. The best thing about it is how adaptable it is — whether it’s a dungeon crawler, a tale of political intrigue, or even a Pokemon adventure, it can be played out using these rules.

As the person running the game, Dungeon Masters (DMs) have to be prepared for any and every scenario (or at least prepared to improvise their way through it). More often than not, a wrench is thrown into the gears that DMs must work around. The particular wrench we’re tackling today is called Min-Maxing.

What Are Min-Maxers?

A min-maxer is a D&D player who is focused on the combat side of D&D almost exclusively. These players learn and memorize the rules to a class and the combat system, then work to maximize the amount of power they can have. Usually, they have little to no interest in the story side of a campaign and want to play D&D like an action video game to feel overpowered. You may also hear this phenomenon called “powergaming.” The term min-maxing may mean something slightly different to different people or groups, but the sentiment is the same — they’re people who are memorizing the rules and stats of the system more than was ever intended, and using that information to get ahead. 

Common Signs Of A Min-Maxer

If you suspect one of your players is a min-maxer, look for these common traits:

  • Constantly questioning the DM’s decisions and actions — a general attitude that may manifest as policing the rules of the game Choosing to play the same class and/or race for every campaign Limited roleplaying participation/skills Trying to adjust their ability scores when creating a character to get their ideal combination — may take the form of choosing certain characteristics to increase a weak score, trying to insist the DM should allow them to “point-buy” their ability scores (even if everyone else is rolling randomly for them), complaining about their ability score rolls, trying to “restart” their character creation, trying to bargain with the DM to switch around their rolls more than normally would be allowed, etc. Showing limited interest in the story of the campaign, mostly not paying attention to the game until combat starts, following another player’s character around blindly whenever not in combat Talking over other players (especially during combat) Giving their character a shallow, cliché, or practically non-existent backstory Spending a lot of time pouring over rulebooks or online sites about combat Assuming other that the players and/or the DM don’t understand the rules as well as them (whether or not that’s actually true) Refusing to have flaws in their character’s personality, backstory, or stats

Not all of these are true for every min-maxer — these are examples of problematic min-maxers, players who don’t realize that they’re ruining the experience for others or why they’re in the wrong. Some may be interested in the campaign’s story even though they’re hyper-vigilant about the rules. Some may be more respectful of the DM. However, if you’ve been struggling for a solution to your problem, a combination of some of these elements is probably present in your min-maxer(s).

Why Are Min-Maxers A Problem?

The short answer is: they’re not… if everyone is okay with that. The DM and all the other players need to understand what they’re getting into and agree to play a campaign that way. They need to agree to it because:

  • A campaign with those goals and players like this will need to be organized and planned in a very unique and purposeful way. D&D is something people do in their off time — it’s supposed to be fun. Not every player (especially newer players) will enjoy the kind of gaming that a min-maxer is interested in.

The problem is that this mutual agreement is seldom the case — min-maxers usually appear in parties where no one has consented to play D&D this way. As a result, the experience is ruined for the group. Players who are interested in the story don’t get to enjoy it fully. Players who want the opportunity to flesh out their backstory don’t get the opportunity. Min-maxers fill their brains with knowledge about the game and, as a result, can’t help spewing that knowledge out on the party as often as possible, dominating every conversation (and ruining it for everyone else).

Ways To Ease Your Suffering

Catching The Min-Maxer Early

Lots of sites peddling advice for DMs suggest this, but we’ll say it one more time for the people in the back: have a session zero for your campaign!

Your campaign’s “session zero” (or whatever you want to call it) is recommended as a best-practice tool for DMs. It’s a time when your entire group gathers together before the campaign begins to discuss expectations, give a little context to the story, and/or build the players’ character sheets.

Some things you might want to bring up at a session zero include…

  • What are the DM’s expectations for the campaign? What experience are they trying to provide to the players? What are the players’ expectations for the campaign? What do they want to get out of the experience? Do any of the players or the DM have triggering topics that should not be used in the story or any backstory? Do any of the players want their characters to know each other prior to the start of the campaign? Is any homebrew content going to be included in the campaign? Are any rulebooks other than the Monster Manual, Player’s Handbook, and Dungeon Master’s Guide going to be used in the campaign? Does the DM have a way they prefer the players to keep a character sheet (paper, on a mobile phone, on a particular site, in excel, etc.)? Are any of the normal rules to D&D being modified in this campaign? What will this campaign prioritize — storytelling and roleplay, puzzle-solving, combat? A combination of a few?

