Behind the Screen: Balance In TTRPGs.

Balance in a tabletop roleplaying game takes many forms.

The Law of Balance in and of itself is a statement of true neutrality. If light, so there must be darkness. If right, then so there must be left. Duality and separation are constantly in a state of flux with one evening out the other somewhere down the line. Without getting deep into spiritual symmetry, Taoism, Zen, or anything else where the forces of the Universe are constantly tugging on one another, let’s talk games.

The dungeon gets combative.

The first thing most of us gamers young and old think of when the term “balance” comes up is combat. This comes from the early days of wargaming where hypothetically both sides had the same number of points from which to draw their armies. Unless, of course, you were playing in a wargame that was historical reenactment where things rarely balance that well on a real battlefield. Or maybe a game like old Dungeons & Dragons where the PCs were occasionally expected to run from the fight or not start one at all.

Fast forward 28-ish years or so to 2000 when D&D 3rd Edition gave us this neato mosquito way to adjust the number and size of the monsters with the party’s number and levels of characters. I think I’m one of the few DMs on Earth who actually crunched all the math and tried to use this balancing mechanic. I mean, it usually bombed outright in the party’s favor, but worth a try.

Fast forward past 3.5 and 4th Edition to 2014. Imagine my disappointment when the 5th Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide was void of such tables. What they gave us for combat balancing was lackluster and weak sauce on a good day. Later on we found out that’s not even the same system they were using in-house at Wizards of the Coast. I actually feel embarrassed for the designers at this point.

But why even bother?

Before all the Old School keyboard warriors get up in arms about all this, I get it. We never used to try to balance encounters. If you ran into an adult Red Dragon or some gnarly demon your group wouldn’t be able to handle, the idea was to have them run away. Did they? Most often not. Then we went back to character creation.

It was fun. I guess? Personally I get a little peeved if I have to return to character creation after getting to Level 7 or even 13 and then end up a stain on some dragon’s floor. On the other hand, maybe we should have disengaged as soon as things started to fall apart, so maybe it was our own faults.

I’m astonished even now in games such as Dragonbane where death can be horrible and instantaneous that more groups don’t break and run when things get ugly. There’s not a ton of healing magic available, or magic of any kind for that matter. There are no unbeatable combos or broken characters in Dragonbane. If one of my monsters or even something out of the book that the players might recognize pops up, there could easily be a TPK. The group has to be careful.

Mechanical game balance is a myth.

Is there ever a “fair” fight in TTRPGs? Most often the PCs are the ones who triumph, which is ultimately the goal of most games. If players just go in and watch their characters get butchered every week, what’s the point of showing up? Personally, I wouldn’t show past week two or three if my characters kept getting splatted. I think the end goal of a “balanced encounter” is one where the characters expend a significant amount of resources and still come out ahead.

The group has to stop and think once they are running out of spells, ammo, and hit points. That’s not to say stop immediately and run out of the dungeon to recover, but to think carefully before engaging in more combat shenanigans. Suddenly stealth, negotiations, and maybe some creative magic casting might be better options than running in headlong into another gory fight.

Then there’s the second kind of balance.

I don’t talk much about story gaming these days. In fact I rarely walk into a game with the agenda of following a specific plot these days. Sure, I throw lots of plot hooks or adventure seeds out there to see what sticks. Most days I wait to see what the group is going to take interest in before going ahead with anything resembling a plan.

This aspect of gaming is where I’m also going to say good old Session Zero plays a hand in things. Some expectations need to be established before the game starts and probably before characters are even created. What is the world like? What kind of mood is the GM trying to establish. Obviously if the world is supposed to be grimdark and somber, making a purely comedy relief Halfling Bard is probably not the best way to go. Gallows humor in a one-off line by the Fighter might be more appropriate.

It boils down to the GM setting basic expectations for the overall mood of the game with the players. If we’re playing a beer-and-pretzels, gonzo, anything goes dungeon romp, then I don’t care if someone shows up with a screwball character that has an even more absurd name. But if we’re doing survival horror, that same goofball character will have to be packed away in a folder and a new character should replace him. Basically, don’t show up to a hockey game wearing baseball gear. The opposite is true as well. Don’t show up to a screwball comedy affair with an uber-serious character.

Truthfully, I think most fantasy games land somewhere in the middle. It’s like watching an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess where there are a few laughs and some serious moments as well. Sometimes we even get a moral of the story at the end of an episode or game session. I don’t often plan for such things as a GM or try to force them. However, if they come up through the natural course of play, I try to find some way to reward it. Always reward the good, fun stuff. Never punish the PCs for the worse stuff. Consequences should at least appear natural.

Roleplaying GMs can often be like doctors. We offer an illusion of control. The doctor knows that a surgery is necessary but still has to present it as a choice to the patient. The patient then sees the operation is in their best interest and agrees to it. The reality is there was never really a choice, but it sure looked like one.

