Finding Weaknesses in Pathfinder Characters and Exploiting Them

This article isn't finished yet -- it is more of a living document to accumulate knowledge as I gather it.  In any case, I thought it would be worthwhile to publish and collect comments on.  Thanks for help from Michael Bell on Cavalier weaknesses.

-PinkDiceGM

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Unlike other systems, Pathfinder doesn't explicitly include weaknesses in character as a choice made by the player on character creation.  Instead, the GM has to ascertain what abilities, skills, saves, background, or class properties represent the weakness of the character and exploit them.  Think of it this way -- when building some characters, everything starts at a base level and a lot of things get better and some get worse.  In Pathfinder, characters start at a lower level and everything gets better, except because of the balance of things, only a subset of everything gets better.  What doesn't get better, is the weakness of the character.

Now normally I am not an evil GM.  I don't see the GM as an adversary to the players, but more of a guide, sort of like that old D&D cartoon's dungeonmaster.  I also, however, believe that heroes are defined more by their weaknesses than their strengths, and that any good game should be about characters overcoming their weaknesses.  In this article we present some ideas to help GMs find those weaknesses.

As an added bonus, exploiting weaknesses wreaks havoc on a power gaming min-maxer.  If you always go for the weakness, then the maxing out of a few abilities at the expense of everything else becomes a real problem.  This encourages players to find balance and to build characters with a different goal in mind -- perhaps the goal of making an interesting character.

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a character should start with the core stats: HP, AC, ability scores, and saves.  Each of these can be a big weakness, especially when a player tries to min max a character.  Let me summarize what to look for in a handy table:

Exploiting Pathfinder Weaknesses in Core Stats
Weakness	How to Exploit
Low HP	Do what it takes to do damage. Some good options: setting them on fire @ 1d6/rnd damage, falling @ 1d6 damage per 10 feet fallen, acid pit @ 2d6 damage per round.
Low AC	Use groups of adversaries of lower level that can still hit but do more damage because they are in groups. For example, a grizzly bear does up to 33 damage per round at CR 4. A group of 12 goblins does up to 48 damage per round also at CR 4.
Low Strength	A good low strength challenge is a trap that requires a strength check to get out of -- perhaps something with a large sliding rock. In addition, low strength is a strong disadvantage because the character can't carry anything very heavy. Force them to track the weight of things and apply penalties for their load. Also, hit them with climb and swim scenarios.
Low Dexterity	Low dex characters are often weak when engaging ranged targets, because they have a poor ranged attack. A few archers out of reach can be really bad. Also, have them get captured and tied up -- they'll never be able to get loose (Escape Artist is dex-based). (See also Low Reflex Save)
Low Constitution	Low constitution means low hp and a quick transition to death. Area effect spells like fireball are very effective if they can't make a reflex save (i.e. paralysis). (Also see Low Fortutude, Low HP)
Low Wisdom	Low wisdom implies low perception, so use it by hiding everything. Use bluff against (vs sense motive, a wisdom skill.) Also leave them in the woods (survival is wisdom based). Another good one is to force them to use a heal check (WIS) to check if someone is dead. Not helping someone who is not dead yet can be devastating to a party, especially if there is a funeral pyre. (Also see Low Will Save)
Low Intelligence	Hit them with INT-based knowledge checks over and over again. Also, force them to use appraise when buying items so they get ripped off every single time.
Low Charisma	Make them talk to every person that comes along, splitting them off, if necessary. Use social skills to convince them of all sorts of things. There is nothing funnier than watching the low charism barbarian argue with the high charisma face after or during an NPC discussion when they are trying to figure out what to believe.
Low Will Save	Charm them and hit them with Will save spells: Glitterdust is nice, especially against rogues and ninjas.  So many spells work on this: Lullaby, Sleep, Hold Person, Hypnotic Pattern, Deep Slumber, the list goes on.
Low Reflex Save	Area and cone effect spells are nice. Traps with reflex saves are also effective.  Combine spells if necessary:  for example:  Entangle + Fireball.
Low Fortitude Save	Poision and disease hit hard against fortitude. Suffocation spell.

Once you've looked over the core stats, look for weakness in the class.  Each class has things is does well, and doesn't do well.  Understanding these things helps the GM to counter individual classes.

