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<blockquote data-quote="dkyle" data-source="post: 5873422" data-attributes="member: 70707">I agree 100%, which is the reason for my proposal.&nbsp; To ensure that pregen Backgrounds and Themes are functional and flavorful.&nbsp; They can be hand-designed to have a lot of stuff (both functional and flavorful) without being overpowered.Give the custom builds the same number of elements, and you'll end up with them just using all the most functional elements, and being overpowered.Again, &quot;fair and equal&quot; is exactly my goal.&nbsp; That the pregens, and custom builds, would be balanced and equal.&nbsp; That does not mean they have to be the same, or follow the same rules..&nbsp; Essentials Fighter is &quot;fair and equal&quot; to a PHB Fighter, but it is not the same.&nbsp; If the Essentials Fighter was just a PHB Fighter, but with class features and power choices pre-made, I doubt it would be anywhere near as popular.If a game is not balanced even when optimized by &quot;min/maxers&quot;, then it is a broken game.&nbsp; Having to chose between &quot;what I want to play&quot; and &quot;what makes my character effective&quot; is a bad thing.&nbsp; The more done to make as many diverse builds as possible similarly powerful, the better.I do not think that is feasible if the pregen Backgrounds and Themes are just specific examples of the custom rules.&nbsp; Either those Backgrounds and Themes are optimal (highly unlikely), in which case customization is largely superfluous, or they aren't, and anyone who chooses them is choosing to be less effective for the sake of playing what they &quot;want to play&quot;.&nbsp; If, on the other hand, the pregens have some specific advantages that custom builds can't get (but they have their own advantages), then pregen vs. custom is a real choice, and players aren't automatically giving up effectiveness when they choose a pregen.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="dkyle, post: 5873422, member: 70707"] I agree 100%, which is the reason for my proposal. To ensure that pregen Backgrounds and Themes are functional [I]and[/I] flavorful. They can be hand-designed to have a lot of stuff (both functional and flavorful) without being overpowered. Give the custom builds the same number of elements, and you'll end up with them just using all the most functional elements, and being overpowered. Again, "fair and equal" is exactly my goal. That the pregens, and custom builds, would be balanced and equal. [I]That does not mean they have to be the same, or follow the same rules.[/I]. Essentials Fighter is "fair and equal" to a PHB Fighter, but it is not the same. If the Essentials Fighter was just a PHB Fighter, but with class features and power choices pre-made, I doubt it would be anywhere near as popular. If a game is not balanced even when optimized by "min/maxers", then it is a broken game. Having to chose between "what I want to play" and "what makes my character effective" is a bad thing. The more done to make as many diverse builds as possible similarly powerful, the better. I do not think that is feasible if the pregen Backgrounds and Themes are just specific examples of the custom rules. Either those Backgrounds and Themes are optimal (highly unlikely), in which case customization is largely superfluous, or they aren't, and anyone who chooses them is choosing to be less effective for the sake of playing what they "want to play". If, on the other hand, the pregens have some specific advantages that custom builds can't get (but they have their own advantages), then pregen vs. custom is a real choice, and players aren't automatically giving up effectiveness when they choose a pregen. [/QUOTE]

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