It isn't 🀅a D&D night if I don't have this conversation:

Player: (Insert horrible, ob𝓡viously game derailing idea here)

Me: Are you sure?

Player: Oh yeah, with my luck I've got this.

Me: You can certainly try

Player: Nat 20 for total of over 30!

Me: *DM Sigh*

You don't just want support subclasses in Strahd. The way the game is set up favors aggressive play. A Great Old Ones warlock could deal with a lot of Supernatural threats, as well 🍨as havingꦓ Devils Sight to deal with the constant darkness and good old EB to snipe enemies and thin their ranks. Or a Diviner Wizard to ALWAYS keep an eye on Strahd. Lots of good Aggro/Utility options

Wands are a lot mor🐈e useful than one might expect.

They typi🍎ca✱lly require attunement by a spellcaster and use said spellcaster's spell save DC and attack mod.

Howev♚er, RAW anyone who takes a Feat that grants spellcasting is a spellcaster (I believe the exact text requires them to be able to cast a spell using their class or features, not a magic item. Which RAW includes feats)

This means that if you are invested in Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma or even Constitution with the new Dragonmarks you can take a feat and gain many powerful spells that are stable for spellcasters with 7 cha🍨rges that restore each day.

As always. Consult with your DM because while I can talk about RAW they can say "Spellcaster is ꦍanyone with the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature" and be quite reasonable in doing so.

I typically try to upscaleဣ encounters, however, I'll sometimes run into situations where one player dominates while there are rookies around them who couldn't hand🐼le fighting creatures 3-4 CRs above level.

Next, I'll try a respectful conversation. And only if that fails do ℱI break out the last resort... the Jackaꦫl Valley.

Named such because of a Halo themed campaign I ran, I separate the overpowered player from the party, 𝓀and let the party get in on some vengence on the one who insisted on doing things that ruined the game play. I hand out high powered monster sheets to the other players, and let the min-maxer try to to solo them.

Other than being a fun deviation for a day, it gives the minm♚axed character a cool send-off, and serves as a stark reminder that trying to be the guy who does everything singlehandedly doesn't always work out, and a little consideration goes a long ways.

I love these ideas, and have a few other suggestions that my parties iꦯn the past have loved:ജ

Backstory themed boons: Almost every backstory has some source they draw their abilities from. Make your PCs day by givi𒈔ng them custom perks based on it. I have a paladin in the service of Helm the ability to hold a shield and a 2 handed weapon at the same time to fulfill their protector duties for example. Or maybe custom tailored gifts from a warlock patron, such as a unique form for a familiar.

Non-co🧸mbat magic items: Completely as a joke, I made a magic item that wa☂s a sentient sashimi knife imbued with the spirit of a fish that loved to cook. It had zero combat use whatsoever, but it quickly became a favorite NPC and reward because of how much fun the idea was.

A slightly more practical one was a scroll that allowed the party to ask one question per day to the de🐭ad while at a cemetery or such.This can help get a party on track, build lore, and more, ꦛall as one fun quest reward.

Of course, every party 𒉰is different, so you have to find what works for your group

I would like to start with the disclaimer that I do not play competitively, I just play with a family where my Atraxa poison/proliferation deck is considered mid tier and is often tr♏ounced.

I have my fair share of complaints about Wizards, but lately they have been taking more and more input from the community. Almost every book in the new 2024 D&D set was made with community input, and wizꦚards has been publishing more 3rd party official content than ever on the D&D end. If that translates over to Magic, that means fans will likely still h𒁏ave input. After all, Wizards makes more money if the fans are happy, so it makes sense they would want to do things to keep the community invested in commanders, especially given how much some people will pay for one good commander deck.

TLDR; Wizards might not actually be the end of ꦺcommander as ꧒we know it?