Hooo, boy, I've been waiting for this.
So you want to talk checks and balances? Let's talk checks and
balances.
Human characters have access to
one Path. Two, if they choose to bridge to another and pick up an extra power, which not everyone wants to do. Dark Theurgy is
only available to those that choose to sacrifice
any other
one time option and go the Sorcerer/Paladin bridge. One power.
One bridge.
One option. Vampires, however, have access to six, count them,
six Paths, and a bridge between each, with
five powers per bridge in opposition to a human's
one power. Not to mention access to Six Paths' worth of masteries, as opposed to a human's two, when and if the time ever arises that someone has like a billion PXP to spend.
Vampires have the Eye Spy and Triangulation power, as well as the only means of defending against it, which humans have no counter for, and no answer to, aside from blowing 35 Anima a day for a long list of random vampires that they don't have any need for, and expending their entire power pool
looking for a target, or trekking the
entire city using the only skill, available to
everyone, and hoping that tracking pulls through for once, which it rarely ever does, but it's all we've got.
Vampires have Curse, which is not only an attack from wherever you wish, but also completely anonymous at rank 2. You can instigate a conflict without anyone ever even knowing you were the one to cause it. Humans have no such option whatsoever. If they want to smack someone, the target's going to know who it was.
Vampires can cross water with two powers, which humans only have one, and only,
again if you sacrifice your one choice of a bridge for Sorcerer, or started on that Path.
Vampires can summon Spirits for resources, Sidhe to attack, Wraiths to track and scout, Fadebeast to stand guard over an area, and again, available to all with enough time. Humans have one power, the Treyonetic Wolf,
once again only available if you totally sacrifice your other
one-time choice and go Sorcerer/Blood Thief, an option not even available to Paladins at all in any capacity, so that leaves me 100% out of a neat-*** RP option and a power with some use. Though I can get a vampire thrall, which is nice, and its own sort of balance between the options available to my character. The list of powers and effects that are vampire exclusive goes on and on and on and on.
Vampires have full and total access to over 100 powers, some buffs, some debuffs, some heals, some damaging attacks, some only useful against NPC's, but it's a massive cry from a bridged human's 20, even more from the double-downed's 11. The only human that can do that is a Blood Thief that's doubled down, and therefore gave up their option for bridging to either Path and loses out on any other power. In fact, without the powers they've stolen, Blood Thieves have nothing at all beyond the ability to steal those powers, but, Blood Thieves don't even have access to Dark Theurgy, so again, its own kind of balance in limitation among humans.
There are plenty of things going against humans, and a mountain of obstacles between them and doing what they are
supposed to do. [i.e. a Paladin being a vampire hunter. Having an equal footing on a PVP based perspective.] Playing as a team and being strategic is vastly more important to a human faction than it is to a Vampire faction, simply because of the number of options available to vampires and the number of vampires in the game, versus the human population. When creating a new character for a human faction, the questions of
What does the faction need? What do I need to play? is much, much less an option of, 'play what you want, you can pick up the power we need later,' or, 'don't worry about it, so-and-so already has that role covered with xyz power,' and much more an issue of, 'we
absolutely must have this Path, taking
this bridge, and if you can't do that, then you're largely redundant.' As much as one may like or dislike this
one power, they have one against many that can be slung right back at them.