question: How do game developers know that the skills and damage of their created characters are balanced?
comment: Balance is an art form. And like all art, it's mostly trial and error. Not completely random trial and error, of course. The people who design the system typically know the system very well, and have an idea of what they want. Sometimes the players find something they didn't anticipate, however, and that's where the fun begins. As for why "random" numbers? Mathematical formulas. Computers are REALLY good at arithmetic. There's very little reason to hard-code numbers in an RPG, for that reason. That's something you generally only do in Tabletop RPGs, because in TTRPGs YOU have to do the math yourself, and you want it as simple as possible. In a video game, however, you can throw a whole bunch of numbers at the wall and the computer will just deal with it.
passages: Section::::Pacing.
  
  Balancing goals shift dramatically when players are contending with the game's environment and/or non-player characters. Such player versus environment games are usually balanced to tread the fine line of regularly challenging players' abilities without ever producing insurmountable or unfair obstacles. This turns balancing into the management of dramatic structure, generally referred to by game designers as "pacing".
  
  Pacing is also a consideration in competitive games, but the autonomy of players makes it harder to control.
  
  Section::::Techniques.
  
  Section::::Techniques.:Symmetry.
   So, most decisions in character creation are made according to the following principles:
  
  "Prescription": The decision is predetermined by the rules (often by a formula or a table that maps one or more already-established statistics to a specific choice for another), or it is made by the game master prior to character creation.
   When a test is required, the Gamemaster, names the skill which is going to be tested (or a raw attribute, if no skill is available for the activity the character is trying to perform). He also sets a difficulty level for the test, which modifies the attribute value (reducing or improving it). Then, the character's skill level is taken into account - if the character does not have any skill levels in the given skill, (in case of Neuroshima) the difficulty level is raised by one, or (in case of Monastyr), all the three rolls (not two) have to be lower than the tested attribute. Otherwise, the player can subtract a total of his character's skill levels in that skill from any of the three dice rolls, each separately.
   Many table-top and video games use "ablative" hit point systems. That is, wounded characters often have no game differences from unwounded characters other than a reduction in hit points. Critical hits originally provided a way to simulate wounds to a specific part of the body. These systems usually use lookup charts and other mechanics to determine which wound was inflicted. In RPGs with non-humanoid characters or monsters, unlikely or bizarre results could occur, such as a Beholder with a "lost leg". Most systems now simply award extra damage on a critical hit, trading realism for ease of play. The effect of a critical hit is to break up the monotony of a battle with high, unusual results.
   Players characters have four aspects (Air, Earth, Fire, Water). For all skill tests a player rolls a number of six sided dice equal to the corresponding aspect score. Skills determine a character's ability to move dice from one aspect to another before making a test, allowing greater chance for success at the cost of temporarily lowering another of the character's aspect dice pools - representing focus and concentration being directed towards particular tasks, such as attacking with no regard for your own defence, or concentrating on a task while not paying attention to your surroundings
  
  Section::::Unique Features.
   Skills are purchased using skill points in a similar manner to attributes. Each skill has an associated attribute; "Firearms" is based on Agility, "Programming" based on Awareness, etc. A character without any ability in a particular skill can use the base attribute with a penalty to determine the success of an action. Spending points on a skill will eliminate the penalty and spending more points will grant bonus dice.
   A neutral character (also called "true neutral") is neutral on both axes and tends not to feel strongly towards any alignment, or actively seeks their balance. Druids frequently follow this dedication to balance and, under "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" rules, were required to be this alignment. In an example given in the 2nd Edition "Player's Handbook", a typical druid might fight against a band of marauding gnolls, only to switch sides to save the gnolls' clan from being totally exterminated.
   Section::::Limitations.:Workarounds.
  
