Incorporating the Gestalt Rules

[Viktyr Gehrig]

One of the more fascinating rule variants presented in Unearthed Arcana is the Gestalt Character-- reminiscent of 2nd Edition multiclassing, it allows characters to advance in two classes at once, retaining the best class features of each. This allows for deeper, more complicated characters, and helps make for finer distinctions between different archetypes that may have previously been either poorly represented or overlapped with another class. (The wealth of Knight and Samurai variants is evidence of this.)

While fascinating, however, it does not seem to integrate well with the existing multiclass rules, especially the Favored Classes of non-human races. They also allow characters to become incredibly complicated when more than one or two Gestalt combinations are used.

In order to better integrate the Gestalt Character variant into the D&D 3.5 rules, I've made the following changes to the multiclassing and Favored Class rules:

• Each race, instead of a Favored Class, has a Favored Gestalt combination.
• Each character may have levels in their Favored Gestalt and one other combination without XP penalty. (Certain combinations are exempt; see below.)
• Each character may have levels in a Gestalt of one element of their Favored Gestalt (or their other exempt Gestalt) and one Prestige Class.
• As advised in Unearthed Arcana, "combination" Prestige Classes (such as the Arcane Trickster, Eldritch Knight, Mystic Theurge, and Cerebromancer) are banned.
• Classes with multiclassing restrictions (Monk and Paladin) have those restrictions lifted.
• Because of both classes' huge number of bonus feats (and their overlapping bonus feat lists), Fighter and Psychic Warrior cannot be combined.

The Favored Gestalts for each of the core races (and a couple non-core examples) are as follows:

• Dwarf: Fighter/Expert (Expert PC rules given below)
• Elf: Ranger/Wizard
• Orc: Ranger/Barbarian
• Gnome: Bard/Illusionist or Bard/Druid (chosen at character creation)
• Halfling: Monk/Rogue or Barbarian/Rogue (chosen at character creation)
• Drow: male, Rogue/Wizard; female Cleric/Rogue

Humans and human hybrids are more flexible.

• Humans may select any two classes as their Favored Gestalt.
• Half-Elves may select any one class, combined with either Ranger or Wizard, as their Favored Gestalt.
• Half-Dwarves may select any one class, combined with either Fighter or Expert, as their Favored Gestalt.
• Half-Orcs may select any one class, combined with either Barbarian or Ranger, as their Favored Gestalt.

(Half-Elves and Half-Orcs, if they choose Ranger, may also replace it with the Urban Ranger variant.)

To accompany these changes, I've had to update the Expert to a PC-level class. I will detail those changes (and my upgraded Aristocrat) in another thread.

Because my campaigns make extensive use of Savage Species rules, and I typically allow a wide variety of monstrous races for use as PCs, I've also had to adapt the rules to include them. I've made the following changes:

• Races which have monster HD may combine them with one class from their Favored Gestalt (same class for each HD), except races with Dragon or Outsider HD, which are already superior to any single classes.
• Because class levels are so much more powerful now, races with a Level Adjustment of +3 or higher may subract 1 from their LA for every three full levels of LA.

The combination of monster HD with a single class is, of course, exempt from the multiclassing penalty.

To reflect the common themes of the planetouched, they all keep their original Favored Class (except the Genasi), adding either Favored Soul (for Outer Plane planetouched) or Shugenja (for Inner Plane planetouched) to form their Favored Gestalt. I've also adjusted the Genasi's Favored Classes to reflect differences in their elemental natures.

• Aasimar: Paladin/Favored Soul
• Tiefling: Rogue/Favored Soul
• Zenthyri: Monk/Favored Soul
• Chaond: Barbarian/Favored Soul
• Air Genasi: Rogue/Shugenja*
• Earth Genasi: Fighter/Shugenja*
• Fire Genasi: Barbarian/Shugenja* (add Perform to class skill list for both classes)
• Water Genasi: Monk/Shugenja*

* Similar to their Cleric restriction (which is thus removed), Genasi must select the element of their heritage for their Shugenja class.

Also, to balance the planetouched against each other, and in general, I've removed the Charisma penalty from each race that receives it. (I'll detail these changes in another thread.) Unlike members of normal races, planetouched need not select a specific deity for their Favored Soul because of their inborn connection to the divine-- agnostic Favored Souls use the alignment component of their heritage to determine their weapon bonuses.

