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<blockquote data-quote="Moonstone Spider" data-source="post: 3199976" data-attributes="member: 40079">I have to disagree.&nbsp; Debates on the balance of DnD pale next to the frothing rage over balance you'll usually find in Shadowrun forums, for instance.&nbsp; Many people cite the terrible lack of balance in RIFTS as a reason not to play.&nbsp; Balance is universal to the gamist mindset, to get slightly forgy for a moment.Balance is important in that no one option should be &quot;the one true way.&quot;&nbsp; Take the Longsword Problem mentioned earlier, withlongswords so superior to every other weapon the game really did turn into roll-play vs. role-play, if your role wasn't to use a longsword you were going to have lousy rolls and probably die against an encounter designed for a longsword wielder.&nbsp; An extra point or two here and there doesn't matter, but 44% more damage is too huge to to affect play hugely.And in a game like DnD, a very subpar build is probably going to die and maybe take the rest of the party with it.&nbsp; The wizard needs the fighter to keep that monster back while he casts, and the cleric needs the rogue to be able to disarm the trap, and the fighter needs the cleric to be able to heal him from protecting the wizard.&nbsp; If one of them is effectively unable to perform that job because of a bad build, the chain is broken and everybody may die.Incidentally game with perfect and unbreakable balance has been written.&nbsp; It's called Wushu and it's only about two pages long.&nbsp; In it you could have one player create Thor, might god of thunder, and the other play Ash Ketchum and have them perfectly balanced and equally useful in combat (Or any other situation but it's a combat oriented game).&nbsp; It's a rather clever game although the lack of crunch makes it seem. . . simplistic.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Moonstone Spider, post: 3199976, member: 40079"] I have to disagree. Debates on the balance of DnD pale next to the frothing rage over balance you'll usually find in Shadowrun forums, for instance. Many people cite the terrible lack of balance in RIFTS as a reason not to play. Balance is universal to the gamist mindset, to get slightly forgy for a moment. Balance is important in that no one option should be "the one true way." Take the Longsword Problem mentioned earlier, withlongswords so superior to every other weapon the game really did turn into roll-play vs. role-play, if your role wasn't to use a longsword you were going to have lousy rolls and probably die against an encounter designed for a longsword wielder. An extra point or two here and there doesn't matter, but 44% more damage is too huge to to affect play hugely. And in a game like DnD, a very subpar build is probably going to die and maybe take the rest of the party with it. The wizard needs the fighter to keep that monster back while he casts, and the cleric needs the rogue to be able to disarm the trap, and the fighter needs the cleric to be able to heal him from protecting the wizard. If one of them is effectively unable to perform that job because of a bad build, the chain is broken and everybody may die. Incidentally game with perfect and unbreakable balance has been written. It's called Wushu and it's only about two pages long. In it you could have one player create Thor, might god of thunder, and the other play Ash Ketchum and have them perfectly balanced and equally useful in combat (Or any other situation but it's a combat oriented game). It's a rather clever game although the lack of crunch makes it seem. . . simplistic. [/QUOTE]

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