[WW] RE: [WW] Class Balance

["Casey McGirt" <cmcgirt@hotmail.com>]

wes.anderson@lucasfilm.com said:
>Clearly you are not playing the game in true military fashion. Here is how 
>my game goes, as I am the scout and not the officer. Officer: Private, 
>Recon that hedge over there while I stand back here behind this tree with 
>the medic.
>Scout: Yes, Sir. GM: Make a hide roll.
>Scout: I got a 27
>GM: A barrage of gunfire comes from the hedge. You take 47 points. Me: 
>Damn, time to roll up another Scout.
  Remind me never to play in the campaign you're in, Wes.  The scout makes 
an incredible hide check, then the GM just decides to hose him anyway.
  In the situation you describe, the scout should a) be hidden from anyone 
except a truly exceptional enemy soldier, b) utilize cover when sneaking up 
to the hedge, and c) get fire support from his squad if he's discovered.  
Furthermore, if he is discovered by a lucky roll from one of the enemy 
soldiers, the soldier in question might fire instead of waiting to 
coordinate their attacks (depending on the discipline level of the enemy 
unit).
  A person's class choice shouldn't be used against them like it is in your 
example - instant death without any chance to avoid it isn't something that 
will keep players in your game.  If random, unavoidable death is your play 
style, fine.  But don't expect everyone to play that way.
  One of the problems is that you expect all of the game balancing to be 
done by roleplaying factors.  They can be part of the solution, but forcing 
them to fix the entire problem can stretch the believability factor.  It 
also doesn't address the problem of the person who takes a few levels of 
Officer, then switches to Scout for the rest of his career (or at least 
until prestige classes are available).
  Remember that once the characters are decorated in battle against the 
supernatural, anyone in the unit can have officer-level ranks (by joining 
the OSI).  Rank is useful in the game, but it's not an uber-ability.

-Casey

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