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<blockquote data-quote="Wombat" data-source="post: 3493976" data-attributes="member: 8447">After 30 years of gaming, I have come to realize that &quot;balance&quot; is as much of a fantasy as, well, dragons...Consider your categories:Long-term balancing: Are the long-term powers of equal aplicability to all scenarios or needs?&nbsp; Does Fly 3/day equal Fireball 3/day?&nbsp; If you are out in the wilds, possibly; underground, probably not.&nbsp; When creatures encountered are fliers or immune to fire, only in differing amounts.Explicit per encounter balancing: This is impossible to calculate.&nbsp; Just because two characters have the same number of powers (and level of powers) available for any given encounter, the chances of those powers seeing the same amount of use is very small.&nbsp; Again, it depends massively on your setting, the opponents encountered, and per-encounter limitations placed on the powers (anti-magic fields, resistance to power, inability to use a specific power in a specific locale/environment, non-combat factors).Implicit per encounter balancing: See above.Class-variable balancing: In a city, a bard is going to be tremendously useful while a barbarian is not -- if the campaign is set in a city, the barbarian is hosed; conversely, if the campaign is set in the open wilderness, the bard loses many of his powers.&nbsp; Setting comes massively into play here.Multiple balancing: This is much closer to the reality of gaming.&nbsp; Each person's saga will be different and you want to make each potential category at least somewhat attractive, if not 100% balanced (a near impossibility).Roleplaying balancing: In the types of games I favour, roleplaying factors are very, very important, especially as so little of our games (under pretty much any system, including D&amp;D) is devoted to combat.&nbsp; Still, for most campaigns such roleplaying balances are all but ingored.You can come up with &quot;generic balance&quot;, but it all goes out the window when the tire hits the pavement -- each campaign is going to emphasize different aspects of the game rules, whether this be in terms of setting, opponents, magic available, usefulness of skills, or whathaveyou.&nbsp; In the end, balance is an interesting concept, but rarely actually works.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wombat, post: 3493976, member: 8447"] After 30 years of gaming, I have come to realize that "balance" is as much of a fantasy as, well, dragons... Consider your categories: Long-term balancing: Are the long-term powers of equal aplicability to all scenarios or needs? Does Fly 3/day equal Fireball 3/day? If you are out in the wilds, possibly; underground, probably not. When creatures encountered are fliers or immune to fire, only in differing amounts. Explicit per encounter balancing: This is [I]impossible[/I] to calculate. Just because two characters have the same number of powers (and level of powers) available for any given encounter, the chances of those powers seeing the same amount of use is very small. Again, it depends massively on your setting, the opponents encountered, and per-encounter limitations placed on the powers (anti-magic fields, resistance to power, inability to use a specific power in a specific locale/environment, non-combat factors). Implicit per encounter balancing: See above. Class-variable balancing: In a city, a bard is going to be tremendously useful while a barbarian is not -- if the campaign is set in a city, the barbarian is hosed; conversely, if the campaign is set in the open wilderness, the bard loses many of his powers. Setting comes massively into play here. Multiple balancing: This is much closer to the reality of gaming. Each person's saga will be different and you want to make each potential category at least somewhat attractive, if not 100% balanced (a near impossibility). Roleplaying balancing: In the types of games I favour, roleplaying factors are very, very important, especially as so little of our games (under pretty much any system, including D&D) is devoted to combat. Still, for most campaigns such roleplaying balances are all but ingored. You can come up with "generic balance", but it all goes out the window when the tire hits the pavement -- each campaign is going to emphasize different aspects of the game rules, whether this be in terms of setting, opponents, magic available, usefulness of skills, or whathaveyou. In the end, balance is an interesting concept, but rarely actually works. [/QUOTE]

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