Player characters with templates replace one element of their Favored Gestalt with one associated with their template.

• Draconic or Half-Dragon: Sorceror
• Feral: Barbarian
• Celestial, Fiendish, Half-Celestial, or Half-Fiend: Favored Soul
• Half-Elemental: Shugenja (of appropriate element)
• Lycanthrope: Ranger

A PC with two such templates would therefore replace both elements of their Favored Gestalt-- the templates more or less overriding the tendencies inherited from their more "normal" race.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Another option I allow my characters is to take Hero levels (from Four Color to Fantasy). However, because part of their balance is poor progression in all "normal" aspects of the character, Hero levels may not be combined with any other class. To compensate, each Hero level gives 10 Hero Points and Hero levels are exempt from the XP penalty for multiclassing.

 

[Nellisir]

Cool ideas. I've toyed with using the gestalt rules, but they don't fit in my current campaign very well. If I lose players, though, I'm definately going to consider it.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

I have also determined the Favored Gestalts for XPH races:

• Elan: Psychic Warrior/Psion
• Thri-Kreen: Ranger/Psychic Warrior
• Githzerai: Monk/Wilder
• Githyanki: Fighter/Psion
• Dromite: Rogue/Wilder
• Duergar: Psychic Warrior/Expert (using the Dwarven Expert rules).
• Half-Giant: Barbarian/Psychic Warrior
• Maenad: Fighter/Wilder
• Xeph: Ranger/Soulknife

I'm a little uncertain about Dromites-- I couldn't find a better Gestalt combination for them, but Rogue doesn't seem quite right to me.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Racial Paragon levels may be taken, but they must be combined with an element of the character's Favored Gestalt, and all three levels must be taken with the same class.

Hybrid races with the Divided Ancestry class ability must take their parent's Paragon levels combined with the element of their Favored Gestalt they received from that race-- Ranger or Wizard for Half-Elves, Ranger or Barbarian for Half-Orcs, and Fighter or Expert for Half-Dwarves.

 

[Pyrex]

One concept I've been toying with implementing for a game I'll probably be running soon is a limited-gestalt.

As the PC's will be members of a mercenary company, any time they take a level in a class from the PHB it is gestalted with Ftr.

(note: There are no PrC's in the PHB, if they want levels in a PrC, they don't get to gestalt them with Ftr. Given that, I don't even need to ban the 'combination' PrC's)

 

[Ferrix]

My one comment for now is that why ban the psychic warrior/fighter combination? Sure he gets a boatload of feats, but that's hobbling a class combination pretty roughly. What if you did something similar with a fighter/rogue, making the player choose between either sneak attack as a rogue and the bonus feats as a fighter? That sounds pretty similar to me.

Seems just ad hoc to me is all.

Otherwise some of your ideas are interesting, although, I ditch favored classes in standard D&D games anyway, and most of the people I game with do as well and the favored combinations are a bit too much for me.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

My one comment for now is that why ban the psychic warrior/fighter combination? Sure he gets a boatload of feats, but that's hobbling a class combination pretty roughly.

My concern isn't so much the raw number of feats, as it is the overlapping feat lists-- allowing Ftr/PsW would allow them to take almost the entire Fighter bonus feat list. While Gestalt characters are overall more powerful than standard characters, this combination, I feel, would be unbalancing, as several of those feats can be used in conjunction.

By comparison, a Sor/Wiz, while being able to cast spells all day, is still limited by their inability to cast more than one or two spells in a single round.

Seems just ad hoc to me is all.

It is. And, I have considered allowing it, but in the context of my current campaign (which involves two concurrent games, one of which uses d20 Modern rules), it'd allow the Ftr/PsW to have more feats than any possible d20 Modern character-- and their current slight edge in feats is one of the few advantages that the Modern characters have.

In a standalone D&D campaign, I would be more inclined to allow the combination, especially given that the Ftr/PsW gives up several benefits of the Gestalt system since most of their other abilities overlap.

Otherwise some of your ideas are interesting, although, I ditch favored classes in standard D&D games anyway, and most of the people I game with do as well and the favored combinations are a bit too much for me.

Well, if you're doing away with Favored Classes, it would likewise make sense to not use my Favored Gestalt rules. Like Favored Class, they're designed mainly to help reinforce racial stereotypes, while allowing characters to step outside of them if they so prefer.