Gestalt as way to a thematically linked yet diverse party [Archive] - Wizards Community

Gestalt as way to a thematically linked yet diverse party [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
jay
02-07-06, 06:14 PM How about a gestalt game where the DM picks one "side", and the player the other?

Say, a ninja clan game, where your every level is rogue/something else, or a wuxia game where your every level is monk/something else?

What do you think of the general idea? Good, bad, ugly?
Salamandyr
02-07-06, 07:11 PM I think that's a good way to provide characters with a shared background and provides some really interesting customizability.
scienceman47
02-07-06, 09:30 PM Run with it. But remember that unless you remove alignment restrictions the class you pick may limit the choices of the players. A paladin campain will be a real bummer to barbarian hopefuls.
SilentOne
02-07-06, 09:43 PM Yeah, it's a great idea. I'm running an arcanist (homebrew splice of wizard/sorceror using regenerating spell slots) campaign, and thought that running arcanist//something gestalted characters would let them still play other things and flesh out the party while still being spellcasters.

Off the top of my head, some good ones might be...

paladin // X (allowing paladins to be any good, maybe using Paladin of Freedom in UA)
fighter // X (war campaign anyone?)
rogue // X (all from the same thieves guild)
cleric // X (champions of the same or allied god)

From what I've found though, with everyone playing a spellcaster, things get out of hand power-wise very quickly, as the +2 effective party level starts to work less and less.
lostone
02-08-06, 12:24 PM I had planned on doing this with a rogue/x game. Actually I was going to allow a stealth class, I think the list I had allowed them to choose between rogue, ninja, non-lawful monk variant, urban ranger, psychic rogue, or soulknife.

The general idea was going to be the group are low level members of a thieves guild, and by the end of the game they would be running the guild. Over the course of the game there would be varied missions of item retrieval/theft, assassination, spying (drawing inspiration from Alias, Mission Impossible, James Bond, etc), inner-guild conflicts (betrayal, yummy) and all-out shadow-wars between the various criminal guilds & organizations (it was going to be based in Calimport).

In the end real life intervened and we did not play for 6 months, by then the thieves guild idea was on the backburner with a different idea holding my attention.

Feel free to yoink my idea, I thought it was good for basics, naturally my notes at home are much more detailed.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
jay 02-07-06, 06:14 PM	How about a gestalt game where the DM picks one "side", and the player the other? Say, a ninja clan game, where your every level is rogue/something else, or a wuxia game where your every level is monk/something else? What do you think of the general idea? Good, bad, ugly?
Salamandyr 02-07-06, 07:11 PM	I think that's a good way to provide characters with a shared background and provides some really interesting customizability.
scienceman47 02-07-06, 09:30 PM	Run with it. But remember that unless you remove alignment restrictions the class you pick may limit the choices of the players. A paladin campain will be a real bummer to barbarian hopefuls.
SilentOne 02-07-06, 09:43 PM	Yeah, it's a great idea. I'm running an arcanist (homebrew splice of wizard/sorceror using regenerating spell slots) campaign, and thought that running arcanist//something gestalted characters would let them still play other things and flesh out the party while still being spellcasters. Off the top of my head, some good ones might be... paladin // X (allowing paladins to be any good, maybe using Paladin of Freedom in UA) fighter // X (war campaign anyone?) rogue // X (all from the same thieves guild) cleric // X (champions of the same or allied god) From what I've found though, with everyone playing a spellcaster, things get out of hand power-wise very quickly, as the +2 effective party level starts to work less and less.
lostone 02-08-06, 12:24 PM	I had planned on doing this with a rogue/x game. Actually I was going to allow a stealth class, I think the list I had allowed them to choose between rogue, ninja, non-lawful monk variant, urban ranger, psychic rogue, or soulknife. The general idea was going to be the group are low level members of a thieves guild, and by the end of the game they would be running the guild. Over the course of the game there would be varied missions of item retrieval/theft, assassination, spying (drawing inspiration from Alias, Mission Impossible, James Bond, etc), inner-guild conflicts (betrayal, yummy) and all-out shadow-wars between the various criminal guilds & organizations (it was going to be based in Calimport). In the end real life intervened and we did not play for 6 months, by then the thieves guild idea was on the backburner with a different idea holding my attention. Feel free to yoink my idea, I thought it was good for basics, naturally my notes at home are much more detailed.