Game Balance

[Hywaywolf]

Because you can play with a supplement if you want and not affect someone else who doesn't play with the supplement. BFRPG core rules is a perfectly playable game that needs nothing to make it complete. But some people like more crunch. To answer this, nearly every other RPG in in existence has discontinued the previous edition and added more crunch into the next edition, then repeat again and again, until the game is unrecognisable from the original game and has way to much crunch that has all become core rules and now playable by players unless the DM strikes out whole sections of the core rules. What BFRPG has done is to keep the core rules the same, other than minor changes to clean up the text or beef up confusing text, and add all the crunch that the users want without requiring that that crunch become core rules and playable by all players unless the DM specifically disallows it. The DM only has to add the specific crunch that he wants for his game.

That is what I was saying about what I want if I play a supplement class. I am perfectly happy playing core classes because I can make them whatever I want by consistent roleplay. If a supplement is made available, I want it to be powerful enough that it would be stupid to play a core class (or why add the supplement.) So, there is no hard and fast guideline on progression and trade offs. There is just different people with different ideas. The best you can do to make it "balanced" with teh core rules is to see what certain people on these forums say about your proposed addition and act accordingly. Even there its hard to decide, because even the most prolific writers on this forum take different tacks with crunch in their supplements.

Now a wise supplement writer will post it up here on the forums and take as much time hashing it out with the users here to make sure it has the BFRPG feel, without losing that crunch the supplement creator was after in the first place. This is a pretty awesome forum, for the most part people don't tell others what they are doing wrong, they mostly say how they like to do it and what they would like to play. The supplement writer will then need to decide if anything he wants that seems to be in opposition to the majority of the community is important enough to himself that he will keep it in a supplement that he will want to share with the community as a whole. I mean, even supplements can be houseruled by GMs to make it fit their desired style of play. There is no reason that a supplement writer can't choose to houserule his own supplement if he decides that its better to change something that the community would like to see changed.

[seandon4]

Again, Hywaywolf is correct; there are different takes on the same class (differences of opinions of what is "balanced").

But having said that, I personally would probably start off with a similar class that I like as a baseline and then adjust from there -- as I suggested in the bandit post, bandit might start out as "monk" progression (there may be more than one monk class to choose from also.)

Good luck

[Dimirag]

Before creating a new class try to form your "base rules" and then work from there. If you make a supplement you can do it in one of three ways (or maybe more).

1- Based only on the core rules (most of the sub-classes supplements)
2- As above but incorporating (either as a text or reference) the optional rules as needed (Smoot has done this on some class supplements).
3- Making the class with the assumption that it will be used with certain optional rules. But be sure on indicating which rules must be added to the core ones.

If the final class/classes is/are balance against the other while using the required rule then no "unbalance" will come to play. Otherwise it could result on a game-breaking class.

[DiceClown]

Okay, some great stuff. I know that balance in RPGs are very relative in nature. I do get that. With what I have read I would say that I did alright on the Bandit sub-class. It doesn't undermine any other class to the point of making any class obsolete, nor can I tell that it would be overpowered. I do think it wise to take it all in and rehash it through before calling it done. Setting the XP table is much more tricky than I had first thought. Hey, thanks guys.

[DiceClown]

Wait!

I forgot to throw in my two cents. There may be more but I have recognized two types of views in regard to supplements.

1. The guy who thinks that supplements are meant to "fix" the game.

2. The gal who thinks that supplements are meant to "flavor" the game.

Thanks for the input, very helpful stuff!

[Hywaywolf]

I am the gal who thinks that supplements are meant to "flavor" the game.

I would like to add a few more types.

3. The guy who thinks that supplements are meant to provide a creative outlet for their overflowing thoughts.

4. The gal who thinks that supplements are meant to show that creating one means you are part of the community.

[Dimirag]

I have a little of 1, 2 and 3.

I make supplements to add the flavor I wan to for the game, fix the rules to fit my gaming style needs and because whenever I read some rpg rules i can't avoid to see my own version of them...