Anyone ever tried Gestalt E6?

[killem2]

Just curious. How did it work out?

[docnessuno]

No, but i have to say it's definitly one of the things in my "to do" list.

[CTrees]

That's like stuffing a tofurkey with veal. I mean, sure, you could do it, but why...

[Morph Bark]

That's like stuffing a tofurkey with veal. I mean, sure, you could do it, but why...

From this I'd gather you like neither Gestalt nor E6.


On a better note, I've done this with a small playerbase when we didn't want a high-power campaign, but still continue advancing. One was a Swordsage//Favoured Soul, the other a Binder//Warblade. Worked out pretty well, though considering we now got a group of 6-7 players (the 7th is sporadic and only really in it for the company rather than the activity) it's likely not to be repeated soon for us.

[killem2]

Sounds good, we only have 4 people, so i might work out for the next session, if we TPK :P.

[pffh]

We did something similar once. It was just normal E6 up to level 6 and then after that you could buy a feat for 5k xp or turn one of your levels into gestalt for 10k xp.

This turned out quite well. Some people went for more feats while others went for a mix of feats and gestalt levels but I don´t think anyone went gestalt only.

[Lonely Tylenol]

I have arranged for my group a situation such that gestalt can be bought in with a series of feat chains. One way to do this is to make the feats "[class] X" feat, such as "Sorcerer 1" or something, where you can effectively "buy" that level, gestalted against your existing class list (effectively, a Paladin 6 who takes the "Sorcerer 1" feat becomes a Paladin 6//Sorcerer 1).

The other route (which I am currently taking with my group) is to buy class features individually, with the caveat that they have to buy entrance into the class first, and the initiate feat of every class has a rule that excludes all others (meaning that you can't just buy the one best feature of every class). A Wizard, in total, has about 16 gestalt feats, although a full Wizard gestalt could be bought in 8 (the rest represent notable ACFs, which, by the way, are mutually exclusive as they are in a normal Wizard). The rule of thumb for my party is that you can choose one of the following with epic feats, in addition to normal things:

1) Advance your own class beyond 6 (with limited effect); this means buying marginal access to advanced features of the class (like Rogue special abilities or extra Sneak Attack dice, or Warblade "Battle" abilities, leading up to double stances), which lets you specialize further in that class. The Shadowcaster in ny group is doing this (I've built a feat chain that allows at-will fundamentals, some access to fourths, and so on).
2) Advance a prestige class (with limited effect); this means buying marginal access to prestige class features for a prestige class you qualify for or have taken levels in (in my case, I use the latter unless the requirements involved 6 levels). The Bard is advancing Swiftblade in this way, and the Magus is advancing Jade Phoenix Mage.
3) Gestalt to 6 (with limited effect); this means buying into another base class up to 6, and only that class, by buying its class features individually. The actual body of the character is not changed (you do not re-roll Hit Dice, or retroactively advance saves or BAB). The Warblade is doing this with Wizard, and the Psion intends to advance Ardent in this fashion (basically for the ability to gain mantles, but that's pretty much all the class gets anyway). The Swashbuckler/Sneak Attack Fighter may advance Factotum (at my suggestion), and if I ever get out from under the DM screen, I'm going to play a Dragon Shaman that gestalts with Paladin (I'm not allowed to play T3 or higher in this group. Self-imposed restriction. :smallwink:).

The gestalt portion is not as inherently broken as you might think, since there are few to no ways to break the action economy. Consider a Factotum/Wizard gestalt: in a normal game, this is a broken gestalt combo, as it allows you to buy standard actions with inspiration points to explode with spells all over your foes, and use Celerity from the Wizard side to get actions even when it's not your turn. With my above guidelines, a normal Factotum could advance Factotum to get Cunning Surge, effectively buying his standard actions to... Do Factotum-y stuff. A Wizard could buy limited access to 4th spells, which a DM could technically use to allow Celerity (but I wouldn't). In E6, a Factotum/Wizard gestalt gets neither. It can do Wizardy things, and it can do Factotum-y things, and these classes are still SAD together, interact well, and give the Wizard a body (if Factotum is taken first). However, the level of interaction between the two never reaches break point levels, because neither class reaches its break point when they are gestalted together.

In theory, a normal gestalt works the same way in E6. I can think of considerable power increases over single base classes (Warblade//Wizard gives full maneuver and spell progression, two good saves with INT to the third, full BAB, two to three bonus feats, a well-rounded skill list complete with points, and the best Hit Dice in the game), but nothing overtly broken about it; you'd simply be playing a high-powered E6 game, which can be fun in its own right (E6 lends itself more easily to a less broken dynamic, but I think the idea that E6 inherently means "low-power" is a misconception).

[CTrees]

From this I'd gather you like neither Gestalt nor E6.

Why? Veal is delicious. Also, I was hungry when I wrote that.

My point was more, it seems like the two variants have very different goals, and combining them seems... strange.

[Emmerlaus]

Its also something Im planning to do with my friends... Once we finish our Legend of the Five Rings game, that is.

The characters are gonna be:

1) Dragon Shaman / Fighter (dragon touched template)

2) Rogue (Disruptive Attack variant) / Fighter (Swashbuckler variant) (catfolk)

The third and character is gonna be either :

a) Stronghearth halfling wizard/druid

- with Abberation Blood, Aberration Wild Shape (to change into a will-o-wisp)

Its a boosted Arcane Hierophant. The GM allow to make the companion familiar automaticly if the concept is made as a Arcane Hierophant.

b) Raptoran bard (bardic knack version) /cleric (cloistered Cleric variant)


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I really wish to know if people here have tried the Geltstalt rule variant... Its advantage, its malus... What we have to expect and so on.

[killem2]

I think it is the perfect balance for those who feel e6 might be too restrictive but still give your players just a bit more leeway in building a character, and on top of that, even more branches to go out on for feats.

I think my next camp I make, will do this.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Whoa... Deja vu.

Please hold.