Iron Chef Optimization Challenge: Dessert Round III

[flabort]

Welcome All, whether you be contestant, judge, or spectator, to the THIRD Iron Chef Dessert round! Here in the Optimization Kitchen, contestants will attempt to mix up an optimized, flavorful character using a specific homebrew prestige class as a "Secret Ingredient".

Contestants: You will need to present your build at at least one of the following points: 5th level, 10th level, 15th level, 20th, and a "sweet spot" that you feel is the high point of the build. Feel free to present as many of these as you like, and please give a rundown of the build's abilities and playability at all of the levels you didn't show.
The rules are as follows:

Menu: For most Dessert challenges, the "Special ingredient" will be drawn from the Homebrew Design section of the forums, with the permission of the author. Sometimes the PrC contests will be a source of the Secret Ingredient, but more often I'll take one from a well known 'brewer. I may also take a homebrew out of the Homebrew Galleria (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188088), in which case I may not directly ask the author's permission, as I believe it has already been given.

32 point buy is the presumed creation method, but the Iron Chef's hosts have generally allowed other levels of point buy.
If you do use a different point buy, please make your case for its necessity in your entry. Keep in mind that for using exceptionally large or small point buys may warrant deductions in elegance and/or power.

Kitchen: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon Magazine is disallowed, with exceptions (as described later), ad Unearthed Arcana is allowed; But see Elegance below. Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Item Familiars are forbidden, because the judges may hate 'em, and because they fall under the category of equipment as well. If the Secret ingredient calls for a mechanic that can only be found in the Homebrew section or Dragon Magazine, then any feats, classes, or other ingredients required or related may be allowed. Such ingredients do not need the permission of a judge to use, but if they deviate from the Secret Ingredient too much, they may result in deductions in Elegance or Use of Secret Ingredient, or if they don't relate to it at all, then the build may be disqualified.

Cooking Time: Contestants will have until 11:59 GMT on November 28 (which for the chairman's convenience is 4:59 MDT) to create their builds and PM them to the Chairman of the Desserts Section, Flabort (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=46366). Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 11:59 GMT on December 12 (4:59 for the chairman) to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted.

Judging: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, Use of Secret Ingredient.

Originality is obvious: If a concept has been used before, it loses points. Very common concepts get very low scores. But pulling a trick out of your sleeves that no-one's used may earn you points back.
Power level is up to you. Cheese is acceptable, but should be kept to a sane level unless you're showcasing a new TO build you've discovered. In the words of one of our (IC chairmen and spin off chairmen alike) predecessors, a little cheddar can be nice, but avoid the mature Gruyere unless you're making a cheese fondue. And to add to this, as a dessert, cheese is pretty rare.
Elegance could bear a little elaboration. It basically measures how skillfully you put your build together, and whether you sacrificed flavor for power. We're cooking here - if your dish doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter how well presented it is. Use of flaws is an automatic loss of one point per flaw in this category. Other things that will cause lost points here are excessive multiclassing, and classes that don't fit the concept - using Cloistered Cleric in a front-line melee fighter, for example, will lose you points. This also applies to using too many homebrew sources. For example, if the Secret ingredient is The Beast Sculpted (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9576356#post9576356), it's fine to use the Harrowed (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188148) Base class, because it is required. But it is not fine in such a case to use the Evolutionist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112349).
Use of Secret Ingredient just means that you've used a concept in which the secret ingredient is necessary. If you don't use all the levels of the ingredient, or ignore most of the features, or another class would work better in it's place, you'll probably lose points. Also, for using other homebrew sources to build your concept, without them being integral to the Secret ingredient, may lose you points.

Presentation: Builds will be posted anonymously, in order to avoid the potential of bias towards a particular competitor. For this reason, please don't put your name in the build, as I'm likely to miss it when reviewing the entries!

