3.5 Gestalt- Dm in need of help

[Squark]

I'm slightly new to gestalt, so I have a few questions about modifying a premade adventure to gestalt.


My main question is how would you go about altering an npc villain to be gestalt? What about monstrous npc's with class levels? To be specific, I'm running a Savage Tide campaign on this forum (submissions are closed, sadly, if you're wondering). If anyone knows of a paizo thread about this (I'm checking now, but if I don't find anything, I'd be grateful if you'd point out one you know of).


Lastly, do you have any general advice for running gestalt?

[Matamane]

Get everything in writing. Gestalt is the easiest way to fudge rules, especially on Base Attack Bonus and Saves.

As far as modifying the adventures go, leave the monsters as is, but modify the anything with non generic class levels accordingly. When in doubt, just add in a Fighter or Rogue progression, because it gives an an standard boost that is easy on the brain, and most importantly, no additional flavour. Gestalt is there to make up for deficiencies in the party, so there are not too many things that you need to worry about.

[Riffington]

If it's complicated, and it's an NPC, simplify. You can always just tack on a few levels onto your NPC instead of recrunching all the numbers from scratch. Have a sneaky warrior already? Give 3 levels of warlock and see what happens. The exact number of added levels will depend on how complementary the classes are and how uber your players are, of course.

[CockroachTeaParty]

I'd say that if the NPC in question is only expected to be in one encounter or fight, don't worry about altering them. Few NPCs ever even get the chance to act more than a few rounds, so making everyone gestalt will only give you extra work with little change in the long run.

If there's a big bad guy or other character that is expected to return, or harrow the party repeatedly, then perhaps it might be worth it to either up their threat level (better ability scores, higher level, templates), or perhaps make them gestalt themselves.

One key thing to remember about gestalt is that despite the apparent increase in power, most characters will still be limited by the action economy. The primary thing gestalt does for PCs is increase their longevity: that is, their ability to keep fighting multiple encounters without resting. More spells and more HP equate to pushing forwards faster. With that in mind, it might be prudent to limit the amount of time the party has to rest, to really have them 'feel the burn' as their resources slowly deteriorate.

Though I have no experience with Savage Tide, I have a great deal of experience with Red Hand of Doom and Age of Worms. Both campaign/adventures were very challenging. Our DM upped the ante on a few of the encounters, but for the most part there was little he actually changed (he advanced the age categories of a few dragons, etc.).

Also, certain gestalt combinations warrant more caution then others. A wizard/archivist, for instance, while powerful, mostly just can go longer before needing to rest. A wizard/fighter, however, will be tougher to kill than a normal wizard. I wouldn't be as concerned with classes gestalting with classes like rogue, because increased skill points rarely disrupt balance, especially in combat. In general, most characters will actually be suffering from a bit of MAD. Some people play gestalt to cover the weaknesses of their favored class, others take it as an opportunity to try interesting or exotic combinations otherwise impossible in more normal games. It depends on the players.

So, with all this in mind, I'd suggest that if you alter the module at all, do it with the specific PCs in mind.

[Grumman]

Lastly, do you have any general advice for running gestalt?
Use the fractional B.A.B. / saves rule. It makes multiclassing a lot more consistent.

[Tavar]

Use the fractional B.A.B. / saves rule. It makes multiclassing a lot more consistent.

It also makes it a ton easier to do.