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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steenan" data-source="post: 6344521" data-attributes="member: 23240">I believe all games should be very balanced. But what the "balance" means depends on the game in question.If a game mainly focuses on PCs facing and overcoming challenges, all characters should be balanced in how well they overcome these challenges. If different kinds of challenges are present, a character may be better at some of them and worse at others, but on average should be as useful as any other.That means that two characters may be balanced or not depending on what challenges are present. If the game does not communicate clearly how challenges should be presented (or the GM decides to ignore it), balance may be destroyed. And if a game is to be balanced for any mix of challenges - thus giving the GM more freedom in building adventures - each character must be useful in every kind of challenge. It is doable, but requires a lot of skill in the design to avoid a feeling of sameness.Of course, efficiency in overcoming challenges is not the only measure of balance. If a game focuses on personal, moral choices and relationships, then character "power" does not matter much. What is important - and has to be balanced - is being connected with other PCs and NPCs, being able to make meaningful choices and have them affect the situation. Here, balance is expressed less in numbers and more in rules to ensure that each player isn't denied their creative input.Another thing that may be balanced is the spotlight time and ability to express the character. For example, one character may have lower numbers than another, but the game introduces interesting complications on failed rolls instead of blocking PC's attempts. Thanks to that, the weaker characters has a lot of fun mishaps and complications, while the stronger one succeeds and gets what they want, but not much else happens. Both have opportunities to roleplay what the players like: one a flawless victory, the other various misadventures they live through by crazy luck and improvisation.In other words, to be able to balance a game, a designer needs to have a clear picture of what the game is about and how it works in play. Otherwise, they may end up with a completely inappropriate kind of balance that ruins players' fun.</blockquote>

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