The main competition uses this standardized table for their entries to avoid confusion. I request that it be used here, too.
NAME OF ENTRY
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack<br />Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

2nd|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

3rd|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

4th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

5th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

6th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

7th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

8th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

9th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

10th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

11th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

12th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

13th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

14th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

15th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

16th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

17th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

18th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

19th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

20th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities[/table]

code
NAME OF ENTRY
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack<br />Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

2nd|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

3rd|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

4th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

5th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

6th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

7th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

8th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

9th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

10th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

11th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

12th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

13th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

14th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

15th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

16th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

17th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

18th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

19th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

20th|New Class Level|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities[/table]


For entries with spellcasting table for spells per day and spells known (Spells Known only if necessary, ie Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage)

Spells per day/Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

1st|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

2nd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

3rd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

4th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

5th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

6th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

7th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

8th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

9th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

10th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

11th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

12th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

13th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

14th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

15th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

16th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

17th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

18th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

19th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

20th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-[/table]

code
Spells per day/Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

1st|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

2nd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

3rd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

4th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

5th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

6th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

7th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

8th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

9th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

10th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

11th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

12th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

13th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

14th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

15th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

16th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

17th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

18th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

19th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

20th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-[/table]


For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list.

Speculation: Please don't post or speculate on possible builds until the "reveal", in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.

Leadership is banned; We're making desert. The main competition is making a meal. Neither is making a seven-course banquet for a hundred diners.


Alrighty, who wants to be a contestant, who wants to be a judge? I'd like as many contestants and judges as feel like playing!

This round's special ingredient is:

The Demented One's Maverick Templar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75171)

If anyone's willing to draw them, we will have trophies for 1st through 3rd places, as well as a special trophy for honorable mention. The honorable mention prize is given to the most daring or unexpected build. Judges, contestants, spectators and guests alike are invited to vote for honorable mention (after the reveal, doesn't have to be by PM).

Allez optimiser!

Contestants
Kestral404
ShneekeyTheLost
Ajadea
DeAnno
Hunter Killer

The Builds


Judges


Past Desert Competitions
Round I, Sin Knight (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213806)
Round II, Helfire Blade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217319)

Current Iron Chef
Round XXVI, Shadow Dancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220956)

[flabort]

Last round, the SI was a little bland. (Sorry Vaynor, that's what the contestants thought)

So this round, we got one from the ever popular Demented One.
Hopefully it's spicy enough to match the tastes of the contestants, and judges.

As well, I forgot to change the dates from the Round II format, but we're trying an off-set schedule now. when the main competition is in judging, we're gathering submissions, and vice versa, to try and lessen the burden.

Edit: fixed the dates.

[kestrel404]

I think I wll compete in this one. Hopefully someone else will judge this time.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Oh dear, I have an idea. I doubt it'll have much of an Originality score, but it'll be... er... iconic.

[Ajadea]

*shuts up*

I'll compete. Again. Third time the charm? Maybe? I think I've got a good idea for originality... Lovely class features.

[DeAnno]

Oh dear, I have an idea. I doubt it'll have much of an Originality score, but it'll be... er... iconic.

I hope we aren't thinking on similar lines, since I'm having just the same thought.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I hope we aren't thinking on similar lines, since I'm having just the same thought.

Indeed. However, since I can't disclose the details or particulars, and neither can you, there's no real way of knowing until the Big Reveal. Since, yanno, anything that might confirm or deny this would invalidate the cornerstone of anonymity which these contests require.

[Ajadea]

I think I've got an idea for elegance and originality. Power... eh. You guys go duke it out over there.

[Hunter Killer]

I have an interesting one for this, but I know I'm going to get penalized for some weird character decisions. Regardless, I think that this will be the first time I've went with the first build that came to my head.

[flabort]

contestant list updated with those expressing interest.

I can guess what an 'Iconic' build might be modeled after. I won't speculate, but if it's who I'm thinking of...

Maybe I should have picked the other PrC of his I was thinking of... :smallredface:

Still, I'm interested to see what comes out. What concepts get focused on and what get dropped, and who might reverse that and still come up at the same level.

[Essence_of_War]

I'll compete!

Flabort, I thin the link in the OP doesn't go to the Iron Chef - Hellfire Blade competition, but rather directs you to the Hellfire Blade's description.

[DonutBoy12321]

Participating. This should be fun.

[Ajadea]

And, gentlemen (any other ladies here?), the first little speedbump in the build. Templar Smites are slightly disappointing. I'm still trying to figure out what you do with the other 9-10 levels of the build. Fight evil stuff, natch, but... how?

[BobVosh]

I love Demented One's stuff, so I will definitely judge.

[Tvtyrant]

I'm not going to say I am in, because everytime I do I get proven wrong. But if I get this done in time I will submit.

[DeAnno]

I'm still trying to figure out what you do with the other 9-10 levels of the build. Fight evil stuff, natch, but... how?

