Gestalt Poser: Double benefits?

[Luthien Greyspear]

I'm running a long-term campaign that will have the characters going up against a pretty major baddie, and I've decided to ramp the characters up a bit before they get there. For plot reasons (having to do with a curse of collective amnesia), every level the party gains from this point forward will be a gestalt level.

This is actually pretty important for the characters, as the "second" class level they gain at every level is actually a bit of the memory of their past life coming back. The party used to be a 2nd edition group of 12th to 14th level characters who had gone into semi-retirement after finishing Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits. I advanced the game about 20 years, allowing for several levels of normal advancement during that time, and then told the party that the next segment of the game would involve the party suffering through a magically-induced amnesia. Basically, 3rd edition had just come out, and I wasn't gonna convert characters of that high a level and make my players learn a whole new system at the same time.

The problem I'm having is this: if a character takes a level in a spellcasting class (wizard) and a level in a PrC that grants advancement as a spellcaster (ex: Eldritch Knight), can they get the same benefit for both classes at the same time. I'm inclined to say no, but I'd like to know if any official word has been published on this matter before my players start trying to rules-lawyer me. I've found having something in print shuts them up pretty quick so we can just get on with the game.

 

[Crothian]

I'd cap it so their spellcaster ability can never get higher then their character level.

 

[Jarrod]

I'd agree. Also, they suggest that in a Gestalt game you remove the various "multiclass" PrCs (Eldritch, Arcane Tricker, ...) because they overlap with Gestalt and are thus unnecessary. Though you'd still have Wizard/Archmage or something like that.

 

[Luthien Greyspear]

Yeah, I've pretty much decided to kick out the Mystic Theurge, Cerebremancer, Geomancer, Eldritch Kinght, Rage Mage, Arcane Trickster, and any other "multi-classes" that crop up.

One of the important limitations I've put on the gestalt levels is that one of the two levels MUST be a level in a class the character had before the amnesia curse. The whole group has converted their old characters to 3.5 and submitted them to me (or will have, before they gain their next levels). Therefore, the cleric/ranger of the group (who used to be a ranger/scout/some archery PrC) will have to take a level in either ranger or scout or her PrC in addition to her normal choice (cleric or maybe Master of Radiance).

The problem really comes into play with one character in particular. In her past life, she was a psion/wizard/Cerebremancer. Currently, she is a psychic warrior/wizard/bladesinger. (The character had always wished to be a better fighter.) My dilemma will crop up when she wants to advance her bladesinger levels and her wizard levels at the same time. It's not going to be a problem half the time, of course, but I still want to be prepared.