Problems with Warptime and Shattertime

By Nimas, in Black Crusade

Posted at

MILLANDSON said:

Why do games have to be balanced? Of all games, RPGs are the ones that don't need to be balanced, because it's about making a story - not everyone in any book I've read has comparable abilities, and the idea of everyone being entirely equal, to me, just sounds boring. Just because a character can be more powerful mechanically doesn't mean that they will actually be the most powerful, as a lot comes down to character/player personality, and also doesn't mean that everyone will only play them because they're "better", because if that's not the character I want to play, why would I play them?

Some of the most fun games I've ever played in were with characters that were notably less powerful than the other characters, but that didn't stop them from being great characters to play.

So very true!

Posted at

MILLANDSON said:

Nimas said:

@Kasatka

And should they NOT? All fluff points to psykers being blatantly more cool and powerful then mere mortals.

The thing is, this *is* a game, and in games you want it to be as balanced as possible where possible. Otherwise there would be little incentive to play any of the other types of characters.

Why do games have to be balanced? Of all games, RPGs are the ones that don't need to be balanced, because it's about making a story - not everyone in any book I've read has comparable abilities, and the idea of everyone being entirely equal, to me, just sounds boring. Just because a character can be more powerful mechanically doesn't mean that they will actually be the most powerful, as a lot comes down to character/player personality, and also doesn't mean that everyone will only play them because they're "better", because if that's not the character I want to play, why would I play them?

Some of the most fun games I've ever played in were with characters that were notably less powerful than the other characters, but that didn't stop them from being great characters to play.

This i generally true, however, it is hard to enjoy being the "sneaky little thief", when another player has a character that is a better thief than yours, and is better at anything. Basicly, you have nothing you do better, so why would you do anything instead of this other character. So your idea of being a thief falls on its ass.
Yes, I know, that you can still play this sneaky guy, but you are most likely going to get a backroll if someone is better than you at everything, and few people find that fun, I know I dont. Imbalance can interrupt a story, but having a balanced game will not interrupt the story, so an RPG should always strive to be balanced, even if it is not always 100% neccesary.

Posted at

Sometimes, it's okay playing a subpar character, especially if you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve in the campaign.

Sometimes, however, you find out a choice is subpar mid-game, and find yourself outperformed in whatever area you wanted to excel at. This is not funny at all. Now, the more the system is balanced, and the more different character choices are made valid by the rules, the less often such a thing occurs. Hence, balance is good.