gestalt campaign idea (3.5 SRD only)

[lunar2]

My idea is a campaign where magic is weak, but extremely common.

all class levels automatically gestalt with Adept, who's caster level is 1/2 class level, but otherwise unchanged, so at level 20 they're CL 10, but still get their 5th level spells etc. in this campaign, casting classes can't actually cast, but instead add their spell list to the Adept caster, and change the casting stat to that of the base class (if applicable and desired).

minion class features (animal companion, special mount, and familiar) are combined into the Adept's familiar, which is moved up to level 1, and considered to be an external soul, instead of a true minion (example, if your human body died, you become your familiar instead of moving on to a spirit world, and raise dead/ reincarnate work as long as the familiar is available, instead of the body). the familiar would gain the benefits of the animal companion or special mount class features, but couldn't be switched out after being chosen. in case of double familiar class features, they stack, doubling the effective class level for familiar abilities. if the familiar dies, you'd take the standard penalties, and would lose 2 off your caster level until your familiar is reformed in 1d10 days (or revived, if you don't want to wait).

prestige classes that advance casting can be used to boost caster level and get early access to higher level spells, since each level of the prestige class would boost your caster level by 1, the same as advancing your base class by 2 levels.

i think that's the main changes. any feedback or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Mystify]

So you are basically encouraging people to be specialist wizards so they can go into master specialist ASAP and get their spell progression back on track. Or use other early entry caster prestige classes. Then to stay in prestige classes forever.
Why should being in a prestige class advance your spellcasting more than being a base caster?
If taking levels in a casting class justs adds their spell list, why continue advancing it after a dip? And for that matter, what keeps them from dipping several casting classes to get access to all of their spell lists?
What may be better is to have 3/4 casting advancement on the casting classes, prestige classes included. This gives them an edge over most people, while still making magic weaker than normal. This progression would apply to their class list only, so they still have to take the levels in the class to progress it instead of having a caster class be a dip.

[lunar2]

Master Specialist isn't in the SRD.

the deal with the prestige classes is that they forfeit their other class features to advance casting, mainly to get their higher spell slots early, and to craft better magic items. as it stands, no build can get better than a 15 caster level at level 20, as far as i know. I should point out that adept casting doesn't increase with prestige class levels, unless it's a prestige class that boosts casting. being, for example, a dwarven defender, you won't increase adept casting, although everything else would still improve as normal.

as for dipping, they could do that, but they still only have a few spell slots to cast from, and they still have to prepare their spells ahead of time. having the entire spell section to cast from doesn't help nearly as much if you only cast 4-6 spells per level per day, after ability modifiers. I know this means that sorcerer would be completely untouched, and that wizard would only be used for familiar shenanigans (using the viper familiar with boosted poison DCs, for example), but that's fine. probably the only caster class that would see any serious use would be druid, since it increases the combat abilities of the familar as well as the PC.

[Chronos]

Caster prestige classes are already better than the base classes, in most cases. They don't need any more help.

And be careful about CRs if you're going to slow down all casters: A lot of monsters are statted out on the assumption that you have access to certain spells. A monster that can petrify, for instance, when you have access to Break Enchantment, is only an annoyance, but that same monster is an absolute killer when you don't.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Edit: Forgot it was SRD-only, but quite a bit of this still stands.

It looks like a good idea, but I'll agree that dipping one in each of several spellcasting classes to get access to every spell should not be permitted. Maybe instead you only add your class list to your Adept list for what spell levels your other class level could normally cast. If you dip Wizard 1, you only get 0-1st level Wizard spells added to Adept, you would need Wizard 3 to get 2nd level Wizard spells added, etc. Another option would be to limit characters to only adding one class spell list to Adept. Decide how to deal with Practiced Spellcaster, Krau Illumians, etc. as well regarding caster level.

I'd make it so half of your other spellcaster levels get added toward accelerating Adept advancement, similar to prestige classes. That would get you 2nd level spells at 3, 3rd level spells at 6, 4th level spells at 8, and 5th level spells at 11 if you went something like Wizard 20//Adept 20. You could take prestige classes on the Wizard side to advance Adept casting a little quicker, but if you keep up your Wizard progression to still get access to the appropriate level of the spell list, you won't be gaining your next level of Adept spells even a single level sooner. After reaching Wizard 9 you should either use prestige classes to further increase your caster level, or get levels in another class like Cleric or Druid to get access to even more spells.

