PrC XIII: Voting Thread!

[ErrantX]

Time for the Lucky 13 voting thread, for the prestige class contest Music and Lyrics.

The entries and contestants are below, vote will close on Monday, September 21st. Get em in!

And the winner is... the lately quite absent Djinn In Tonic!

{table=head]Prestige Class|Author|Votes
Bow Minstrel|Jogi|2
Empyreal Cantatrice|Djinn in Tonic|4
Acolyte of Garfunkel|Pair o'Dice Lost|3
Black Metal Vocalist|TSED|0
Lore Keeper|Violet Octopus|1
Wardancer|FirebirdFlying|0
Algorithmic Composer|Forevernade|0
Irresistible Balladeer|The Neo Classic|2[/table]

-X

[The Neoclassic]

Such a hard choice! All the entries were very good for this contest. :smallsmile:

My vote goes to Acolyte of Garfunkel. Anyone who wants more detailed information on my voting rationale, see below!


Bow Minstrel is a good class, and well fleshed out overall. The descriptions of how to use them in a game are good, but not fantastic; it lacks pizzazz. Still, nothing about it strikes me as poor or unfinished.

Empyreal Cantatrice is very cool, but entirely lacks fluff. It's too bad, since the class abilities and introduction were quite solid.

I'm not usually partial to D&D homebrew related to jokes or real-life references, but Acolyte of Garfunkel turned out beautifully. It fits the "Music and Lyrics" description of the contest spot on, and is extremely well detailed. My only worry is that the class might be somewhat overpowered, but I may be wrong, and it's not bad enough to justify not voting for this superb class.

Black Metal Vocalist is quite an interesting concept. Though based on a rather amusing idea which doesn't seem like it'd fit with the pseudo-medieval feel of D&D, it in fact translated rather well. A need for more fluff is the main reason that this class essentially came in second, rather than first, and hence didn't gain my vote.

Lorekeepers don't really fit with "Music and Lyrics", as they "ignore their musical talents" as stated in the description. That said, I think in and of themselves, they're a good idea for a class; new ways to gain insight and primarily non-magical combat bonuses are always nifty. Some of the abilities could've been clearer though, and the fluff was only half filled out.

Wardancers seem cool, and certainly represent an interesting new take on bard-related abilities. However, I didn't feel they so much represented "Music and Lyrics" as many of the other classes. I also would've liked to know a bit more about Damien, the sample encounter. Still, overall, very solid.

I really liked Algorithmic Composer, but unfortunately it lacked any fluff after the class abilities, despite the richness of flavor in its introduction and musical talents. In particular, tying music to Intelligence instead of Charisma for some matters was a great idea.

[Xzoltar]

My vote go to : EMPYREAL CANTATRICE

As again Djinn_In_Tonic have made a job so great I had to redesigned one npc of my campaing and it fit perfectly. Some abilities are a little strong considering they are Extraordinary, but as I use this PrC for a NPC it dosent really matter...

[Jogi]

Irresistible Balladeer, gonna justify later.

EDIT: Here are my notes on how I chose my vote:


Empyreal Cantatrice: Good flavor, awesome skill ideas. Yet, Auspicious Signs may be too powerful, and combined with Auspicious Undertaking it got too far for me. These two skills are the only reason why I wouldn't let a player take this class. Nonetheless, a great work.

Acolyte of Garfunkel: Althought I, who am not fond of explicit real life jokes in D&D, found the flavor decent enough, the abilities just didn't made it for me; not many music related abilities, and yet the class mantains the bard progression. Also, I didn't like the spell per day gain rate.

Black Metal Vocalist: Hmm, I just find it hard to insert in a medieval fantasy campaign.

Lorekeeper: Well, I don't think this class is that much related to the contest, since it totally ignores the musical abilities. Yet, a good work, keep it up.

Wardancer: I found Vibrato to be useless, and Grand Jéte was too powerful. Pas De Deux can be usefull, but I don't think it's a 8th level ability. I liked the concept of Harmonize but it might get too powerfull. Apart from that, I didn't see much description, and the class strikes me as unfinished.

Algorithmic Composer: Great abilities ideas, nice new way to aproach music in D&D, but It lacked fluff on the how to use the class and stuff.

Irresistible Balladeer: I liked the simplicity of the class description, and love the Calm Emotions ability. Overall I liked most of it's abilities, and the flavor within them. The notables section was nice, and It gave me ideas. In general, a good class that I would use. Good job :)

[Bhu]

Bow Minstrel

[FirebirdFlying]

*cough* Just noting that the contest included Bardic Knowledge as an acceptable thing to focus on. So despite the title of the contest, Lorekeeper seems entirely appropriate. To me, anyway.

No, it's not my class. I'm not just tooting my own horn here.

[Violet Octopus]

This is tough. While I love the Acolyte of Garfunkel for going beyond a joke and becoming a really nifty concept, I ultimately have to vote for the Empyreal Cantatrice. The Pythagorean flavour is lovely, and much better executed than say, the Sublime Chord.

Response to comments about the Lorekeeper:

Lorekeepers don't really fit with "Music and Lyrics", as they "ignore their musical talents" as stated in the description. That said, I think in and of themselves, they're a good idea for a class; new ways to gain insight and primarily non-magical combat bonuses are always nifty. Some of the abilities could've been clearer though, and the fluff was only half filled out.
Thanks for the feedback :smallsmile:. As FirebirdFlying said, the bardiness of the lorekeeper was its knowledge, and on a more mechanical level, the "5th wheel that makes everyone else awesome" aspect. Those are what I love about the bard, and what I wanted to emphasise. My fault for not developing the flavour enough to make that clear. I also got a bit embarrassed when I finally read Cityscape and found a very similar class there.

[Sir Shadow]

Like most, I am torn between the Empyreal Cantatrice and the Acolyte of Garfunkel...

But in the end, I must give to the Acolyte of Garfunkel. While some of the abilities' names were kinda long, the fluff and function was amazing.

[Weimann]

I will vote up the Bow Minstrel. Because I like bards, and bows.

[Kallisti]

Acolyte of Garfunkel.

Although Empyrial Cantatrice is also awesome, and I liked Irresistable Balladeer, Wardancer, and Bow Minstrel, too.

[The Witch-King]

Empyreal Cantatrice.


*cough* Just noting that the contest included Bardic Knowledge as an acceptable thing to focus on. So despite the title of the contest, Lorekeeper seems entirely appropriate. To me, anyway.

No, it's not my class. I'm not just tooting my own horn here.

Seconded.

[ErrantX]

Keep the votes coming!

-X

[Dante & Vergil]

I'm going to see if I can squeeze a vote in, even though it's techinically closed. It was really close between Empyreal Cantatrice and Acolyte of Garfunkel, but I vote for the Empyreal Cantatrice.

[ErrantX]

I'm going to see if I can squeeze a vote in, even though it's techinically closed. It was really close between Empyreal Cantatrice and Acolyte of Garfunkel, but I vote for the Empyreal Cantatrice.

I will let it slide because it gives me a winner, I was torn between them too, actually. Your vote let me decide mine :)

Djinn In Tonic is the winner!

-X