Dungeons and Dragons Wiki:Article Balance
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Wiki Syntax |
Campaign balance is a fine art, as it is extremely difficult to classify exactly. What is balanced in one campaign might not be balanced in another, by virtue of what classes, feats, and other such options are available to characters. Balance goes both ways, and it's important to realize that material that is perfectly reasonable in some games may be ridiculously overpowered or so weak as to not be worth writing down in others. A primary goal of this wiki is to help our users more easily find homebrew material that fits well within the balance their campaign already uses.
To that end, most of our pages will list a level of balance. These levels are described here. It should be said right off that no level is better or worse than any other, the only right level is the one that works for your game and your playstyle. Each level is named after the class that best exemplifies it, and contains a number of classes, prestige classes, and character options published by Wizards of the Coast to provide further examples of material at that level. The options listed here aren't intended to be used to win or lose any contests, but just to give you a good pool of work to compare our homebrew against.
As part of that, we accept that an option is only overpowered or underpowered when compared with the other available options. There is material within published works that is going to be overpowered for some campaigns, just as there is material that is going to be weak in some campaigns. Sometimes that is even the same material viewed from two different games. These balance levels are an attempt to place homebrew works on this site in a greater context. If an article is listed at a given level, we believe it is best matched with other material in that level and thus appropriate for inclusion in a campaign that already primarily includes the options indicated at that level. It may overperform at some levels, it may underperform at others, and it may change based on campaign considerations regarding enemy and equipment distributions, but it shouldn't overshadow or be useless compared to other characters overall.
So please look over our balance levels, and see if you can pick out which one your games tend to use. We hope that you find material here for that balance level that helps expand the fun of your games without making you worry about unbalancing it.
| I never had a problem before... |
| You may never have had a character in your game consistently overshadowing everyone else. Or a character feel completely useless because they just don't contribute like the rest of the party without that artifact sword you gave them. It's possible that you've never banned a spell because it was too strong, or boosted a feat that you thought was too weak. Perhaps you've never had a player use a strong class ability in a way that seemed like abuse, or you've never seen a group stack some abilities and rules together to "win" the game without actually playing it anymore. If that's the case, you probably don't need to worry about this and can just use whatever you like from the wiki. And you should feel very lucky.
For the rest of us who have had some of these problems, these balance points should help to minimize or at least point out the potential pitfalls. Even if you've never worried about it before and don't particularly feel like worrying about it now, we hope that these levels make it easier for your to identify and resolve the actual root of any instances where you feel that a player is over or under performing. |
Contents
3rd and 3.5th Edition Balance Points
Monk Level
| A man is measured by the strength of his enemies. |
| There are many things that could be used to measure the strength of a character. On this wiki we have elected to measure classes by their strength against their enemies and challenges, and character options and additions by what they add to a character against his enemies and challenges. This comparison is what led to our balance points, named for classes based on how they compete with the opposition in the game as they rise in levels.
It is important to note that, with respect to classes, these balance levels are not intended to represent the pinnacle of a class, nor its minimum. They are intended to represent an average member of the class, one who avoids trap options and builds a competent member of their class. You can certainly play some of these classes at a lower balance level by intentionally choosing weaker options, and you can occasionally play some of these classes at a higher level by using tricks and optimizing. Attempting to categorize every build of every character is simply impossible, and we go with a more general approach here. |
This level is named for the Monk, who is widely considered to be the weakest of all the core classes. It has extensive multiple attribute dependency and needs to boost several attributes to remain competitive with other classes. It has a slower progression in areas it is supposed to remain competent in than other classes. It has class abilities that counter-synergize with its intended role in the party. It gains significant class features many levels after other classes and monsters have gained them, when the feature is less relevant. Sometimes these class features come with extensive restrictions that keep them from becoming a more useful ability. These facets are common among monk level classes. Monk level material, therefore, is material that does not synergize well with other abilities, offers abilities that are well below those seen by higher powered classes and most monsters for the level they are granted at, progresses substantially more slowly than other classes and the monsters, or offers a small or extremely circumstantial bonus. It also contains most material that is almost entirely fluff, only granting extremely minor benefits.
