Gestalt rules ?'s and help to create two

[Runesong42]

I am currently running a single-player gestalt (First question: how do you pronounce this word?!) campaign based very loosely on Final Fantasy X. He has created a Paladin/Rogue (I do not use alignments in my game except as a descriptor -- only demons, undead and unredeemable black souls get the 'evil/unholy' desciptor, for example). Originally, I had created a cast of NPC followers that accompanied him (three at a time, as a story/adventure fiat) and they each had a defined role in his party.

Now, as I read the description of a gestalt campaign from the Unearthed Arcana, it recommends that all major NPC's should also be gestalt characters. "Great!" I say to myself, "Now I can tweak my guys a little more and..." then it hits me. I'll have to re-format all my NPCs!

Nothing about d20 irks me more than character/NPC generation. Now I have to think up a thematic reason as a sensible pairing to their current class. That said...

I am in need of two examples where I can edit my characters and then use said examples as a base.

Things to know:
I am using a slew of alt rules from Unearthed Arcana. I am using Armor as DR, Defense Bonus, Spell Points, and Spontaneous Divine Magic. The armor alt rules are to simulate a tropical environment, where heavy armours are simply impractical (but good for takin' whacks); the magic alts are to simulate a more Final Fantasy feel to magic (all spellcasters IMC are essentially Sorcs).

I want to create two characters: A female Cleric/Druid (originally Cleric) who I want to have a 'nature witch' feel -- sort of like an Adept, but more capable; and a Fighter/Ranger -- I had originally envisioned him as a Polearm guy (originally Fighter), but with the 3.5 Ranger as he is, I wouldn't mind finding an appropriate Double/Exotic weapon to take advantage of his TWF... or even do both Bow and TWF specialist.

Stats are basic: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8; NPC's are to be level 8.

Also: has anyone ever DM'd a gestalt campaign for a group, and how did it go? My biggest issue is going to be changing crap around to account for the PC/NPC ability boost, but any other difficulties I should foresee?

 

[Thanee]

(First question: how do you pronounce this word?!)

It's a german word, you pronounce it in german.

Roughly like this (I think )... GE-SHTULLED

...but any other difficulties I should foresee?

Well, you have to realize, that one character, even with two classes (basically), still has the hit points and number of actions per round of one character.

Bye
Thanee

 

[evolved]

its gus-stalt by the way

and the big advice i have for redoing characters for gestalt just pick easy classes like rouge or fighter so you can just add them on without changing the character too much

and are you implying that a paladin roge has an aligment conflict if so where a paladin rouge would be sort of like batman with the whole dark knight of justice thing

 

[ZuulMoG]

With an 'e' following the 'g', it's a 'j' sound, so it's pronounced 'je - STALT'.

The Fighter-Ranger is going to have an astounding array of feats at his disposal, as I am sure you are aware, and should definitely go for Whirlwind Attack (Mobility and Spring Attack along the way aid in battling Giants, a popular Favored Enemy) and Great Cleave (for mowing down humanoid Enemies). This is one of the strongest pure fighting characters I've seen. The mass of feats from Fighter class and Ranger combat style can make a devastating combo, and favored enemy bonuses coupled with ranger combat style AND fighter bonus feats can enable the character to make short work of even the most powerful favored enemies (CR 4 or more above CL). The minor spell access granted is really little more than icing on the cake, and the Animal Companion is almost useless compared to the character himself. Dropping these abilities in favor of Sneak Attack against Favored Enemies makes a lot of sense, and finishes the job of turning this gestalt into the Foe-Hunter par excellance that he really is. The only prestige classes that make any sense for this powerhouse are Deepwoods Sniper and Foe Hunter, combined with either Ranger or Fighter (or alternating each, for balance).

(I like Fighter-Rangers.)

