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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 6598169" data-attributes="member: 996">Since whether a mechanic and it's 'fluff' associate or can be pretty subjective, it's something that need only be done with powers actually chosen.&nbsp; And, it's not a 'house rule' - it's not a rule at all, the descriptions aren't rule text, and are subject to change or 're-skinning.'&nbsp; If you like a power, but don't like the description, you can just change the description to suit.&nbsp; Whether it's to fit a character concept, or to 'associate' it.&nbsp;That version of 'symmetry' is actually an extreme case of imbalance: there's no choice at all.&nbsp; A balanced game maximizes choice by aiming at making each choice both meaningful viable&nbsp; (that doesn't necessarily mean equal, and /can't/ mean identical).&nbsp; The more choices that are non-viable, the worse balance is.&nbsp; The fewer choices you have, the worse balance is.&nbsp; It become a delicate balancing act.&nbsp; Adding choices is good, as long as they're viable, but each time you add choices to a complex system there might be unintended synergies, and you can end up with lots of choices, but most of them obviated by a few 'combos' - viable choices suddenly turned non-viable.&nbsp; 'Meaningful' is much more subjective, but worth considering.&nbsp; A clear mechanical difference between two classes, for instance, might not be meaningful (if it ends up consistently delivering the same result, for instance, or if one of the two isn't viable), while a conceptual or RP difference might be, even in the absence of any mechanical difference.OTOH, symmetry can exist in a game without eliminating choice.&nbsp; Take character classes.&nbsp; If you can choose any class you want, but can choose only one class, and the class determines your HD, skills, proficiencies, spell list, etc, then, there's some symmetry there - yet each class choice could be quite different, hopefully meaningfully so.&nbsp; Each player having the same number of picks from the same set of choices is another instance of symmetry, that isn't necessarily incompatible with balance, if enough of the choices are viable &amp; meaningful.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 6598169, member: 996"] Since whether a mechanic and it's 'fluff' associate or can be pretty subjective, it's something that need only be done with powers actually chosen. And, it's not a 'house rule' - it's not a rule at all, the descriptions aren't rule text, and are subject to change or 're-skinning.' If you like a power, but don't like the description, you can just change the description to suit. Whether it's to fit a character concept, or to 'associate' it. That version of 'symmetry' is actually an extreme case of imbalance: there's no choice at all. A balanced game maximizes choice by aiming at making each choice both meaningful viable (that doesn't necessarily mean equal, and /can't/ mean identical). The more choices that are non-viable, the worse balance is. The fewer choices you have, the worse balance is. It become a delicate balancing act. Adding choices is good, as long as they're viable, but each time you add choices to a complex system there might be unintended synergies, and you can end up with lots of choices, but most of them obviated by a few 'combos' - viable choices suddenly turned non-viable. 'Meaningful' is much more subjective, but worth considering. A clear mechanical difference between two classes, for instance, might not be meaningful (if it ends up consistently delivering the same result, for instance, or if one of the two isn't viable), while a conceptual or RP difference might be, even in the absence of any mechanical difference. OTOH, symmetry can exist in a game without eliminating choice. Take character classes. If you can choose any class you want, but can choose only one class, and the class determines your HD, skills, proficiencies, spell list, etc, then, there's some symmetry there - yet each class choice could be quite different, hopefully meaningfully so. Each player having the same number of picks from the same set of choices is another instance of symmetry, that isn't necessarily incompatible with balance, if enough of the choices are viable & meaningful. [/QUOTE]

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