Quote Originally Posted by TuggyNE View Post
All right, I know you missed my point, which is probably my fault for being vague. What I'm saying is, for any given Fighter level, take the Wizard level that is equivalent (which is presumably lower, but does exist, by the logic of these proposals), and then recalibrate either the Fighter levels, the Wizard levels, or both, such that they are now equivalent on levels that are numbered the same. Example: In the OP, a level 20 Fighter is considered equivalent to a level 11 Wizard in actual power level and in XP; therefore, adjust what Fighter and Wizard levels grant until a Fighter 11 is equivalent in power to a Wizard 11, and then the XP required will of course be the same as well.
Ah, now I think I understand, although I still disagree. To balance them, you'd either need to cut casting significantly, maybe as much as 50% (i.e. max 5th level spells), or boost fighters to absurd levels. IMHO.

Quote Originally Posted by Yakk View Post
Suppose level 10 wizard is about as powerful as a level 20 fighter, after you do the analysis.

Then, come up with some PrCs that requires a 20 BaB to enter such that a level "20" fighter + 1 level of PrC is balanced against a level 11 Wizard.

The advantage of this system is that PrCs can have interesting entry requirements that can explain superhuman abilities. A really simple one might be "drink the heart blood of an adult dragon, +20 BaB": this is something a character can arrange or quest to do in order to gain entry into a particular PrC.

The first level of this PrC might grant 2d12 HD, +4 BaB, +3 to every save, immunity to the damage type of the Dragon's breath weapon, a +30 enhancement bonus to jump checks and the ability to jump as far vertically as horizontally, and a +4 enhancement bonus to every attribute, or whatever pseudo-supernatural abilities you want to shovel in to let the melee-type keep up with a wizard. Maybe give these PrCs a 5 level progression.

Then the next tier of PrCs might require +40 BaB, and similar quest/plot prerequisites.

Basically, think 4e Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies on steroids, with both a BaB gatekeeping requirement, and a pile of superhuman abilities to give you characters who can keep up with their adventuring companion who can cast a wish spell a few times a day.
Problem with this is it introduces an immense amount of power creep, something 3.x already suffers from.

(Not really related to this post so I'll keep it short, but IMHO the best way to balance casters AND still keep the earth-shattering flavor of individual spells is to make magic difficult or dangerous to cast.)