Gestalt druid - planar shepard // druid

[Dr.Manhattan]

ELC 12 2 free LA
Thinking druid 12 // Cleric 5 - planar shepard 7
Race is anthropomorphic (bat, toad or raven all for RP there and getting +6 wis with no LA)
Spells are only PHB spells. All source books Dragon magazine and everything similair to that needs to go through the gm, so nothing crazy there unless i can hook him in.

Would love some build help here, its a High power game :)

[Dr.Manhattan]

Also, how do you Edit tags? CD

[Ellowryn]

Well, as always with gestalt you have to worry about having an active side and a passive side as you only get so many actions per round. The question is, do you really want both druid and cleric casting? Both are divine casters and they have similar spell lists (especially if you only have core spells). Also, other than Planar Shepard shenanigans what do you want to do with your character? Is Wild Shape or your Animal Companion important to you?

As for your template, Saint is always powerful especially for Wis based classes. Pheneric is also a good one too.

[Dr.Manhattan]

Well, as always with gestalt you have to worry about having an active side and a passive side as you only get so many actions per round. The question is, do you really want both druid and cleric casting? Both are divine casters and they have similar spell lists (especially if you only have core spells). Also, other than Planar Shepard shenanigans what do you want to do with your character? Is Wild Shape or your Animal Companion important to you?

As for your template, Saint is always powerful especially for Wis based classes. Pheneric is also a good one too.

Well that was just 2 classes I know Thats strong and both focus on wis. The build is not final yet tough so its all subject to change.
Animal compainion while cool is, from what I have heard atleast, not as usefull in gestalt later on and this being a High power game nothing i would spend too much energy on.
Wild shape is something that is very awesome and powerful. I am gonna try to get master of many forms to help with that after planar shepard.
Saint is too hard to uphold for me ^^
All of this is subject to change ofc

Also just remembered, is it gonna be stopped by dimensional anchor? I heard from the gm that it might be on Every single castle after an certain level... High power campaign I guess?

[Nifft]

What @Ellowryn says is very true: generally, you want one active spellcaster and one passive defense / buff / etc. class.

One build might be:

Monk 5 / Master of Many Forms 7 // Druid 5 / Planar Shepard 7

That gives you full Planar Shepard progression with better Wildshape, plus the nice passive benefits of Monk.

After MoMF, you'll probably want Warshaper 4 and maybe one more Monk level.

[Dr.Manhattan]

What @Ellowryn says is very true: generally, you want one active spellcaster and one passive defense / buff / etc. class.

One build might be:

Monk 5 / Master of Many Forms 7 // Druid 5 / Planar Shepard 7

That gives you full Planar Shepard progression with better Wildshape, plus the nice passive benefits of Monk.

After MoMF, you'll probably want Warshaper 4 and maybe one more Monk level.

I cant have planar shepard and Master of many forms at the same time, both of them being prestiege classes and gestalt rules do not allow that. :/

[Ellowryn]

Double check with your DM to see if that is how they are going to run it, most groups (both online and what i have seen IRL) tend to ignore that as most classes are not worth staying so many levels in.

If you cannot do both at the same time then i would recommend going Druid 12//Monk 1/Incarnate 4 (Magic of Incarnum)/Planar Shepherd 7. Incarnate will give you a bunch of stuff that can boost you in Wild Shape form such as pounce or flight or other magical protections. To be honest though Planar Shepherd is the most important thing in the build as its Planar Bubble ability of a fast time plane will literally destroy any encounters you come across. MoMF is indeed powerful too, but second to Planar Shepherd, so if your DM doesn't like the first then go with the second.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Well, you could go druid X//Serenity paladin (N variant) 2/monk 1/barbarian 2/planar shepherd X. Wis to saves, wis to AC, pounce, improved trip, slightly bigger HD and better base attack. Nothing spectacular, but if you have to fall back on base defence stats, you'll still be tough to kill.

On the other hand, you could go druid 5/planar shepherd X//totemist X + 5. Or //ardent, and use tons of extended buffs on the psionic side.

