Is it possible to do a template as a class?

[Nightfox]

I know this sounds weird, but in one of our games the characters have leveling templates. They are somewhat similar to Gestalt except that progress is based on events in the game world rather then exp. For example, an 11th level character may have one level in their template. An adventure path later and they are 14th level, but only have 2 levels in the template.

Previously I accomplished this by creating and adding a separate template for each template level (Template Level 1, Template Level 2, Template Level 3, etc) with a prerequisite of the previous template levels. However this makes it somewhat difficult to look at everything together. (looks jealously at the class tabs)

With the recent 5.x updates, I've found that many of my old files are not working right anymore, so I figured I'd start from scratch to redo them (clean up code, organize the specials better, etc). So here are the questions.

1) is it possible to create a class that does not add to the level count and subsequently to the exp requirements (similar to +0 LA templates)? I can add scripting to negate the BAB, Saves, Skills, and a simple tag removes Hit Dice, but the level count messes up the exp requirements.

2) if not, is it possible to have a special or template add a class tab and organize the abilities of multiple templates under the tab similar to the class specials.


I know I can go back and redo it all as single level templates, but I'm hoping someone can help me come up with a better way.