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<blockquote data-quote="Alaxk Knight of Galt" data-source="post: 5819596" data-attributes="member: 4129">Someone cover Oni for me, this post strikes at the heart of the problem.When combat consumes most of the game time, PCs need to have equivalent combat output.&nbsp; When combat consumes a third of the playtime (split equally between Combat, Roleplaying, and Exploration), PCs do not need to have equivalent combat output.&nbsp; A balanced game will give the Roleplayers, the Explorers, and the Fighters a chance to shine at their choosen area of expertise.The rules need to support this though.&nbsp; You can't have every feat, spell, theme, prestige class, etc be tailored towards combat.&nbsp; These need to be split between the three pillars.It's perfectly okay for a DM to say &quot;the game will have a heavy combat focus&quot; (once upon a time, this was called a Hack and Slash game).&nbsp; Likewise, a DM can inform players that this will be a heavy social or exploration game.&nbsp; The game should be able to cater to different playstyles.&nbsp; A DM should inform the party of this so that the players can make informed choices.It's amazing what defining the Pillars does for game design (at the WotC level and at a DM / Game level).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Alaxk Knight of Galt, post: 5819596, member: 4129"] Someone cover Oni for me, this post strikes at the heart of the problem. When combat consumes most of the game time, PCs need to have equivalent combat output. When combat consumes a third of the playtime (split equally between Combat, Roleplaying, and Exploration), PCs do not need to have equivalent combat output. A balanced game will give the Roleplayers, the Explorers, and the Fighters a chance to shine at their choosen area of expertise. The rules need to support this though. You can't have every feat, spell, theme, prestige class, etc be tailored towards combat. These need to be split between the three pillars. It's perfectly okay for a DM to say "the game will have a heavy combat focus" (once upon a time, this was called a Hack and Slash game). Likewise, a DM can inform players that this will be a heavy social or exploration game. The game should be able to cater to different playstyles. A DM should inform the party of this so that the players can make informed choices. It's amazing what defining the Pillars does for game design (at the WotC level and at a DM / Game level). [/QUOTE]

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