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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JESawyer" data-source="post: 223765" data-attributes="member: 4329">* Linear scaling produces wide gaps in potential minimums and maximums for skill ranks, saving throws, and similar statistics at high levels.  As a CRPG designer, it makes it difficult for me to engineer encounters with "reasonable" DCs for a virtually unlimited array of characters at N level.  At high levels, the die roll becomes less and less significant; the bonus dominates the outcome.  Some people view this as a good thing, but it often scares me.  I dislike designing encounters where a specialist will be find any task trivial and any non-specialist may find the same task impossible.  It's great for a PnP DM who doesn't use modules and knows every detail about his or her PCs, but...Why it doesn't matter: I normally don't play or run in high-level campaigns.* Armor class still represents not getting hit rather than absorbing damage.  I have always liked a trade-off between wearing armor to absorb damage and NOT wearing armor to avoid being hit.  I know 3E kinda-sorta makes a trade off through the use of armor types forcing a max dex bonus to AC restriction, but it still seems rather archaic and unnecessary.Why it doesn't matter: At least it's familiar.* Charisma is still a junk stat for many characters, and many characters can "get away" with min-maxing on one or two stats.  Though most people probably wouldn't agree, I would rather see wisdom fly away, replace it with perception, and put willpower-related stuff on charisma with general wisdom carried by intelligence.  If d20 were actually d100, I would rather have two stats be the basis for a skill -- or occasionally the same stat twice.  That might make "junk stats" less exploitable.Why it doesn't matter: I roleplay and don't min-max much.  What other people do is their business.* It's not so much a problem with D&D as magic systems in general.  Typically, you have spells that become noticeably more powerful as you rise in level vs. spells that cause an absolute state to come into existence.  E.g. Magic Missile grants additional missiles as you rise in level.  Hypnotism doesn't scale at all; either it works or it doen't, and your level doesn't play into the equation.  It would be nice if spells either all increased in usefulness or none of them increased in usefulness.  A tall order, I guess.Why it doesn't matter: It's not like there's a clear and obvious solution to the problem.* I think Prestige Classes cause a lot of balance problems, and I don't think I need to explain why.  Just the same ol' arguments -- additional "plug" bonuses at 1st level in multiple classes + ignoring multiclassing XP penalties + general combination exploits = a lot of potential trouble.  Also, I've never had a very good feeling for what, EXACTLY, a prestige class is -- organizational or occupational.Why it doesn't matter: Do I use prestige classes in my game?  Rarely, and I've never had one of my characters strive for a prestige class.* Class front loading -- BLAH, BLAH, SAME THING YOU'VE HEARD A THOUSAND TIMES.* Ranger class -- BLAH X10</blockquote>

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