04-20-2023, 12:25 PM
Section 14 - Balancing
Perhaps the one thing that I tend to forget is important and something Polyedit2000 should've started off with is the idea of balance. What does this mean? Well, it's a complicated matter. The simplest way to put it is "what would be fair to both the players and the GM?" In actuality, it's a bigger umbrella than that.
How Does Balance Work in a Fetish RP?
Everyone has their tastes. Our RPs typically revolve around bondage among other things. While some entities, like the Treadroll Sack, does have an accessory capable of power nullification (which helps if you need a way to logically explain why the eff someone can get bound), the general assumption for fetish RPs is A. the characters played are on a more human level (even if you were to play as, say, Android 18) or B. the restraints are strong enough to hold Bugs Bunny of all things.
The are always caveats to this, which are largely decided by the GM. For example, escape checks either through skill or through force, can be allowed. Also, binds can be treated as status effects and can be removed through items such as scissors or peanut butter. It depends on what the GM goes for.
Balancing Power
Ideally it's best to assume that player characters have more or less human capabilities depending on the allowed statistics in an RP as a sort of starting point. Depending on the setting, an RP may allow each and every character to have a certain amount of abilities or a certain power level. In My Hero Academia for example, 80% of all people have physiological superpowers called Quirks. Those who have Quirks normally just have the one ability they got; it's mainly up to the quirk-user to come up with creative uses for said quirk. In that setting, someone with multiple superpowers is rather overpowered, as there are only two users with multiple quirks: Deku (the current holder of One for All) and All for One (I mean, duh!).
Some RPs allow you to get stronger as things progress. For example, in Polyedit2000's Vile Liege deals, character strength is directly tied to level along with their skillsets. Polyedit2000's Gooey Gamble 2 RP, which was based on one mode of Hearthstone (I forget which), had players gain skills and treasures as they progress through the arena. Other RPs have this mechanic where you gain benefits and drawbacks at the same time, like Polyedit2000's Anonymated Rubbery Processing Grounds for example.: https://bastianfanworks.dreamchaos.net/f...php?tid=29
Some items offered will provide an interesting boost in exchange for a drawback. For instance, there was a straitjacket that binds you within it, but gives you a sort of third eye that allows you to find a hidden, randomized door.
Now, bondage is an important aspect in a bondage RP, when a GM expects you to smack some peeps down, don't turn your character into paper for the sake of having them get tied up. Chances are the GM will look at you wondering that the eff you are doing. Player characters are typically capable of killing a slime or pushing a sofa around anyway.
Understanding the Challenge
Another important aspect of balance is understanding the challenge before you. Typically a more difficult challenge means higher rewards. I will go into how to handle a challenge here.
For GMs, while some GMs prefer to roll against players, it is usually easier to have a set number to roll at or above for the player to roll against, especially for things like handling inanimate entities. A braindead idiot like Lindsay would not be able to understand hieroglyphs, but someone more intelligent like Courtney can easily read them. On the same vein, the more difficult a foe is, the more complex the foe would be in battle.
For players, it's best to think about what to do against a foe or understand the instructions given by the GM. The most successful way to complete a challenge is showing the GM your understanding of the challenge. Visualize the challenge if you were there, as players outside the challenge would very likely have a different solution to the problem. For example, during one class in Polyedit2000's School of Thot, I figured the best way to handle the challenge provided is to use my understanding of spiders and how defensive they can get to get the desired result (an A).: https://bastianfanworks.dreamchaos.net/f...708#pid708
Note that challenges will differ among individuals. In the same RP, the challenge in Geometry class was to prove that having a bigger volume would not always enclose something with a smaller volume. I would've handled the challenge myself by just sticking a yardstick in the clear box, as assuming the box is solid and inelastic (geometry always assumes that), the box would be completely incapable of encasing the yardstick. That and I'd Khaby Lame the yardstick sticking out of the box (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35zBb4XV2NI ). As I wasn't there, this would mean that isn't the challenge I should respond to in a way that shows my understanding.