The same goes for a TTRPG group. All we can do is drop hints, clues, and obstacles in the group’s path, but the end goal stays the same. I’m not necessarily advocating for a quantum ogre, but in a roundabout way, it could happen.

Another type of balance to come up in fantasy games especially is loot.

I know everyone wants that one crazy cool magic item on their character that will make them stand out in a truly unique way. In the books maybe only one hobbit carries The One Ring. Only one warrior wields Stormbringer. The group’s cleric of Thor finds themselves worthy of a hammer that looks a lot like Mjolnir. Only one rogue is gifted the Cloak and Boots of Elvenkind. I think almost every player wants that special item, and I try to give everyone that chance if the game goes long enough.

That’s why in the magic item book I’m currently writing I’m trying to come up with one artifact to appeal to every play style, every type of character, and at least one member of every party. I’m not saying every item is perfect, but hopefully the GM can find something for any given character to aspire to. Maybe they get a hint about a staff, a piece of armor, or even a potion that does something truly incredible for the group to quest for. I’m trying to include a little something special for everyone.

That having been said, the third and often hidden balance issue usually comes in the form of magic items and/or spells. An early Gary Gygax D&D session once pointed out the perils of giving a character a Ring of Teleportation that had line of sight range. Suddenly the character was teleporting from one mountain to the next and then another landmark until the DM ran out of map and had to start winging it.

Wish or reality bending magic is often another source of many GMs’ frustrations. Death suddenly becomes no big deal. Money is no longer an obstacle. There’s nowhere the group can’t go and nothing they can’t do. How can anyone put that genie back in its bottle?

Magic is often the thing that makes the game amazing and fun or a complete nightmare for the person running the game. Entire campaigns have been ruined because some wily player came up with a combo of magic items, spells, and actions that left the rest of the group standing on the sidelines asking, “Why us?”

At that point the campaign usually ends through player attrition or downright outrage. A player’s purpose should never be strictly to watch the poor GM rip his or her hair out. Nor should the GM’s purpose be to compete against the players outright, determined to win at his/her own game. Just play the darn game and have fun with it.

There is no right or wrong way to balance gameplay as long as the group is cool with it overall. Sometimes the hardest part is making sure all of the players share the spotlight equally, that they all have something they’ve earned for their character that is special to them. It doesn’t have to be all at once. As long as everyone is relatively assured (through the illusion of control) that their turn will come as long as they continue playing their role.

I think the main point here is communication is key. GMs, please talk to your players fairly regularly and listen to their concerns. Take note of their feedback and implement what you can. This also applies to homebrew situations as pointed out in the previous article.

I say it every year, but I think 2026 bears repeating it. This year I intend to write more, read more, and discuss cool TTRPGs as well as supplements. Most of all, let’s just have more fun. Let’s explore. Let’s save the kingdom from the evil warlord. Let’s discuss all the fun stuff in gaming that we love.

With the world in the state it finds itself in today, please be kind. Please be considerate to one another even if we don’t agree. Lastly, please pursue the thing that brings you the most joy without harm to others. Thank you!

I'm running this! Won't you join me? #dungeonsAndDragons #ttrpg #ttrpgDesign

Join Old‑School Greyhawk, New‑School Thrills: A 5E Workshop - Roll20 - Game Master Workshop | StartPlaying Games

https://startplaying.games/adventure/cmpv9bfz800gnk104s37dadgz?ref=cmlb0t8zr01jzl204qycasly3

I think ~half of the mediocre RPG setting guides could take a stride toward the awesome if their writers took this one bit of advice to heart:

If you have nothing gameable or evocative to say about X, you're allowed to say nothing about X.

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RE: https://dice.camp/@AdamMakesTTRPG/116681555799835956

If you'd like to have statblocks for existing D&D monsters at new levels of play, check out this supplement!

I am on of the writers on this project 📝 A couple of the monsters I designed include an aboleth egg and a corrupted decaton! 🤖 #ttrpgDesign #DnD #ttrpg

Buffed/replaced many attribute roll based actions and how strong weaknesses are based on solo combat testing.

Replaced 4 starting gear.

Improved how character creation shifts to rebalance the players based on how many players are in the party.

Changed how "leveling up" and gaining max health effectively works.

Moved bonus damage from agility to its own stat based on agility for clarity.

Armour is now gear instead of max health.

Changed how you learn rituals.

#edict #ttrpgdesign

First playtest of Central Air and Chassis v0.5 went well! As usual, my players felt the humor was a highlight but the ending needed work 😅 I dunno what it is, but satisfying endings are just not something that comes naturally to me! I need to run more one shots and minicampaigns to get more practice, I suppose 😌

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