History GameBreaker / DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition

* The Teleport spell is generally seen as a game breaker when given to a sufficiently high-level wizard played by a sufficiently clever player. Entire campaigns' worth of notes are rendered irrelevant as the players, not the DM, suddenly set the pace for their movement and decide what parts of the campaign they will or will not participate in. Armed with the ability to scry out the BigBad's lair, most parties at levels 9 and above could simply perform a DungeonBypass and Teleport themselves directly into the BigBad's throne room and kill him using any number of pre-planned strategies and buffs, or simply Teleport away to safety if things went south, a tactic commonly known as "scry and die". The latter became so noticeable that Wizards of the Coast eventually created a spell solely for the purpose of allowing enemies to detect incoming teleports and prepare against them... A spell that, naturally, was also available to wizards. By 4th edition Wizards of the Coast had eliminated the spell entirely: Its ritual counterpart only worked between pre-prepared ritual sites.

* There is what is dubbed the ''Locate City bomb''. The spell "Locate City" (a harmless divination spell) has an ''area of effect'' of 10 miles per caster level. This is the crux of the thing -- by the intent of the spell, that number ought to be its ''range'' (and if you tried using it in a real game, [[RuleZero the DM would definitely tell you to act like it is the range]] over letting you nuke their setting over what is essentially a typo), but making it the area of effect allows one to use an obscure series of feats to first give it the Cold subtype, then deal 2 Cold damage to everything in the area of effect, ''then'' change it to an Electric type spell. You can then use ''another'' feat that gives an Electric spell a Reflex save, allowing you to apply the Explosive Spell metamagic, forcing a second Reflex save to avoid being blasted to the edge of the area of effect. Failing this save will deal 1d6 damage for each 10ft travelled, allowing someone to instantly wipe out a whole city of commoners with no collateral damage (except for the blood splatters). Eventually, players figured out that this didn't actually work, but as all the problems were due to Locate City having a 2-D ''circle'' as its area of effect, some slightly higher-level spells that scaled to a 1 mile/caster level ''sphere'' fixed them. Although this is a mere 10% of Locate City, it should be noted that on average the damage dealt by ''one'' mile in this fashion is roughly ''four times'' the HP of the biggest, baddest dragon a party is likely to ever see before epic levels. Unfortunately, however, if there is ''any'' obstacle anywhere between a given victim and the nearest edge of the blast, they simply smack into it for 1d6 points of damage and stop moving. Thus, any commoners who are inside or otherwise near any impediment to movement would only be injured. There is also the risk of the caster [[HoistByHisOwnPetard being caught in the radius]]. And of course, if someone succeeds their Reflex save, they don't get blown away either.

*** A Cleric with the proper buffs up can be a better Fighter than most proper Fighters. Even when they aren't shooting for this, they have similar strengths to the Wizard in terms of their insane versatility, and are arguably better in several regards. They can prepare any spell on the cleric list without needing to pay anything or watch for a spellbook. Their starting weapon and armor proficiencies are enough to get them through the early game with no problem, and they get to do most of the few things a Wizard can't easily do (like healing). Their skill points are a bit poor, but between the stupidly good Divine Insight and the Cloistered Cleric variant, that's nowhere near as big a problem as you'd think. And with their domains, they have a whole other level of customization that allows them to assume almost any party role. Clerics may not have as many broken tricks as the Wizard, but they are no less deadly, and in some regards even easier.

* Almost anything can be a Game-Breaker if taken to a great enough extreme. Characters can instantly end every encounter with a successful Diplomacy check which it is possible to render impossible to fail at a very, very low level. This is only the tip of the iceberg; even without exploitative min-maxing, all the spellcasting classes are almost hopelessly broken by the seventh level, and canny players can break the game with low-level spells like ''Color Spray'', ''Sleep'', and ''Glitterdust''. The so-called "save or suck" spells all instantly incapacitate monsters or otherwise render them unable to fight, and many of these spells exist even at the lowest levels, allowing spellcasters to bypass the entire hit point system and kill monsters with a single roll. Worse, spellcasters also have huge levels of flexibility and can make themselves effectively invincible against many ordinary attacks, have near-infinite mobility by mid-levels, have the best offensive and defensive capabilities, ''and'' are the best at making magic items, which themselves can often act as game breakers or exaggerate a character's game-breaking abilities. Even non-spellcasting classes can frequently do incredibly convenient things, such as dealing more damage than any monster has hit points in a single round by mid-levels. As is noted in the unofficial (but widely accepted) tier list for the game, the third tier is not an insult to characters. A third-tier character is capable of defeating any monster in the game; they simply are not God.

