Mundane Characters Gestalt

( ⇪ Classes )

In a nutshell: With the changes made to higher-tier “special” classes, the “mundane” classes got royally hosed, so they need a major leg-up.

Basically, if you chose a mundane class, you also chose another mundane class and take both of those classes simultaneously for that level, choosing the best aspects of each. The process is similar to multiclassing, except that characters gain the full benefits of each class at each level. If the two classes you choose have aspects that overlap (such as Hit Dice, attack progression, saves, and class features common to more than one class), you choose the better aspect. The gestalt character retains all aspects that don’t overlap.

If either half of a gestalt level is a favored class, the entire level counts as favored for the purposes of the favored class benefit for the level. However, the conditions for multiclass penalties don’t care whether a non-favored class is part of a gestalt. So, if two non-favored classes become more than one level apart, you start taking a multiclass penalty to XP even if you only ever took them as gestalted with favored classes.

GM’s Note: As per Maginomicon’s House Rules, everyone gets two favored classes determined by character, chosen when you first take the class (the racial favored class is ignored). Further, multiclass penalties are multiplicative of 80%, not subtractive by 20%. This means that the first class that causes a multiclass penalty results in you gaining only 80% XP, the second 80% × 80%, etc. This is to encourage multiclassing.

In this campaign setting, you can only gestalt if both of your chosen “gestalt slots” are “mundane”, meaning not prestige classes and are not within a valid category for a prestige class progression (excluding the all-encompassing “+1 level of existing class” as well as PrCs that target all but a certain category and PrCs that target a single explicit class).

Classes that restrict your future class options (such as monk) don’t apply that restriction to classes you gestalt simultaneously with that class. You still cannot take two variants of the same class, but you can gestalt classes that are functionally similar because of a chosen variant. You must otherwise still meet the prerequisites to enter the class normally (thus, it’s still impossible to qualify for both monk and battle dancer as they require opposite alignments, and no half-step alignment qualifies for that).

Effects that benefit from having levels in two different classes (such as the Tashalatora feat) count character levels where those two classes gestalt together in the same character level only once, not twice.

Likewise, the following kinds of classes are forbidden from gestalting since they progress a category as mentioned above:

  • “spellcasting” classes (wizard, sorcerer, etc.)
  • “manifesting” classes (psion, wilder, etc.)
  • “meldshaping” classes (incarnate, soulborn, totemist)
  • “mystery-using” classes (shadowcaster)
  • “infusion-imbuing” classes (artificer, psionic artificer), which are also advanced with spellcasting or manifesting progression
  • “invocation-using” classes (warlock, dragonfire adept), which are also advanced with arcane spellcasting progression
  • “truenaming” classes (truenamer)
  • “soul binding” classes (binder)
  • “martial adept” classes (crusader, swordsage, warblade), although the wording for their progressions is weird
  • racial hit dice (RHD) that grant any of the above during that hit die. For example, a silver dragon can gestalt its racial hit dice until its 13th racial hit die (at which point it gains spellcasting as a 1st-level sorcerer). The 14th racial hit die is also ineligible because it gains its 2nd level of spellcasting during that hit die.

However, NPC classes are an exception, and in this way are available to PCs.

Gestaltable Classes

Racial hit dice that are mundane can be gestalted with a standard class, but not with a racial class or monster class (which contain their own racial hit dice). You must complete all of your current racial hit die’s levels before taking another gestalted standard class level. For example, A Quesar 3 // Fighter 3 can only take its 4th gestalted fighter level once he reaches his 4th racial hit die at the 5th Quesar level.

Below is a list of almost all gestaltable standard classes:

Remember that there are a ton of alternative class features that make gestalting into a class (even as a 1-level “dip”) more appealing. Also realize that there are alternative class feature chains (if you gain the feature outright).

Building A Gestalt Character

To make a 1st-level gestalt character, choose two base classes. (You can also choose any of the variant classes, though you can’t combine two versions of the same class.) Build your character according to the following guidelines.