Material in this category will remain competitive with fighter level material up to level 9 and with rogue and wizard level material, as well as appropriate CR monsters, up to level 5. Additional levels may be possible with extensive optimization, but after these points the higher category content will likely begin to pull away.
Note: This is the lowest level of balance we support on this wiki, as anything with less power basically doesn't play using the same rules. We do not allow any level of balance lower than Monk-level on the wiki, and anything weaker than the core monk may be deleted per wiki policy.
Other classes and prestige classes, published by Wizards of the Coast, that can be considered around the Monk level of balance include:
Some feats, published by Wizards of the Coast, that can be considered around the Monk level of balance include:
- Alertness as well as most other skill bonus feats.
- Combat Casting
- Most of the feats in the PHB.
For a complete list of articles on this wiki that use the Monk Level of balance, click here.
Fighter Level
This level is named for the core Fighter, who is an extremely competent combatant for the majority of the early game. It has sufficient progression in important areas to maintain its intended role, but lacks significant class features. It gains sufficient feats to keep abilities fresh and its tricks level appropriate for a time, but eventually begins to fall behind monsters who simply acquire new abilities faster than the fighter can. This level is often restricted in range as well, often being melee only or gaining no significant ranged abilities. Similar things will be seen in other fighter level classes. Fighter level material, therefore, is material that is likely competent at low and mid levels against equal CR creatures, is likely sparse in places, and obtains powers that fail to keep up with equal CR opposition or allow them to compete at higher CR encounter ranges.
Material in this category will remain competitive with rogue level material and appropriate CR monsters up to around level 9, and it will be passed up by wizard level material earlier than that. Additional competitive levels may be possible with extensive optimization, but after these points the higher category content will likely begin to pull away. It is worth noting that many higher CR monsters can still be used in games at this level simply by not making use of all of their abilities. Ranged monsters or spell casters that close to melee to utilize their shiny weapons and allow the melee based fighters to close and strike them
The high end of this balance point includes the chain tripper Fighter and "blaster" wizards who favor direct damage spells. A Spirited Charger Fighter, whose primary goal in life is to wield a lance and use Spirited Charge, who has a very careful magic item selection is fairly competitive, if boring, against monsters at all levels of the game. A character optimized in such a way is more likely playing at a low rogue level than a fighter one.
Other classes and prestige classes, published by Wizards of the Coast, that can be considered around the Fighter level of balance include:
Some feats, published by Wizards of the Coast, that can be considered around the Fighter level of balance include:
For a complete list of articles on this wiki that use the Fighter Level of balance, click here.
Rogue Level
This level of balance is named for the Rogue, a class that can perform quite well with the right tricks. Like the fighter, it has sufficient progression in the areas it is intended to cover, but it also gains significant class features which allow them to compete on a roughly even footing with enemies of most CRs. Rogues also have utility abilities which allow them to adjust or influence the narrative of the game, and these abilities do not come at the cost of their combat ability. Material at the rogue level is therefore material that is competent against all CRs, grants significant and timely abilities to deal with equal CR creatures, offers significant and level-appropriate utility, or scales to match creatures in some important aspect. This is not to say that they have abilities against every potential threat, since they may still excel at certain types of encounters and do poorly at others.
Material in this category can remain competitive against appropriate CR monsters over all levels of the game, and can generally be optimized for play with unoptimized wizard level content. It should be said that rogue level material only really stays rogue level material if it is played to its strengths, however, and classes at this level that select lower powered abilities or fail to make use of their abilities can quite easily perform at a lower balance level. A single weapon rogue who relies on flanking for their sneak attack is likely playing the game at a fighter level, for example. On the other hand, a two-handed flask throwing rogue who gets sneak attack all of the time without flanking and makes substantial use of Use Magic Device while carrying a large assortment of wands is likely playing the game at a low wizard level.
This level of balance can also be called Project:Same Game Test level, as the Rogue corresponds to an approximately 50/50 matchup on that balance guideline.