** 3.x's Wizard in particular is iconic for its broken status, and being a major inspiration for LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards. It had always been a class with an insane amount of options at its disposal, but so many of the things that made playing a Wizard a risky option in earlier editions were removed, and the result was a class that was functionally unstoppable when properly played past about 5th level. Their casting keyed off the highly useful Intelligence, giving them a mess of skill points. Their SquishyWizard status was easily allayed with a few protective spells (Mage Armor lasted hours and boosted you up to the level of scale mail, and Mirror Image or Displacement made you almost unhittable). Their spells per day were a little limited compared to the sorcerer, but this was remedied simply by specializing (especially as the Enchantment and Evocation schools were seen as below-par), and they also advanced through levels faster. Their spellbook, theoretically their weak spot, could be hidden through magic (such as Rope Trick or Shrink Item). And that spellbook itself snapped the game in two, giving a Wizard an arsenal of tricks for a pittance of gold that could handle virtually any situation. And these are just their weaknesses; a Wizard can cover every listed bullet on the StoryBreakerPower page, and many of the below game breakers relating to spells are specifically Wizard spells. Even when restricted to core, Wizards can do things most classes scarcely dream of.

** The Beholder Mage is another class that was clearly not designed for players, and entry into it due to it requiring you to be a beholder is very, very difficult without heavy-duty {{Munchkin}}ing. But if you do somehow get into it? A Beholder Mage is a class that combines the best traits of sorcerers ''and'' wizards, being able to learn any spell and cast any spell with no preparation. Its casting advancement is absurd, gaining a new level of spells with each level gained. Oh, and due to the mechanics, the beholder sacrifices its eye rays to cast each level of spell, which sounds like a negative until you remember that for a beholder, using an eye ray is a free action--meaning that a Beholder Mage can theoretically cast ''ten spells in a single round.'' Much like the Illithid Savant, general perception is that any DM who lets you have it is clearly off their meds.

* Races of the Dragon turned ''kobolds'' into a LethalJokeCharacter par excellence. They can take the Draconic Rite of Passage, netting them a free sorcerer spell for almost nothing, which can then be upgraded into the Greater Draconic Rite and give them a free sorcerer ''level'' for almost nothing. Being dragonblooded opens up a whole lot of avenues for insane stuff, including specialized spells. And then there's the Dragonwrought feat, which prevents you from taking ability score penalties from aging, meaning you can choose to be Venerable at character creation and gain +3 to all mental stats with no downside. Just as importantly, however, it lets you be treated as a dragon at 1st level. This may sound innocuous, but it opens up a ''mess'' of rules normally meant to apply only to dragons. Dragons of Old age or greater can take Epic feats, so Dragonwrought Kobolds can take them at virtually any level. And if your DM is stupid enough to allow Loredrake[[labelnote:explanation]]adds 2 levels of sorcerer spellcasting, and its drawback is irrelevant for Dragonwrought Kobolds[[/labelnote]], Spellhoarding[[labelnote:explanation]]converts all sorcerer spellcasting to the generally superior wizard spellcasting[[/labelnote]], or many other things exclusive to the type... well, suffice to say Sorcerer is no longer Tier 2.

** 3.x's Wizard in particular is iconic for its broken status, and being a major inspiration for LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards. It has always been a class with an insane amount of options at its disposal, but so many of the things that made Wizards a risky option in earlier editions were removed, and the result was a class that was functionally unstoppable when properly played past about 5th level. Their casting keyed off the highly useful Intelligence, giving them a mess of skill points. Their SquishyWizard status was easily allayed with a few protective spells (Mage Armor lasted hours and boosted you up to the level of scale mail, and Mirror Image or Displacement made you almost unhittable). Their spells per day were a little limited compared to the sorcerer, but this was remedied simply by specializing (especially as the Enchantment and Evocation schools were seen as below-par), and they also advanced through levels faster. Their spellbook, theoretically their weak spot, could be hidden through magic (such as Rope Trick or Shrink Item). And that spellbook itself snapped the game in two, giving a Wizard an arsenal of tricks for a pittance of gold that could handle virtually any situation. And these are just their weaknesses; a Wizard can cover every listed bullet on the StoryBreakerPower page, and many of the below game breakers relating to spells are specifically Wizard spells. Even when restricted to core, Wizards can do things most classes scarcely dream of.

