Goodman Games

I'm going to take the bold stance that class balance is a bad thing!

Take several tasty classes and smush all the juice and flavor out of them until they are identical husks and you have *self-censored*. A system where everything is the same so nothing is cool or neat in any way, shape, or form.

Table top RPGs are not MMORPGs thank Gawd. There is no PvP or arena system so that we have to make sure that a level X fighter and a level X rogue and a level x Wizard are all perfectly balanced against each other.

We can revel in the sheer greatness of the 'unbalancedness' of it. Each class should be unique and have its own flavor, its own joys, and its own weaknesses. When you are playing a fighter and your party's wizard is unleashing flaming destruction... just be happy... and don't compare the damage done by each of you. When the fighter survives attacks that would turn the wizard into a pile of wizard-bits... he should cheer that he has that guy on his side. And so on...

Each character should have situations where they shine like no other class can. Spreading those opportunities around for all the players is the job of the DM... siezing those opportunities is what heroes do...

kataskicana wrote:Each character should have situations where they shine like no other class can. Spreading those opportunities around for all the players is the job of the DM... seizing those opportunities is what heroes do...

I thoroughly agree with you.

kataskicana wrote:We can revel in the sheer greatness of the 'unbalancedness' of it.

<exhale> Fweeee!!!! <noise maker spinning in left hand>

kataskicana wrote:I'm going to take the bold stance that class balance is a bad thing!

Is that stance a Daily? Or an Encounter?

(4e joke. )

kataskicana wrote:Each character should have situations where they shine like no other class can. Spreading those opportunities around for all the players is the job of the DM... siezing those opportunities is what heroes do...

I agree. Well said.

kataskicana wrote:I'm going to take the bold stance that class balance is a bad thing!

Take several tasty classes and smush all the juice and flavor out of them until they are identical husks and you have *self-censored*. A system where everything is the same so nothing is cool or neat in any way, shape, or form.

Table top RPGs are not MMORPGs thank Gawd. There is no PvP or arena system so that we have to make sure that a level X fighter and a level X rogue and a level x Wizard are all perfectly balanced against each other.

We can revel in the sheer greatness of the 'unbalancedness' of it. Each class should be unique and have its own flavor, its own joys, and its own weaknesses. When you are playing a fighter and your party's wizard is unleashing flaming destruction... just be happy... and don't compare the damage done by each of you. When the fighter survives attacks that would turn the wizard into a pile of wizard-bits... he should cheer that he has that guy on his side. And so on...

Each character should have situations where they shine like no other class can. Spreading those opportunities around for all the players is the job of the DM... siezing those opportunities is what heroes do...

Those parts I highlighted would be what I would call balance. The good kind of balance. It is complementary rather than competetive. I don't think a fighter and a wizard of the same level need to have a dead equal chance of beating each other up, but I do think that a fighter and a wizard of the same level should be able to adventure together and face challenges together and both bring needed skills to the table and do things that makes their team stronger. That to me is balance.