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Balancing the Powers

This is a short step primarily completed by the Judge, but usually in consultation with the Player. The Judge must look at this character in terms of how he balances with the other Player Characters and with the campaign as a whole. If the campaign is being run for characters like Daredevil or Black Widow and a powerful magic wielder with a personal energy spell (like Flight), a universal energy spell (like a powerful Eldritch Beam/Bolt), and strong dimensional energy spells (like Environmental Independence, Teleportation, Shield—Multiple, and Thaumaturgy) is added, the magic wielder will soon overshadow the less-powerful characters, making the campaign less fun for everyone. On the other hand, a campaign suitable for Iron Man or the Hulk would overwhelm a weak sorcerer.

A powerful character can have conditions placed on some of his spells and magical items that will prevent them from being a constant unbalancing force, but gives the character access to them. Look back in the magical item generation section at some of those conditions for an idea on how to limit a powerful sorcerer.

A weak character must be built up a bit and magical items are great for this. If the campaign includes both magical and nonmagical heroes, the Judge should remember that many of the spells have limitations (such as target resistance FEAT rolls, full concentration required, etc.) that nonmagical powers often do not have.

This balancing requires thought, time, and discussion between Judge and Player. This is why generating characters, especially magical characters, are best accomplished during non-game time and on a 1-to-1 basis.