It is important to note that the challenges provided above are intelligence based. For a power-based challenge... Let's say you are faced against a boulder blocking the way. If your instinct is to push the boulder, obviously, your strength will be pitted against the boulder's weight. Whereas if you're pitted against a golem and it decides to slam into you and you decide to block, your defenses will be pitted against the golem's attack.
It's best that you apply the tools you have at your disposal to the challenges provided, whether it be strength intelligence, charisma, or something else.
Balancing Reward Value
This is mainly targeted towards GMs as players don't have influence on the reward value. When handing out rewards, it's best to have a good system in place for progression, or base the reward on the challenge you provided. For example, 100 Poke and a regular Potion would not be sufficient rewards for defeating a member of the Elite Four. On the other hand, an Elixir for defeating a youngster with a Pidgey in Route 3 would be downright broken. Currency rewards can be easy to hand out based on your shop plans, but item rewards are best balanced based on how useful they'd be to your game.
In an RPG, defeating a slime shouldn't provide too much. Typically it'd be a little gold, rarely a potion. If you were to go toe-to-toe with Courtney from Total Drama, I would imagine a good reward for beating her would be a few hundre or a thousand gold and a Hi-Potion. It largely depends on what you put out.
Though it isn't always like that. The rewards in Gooey Gamble 2 always got randomized: a pattern I've personally noticed in games where you have to defend yourself against a horde of mobs in a single map. Those types of games like to hand out three random rewards, like for instance... "Increase Damage by 10%; Increase Crit Chance by 2%; Add a Drone to Your Party". These rewards don't need as much scrutiny as rewards based on clearly-defined challenges, but they should be fair enough to keep the challenge fair.
Outside-the-Box Thinking
A lot of the times, some out-of-the-box thinking can be done by players. The way I put it, as long as it isn't godmodding, outside-the-box thinking should be encouraged as long as it doesn't derail the RP. It would take a bit of thinking on the GM's end trying to figure out how to handle the outside-the-box thinking, but as long as there's a clear path forward, I wouldn't worry too much about that. Sometimes people will try to cut the Gordian Knot.
It is a little hard to describe this topic further, so I won't hang on to it. There are a lot of things I've missed, so feel free to fill those in.
Perhaps the one thing that I tend to forget is important and something Polyedit2000 should've started off with is the idea of balance. What does this mean? Well, it's a complicated matter. The simplest way to put it is "what would be fair to both the players and the GM?" In actuality, it's a bigger umbrella than that.
How Does Balance Work in a Fetish RP?
Everyone has their tastes. Our RPs typically revolve around bondage among other things. While some entities, like the Treadroll Sack, does have an accessory capable of power nullification (which helps if you need a way to logically explain why the eff someone can get bound), the general assumption for fetish RPs is A. the characters played are on a more human level (even if you were to play as, say, Android 18) or B. the restraints are strong enough to hold Bugs Bunny of all things.
The are always caveats to this, which are largely decided by the GM. For example, escape checks either through skill or through force, can be allowed. Also, binds can be treated as status effects and can be removed through items such as scissors or peanut butter. It depends on what the GM goes for.
Balancing Power
Ideally it's best to assume that player characters have more or less human capabilities depending on the allowed statistics in an RP as a sort of starting point. Depending on the setting, an RP may allow each and every character to have a certain amount of abilities or a certain power level. In My Hero Academia for example, 80% of all people have physiological superpowers called Quirks. Those who have Quirks normally just have the one ability they got; it's mainly up to the quirk-user to come up with creative uses for said quirk. In that setting, someone with multiple superpowers is rather overpowered, as there are only two users with multiple quirks: Deku (the current holder of One for All) and All for One (I mean, duh!).
Some RPs allow you to get stronger as things progress. For example, in Polyedit2000's Vile Liege deals, character strength is directly tied to level along with their skillsets. Polyedit2000's Gooey Gamble 2 RP, which was based on one mode of Hearthstone (I forget which), had players gain skills and treasures as they progress through the arena. Other RPs have this mechanic where you gain benefits and drawbacks at the same time, like Polyedit2000's Anonymated Rubbery Processing Grounds for example.: https://bastianfanworks.dreamchaos.net/f...php?tid=29
Some items offered will provide an interesting boost in exchange for a drawback. For instance, there was a straitjacket that binds you within it, but gives you a sort of third eye that allows you to find a hidden, randomized door.
