FireLance
Legend
Nice, but not terribly useful, unless your definition of "razor's edge" is different from mine.To shred some metaphors: if the math is balanced on a razor's edge that razor will eventually slice the system to ribbons.
For the record, mine would be something along the lines of:
Your 3rd-level PCs fight a 4th-level encounter -> You die a horrible death!
Your 3rd-level PCs fight a 3rd-level encounter while armed with 2nd-level equipment -> You die a horrible death!
Although individual players may obsess about the difference of a +1 or a -1 to hit from the "expected norm" (however they define that to be), it has never been the difference between certain success and certain failure in any game system I've ever encountered, and definitely not in any edition of D&D I've ever DMed or played.
Don't mistake mathematical transparency and good guidelines for enforced balance! The former tells you what is likely to happen. The latter doesn't say anything; it just kills you if you step out of line.