PF Gestalt Question

[Houndour]

Ok so I am working on setting up a game for some of the modules I have recently purchased. But with such a small group we have decided to go Gestalt
We likely only have 3 at max 4 if we get a GMPC or one of our other group gets the time off.

We are limited to Base and Core classes only. So what classes out of those work the best?
Ideas for my character I want to play are:
A pirate style character similar to Captain Jack and Will Turner that use several pistols before resorting to their swords.
Thor like character who wields a big hammer and makes things go boom while launching lightning and storms at people.
A gandalf like sword wielding battle hardened magic caster.
Or a nerd or weakling that is actually surprisingly strong either in magic or other means such as deception or summoning.

Edit: Q:How well would a Monk//Cleric work?

[Runeclaw]

Those concepts are all valid, but they are so different from one another that each probably deserves its own thread, as trying to address them all in one thread will be confusing.

Cleric//Monk is a reasonably good combination. Cleric is always good. And while Monk is kind of a weak class by itself, it does provide a lot of passive benefits. And passive benefits are good in Gestalt, because you only get one standard action per turn anyway, so having two totally different mutually exclusive potential uses for it doesn't necessarily help you that much. Also the fluff is obviously fairly consistent.

[Houndour]

Ok then lets just stick with the Cleric//Monk idea for this thread

What would I need to do to make it very effective since I am losing Armor due to Monk.
This would be a 5th level game.

[Runeclaw]

Thor like character who wields a big hammer and makes things go boom while launching lightning and storms at people.

Barbarian//Druid, maybe?


A gandalf like sword wielding battle hardened magic caster.

Paladin//Sorcerer, definitely. Charisma synergy and the best representation of this character.


Or a nerd or weakling that is actually surprisingly strong either in magic or other means such as deception or summoning.

That's kind of wide-open. Could just describe an average Wizard.

[Houndour]

That does work well for the Barbarian and Druid mix, a 3.5 variant would be good to combo that into 1 class even without the gestalt.

The gandalf Paladin//Sorcerer mix sounds about right, and really cool

True the learning spells does fit. Maybe a mix with something martial to offset it.

[Runeclaw]

Ok then lets just stick with the Cleric//Monk idea for this thread

What would I need to do to make it very effective since I am losing Armor due to Monk.
This would be a 5th level game.

You are not not necesarily losing armor due to Monk. I think that's a question to consider.

You are a Cleric first and foremost, with Monk just adding a little extra.

But yes, unless you are going to invest in some very nice magical armor, it's probably best to skip it. Wisdom will be your primary stat, so your Monk AC bonus is probably going to be at least +5 or +6. Since Cleric's only get Medium Armor anyway, which cap out at +6, this is pretty good. And it applies to your Touch AC, which makes it even better.

Decide whether you want to be a primary spellcaster or a self-buffing melee Cleric.

I'd personally go ahead and wield a weapon and use your unarmed combat as a backup option. If Melee is going to be your thing, a two-handed weapon. Do you have access to 3.5 material?

[SimonMoon6]

I've always liked Druid/Monk for the wildshape + monk AC bonuses idea, but that's nerfed a bit in pathfinder, since your ability scores are modified instead of being replaced when you change shape. Still, if you have the stats to be a decent melee character + high wisdom character, this could be fun.

[Houndour]

I do, pretty open so long as I can prove it for review.

I have not decided, I do like the character idea of a monk who is able to cast spells but also relies on his hands and feet to put down foes. But yeah a weapon would be a good thing to have, maybe a Monk's Spade to cover damage types since it counts as B or S or P at will.

Edit: I rolled well I have an 18 for the Wisdom score and have not placed by +2 for Human yet so to start I get 21 in wisdom.

[Houndour]

Anyone know the feats I should take? I get a total of 4 from Human +3 from leveling up to 5th level.

I do like the idea of a self buffing melee cleric to an extent but I like the spell casting as a fall back.

[Runeclaw]

Druid//Monk is also very strong.

I think you need to settle on a concept before picking feats. At least, primary spellcaster or primary melee? Unarmed, 2-Handed, or Wildshaping?

The thing about unarmed strikes is that you can't do a decent job of Power Attacking with them and you can't (easily) enchant them. Also they don't give you reach or other useful stuff like that.

What you can do is get a good two-handed reach weapon for AoOs and still be able to threaten your adjacent squares with your unarmed combat. The best of both worlds!

[Houndour]

Well as I said I like the idea of the Cleric//Monk due to the fitting themes for the character.

I think it would be Primarily a melee fighter who uses spellcasting as a supplement.

I was gonna use Monk's Spade which gives all types of damage (B,S,P) but it doesn't have reach so it cannot do the AoO, which monk's weapon can?
I was thinking a +1 Glamour to make it appear to be a walking stick or something.

So I am gonna be Primarily a Melee fighters (Probably a mix of Unarmed and Weapon given that at lvl 5 my damage is 1d8 for my unarmed) but a secondary caster.

[Runeclaw]

I don't think any of the default Monk weapons have reach. All you lose by not using a Monk weapon is flurry of blows, though. Also, there are some 3.5 feats that add weapons to your Monk weapon list, including spear, if those are accessible to you.

[Houndour]

If you can name them I am sure I can find them online and send them to my DM. He doesn't mind 3.5 but he wants to be able to reference it quickly should an issue arise so SRDs are good or anything he might be able to find on the D&D tools or something similar.

He distrusts DnDwiki and those type of sites but is at least willing to use them if no other online avenue is available. Or you know he has the book.

[Greenish]

There are some in Dragon Compendium and/or Secrets of Sarlona. I'll dig them up in a moment, but if you're burning a feat anyway, you could also get EWP for things like Double-Chained Kama or Kusarigama, which are (PF) monk weapons with reach.

[Edit]: Yeah, Pole Master (SoS pg. 118) and Pole Fighter (DC pg. 105) are mostly identical. Both allow you to Flurry with a polearm you're proficient in and have Weapon Focus with (meaning you'd need two or three feats).