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<blockquote data-quote="Swarmkeeper" data-source="post: 9094084" data-attributes="member: 6921763">I find &quot;spotlight balance&quot; to work perfectly fine at our 5e table and, I'd be willing to guess, at other tables as well.&nbsp; It has nothing to do with the system, however, and everything to do with the social contract.&nbsp; If you have a group of players who are playing their PCs as a cohesive party and a DM and players who are making sure everyone has a chance to contribute, it all works out.&nbsp; If a fellow party member happens to be more powerful in combat because... magic... then I'm cheering them on - our party is that much more powerful and we're all sharing in the XP and loot anyway.&nbsp; If that same player is dominating every pillar of play and not finding ways to let others contribute, we have a different problem on our hands.I guess, as I re-read what we've both written, perhaps we agree more than it might seem at first.&nbsp; I find &quot;balance&quot; on its own to be a fruitless goal.&nbsp; And what you say about magic holds true, IMO, as it makes &quot;balance&quot; really hard to achieve.&nbsp; Sharing the spotlight, on the other hand, is very much a worthy and attainable goal, regardless of any imbalance in powers.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Swarmkeeper, post: 9094084, member: 6921763"] I find "spotlight balance" to work perfectly fine at our 5e table and, I'd be willing to guess, at other tables as well. It has nothing to do with the system, however, and everything to do with the social contract. If you have a group of players who are playing their PCs as a cohesive party and a DM and players who are making sure everyone has a chance to contribute, it all works out. If a fellow party member happens to be more powerful in combat because... magic... then I'm cheering them on - our party is that much more powerful and we're all sharing in the XP and loot anyway. If that same player is dominating every pillar of play and not finding ways to let others contribute, we have a different problem on our hands. I guess, as I re-read what we've both written, perhaps we agree more than it might seem at first. I find "balance" on its own to be a fruitless goal. And what you say about magic holds true, IMO, as it makes "balance" really hard to achieve. Sharing the spotlight, on the other hand, is very much a worthy and attainable goal, regardless of any imbalance in powers. [/QUOTE]

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