[Nifft]

I cant have planar shepard and Master of many forms at the same time, both of them being prestiege classes and gestalt rules do not allow that. :/

Not all groups play like that -- some only ban dual-progression PrCs like Mystic Theurge -- but if yours does, then I'd suggest:

Swordsage 12 // Druid 5 / Planar Shepard 7

... or:

Monk 12 // Druid 5 / Planar Shepard 7

... or:

Totemist 12 // Druid 5 / Planar Shepard 7

... or even:

Wildshape (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#ranger) Ranger 12 // Swift Hunter (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#druid) Druid 5 / Planar Shepard 7

[Dr.Manhattan]

Double check with your DM to see if that is how they are going to run it, most groups (both online and what i have seen IRL) tend to ignore that as most classes are not worth staying so many levels in.

If you cannot do both at the same time then i would recommend going Druid 12//Monk 1/Incarnate 4 (Magic of Incarnum)/Planar Shepherd 7. Incarnate will give you a bunch of stuff that can boost you in Wild Shape form such as pounce or flight or other magical protections. To be honest though Planar Shepherd is the most important thing in the build as its Planar Bubble ability of a fast time plane will literally destroy any encounters you come across. MoMF is indeed powerful too, but second to Planar Shepherd, so if your DM doesn't like the first then go with the second.

Yes the druid planar might be kinda hard on the gm. Im pretty sure but if something changes ill uppdate it (need to get a hold of him first, could take days) If i switch out planar shepard for MoMF then add in warshaper aswell, that could prob work. If that is the build then all attention should be on wildahape.
Below might fit that some?
Add in any soulmeld class for awesome help in wild shape?

[Dr.Manhattan]

New agenda: WILD SHATE FTW!
PS. How to change the topic name so to not misslead people?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Since Planar Shepherd continues advancing your wild shape and animal companion as though you were taking more Druid levels. The only thing you'll miss out on for taking Planar Shepherd levels instead of Druid levels is the venom immunity an the thousand faces class features, and you can cast (Lesser Rod of Extended) Delay Poison every day (and Neutralize Poison at the end of the day) for immunity to poison. For this reason, I would strongly recommend switching the build to Cloistered Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#clericVariantCloistere dCleric) 12// Druid 5/ Planar Shepherd 7. Trade your free knowledge domain for Knowledge Devotion (CC), get DMM: Persistent for Divine Power, Divine Favor, Righteous Might, etc. which will last through Wild Shape. Get a Monk's Belt with a Wilding Clasp (MIC) to add your Wis bonus to your AC, and pick a domain that offers Mage Armor (Force, Spell) if you can't cast (Greater) Luminous Armor.

[Dr.Manhattan]

Since Planar Shepherd continues advancing your wild shape and animal companion as though you were taking more Druid levels. The only thing you'll miss out on for taking Planar Shepherd levels instead of Druid levels is the venom immunity an the thousand faces class features, and you can cast (Lesser Rod of Extended) Delay Poison every day (and Neutralize Poison at the end of the day) for immunity to poison. For this reason, I would strongly recommend switching the build to Cloistered Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#clericVariantCloistere dCleric) 12// Druid 5/ Planar Shepherd 7. Trade your free knowledge domain for Knowledge Devotion (CC), get DMM: Persistent for Divine Power, Divine Favor, Righteous Might, etc. which will last through Wild Shape. Get a Monk's Belt with a Wilding Clasp (MIC) to add your Wis bonus to your AC, and pick a domain that offers Mage Armor (Force, Spell) if you can't cast (Greater) Luminous Armor.



If i switch out planar shepard for MoMF then add in warshaper

MoMF= Master of many forms, since I am going to focus on wild shape this class combined with warshaper both enchance wild shape. The DMM:Persist is indeed very strong but does only indirectly help wild shape with buffs. Also for full effect, I need alot of feats, expensive.
Although will keep it in mind, its a good build, it could be very potent..

[Endarire]

What about going Swordsage (Tome of Battle) on your non-Druid side? It gives you your WIS bonus to AC while in light armor (and it should also apply to no armor but ask your GM), a variety of maneuvers and stances, and general awesomeness for 5 levels. It also has a good Reflex save, meaning you'll get all 3 saves as good for your first 5 levels.

[atemu1234]

Call me crazy, but I think you'd benefit more from access to Wizard spells. Go Generalist Wizard. Have that be your passive class. You'll benefit from access to wider varieties of spells. It's a little MAD, but you're a Druid. Once you hit Druid level 5 and get Wild Shape, your physical stats mean absolutely jack-all if you're using point-buy.