Now, bondage is an important aspect in a bondage RP, when a GM expects you to smack some peeps down, don't turn your character into paper for the sake of having them get tied up. Chances are the GM will look at you wondering that the eff you are doing. Player characters are typically capable of killing a slime or pushing a sofa around anyway.
Understanding the Challenge
Another important aspect of balance is understanding the challenge before you. Typically a more difficult challenge means higher rewards. I will go into how to handle a challenge here.
For GMs, while some GMs prefer to roll against players, it is usually easier to have a set number to roll at or above for the player to roll against, especially for things like handling inanimate entities. A braindead idiot like Lindsay would not be able to understand hieroglyphs, but someone more intelligent like Courtney can easily read them. On the same vein, the more difficult a foe is, the more complex the foe would be in battle.
For players, it's best to think about what to do against a foe or understand the instructions given by the GM. The most successful way to complete a challenge is showing the GM your understanding of the challenge. Visualize the challenge if you were there, as players outside the challenge would very likely have a different solution to the problem. For example, during one class in Polyedit2000's School of Thot, I figured the best way to handle the challenge provided is to use my understanding of spiders and how defensive they can get to get the desired result (an A).: https://bastianfanworks.dreamchaos.net/f...708#pid708
Note that challenges will differ among individuals. In the same RP, the challenge in Geometry class was to prove that having a bigger volume would not always enclose something with a smaller volume. I would've handled the challenge myself by just sticking a yardstick in the clear box, as assuming the box is solid and inelastic (geometry always assumes that), the box would be completely incapable of encasing the yardstick. That and I'd Khaby Lame the yardstick sticking out of the box (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35zBb4XV2NI ). As I wasn't there, this would mean that isn't the challenge I should respond to in a way that shows my understanding.
It is important to note that the challenges provided above are intelligence based. For a power-based challenge... Let's say you are faced against a boulder blocking the way. If your instinct is to push the boulder, obviously, your strength will be pitted against the boulder's weight. Whereas if you're pitted against a golem and it decides to slam into you and you decide to block, your defenses will be pitted against the golem's attack.
It's best that you apply the tools you have at your disposal to the challenges provided, whether it be strength intelligence, charisma, or something else.
Balancing Reward Value
This is mainly targeted towards GMs as players don't have influence on the reward value. When handing out rewards, it's best to have a good system in place for progression, or base the reward on the challenge you provided. For example, 100 Poke and a regular Potion would not be sufficient rewards for defeating a member of the Elite Four. On the other hand, an Elixir for defeating a youngster with a Pidgey in Route 3 would be downright broken. Currency rewards can be easy to hand out based on your shop plans, but item rewards are best balanced based on how useful they'd be to your game.
In an RPG, defeating a slime shouldn't provide too much. Typically it'd be a little gold, rarely a potion. If you were to go toe-to-toe with Courtney from Total Drama, I would imagine a good reward for beating her would be a few hundre or a thousand gold and a Hi-Potion. It largely depends on what you put out.
Though it isn't always like that. The rewards in Gooey Gamble 2 always got randomized: a pattern I've personally noticed in games where you have to defend yourself against a horde of mobs in a single map. Those types of games like to hand out three random rewards, like for instance... "Increase Damage by 10%; Increase Crit Chance by 2%; Add a Drone to Your Party". These rewards don't need as much scrutiny as rewards based on clearly-defined challenges, but they should be fair enough to keep the challenge fair.
Outside-the-Box Thinking
A lot of the times, some out-of-the-box thinking can be done by players. The way I put it, as long as it isn't godmodding, outside-the-box thinking should be encouraged as long as it doesn't derail the RP. It would take a bit of thinking on the GM's end trying to figure out how to handle the outside-the-box thinking, but as long as there's a clear path forward, I wouldn't worry too much about that. Sometimes people will try to cut the Gordian Knot.
It is a little hard to describe this topic further, so I won't hang on to it. There are a lot of things I've missed, so feel free to fill those in.