* Almost anything can be a game breaker if taken to a great enough extreme. Characters can instantly end every encounter with a successful Diplomacy check which it is possible to render impossible to fail at a very, very low level. This is only the tip of the iceberg; even without exploitative min-maxing, all the spellcasting classes are almost hopelessly broken by the seventh level, and canny players can break the game with low-level spells like ''Color Spray'', ''Sleep'', and ''Glitterdust''. The so-called "save or suck" spells all instantly incapacitate monsters or otherwise render them unable to fight, and many of these spells exist even at the lowest levels, allowing spellcasters to bypass the entire hit point system and kill monsters with a single roll. Worse, spellcasters also have huge levels of flexibility and can make themselves effectively invincible against many ordinary attacks, have near-infinite mobility by mid-levels, have the best offensive and defensive capabilities, ''and'' are the best at making magic items, which themselves can often act as game breakers or exaggerate a character's game-breaking abilities. Even non-spellcasting classes can frequently do incredibly convenient things, such as dealing more damage than any monster has hit points in a single round by mid-levels. As is noted in the unofficial (but widely accepted) tier list for the game, the third tier is not an insult to characters. A third-tier character is capable of defeating any monster in the game; they simply are not God.
* The GameBreaker status of so many things in 3.x is so universally known that the most common CharacterTiers consider Tier 3 (the upper middle tier) to be the "not broken" category, while both Tier 2 and Tier 1 are considered this trope. The difference is simply that Tier 2 is broken, but it's still somewhat restricted and predictable in ''how'' it's broken, while a Tier 1 class can functionally do ''[[StoryBreakerPower anything]]'', if given a bit of time to prepare.
** The Wizard in 3.x is iconic for its broken status, and being a major inspiration for LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards. It has always been a class with an insane amount of options at its disposal, but so many of the things that made Wizards a risky option in earlier editions were removed, and the result was a class that was functionally unstoppable when properly played past about 5th level. Their casting keyed off the highly useful Intelligence, giving them a mess of skill points. Their SquishyWizard status was easily allayed with a few protective spells (Mage Armor lasted hours and boosted you up to the level of scale mail, and Mirror Image or Displacement made you almost unhittable). Their spells per day were a little limited compared to the sorcerer, but this was remedied simply by specializing (especially as the Enchantment and Evocation schools were seen as below-par), and they also advanced through levels faster. Their spellbook, theoretically their weak spot, could be hidden through magic (such as Rope Trick or Shrink Item). And that spellbook itself snapped the game in two, giving a Wizard an arsenal of tricks for a pittance of gold that could handle virtually any situation. And these are just their weaknesses; a Wizard can cover every listed bullet on the StoryBreakerPower page, and many of the below game breakers relating to spells are specifically Wizard spells. Even when restricted to core, Wizards can do things most classes scarcely dream of.

** The Erudite class in ''Third Edition'' is not broken in and of itself. It has the ability to eventually learn every psionic power there is, but this just makes it the psionic equivalent of a Wizard, whereas other psionic classes would be focused spellcasters like Beguilers or Warmages. The "Mind's Eye" series of columns on Wizards of the Coast website, however, provides an alternate class feature called Convert Spell to Power. For the cost of giving up a single bonus feat at 1st level, this feature grants Spellcraft as a class skill and allows the Erudite to use it to study any arcane spell, convert it into a psionic power, pay a small (e.g., 400 XP at 20th level) cost to permanently learn that power, and then use it at will for as long as their ManaMeter holds out. So not only is your Erudite a psionic-type Wizard, he's now also a mutant Vancian-type Wizard that can spontaneously cast like a Sorcerer and isn't subject to arcane spell failure. To cap it all off, the spell-to-power Erudite can even ignore costly material components. The price of these materials is often the only thing preventing incredibly powerful spells from being cast as routinely as any other spell of their level.

** The Wizard in 3.x is iconic for its broken status, and being a major inspiration for LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards. It has always been a class with an insane amount of options at its disposal, but so many of the things that made wizards a risky option in earlier editions were removed, and the result was a class that was functionally unstoppable when properly played past about 5th level. Their casting keyed off the highly useful Intelligence, giving them a mess of skill points. Their SquishyWizard status was easily allayed with a few protective spells (Mage Armor lasted hours and boosted you up to the level of scale mail, and Mirror Image or Displacement made you almost unhittable). Their spells per day were a little limited compared to the sorcerer, but this was remedied simply by specializing (especially as the Enchantment and Evocation schools were seen as below-par), and they also advanced through levels faster. Their spellbook, theoretically their weak spot, could be hidden through magic (such as Rope Trick or Shrink Item). And that spellbook itself snapped the game in two, giving a wizard an arsenal of tricks for a pittance of gold that could handle virtually any situation. And these are just their weaknesses; a wizard can cover every listed bullet on the StoryBreakerPower page, and many of the below game breakers relating to spells are specifically wizard spells. Even when restricted to core, wizards can do things most classes scarcely dream of.