With a smile :smallsmile:?

[Ajadea]

Somehow, I don't think running into battle armed with only a winning smile is acceptable unless you're playing a Diplomancer. Which is cheesy and generally a bad idea.

[Urpriest]

Somehow, I don't think running into battle armed with only a winning smile is acceptable unless you're playing a Diplomancer. Which is cheesy and generally a bad idea.

Which is why you instead run into battle wearing only a winning smile. With the proper feats, it can be done! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45529)

[flabort]

I'll compete!

Flabort, I thin the link in the OP doesn't go to the Iron Chef - Hellfire Blade competition, but rather directs you to the Hellfire Blade's description.

oops. I keep goofing up. :smallwink: Glad you guys are the forgiving type.

I'll fix it.

[Ajadea]

Which is why you instead run into battle wearing only a winning smile. With the proper feats, it can be done! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45529)

I believe we get docked elegance for using homebrew other than that which is directly related to the SI.

[Hunter Killer]

Can we count something other than Smite Evil towards the Smite requirement of this class, or does it specifically have to be Smite Evil?

I know that this probably should have been asked in a PM, but I think everyone here should know the answer.

[flabort]

So you're saying someone might be thinking of being devoted to the eradication of all good? Or Chaos? Or law?
This falls pretty close to speculation, but far enough away to not be.

So.... hmm, I might say, this will get you a huge penalty to elegance and UoSI, maybe 1 OR 2 points each (or auto-score a 0 in one), but you MAYBE could replace every mention of Good with another alignment, and every mention of Evil with it's inverse.
The problem with this is that it doesn't really fit the intended concept, and is not what the author intended. It makes the "willingly killed an <alignment> creature unable to defend itself" thing meaningless.
You could fix the last problem by saying "You must have broken your vow", but still...

So, I say it would be a bad, bad idea to do so, but you could maybe switch the alignment. I would encourage the judges to penalize freely in such a case, although it would be up to them whether or not to do so.
Maybe the best thing to do if you do do so is to provide a second build using the correct alignment just in case.

[Ajadea]

It's hard to get originality and power flowing together.

[flabort]

Say... I should have posted a one week warning, and a 24 hour warning, and I did think about it (Got swamped, though), but it's down to the less-than-12-hours warning. :smalleek: :smallfrown:

How about a 48 hour extension?

:smallredface:

[kestrel404]

I would certainly not mind one, but I'll try not to count on it. Mostly just need to finish the fluff anyway.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I haven't found a way to bypass the two things stopping me from making the build... and I honestly don't know if I can find a way to pull them off. One of them, I might, if I interpret loosely and pull a bit of shenanigans, but the other seems... insurmountable.

[TroubleBrewing]

I'll judge this one, I guess.

[kestrel404]

Well, I'm glad for that extension, because it meant I was able to clean up some of my comments and polish the flavor text. I'm now quite happy with my build. Submitted.

[flabort]

Two builds received. Shall I wait for a third, or shall the reveal go ahead? I'm extending it another 24 regardless, but whether or not you want to see three builds will determine if it goes on after that.

[kestrel404]

I don't think anyone else is going to submit a build. Might as well post them.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

My build fell apart, and I have no way of putting together key ingredients necessary to pull it off properly.

[flabort]

Alright. Give me a few moments to close down my TVtropes tabs, I'll have the builds up shortly (I forgot to look them over this time, so no witty comments).

Edit: What?! Noooooo! :smallfrown:

I'd not even opened the messages, assuming they were entries. One was telling me where I could find the text for mindbender online (which was solved by someone else already).

So, until I get a second build :smallfrown: :smalltongue: :smallcool: :smallredface:, yeah. Just post the single build and default the winner, or let there be a contest, albeit with a very short judging space?

[Tvtyrant]

In my defense, it is finals right now. I had two today.

[flabort]

I'm not saying anything is the contestant(s) fault(s). Really, I blame myself this round.

:frown: :redface:

[flabort]

So, it's time to start the next round. I'm going to put up the thread, but should I post the single build right now, or just leave the contest open?

I'll check back in a day for votes Yeay or Nay.

[kestrel404]

I think this round has died quietly and (mostly) unmourned. Post my build and move on, no one else is likely to enter. (I will retract my pessimism if someone posts that they're currently writing up an entry.)

