…is the potential lack of balance between character types. How do you make sure that, say, Green Lantern and Green Arrow (or Batman and Superman) both contribute the same amount to each episode? It’s difficult to ensure that balance, but sometimes even achieving that balance can have drastic results.
Case in point: Angel Summoner & BMX Bandit. (via Daniel)
Game wise, this is why stuff like octaNe or Capes which don’t base effectiveness on “reality” in any sense work well for super powers. The actual power doesn’t matter- the resource effectiveness is the same, which makes the powers themselves simply fun color.
Which is not unlike how a lot of older comics work anyway.
But don’t you see the dire consequences? (SPOILER) BMX Bandit DIES as a direct results of his forced protagonization! (/SPOILER)
This type of situation can happen in D&D also. Sure, we could let the fighter wade in and actually fight the monsters. Or the mage could just blast them with fireball…
The issue isn’t purely one of power level. It’s really an issue of character scope. If character scope can expand to encompass ability to deal with all adversity in the game, or even just significantly more adversity than another PC, then this type of problem can arise.
Frank
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