Gestalting a Frozen Dwarf Hulk Smash?

[13_CBS]

Hello Playground,

The D&D group I usually play with has recently started a Gestalt game. I won't be able to join them for a few weeks, but I figured I'd start planning my character now. As far as I can tell, character creation rules are...

4d6 best 3 for stats
All books allowed
No Dragon material (Dragon Compendium, Dragon #X, etc.)
Start at level 1

And I'd like one half of the Gestalt to be a Frozen Dwarf Hulk Smash (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50588) (Barbarian 1 / Full Bab 3 / Fist of the Forest 1 / Deep Warden 2 / Frost Rager X).

1) What are some other good base classes for the second gestalt half? I've considered...

Dragonfire Adept: Battlefield control/debuffs as an extra combat option, and all-day Flight + Alter Self sounds pretty sweet. However, much of the strength of DFAs lie in stuff that eat up standard actions...

Monk: Helps boost Unarmed damage, plus the saves, speed boost, and the bonus feats help. However, I also don't find Monks to be terribly exciting.

Unarmed Swordsage: Maneuvers and stances! Though...can you use maneuvers while raging?

Incarnate: AC out the wazoo (I'm not sure if I can pull off being Lawful, and I don't feel like being Evil), but I'm not terribly familiar with the Incarnum system so I don't know what else Good Incarnates can pull off.

(I'm not sure about Totemists, however; as far as I can tell, the bulk of the class's good Soulmelds are focused on spamming natural attacks, and since my group is fairly low-op, I don't want to overshadow anyone.)

Any other suggestions? The ideal 2nd gestalt half is one that gives good passive boosts to stuff like armor, saves, spell resistance, etc. and not necessarily more offensive boosts. I don't feel like I need any more firepower than what the Frozen Dwarf Hulk already provides.

2) Any suggestions for gear? I don't have much experience gearing up unarmed melee fighters, I'm afraid.

3) I'm also not 100% sure my DM will allow me to stack the Con bonus to AC class features from both Fist of the Forest and Deep Warden--in which case I'll probably drop Deep Warden alltogether. In this case, any suggestions for other classes I could add to the Frozen Dwarf Hulk side?

[thethird]

You should be able to use maneuvers while raging, recovering them might be a different thing though.

I would probably go with monk 2 / Unarmed swordage X if alignments are waived or unarmed swordsage all the way if not.

or Incarnate, for added defensive bonus.

or Totemist with the right soulmeld selection. Totem avatar, sphinx claws etcetera, to not have a lot of natural attacks. For added fun add blazing berserker (sandstorm) and phoenix belt. So you have the fire subtype (and the cold subtype) and you are healed by both cold and fire damage while raging.

or binder, to bind dalver nar and have even more CON to AC.

If deep warden is a no, more levels in fist of the forest are always nice.

[Waker]

Dragonfire Adept: Battlefield control/debuffs as an extra combat option, and all-day Flight + Alter Self sounds pretty sweet. However, much of the strength of DFAs lie in stuff that eat up standard actions...
DFA is nice, but as you point out the breath weapons are in competition with your normal attack options. Although they can certainly help alleviate any boredom from constantly using the same attack routine. Warlock might be a better choice since it gives you a few extra invocations.


Monk: Helps boost Unarmed damage, plus the saves, speed boost, and the bonus feats help. However, I also don't find Monks to be terribly exciting.
Monks make an excellent passive class for gestalt. I would suggest the Battledancer as a chaotic alternative, but since you can't use Dragon Compendium that option is off the table.


Unarmed Swordsage: Maneuvers and stances! Though...can you use maneuvers while raging? Yes, though certain maneuvers are off limits, such as those from Diamond Mind which require the use of the Concentration skill.

While raging, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride), the Concentration skill...


Incarnate: AC out the wazoo (I'm not sure if I can pull off being Lawful, and I don't feel like being Evil), but I'm not terribly familiar with the Incarnum system so I don't know what else Good Incarnates can pull off.
When you choose Incarnate, one aspect of your alignment is Neutral, so you would just say Neutral Good or Chaotic Neutral. As a generalized view of them, Good Incarnates are best at boosting AC and saying "I'm immune to that." Obviously they can do more, but that is what they do better than other Incarnates.


I'm not sure about Totemists, however; as far as I can tell, the bulk of the class's good Soulmelds are focused on spamming natural attacks, and since my group is fairly low-op, I don't want to overshadow anyone.
Totemists do often get used for massive natural attack builds, but they have more to offer. They also grant excellent boosts to the perception and stealth skills, as well as alternate movement options (Flight, Swimming, Ethereal). You could instead use the Totemist to ensure you are never snuck up on and can always reach your foes.

Binders are also quite good at providing passive bonuses and reusable abilities. Naberius is great for avoiding damage to your precious Constitution score.