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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 5750674" data-attributes="member: 53980">That's the thing with balance though.  Until you're aware of it, you can only see its shadow.It might manifest as the wizard player saying that he doesn't enjoy playing rogues.  Now, I'll grant you, he might legitimately prefer magic users over thieves.  However, it could be an indication that the wizard player doesn't find the rogue properly balanced.  We play this game, assuming the roles of adventurers and heroes, in the pursuit of fun.  In that light, most players would obviously rather play Magnus, Master of the Mystical, than Joe the Useless Dirt Farmer.  They might not explain it in terms of balance, but I suspect that balance is nonetheless a significant factor regarding that choice.  No one wants to think halfway through the campaign, "Why did I pick the Useless Dirt Farmer class?  I feel like such an anchor in this party...".  If the classes are balanced, odds are the player won't have to.Another reason that the importance of balance is often understated is, somewhat ironically, because of fantastic DMs.  For these DMs, nothing is impossible.  They could probably make a Haven campaign great.In the first 3rd edition campaign I ever played, our DM didn't understand the xp system.  So he decided to use the 2nd edition xp system instead.  Rogues were on the 2nd edition Rogue table, Wizards used the 2nd edtition Mage table, and monsters were assigned an xp value based on their HD and special abilities.  Believe it or not, despite that there's no reason it should have, it worked.  He was (and still is) a fantastic DM.  He's taken completely cobbled together systems, which look a mess, and turned them into some of the most fun campaigns I've ever played in.  He's the kind of guy who could run a Rifts campaign with a Dragon, a Juicer, and a Regular Joe, and make it amazing.That said, not everyone can be of that caliber.  My players enjoy my games, but every time I try running fast and loose, the way that that guy does, my games crash and burn.  I'm not in his league. Balance is largely irrelevant for a fantastic DM.  They find workarounds for a system's limitations almost by instinct.  It's for the good (and not-so-good) DMs for whom balance is important.  Not everyone can run a game for a Dragon, a Juicer, and a Regular Joe, and guarantee that everyone has fun.  For DMs that are less than fantastic, balance helps greatly with these issues.  If all choices are equivalent (not the same thing as being the same), then a DM doesn't have to worry about trying to build encounters that challenge the Dragon without flattening the Regular Joe.  The system does that for him.A good system should be balanced, because designing a game that only a fantastic DM can run competently is setting the bar unrealistically high (IMO).  A balanced game aids a good DM in running a good game, and can help a not-so-good DM learn how to run a good game without throwing him in the deep end and hoping for the best.  As for the fantastic DMs, they will be fantastic regardless of what system they run.</blockquote>

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