ok, so i'm starting a new campaign (Rise of the Runelords) with my friends while our normal GM is out of town for a month and only have a couple who are gonna play so i figured i'd make it a gestalt game. then i thought about the guys who'll be playing and realized neither of them likes to play caster/healer types. so i realized i need a "guide" PC to basically follow them around and play the healer/support class.
initially i thought i would make a gestalt magus(skirnir)/paladin. but after building it i feel that it lacks the casting ability to really support them. so then i thought about magus/oracle but it doesn't look like it would fit my idea of a paladin-ish character. i know there has to be some good combos out there that will give me that balance of offence/support i'm looking for. any ideas?
apparently there are no good ideas for this?
I say dont do it. If you're giving them gestalts and they still dont manage to have a healer that's their problem. There are way s to get healing that dont involve a gmpc healbot. Giving them an npc healbot not only gives them a crutch that keeps them from learning how to run a party that has no cleric. A lesson they should definitely learn if they have the aversion to playing healers that you suggest.... And most players arent fond of gmpc anything even if you're good at it.
Let them have a few easy random encounters so that they're always a level or two above where the book says they should be at that point in the module (splitting xp only 2 ways instead of 4 means they should always be a level or two ahead of where a party of 4 would be) or let them dual box (play two complete characters each). Gestalt doesnt do a very good job of making up for the lack of action economy that having less players creates.
the action economy issue is something i like the idea of as an speedbump for these guys. historically speeking they're both min/max-ers who have made action economy their b**ch.
i thought about letting them dualbox, but i realized they would both roll in with something like phalanx soldier x2 or unbreakable fighter meat shield with god-caster standing behind. these are broken combo's in their hands.
none of us is new to this and we all LOVE to try and break PF physics.
that being said, neither of them is the "stop and think things through" roleplayer. both love to play the shoot first guy. if i dont hand them a wand of cure light wounds by means of "it was laying there on the bar table and no one said it was theres" method, they will run strait to the bbeg without a second thought. a healbot is the only way to keep from having them reroll every other encounter.