NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arrowhawk" data-source="post: 5783272" data-attributes="member: 6679551">I'm so late to this party, it pains me. I haven't had the chance to read every post, but I wanted to respond to this one.    In theory, what you say is true.  Oddly enough, it was this thought process that caused Ben Franklin to argue that we have AC voltage instead of DC coming out of our wall circuits.However, there is a big problem with this perspective:How do we know when the game is balanced?We don't.  There's no way to prove it.  What may feel balanced in one setting may feel completely unbalanced in another.   Two rational people may completely disagree on what is balanced and even worse, they may disagree on whether that "balance" is good or bad. Balance is the wrong word.  Why?  Because it has no meaning in a PnP game like D&D.   Balance implies you can put two things on a scale and determine if they reach an equilibrium.   You can't do that with an RPG...it's nonsensical.   The real word word you want is "fairness."   People want things to be fair.  But what happens when we use that word?  Everyone instinctively knows that fairness is subject.  We know we can't argue something isn't fair because we sound like we're whining or crying.  But if we say things aren't "balanced" then  it sounds like we're making an objective assessment....when nothing could be further from the truth.  Balance is irrelevant.  The what an RPG must address are two separate but equally important issues that obviate the need to talk about balance:1)  Classes  must have a nontrivial purpose.  The game must provide/allow for meaningful challenges that require the use of one class or another.   If a party has a Rogue, the DM can use locks and traps.  If the party has a Fighter, the DM can use fights and physical obsticals.  If the party has  Ranger, then the DM can require someone to track something.Where the problem arises is when a class is overlapped by the presence of another class.  If a Wizard can overcome all the obstacles without the help of a Fighter, then the game has a problem.  If a Factotum results in the Bard, Rogue, and Ranger being useless in a party, the game has a problem.2)  Playability.  I made this word up.  It essentially means the game must be manageable for the players and the DM.   If one character has a has an AC of 30 and everyone else has an AC of 15, then the game becomes unwieldy.  Any threat that posses moderate risk to one group, will be completely trivial to the other.  Any threat challenges the AC 30, will be lethal to the AC 15 group.   So an RPG has to keep everyone in the same power band.  You can't have one character destroying planets while the others can't chop down a tree.This word essentially addresses the Risk vs Reward concept in all games. So "balance" is a false god.  It doesn't exist.  It's a notion that is incorrectly applied to RPG's and results in a lot of bad decisions and misconceptions about the game.   Purpose and Playability are, imo, the things that should be addressed.my .02.</blockquote>

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