The two most important things to a player are customization (being able to make the character you want and do the things during gameplay that you want) and naturalism (feeling that there is an internal logic to the game and that abilities match genre-appropriate expectations of 'realism'). Nor are most players keeping score in terms of how effective their characters are or how much time they get in the spotlight.Īnd, of course, the actual balance between two player characters in an actual campaign is determined by so many factors other than the rules on the page that were used to create that character, that trying to micromanage those rules is pointless. A player is typically not comparing his character to the others, he's typically comparing it to an ideal in his head. I'm sure your miles may vary, and it may be an issue for you but it's not for me and the many people that I deal with. This attitude promotes the selection of feats and backgrounds that only grant a numerical combat advantage, so what we get is loads of feats and backgrounds that are considered sub-optimal and are therefore discouraged.įrom my own experience, the balance issue is not an actual issue at all. I have found that a heavy emphasis on balanced combat leads to option bloat. Concept is what's important to me and sometimes my concept is based around combat and sometimes it's not. These same people don't mind when the barbarian does 56 points of damage while the rogue does 25 because they aren't in a hurry to win combat nor do they mind if the barbarian does a lot more damage.

These people choose classes based on a concept they have so they will choose those feats that people on these forums discourage against taking because they aren't optimal numerically. They are also not the people who want all their abilities to equally work at optimal efficiency against everything. These people aren't worried about choosing that right stat line up, or that race class combo, or even that special selection of certain feats that synergize perfectly. The people that I have gamed with do not care about DPR, nor do they measure contributing to the game with numbers. In all my years, I have yet to come across a player, except on internet forums, who wants this so called balance that 4th edition gave us. I am actively engaged in Pathfinder Society and with various Cons. I have been playing RPG's for over 27 years now. Now what I am about to post is from my own experience and the experiences of those I have gamed with for many years. I'm talking about the myth that a lot of people somehow want all classes to be balanced when it comes to combat and damage.

This is a thread I started over on the Wizards forums but unfortunately, it was hi-jacked by the usual trolls who flamed and trolled until they got the thread locked.įirst of all, I'm not talking about broken mechanics.

Dnd 5e homebrew classes balanced