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Over the summer, I'll be running a short few-session campaign for some friends who are coming into town. I want the game to be memorable, something none of the players have ever experienced or will likely again. Now I could write a campaign full of brooding pathos and daunting spectacle, but frankly I'm not that great a writer. I can spin a solid meat and potatoes yarn, but the sort of transcendent storytelling described in the pretentious GM advice sections of White Wolf games is beyond me. Even if I could, it's hard to care about your character in just a few sessions, let alone have any kind of arc.

So how do I make this memorable? Well, gestalt is cool, everyone always talks about wanting to play in a gestalt campaign, but what if I take this one step further? What if I throw all caution and good taste to the wind and let players make gestalts of not two, but three classes? I started getting excited excited just thinking about it. Gunslinger/inquisitor/monk? Wizard/alchemist/barbarian? Summoner/bard/paladin? Not only do all those sound awesome to play mechanically, each already has a distinct identity based on the characteristics of each of the classes they chose. You're a bard? Doesn't tell me much. Now, a summoner/bard/paladin? That's a story I'd like to hear.

So essentially I'm wondering, (1) is this a terrible idea, (2) what level should the game be so that the players have cool powers but aren't swamped with complexity, and (3) how should I modify the challenge rating of encounters? Thanks a bundle.

I'm thinking about starting up a Pathfinder game after I finish with my 4th edition one, and I was pondering ways to make characters a little sexier. In a nutshell I'm considering using the Unearthed Arcana gestalt rules, giving feats at every level instead of every other, and boosting each skill progression one rank higher (8+int gets skill focus for free). As a player, I love having lots of options for customizing who my character is, both from an optimization and roleplaying standpoint. My only worry is that given so many options, the disparity between power-gamers and casual players can grow even larger. It's tough for the turenamer/factotum who took toughness twice not to feel outshined by the warblade/egoist who shock troopers everything into a fine paste. Pathfinder classes seem more balanced overall (though the summoner does seem a little crazy just based on a read-through), so this might not be an issue. Is this a recipe for disaster, or the ingredients of an intriguing game?

I've been thinking about designing a campaign where the PCs have to defend the material plane from invaders from another reality. The PCs are confronted by William Howard Taft who travels into the material plane in his dimension-shifting flying bathtub. He explains that from its first iteration in George Washington, the presidency was not only leadership position in the United States Government, but in the Freemasons as well. Upon completing their final term, the presidents are retired from public life and granted immortality. They stand eternal vigil over the multiverse and combat any forces that threaten the balance.

He goes on to say that in the 41st millenium, the forces of chaos were waxing strong, so strong that they threatened the survival of mankind itself. Chaos as represented by five gods: Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Malal. While separate entities, they also represented different facets of a unified whole. The Emperor of mankind traveled into the warp and did battle with the least of these gods: Malal. The Emperor triumphed, but Malal was too powerful to be slain outright. So the Emperor used his psychic powers to open a dimensional gateway and travel to the PCs' material plane. He imprisoned Malal deep within the earth, and then traveled back to his dimension. The forces of chaos were dealt a blow from which they never fully recovered, as chaos was now incomplete.

But recently, a chaos space marine champion named Abbadon discovered the secret of Malal's disappearance from the black library. Now chaos space marines are flooding the material plane, bringing with them demons, tanks, and heavy firepower. With the aid of several former presidents they meet along the way, the PCs must do battle with the chaos space marines while shutting down the dimensional portals popping up all over the land. The loyalist tories and British of the American Revolution will also make an appearance.

What do you think would be some engaging setpieces for this game? How would you handle stats for chaos space marines, and the weapons the PCs will surely loot from their corpses?