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<blockquote data-quote="phindar" data-source="post: 3295217" data-attributes="member: 37198">I define Power Creep as a game designer's tendency to include mechanically superior things in new books to increase their desirability to customers.&nbsp; All books, systems, companies, and editions do this to some degree; its a natural and largely unavoidable trend.&nbsp; Even if new material isn't markedly superior in a mechanical sense, the simple fact that you have that many more options in how a character is made and what he can do generally means that character will be better.&nbsp; Sometimes this is even unintentional, as a game designer may include a new class, feat or rule that isn't inherently more powerful, but it can be combined with existing material in unexpected (and sometimes unbalancing) ways.&nbsp; Power Creep on the low end isn't a bad thing.&nbsp; Generally, it just means players (GM included) have more options in how they make their characters, and systems will grow and evolve over time.&nbsp; That's pretty natural.&nbsp; I think Power Creep becomes a problem when you get to a point where the new material is invalidating what came before it, or when the new stuff is markedly better with no trade off.&nbsp; Kits from 2e are a pretty good example.&nbsp; In the late days of 2e, if you made a single-class, PHB fighter, someone might very well say, &quot;You should take the Myrmidon kit, you get a Wpn Specialization and two free proficiencies out of it, for free!&quot;&nbsp; (It wasn't precisely free, and I had a GM that at least tried to enforce some of the roleplaying restrictions of the kits, but it was still four proficiency slots that you could run off with as soon as play started.)&nbsp; 3e hasn't reached that point for me yet, but part of that might be that my group stays a year or two behind the curve on new books.&nbsp; We also tend to adopt new class and feat material, and leave alone new mechanics (like Tome of Battle), simply because we're too lazy to learn new rules.&nbsp; Every group will have its own &quot;comfort zone&quot; with Power Creep and new material.&nbsp; If you look at a game system like a car, once you've got one that gets you where you need to go its time to stop welding more stuff to it and just drive the thing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="phindar, post: 3295217, member: 37198"] I define Power Creep as a game designer's tendency to include mechanically superior things in new books to increase their desirability to customers. All books, systems, companies, and editions do this to some degree; its a natural and largely unavoidable trend. Even if new material isn't markedly superior in a mechanical sense, the simple fact that you have that many more options in how a character is made and what he can do generally means that character will be better. Sometimes this is even unintentional, as a game designer may include a new class, feat or rule that isn't inherently more powerful, but it can be combined with existing material in unexpected (and sometimes unbalancing) ways. Power Creep on the low end isn't a bad thing. Generally, it just means players (GM included) have more options in how they make their characters, and systems will grow and evolve over time. That's pretty natural. I think Power Creep becomes a problem when you get to a point where the new material is invalidating what came before it, or when the new stuff is markedly better with no trade off. Kits from 2e are a pretty good example. In the late days of 2e, if you made a single-class, PHB fighter, someone might very well say, "You should take the Myrmidon kit, you get a Wpn Specialization and two free proficiencies out of it, for free!" (It wasn't precisely free, and I had a GM that at least tried to enforce some of the roleplaying restrictions of the kits, but it was still four proficiency slots that you could run off with as soon as play started.) 3e hasn't reached that point for me yet, but part of that might be that my group stays a year or two behind the curve on new books. We also tend to adopt new class and feat material, and leave alone new mechanics (like Tome of Battle), simply because we're too lazy to learn new rules. Every group will have its own "comfort zone" with Power Creep and new material. If you look at a game system like a car, once you've got one that gets you where you need to go its time to stop welding more stuff to it and just drive the thing. [/QUOTE]

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