Using Point Buy to Balance the Tiers

[tedcahill2]

The title of this post is a little misleading I know, but I'm starting a game using point buy, with 25 points. Anyone that chooses to play a T4 or T5 class will have the option to gestalt it with a second T5 class.

As an alternative I was thinking of allowing them to choose a +1 LA race or template or as a second alternative allowing them to use 32 points to build their character.

Now my question is not so much about balancing each of the tiers, but more about balancing these three options for the T4 and T5 classes.

Is gestalt = +1 LA = 32 PB?

[DeTess]

The title of this post is a little misleading I know, but I'm starting a game using point buy, with 25 points. Anyone that chooses to play a T4 or T5 class will have the option to gestalt it with a second T5 class.

As an alternative I was thinking of allowing them to choose a +1 LA race or template or as a second alternative allowing them to use 32 points to build their character.

Now my question is not so much about balancing each of the tiers, but more about balancing these three options for the T4 and T5 classes.

Is gestalt = +1 LA = 32 PB?

I'd have to check some exact numbers, but I'm fairly sure gestalt is going to be the superior option in many, but not all, cases. there might be some fairly powerful templates/races if you are really min-maxing on one point or another, but personally I'd encourage my players to build to be able to contribute in all situations, rather than optimize to be only able to smash combat encounters (unless your campaign is only combat encounters, that is). Most +1 LA races/templates will give a stat increase that is probably going to be worth as much as, or more than, the 7 extra points for point-buy.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I really recommend changing the title to the last line of your post (please do mention that you're gestalting t5s).

I think the gestalt is far superior. You wouldn't get full base attack and 11 fighter bonus feats for +1 LA. The LA and point-buy are closer, but I'd still take the LA most or all of the time, because it's more varied and interesting, and can be optimized further (primordial half-giant > elan/kalashtar with 32 pb).

[Gruftzwerg]

Doesn't make much of a difference. It's mostly a simple dmg boost if your players aren't capable of building decent dmg builds (for mundanes).
But other than that, it won't change much. The lower Tier classes don't get any new abilities to match the flexibility of the higher tier classes.
The free LA races might bring a lil change if the race should have any worthy SLAs. But that's it.

[BassoonHero]

I'd start by giving everyone 32-point buy. It's a really, really big deal for weaker classes and much less of an advantage for spellcasters.

A monk is a great example of a class that benefits from a gestalt — perhaps paladin or fighter. But with 25-point buy, it hardly matters.

[Bakkan]

I'll echo what others have said: gestalt is definitely the most powerful option, because it actually increases options and capabilities as opposed to just adding numbers. Allowing up to +2 might make gestalt and LA more balanced, as there are some killer +2 LA templates (e.g. Saint) and some combinations of +1 race and +1 template are quite powerful. A sufficient point buy might be equal to a +1 template, but I don't think any amount of point buy will be more attractive than gestalt. For example, I would likely prefer a Rogue//Fighter to a Rogue with even 40 or 50 points for point buy.