*** A Cleric with the proper buffs up can be a better Fighter than most proper Fighters. Even when they aren't shooting for this, they have similar strengths to the wizard in terms of their insane versatility, and are arguably better in several regards. They can prepare any spell on the cleric list without needing to pay anything or watch for a spellbook. Their starting weapon and armor proficiencies are enough to get them through the early game with no problem, and they get to do most of the few things a wizard can't easily do (like healing). Their skill points are a bit poor, but between the stupidly good Divine Insight and the Cloistered Cleric variant, that's nowhere near as big a problem as you'd think. And with their domains, they have a whole other level of customization that allows them to assume almost any party role. Clerics may not have as many broken tricks as the wizard, but they are no less deadly, and in some regards even easier.

** The Archivist essentially mashes together the cleric and wizard, with exactly the results you'd expect. They cast like a wizard from a prayerbook, but scribe cleric spells into that book. Where are they broken? As long as they have a scroll for it, they can scribe '''''any divine spell'''''. That means, in theory, they can use not just cleric spells, but also druid spells, paladin spells, ranger spells, prestige class spells, every spell that's part of a domain... oh, and since many of those spells are lower-level than their cleric counterparts, [[DiscOneNuke the archivist even picks them up earlier.]] Oh, and there are divine bard and wizard variants, so in theory those spells are on the table, too. Though they're massively dependent on how much a DM will actually let you find or purchase such scrolls, an archivist at full power can cast essentially any spell in the game.

** The Erudite class in ''Third Edition'' is not broken in and of itself. It has the ability to eventually learn every psionic power there is, but this just makes it the psionic equivalent of a Wizard, whereas other psionic classes would be focused spellcasters like Beguilers or Warmages. The "Mind's Eye" series of columns on Wizards of the Coast website, however, provides an alternate class feature called Convert Spell to Power. For the cost of giving up a single bonus feat at 1st level, this feature grants Spellcraft as a class skill and allows the Erudite to use it to study any arcane spell, convert it into a psionic power, pay a small (e.g., 400 XP at 20th level) cost to permanently learn that power, and then use it at will for as long as their ManaMeter holds out. So not only is your Erudite a psionic-type Wizard, he's now also a mutant wizard-type Wizard that can spontaneously cast like a Sorcerer and isn't subject to arcane spell failure. To cap it all off, the spell-to-power Erudite can even ignore costly material components. The price of these materials is often the only thing preventing incredibly powerful spells from being cast as routinely as any other spell of their level.

** The Incantatrix. First, the requirements: third-level spells, three skills you were already taking, a feat you were already taking, and a feat that you can actually ''buy.'' Most casters qualify by accident. It gives full spellcasting progression, which means it's automatically better than continuing with most caster classes. Most full casting prestige classes provide minor benefits or only run for a few levels, but the Incantatrix runs for ten - and its features are some of the strongest in the game, with three free metamagic feats[[note]]And considering that the only non-spell class features a wizard has is a familiar (which rarely matters outside of scouting, and that's assuming it hasn't been traded away) and 4 bonus feats (one of which you will have already earned by getting to 5th level (the earliest entry into the class is 6th) the only downside is that they have to be metamagic feats and not item creation feats or Spell Mastery, (which is generally not worth the feat as its only needed if you lose your spellbook, and most [=DMs=] consider that to be a cheap tactic).[[/note]], applying metamagic effects to an ally's spells (or your own), stealing continuous effects from enemy casters, and a capstone so overpowering that it's normally an epic feat. Pump up Spellcraft, and you can cast all your buffs at the start of the day, and Persist them at minimal effort. Picture a 20th-level wizard with Prismatic Sphere, Shapechange, Superior Invisibility, True Seeing, Haste, Freedom of Movement, Globe of Invulnerability, Elemental Body... all at the same time, all day long.

*** A Cleric with the proper buffs up can be a better fighter than most proper fighters. Even when they aren't shooting for this, they have similar strengths to the wizard in terms of their insane versatility, and are arguably better in several regards. They can prepare any spell on the cleric list without needing to pay anything or watch for a spellbook. Their starting weapon and armor proficiencies are enough to get them through the early game with no problem, and they get to do most of the few things a wizard can't easily do (like healing). Their skill points are a bit poor, but between the stupidly good Divine Insight and the Cloistered Cleric variant, that's nowhere near as big a problem as you'd think. And with their domains, they have a whole other level of customization that allows them to assume almost any party role. Clerics may not have as many broken tricks as the wizard, but they are no less deadly, and in some regards even easier.

** Polymorph. Any. Object. All but the most frugal interpretations of this spell are absurdly broken, particularly considering that some interpretations allow for removal of the HD limit to Polymorph (an example of the spell is turning someone into a stone, which has no HD), or transforming a creature repeatedly to make any form permanent. How do you feel about permanently turning the party fighter into a giant, or the party wizard into an ethergaunt with 27 Intelligence? Plus, in a pinch, it's a nasty little save-or-die.

