Why Your TTRPG System Might Not Need As Much Balancing As You Think
Game designers love balance. Players talk about it. Reviewers chase it. But here's the truth:
Your game doesn’t need to be perfectly balanced to be fun—especially not in a tabletop RPG.
In fact, some of the most memorable moments in TTRPGs come from unbalanced mechanics—wild abilities, overpowered artifacts, or just that one goblin who always rolls 20s.
What Do We Actually Mean by "Balance"?
In a TTRPG, “balance” usually refers to:
Characters being roughly equal in power
No single option being the “always best” choice
Encounters being appropriately challenging
Mechanics not overshadowing roleplay
Sounds reasonable, right? But here’s the problem: tabletop RPGs aren’t competitive games. There’s no leaderboard. There’s no ranked PvP. TTRPGs are collaborative storytelling engines where chaos, surprise, and style often beat strategy.
Trying to mathematically balance a system assumes:
Players will all optimize the same way
GMs will never fudge rolls or adjust encounters
Every table plays identically
But that’s not true. One table might treat your fireball spell like a holy relic; another might laugh and throw exploding sheep instead. If your system is flexible and fun, balance becomes a dial, not a rulebook.
In Ironbound, I focused on balancing every possible math. Classes, and species all have the same amount of math. If they did less damage they have more health. I tried to make sure all the feats were on par with each other. I found it made the system boring. I ended up modifying everything to make things not as balanced.
Fun First, Balance Second
I found that if I focus on fun more than balance it helped prioritize:
Player expression – can they do cool stuff?
Narrative impact – does it add to the story?
Memorability – will people talk about this after the session?
Only then do I ask: “Is this too strong?” And even then, I often let it ride for a few sessions to see if it’s a problem or just a spotlight.
Final Thought: Who Are You Balancing For?
If you're a designer, ask yourself:
Are you balancing for the power gamer, the improv actor, or the lore junkie?
Are you balancing for your table, or for some imagined "ideal" group?
Because honestly, the GM has the ultimate nerf bat. And players will always surprise you.
So go ahead—design big. Break stuff. Make wild mechanics. Then adjust them if they actually break the fun.
Because fun, not balance, is your game’s true endgame.
I know many people will disagree with these statements but you don’t usually homebrew a rule or item to make it balanced. You do it to make something cool and exciting. Let me know what you think in the comments.
