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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 4726431" data-attributes="member: 29398">First off, for the baseball analogy: if the guy with the wooden bat is a much better fielder than the guy with the aluminum bat, there's yer balance.That said:There's different scales or levels of balance, each of which is its own issue:Day-to-day balance - this is the bit about whether someone is more or less effective in *this* encounter or situation, right *now*.  4e really seems to have tried to force this level of balance (in hopes that all the higher levels of balance will fall into place) and has at least somewhat succeeded; the question remains as to whether this has made things too homogenous, but that's another issue.  For my part, as long as there's some sort of built-in rotation in who is most effective (e.g. situations arise that allow each character to shine) I don't care about this balance type at all.Adventure-scale balance - this is where you look at how the party is balanced over an adventure or a part of a campaign.  Sometimes, some imbalance here is acceptable again provided there's a chance later to even it out a bit - my favourite example is a 1e Illusionist: hopeless in an adventure where the foes are all undead, but if the next adventure's against a colony of dumb Ogres there's yer balance, and the Illusionist will (or should) have a field day!  Taken over a series of adventures, however, this is probably the most important balance to watch for.Campaign-scale balance - do the characters scale up together.  Previous editions have had the warrior types excel at low levels and then give way to the blasters at high levels; to some extent I don't mind this, though by high levels the balance is more defined by possessions (who has them vs. who has lost them or who never had them) and seniority (hand in hand with possessions, usually) than ability anyway.The whole balance problem arises from overdesign, and valiant (but, I think, misguided) attempts to give players more options and choices.  The second that "character build" became part of the lexicon is the same second that balance became much more of a noticeable headache; spurred on of course by the internets...Lan-"off balance yet again"-efan</blockquote>

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