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How much should 5e aim at balance?
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<blockquote data-quote="SKyOdin" data-source="post: 5984086" data-attributes="member: 57939"><p>That is a very good argument for completely ditching ability scores because they are a lousy mechanic that serves no purpose except to cause serious imbalance by being a significant source of trap options with clear "best" options.</p><p></p><p>I could get behind a change like that in D&D, and I have seen a number of people share that sentiment.</p><p></p><p>Ability scores are one of the places where D&D needs some significant overhaul to ditch problematic mechanics. While I recognize their historic value to D&D, and as such they probably should persist in some form or another, I don't see any point where they actually contribute to D&D's design in the last couple of editions.</p><p></p><p>EDIT:</p><p></p><p>Okay, tangent time.</p><p></p><p>Right now, I am replaying an old videogame called Final Fantasy V as part of the Final Fantasy Five Four Job Fiesta, a contest/fundraiser run on another site. FFV is a game where the player is given four characters who can swap between 22 different classes, at will. However, under the rules I am currently playing under, I can only use 4 out of those 22 classes, and those 4 are <em>randomly determined</em> based on certain criteria that make sense to the the game. I am currently 70% of the way though the game having only faced a couple of major hiccups.</p><p></p><p>While not all possible combinations in the challenge are equally powerful, they are all viable. People have demonstrated that it is possible to beat the game even with the weakest possible team configuration. This is possible because all 22 classes are roughly balanced with each other and all have solid, well-defined strengths and weaknesses. While the game's balance isn't perfect, it is pretty darn good.</p><p></p><p>So, yeah, I think the viability of a randomly generated character is a pretty good litmus test of game balance.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SKyOdin, post: 5984086, member: 57939"] That is a very good argument for completely ditching ability scores because they are a lousy mechanic that serves no purpose except to cause serious imbalance by being a significant source of trap options with clear "best" options. I could get behind a change like that in D&D, and I have seen a number of people share that sentiment. Ability scores are one of the places where D&D needs some significant overhaul to ditch problematic mechanics. While I recognize their historic value to D&D, and as such they probably should persist in some form or another, I don't see any point where they actually contribute to D&D's design in the last couple of editions. EDIT: Okay, tangent time. Right now, I am replaying an old videogame called Final Fantasy V as part of the Final Fantasy Five Four Job Fiesta, a contest/fundraiser run on another site. FFV is a game where the player is given four characters who can swap between 22 different classes, at will. However, under the rules I am currently playing under, I can only use 4 out of those 22 classes, and those 4 are [i]randomly determined[/i] based on certain criteria that make sense to the the game. I am currently 70% of the way though the game having only faced a couple of major hiccups. While not all possible combinations in the challenge are equally powerful, they are all viable. People have demonstrated that it is possible to beat the game even with the weakest possible team configuration. This is possible because all 22 classes are roughly balanced with each other and all have solid, well-defined strengths and weaknesses. While the game's balance isn't perfect, it is pretty darn good. So, yeah, I think the viability of a randomly generated character is a pretty good litmus test of game balance. [/QUOTE]
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