Dungeon Master: The Idea of Balance

Up until this point I've written quite a bit on the idea and issue of balance in tabletop role-playing games and in Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition. However, looking back on it, I feel I put the cart before the horse. Balance is not the most important thing, though it can impact a game. However, it is also heavily dependent on those playing. For those that are new to D&D or tabletop role-playing, I would say not too worry too much about it and not to be scared off by my talks about balance or anyone else's. However, I have a few things I want to say on the matter.

Fun and Playing First

The goal of the game is to have fun, and not to create a perfectly balanced experience. The way games are designed and that many people like playing, there is an asymmetry built into the game and the players have to work together to utilize their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. Even then, there is nothing preventing a party of bards from having adventures in the country side (in fact, it's quite fun). The goal is to have fun and tell a good (or at the very least entertaining) story.

When Is It Important?

If players are not contributing to the action for a while, they will probably start to get bored. Some might be perfectly happy to take a break and watch the story unfold, but others prefer to interact. You probably don't want one person monopolizing a large period of time during play because their character is simply the best. If that happens, and everyone else doesn't contribute, that is when there is a problem. Some people have a higher threshold for this kind of thing.

At the same time, some players care about results that their characters bring. In this case, even if the player really likes the idea of playing a ranger, they might make a DEX based bow fighter because they feel they perform better in combat and reasonably well enough for scouting and the like with a multiclass into rouge. In these situations it's not game breaking (and features that rangers get will still not be available) and the core rules tend to be at least somewhat balanced. However, balance will be important if you decide to make your own class. If your new class is perceived as just worse, no one will take it and the time you could have spent doing other things is gone. If your class is too good, you'll have classes that are no longer used.

Happy Players

The important thing to extract from the above is that the players should be happy or at least alright with how things are. Different groups have different ideas of what is fair and what they find enjoyable. Generally, though, having multiple options and tactics available for the players is a key part of it. If one player is handling everything for 20 minutes straight, chances are someone else is bored. Emphasizing role-play is also something that takes the focus away from mechanics and balance, instead focusing on the experience.