Also, consider how Spells Known should work if someone uses Wizard or Archivist, or if they opt for Stalwart Battle Sorcerer over PHB Sorcerer for example. Would taking a spontaneous class convert your Adept casting to spontaneous, and maybe give +1 spell slot per spell level?

How would you handle classes that are already semi-casters, i.e. Ranger, Paladin, Spellthief, and Hexblade? Would they still gain their own spell slots in addition to the Adept slots, or would they also add their spell list to Adept? Would prestige classes with their own casting progressions like Suel Arcanamach, Ur-Priest, Nar Demonbinder, Sublime Chord, Divine Crusader, etc. be allowed at all?

With regards to Animal Companions, what if you go Druid//Adept and decide to get a creature from one of the higher level lists? Would you have to decide ahead of time what you want it to eventually end up as, and in the earlier levels it would be a smaller/weaker version of that?

[Mystify]

How are you handling psionics? They are on the SRD as well.

[lunar2]

@spontaneous casters, gishes, casting PRCs, etc. all classes only add their spell list to the Adept's own spell list. their own casting methods and progressions are irrelevant.

@preventing multiple dips. is a dipped out adept really any worse than a theurge character would normally be? these characters are normally considered underpowered because of gimped caster progression and un-progressed features. while in this campaign, their caster level is by no means gimped (beyond the baseline adept), they still aren't substantially more powerful than a build that focuses on progressing class features, because they only have a few slots to put those spells in, unlike traditional theurges. I'm just not convinced this would be a big issue, unless there is something like 3 5th level spells from different lists that make an absolutely broken combination when combined. if there are any interactions like that, let me know, and I'll change the rule.

@minion feature interacting. while I would allow different creatures than those on the familiar list, they must all be innocuous, or seemingly innocuous (yeah, you, cat) animals of no larger than tiny size. you aren't getting a pet dire ape through this, or even a riding dog (although animal growth is a 5th level druid spell, so a shrunken halfling could ride an enlarged cat, just for kicks).

so, from the SRD, you get a choice of: bat, cat, hawk, lizard, monkey, owl, rat, raven, tiny viper snake, toad, and weasel. most of those are already familiar options.

honestly, from a purely gamer perspective, bat, cat, monkey and snake are probably the only really useful options, and monkey only if you are a "hands-on" character like a rogue or fighter that needs to use tools/weapons.

which leads me to another point. when you die, and inhabit your familiar's body, you retain all your class levels, but gain the racial modifiers to your physical ability scores as appropriate for your animal body, which loses the benefit of minion features (since it's not your minion anymore, it's you). you can still use any and all abilities reasonable for your form. for example, you can't wield a weapon unless you have hands (meaning you're a monkey), and you can't cast a spell with somatic components unless you have limbs of some sort (so snakes are terrible casters).

the familiar as an external soul thing is partly for flavor, and partly as insurance against untimely death in a world where resurrection is hard to come by. it's your second chance in case of bad luck, not only from true death, but also from weird things like petrification. pretty much any time the body is not technically alive, the mind inhabits the familiar. players of certain builds might prefer simply staying in the familiar for the perks of that form, but they lose the insurance policy that a back-up body provides.

edit: no psionics, for both flavor and mechanical reasons. let's just say they never developed in a world where everyone is a caster.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

So, a Druid character would just add the Animal Companion benefits to his Familiar, but the base creature would have to be drawn from the list of standard Familiars? I guess that makes sense, from a perspective of keeping animal companions from outshining PCs. What about Improved Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedFamiliar), though?

I still think this is a great idea, I hope you have a lot of fun.

[lunar2]

I may allow a 1st level only feat that allows you to have a larger or different familiar, pulling from small animals, or tiny and smaller creatures of other types with an Int of 2 or less. not the standard improved familiar feat, but still useful.

this feat would expand the options list to include:

tiny monstrous centipede, tiny monstrous scorpion, tiny monstrous spider, tiny animated object, badger, dog, eagle, octopus, small viper snake, dire rat, ghost of any tiny creature on the list (an undead familiar can't serve as a body for deceased masters), skeleton of any tiny creature, stirge, and zombie of any tiny creature.

off this list, I'd say that the scorpion, animated object, eagle, snake, ghost, skeleton, and zombie would be mechanically the best.

if you had this feat, you're familiar would still gain the benefits of any minion feature, even if it normally wouldn't qualify.