Exploiting Pathfinder Weaknesses in Classes
Class	How to Exploit
Fighter	At lower levels, if they wear heavy armor, put them into situations with skill checks during combat that are affected by ACP. Also, attempt to engage them before combat with social skills, traps, and other things using skill points fighters just don't have -- how would you beat a fighter? With a club while he slept!
Arcane Casters (Sorcerer, Wizard, Summoner)	Traditional arcane caster cannot easily engage in melee, so have a couple of hidden bad guys to emerge and attack them. In close combat, they die quick. It helps if you can otherwise engage any summoned creatures they have. Also, remember, if you kill the caster, the summons are gone. Spell: Enervation -- the negative levels cause the mage to lose all of their highest level spells.
Wizard	Destroy the wizard's spellbook and he can't prepare spells anymore. A bit of fire will do the trick.
Rogue	Generally, rogues can't do well when denied sneak attack, so faerie fire works nicely against them. Also, using large creatures with reach makes it much harder to flank. Tight spaces and clusters of enemies will also eliminate flanking and drive the rogue to frustration.
Cleric	Clerics can be dangerous, but are easy occupied being a heal bot. Force them to use spells for healing and they won't have them for combat. It is also common for clerics to have horrible ACPs against them in heavy armor with shields, so if that is the case, hit them with swim, climb, and ride checks.
Sorcerer	Sorcerers have a limited number of spells per day, and this has to cover both utility spells and combat. Try to set up obvious uses of utility spells in advance of combat to sap away some of their spells per day before they need them.
Druid	Working in unnatural environments without animals could be slightly helpful. Need additional ideas.
Ranger (Ranged)	Having enemies run up and surround a ranger is not a bad strategy, since they are usually worse melee fighters. Sundering their bow might be helpful.
Ranger (Two-Weapon)	Wielding two weapons may reduce the ranger's AC quite a bit, so consider low AC strategies. It also is a good idea to sunder their weapon(s).
Barbarian	Get them to use their rage at the wrong time -- i.e. before they need it or when suddenly a skill check is required that they can't make. Catch them when they are fatigued or exhausted. Make sure they can't get enough sleep. Spell: Waves of Fatigue.
Gunslinger	Firearms are usually not common, so make sure they are always struggling to get some supply they need. Also, use attacks of opportunity when they are reloading to nail them. Use cover and large movement speeds to keep enemies at a miss chance. Keep the monsters touch AC high.
Monk	Ranged attackers are usually pretty good against monks.
Magus	The magus is all about making touch attacks. To keep the pressure on them, keep an adversary adjacent to them so they have to make concentration checks for their spells. Also, in lower levels, try to dispel their shield or mage armor to reduce their AC. Their HP isn't that deep usually, so once their AC drops, they die quick. Also, try to get them to use their limited spells at the wrong time (aka. too early) so they don't have them later when they need them.
Bard	Silence them. Engage them head-on in combat. Avoid socializing with them. It is often a good idea to force them out of the socializing rule by giving them a problem. For example, maybe they are wanted as a pickpocket because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now they can't show their face.
Oracle	Oracle is a class with a built-in weakness -- the oracle's curse. Use it against them whenever possible.
Witch	The most powerful weakness of the witch is the power of superstition to be used against him. Witches get burned at the stake and tormented. Use this against the witch. Grab the torches and pitchforks!
Paladin	Use their code of honor against them. Make sure they are always off balance. Lawful evil can beat lawful good every time. Also use false auras to ensure them spending a smite when it won't work.
Alchemist	Fire immunity of enemies helps a lot.
Cavalier	Terrain is the cavalier's worst nightmare -- i.e. take away his ability to adequately perform mounted combat with a charge.
Inquisitor	Judgement bonus only are available when engaged in combat, so keeping the inquisitor out of combat (much like the cleric) is a good strategy.
Summoner	Summoners hide behind their eidolon, but are extremely attached to them. In play these means separating the eidolon and summoner and hurting one of them so the other compromises their position.
Ninja	For the ninja, much like the rogue, focus on eliminating sneak attack. The ninja has the second dimension of trying to get the ninja to use her Ki pool up too early so it is depleted by the time she needs it.  Non-combat usage of Ki is especially recommended:  Darkvision, possibly Shadow Clone, possibly Smoke Bomb, Sudden Disguise, Undetected Sabotage, Ventriloquism.
Samurai	The samurai's lord can be a point of particular difficulty for the saumarai. Use this non-obvious NPC to wreak havoc on the samurai's plans.

In cases where you've already used up the obvious weaknesses or where the character truly is balanced, break into the background of the character for inspiration.  Every super hero tale revolves sooner or later about how the people that know and love the superhero are the superhero's greatest weakness, so look for significant people in your character's life.  Look for the obvious weaknesses they planted in the background.  Many people have dead parents -- maybe someone thinks that the character killed their own parents?  Many people are escaping something bad -- maybe they were the cause of it?  Players write these character backgrounds to be used -- make sure you use it against them as a weakness.

When no other weaknesses are available, it is time for the GM to manufacture some of them.  Here is a list of suggestions:

• For mages, hypermagic fields, wild magic areas, and antimagic fields are gold.  It is scary to a mage when their magic won't work, but even scarier when small controlled effects get completely out of hand by either being too powerful or being completely unpredictable.
• An intelligent weapon is a weakness waiting to happen.  Give it some exotic desire it wishes to fulfill and let it battle the PC for control.  Make sure you use it to annoy and distract the PC too.  And make it talk so it can always let all the enemies know that the PC are on their way.
• Cursed items also give a nice weakness in a just-in-time fashion.  Place a cursed item in with other items of the same type that aren't cursed and leave them together just before the big battle.  Sooner or later someone is going to say "Hey, they must all be boots of speed." and put them on to find out that one pair are boots of slow.
• Planted NPCs that join the party and then screw them over are always nice.  I had a thief that was always slightly higher level than the party.  He would join the party to act as their trap finder, since the players refused to play a rogue.  He would clear a room, let them go in and get into big trouble (usually a battle plus a trap he "missed"), and when things turned south, he would loot the bodies, steal things, and run away.
• Disenchanters and rust monsters can take out magical and metal items quicker than anything.  
• Overpowered magical items sometimes can bring weaknesses with them.  The necklace of fireball, for example, is a wonderful item, unless it gets hit by fire.  Then it can become a mushroom cloud of PC-killing evil.
• Lack of needed items can be a big weakness.  Let the PCs run out of stuff they need:  gunslinger bullets, ranger arrows, water, food, light.  This becomes a big weakness in a hurry.
• Blackmail is a good weakness, and there are lots of ways to fool a PC or group of PCs into doing something really bad without them even knowing about it.  And when they are done doing it, it is all the weakness a villain needs to exploit them.
• Blindness / deafness spell:  PCs are one bad saving throw away from a big set of negatives that are permanent (until removed) and it is only a level 2/3 spell.
• Black tentacles spell: no spell resistance, no saving throw.
• Damage resistance:  Let's see how many weapons we can make do no damage.