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I was going to try and make Kore (http://www.goblinscomic.com/09172005/), which is pretty much the iconic representation of this PrC. However, I couldn't figure out how to get the shield (http://www.goblinscomic.com/09122005/) or the Akimbo Repeating Crossbows (http://www.goblinscomic.com/09102005/), much less how to get them to work simultaneously, as he uses them.

Go ahead and give us the big reveal, I doubt anyone else will be submitting at the 11th hour.

[flabort]

'kay, guess I don't need to make this anonamous, this time. Presenting, Darkesoule Dirgesinger/Barry Brightglare by Kestrel404.


The tale of the late and unlamented Darkesoule Dirgesinger

My clearest memories from life come from just after they put the helmet on me. At the time, I could still remember all the things that I did in the name of order and stability - I'd even been in the midst of the final stages of flaying their friend's flesh from his body (for the second time) when they had ambushed me and forced me onto one of my own racks. Then they took out this glowing helmet, put it on my head, and the world changed. Or maybe it was just me? Regardless, everything was different.

That's when they started reading a list of my 'crimes' off of a scroll. Honestly, not a single thing I was accused of was against the law anywhere I did them except the slaughter of innocents, and there are legal provisions for time of war for that as well. I know, because I wrote those laws myself. So the utter gall of these people to charge me with a laundry-list of 'crimes' in order to justify what they did next was so absurd that I just laughed at them. Right up until they cut my head off.

Still, I continued laughing all the way to the bottom layer of the nine hells. Better than the alternative, really, and it was quite funny in its own way. Because, once I got there, the devils just didn't know what to do with me. I hadn't sold my soul or anything silly like that, I found myself completely unable to follow their silly little rules, and much to their utter distaste and consternation I had become a GOOD PERSON. Not sure when it happened, really, but there it was.


The rebirth of Barry Brightglare

So, despite doing their damndest to break me, the powers that be decided to give me a second chance - one last shot at redemption. Only problem is, I've got no concept of what being good actually means. I was told that I had to do really extreme acts of goodness to change the fate of my soul before I die next. Yet, I'm not sure that I even understand what 'good' is supposed to mean. Is letting someone live a good act? What if they go on to kill people? Giving someone money? What if they use that money to hire an assassin?

So, unable to 'do good' without a bit of guidance, I find a group that is good beyond any doubt - the Harmonious Knights, an order of paladins devoted to the goddess of song, Milil. This appealed to me not just because I had been a bard in my last life, but also because the neutrality of the goddess allowed the order to accept Paladins of Freedom as well as Paladins of Honor.

The members of the order took a long time to decide whether I was worthy of joining them, but once they accepted me they were very generous. They gave me a talking sword to help guide me and keep me on the path of virtue - which was exactly what I needed. That sword (I called him Larry) and I spread terror in the hearts and minds of evil everywhere we went. I wasn't much of a judge of character - I kept falling in with people who would do something bad (like torture or poisoning or jay-walking), and then I'd have to kill them all for being evil. Larry said I was being too harsh, but I kept telling him that I had to do 'great acts of good' in order to save my soul, so mercy was kind of out for me. Despite this, I did pretty well for myself - I would often ride into town in my shiny black skull-motif armor and all-black horse, dragging my wagonload of wicked magical artifacts with me (I collected them), and call out that I was there to find every fiend and villain in the area. I would say, "Anyone who was evil should make themselves known to me so that I may judge you properly!" And out of the woodwork they would come! All sorts of terrible people, be they assassins, wicked merchants, necromancers, angry city guardsmen! I would talk to them alone, one at a time and have the sword judge whether they were wicked enough - and if they were, I killed them. Simple, efficient, and undeniably good! And if any of them had evil artifacts, I would toss them into my wagon before riding on. If they weren't too wicked to live, I would offer to let them accompany me, which is how I usually ended up with my adventuring parties - at least until they turned evil on me. The sword would often suggest that this was probably because I was recruiting morally questionable people and equipping them out of my collection of evil artifacts, but it had no proof and couldn't say that was the case for certain.

