A recent post at BX Blackrazor reminded me of one of the things I think is an important feature of TSR D&D, in all its forms, that was turned on its head in WotC D&D.
Clerics can wear armor, fight, and use spells (as can the Elf class in Classic). Yet the Cleric has (again, in Classic) 8 spells per level, while the M-U gets 12 spells per level.
In BX, the Cleric gets up to 5th level spells (again, so does the Elf), while the M-U gets 6th level spells. AD&D and BECMI allow up to 9th level spells for M-Us, but only 7th level spells for Clerics.
That's a bit of balance that I think is important. Clerics (and Elves) can do both fight and cast spells, but they don't get to fight as well as the Fighter (with a lower Hit Die type, and limited weaponry for the Cleric and level limits and a high XP cost for the Elf), nor have as much spell casting oomph as the Magic-User (again, with the level limit blocking Elves, and with the generally smaller list, lower ceiling, and in Classic not getting a spell at 1st level for Clerics).
That's the sort of simple and intuitive trade-off I like.
But is it BALANCED!?
ReplyDelete:P
Oh, and if you say yes, you are committed to provide mathematical evidence of said claim across levels...as all good old-schoolers are fond of doing.
ReplyDelete:P
I really don't care if it's 'balanced.' This is another post in its own right, but trying to prove that every class is equal to every other class in a game where ANYTHING can happen is a fool's task.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun, that's all that matters (and I've seen way more new schoolers going on and on about class balance, with tables and charts and Power Point presentations to 'prove' their point).
Don't forget about turning.
ReplyDeleteJudging from the ":p" I imagine he or she is being sarcastic, though I can't say that for sure.
ReplyDeleteEvan, I would have thought so if it had only been the one comment. But two? Well, OK, it still seems fairly sarcastic.
ReplyDeleteBut what constitutes 'balance' is a good topic for a blog.