The typical party of PCs appears to be composed of equals. They may have Nodwickian henchlings or distant authority figures, but in most of the games I've played, the PCs are equal with respect to each other.Is this generalization true for you as well? What other group dynamics have showed up in campaigns you have played? What other group dynamics might be workable? What isn't workable, and why?
Generally, yes, it's true. I have played in a PBeM where the characters are widely different in power levels, but it was Amber, and not really that important (IMHO). It's all about the roleplaying, there.
The biggest problems I've run into with unbalanced games has been with power gamers who tweak the hell out of the system and, while on paper the characters are balanced, when it comes down to brass tacks, the power gamer overshadows the others, usually in combat situations.
I've never played in a really unbalanced game, but I don't think I'd have a problem with it in the short term. Part of it has to do with being able to contribute as much as anyone else. It really depends on what the basis for the game was. If there was a lot of combat and my character was significantly less powerful than the others (less levels, less points, whatever the system uses), I could easily be upset if the GM didn't scale the challenges properly. I would hope that my character would be able to fight a character or help another PC and not just get the dren kicked out of them.
I'm going to be running into this situation in my ATF game. Anne started the game with the other players, but missed sessions and ended up being behind the other characters in level. I had another player leave the game, then return and play the same character. Fortunately he was only about a level behind at the time, and as the characters get higher in level, the less he falls behind. But Anne took a break this summer, and the rest of the group is 10th level (almost 11th for some of them) and Margaret's 7th. What makes this situation worse is that Margaret was the group's cleric, so spells are even more important.
Now, Anne and I did a weblog to have an adventure for Margaret while she wasn't coming to the sessions. But things intervened, and she didn't get as far along as I wanted. We're going to keep her going through it, even though she'll be rejoining in December.
Some of you might say, just advance her character to match the lowest level PC. While I'd love to do that, I'd have one very pissed-off husband on my hands, and possibly other players who would be varying degrees of upset (I don't know, I haven't asked them). Lou feels (and rightly so, I can understand his perspective) that the character shouldn't be rewarded just to make things even. He was at all the sessions - if someone misses a session, they don't get experience. That's been our rule. I counter with if I let her create a new character, I'd let her start at the lowest experience total of the PCs, and no, he wouldn't have a problem with that. So what's the difference? What's the solution? I don't know. I don't want her character to be so far behind the others that she's a hindrance rather than a help, or feels like she can't contribute equally. We did this in another game (when Anne took her maternity leave), and it just didn't work when Anne rejoined, and she ended up leaving that game (though, I must admit, there were other reasons as well, but I'm pretty sure this was the biggest reason).
I think I'm just going to advance her to mid-9th level, or maybe 3/4ths of the way to 10th.
(And no, Anne, I don't want you to not come back, or to not play Margaret. This isn't a complaint about you or your character, I'm just using it to illustrate the point, and the difficulty I'm having!)