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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 4732255" data-attributes="member: 7635">Ok, pithy opening comment aside...There is three different types of balance in an RPG.All Sides Equal: At the end of the day, each character has different means to a goal, but always the same end. A lot of point-buy games try this; you can spend points on magic, combat, skills, or whatever, but you still have the same amount of points and (theoretically) they should all even out in the end (so that a mage can't use his magic to replicate combat or skill-based PCs, for example). Balance over Time: Some characters begin weak (wizards, clerics, humans), while others start strong (fighters, thieves, demi-humans), but over the course of the game, the two rolls switch. In theory, they are balanced out over the course of the campaign. However, I think BoT has been moved away from as a game-balance design goal because it breaks down on so many levels; games that end before the balance switch, classes that never "weaken" or "strengthen" properly, character death and switching, all can play havoc in balancing an RPG by running the Long Game. Niche-Protection: Here is the holy-grail of RPG design. All classes (or races, or whatever) fills a unique niche (nuker, tank, skillmonkey, healer) and no other class tramples it (while a skillmonkey can fight, he'll never beat a tank in fighting. A nuker can do great damage, but is a glass-cannon. A healer is a good tank, but no damage output, and no one can replicate the skill choices of a skillmonkey). Sadly, this kind of balance can never be replicated in an open system (something that allows add-ons or supplements) since it requires strict balance and adherence to principles to keep the nuker weak enough, the tank on top in combat, the healer from being a nuker as well, and the casters from overtaking the skillmonkey with cheap magic). D&D tried all of these. None have worked well for everyone. No one can even agree on which is the best route to pursue. However, if you look at the industry as a whole, it seems All Side Equal seems to be the most popular (one need only look at GURPS, Storyteller, Saga and 4e to see that trend in action). Personally, I much prefer that to the other tried systems.</blockquote>

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