This is especially important for weeding out min-maxers before you start. The answers to the questions above should give you a good starting point, and you can further investigate when they make their character and fill out a sheet. Don’t allow players too much freedom to make a perfect character that lacks fatal flaws or weaknesses.

If the min-maxers answers don’t align with the goals of the DM and/or the goals of the other players, be polite but firm when you say that you will not tolerate people who are disrupting the enjoyment of the other players. If they’re not showing interest in the point of the game (for example, the story), they will either need to leave or reevaluate their priorities.

Play Smart, Not Hard

Some DMs choose to combat fire with fire; if the min-maxer is going to optimize their character, why not just dump a bunch of enemies on them and see how they like it? They’ll likely be combat encounters that are way too hard for most of the party, but there’s always a chance min-maxer might be able to handle it.

This strategy can only end in disaster. If the min-maxer is victorious, the DM will have just validated their choice to play that way. If the min-maxer fails, the rest of the party and the DM will have to deal with their fury that the encounter wasn’t balanced. And, either way, the rest of the party is caught in the crossfire and doesn’t have a good time.

Find ways to challenge the players other than combat. This is good advice for any DM, but it especially helps break a min-maxer out of their rut. Some possible challenges your party could face include:

  • Solving riddles Puzzle dungeons Magic-users who focus on non-combat skills, like charming the players or creating hallucinations Navigating difficult/awkward social situations Needing to maintain a positive public image for some reasons — all their decisions result in approval or disapproval from the locals

If you’re doing these things and the min-maxer just isn’t participating, find ways to make your min-maxing player the only character who could deal with a given problem.

Encouraging The Min-Maxer To Engage With Other Players

This doesn’t necessarily imply that you should have a chat with them and say, ‘hey, you should participate more.’ Of course, it’s worth a try, but may not actually change much. Instead, use your DM powers to force them to be active. Invent situations in which they need to work with the other players, not just follow along until combat starts up. These relationships with the other party members are crucial to experiencing everything D&D has to offer, inside and outside of the combat encounters.

When you encourage the players to build dynamics with each other, they discover roleplaying skills that none of them knew they had. It’s much more fun to banter with the other players than with the DM and, for most of the party, you may not even have to say a word.

Don’t Forget - You’re The DM

Min-maxers thrive under wobbly DMs. If you aren’t confident of your decision-making skills or if you get self-conscious when a player questions your understanding of the rules, then the min-maxer will exploit that.

If you think you may have one of these traits (or something like them), try to work on your confidence. Even if you’re wrong about the rules, you’re the DM — your word is law. DMs change rules they don’t agree with all the time. It’s your job to make sure everyone is having a good time, so every DM has fudged a die roll, gone off track just because the players wanted to, given a random NPC more personality when the players got attached to it, and more. Assert yourself with no regrets and don’t be afraid to bend the rules or exclude something altogether if the min-maxer is abusing it. 

Small Tips To Try

These final tips are small things you can do during the course of your campaign to encourage a min-maxer to leave their comfort zone and start experiencing the fictional world beyond its combat encounters.

  • Develop character sheets for your players and assign them either randomly or by letting them pick in turns (this is a controversial choice — lots of DMs love it and swear by it, while others despise it — your min-maxing player will probably despise it. if you want to do it, do it anyway). Talk to the min-maxer about what kinds of stories interest them, so you can include elements from them into your campaign Even if you know your min-maxer will just say “I’m following that character on what they’re doing” or something to that effect, don’t skip over their turn in roleplaying, story, or puzzle sections of the game Have NPCs (especially important ones with something interesting to say) speak directly to the min-maxing player Don’t hover for too long on the min-maxer’s turn in combat, even if they want to keep going Make the min-maxer’s backstory tie into the campaign somehow, and even suggest the two of your meet up regularly to discuss how their situation may have changed

What If Nothing Is Working?

Some DMs reach the worst case scenario: they’ve tried everything, but can’t seem to sway the min-maxer(s) away from these habits.

First, have a frank conversation with that player about how their actions are affecting the group. If it goes well, keep pushing. If it goes poorly, speak to the other players. How much is it affecting their experience? Are they (and the DM) willing to just go with it? At what point has it gone too far? Before you make a rash decision to kick someone out of your party, have a group conversation about it and express to the min-maxer that things are so bad that you have to consider barring them from the campaign. These kinds of social situations are hard since players usually know one another outside the game — handle it with as much grace and tact as you can manage, without allowing your players or yourself to be railroaded.

NEXT: Dungeons & Dragons: 10 5e Monsters With The Highest Challenge Rating