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How much should 5e aim at balance?
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<blockquote data-quote="TwinBahamut" data-source="post: 5984007" data-attributes="member: 32536"><p>It's complicated, but here's my stab at it.</p><p></p><p>Balance basically means that the game is fundamentally fair and honest. If the game presents something as a choice, then that choice should be a fair choice that is equivalent to any of its alternatives. If the players make a choice, then the game shouldn't suddenly reveal that choice to be more powerful or less powerful than advertised. It means that everyone who has the same role in the game (typically "player of a PC" in D&D's case) should be treated equally well by the rules and not be unfairly punished or favored.</p><p></p><p>Ultimately, balance means that everyone at the table should have the same chance to have fun. Beyond being the goal of balance, that is the very nature of balance itself. Asking for a game to be deliberately imbalance is the exact same thing as asking for the game to arbitrarily ruin someone's fun or to let one player ruin everyone else's fun. </p><p></p><p>The actual way that balance is <em>implemented</em> is a much more complex discussion, but that's how I'd put it.</p><p></p><p>If you accept my definition, then you'll see why people's claims that balance is the antithesis of fun seems incoherent to me. Balance is simply the union of the ideas that the game should be equally fun and fair for everyone. If you want imbalance, that means you want people to not have fun. Balance is not some mere tool for achieving fun; they are inseparable concepts that are almost so close as to be the same thing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TwinBahamut, post: 5984007, member: 32536"] It's complicated, but here's my stab at it. Balance basically means that the game is fundamentally fair and honest. If the game presents something as a choice, then that choice should be a fair choice that is equivalent to any of its alternatives. If the players make a choice, then the game shouldn't suddenly reveal that choice to be more powerful or less powerful than advertised. It means that everyone who has the same role in the game (typically "player of a PC" in D&D's case) should be treated equally well by the rules and not be unfairly punished or favored. Ultimately, balance means that everyone at the table should have the same chance to have fun. Beyond being the goal of balance, that is the very nature of balance itself. Asking for a game to be deliberately imbalance is the exact same thing as asking for the game to arbitrarily ruin someone's fun or to let one player ruin everyone else's fun. The actual way that balance is [i]implemented[/i] is a much more complex discussion, but that's how I'd put it. If you accept my definition, then you'll see why people's claims that balance is the antithesis of fun seems incoherent to me. Balance is simply the union of the ideas that the game should be equally fun and fair for everyone. If you want imbalance, that means you want people to not have fun. Balance is not some mere tool for achieving fun; they are inseparable concepts that are almost so close as to be the same thing. [/QUOTE]
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How much should 5e aim at balance?
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