Hello PUGGERS:

I am considering moving to pathfinder for this campaign.  I've not made up my mind yet, but for those of you with tricky class combos, this may involve some rework.  Most likely, I will try it without gestalt, and then add it back later.  If I make this change, it won't be until true entry into the underdark.

I think I would be ok with this. Sev would remain a monk, and I would take a hit on my BaB (only technically by 2 at 20th lvl) and lose the plethera of feats, which is my true sadness. If allowed, I may very well keep Sev that way he is, as a D&D Monk/Fighter gestalt.

A lot of people will lose some 3.5 abilities, but I will go all the way if I switch it over.

Sev: Bonus Feats
Opal: Total rebuild might be needed
Night: Lose all spellcasting
Oni: Hevy Armor and fighter bonus feats

One notion that I might do is a stepped down gestalt....allow Gestalt with NPC Classes for non-level 9 spell-casters.

I would prefer to continue current campaigns under their current systems, but I'll go with whatever the group wants. (I'll rebuild if you tell me to.)

Wait, so you are not in favor of keeping the D&D core classes as something seperate from the Paizo base classes? I thought we were honestly considering leaving them in for the people who wanted to remain as such.

I'm trying to figur out what is the best option for campaign balance.  I'm not ruling anything out, and the only guiding principle I'm using right now is "what is best for the game group as a whole?"

I do know the arguements for/against change.  THe issue of losing preceived power is a touch subject at best.  From a level setting standpoint, it's far easier to cut back on some of that, and then re-add it later if it is a major hindrence.

What I think the group is running into here is a precieved smackdown on their power-built favorite concepts.  I am willing to be somewhat flexible, and I don't want to chuck the good with the bad...but a general re-set of much of the system is sorely needed.

This also begs the question, "Is what our characters who/what they are dependant on feat selection and mechanical edge?"

To address your last part, yes. How can a caracter be confident and slightly pompous if he isnt, for lack of a better way to put it, better? How can a character be carefree if as soon as he follows his wims he gets killed?

My roleplay comes from two parts. I start by thinking of a concept or ideal, and then find a character from one of my books who fits that idealology the best. From there I find a way to make the concept of the character powerful by the mechanical side.

Sev started as a roleplay concept: a character named Matt from the wheel of time. He is technically a polearm fighter, but uses speed and smarts rather than strength and armor. The first concept that I started with was the unarmored combattant. To be honest, the only way to do this without dipping into ToB (which I try to avoid as I dont like the semi-caster style when playing a melee character) is Monk, as Ninja just isnt the right concept I want. Now with monk there is a Lawful requirement, which is very much not matt's style, but I decided to try to roleplay around that. With his base concept in mind, I tried to make him the best character I could.

TLDR: Some people roleplay, and build a character to fit the roleplay. Some people build a character, and roleplay the strengths embodied in their build. Some people make a good character before the game starts, and when the game starts, roleplay.

In the long run, to your question of "Is what our characters who/what they are dependent on feat selection and mechanical edge?" question, I believe it is both. Yes, I have a roleplay concept behind my character, but that roleplay comes from how my character lives his live, which is embodied by what decisions he makes in his leveling and, in part, his feat selection and mechanical edge.

Now, I'm not going to tell you what to do with your campaign, and I dont want it to seem like I am. What I am trying to do is keep people's options open. For you, your character's build follows the roleplay, and for me, the two go hand in hand. I dont want to see the versatility and, yes, sometimes power of D&D get washed away by the, in my mind, very strich archetypes of Paizo. I like playing random things. Things that I cannot mechancally pull off in the Paizo system. I would rather have a system that I can use to build these characters than have to work with the DM to find work arounds.