Eventually, this tactic failed and I was forced to hunt down and kill one of the ones that escaped. Well, sort of. Really, it was Larry's fault - he changed his mind about the fellow after I'd told him to go away. Might have been the story he heard from the next guy in line, but regardless I had to find the man's room number from the inkeeper, walk in and kill him in his sleep. Of course, the sword entirely forgot to mention that killing people in their sleep is wrong - but I'd left Larry behind after we got in a shouting match over whose fault it was. Oh well. But still, Milil was apparently quite unhappy with me because the next day I woke up unable to use my holy smite ability.

The Shame! Oh, I felt absolutely useless without the ability to kill my foes in a single blow! It was terrible! So, deciding that if I could have my mystical abilities revoked just for making a tiny little mistake, I set out to learn how to be powerful without the aid of some fickle diety! That's how I happened upon the banned and forbidden texts on Maverick Templars. It didn't take me long, I've always been smart and had exceptional force of will, so I simply built up my powers by myself, learning how to be a paladin without a god.

Oh, it was a glorious time! I could kill whoever I wanted however I wanted and no one complained but Larry - and Larry had failed me, so I ignored him. I went out and slaughtered and pillaged and razed, always seeking out those who I thought might be evil. But the fun ended when I encountered a man who claimed to be a Holy Liberator - he said that my path had turned away from righteousness and that I was once more bound for hell. Shallas was a good man, though, and he offered to teach me a code of conduct which I could live with and that would prevent me from losing myself to the pit. I agreed, and it was just ever so simple: Do no evil act! That was the code of the Liberator - they could do whatever they felt they had to, so long as it was not an evil act. He had a long list of evil acts, and yes killing someone in their sleep was on it, but it still made so much sense to me!

I ended up making up with Larry. He's not happy about a lot of what I do, but he will tell me quite clearly when I'm about to do something evil. And I've decided to forgive him for making that one mistake - he's just a sword, after all.

(If you're confused, check the notes below.)


Build:
Name: Barry Brightglare
Race: Hellbred (Soul)
Attributes: Str 14 Dex 12 Con 10 Int 12 Wis 12 Cha 18
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Deity: Milill
{table=head]Level|Class|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
01|Harmonious Knight 1|1|2|0|0|Diplomacy 4, Perform(Sing) 4, Bluff 4|Skill Knowledge(Diplomacy)|Aura of Good, Smite Evil 1/day, Inspire Courage
02|Paladin of Freedom 2|2|3|0|0|Diplomacy 5, Perform(Sing) 5, Bluff 5||Divine Grance, lay on hands
03|Paladin of Freedom 3|3|3|0|0|Perform(Sing) 6, Bluff 6, Sense Motive 1|Iron Will|Aura of Resolve, Pelor's Blessing
04|Paladin of Freedom 4|4|4|1|1|Perform(Sing) 7, Bluff 7, Sense Motive 2|Power Attack|Turn Undead, Bonus Feat, +1 Cha
05|Paladin of Freedom 5|5|4|1|1|Perform(Sing) 8, Bluff 8, Sense Motive 3||Smite Evil 2/day, Charging Smite
06|Maverick Templar 1|6|6|1|1|Sense Motive 5, Intimidate 1|Divine Might|Maverick Paladin
07|Holy Liberator 1|7|8|1|1|Intimidate 4||Detect Evil, Smite Evil 3/day
08|Maverick Templar 2|8|9|1|1|Intimidate 7||Stalwart, +1 Cha
09|Maverick Templar 3|9|9|2|2|Intimidate 10|Combat Panache|Templar Smite (Keen Smite)
10|Maverick Templar 4|10|10|2|2|Intimidate 13||Soulsense
11|Maverick Templar 5|11|10|2|2|Intimidate 14, Sense Motive 7||Crusader's Mantle, Smite Evil 4/day
12|Maverick Templar 6|12|11|3|3|Intimidate 15, Sense Motive 9|Devil's Flesh|Templar Smite (Vicious Smite), +1 Cha
13|Maverick Templar 7|13|11|3|3|Intimidate 16, Sense Motive 11||Maverick Vigor
14|Maverick Templar 8|14|12|3|3|Intimidate 17, Sense Motive 13||Unbound Champion
15|Maverick Templar 9|15|12|4|4|Intimidate 18, Sense Motive 15|Devil's Aura|Templar Smite (Domineering Smite)
16|Maverick Templar 10|16|13|4|4|Intimidate 19, Sense Motive 17||Beyond Good and Evil, Smite Evil 5/day, +1 Cha
17|Holy Liberator 2|17|14|4|4|Intimidate 20, Sense Motive 19||Remove fatigue
18|Holy Liberator 3|18|14|5|5|Intimidate 21, Sense Motive 21|Devil's Stamina|Aura of Resolve
19|Holy Liberator 4|19|15|5|5|Intimidate 22, Sense Motive 22, ||Break enchantment 1/week, Divine Grace
20|Holy Liberator 5|20|15|5|5|Intimidate 23, Sense Motive 23||Smite Evil 6/day, +1 Wis[/table]

