RosstoFalstaff:
Did you outline these rules before the person applied? Because if not this would be new information on your houserules to the player, which is 100% something that might affect them wanting to play your game
You have a fair point. My RTJ process doesn't involve character sheets at all, just general background information.
I get the switch but be honest, how would you feel about a potential player willing to drop your game just because they don't get three times as many attacks at first level as any other character?
Engine:
Not that your solution isn't reasonable for your game. But I hope you don't feel like it's your only option.
Oh I agree but in my opinion it is less about their actual abilities and more about their purpose for playing the game. I know I can just throw more enemies or have more social/puzzle encounters etc to balance the game. I know a simple vanilla Barbarian with 20 strength is going to crack a low level game of pathfinder over his/her meaty thighs.
What bothers me though is if that is the
only reason you're doing it. I don't mind powerful characters so long as they are characters and not just piles of numbers and items being moved around to score imaginary points.
Like I said, I'm glad I put that filter in place because if someone isn't willing to play in a game just because their super power combo isn't allowed then I'm not the right DM for them. Now this is purely my opinion based on anecdotal evidence of DMing for ~10 years but players like this generally tend to have a short lifespan in a game. As soon as things get hard or someone upstages them then poof, they are gone. They only want to play if they get to not just win, but win over the other players as well. Not every time, but, again my personal observation, there is far more that fall into this category than any other.
Now I get wanting to try out a specific build or combination for funsies. I
get that, but that wasn't the discussion we had. They asked for a variant rule, I said I wouldn't allow it if they only wanted gamebending/breaking options and so they left. The implication is that they only wanted to abuse the system, not actually play the game or try something new.