History GameBreaker / TabletopRPG

[[folder: The Witcher Role-Playing Game]]

Pretty much any of the Master-Level spells are stated to be army-killers, and can allow a high-level Mage to easily solo a squad of enemies.

The ''TabletopGame/TheWitcherRolePlayingGame'' has is a world of deadly peril where AnyoneCanDie. Nonetheless, there are a few ways to tip the odds maybe a bit too far in your favor.

* Any tabletop RPG that allows "[[PointBuildSystem point-buy]]" character design is vulnerable to GameBreaker characters. The [[GreenLanternRing Variable Power Pool]] ability in ''TabletopGame/HEROSystem'' is particularly infamous.

* Post-2.5, anything that says "that do not count as dice added by Charms" has a huge sticker reading BE CAREFUL WITH THIS on it. Also, anything intended for Essence 6+ was skipped entirely for the errata, since it was already a Herculean task[[note]]appropriately enough, given Exalted's classical-mythology trappings[[/note]], meaning that post Essence 6 things are still horribly broken. Naturally, almost everything that involves the Sidereal Martial Arts is post-E6.

* There is a 15th level Ranger power called "Blade Cascade," which allows multiple hits as long as the previous hit connects. This inspired game-breaking accuracy builds; one such ([[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]] "[[VerbalTic Ratata]]" Orcuslayer) could kill Orcus at level 15 as long as the player did not roll a 1 (which is an automatic failure) on the d20. Wizards of the Coast quickly issued an errata stating that the maximum number of hits on the power was 5 (1 per 1.25 seconds of the combat round).'

* ''TabletopGame/{{FATE}}'' is notorious for having problems with the wording of aspects. In particular, skills such as the ability to foresee the future can potentially declare aspects like "We Are Going To Win This Fight" which can then give a bonus to anything in it, or even argued to be automatically true in versions that maintain this rule. Given that it is a system which sparked lengthy forum threads over how to handle aspects like "Dark" and "On Fire", this is perhaps expected.

[[WMG:'''Tabletop RPG in general:''']]

[[WMG:'''Game-specific:''']]

* This is actually pointed out in the books themselves. Any power or advantage with a Stop Sign next to it, like Resurrection, [[IntangibleMan Desolidification]], or Transforming a foe [[BalefulPolymorph into anything]] [[ReforgedIntoAMinion you want]], require explicit permission from the GM to take due to their potential to [[StoryBreakerPower derail the GM's story or plans.]]

* In 1st edition FATAL, when you grappled an enemy, you were asked to roll for the "grapple position" you achieved. One of the options was.. ugh.. "rape". If that wasn't bad enough, this is a game which actually has stats for penis size and vaginal/anal circumference. If one will not fit inside the other, the target takes damage equal to the proportional difference as a proportion of their hit points. This means that playing a race with a large penis and going for grapples to "accidentally" rape enemies to death is much better than attacking normally. OrSoIHeard.

** In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' someone built an advantage named [[http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=239055&postcount=216 M.U.N.C.H.K.I.N.]] that allows you to ''disintegrate the entire universe'' [[note]]Actually, 10 gigaparsecs is only the size of the ''observable'' universe; the real universe is probably much larger, or could even be smaller if it is finite but unbounded[[/note]]. for 53 points in a game where a "career adventurer" is expected to start at 200 points.[[note]]While there certainly are powerful abilities that can be built for cheap in GURPS, it should be noted that this example is not actually rules-legal. It relies on a combination of modifiers that are not compatible.[[/note]]

** In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' someone built an advantage named [[http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=239055&postcount=216 M.U.N.C.H.K.I.N.]] that allows you to ''disintegrate the entire universe'' for 53 points in a game where a "career adventurer" is expected to start at 200 points.[[note]]While there certainly are powerful abilities that can be built for cheap in GURPS, it should be noted that this example is not actually rules-legal. It relies on a combination of modifiers that are not compatible.[[/note]]
--> "It's a cosmic attack, literally. Pulses of cosmic energy that radiate from the attacker (reaching 74 gigaparsecs in a flat second) burn out the neural system of living beings in the affected area, and remember that even the edge of our universe is "merely" about 10 gigaparsecs away from Earth[[note]]Actually, that is only the size of the ''observable'' universe; the real universe is probably much larger, or could even be smaller if it is finite but unbounded[[/note]]. Also note that an Area Effect attack with Emanation involves no to-hit roll and simply affects anyone in the area. Furthermore, it allows victims only to dive for cover, and actually there's no effective cover since this Cosmic, Irresistible attack ignores DR. In conclusion, the user can attack every living thing in our entire universe, with 1 point of damage, 300 times per second. Have fun. 53 points."

