A more Consistent D&D

[Jeph]

And why are weapon sizes different from creature sizes?

 

[ichabod]

Some things that have been mentioned here as being non-linear or too complicated are really part of an unaboidable part of complex game design. Whenever you have a game with lots of different effects interacting with each other in differnt situations, it becomes pretty much impossible to predict power level. You see it in rpgs and in ccgs. In one you have lots of skills/spells/other abilities interacting, in the other you have lots of cards interacting. What you find is that there isn't just power in the abilities, but ther is also power in the interaction of the abilities with other abilities and with the situation. This throws any linear solution out the window. Game balance then becomes a question of playtesting things in different situations. You may have guidelines (like the magic item creation guidelins in 3E), but those are mainly useful in giving you a starting point for playtesting or comparison with already playtested combinations of effect.