Alternate Class Features: Harmonious Knight (Paladin replacement level, Champions of Valor web enhancement), Paladin of Freedom (Chaotic Good paladin, Unearthed Arcana), Holy Warrior (bonus feat every 4 levels replace spells, Complete Champion), Charging Smite (Smite deals 2*paladin level extra damage on charge, replaces mount), Pelor's Blessing (Smite deals extra damage to undead, replaces Divine Health, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft)



Spellcasting:
All spellcasting is from Holy Liberator, which stacks with levels of paladin for determining caster level.

{table=head]Level|Caster Level|1|2|3
7|6|0|-|-
17|7|1|-|-
18|8|1|0|-
19|9|1|1|-
20|10|1|1|0[/table]


Tactics by level:
1-5: As a paladin, it is my duty to destroy evil. I can recognize evil because my sword will tell me when associating with someone or doing something that someone else is doing is evil. Then I smite them. Preferably while charging at them. And singing. It may be a bit simplistic, but I can hit ridiculously hard.
6-10: OK, so my life has gotten a bit more complicated, but I still see things in black and white. I can now detect evil directly, and smite it much more often. I've got myself a nice pair of Slippers of Battle Dancing and a Cloak of Charisma +4, which means my charging smite is at +18 to hit can do as much as 108 + (1d8)x2 with a lance while mounted. And once per day, I can triple that by using Keen Smite. So really, when I decide that an evil-doer must die, they generally do - messily. Between the Slippers, Combat Panache, Divine Might and Divine Grace, I have achieved absolute use of my rather stunning personality over all aspects of combat, even when not smiting. And with Stalwart and Soulsense shoring up my defenses, lots of HP, plate armor and a handful of spells, wands and other useful paraphanalia, this is likely the high-point of my career. Not that I become less powerful, just that I don't especially need more power to destroy pretty much anything I set my sights on.
11-15: Crusader's Mantle and Maverick vigor make me even more difficult to kill - which is quite the good thing since I really don't want to go back to hell yet - the the real jewel is Unbound Champion, which allows me to destroy those who are really the heart of all evil - the neutral! Yes, it may be true that some of them really want to be good at heart, but in this world you are either with us or against us! Also, good people or creatures that are somehow supporting evil deeds must also be smited. Really, anyone who manages to show that they are on the side of evil dies, that simple. As long as it's in the heat of battle, it's not evil, right? Anyway, I've really started to embrace 'the ends justify the means' as a life philosophy - pure genius! I'm using the powers of the devils themselves, from when they first left their mark upon me, to enhance my ability to destroy evil. Domineering Smite combines extremely nicely with Devil's Aura to create a literally terrifying one-two punch via fear-stacking. Meanwhile, Devil's flesh boosts my defenses and Vicious Smite allows me to really cripple a foe that's not going to die on my first hit.
16-20: Finishing up Maverick Templar, I get the ability to transform into a devil! This is a very nice boost, and fits my 'signature style' to a Tee! After that, advancing Holy Liberator gets me more smiting that a straight paladin would have gotten, with everything stacking for smite damage. All together, I can now easily make a charging smite for +29 to hit and +182+(1d8x2) damage (tripled, once per day). But despite that supercharger-esque damage, I'm not just a 1-trick pony, and I am most certainly not a glass cannon, with loads of hit points, fast healing, several stacked defenses to prevent save-or-die effects (like spell resistence AND cha-to-saves AND Aura of Resolve) - meaning that I hit hard AND I'm also in the fight for the long haul.


