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Message: <blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 5173659" data-attributes="member: 3400">I can think of at least two arguments about kits and balance.1) Some kits try to balance mechanical benefits with role-played or RP-based drawbacks. The Amazon kit in Complete Fighter's Handbook, for example, gives the amazon a bonus to hit against NPCs who basically understimate women and she suffers a -3 reaction adjustment from NPCs in male-dominated societies. Given that a lot of campaigns wave off role playing mechanics like adjustment rolls, the amazon gets an unbalanced benefit, albeit a relatively minor one.3e designers resolved to not give out mechanical benefits balanced by RP restrictions to avoid falling into the same trap of setting up benefits for no real cost.2) Some kits were better than others. The Cavalier, also in Complete Fighter's, got bonuses to hit with a whole bunch of mounted weapons, immunity to fear, a bonus against mind-affecting magic, and a code of conduct to balance it (including restrictions on ranged weapons). In my estimation, the benefits clearly outweigh the drawback and the kit is far more powerful than most other kits. My solution would be call it a "Power Kit" and use that designation to move the fighter with the kit to the Paladin/Ranger XP table. Or disallow quite that many benefits.That said, with a more careful eye toward balance, I think some kits were a pretty nice addition. Al Qadim's kits stand as particularly good examples. I'd find a copy of that and use those kits as guides for balancing any more general ones you wanted to use in 2e.</blockquote>

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