** The two classes below are the reasons why [=CoDzilla=] (Cleric-or-Druid-zilla) became a ''D&D'' meme:

** A Cleric with the proper buffs up can be a better fighter than most proper fighters. Even when they aren't shooting for this, they have similar strengths to the wizard in terms of their insane versatility, and are arguably better in several regards. They can prepare any spell on the cleric list without needing to pay anything or watch for a spellbook. Their starting weapon and armor proficiencies are enough to get them through the early game with no problem, and they get to do most of the few things a wizard can't easily do (like healing). Their skill points are a bit poor, but between the stupidly good Divine Insight and the Cloistered Cleric variant, that's nowhere near as big a problem as you'd think. And with their domains, they have a whole other level of customization that allows them to assume almost any party role. Clerics may not have as many broken tricks as the wizard, but they are no less deadly, and in some regards even easier.
** Even sticking to core, Druids have powers (casting, wildshape and animal companion) of which a single one would make a competent character. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0346.html They have special abilities that are more powerful than entire classes]]. As an example, the guy who built the system showed a variant where all spellcasting became extremely difficult, knocking most spellcasters from the lofty heights of tier 1 and 2 down to tier 6. Druids however were still at the high end of tier 3. Why? A single class ability of course: [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Wild Shape]], an ability that is in and of itself more powerful than a Fighter's whole class (indeed, a Ranger variant with a ''nerfed'' version of Wild Shape as its primary ability is at the low end of tier 3). Sufficiently twinked-out animal companions can also become stronger than Fighters. There's a reason why [=CoDzilla=] (Cleric-or-Druid-zilla) became a ''D&D'' meme.
*** One disadvantage to ''Wild Shape'' is that you can't cast spells in animal form - unless you take the ''Natural Spell'' feat, a core feat which lets you do just that. This combination allows druids to have their cake and eat it too, gaining the animal's combat ability along with their druidic spells. The feat is so universally taken that it's joked in druid guides that you mysteriously lose your 6th-level feat and nobody knows why.

* There is what is dubbed the ''Locate City bomb''. The spell "Locate City" (a harmless divination spell) has an ''area of effect'' of 10 miles per caster level. This is the crux of the thing -- by the intent of the spell, that number ought to be its ''range'' (and if you tried using it in a real game, [[RuleZero the DM would definitely tell you to act like it is the range]] over letting you nuke their setting over what is essentially a typo), but making it the area of effect allows one to use an obscure series of feats to first give it the Cold subtype, then deal 2 Cold damage to everything in the area of effect, ''then'' change it to an Electric type spell. You can then use ''another'' feat that gives an Electric spell a Reflex save, allowing you to apply the Explosive Spell metamagic, forcing a second Reflex save to avoid being blasted to the edge of the area of effect. Failing this save will deal 1d6 damage for each 10ft travelled, allowing someone to instantly wipe out a whole city of commoners with no collateral damage (except for the blood splatters). Eventually, players figured out that this didn't actually work, but as all the problems were due to Locate City having a 2-D ''circle'' as its area of effect, some slightly higher-level spells that scaled to a 1 mile/caster level ''sphere'' fixed them. Although this is a mere 10% of Locate City, it should be noted that on average the damage dealt by ''one'' mile in this fashion is roughly ''four times'' the HP of the biggest, baddest dragon a party is likely to ever see before epic levels. Unfortunately, however, if there is ''any'' obstacle anywhere between a given victim and the nearest edge of the blast, they simply smack into it for 1d6 points of damage and stop moving. Thus, any commoners who are inside or otherwise near any impediment to movement would only be injured. There is also the risk of the caster [[HoistByHisOwnPetard being caught in the radius]].

* There is what is dubbed the ''Locate City bomb''. The spell "Locate City" (a harmless divination spell) has an ''area of effect'' of 10 miles per caster level. This is the crux of the thing -- by the intent of the spell, that number ought to be its ''range'', but making it the area of effect allows one to use an obscure series of feats to first give it the Cold subtype, then deal 2 Cold damage to everything in the area of effect, ''then'' change it to an Electric type spell. You can then use ''another'' feat that gives an Electric spell a Reflex save, allowing you to apply the Explosive Spell metamagic, forcing a second Reflex save to avoid being blasted to the edge of the area of effect. Failing this save will deal 1d6 damage for each 10ft travelled, allowing someone to instantly wipe out a whole city of commoners with no collateral damage (except for the blood splatters). Eventually, players figured out that this didn't actually work, but as all the problems were due to Locate City having a 2-D ''circle'' as its area of effect, some slightly higher-level spells that scaled to a 1 mile/caster level ''sphere'' fixed them. Although this is a mere 10% of Locate City, it should be noted that on average the damage dealt by ''one'' mile in this fashion is roughly ''four times'' the HP of the biggest, baddest dragon a party is likely to ever see before epic levels. Unfortunately, however, if there is ''any'' obstacle anywhere between a given victim and the nearest edge of the blast, they simply smack into it for 1d6 points of damage and stop moving. Thus, any commoners who are inside or otherwise near any impediment to movement would only be injured. There is also the risk of the caster [[HoistByHisOwnPetard being caught in the radius]].