Use of Secret Ingredient:
Maverick Paladin: Freedom! Oh, that darned stuffy paladin's code was getting SO OLD. I may need rules to follow and a code to call my own, but the Paladin's code is just too much. The Holy Liberator code of 'don't do evil' is much easier to keep track of.
Stalwart: Between this and Divine Grace, the only thing I really have to worry about is fireball damage - and later abilities take care of that.
Templar Smite: A less potent 1/day ability could be written off as not particularly important. But being able to effectively choose when to do a critical? WHILE SMITING? That's a game-changer. So Keen Smite was a must. Vicious smite is also very nasty, since the con damage also reduces HP. And Domineering Smite works really well with Devil's Aura. So special smite powers? Good stuff.
Soulsense: The darkness has never held much terror for me, but this way I can sense any evil that's trying to sneak up on me. Won't that thief be surprised when I smite him just as he gets behind me?
Crusader's Mantle: Spell resistence is never a bad thing, except when you need emergency-healing. And since I can still lay-on-hands myself, that takes care of itself.
Maverick Vigor: Regeneration. Excellent. This class has so many very nice methods of not-dying, it's like it was made with a hellbred like me in mind!
Unbound Champion: Oh, glorious! I shall lay waste to all who oppose my vision of an evil-less world!
Beyond Good and Evil: And now I shall take up the form of the devils who once tortured me and use their forms to destroy the evil they represent. Life is good!


Notes and Sources:
If it's not obvious by now, Larry the Sword is an intelligent magic sword whose only power is acting as a Phylactery of Faithfulness (so worth a bit over 1k gold, something a GM could give a starting PC without too much hassle from the other players). In fact, Larry can be replaced by a Phylactery of Faithfulness and a voice in Barry's head. Also, in case it's not obvious (which it should be), Barry is a clinical psychopath. He's got no moral sense at all - no concept of right and wrong. There's just something in his head that doesn't work and he replaces 'rules' with 'right and wrong'. So in many ways, he's actually a true-neutral character play-acting at being chaotic good (and managing it as long as he's given reasonable advice). In his original life, he'd been given bad advice and was doing a very good job of being lawful-evil, right up until his killers put a helm of opposite alignment on him.

Sources:
Paladin ACFs already listed
Skill Knowledge feat is from Unearthed Arcana (SRD http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/alternativeSkillSystems.htm), and technically not part of the alternate rules. There are other ways of adding diplomacy back onto the paladin's skill list, but this one is the simplest.
Divine Might feat and Holy Liberator are from Complete Divine
Combat Panache feat is from the Player's Handbook II
Hellbred, Devil's Flesh, Devil's Aura and Devil's Stamina feats are from Fiendish Codex II


And yeah, Shneeky, I agree that Kore would have been THE iconic Maverick Templar. But... as you said, it's a bit hard to work out every nuance of a character.

[Hunter Killer]

I really, really like the backstory, Kestral.

I had the same base class in mind, but didn't go the same direction with Maverick Templar. My build would have been:

Bard 1 / Paladin of Freedom 4 / Evangelist 5 / Maverick 10

The idea was to use Bard and Evangelist's musical abilities to debuff the target (Inspire Awe, Doomspeak, and Inspire Dread for -16 to Will Saves), then use Evangelist's Convert the Unfaithful to turn them to my alignment (Which, hopefully, would be Evil).

You see, I wanted to start my character Good then change to Evil so that I could use Evangelist to make Templar's abilities useful against everyone.

The trouble was the hoops I'd have to jump through to change my alignment and deity so that all my Paladin abilities would keep working through all 20 levels. I could have done it, sure, but it would have been slightly inelegant. I didn't think it was worth it for such a load of stinky cheddar.

[Hunter Killer]

I figured out the elegant way to do the above, and it was quite easy... Too bad I didn't figure this out in time:

1. Take the Vigilant Eye of Helm Substitution Level from Champions of Valor at Level 1 (Doesn't require that you're Good, and Helm is LN). This gets you Smite Evil.
2. Take the required deat for Evangelist at Level 1 as well...
3. Continue as a Paladin of Tyranny until Level 4.
4. Don't forget to take the Ordered Chaos feat from Fiendish Codex I at Level 3!
5. Take a Bard level.
6. Finish with Evangelist 5 / Maverick 10
7. Don't forget to take the Devoted Performer feat from Complete Adventurer at Level 6!
8. Profit.

That lets us get all the requirements for Maverick, legally take Paladin and Bard together, and allows us to change our opponents to Evil so we can lay the smackdown on them with Maverick's abilities.

Wonderful, stinky, beautiful cheese...