Halivar
First Post
A couple weeks ago, I tried an experiment: I ported the 3.5 gestalt rules over to 4E, with some necessary caveats, had my players make a couple level 8 gestalt characters, and tested them out in play.
First, I had each player roll standard (4d6-drop-1), but had them take the best two stats, and make them both 18's (to fight MAD and allow them to pick classes that don't synergize on the same stat).
Then I had them pick two classes. For each class, take the better of the two in defenses, hit-points, etc, take all the class abilities for both, but only retain a single line of feats.
For each class, they received all the powers they were entitled to for that level. IOW, they had 4 at-wills, 6 encounters, 4 dailies, and 4 utility powers.
The first effect in the game was expected: against monsters of their own level, they destroyed with aplomb. Minions, in particular, were shredded quite easily because they weren't as cautious with their dailies.
The characters in play were a Rogue/Sorceror, a Wizard/Swordmage, and a Paladin/Barbarian. The Wizard/Swordmage was an effective damage dealer (hit him, take damage; don't hit him, provoke a teleport attack). The Paladin/Barbarian was also brutal.
The three characters took on a level 10 Solo and took it down quickly, though at the loss of the Rogue/Sorceror, who died. Dice rolls were average, and probably indicative of normal, regular play.
The result is that gestalt seems to work VERY well with a limited number of players. With someone having a Cleric gestalt, the party probably would have come out whole. Players appreciated not having to ration so much, and felt very empowered. At the same time, bumping up the level of the monsters by 2 seemed to provide an appropriate challenge for them, so they got nothing for free. The biggest plus, of course, was the gestalt class-flavor-mixing goodness from 3.x.
I intend to run a short campaign in the future using these rules to see how they work at lower levels, also.
First, I had each player roll standard (4d6-drop-1), but had them take the best two stats, and make them both 18's (to fight MAD and allow them to pick classes that don't synergize on the same stat).
Then I had them pick two classes. For each class, take the better of the two in defenses, hit-points, etc, take all the class abilities for both, but only retain a single line of feats.
For each class, they received all the powers they were entitled to for that level. IOW, they had 4 at-wills, 6 encounters, 4 dailies, and 4 utility powers.
The first effect in the game was expected: against monsters of their own level, they destroyed with aplomb. Minions, in particular, were shredded quite easily because they weren't as cautious with their dailies.
The characters in play were a Rogue/Sorceror, a Wizard/Swordmage, and a Paladin/Barbarian. The Wizard/Swordmage was an effective damage dealer (hit him, take damage; don't hit him, provoke a teleport attack). The Paladin/Barbarian was also brutal.
The three characters took on a level 10 Solo and took it down quickly, though at the loss of the Rogue/Sorceror, who died. Dice rolls were average, and probably indicative of normal, regular play.
The result is that gestalt seems to work VERY well with a limited number of players. With someone having a Cleric gestalt, the party probably would have come out whole. Players appreciated not having to ration so much, and felt very empowered. At the same time, bumping up the level of the monsters by 2 seemed to provide an appropriate challenge for them, so they got nothing for free. The biggest plus, of course, was the gestalt class-flavor-mixing goodness from 3.x.
I intend to run a short campaign in the future using these rules to see how they work at lower levels, also.