Hit Dice: Choose the larger Hit Die.

Base Attack Bonus: Choose the better fractional progression from the two classes (+1 per level for good BAB, +3/4 per level for average BAB, +2/4 per level for poor BAB). Determine the total BAB bonus using fractional BAB as normal. If the progression changes at any point within the gestalted levels, you must determine how much each progression adds to the total. Count each gestalted level that has a good progression, and then count each gestalted level that has an average progression, and then count each gestalted level that has a poor progression. Then, determine what good progression bonus would result from the number of levels of good BAB, and add that to the average progression bonus that would result from the number of levels of average BAB, and that to the poor progression bonus that would result from the number of levels of poor BAB. Finally, add as separate values all fractional BAB bonuses from non-gestaltable levels and prestige classes.

Base Saving Throw Bonuses: For each save bonus, choose the better fractional progression from the two classes (+2 then +3/6 per level for good saves, +0 then +2/6 per level for poor saves). Determine the total save bonus using fractional saves as normal. If the progression changes at any point within the gestalted levels, you must for each save determine how much each progression adds to that save’s total. For each save, count each gestalted level that has a good progression, and then count each gestalted level that has a poor progression. Then for each save, determine what good progression bonus would result from that many levels of good saves, and add that to the poor progression bonus that would result from that many levels of poor saves. Finally, add as separate values all fractional save bonuses from non-gestaltable levels and prestige classes.

For Example: Church is a gestalt of 3 levels of Fighter, the first 2 levels of which Psychic Adept, and the last is 1 level of Adept (the notation for this is “Fighter 2 // Psychic Adept 2, Fighter 1 // Adept 1”).
For Base Attack Bonus, they have the good BAB progression for all three levels, so it’s
        BAB +3
For Fortitude Base Save Bonus, they have the good save progression for all three levels, so it’s
        2 +9/6 = Fort +3 +1/2
For Reflex Base Save Bonus, they have the poor save progression for all three levels, so it’s
        0 +6/6 = Ref +1
For Will Base Save Bonus, they have 2 levels of good save progression and 1 level of poor save progression, so it’s
        2 +6/6 +0 +2/6 = Will +3 +1/3

Class Skills: Take the number of skill points gained per level from whichever class grants more skill points, and consider any skill on either class list as a class skill for the gestalt character.

GM’s Note: As per Maginomicon’s House Rules, all classes that have a good BAB progression get Spot and Listen as class skills, and all classes get two extra skill points per level.

Class Features: A gestalt character gains the class features of both classes.

Subsequent Levels

A gestalt character follows a similar procedure when he attains 2nd and subsequent levels. Each time he gains a new level, he chooses two classes, takes the best aspects of each, and applies them to his characteristics. A few caveats apply, however:

  1. Class features that two classes share (such as uncanny dodge) accrue at the rate of the faster class.
  2. Because it’s possible for gestalt characters to qualify for prestige classes earlier than normal, the game master is entirely justified in toughening the prerequisites of a prestige class so it’s available only after 5th level, even for gestalt characters.

Level Stacking

Generally, nothing which stacks levels together for a greater bonus will grant a bigger bonus than the number of total levels taken in the relevant classes. For example, if you gestalt fighter and fighter-bonus-feat rogue, you don’t get double fighter-bonus-feats, you get whichever one feature gets more feats. For another example, gestalting three levels of Scout with three levels of Hunter Barbarian will definitely qualify you for the Swift Hunter feat (the “ranger levels” in Swift Hunter here would be “barbarian levels”), but since you only have three levels total at that point, you’re not stacking any levels. If however you gestalted Soulknife with Scout and Hunter Barbarian ( Soulknife 3 // Scout 3, then Soulknife 1 // Barbarian 1 ) at that 4th level you would qualify for Swift Hunter and have four levels of stacking for it.

Mundane Characters Gestalt

Hyperion Voyages Ternal Ternal