  For advanced users, many of the engine's limitations have workarounds. One can approximate gravity's effect on a monster by defining a heavy diagonal path; the monster will move horizontally until it reaches a ledge, at which point it will fall until it hits the ground again. Similarly, although monsters lack hit counters, the user can create chains of identical (or successively injured-looking) monsters to approximate the same effect.
   What is considered relevant can vary by game and personal preference—one player may consider his character's eye colour or personal background relevant while another might not, but both may be required by the game rules to note down on their sheet if their character suffers an injury.
   The basic conflict resolution mechanic is for players to roll a number of six-sided dice equal to the number of points in that character's matching action. A success or failure criterion is always the same and determined by the highest individual number rolled. Special focus is given to the fictional position of the characters to perform a given action, with explicit division of authority between game masters and players giving the players the final say in what character stats are rolled to address a challenge, while the game master is tasked with assessing the strength of the player's position ranging from a dominant to a desperate position. A strong position reduces the potential consequences of a player's failure, while a desperate position offers the players a chance at gaining points towards character advancement. 
   "Stability", the character's mental wellbeing, has a base score of 4 but players can spend a general character point per level to raise it. A character whose Stability drops to 0 or lower is 'Shaken' (too stunned to be effective) or 'Mentally Ill' (gaining a permanent mental flaw). A "Stability" score of -12 or lower means the character is incurably insane and must leave play.
  
  "Sources of Stability" are three things that calm and center the character – "Symbol" is an item, "Solace" is a person, and "Safety" is a place. They raise or restore the character's "Stability" score.
   When directly challenged by another character or NPC, a player makes Stat and Skill checks as normal, but the results must be greater than the opposition's results to succeed. GMs may levy Difficulty Modifiers for favorable or unfavorable circumstance as they see fit, if the particular challenger is at an advantage, or disadvantage during the contest.
  
  Section::::Mechanics.:Combat scenes.
   Section::::Characteristics.:Character actions and abilities.
  
  Most of the actions in an RPG are performed indirectly, with the player selecting an action and the character performing it by their own accord. Success at that action depends on the character's numeric attributes. Role-playing video games often simulate dice-rolling mechanics from non-electronic role-playing games to determine success or failure. As a character's attributes improve, their chances of succeeding at a particular action will increase.
   The players earn experience points during each scene, and between scenes are able to improve and customize their characters with six attributes: Strength (determines physical damage per hit and distance enemies fly when the player hits them), Vitality (determines HP), Intelligence (governs size and strength of spells), Mentality (determines how many MP the player has and how fast MP are recovered), Agility (determines the speed at which characters can do physical and magical attacks) and Luck (modifies damage the player gives and receives, in addition to improving Nicole's selection of spells).
   Section::::Determining numerical values.:Obtaining and assigning values.
  
  Games that don’t use point distribution to determine all statistics values typically use different methods for different types of statistic: In general, there are comparatively few "attributes", and each one explicitly is assigned a value. Conversely, there are generally a rather large number of "skills", and each character learns only some of them while the others are left at their respective default values. Here are some examples:
   Section::::Development.
  
  When asked in an interview at E3 2006, "Eye of Judgment" producers Kazuhito Miyaki and Yusuke Watanabe answered that the game had been in development for three years; of which the previous year had been focused on graphics development, and the two years before that were spent developing the gameplay mechanics on paper. The developers elaborated that technological tests were conducted at the start of the development, and that one of the main areas of development was currently getting the game to properly recognize the cards on the play mat.
   Within the Storyteller system, the Mental attributes included Perception instead of Resolve, while the social Attributes of Charisma and Appearance were replaced on the sheet by Presence and Composure, respectively. Unlike all other attributes in the Storyteller system–and unlike all attributes in the Storytelling System–Appearance could have zero dots in it, although this was only to reflect particularly hideous or monstrous characters.
   For instance, one of the first skill checks (a snake attack) requires 10 points in the "Composure" skill. Should Elodie be successful, she keeps her cool, allowing a guard to kill the snake; should she fail, her cousin gets bitten, an event whose consequences can be felt in one specific route the game can take.
  
