How To Talk Handle When Your DnD Players Are Using Exploits

Dungeons & Dragons offers countless variations of character designs and mechanics that can feel truly infinite. Unfortunately, for dungeon masters, this can lead to unaccounted-for loopholes and exploits that give players way more power than they should otherwise have far too early.

An orc barbarian next to a group of three adventurers next to a bard, a multitude of character creation options in Dungeons & Dragons.

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These players can affect how the game plays for the rest of the table, making encounters trivial and low-stakes or completely removing your ability to roleplay certain scenarios. As a Dungeon Master, there are a handful of fair ways to deal with players using exploits that help keep your sessions intact.

8

Rework Magic Items

Dungeons & Dragons, an adventuring party looting a treasure hoard — Looting The Treasure Hoard via Wizards of the Coast

There hasn’t been a DM who made a magic item for their campaign that hasn’t had it end up being way too overpowered. Now your players are using it to destroy every encounter they would otherwise lose. Here, you can add arbitrary limitations to the item, such as daily charges or even allowing it to disintegrate, like the Wand of Binding.

If you don’t want to outright change the rules, you can give the item a hidden curse that compels players to act in evil ways, forcing them to make a choice between remaining good or being powerful. If nothing else, outright rebalancing the item entirely can solve these problems despite admitting the flaws.

7

Restrict Specific Combinations

A magic user conjures a magical blue hand in Dungeons & Dragons. — A Spectral Hand by Brian Valeza

Multiclassing is a significant source of player exploits that allow them to travel at supersonic speeds and summon massive hordes of allies and creatures. In your campaign, as you are allowed to ban specific species and spells, you can ban multiclasses that you know cause problems for the table.

This can even be retroactive, forcing a player who is using a multiclass exploit to pick one or the other, which can be a bummer for that player but might save the game for everyone else. This is a better solution than outright banning a class or spell, as it only removes niche options.

You can examine character sheets before the first session to make sure they are filled out correctly and don’t break any house rules.

6

Rebalance Encounters

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a paladin fighting monsters. — Art by Bryan Sola

Instead of attacking the source of the exploit, you can rebalance your social and combat encounters to prevent the player from succeeding every time. The next time your Bard player uses an exploit to always successfully charm the shopkeeper into giving away their supply, give the NPC a magic item that makes them immune to the effect.

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If your fighter is able to make 16 attacks per turn due to some complex interactions with Echo Knight and Action Surge, use monsters that reflect melee attack damage back, such as an azer. In any power scaling competition between players and DM, the DM wins every time.

5

Enforce Consequences

A magic user calls forth a magical skull using necromantic magic in Dungeons & Dragons. — Necromancy by Javier Charro

One of the biggest problems with players using exploits in D&D is it usually requires players to ignore the roleplaying and storytelling aspects to focus on the minutiae of gameplay mechanics. If your world reacts to these strange characters accordingly, it can be a way to punish unrealistic behavior.

Players able to destroy monsters with one massive blow might get an unwanted visit from the monster-hunting guild who can’t get work due to all the carnage. News of powerful fighters might get the attention of legendary champions wanting to test their skill and are more likely to win.

4

Use Antimagic

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a Beholder and two gazers. — Beholder and Two Gazers from Volo’s Guide to Monsters via Wizards of the Coast

The easiest way to address player exploits is by using an in-game off switch, such as an antimagic field, which reduces players to slinging rocks and daggers. Players using exploits usually are unable to deal with losing their one combo, which leads to imbalanced gameplay, forcing the rest of the party to pick up the slack.

This can signal to that player that they need to rebalance their characters to accommodate unique situations without relying on one exploit or technique. For nonmagical characters, using rust monsters or the Heat Metal spell acts in the same way, shutting down their primary resource.

3

Use Their Build Against Them

A wizard in blue robes conjuring a spell in his golden study in Dugeons & Dragons. — Mordenkainen by Helge C. Balzer

Whatever your players are able to accomplish in the world is also true for every other NPC they meet. By using the same exploits against them, you can create encounters that show off how dangerous or magical the world around them can be.

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This is a popular tactic of using a rival party that reflects the main party, such as the one created for Call of the Netherdeep. This doesn’t have to be a way to punish the player using exploits, but rather show them that they won’t be able to compete with the M, and shouldn’t be trying to.

A magic user shoots a bolt of flames from a wand in Dungeons & Dragons. — Magic Fire by Yuhong Ding

One of the more common exploits that is noticeable with D&D veterans is using out-of-game knowledge of creature stats and spells to make decisions their character otherwise wouldn’t know to do or even think about. This can be a player knowing a beholder has an antimagic cone, and having their character prepare accordingly.

The simplest solution is to prevent players from making a decision they shouldn’t by saying, “no, your character doesn’t do that.” A more subtle approach is changing how monsters work so that they become wholly new to even the most knowledgeable of players.

A middle-ground solution is allowing players to roll Nature or Survival checks to deduce how a monster works based on study, folklore, or examination.

1

Ask Politely

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a party arguing while a beholder lurks behind. — Art by Scott Murphy

The best rule for every conflict between DMs and players is to have a conversation out-of-game that addresses the issue. If a player at your table is using an exploit that harms the enjoyment of the game for other players, talk to them about ways they can change their character to accommodate the rest of the table.

Most of the time, power gamers want to show off a cool build they discovered or just want to feel unstoppable. There are other ways to allow that while still maintaining the game’s integrity. This can be an intimidating ask, but it is the best option for long-term gameplay and the table’s mental health.

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