D&D 5E (2014) 5e gestalt builds

[Z. H. Darkstar]

I love the idea of a Moon Druid/Warlock who becomes a bear (or octopus) that shoots laser beams out of its eyes! Unfortunately though it doesn't work--Archdruids get to cast druid spells without components, not all spells.

Moon Druid/Sun Soul Monk would be the combo you are looking for, as Radiant Sun Burst uses the Attack action. Plus, you would get the Monk's Unarmored Defense while Wildshaped.

 

[CTurbo]

Moon Druid Barbarian would be fun. Raging in animal form FTW

 

[Nathan Mitchell]

I made two gestalt characters to play as antagonists in a game I am GMing and they are sick. One of them is a Paladin (Oathbreaker) 12/Warlock (Pact of the Chain, Hexblade) 8//Sorcerer (Stone Sorcery) 20 and the other is a Rogue (Arcane Trickster) 14/Monk (Way of Shadow) 6//Wizard (Necromancer) 20. They are both extremely viable combatants in melee but they excel at summoning tons of undead and buffing them all with the auras from the Paladin. This made for a climactic final battle to say the least, especially since the party were only level 14 when they faced them.

The party they faced were all gestalt builds too though. There was a Ranger (Beast Conclave)//Monk (Way of the Open Hand) that used his Animal Companion as a mount, a Fighter (Battlemaster)//Bard (College of Lore) with Polearm Master, a Rogue (Arcane Trickster)//Wizard (Bladesinger). The party were incredibly good at identifying the path of least resistance, especially when I hadn't thought of it before. I was especially impressed by the Ranger//Monk, he was a Kobold and chose a Wolf companion so they both have Pack Tactics and therefore gave themselves advantage all the time. Also, it was hilarious to try describe a Kobold using Flurry of Blows while riding a Wolf.

 

[NRush1100]

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[NRush1100]

I'm always looking for some fun ways to tweak things and mix things up. I've actually never played by gestalt rules even though I've always wanted to.

So besides fighter + anything, what do you guys think would be some fun gestalt combs? Some obvious combos come to mind like
Ranger+Rogue
Paladin+Sorcerer or Bard or Warlock
Monk+Druid

But I'm looking for some not so obvious ideas.
Like a Barbarian Monk that tries to keep is anger in check through meditation, but sometimes loses his .
or a Wizard Barbarian that throws temper tantrums when he runs out of spells.
a Cleric Warlock with a dark past?

I'm sure there are some pretty interesting possibilities.

Barbarian/Paladin if you have the stats for it. Tons of HP, resistances, and huge damage output with smites during rage. I call it the Holy Rager, think Kratos from God of War. Prior to the 2024 rules I'd go with the Totem Bear Barbarian and Oath of Watchers Paladin. With the 2024 rules this idea kind of falls off because smite is now a spell, not an ability.

 

[Horwath]

little of a necro here but,

for 2014 version;

Gloomstalker/Assassin
Lore bard/Aberrant Mind
As mentioned Bear totem/Vengeance pala
Bear totem/Moon druid
Artificer armorer/Abjurer wizard
Gloomstalker/Samurai for all attacks in the 1st round with advantage. Elven accuracy for extra cheese.
Bladesinger/EK
Illusionist/AT
Drakewarden ranger/Wildfire druid, bonus if you can activate both companions as same Bonus action.
Life cleric/Star druid for a heal-bot.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

While Paladin|Bard is an expected combo, I'd like to present a perhaps slightly unorthodox one: the "martial pacifist" (will fight, will kill if needed, but hates ever doing it):

Redemption|Eloquence.

You get almost Fantasy Superman. Between Silver Tongue (you can't roll less than 10 on Persuasion/Deception) and CD: Emissary of Peace (+5 to Persuasion for 10 min) and Bardic Inspiration, you're a BEAST at persuading others. Eloquence 6 makes your BI guaranteed useful (it keeps applying until the recipient gets a success) and lets you speak to anyone regardless of language, and Redemption 7 lets you shield an ally jumping into harm's way. (All you need is a ritual, that Bards can learn, to also understand what others say.) Infectious Inspiration at 14 and Protective Spirit at 15 just reinforce these, meaning you truly are the light that inspires, and you can power through even nasty scrapes.

The baseline Bard and Paladin features make sure you'll never be useless in other places, but on and off the battlefield, you are a shining light to others. It's not just a copacetic stat combo, it's a genuinely reinforcing thematic presentation.