*** Fortunately for [=DMs=] everywhere, Flash Frost specifies that the spell it is applied to must affect an area. While Locate City still has an area (the 10 mile per caster level circle on the world map), it doesn't actually affect that area. Therefore Flash Frost cannot actually be added to Locate City even if given the cold descriptor. There are a few spells that do affect large areas, though.

* Another TabletopGames example: The ''Haste'' spell in the original ''3.0'' version of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. Originally redesigned the way it was to "show off" the new action rules, designers learned the hard way that there was such a thing as an action "economy" in their resulting game... and whoops, they broke it. {{Nerf}}ing this spell was arguably one of the primary reasons for the creation of ''3.5''.

* ''Harm'', full stop. A no-save ''touch'' attack[[note]]which 98% of the time are nigh-impossible to miss with[[/note]] that leaves a target with ''1d4 HP''. So the more hit points a target has, the more damage it's going to take. (It did the same in earlier editions, but ''Third Edition'' increased the HitPoints of most non-{{mook}}s about fourfold while keeping damage spells the same; so Harm became four times as effective as most other spells of its level.)
** If the cleric is feeling even more sadistic, they can toss in a [[CherryTapping Quickened Inflict Light Wounds]]. ILW is normally a poor spell, but it's guaranteed to deal at least 6 damage (assuming you're a high enough level to cast Harm yourself) to an opponent who has no more than 4 HP left. The result: a one-turn KO.

** Want to break the game with just two spells? Cast Contigency, make your contigent spell Celerity. Congratulations; the next time somebody threatens you, you get a free standard action to do whatever you want. You can even cast Twinned Celerity. [[UpToEleven Then use the extra actions from Twinned Celerity to cast TWO Twinned Celerities.]] Sure, you get dazed next turn, but if there's an encounter you can't finish or escape when given four free standard actions, it's time to give up on the whole "wizardry" thing.

** The Erudite class in 3.5 is not broken in and of itself. It has the ability to eventually learn every psionic power there is, but this just makes it the psionic equivalent of a Wizard, whereas other psionic classes would be focused spellcasters like Beguilers or Warmages. The "Mind's Eye" series of columns on Wizards of the Coast website, however, provides an alternate class feature called Convert Spell to Power. For the cost of giving up a single bonus feat at 1st level, this feature grants Spellcraft as a class skill and allows the Erudite to use it to study any arcane spell, convert it into a psionic power, pay a small (e.g., 400 XP at 20th level) cost to permanently learn that power, and then use it at will for as long as their ManaMeter holds out. So not only is your Erudite a psionic-type Wizard, he's now also a mutant wizard-type Wizard that can spontaneously cast like a Sorcerer and isn't subject to arcane spell failure. To cap it all off, the spell-to-power Erudite can even ignore costly material components. The price of these materials is often the only thing preventing incredibly powerful spells from being cast as routinely as any other spell of their level.

* Another TabletopGames example: The ''haste'' spell in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' version 3.0. Originally redesigned the way it was to "show off" the new action rules, designers learned the hard way that there was such a thing as an action "economy" in their resulting game... and whoops, they broke it. {{Nerf}}ing this spell was arguably one of the primary reasons for the creation of 3.5.

* D&D 3.0's Harm, full stop. A no-save ''touch'' attack[[note]]which 98% of the time are nigh-impossible to miss with[[/note]] that leaves a target with ''1d4 HP''. So the more hit points a target has, the more damage it's going to take. (It did the same in earlier editions, but 3rd edition increased the HitPoints of most non-{{Mook}}s about fourfold while keeping damage spells the same; so Harm became four times as effective as most other spells of its level.)

* A simple 3.5 spell which is not high level, is already in the Player's Handbook and doesn't require a cheesy combination to work is the level 3 Bard spell 'Glibness'. In a game system where +4 or +6 to a roll is considered a considerable bonus, Glibness gives '''''+30''''' to your bluff checks for its duration (10 minutes per caster level, a minimum duration of over an hour). The penalty to your Bluff skill check for telling a lie that is completely and utterly unbelievable ("I am the Moon.") is only +20 to the opposing Sense Motive check. With Glibness, you can quite easily convince a king that you and he were actually secretly swapped at birth and that by all rights he's sitting on ''your'' throne. A single spell that can make a GM scream in fury. Glibness' power was highlighted to great effect in an ''[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Order of the Stick]]'' [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0767.html strip.]] The intended balance is that Glibness ''only'' provides its bonus for the purpose of telling lies and not any of the Bluff skill's combat applications, but as has been shown, lying is quite broken enough by itself.

