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'''{{Anchor|Elothar's Gear Problem}}'''
* Named after the model character of the [[Elothar_Warrior_of_Bladereach_(3.5e_Prestige_Class)|Elothar, Warrior of Bladereach Prestige Class]], this is a method of enforcing [[Canon:RPG_Terminology#QWQWQuadratic_Fighter,_Quadratic_Wizard|Quadratic Warriors]] that ends up throwing the baby out with the bathwater.* Elothar's original flavor was that of a tricksy and elegant mortal swordsman that fought with two weapons; in an actual campaign, however, this signature ability of his becomes less and less important compared to his non-swordsman class feature. By the time he completes the class, his usefuless wouldn't be particularly affected even if he had both of his hands chopped off; as long as he is able to use abilities such as '''Der'renya the Ruby Sorceress''' and '''''I've Got That!''''', he's still a fully-functioning party member. Similarly, if he traded in all of his non-sword abilities for a boost to attack and damage, he'd be consigned [[Canon:RPG_Terminology#LWQWLinear_Warrior,_Quadratic_Wizard|back to the pit of uselessness]]. In the end, his swordsmanship matters as much to his adventures as the party wizard's 14 ranks in Profession: Cooking.
* What this amounts to is that after a certain point of ability acquisition, the Elothar's Gear Problem ends up being a backhanded way to tell the fighter and rogue and similar classes that their character concept ''truly can't'' reach the top power levels of the game the way the [[Canon:RPG_Terminology#Batman_Wizard|wizard]] and [[Canon:RPG_Terminology#CoDzilla|cleric]] are; their original concept '''must''' be retired for the game to go on, but the game will distract them from this endgame.
* Be sure to check out [[Canon:RPG_Terminology#Captain_Hobo_Problem|Captain Hobo Problem]] to see what can happen when you insist that Elothar's swordsmanship should stay relevant at all levels of play without ensuring that the fluff can actually support this thematic expansion.
