My friends and I have been playtesting a interesting idea. the campaign uses the fast chart, but you can gestalt (two classes) by using the medium chart and, as we are calling it, tristalt(three classes) by using the slow chart. yes i know tristalt is not a word, or even the right word. this works pretty well, it reminds me of second edition multiclassing, and it allows people to multiclass without all the multiclassing bs. Normal multiclassing is still allowed.
I've found that at 1st level the characters have way more options and are slightly more powerful, but that quickly is balanced out by the level advantage the single class people end up with.
I guess if you wanted to you could limit the options based on race, ei like second edition. but we have not done so.
What do you think of this idea?
Why not just say gestalt characters are always one level behind their non-gestalt counterparts? That's basically what your rule is saying, if you look at the fast and medium xp charts. Likewise, a triple gestalt/slow xp chart character would end up two levels behind.
My gut feeling is that a +1 level adjustment is probably a little bit low for a gestalt character. But maybe it'll work for your group.
Why not just say gestalt characters are always one level behind their non-gestalt counterparts? That's basically what your rule is saying, if you look at the fast and medium xp charts. Likewise, a triple gestalt/slow xp chart character would end up two levels behind.
My gut feeling is that a +1 level adjustment is probably a little bit low for a gestalt character. But maybe it'll work for your group.
As you say it's the same thing.
At any rate, my gut feeling is that a level 9 paladin/bard is much better than a level 10 paladin (say). Or a level 9 cleric/monk vs. a level 10 monk.
Yeah... the problem here is when you start gestalting synergistic classes. A paladin/sorcerer 9 is FAR better than a paladin 4/sorcerer 5 or any permutation of the above. Just take light armor, and max cha, especially now that it's the paladin's primary casting stat. Same with Monk/rogue.
Gestalts that blend different classes, such as those normally covered by Eldritch Knight, Mystic Theurge, etc. don't usually have the same problem, as they deal with MAD issues or don't blend different actions very well. Keeps them closer to a 'normal' character.
Not sure that the difference in level would be enough. I, for one, would be far more likely to gestalt non-caster classes, but that's a taste preference, I suppose.
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This is pretty close to what I do. Anyone who is Class X2/Class X2 can begin levelling Gestalt. Both classes in the gestalt are considered one class, so multiclassing again means leaving both classes. Thus, a Gestalt(Fig2/Wiz2), who multiclasses again, into rogue for instance, becomes a Gestalt(Fig2/Wiz2)/Rogue1. Yes, I do ban all the Multiclass Patch PrC's. I do like the 1E/2E fell of certain limitations, so I only allow a Gestalt if at least one of the classes is a racial favored class, based on the PFRPG Beta selections. It's not required to get the Favored Class bonus, just Gestalt access.
I share your misgivings, hogarth, but I suspect it'd be fairly balanced to have single-class characters use fast xp, and 2-class gestalts using slow. The HD and spellcasting differential would become pretty telling at that point.
In a campaign I'm in, we've found that two Lv2 Gestalts (Bard/Oracle and Rogue/Inquisitor) were capable of handling a module designed for 4 Lv3 PCs. Now granted, we used rolled ability scores (4d6 keep 3, reroll 1s), but we are about 50-70% behind in wealth-by-level even for the level of our characters (vs. the wealth expected for high level characters in the module).
Basically, we've found that the power level of our Gestalt is roughly equal to CR+2 right now. Our theory is that it will work out to be roughly CR×1.5 as level increases, but we've only just hit 4th so that remains to be seen.
My personal opinion is that a 1-level disparity is insufficient in terms of balance. Using an XP track that is 1-slower will be insufficient, and since you are considering a "tristalt", you can't really go 2 tracks slower.
The simplest solution would be to keep everyone on the same XP track but simply multiply the XP totals ×2. At lower levels, this will keep the character about a level behind, and 2 levels behind by level 10. For each additional class gained at each character level, increase the XP multiplier by 1.
Mind you, tri- and quad-Gestalt characters will be severely behind in hit points and their additional flexibility may not be enough to offset lagging BAB, spell levels, etc. Unless you're just doing this for the sake of experimentation, I'd advise reserving anything more than a 2-class Gestalt for NPCs (at which point you can just fudge the stats and declare the über-character has whatever abilities you want by DM fiat).
When I considered doing this, I figured the difference to be more like Fast=>Slow. +2 LA is a big hit, and even the best Cleric/Monk or Paladin/Sorcerer will feel the sting.
Also consider disallowing any gestalt PrC's. Explicitly. After all, do you really want a gestalt build that goes:
1-3: Wiz/Clr
4-13: MT/Ftr
14-20: EK/ClrNo, didn't think so.
Oh hell no we don't allow any of the PrC's that combine classes.
Interesting idea. If Eric or Laithoron is still around, could you share what your experience has been since? I'm guessing that a 2-level handicap might work, but that it might get unbalanced in specific cases.