  Most of the checks can be failed without serious consequence, but some can close off entire branches of the story.
   Depending on what the situation calls for, a character has a number of Dots in Attributes and Skills associated with the task. Each Dot represents a d10 die that is added to a dice pool to roll for task resolution. For example, if a character is scaling a wall, they add the number of Dots in their Strength Attribute and their Athletics Skill together. In this case, if the character has a Strength of 3 Dots, and an Athletics Skill of 4 Dots, they get 7 dice in a Dice Pool that combines the two (such as weight-lifting or other feats of strength).
   A "skill check" is always a d20 roll, with bonuses added. Sometimes, a skill check may be aided by favorable circumstances (such as you brandishing a weapon while using Intimidate) or hampered by unfavorable circumstances (such as using improvised tools to pick a lock).
   Section::::Templates and classes.
  
  To speed up and ease the character creation process, many games use character templates of some sort: Sample characters representing genre-typical archetypes that are either completely ready-made or at least define the essential stats necessary for a character to be able to work in a given occupation or fill some dramatic role.
  
  For instance, a thief will probably know how to move quietly, pick locks, disarm traps, and climb walls.
   "Over the Edge" was also the basis of the "On the Edge" collectible card game.
  
  Section::::System.
  
  Instead of representing characters using attributes and skills, characters are quantified with "traits" — freeform descriptors, like "Fireman", "Quick" or "Monster from another Dimension", which are created and defined by the player. Each character has one primary trait, two secondary traits, and one flaw. One of the three positive traits is chosen as superior.
  
  If a character attempts an action based on their primary or secondary traits, they get (usually) four (for the superior trait) or three six-sided dice to roll.
   Whenever a character needs to roll dice to see if they succeeded or failed at doing something, they must make a dice roll which randomly determines success or failure. There are three kinds of checks in Tri-Stat, Stat Checks, Skill Checks and Contested Checks. Stat Checks are made when the GM feels a check of a character's innate ability is required rather than a specific Skill. Skill Checks are made when a particular area of the character's expertise is being challenged. Contested Checks are made against the actions of another character, or non-player character (NPC), that is challenging the character, and is rolled against what that opponent does.
   Section::::Other mechanics for character motivation and ethics.:Alternate methods.
  
  Some games have used other methods to encourage certain behaviours. For instance, superhero games like "Marvel Super-Heroes" and "DC Heroes" each have points that players could earn with heroic behaviour or lose with inappropriate actions. Given that these points could be used to improve their characters, or affect dice roll results in their favour, the players have an incentive to have their characters behave heroically and morally to earn them. The "" RPG by West End Games uses the rules governing the use of the Force for the same purpose.
   Before the fourth edition, skill and ability checks worked as follows: all actions in the game, from the use of skills to making attacks in combat, are first given a target number that reflects the difficulty of the action which is then raised or lowered by various modifying factors, such as environmental conditions, the condition of the character, the use of mechanical aids, and so forth. The player then rolls a number of dice equal to their level in the relevant skill, and the number of dice rolled that meet or exceed the target number determines if the character is successful performing the action and the degree of success the character has. As an example, a character with a high firearms skill not only has a better chance at hitting a target than someone with a lower ranked skill, but also is more likely to cause more damage to the target. Target numbers may exceed 6, in which case any dice that show a 6 have to be re-rolled (a target number of, e.g., 9 is reached by rolling a 6 followed by at least a 3; thus, a target number of 6 and one of 7 are identical, except extra dice rolls are not allowed for target number 7 or greater). For even higher target numbers, this procedure has to be repeated; thus, an action with a target number of 20 (like attempting to procure military-grade weaponry) will only succeed if three successive dice rolls result in sixes, and the fourth gives at least a 2. For any dice-roll a roll of 1 always counts as a failure. This system allows great flexibility in setting the difficulty of an action.
  
raw_presuppositions: Game developers know that the skills and damage of their created characters are balanced.
raw_corrections: Game developers guess that the skills and damage of their created characters are balanced through trial and error.