Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf 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 Nest
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, OSR, & D&D Variants
*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!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
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, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Was AD&D1 designed for game balance?
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="Jack7" data-source="post: 5024660" data-attributes="member: 54707"><p>BG, all of the things you mentioned could be described as emphasizing the very opposite of balance, as it now is commonly defined. Then again one might argue they imposed a sort of superficial, or I prefer the term <strong>mytho-poetic balance,</strong> as applied to and on a game that was not "<em>technically balanced</em>, nor desired to be" in the modern sense. </p><p></p><p>By mythopoetic I mean the fact that the Paladin doesn't have to be the equal of the Ranger in every way. Or vice-versa. <strong>The Paladin is a Demon-killer</strong>, <em><strong>the Ranger is a Giant-killer</strong></em>. They are by nature different in function and abilities. Just as thieves are naturally different in nature and capabilities from the Wizard. They don't need cross-over capabilities, <em>their function is Mythopoetic and peculiar to their individual nature as characters and classes</em>, not Geek-interchangeable, as is common thinking where one technologically, "trades out and exchanges parts as required by the situation." In Star Trek a Geek centered world, one trades out parts and roles as needed to solve a problem. In mythopoetic situations only the Knight can slay the dragon, and only the Wizard can work the magic, and only the Thief can effectively footpad. Roles aren't interchangeable or balanced, they are unique and indispensable. And in time fantasy-games have become Geek-incentivized. Not myhtically and historically incentivized. I'm just offering this as a social and psychological evaluation of how the idea of balance has changed over the years within game design.</p><p></p><p>The Geek sees your list of items and says to himself, "see there, it's proof that the game was trying to be balanced by artificially correcting built in and obvious imbalances." (Read, Paladin slays demons, Thief steals treasure.) The Nerd sees the same items and comparing them to modern standards says, "this is the very opposite of balance, it displays the obvious and intentional imbalances in design." (Because Paladins shouldn't have powers that resemble those of thieves. And yes, I'm only using this analogy in the metaphorical sense.)</p><p></p><p>Although I might not have used the same term(s), I thought Canis answered this pretty well:</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jack7, post: 5024660, member: 54707"] BG, all of the things you mentioned could be described as emphasizing the very opposite of balance, as it now is commonly defined. Then again one might argue they imposed a sort of superficial, or I prefer the term [B]mytho-poetic balance,[/B] as applied to and on a game that was not "[I]technically balanced[/I], nor desired to be" in the modern sense. By mythopoetic I mean the fact that the Paladin doesn't have to be the equal of the Ranger in every way. Or vice-versa. [B]The Paladin is a Demon-killer[/B], [I][B]the Ranger is a Giant-killer[/B][/I]. They are by nature different in function and abilities. Just as thieves are naturally different in nature and capabilities from the Wizard. They don't need cross-over capabilities, [I]their function is Mythopoetic and peculiar to their individual nature as characters and classes[/I], not Geek-interchangeable, as is common thinking where one technologically, "trades out and exchanges parts as required by the situation." In Star Trek a Geek centered world, one trades out parts and roles as needed to solve a problem. In mythopoetic situations only the Knight can slay the dragon, and only the Wizard can work the magic, and only the Thief can effectively footpad. Roles aren't interchangeable or balanced, they are unique and indispensable. And in time fantasy-games have become Geek-incentivized. Not myhtically and historically incentivized. I'm just offering this as a social and psychological evaluation of how the idea of balance has changed over the years within game design. The Geek sees your list of items and says to himself, "see there, it's proof that the game was trying to be balanced by artificially correcting built in and obvious imbalances." (Read, Paladin slays demons, Thief steals treasure.) The Nerd sees the same items and comparing them to modern standards says, "this is the very opposite of balance, it displays the obvious and intentional imbalances in design." (Because Paladins shouldn't have powers that resemble those of thieves. And yes, I'm only using this analogy in the metaphorical sense.) Although I might not have used the same term(s), I thought Canis answered this pretty well: [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Was AD&D1 designed for game balance?
Top