Low Player Count Solution: Gestalt or Multiple Characters?


Advice


A few of my friends want to play to get into Pathfinder (they've all played a couple times before, but nothing long term), so I've decided to run a game at my house on Thursday. The problem is I'll have a MAX of four players, and will probably only get two reliably. I have a story in mind, but i fear that players playing multiple characters will screw up the rp sections but I've also heard some horror stories about Gestalt characters.

I'm not sure what i should do. I considered running normally and adjusting encounters, but two players is...difficult. It will make things seem less exciting if it's two characters vs. tree or four enemies. I've had HORRIBLE experiences with DMPCs, and don't really want to mess with how the other characters will behave.

So at this point I only see those two solutions. Any tips my online buddies?/)


Im an advocate of the Gestalt rules, but only for lower level games. After tenth level or so gestalt characters tend to get out of hand. Not necessarily game breaking, but just overly complex. Things slow down a lot.

You might also consider the Mythic rules. They might give your players enough of a power boost to 2-man a 4-man encounter.


Doomed Hero wrote:

Im an advocate of the Gestalt rules, but only for lower level games. After tenth level or so gestalt characters tend to get out of hand. Not necessarily game breaking, but just overly complex. Things slow down a lot.

You might also consider the Mythic rules. They might give your players enough of a power boost to 2-man a 4-man encounter.

I haven't scene the mythic rules, can you link me to the play test?


Doomed Hero wrote:

Im an advocate of the Gestalt rules, but only for lower level games. After tenth level or so gestalt characters tend to get out of hand. Not necessarily game breaking, but just overly complex. Things slow down a lot.

You might also consider the Mythic rules. They might give your players enough of a power boost to 2-man a 4-man encounter.

Never mind, found it. Sorry.


Here


Doomed Hero wrote:
Here

Thanks i had actually found them right after i posted the request for a link.

I'm reading through now...i honestly don't know about the mythic rules. On the one hand, it definitely can bridge the gap in power. On the other, i'm supposed to start this Thursday, and i'm not sure i will have time to learn the rules set by then. (and it's 52 pages to print out).

I'm keeping it under consideration but i'm going to wait and see for now. thanks.


Onre thi g my group has been playing with, and plan to implement more formally, is to have a cadre of NPCs that act as "cohort-lite" to be able to fill in when a player misses a game. The cohorts are built fairly simply with feats like toughness and iron will S opposed to say Antagoni e or Turtle Clutch

Edit. OMG fat fingers little buttons. I hope you can read that.


I can see both Gestalt and handing the PC's some small red shirt NPC's to use to bulk out the party.

Gestalt tends to be slightly better in my opinion, as then the players can play truly truly heroic characters, but it does come with the requirement that you are stricter with the players.

Suggestions (i.e. stuff I use as restrictions):

1) No combining full spellcaster with another full spellcaster.

2) Maintain two copies of the character, one is the gestalt, the other is the non gestalt. Yes it might be slightly immersion breaking to have awesome powers in one encounter, and then not have them in another, but it also means that you can adjust the characters on the fly in such a way that when you have your full party you run one set of characters, and if you don't, then you just run the other set.

3) The DM reserves the right to ask a character to rework traits and feats etc if they resort into some kind of horrifically broken combination.

So far it has worked for me.


eakratz wrote:

Onre thi g my group has been playing with, and plan to implement more formally, is to have a cadre of NPCs that act as "cohort-lite" to be able to fill in when a player misses a game. The cohorts are built fairly simply with feats like toughness and iron will S opposed to say Antagoni e or Turtle Clutch

Edit. OMG fat fingers little buttons. I hope you can read that.

Hadn't considered npcs like that, might work. And I've both read and typed worse.

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