Lvl 1 Gestalt [Archive] - Wizards Community

Lvl 1 Gestalt [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
HailSpork
03-21-05, 11:07 AM I have a house rule that at level 1, each PC gets to gestalt his player class with the npc class of his choice. Aside from adding a little more power to level 1 characters, it also kind of explains what they were before they became adventurers.
At levels 2 and beyond, they advance normally.
Most people in my group are taking warrior or expert, but I think adept and magewright (I'm allowing it; from Ebberon) are also good picks.
Nightwing_22
03-21-05, 11:43 AM I like the sound of that idea. NPC classes purposely don't have much in the way of BAB, Saves, HD or Proficiencies, but usually have skills that would round out any character.

I've always hated the way that a fighter couldn't possibly see or hear anything, or the way a wizard couldn't possibly climb mountains as a hobby.
Kalis Atrud
03-23-05, 09:32 AM I have a house rule that at level 1, each PC gets to gestalt his player class with the npc class of his choice. Aside from adding a little more power to level 1 characters, it also kind of explains what they were before they became adventurers.

How does this work for monks? Before becoming monk adventurers, they were monks in their monastery. Or rogues who were trained to be rogues by their parents. Or wizards, who trained for months(years?) to cast the most basic spells.

I never understood this idea of before they were adventurers stuff DM's use to inflict npc classes on characters, even if it isn't quite so pronounced a handicap in your campaign. Unless they are starting at like 30 + years of age, the first level skills of your class(particularly profession or craft) reflect what the were doing before you became an adventurer. A person with a rank or two in profession farmer was probably a farmboy, who decided to see the world before taking over for his father. A person with craft(blacksmithing) was probably a blacksmith or blacksmith apprentice.

If they don't have anything remotely related to a profession, performance medium or craft, then either they were specifically trained to do their first level job and things relating to that, or they were adventurers who started adventuring because they had daydreams of being an adventurer and never paid attention to the daily chores.
Lord Welkerfan
03-23-05, 10:25 AM Well, with a little thinking, all of those problems are solved.

Monks, well, historically, monasteries were centers of learning and education, so a gestalted level of expert rather accurately conveys that idea.

Wizards can take a level of magewright, which are very weak arcane spellcasters. If nothing else, it provides a free Spell Mastery feat.

Rogues can can take a level of expert with ranks in rogue-like skills, representing their broad training before they learned how to be a backstabbing bastard.

Just a thought.
HailSpork
03-23-05, 03:25 PM I think about it the opposite way around. In the last campaign I played in, my character took it upon himself to train an npc as a paladin. The npc was just a child, and didn't have any levels of paladin.

One downside is that the role people take is counter-intuitive. Fighters and such tend to take expert, the scout took warrior.
If I run this variant again (which I probably will), I'll probably assign the npc class based on character background.
Abulafia
03-24-05, 07:02 PM One downside is that the role people take is counter-intuitive. Fighters and such tend to take expert, the scout took warrior.The most frequent gestalt strategy is to cover weaknesses. Your players took your idea for realistic backgrounds and turned it into better BAB, saves, and/or skill points.

I had an idea of playing a game where the players would start as Level 2 NPC's, and "buy back" (i.e., replace after gaining the requisite experience) those two levels with PC classes.

Of course, there was a total revolt when I presented this idea. I never did get to try it out.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
HailSpork 03-21-05, 11:07 AM	I have a house rule that at level 1, each PC gets to gestalt his player class with the npc class of his choice. Aside from adding a little more power to level 1 characters, it also kind of explains what they were before they became adventurers. At levels 2 and beyond, they advance normally. Most people in my group are taking warrior or expert, but I think adept and magewright (I'm allowing it; from Ebberon) are also good picks.
Nightwing_22 03-21-05, 11:43 AM	I like the sound of that idea. NPC classes purposely don't have much in the way of BAB, Saves, HD or Proficiencies, but usually have skills that would round out any character. I've always hated the way that a fighter couldn't possibly see or hear anything, or the way a wizard couldn't possibly climb mountains as a hobby.
Kalis Atrud 03-23-05, 09:32 AM	I have a house rule that at level 1, each PC gets to gestalt his player class with the npc class of his choice. Aside from adding a little more power to level 1 characters, it also kind of explains what they were before they became adventurers. How does this work for monks? Before becoming monk adventurers, they were monks in their monastery. Or rogues who were trained to be rogues by their parents. Or wizards, who trained for months(years?) to cast the most basic spells. I never understood this idea of before they were adventurers stuff DM's use to inflict npc classes on characters, even if it isn't quite so pronounced a handicap in your campaign. Unless they are starting at like 30 + years of age, the first level skills of your class(particularly profession or craft) reflect what the were doing before you became an adventurer. A person with a rank or two in profession farmer was probably a farmboy, who decided to see the world before taking over for his father. A person with craft(blacksmithing) was probably a blacksmith or blacksmith apprentice. If they don't have anything remotely related to a profession, performance medium or craft, then either they were specifically trained to do their first level job and things relating to that, or they were adventurers who started adventuring because they had daydreams of being an adventurer and never paid attention to the daily chores.
Lord Welkerfan 03-23-05, 10:25 AM	Well, with a little thinking, all of those problems are solved. Monks, well, historically, monasteries were centers of learning and education, so a gestalted level of expert rather accurately conveys that idea. Wizards can take a level of magewright, which are very weak arcane spellcasters. If nothing else, it provides a free Spell Mastery feat. Rogues can can take a level of expert with ranks in rogue-like skills, representing their broad training before they learned how to be a backstabbing bastard. Just a thought.
HailSpork 03-23-05, 03:25 PM	I think about it the opposite way around. In the last campaign I played in, my character took it upon himself to train an npc as a paladin. The npc was just a child, and didn't have any levels of paladin. One downside is that the role people take is counter-intuitive. Fighters and such tend to take expert, the scout took warrior. If I run this variant again (which I probably will), I'll probably assign the npc class based on character background.
Abulafia 03-24-05, 07:02 PM	One downside is that the role people take is counter-intuitive. Fighters and such tend to take expert, the scout took warrior.The most frequent gestalt strategy is to cover weaknesses. Your players took your idea for realistic backgrounds and turned it into better BAB, saves, and/or skill points. I had an idea of playing a game where the players would start as Level 2 NPC's, and "buy back" (i.e., replace after gaining the requisite experience) those two levels with PC classes. Of course, there was a total revolt when I presented this idea. I never did get to try it out.