Re: Game balance

From: David Cake <dave_at_...>
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 17:01:37 +0800

>
>> Not being able to run group fights or magic contests, because
>> the disparity of abilities of your players is too large for then
>> to take on the same opponents, is not.
>
>There are two separate mechanisms that allow a lower rated character
>to take part in a contest with a higher rated character versus an
>equally higher rated opposition (or an even higher rated opposition).
>
>1 - the low rated character can lend APs to the higher rated
>character.
>2 - the low rated character can attempt to augment the higher rated
>character.

        And both are fine mechanism for that role. Neither, however, offer a great deal of long term fun for a player if thats what you do every session, I suspect. In both cases, real effect on the contest is relatively marginal compared to successfully acting in your own right.

>
>Expecting every character to be able to directly act against every
>opponent in every contest is not, IMO, reasonable. But most of the
>time, all characters should be able to take part using the above
>mentioned support mechanisms.
>
>I understand that, in part, I have taken your quote out of context
>but, in the heat of your argument on sorcery being unbalanced in
>relationship to theism, you make an unjustified sweeping
>generalisation.

        Its not a sweeping generalisation, its a typical case. Yes, there will be situations where particular characters are either the focus or particularly useless. Thats good.

        Its when those situations are the default, standard, ones that it becomes a problem. Its good when your characters have different skills and shine in different situations. Its bad when, in situations that are supposed to be typical threats for the whole party to overcome, disparities in power levels force them to be focussed on one or two.

        Its bad, for example, if you have a whole party that are supposed to be competent warriors, but one of them is so much better than the others that there is no point in others taking a direct part in the contest. Its bad when your character that is supposed to be a magic specialist has an ability level so much lower than the average that they can not effectively participate in contests of magic, for example - the likely result of long term play of a sorcerer PC.

        Game balance is about maintaining a rough equilibrium, which we can cheerfully depart from for interesting narrative and dramatic effect. But the dramatic effect is lost (along with much of the enjoyment of the campaign, most likely), if the equilibrium is always wrong.

	Cheers
		David

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