D&D (Was: Re: Re: Winter in Maine)
If two players sit down in DND to generate "10th level fighters" then even when one is far more skilled than the other and more knowledgable about using the system, they will end up with trade offs that compensate to some degree at least.
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Okay, first of all this is patently wrong. I have seen an actual person make an incredibly wimpy fighter because he didn't have a clue. 3E character creation rules are complex and interesting and it is one of the best systems ever created.
In fact, I cannot hesitate to say that for playing in D&D worlds, it is *the* best system around. For playing other settings it is not nearly as good. For most original games, you need something with the flexibility of Hero. The two games are two completely different paradigms.
One thing that has to be taken into account when balancing D&D is economics. At each level, the player should have accumulated X value worth of equipment. If this is followed, the cost for spellcasters to buy material components and transcribe spells (for wizards) means that money is used for what some might think of as "inherent" powers. Fighters use it to buy better armor and weapons. In "low-magic" campaigns, DM's often (espec. those who played previous editions) reduce the amount of magic items available to players while still allowing wizards to find spells. Spell components are often left out completely of any campaign. Thus, the inherent game balance has been destroyed.
I find two phallacies prevalent in the discussion of D&D on this board:
High level wizards will destroy high level fighters. Whatever.
1st level mages are wimps hiding from the monsters while fighters save the day. Has anybody actually played 3E?
Regardless of level, if the economic rules are followed for magic and game balance, it is possible to make competitive, balanced characters in any class. I can make a lvl 20 fighter that will have a lvl 20 wiz wizzing all over himself. And I can make a lvl 20 druid that will waste them both.
That said, there's been a lot of cool suggestions on this board that will help me with my upcoming FH games. One thing I'm interested in is: pets. How do you guys like to handle that?
