Post/Author/DateTime	Post
LordArkan 04-28-05, 04:21 PM	I always liked AD&D's multiclassing system, so I was wondering if there was a way to use something similar to gestalt to try and simulate it in 3.5. A (gestalt multiclass) character starts out as level 1 in two different classes, as if he were a normal gestalt character. As he gains experience, it is divided between them equally. The character does not level up until he reaches the required amount in each class separately. Hit Dice, Saves, Base Attack Bonus, etc are determined as normal for a gestalt character. A character using this method cannot take levels in classes other than the ones he begins with. A quick table to show where such a character would be in comparison to a normal one: Normal Gestalt 1 1 2 1 3 2 4 3 5 3 6 4 7 5 8 5 9 6 10 7 11 7 12 8 13 9 14 10 15 10 16 11 17 12 18 12 19 13 20 14 What do you think? If I used the flat xp tables (or used the character's total xp to calculate what level it is on the regular tables), would this be balanced with a normal character? Is the restriction on taking levels in other classes too harsh outside of a core only game? (Obviously, you would have to use fractional attacks/saves and treat it as two paths that the experience is divided between...)
Kintara 04-28-05, 05:26 PM	Much too harsh on the gestalt character, methinks. A 14th level gestalt character in no way equals a 20th level standard character. Gestalts are really not extremely more powerful than regular characters, once the standard characters have a couple of levels on them.
Eliza_Stormwhisper 04-29-05, 05:53 PM	As far as level equivilancies went, it was your total number of levels divided by your number of classes, then add 1. For example, a rogue 2/wizard 2 = 5th level. Thief 4/Fighter 3/Cleric 3 = 4.33th level (eh... 4th pretty much). So a 15th-level gestalt (2 classes) is about as powerful as a 16th-level character, so to speak. Gestalting isn't quite as powerful as you think.
Tenzhi 04-30-05, 01:40 AM	A (gestalt multiclass) character starts out as level 1 in two different classes, as if he were a normal gestalt character. As he gains experience, it is divided between them equally. The character does not level up until he reaches the required amount in each class separately. Hit Dice, Saves, Base Attack Bonus, etc are determined as normal for a gestalt character. A character using this method cannot take levels in classes other than the ones he begins with. I do this, but I use the Level-Independent XP Award system. By the time a regular character is 20th level, a two-class gestalt is 18th level. I also allow three-class gestalts. IIRC, that one ends up being 15th level by the time a regular character is 20th. The available combinations depended on the race's favoured class. Any combination of primary classes (Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, or Rogue) was allowed. Races with a secondary class as a favoured class could take it in combination with any one or two primary classes. Races with a primary class as a favoured class could create any two-class combination (including secondary classes) with that favoured class. Races with favoured class: any can take any two- or three-class combination. The only other class a character can take is a Prestige Class which can't be part of a Gestalt.
weasel fierce 04-30-05, 01:52 AM	Just split the XP equally between the classes, and halve the hit points gained for each class level. Thats pretty much the AD&D system. Keep in mind, that AD&D didnt stack numeric values, like saves or attack, you simply use the best available.
Eliza_Stormwhisper 04-30-05, 06:09 PM	Just split the XP equally between the classes, and halve the hit points gained for each class level. Thats pretty much the AD&D system. Keep in mind, that AD&D didnt stack numeric values, like saves or attack, you simply use the best available. I thought that you rolled hit dice for each class seperately and averaged them. So if you went from mage/thief 1/1 to mage/thief 2/2, you rolled a d4 and a d6, added them together, and then divided by two... then added any bonuses from constitution.
Tenzhi 05-01-05, 01:15 AM	I thought that you rolled hit dice for each class seperately and averaged them. So if you went from mage/thief 1/1 to mage/thief 2/2, you rolled a d4 and a d6, added them together, and then divided by two... then added any bonuses from constitution. No, you divided each HD in half (or by three) and added part of your Con bonus. This is because in 2nd Ed your classes would gain levels at different times due to using different XP tables.
weasel fierce 05-01-05, 03:08 AM	I thought that you rolled hit dice for each class seperately and averaged them. So if you went from mage/thief 1/1 to mage/thief 2/2, you rolled a d4 and a d6, added them together, and then divided by two... then added any bonuses from constitution. For level 1 yeah. For levels gained past, you just receive half (if two levels) Its the same thing, just done when you gain each level.
DM Zoc 05-01-05, 04:42 AM	The problem of merely splitting the experience in half is that the 3.x experience scale is linear rather than exponential. A multi-class character in AD&D was never really more than 2 levels behind a single-class character, at least over the range of levels I've seen. The system might work fairly well if you also use the fixed-EXP variant (the one which bases EXP solely on CR) in the later chapters.