Your Cleric-Druid is going to need significant alteration, although BAB and saves are the same. Spells from different classes (known, cast per day) are tracked seperately. Your C-D will have two spell lists, and 2 spell point totals, unless you decide to combine them. In that case, I would strongly reccommend that only 50% of the second class's spell points be added to the first's to get the total. Also, bonus points for high Wisdom accrue only once, not once for both classes. A combined spell list should likewise get only half as many (rounding down) known spells from the second class. Equipment will have to conform to the Druid class restrictions. At 8th level, the animal companion and Wild Shape choices available are fairly wide, but if you're looking for a 'nature witch', you might want to forego the Wild Shape power and offer a different benefit, like +4 levels equivalent to the animal companion's special abilities. (Alternately, you could forgo the animal companion, and give a +4 level modifier to the Wild Shape ability.) Eliminating both and adding spells from the Sorceror-Wizard list of an elemental nature (hopefully not the Big Fun evocations, unless game balance is something you don't particularly care for) is a possibility to consider. Brew Potion and Craft: Alchemy (should be a Class Skill for this gestalt) are definite considerations. This class has a skill burden of three (Knowledge: Religion, Knowledge: Nature, and Survival) fairly crucial skills for both classes, and Concentration is a must for any serious spellcaster, and that's all 4 skill points per class level, leaving no room for fun stuff unless the character's Intelligence score is high (and since it's not a class attribute, it shouldn't be).

Some nasty Gestalt combos to throw at the PCs include the all-powerful Monk-Psychic Warrior (yeah, 'all-powerful' is a fitting descriptor, espcially with Power Touch, Combat Reflexes, Prowess, and Quicken Power with lots of Psychometabolic powers), deadly Fighter-Rogues (Sneak Attacks AND Feats!!), Bard-barians (skalds) inspiring the hordes that follow them, and evil Fighter-Rangers (gnolls and lizardmen and bugbears, Oh MY!!)

 

[glass]

I have alway pronounced it gu-SHTALT.


glass.

 

[Thanee]

Heh. I think the 'U' as in hut is pretty close to the german 'A'.

The 'G' is definitely a hard-pronounced 'G', as in guitar (that 'A' there is also close to the 'A' in Gestalt).

Of course, that is the german pronounciation, but since it *is* a german word...

Bye
Thanee

 

[Li Shenron]

Now I have to think up a thematic reason as a sensible pairing to their current class.

...

I want to create two characters: A female Cleric/Druid (originally Cleric) who I want to have a 'nature witch' feel -- sort of like an Adept, but more capable; and a Fighter/Ranger -- I had originally envisioned him as a Polearm guy (originally Fighter), but with the 3.5 Ranger as he is, I wouldn't mind finding an appropriate Double/Exotic weapon to take advantage of his TWF... or even do both Bow and TWF specialist.

I think the thematic reason could be more difficult than the stat job Fortunately you have already figured out easy combinations of similar classes (probably gestalt gives more with different classes, but who cares?).

If you already have the stats of the original Cleric and Fighter, you just do the following:

Cleric/Druid

- adjust the alignment to any neutral if necessary
- spend a number of skill points equal to 2 x (level + 3) in any cleric or druid skill
- add the druid spells per day (same numbers as cleric except domain spells) and prepare them
- add an animal companion
- change the armor to non-metal if necessary
- take the druid class table and add all the special abilities up to your level

Fighter/Ranger

- spend a number of skill points equal to 4 x (level + 3) in any fighter or ranger skill
- change the base Reflex save to that of a Ranger (or just add 2 + 1/2 - 1/3)
- add the ranger spells per day and prepare them
- add an animal companion
- change the armor to light if necessary
- add the combat style feats (if he already had, add some other feat)
- choose favored enemies
- take the ranger class table and check for all the other special abilities up to your level

...definitely you shouldn't need to recalculate anything except the Reflex ST of the Ftr/Ran.

 

[Li Shenron]

Roughly like this (I think )... GE-SHTULLED

That sounds soo scary... This morning I went to the police to change my driving license into a Finnish one, and I found out (from the infos in foreign languages) that I actually hold a Führerschein

 

[yennico]

That sounds soo scary... This morning I went to the police to change my driving license into a Finnish one, and I found out (from the infos in foreign languages) that I actually hold a Führerschein

You are right. Driving license translated into German is: Führerschein.

 

[glass]

Heh. I think the 'U' as in hut is pretty close to the german 'A'.

The 'G' is definitely a hard-pronounced 'G', as in guitar (that 'A' there is also close to the 'A' in Gestalt).

Of course, that is the german pronounciation, but since it *is* a german word...

Well, I kinda pronounce the A somewhere in between an A sound and a U sound (which is difficult to express on a message board. I am sure my pronunciation is far from perfect, bit I think it is close enough to prevent me from sounding like a complete idiot.

Anyway, I think the key points are hard G and stress the second syllable.


glass.