--> "It's a cosmic attack, literally. Pulses of cosmic energy that radiate from the attacker (reaching 74 gigaparsecs in a flat second) burn out the neural system of living beings in the affected area, and remember that even the edge of our universe is "merely" about 10 gigaparsecs away from Earth. Also note that an Area Effect attack with Emanation involves no to-hit roll and simply affects anyone in the area. Furthermore, it allows victims only to dive for cover, and actually there's no effective cover since this Cosmic, Irresistible attack ignores DR. In conclusion, the user can attack every living thing in our entire universe, with 1 point of damage, 300 times per second. Have fun. 53 points."

[[folder: Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]]

* A player created breaker was Soul Surgeon, a character with the worst possible version of the Desolid power. His power turned him desolid, but left his body behind and vulnerable and gave him little power to affect anything while desolid. Oh, and he added the ''Usable On Others'' advantage. So any enemy he meets, he tears them out of their own body, then beats them unconscious while they're helpless.

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* ''GameBreaker/DungeonsAndDragons''

[[folder:Eon]]
In ''TabletopGame/{{Eon}}'', you can create an extremely lethal fire spell that makes any one target within 30 meters burst into flame and keep burning for 1 minute, dealing constant damage to everything within 1 meter radius (which means basically the victims entire body). It's a 3rd level spell, but it deals more damage than your standard 5th level spell (and in this game, that's a pretty big leap in difficulty to pull of). So what does it take to craft this spell? A decent score in fire/heat/chaos magic, an average score in the skill Transform Magic, and two different magical effects. And if you up the level of the spell by a tidbit and add a certain third effect, the fireball doesn't go out until the caster says so.
* On the other hand, it does have one weakness. Casting the spell requires five rolls on three different skills, and failing any of those rolls means the spell goes of in its unfinished state and the caster has to start over. Of course, this means that if the caster fails on any of the last two roll, the fireball will manifest directly in the palm of the caster. And when a fire with a 1 meter radius manifests with its center right in your hand, yeah you can guess the consequences.

Second Edition ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': In a game where defense has primacy, Obsidian Shards of Infinity Form has two scene-length perfect defense charms, one of which allows you to perfectly redirect any attack aimed at you. It lets you make and control a perfect clone of your opponent who is linked to the clonee, and command it to kill itself, knocking the opponent out. A charm to make all of these cost zero essence. These charms are almost impossible to counter, and the chance of someone having IC knowledge of them is low.
* And then there's the combination of Grandmother Spider Mastery and anything that enhances perception. Grandmother Spider Mastery allows the Exalted to attack everything that he or she can see in a single action. There are charms that allow an Exalted to see everything in several hundred miles, or even everywhere in Creation. Pattern Spider Touch turns a single action attack into a move that either utterly destroys or transforms its target. The natural result of this has been nicknamed Creation-Slaying Oblivion Kick. It does, however, require Essence 7 and a cooperative Sidereal Martial Arts master, at which point killing everything everywhere isn't that far from the norm.
** Actually, this can be obtained much earlier using a combination of Mentor 5, Divine Transcendence of Martial Arts, and Glory to the Most High (Basically, you can have the Master Lupo or Aesha Ura as a mentor, and you count as having 2 more points of Essence than you actually have). Granted, this is an expensive build to make, but it's still a mass destruction charm combo obtained several hundred years before you should be able to use it. Of course, mentors are still fully-fledged {{Non Player Character}}s, not omnipotent Charm-dispensing vending machines, so whether they are willing to teach you the exact Charms required - or whether they necessarily even know all of them - is a matter of role-playing and the decisions of the Storyteller.

* ''GameBreaker/{{Warhammer}}''
** ''GameBreaker/Warhammer40000''