Gestalt and LA/LA Buyoff

[Talothorn]

So by RAW(ish) (since both aspects are variant rules), or failing that, by popular opinion, how does Level Adjustment and LA buyoff work with a gestalt character? I have read something like the LA takes up one "side" of the gestalt, and that's how we have played, but as far as LA buyoff, what would happen?

Would the sides be unbalanced? (This seems very inelegant, and what would the benefit even be of buying it off if this was the case? How would you later balance the sides?)

Would you replace one of the LA levels with another class? (That seems like a cheaper level, kind of. Would this be fair? I see that spending a full level of xp to level only one side of a gestalt is at least not a free level, but what issues arise from this system?) This is how I have run it in the past, but I want some feedback on this method from the community.

I know gestalt rules complicate things, but I am hoping the combined knowledge of the playground can help me clean up my methods and house rules on this.

Thanks in advance.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

You would need to use LA to actually take up both sides of your progression in order to buy it off. The XP cost of buying off a point of LA causes you to lose an entire level, but that level lost is your point of LA. If you were to go LA//Class, you would also lose that class level, which just would not work because you cannot choose to lose a class level.

It's an opportunity cost. You have to lose an entire character level to each point of LA in order to buy off your LA later, or you put your LA on one side of your gestalt progression and significantly diminish its impact immediately.