** Consider the spell ''Shivering Touch'' from the sourcebook ''Frostburn'' (and well you should, since the game's creators clearly did not). When you cast it, you touch your target (usually not hard since D&D's combat system tends to focus around getting through armor to inflict damage rather than simply touching them - though spellcasters or creatures with certain exotic or class-granted defense bonuses may have very high touch AC). That target then suffers between 3-18 points of damage to its Dexterity. Because the aforesaid monsters generally have a low Dexterity, depending on how well you roll this will actually penalize an opponent's AC by up to -5 if you take their Dexterity to 0, and also render them unable to move. The phrase 'sitting duck' then applies to your opponent. As an added bonus, unlike most other seriously powerful spells in 3.5, ''Shivering Touch'' does not allow a saving throw against it. The only beasts that stand a chance of avoiding death by clumsiness are those with spell resistance. Not bad for a spell which any cleric or wizard can cast from level 5; in some spheres this spell is called the dragon killer. And that's even before you look into things like applying metamagic to it.

* White Raven Tactics is one of the few things from Tome of Battle that the entire fanbase can agree about being broken. It essentially amounts to giving one of your allies an extra turn right after you, even if they already acted that round, without even needing to give up yours. Giving someone two turns is as broken as it sounds, and it remains viable all the way to the endgame. It's seen as the martial counterpart to Celerity and 3.0 Haste, and a good reason to have a warblade cohort. And let's not even get into the question of whether you can use it on yourself...

* Races of the Dragon turned ''kobolds'' into a LethalJokeCharacter par excellence. They can take the Draconic Rite of Passage, netting them a free sorcerer spell for almost nothing, which can then be upgraded into the Greater Draconic Rite and give them a free sorcerer ''level'' for almost nothing. Being dragonblooded opens up a whole lot of avenues for insane stuff, including specialized spells. And then there's the Dragonwrought feat, which prevents you from taking ability score penalties from aging, meaning you can choose to be Venerable at character creation and gain +3 to all mental stats with no downside. Just as importantly, however, it lets you be treated as a dragon at 1st level. This may sound innocuous, but it opens up a ''mess'' of rules normally meant to apply only to dragons. Dragons of Old age or greater can take Epic feats.[[note]]Most dragons of that age already qualify for Epic feats anyway, due to having more than 20 "levels" in hit dice, so the separate rule is normally somewhat redundant... however, Dragonwrought Kobolds gain this ability at ''1st level'' if they start out at Old age or older, since unlike normal dragons, they don't gain HD by aging.[[/note]] And if your DM is stupid enough to allow Loredrake[[labelnote:explanation]]adds 2 levels of sorcerer spellcasting, and its drawback is irrelevant for Dragonwrought Kobolds[[/labelnote]], Spellhoarding[[labelnote:explanation]]converts all sorcerer spellcasting to the generally superior wizard spellcasting[[/labelnote]], or many other things exclusive to the type... well, suffice to say Sorcerer is no longer Tier 2.

* Races of the Dragon turned ''kobolds'' into a LethalJokeCharacter par excellence. They can take the Draconic Rite of Passage, netting them a free sorcerer spell for almost nothing, which can then be upgraded into the Greater Draconic Rite and give them a free sorcerer ''level'' for almost nothing. Being dragonblooded opens up a whole lot of avenues for insane stuff, including specialized spells. And then there's the Dragonwrought feat, which lets you be treated as a dragon at 1st level. This may sound innocuous, but it opens up a ''mess'' of rules normally meant to apply only to dragons. Dragons [[StrongerWithAge don't take ability score penalties for aging]], letting you instantly start as Venerable and gain a +3 to all mental stats. Dragons of Old age or greater can take Epic feats. And if your DM is stupid enough to allow Loredrake, White Dragonspawn, or many other things exclusive to the type... well, suffice to say Sorcerer is no longer Tier 2.

*** Fortunately for DMs everywhere, Flash Frost specifies that the spell it is applied to must affect an area. While Locate City still has an area (the 10 mile per caster level circle on the world map), it doesn't actually affect that area. Therefore Flash Frost cannot actually be added to Locate City even if given the cold descriptor. There are a few spells that do affect large areas, though.

