Gestalt Red Hand of Doom

[CockroachTeaParty]

There seems to be a lot of RHoD fever going around these days. I'm considering running it for my RL group, but I'd like to spice it up in new and interesting ways.

It's a tough module, no doubt about it. My question is, what would need to be changed if I let the players make gestalt characters?

I'd probably keep the group to 4 or 5 players max. When I played through it as a PC two years ago, the 4 man party was non-gestalt, but we managed to get through the adventure thanks to careful buffing and relatively optimized spellcasting technique.

I'm thinking allowing everyone a gestalt character would encourage the use of classes otherwise commonly ignored, such as the better Tier 4 classes.

Would very much truly change? At a glance, it would allow the PCs to continue adventuring without resting for longer periods. This would probably allow them to outpace the Horde, perhaps buying them more time.

Of course, our non-gestalt group had practically a week to prepare Brindol before the arrival of the Horde, thanks to playing our cards right.

What would you do with a gestalt RHoD? Make the Wyrmlords gestalt characters too? Bump the dragons an age category? Throw in more mooks each fight?

[IthilanorStPete]

Players in my campaign, stay out.

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Really guys. Stay out.

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Almost definitely make the wyrmlords gestalt. Definitely bump the dragons up an age category from what they're printed as, and more importantly - play them intelligently. Use the limited casting they have - blood wind and scintillating scales are both fantastic for them.
Don't bother with more mooks - they'll just be so much cannon fodder. Instead, go with tougher ones - Bluespawn Godslayers (from MMIV) can be great fun. Play the Wyrmlords as intelligent, also, and once they get wind of the PCs, start actively working against them - do stuff like the "Marked for Death" encounter, the one with the greater barghests trying to assassinate the PCs.