I'm going to be GMing a gritty steam/diesel-punk game set in a world where magic and technology fundamentally conflict, (re: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura), using Pathfinder. To keep the game nestled in heroic fantasy I plan to run it as an E6 campaign. My players are ok with their core statistics, (Base attack bonus, saves, skills, etc), being capped at 6th level, however I worry that they'll run into character fatigue if they aren't able to really improve and gain more class features. What does the EnWorld brain trust think about the following variations of E6:
- Gestalt Characters
- Continue to advance without BaB/Saves/Skills/Spells improving
- Waive BaB/Skill Rank requirements for feats
Another adjustment I am considering is that after 6th level the BaB and Skill Ranks requirements for feats will be waived - allowing PCs to attain feats they would otherwise never have access to so long as they've got the necessary feat prerequisites.
(P.S.: Just for fun and "fyi" the game will also utilize armor-as-DR and wound/vitality variants)
What does the EnWorld brain trust think about the following variations of E6:
You do realize you are on Paizo?
Gestalt and E6 go well together. I would suggest instead of "Continuing to advance", you could make more epic feats that are higher level class abilities. That way you are in more control of what higher level abilities get in your "Gritty" game.
The way I have done it to give out more feats periodically even after they capped at level 6 (this was using Spheres of Power and Spheres of Might, so a feat was also a new spell or combat technique) is to sort of waive BAB/Rank etc for feats. We kept track of a virtual level, so 6 + 1 level for each bonus feat awarded and that was their virtual level and if they could theoretically get that feat with their build plus virtual level, they could have that feat. So if you have a feat with a BAB requirement of 9 and had 6 BAB from your 6th level character, with 3 more virtual levels you would qualify. I don't know if that was necessary or not, but I put it in just in case a really high requirement feat would be unbalanced (I wouldn't have minded it being unbalanced after a really high virtual level, since at that point they would have been legendary heroes but we never got that far.)
As to whether Gestalt is a good idea for E6 I don't know, but I am pretty sure that it would make the problem of not being able to improve any more even worse. For the first 6 levels they would get twice as many goodies, which means once they capped it would seem like an even bigger change from advancing their character to not being able to advance their character.
Another adjustment I am considering is that after 6th level the BaB and Skill Ranks requirements for feats will be waived - allowing PCs to attain feats they would otherwise never have access to so long as they've got the necessary feat prerequisites.
Most high BAB feats are gated behind additional requirements (such as the various 3rd style feats), so the players couldn't just cherry-pick them. However, there are a few high BAB feats that require only a single other feat (and negligible ability scores):
Stunning Assault
Blinding Critical
Censoring Critical
Paralyzing Strike
Level 6 PCs with the option to inflict such fatal conditions multiple times a day would get a sudden power boost that you probably don't want.