Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Zen_Hydra 04-06-07, 03:05 PM	I have never actually used the gestalt rules before, but I am interested in using gestalt characters to represent a group of inately more powerful/versitile beings in the campaign I am preparing. So, I am looking for some advice for mixing gestalts with standard characters. What (if any) official ruling is there on how gestalt characters compare to non-gestalt characters power-wise? If one were to include both gestalt and non-gestalt characters in the same game what would be the best way to balance them? What CR adjustment would one give to a gestalt NPC?
ZiggZagg 04-06-07, 03:15 PM	Don't mix them in a party, as the Gestalt will clearly outshine the standard characters. Just raise the NPC's CR by 1 or so and you should be good
Thane26425 04-07-07, 05:36 PM	I normally balance by apply the older edition multiclassing rules. That is, a Gestalt character takes an XP penalty, which represents the extra time and division of effort of advancing in two classes at the same time. In the old rules, the XP was divided evenly between the two classes, but classes had different XP/level numbers. In 3.5, I apply a penalty of 25%, which roughly halves the XP thus approximating the old rules. This prevents having to make every single NCP and enemy in the world Gestalt too. A single class character would advance much faster and reach greater power much sooner than a Gestalt. I also would allow a mixed party, if they were willing to do it. That might mean taking the lone gestalt on solo adventures sometimes to catch up with the others, but if they were willing to put up with that, then fine. On the up side, this method allows the characters to have many more adventures over time.