Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
Any ability designed to counter a particular power source is unbalanced and uninteresting.
Let's look at that one for a moment. An entire power source, perhaps. Antimagic Field does it but it's one of the extreme examples. How about specific powers though?

RPGs tend to be this arms race of power. You start out stronger than the opposition. Now they gain access to something new and you discover or develop the counter to it. Protection from Arrows comes at a time when ranged weapons are clearly superior to melee weapons. Anti-poison spells arrive when monsters start using poison. Dispel Magic comes when buffs are beginning to seriously impact combat. Fireball and Lightning Bolt introduce potent area of effects while being countered by the Communal version of Resist Energy. Ability damage turns into ability drain and along comes Restoration. Disintegrate destroys Raise Dead as a viable solution but Resurrection reverts it. Imprisonment traps someone while Freedom frees them. Death Ward comes along just as undead are starting to get level drains.

Any time a new type of power is introduced an appropriate counter should be available soon or already. This keeps the balance of the game through controlled escalation. Like a new set for a card game, options arrive that shift the meta and force players to rethink the status quo. When they're comfortable feeling like nothing can defeat a Hasted Blurred Fighter you throw a Domination on them and teach them to guard their minds. This is just the natural progression of any good RPG. Final Fantasy games even introduce enemy mechanics like Earthquake and then grant you the Float spells that counter them. Holy magic arrives shortly after you are introduced to the major demons it slaughters. Death magic comes when enemies now have thousands of hitpoints due to formulaic scaling. The goal is to consistently make combat tactical and fun regardless of how strong the party gets.

Fighters encountering enemies with Forcecage may be granted an ability that counters it somehow. Not necessarily immediately, and not necessarily for free, but an option may appear eventually that solves this annoying dilemma that has so far been a weakness of the Fighter. Just as items may appear that solve inherent weaknesses to the class, such as Boots of Flying. It's all part of the Grand Design.