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<blockquote data-quote="Eric Hughes" data-source="post: 6257944" data-attributes="member: 6774769">One of this morning's posters stated that what he found fun was the &quot;Soft Things&quot;.&nbsp; Banter, friendship, comradely, characterization and story.&nbsp; In particular I have to say that a rules set that does not get in the way of these idea's is grand.One thing that I find so interesting is that this comment not only parallels my opinion of fun, but it parallels the design goals of the system that I currently exclusively play.&nbsp; It arose out of the heyday of the 3.5 living games, and was designed to be a contrast to the quirks of that system.&nbsp; Namely complexity, and the ease with which 3.5 can be Min-Maxed.&nbsp; (Mostly due to the plethora of options that where developed after the original design of the system.)One thing I don't like is the &quot;Min Max arms race&quot;.&nbsp; What I am referring to the that one player out of 20 that feels the sole reason to play a RPG is to build the &quot;Ultimate PC&quot; and break the system.&nbsp; This causes the GM to have to ramp up the encounters to match the toughest PC at the table.&nbsp; Eventually, the other players have to sacrifice character development for combat effectiveness.&nbsp; Min Maxing therefore becomes a necessity for survival.&nbsp; Saddly, this doe not make the Ultimate PC builder happy, because what he want is domination of the encounter, not effectiveness.&nbsp; So the cycle escalates.&nbsp; The 3.5/Pathfinder engine disproporsanitely rewards this kind of behavior on the part of the min-maxer by publishing an endless stream of poorly play tested 'crunch'.Don't get me wrong.&nbsp; There are plenty of people that enjoy the nearly limitless options the 3.5 and PFS engine offer.&nbsp; More power to that crowd.&nbsp; If your gaming group doesn't have a Min-Maxer at your table 3.5/PFS is a fine game to play.&nbsp; But the bigger your gaming group, the more likely you are to have &quot;that one guy&quot; who ruins the experience for everyone.Wouldn't be nice to play a system where the mechanics actually punish Min-Maxing and reward the character development of the &quot;Average PC?&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Eric Hughes, post: 6257944, member: 6774769"] One of this morning's posters stated that what he found fun was the "Soft Things". Banter, friendship, comradely, characterization and story. In particular I have to say that a rules set that does not get in the way of these idea's is grand. One thing that I find so interesting is that this comment not only parallels my opinion of fun, but it parallels the design goals of the system that I currently exclusively play. It arose out of the heyday of the 3.5 living games, and was designed to be a contrast to the quirks of that system. Namely complexity, and the ease with which 3.5 can be Min-Maxed. (Mostly due to the plethora of options that where developed after the original design of the system.) One thing I don't like is the "Min Max arms race". What I am referring to the that one player out of 20 that feels the sole reason to play a RPG is to build the "Ultimate PC" and break the system. This causes the GM to have to ramp up the encounters to match the toughest PC at the table. Eventually, the other players have to sacrifice character development for combat effectiveness. Min Maxing therefore becomes a necessity for survival. Saddly, this doe not make the Ultimate PC builder happy, because what he want is domination of the encounter, not effectiveness. So the cycle escalates. The 3.5/Pathfinder engine disproporsanitely rewards this kind of behavior on the part of the min-maxer by publishing an endless stream of poorly play tested 'crunch'. Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of people that enjoy the nearly limitless options the 3.5 and PFS engine offer. More power to that crowd. If your gaming group doesn't have a Min-Maxer at your table 3.5/PFS is a fine game to play. But the bigger your gaming group, the more likely you are to have "that one guy" who ruins the experience for everyone. Wouldn't be nice to play a system where the mechanics actually punish Min-Maxing and reward the character development of the "Average PC?" [/QUOTE]

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