OK lots more good stuff… it does seem most are most are comfortable with
just the Gestalt way
hehe like that is soooo weak. A few still like the idea but we seem to be in the minority. IF we go with Gestalt these are my initial thoughts (see below for some of the logic behind this and some more questions)…
Character Level: 4th (all classes from PHB 3.5, Eberron, Complete Warrior, Divine, Arcane and from the Expanded Psionic Handbook but only from the SRD as that is all I have access to. Also variant classes from the Unearthed Arcana from pg. 47-58 and the variant Specialist Spellcasters from pg. 47-58 are also all allowed).
Skills and Feats changes: All characters get +2 skill points/level (so 8 at first, 2 points after that) and while I am not changing the skill level max, or changing prohibited skills, cross-classes skills only cost 1pt/rank (so a 4th Paladin/Sorcerer could purchase up to 3 ranks of Spot for 3 skill points). Hero Feats are gained each level, with a bonus feat (for 2) at 1st level (so fourth level characters, with no other bonuses would start with 5 heroic feats).
Attribute Buy: 40 points (remember bonus at 4th level). Nothing below 8 or above 18 without racial adjustments though.
Gestalt: two character classes BUT locked. I will allow players to buy prestige class abilities as feats. The prerequisite for the "feat" is the character level needed to acquire the ability through normal minimum class & prestige class advancement i.e. if your character wanted the "Impromptu Sneak Attack 1/day" ability of the Arcane Trickster (a 3rd level prestige class ability), you'd be able to get it with a feat at 8th level. (To get into the Arcane Trickster prestige class you need at minimum 5 levels of wizard to cast 3rd level spells and 3 levels of rogue to get the +2d6 sneak attack, then the 3rd level prestige ability would bring the character level of 8th because of Gestalt)
Racial stuff: all in the base book and Eberron. I also encourage someone to play either an Aasimar, Teifling or Half-Dragon (or even something weirder like a Gnoll or a Werewolf or an Undying). I don’t want LOTS of crazy races BUT I do want/encourage at least 1 (and maybe 2 max).
Wealth: this one I am going to hold up a bit. I think I will only let you start with 500gp to purchase whatever you want (normal gear and equipment, some minor magic) and ALL other gear will be assigned by me depending on your background story and ECL. Otherwise who would ever be able to afford an Air-Gallon
naw I think my initial thought is this… Generally I want the players to have their own abilities and they do not need to rely on equipment (as much, but again their could be an minor artifact in the group).
Action Point Expanded from Unearth Arcana pg. 122-124. I don’t think that stuff is open content so I can’t post them here but I
think I can post their ‘names’ so here they are… the first ones were SPECIAL ACTIONS: ‘Activate Class Ability’, ‘Boost Defense’, 'Emulate Feat’, 'Extra Attack', 'Spell Boost', 'Spell Recall', 'Stabilize'. Then there are the IMPROVE FEATS: 'Blind-Fight', 'Combat Expertise', 'Dodge', 'Improve Critical', 'Improved Initiative', 'Metamagic Feat', 'Power Attack', 'Spell Penetration' Also I will be giving bonus points during the game.
Things I am still debating…
Heroic Paths I kind of get the feeling that the above is enough power and craziness for the player
but I am still debating about them
Reputation from Unearthed Arcana (good ideas)
House Rule/Errata I will be using (off the top of my head)…
Stabilize at negative Hit Points = to your Constitution score before death.
Spell Penetration adds +2, and
Improved Spell Penetration adds +4 to your roll to overcome Spell Resistance.
Last but not least… number of players. WOW when I first thought this up I was not overly sure who would be interested and I was thinking around four players and starting around 6th level. I will definitely move the number up to six and I will have to think about more, but this is why I moved the starting level down to 4th. With a bit of a lower level, I can handle a few more players (6-8) without drastically changing the power levels of the evildoers. Of course this lowers the ECL that we can handle…
SOO some initial thoughts on this… how about just ignoring up to three ECL, and giving those without any something else (and if you are a lower ECL then get a smaller bonus of stuff). Again want to make this balanced to a points so
this is where we could get some kind of ‘power’ or ‘artifact/magic’ This ‘boosted’ would depend on the ECL. If someone wants a half-dragon, then it is +3, but if the highest is only a +1 well then the bonus does not need to be as much. This is also where I could give special abilities (the Changeling with Chameleon powers, the Warforged with artifacts grafted into this body, the perfect thief or warrior with some special abilities like high level thief abilities or multiattack, etc or someone would get a minor artifact).
As an example, let’s say that one player is going to be a Half-Dragon (+3ECL) and another is playing a Human. I give the Half-Dragon some magic, etc that would be up to a 3rd or 4th level character (an extra 2,200gp to 3,900gp). The human character just wants more magic, so I could either boost him all the way to that of a 7th level character an extra 18,500gp) or it could be partial bonus OR maybe even maybe a spell that has been cast on him with permanency or a permanent tattoo magic worth so much GP, etc. Grant him a particular magic item that is over that basic limit or a ‘leveling’
I will see what I can to get everyone who has expressed interested in BUT I can't promise that, let me work this all out some stuff… for now it is closed though cause I think I have nine or ten people interested right now
With this many it might just be easiest to go for the Gestalts, and no repeating of the double-class be (so ONLY one Fighter/Soulknife there please). I would prefer a maximum of two (maybe 3) freaky non-standard races. OH yea for the 'normal' everyday man, I have some ideas for that also that we can talk. I think that would really kick @$$. Special abilities, extra magic etc I will work out as we develop the characters.
Sorry more rambling in this post
but if you want to start putting your characters together I would be interested to see what they might look like.
