Re: (TFT) Wizard mods - out of balance?

[PvK <pvk@oz.net>]

If 30 points is average (and (nod to DMG) if typical thugs do have weapon talents, smarts to move tactically, and the will to fight determinedly), then 32 points is not overpowered, but it is very different from D&D and the many other games with similar power scales, but I would say it is because the TFT system keeps most mortals at near power levels (before they get strong magic items anyway).

That is, I think people saying TFT starting characters are more powerful than starting D&D characters, are thinking of their chances versus powerful monsters and opponents. That is, a level-one D&D fighter, IIRC, stands no chance against a level-six D&D monster or fighter, and the levels go up into the 20's and above. It's very stratified and predictable who will win a brute force combat. Compared to TFT, becoming a 36-point fighter takes a lot of deadly combat to achieve, and a 40-point character is very experienced (like the player who just mentioned it, in our campaigns, I think the most experienced PC was 46 points (started at 32) after about five real-world years of regular play, and ten years of almost non-stop adventuring). And without magical equipment, 36-, 40-, and even 46-point characters are in some danger when faced with a 32-point character, especially if they are armed with a heavy crossbow, a polearm, or they get lucky or have friends who gang up, to a much greater degree than any higher-level D&D character is vulnerable to starting D&D characters.

On the other hand, IIRC, starting D&D characters might be thought to be more powerful than starting TFT characters, in how likely they are to survive battles with low-level opponents. I.e. the odds fighting low-level orcs and skeletons.

Long way for me to say that I think the difference is more just that TFT combat is deadly and the difference between starting characters and high-level characters is much more extreme in D&D than in TFT.

...
However, using the 32 points as a 'standard' for most NPCs (farmers,  
guards, levied spearmen, etc) its been suggested that 32 points (and  
perhaps more importantly, the number of talents this usually entails)  
are too many.
...
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