NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 5028016" data-attributes="member: 18280">That's definitely not Gygaxian balance.Here's my stab at Gygaxian balance defined:Game balance is the result of player choices and player skill interacting with the milieu. Game balance means that every class or skill is substantially more powerful or useful than another, within a specific range of situations, so that all players have a role to play.  Balance is achieved by the players choosing from among their options to have strong abilities in a variety of situations.  Balance is important as regards at least the following points: 1.  Player options are balanced through the course of a campaign.  This means that players should have the chance to create multiple characters, and to trade low-survival start-up options for the potential of great reward later. 2.  Related to the above, player skill should be rewarded.  If a player can opt for a harder starting option, it is desireable to reward that player with greater ability with success.  A system that forces all players to play characters with equal abilities is unbalanced, because it seeks to negate player skill. 3.  Balance of the campaign milieu (i.e., so-called "Gygaxian naturalism") trumps character balance or encounter balance.  This is necessary to allow the players context for game decisions. 4.  It is up to the players to determine what encounters they should engage in, and up to the players to determine how they should engage in them.  It is not only okay, but appropriate, though, for the DM to use traps or tricks to cause unwary players to face tougher challenges (including challenges that are far beyond thier ability to defeat). 5.  Challenges (monsters and problems) should be appropriate for the characters facing them only in the event that the DM imposes the challenges (as in a tournament setting); otherwise the players should have the option of trying harder encounters for greater rewards.  It is appropriate for players to be able to face challenges beyond those that the DM feels they can beat, and reap greater rewards if they have managed to devise a plan to do so. 6.  The DM must provide opportunities, but not guarantees.  Guarantees are unbalanced because they negate player choice and/or player skill. Failure to achieve the above principles fails to create a balanced playing experience.RC</blockquote>

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