Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How important is game balance to you?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ratskinner" data-source="post: 7019055" data-attributes="member: 6688937"><p>First, I think that "balance" is a very unclear term WRT D&D and most other RPGs, because its unclear in what dimension the various players or characters should be "balanced." This is why you see the classic hedge/diversion about "combat" balance vs. "spotlight" balance. Since traditional rpg mechanics tend to focus on defining the combat/physical capability of characters in quasi-simulationist terms, it makes it very difficult to "balance" character abilities like "Kill things with Axe" and "Sell Air Conditioners to Eskimos". </p><p></p><p>This was made very clear to me when I played a little indie game called Capes, (which I cannot recommend enough). The mechanics of that game operate solely in the story dimension to determine which player gets to resolve the goals and events of the scene (which are also generated by the players). The experience made it starkly clear to me that the two dimensions are nearly orthogonal. Because of that orthogonality, I don't think there is a way to develop a system that can balance the quasi-sim and story dimensions against each other.</p><p></p><p><storytime></p><p>The characters in Capes are obviously, blatantly, mechanically balanced in this regard. Same spread of numbers on every sheet. The numbers don't tell you anything about physics, and only reflect story. If one guy as "Strong as ten men" at 5 and another character has "Strong enough to rend planets" at 2....the 5 will end up having more impact on the story. (This actually ends up perfectly sensible within the supers/comicbook storylines of Capes.)</p><p></p><p>Numerically, the game is relatively straightforward, perfectly-balanced-but-luck-influenced dice-rolling game with its own strategies and tactics that operate solely the player level. Which is its own weird experience...tactical tension that can be divorced from the actual positioning of the characters, very odd. But because the mechanics are tied to the features on the character sheets (and other rules tying things back to the narrative) a story ends up being generated very quickly.</p><p></p><p>The mechanics of Capes guarantee that everyone (at least initially) has equal "spotlight time" in a way that AFAICT is impossible with quasi-sim systems. </p><p></storytime></p><p></p><p>Which is not to say that you can't balance a game for one purpose or another, but in traditional rpgs, I don't think its as important to ensure strict balance as it is to avoid rampant imbalance/brokenness. They will and should be a little sloppy in this regard.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ratskinner, post: 7019055, member: 6688937"] First, I think that "balance" is a very unclear term WRT D&D and most other RPGs, because its unclear in what dimension the various players or characters should be "balanced." This is why you see the classic hedge/diversion about "combat" balance vs. "spotlight" balance. Since traditional rpg mechanics tend to focus on defining the combat/physical capability of characters in quasi-simulationist terms, it makes it very difficult to "balance" character abilities like "Kill things with Axe" and "Sell Air Conditioners to Eskimos". This was made very clear to me when I played a little indie game called Capes, (which I cannot recommend enough). The mechanics of that game operate solely in the story dimension to determine which player gets to resolve the goals and events of the scene (which are also generated by the players). The experience made it starkly clear to me that the two dimensions are nearly orthogonal. Because of that orthogonality, I don't think there is a way to develop a system that can balance the quasi-sim and story dimensions against each other. <storytime> The characters in Capes are obviously, blatantly, mechanically balanced in this regard. Same spread of numbers on every sheet. The numbers don't tell you anything about physics, and only reflect story. If one guy as "Strong as ten men" at 5 and another character has "Strong enough to rend planets" at 2....the 5 will end up having more impact on the story. (This actually ends up perfectly sensible within the supers/comicbook storylines of Capes.) Numerically, the game is relatively straightforward, perfectly-balanced-but-luck-influenced dice-rolling game with its own strategies and tactics that operate solely the player level. Which is its own weird experience...tactical tension that can be divorced from the actual positioning of the characters, very odd. But because the mechanics are tied to the features on the character sheets (and other rules tying things back to the narrative) a story ends up being generated very quickly. The mechanics of Capes guarantee that everyone (at least initially) has equal "spotlight time" in a way that AFAICT is impossible with quasi-sim systems. </storytime> Which is not to say that you can't balance a game for one purpose or another, but in traditional rpgs, I don't think its as important to ensure strict balance as it is to avoid rampant imbalance/brokenness. They will and should be a little sloppy in this regard. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How important is game balance to you?
Top