Other classes and prestige classes, published by Wizards of the Coast, that can be considered around the Rogue level of balance include:
Some feats, published by Wizards of the Coast, that can be considered around the Rogue level of balance include:
- Combat Brute[1]
- Leap Attack[6]
- Quicken Spell
- Robilar's Gambit[5]
- Shock Trooper[1]
- Stand Still
- Stormguard Warrior[4]
For a complete list of articles on this wiki that use the Rogue Level of balance, click here.
Wizard Level
The highest level of balance on the wiki is named for the Wizard, a class with substantial potential. The wizard continually gains abilities that allow them to deal with equal CR opposition, but they gain a wider selection of them than other classes do allowing them to deal with a larger range of challenges than some other classes. They may select which abilities they take with them on any given day, tailoring their abilities to their opposition and often winning quickly and easily as a result. They also have substantial plot affecting abilities, allowing them greater control over the story than characters at lower balance levels. Wizard level material is therefore characterized by its strength and versatility, and these combine to make material that often contributes substantially to the flow of an encounter.
It is important to note that this level does not include people who have their wizards prepare spells like Magic Missile and Lightning Bolt. These are a perfectly appropriate selection of spells, but the direct damage spells do not keep up and preparing them is considered to be a fighter level tactic. Players playing in this way are doing so at the fighter level, which is why you can get away with wizards in fighter level games without continuous overshadowing. Material listed in this category assumes that players will be using tactical spells like Color Spray and Stinking Cloud and will otherwise make optimal spell and tactical decisions that often end or decide the battle with one spell, if not avoid it entirely. This is an important distinction to make, as spell selection and play style will impact which material you allow or disallow.
Material at this balance level will generally pull away from lower level material as early as mid levels simply because they have more answers to challenges. Optimized wizard level material may lead to characters who always have an answer for any equal CR challenge, and who face challenges above their CR as a result. Characters and creatures who have a near 0 chance of loss, like The Wish, The Word, or Pun-Pun are not included in this category, having surpassed it.
Note that the Wizard level should not be considered "overpowered" or a "badge of shame", as some have referred to it. It is, like the rest of our balance levels, a perfectly acceptable balance point to use and is used for many items on this wiki.
Other classes and prestige classes, published by Wizards of the Coast, that can be considered around the Wizard level of balance include:
Some feats, published by Wizards of the Coast, that can be considered around the Wizard level of balance include:
For a complete list of articles on this wiki that use the Wizard Level of balance, click here.
Unquantifiable
There are a few rare articles on the wiki whose balance is completely unquantifiable. These articles are very rare, and are generally reserved for NPC stuff that PCs won't take because it does not have an effect on any in-game statistic or provide any new options. The best example of such an article is Memories of Death, whose effect on gameplay cannot be quantified by any means because it's so entirely volatile. Some examples from the SRD include the Leadership feat, the Planar Binding line of spells, and the Gate spell.
For a complete list of articles on this wiki that are unquantifiable, click here.
4th Edition and 4E Essentials Balance Points
We do not have balance points for this edition. This is not because there's not a range of balance in this version of Dungeons and Dragons, however. There's a rather wide range of balance levels actually, stretching from poorly selected class builds that don't actually have powers for their primary stats up to yogi-hat rangers who literally can't die and orbizards who literally never let the enemy act. The problem is that the extremely large amount of errata in 4th edition makes these builds tenuous at best, and the actual power level of the game itself is subject to radical change. Even if we had enough examples to specify what the different balance levels looked like at any given time we wouldn't be reasonably sure that any example would belong in the same level a few months later or that the level itself would even mean the same thing.
As a result, we have very high power classes like the Bane Guard along side more standard classes like the Song Weaver and Black Lion with no way to indicate which is the higher powered option at first glance. Each author tends to select a similar balance point, however, even if it is different from that of other authors. Because of that homebrew in this section by different authors with different goals may not be appropriate for different players at the same table, but homebrew by the same author as other material currently in use should be just fine. We strongly recommend that you examine each piece of 4e homebrew with an eye towards what other players in your game will be doing before allowing it into your campaign. And remember, just because it's over or underpowered for your table doesn't mean it's so for the game itself.
