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Message: <blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 6198985" data-attributes="member: 3400">No, I think the halfling barbarian example was a good one because it got right to the crux of the matter for me - there are differences effects from the choices you make in many RPGs and that's OK even if it means that some options you may want to pursue aren't as good as others by some particular metric.Making edit above... Character concepts that aren't optimal aren't "bad" as long as that's the game you're willing to play. You may not do as much damage with melee weapons as the human barbarian when you're a halfling. So what? Play to your character's strengths, be prepared to fall a little short with the same build and same tactics, or invest more to compensate over the long term. Nothing's wrong with accepting any of those outcomes. There are plenty of tables of players who will accept any of those 3 outcomes without requiring that the system put every character on an even footing even when the verisimilitude is a little hinky.For me, the system is subordinate to the players, yes. We use it to make a best fit to what the player is trying to accomplish whether there's a specific rule for it or not. And I'm willing to deviate from the rules to handle an action or choice that we find is reasonable. But I also like that the system already presents some reasonable ways of handling different choices such as character race and so I am happy to apply them.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say that 3e/PF probably does more of a balancing act between how weak a halfling should be compared to a fully grown human and rates them higher than they should be almost certainly for playability. So I'm OK with doing that, but appreciate the differences they do model.Well, that's one kind of balance, but I don't think it's the whole enchilada. In fact, I don't even consider it the most important kind of balance out there.</blockquote>

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