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My Duet Dialogues series is a blog series I originally started on Gleemax, but is reprinted here for your benefit.
Duet Dialogues IX: Balance
When I was writing the Guide to Solo Campaigns with Illion the Red, he came up with something that was truly insightful: balance
is not important for duet campaigns! Now why is this? Because balance is a tool for promoting player harmony and with only
one player you don't need to worry about player harmony. This is an obvious point, but after so many years of running duet
campaigns I had never given this any thought. For the last two years I have given this thought from time to time and a question
has formed in my mind whether balance is really effective at promoting player harmony?
From the duet campaign perspective the key to making a player happy is to make their PC important and influential to the campaign. Simply by surrendering some control to the player a GM can make that player truly connected and engaged with the campaign. This works the same way with group campaigns so the key to making the player happy is the same, let them have real influence with the campaign.
But now what about promoting player harmony and balance? Balance is founded on the theory that every player should be able to contribute more or less equally in the campaign or at the least no character dominates the campaign. D&D is focused on party roles as a mechanism of balance, these roles may be changing from 3e to 4e, but the concept remains. The problem is that the D&D approach focuses on mechanics as the tool for promoting balance. This is especially true in regards to combat which is the focus on D&D; when success and failure is defined by how much damage one can take or inflict then you desperately need balance or else people will not be happy with their character. Thus balance simply exists so that you feel content about the abilities of your character.
The question is whether balance is the best way to do that. I don't think so. The best way to make a player be happy with their character is to empower that character. Balance is the opposite of this, balance is the theory that everyone needs to be equal for everyone to be special. This makes no sense.
So how can a GM empower his players without balance? This is easy. Encourage roleplaying over combat; roleplaying is where a player truly controls his PC for in combat the destiny of the PC is often controlled by the dice not the decisions of the player. Tailor the campaign to the PCs; if you make the PCs actually part of the setting with real connections to the campaign and have their actions actually shape the campaign then you have fully empowered them. Treat your players like adults. If you treat your players like adults and give them respect and trust then more often than not they will give you and their fellow players respect and trust as well. Finally, there are some players who are problems and they are the reason this whole balance issue came into being, these are the munchkins and problem players you hear about. Give them the boot, life is too short to waste playing with these guys. If you are playing with a sensible group, balance isn't needed.
Now this said, remember, roleplaying is about overcoming challenges and growing as a character so starting a campaign at the top of the power level is not always fun. I am not advocating just giving out artifacts at 1st level, but what I am saying is that if you bend the rules a little here and there it doesn't matter and most likely it will create a better campaign. The key to player harmony is not balance, but making sure that every player is empowered through their characters and you can't do that with balance, only through roleplaying and adventure design.
From the duet campaign perspective the key to making a player happy is to make their PC important and influential to the campaign. Simply by surrendering some control to the player a GM can make that player truly connected and engaged with the campaign. This works the same way with group campaigns so the key to making the player happy is the same, let them have real influence with the campaign.
But now what about promoting player harmony and balance? Balance is founded on the theory that every player should be able to contribute more or less equally in the campaign or at the least no character dominates the campaign. D&D is focused on party roles as a mechanism of balance, these roles may be changing from 3e to 4e, but the concept remains. The problem is that the D&D approach focuses on mechanics as the tool for promoting balance. This is especially true in regards to combat which is the focus on D&D; when success and failure is defined by how much damage one can take or inflict then you desperately need balance or else people will not be happy with their character. Thus balance simply exists so that you feel content about the abilities of your character.
The question is whether balance is the best way to do that. I don't think so. The best way to make a player be happy with their character is to empower that character. Balance is the opposite of this, balance is the theory that everyone needs to be equal for everyone to be special. This makes no sense.
So how can a GM empower his players without balance? This is easy. Encourage roleplaying over combat; roleplaying is where a player truly controls his PC for in combat the destiny of the PC is often controlled by the dice not the decisions of the player. Tailor the campaign to the PCs; if you make the PCs actually part of the setting with real connections to the campaign and have their actions actually shape the campaign then you have fully empowered them. Treat your players like adults. If you treat your players like adults and give them respect and trust then more often than not they will give you and their fellow players respect and trust as well. Finally, there are some players who are problems and they are the reason this whole balance issue came into being, these are the munchkins and problem players you hear about. Give them the boot, life is too short to waste playing with these guys. If you are playing with a sensible group, balance isn't needed.
Now this said, remember, roleplaying is about overcoming challenges and growing as a character so starting a campaign at the top of the power level is not always fun. I am not advocating just giving out artifacts at 1st level, but what I am saying is that if you bend the rules a little here and there it doesn't matter and most likely it will create a better campaign. The key to player harmony is not balance, but making sure that every player is empowered through their characters and you can't do that with balance, only through roleplaying and adventure design.