** The Archivist essentially mashes together the cleric and wizard, with exactly the results you'd expect. They cast like a wizard from a prayerbook, but scribe cleric spells into that book. Where are they broken? They can also scribe ANY DIVINE SPELL, as long as they have a scroll for it. That means, in theory, they can use not just cleric spells, but also druid spells, paladin spells, ranger spells, prestige class spells, every spell that's part of a domain... oh, and since many of those spells are lower-level than their cleric counterparts, [[DiscOneNuke the archivist even picks them up earlier.]] Oh, and there are divine bard and wizard variants, so in theory those spells are on the table, too. Though they're massively dependent on how much a DM will actually let you find or purchase such scrolls, an archivist at full power can cast essentially any spell in the game.

** Even sticking to core, Druids have powers (casting, wildshape and animal companion) of which a single one would make a competent character. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0346.html They have special abilities that are more powerful than entire classes]]. As an example, the guy who built the system showed a variant where all spellcasting became extremely difficult, knocking most spellcasters from the lofty heights of tier 1 and 2 down to tier 6. Druids however were still at the high end of tier 3. Why? A single class ability of course: [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Wild Shape]], an ability that is in and of itself more powerful than a Fighter's whole class (indeed, a Ranger variant with a ''nerfed'' version of Wild Shape as its primary ability is at the low end of tier 3). Sufficiently twinked-out animal companions can also become stronger than Fighters. There's a reason why [=CoDzilla=] (Cleric-or-Druid-zilla) became a [=DnD=] meme.

** The Wizard in 3.x is iconic for its broken status, and being a major inspiration for LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards. So many of the things that made wizards a risky option in earlier editions were removed, and the result was a class that was functionally unstoppable when properly played past about 5th level. Their casting keyed off the highly useful Intelligence, giving them a mess of skill points. Their SquishyWizard status was easily allayed with a few protective spells (Mage Armor lasted hours and boosted you up to the level of scale mail, and Mirror Image or Displacement made you almost unhittable). Their spells per day were a little limited compared to the sorcerer, but this was remedied simply by specializing (especially as the Enchantment and Evocation schools were seen as below-par), and they also advanced through levels faster. Their spellbook, theoretically their weak spot, could be hidden through magic (such as Rope Trick or Shrink Item). And that spellbook itself snapped the game in two, giving a wizard an arsenal of tricks for a pittance of gold that could handle virtually any situation. Even when restricted to core, wizards can do things most classes scarcely dream of.

** Even sticking to core, Druids have powers (casting, wildshape and animal companion) a single one of which would make a competent character. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0346.html They have special abilities that are more powerful than entire classes]]. As an example, the guy who built the system showed a variant where all spellcasting became extremely difficult, knocking most spellcasters from the lofty heights of tier 1 and 2 down to tier 6. Druids however were still at the high end of tier 3. Why? A single class ability of course: [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Wild Shape]], an ability that is in and of itself more powerful than a Fighter's whole class (indeed, a Ranger variant with a ''nerfed'' version of Wild Shape as its primary ability is at the low end of tier 3). Actually, twinked out animal companions are stronger than Fighters. There's a reason why [=CoDzilla=] (Cleric-or-Druid-zilla) became a [=DnD=] meme.

** The Erudite class in 3.5 is not broken in and of itself. It has the ability to eventually learn every psionic power there is, but this just makes it the psionic equivalent of a Wizard, whereas other psionic classes would be focused spellcasters like Beguilers or Warmages. The "Mind's Eye" series of columns on Wizards of the Coast website, however, provides an alternate class feature called Convert Spell to Power. For the cost of giving up a single bonus feat at 1st level, this feature grants Spellcraft as a class skill and allows the Erudite to use it to study any arcane spell, convert it into a psionic power, pay a small (e.g., 400 XP at 20th level) cost to permanently learn that power, and then use it at will for as long as their ManaMeter holds out. So not only is your Erudite a psionic-type Wizard, he's now also a mutant wizard-type Wizard that can spontaneously cast like a Sorcerer and isn't subject to arcane spell failure. Perhaps even more alarmingly, the spell-to-power Erudite can even ignore costly material components. The price of these materials is often the only thing preventing incredibly powerful spells from being cast as routinely as any other spell of their level.
** The Illithid Savant prestige class (although, honestly, if your DM lets you play as a mind flayer and also lets you take a prestige class clearly designed for NPC use, he deserves what he gets). Basically, the Illithid Savant is like [[{{Series/Heroes}} Sylar]], gaining the powers, special abilities, and even ''spellcasting'' of those whose brains he eats. (For ''extra'' cheese, eat the brain of a Sorcerer or Wizard who can cast Gate. Now if you want a particular ability, just summon up the creature who has it virtually at will.)
** The Beholder Mage and Illithid Savant {{Prestige Class}}es in 3.5 are intended to be used only by the DM to make monsters able to stand a chance against 4 [=PC=]s with their 4 times as many actions. Naturally, Munchkins figured out ways to get into them without taking the large amount of racial hit dice that Beholders and Mind Flayers have.