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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 5494858" data-attributes="member: 177">I find both are true.  And I don't find it inobvious.The system is not balanced.  There's a cap on how much power a character can have with a given number of points, but the system does little or nothing to ensure the various characters built with the same number of points will be of anything like equivalent effectiveness.But the system is by no means the only place balance can be found.  If everyone builds along the same optimization lines, the result will probably be mostly balanced characters, even though the system didn't impose that upon them.  People can give balance where the rules don't.The system does not enforce patterns - that doesn't mean the players won't create their own. No.  It is in large part my definition of what I mean by the system being balanced.  If the power balance between characters is largely in the hands of the players (by all building in the same direction) and/or GM (by building adventures to make sure spotlight is shared), then it by definition isn't in the system itself.Maybe your definition of balance is different than mine. Mind you, my saying "the system isn't balanced" is by no means my finding a major flaw with it.  I've never done a survey, but I expect most systems are poorly balanced, or not really balanced at all.  That doesn't mean you can't have fun with it - it just means a bit more work for the GM to watch things.I'm running classic Deadlands now, and I'd call it even less balanced than GURPS, in that it doesn't even have that same kind of power cap from having a flat number of points to spend, and stat generation is highly randomized.  But my players and I are having a fine time.  I do, however, have to spend a lot more time thinking about my adventure design, to make sure that everyone's going to be able to contribute, than I would with 4e, or even 3e D&D.You seem to be making perfect the enemy of good, here, trying to say that because you can build disfunctional characters in both, they are similarly balanced.  I find that to be an oversimplification.  D&D (I'm talking 4e here, btw) isn't perfectly balanced as a system, no.  But the system is distinctly and deliberately designed to enforce a significant level of balance, where GURPS simply lacks structures that serve the same functions.</blockquote>

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