MarkusWolfe
2011-02-13, 08:59 AM
I was reading this (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1002.0) last night and I glanced upon the seconds solution they offered for tier balance: Partial Gestalt. Tier 5s gestalt with other tier 5s, tiers 3 and 4 gestalt with NPC classes, and tiers 1 and 2 don't gestalt at all.
I can see this working with various level of effectiveness. A monk would gain a lot from the bonus feats, full BAB and larger hitdie of the fighter. A rogue would also benefit from the larger hitdie, good fortitude save and full BAB of a warrior. But I can also see it not working sometimes. For example, if I went in with a barbarian, I would gain absolutely nothing from gestalting with warrior or commoner (then again, no one can gain anything from gestalting with commoner). Gestalting with Aristocrat, Adept or Expert gives me a higher will save....but I get nothing else from Aristocrat, and the divine spells from Adept would put a little MAD pressure on me, in addition to being worthless during a rage. So I'd take Expert, which gets me 2 more skill points per level. A higher will save and 2 extra skill points per level isn't bad for a barbarian, but it's a lot less than what the rogue gets from gestalting with a warrior.
TLDR; does this method really work for class balance?
PS: And if it was revised so that 4s and 5s gestalted together, how would the other tiers gestalt? I'd love to play a barbarian/fighter gestalt or a rogue/swashbuckler gestalt someday......
I can see this working with various level of effectiveness. A monk would gain a lot from the bonus feats, full BAB and larger hitdie of the fighter. A rogue would also benefit from the larger hitdie, good fortitude save and full BAB of a warrior. But I can also see it not working sometimes. For example, if I went in with a barbarian, I would gain absolutely nothing from gestalting with warrior or commoner (then again, no one can gain anything from gestalting with commoner). Gestalting with Aristocrat, Adept or Expert gives me a higher will save....but I get nothing else from Aristocrat, and the divine spells from Adept would put a little MAD pressure on me, in addition to being worthless during a rage. So I'd take Expert, which gets me 2 more skill points per level. A higher will save and 2 extra skill points per level isn't bad for a barbarian, but it's a lot less than what the rogue gets from gestalting with a warrior.
TLDR; does this method really work for class balance?
PS: And if it was revised so that 4s and 5s gestalted together, how would the other tiers gestalt? I'd love to play a barbarian/fighter gestalt or a rogue/swashbuckler gestalt someday......