Zinc Saucier 9: The fires of Hell have nothing on me

[mattie_p]

Welcome one and all to the ninth Zinc Saucier challenge, where Playgrounders come to test their skill in the art of beautiful and bizarre (and bizarrely beautiful) builds.

The challenge? To come up with a build that has the same abilities and feel as the Secret Ingredient WITHOUT actually using it!

For the ninth challenge get ready to fire it up in the competition where the candle is burning from both ends, the Pyrokineticist (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/pyrokineticist.htm)!

Our challengers will have about 2 weeks to build a complete build from levels 1-20 using a 32 point buy and all official 3.5 material (excluding dragon magazine, but including any WOTC online enhancements) with the abilities and feel of a Pyrokineticist without actually using any levels in it.

Entries must be submitted by Saturday, 11:59pm GMT, 17 November, 2012.

Contestants will be judged and awarded a score out of 5 in each of 5 categories;

* Innovation (Uniqueness in character concept, race, class, etc)
* Power (How powerful and versatile it is compared to the base class)
* Elegance (What can only be described as how well the build "flows", i.e not using lots of 1-2lv dips, sacrificing flavour for power or using flaws)
* Fluff (How well the characters back-stories and classes mesh)
* Ingredient (How well the build captures the abilities and feel of the base class)

Presentation would be best in the style of how the iron chef does their presentations, however any style is allowed so long as it is clear on how the build was made.

Recommended style:NAME OF ENTRY
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack 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]

Copy and Paste:NAME OF ENTRY
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack 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, use the following table for Spells per day and Spells Known. (Spells Known only if necessary, i.e. Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage). For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list, similar to this:
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]

Copy and Paste: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]

Please do not post details of your build on the board before it is ready, so as not to spoil the surprise for others.

Sauciers may submit as many builds as they want but please don't use leadership, as we dont want to overfeed the judges.

Entries should be submitted via private message to the chairman.

Previous challenges;
Soulknife (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225187)
Bard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229736)
Monk (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233749)
Assassin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239294)
Barbarian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243627)
Warlock (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247169)
Paladin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252932)
Warblade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256004)


A few administrative notes:
Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon magazine is disallowed, and Unearthed Arcana is allowed; but see Elegance below. Web-exclusive 3.0 or 3.5 materials by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Also, item familiars are forbidden because I hate 'em. This comes up often enough to bear mention in the rules: Dragon Compendium is allowed.

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 my predecessors, a little cheddar can be nice, but avoid the mature Gruyere unless you're making a cheese fondue.

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. Please note the following change: a legal source's relative obscurity should not be considered as penalizing Elegance, excepting the aforementioned issues with Unearthed Arcana. Using too many sources may be an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion, but a book's relative obscurity may not.

This competition is inspired by the Playground Iron Chef Competitions and uses mostly identical rules.

Also it comes with double prize money.

Allez Sauciers!

[BowStreetRunner]

Entries must be submitted by Saturday, 11:59pm GMT, 29 September, 2012.

I believe this date is in the past...

[mattie_p]

I believe this date is in the past...

blarg, tired when I made the post and obviously missed that edit in the copy/paste. Thanks

[motoko's ghost]

I wont be able to submit any builds this time, but I should be able to judge

[limejuicepowder]

Also, the end of the 4th paragraph references Warblade when I think you meant Pyrokineticist.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I will be interested to see if any of the contestants can find a way around the class's one crippling weakness... Immunity to Fire = Immunity to this class.

I've never seen a mechanically relevant build use more than four levels of this class. It'll be interesting to see what people come up with.

[mattie_p]

Also, the end of the 4th paragraph references Warblade when I think you meant Pyrokineticist.

Nice catch, and thanks.

On an unrelated note, I still mean to finish judging the last round, though no one has stepped up yet.

[mattie_p]

So bumpity bump, been dead in this thread. Anyone competing?

[mattie_p]

Yeah, so Pyrokineticest is apparently not going to happen. 3 Hours or so from submission deadline and there are no entries. Sorry, Zinc Saucier fans, but looks like this is going to perish.

[Techwarrior]

Dammit. I saw this and had an immediate idea.

You say three hours, but the deadline says tomorrow? Which is it?

Edit: ok, it says Saturday the 11th, I see my confusion. You said the deadline was today?

[Hiro Protagonest]

I will be interested to see if any of the contestants can find a way around the class's one crippling weakness... Immunity to Fire = Immunity to this class.

I've never seen a mechanically relevant build use more than four levels of this class. It'll be interesting to see what people come up with.

Um... this is Zinc Saucier, not Iron Chef.

[mattie_p]

Yeah, my original post was all kinds of messed up. I'll extend the deadline to Saturday, 17 November, 2359 GMT. Hopefully we'll drum up some interest. If you have an entry, please submit. Thanks

[Aegis013]

I'm going to participate. It's my first time! I have something in mind, already working it up.

Edit: Now how on earth do I make those tables...

[mattie_p]

So we had one entry a few days ago. Any more? You have a good chance of finishing in the top 3!

[Aegis013]

Hopefully other contestants will join. I've never seen a Zinc Saucier competition go so unloved.

[Techwarrior]

I'm almost done with my entry, should be turned in later tonight

[mattie_p]

Glad to hear it. Any others? Got about 24 hours left.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I had a couple of ideas, but nothing which panned out as an actual viable build. The main problem with the actual Pyromancer, FI = Immunity to Me, has only a very few ways to be solved, none of which would be very interesting to me.

[mattie_p]

Remember that you are not actually a pyromancer, just someone who is (hopefully) more useful while replicating the abilities.

Still some hours left. Let's get some action going.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Remember that you are not actually a pyromancer, just someone who is (hopefully) more useful while replicating the abilities.

Still some hours left. Let's get some action going.

Right, but if you aren't using Fire damage, you're pretty much Doing It Wrong, and bypassing Fire Immunity is only possible through a very limited number of venues, none of which seemed interesting to me. The only builds I could come up with were either trite, low originality, or already known cheese.

[mattie_p]

Time for the reveal. I delayed almost a day past the official reveal, and I am glad I did so, as we have another competitor. Please stand by.


Here is my submission for Zinc Saucier 9. It's my first time and I apologize if my formatting is incorrect or inconvenient in any way.

Race: Human (or Any, but push Snowcasting to 6th and Adaptive Style to 9th, and Versatile Spellcaster to 12th)

{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|
Sorcerer|
0|
0|
0|
2|
-|
Snowcasting, Searing Spell|
Summon Familiar|

2nd|
Sorcerer|
1|
0|
0|
3|
-|
-|
-|

3rd|
Sorcerer|
1|
1|
1|
3|
-|
Energy Substitution Fire |
-|

4th|
Sorcerer|
2|
1|
1|
4|
-|
-|
-|

5th|
Swordsage|
2|
1|
3|
5|
Arcana 8, Planes 4, history 2, religion 2|
-|
Quick to Act, Discipline Focus|

6th|
Elemental Savant|
2|
1|
3|
7|
concentration 9|
Adaptive Style|
Elemental Speciality, Energy Resistance 5|

7th|
Jade Phoenix Mage|
3|
3|
3|
7|
-|
-|
Arcane Wrath, Rite of Waking|

8th|
JPM|
4|
4|
3|
7|
-|
-|
Mystic Phoenix Stance|

9th|
JPM|
5|
4|
4|
8|
-|
Versatile Spellcaster|
-|

10th|
JPM|
6|
5|
4|
8|
-|
-|
Empowering Strike|

11th|
JPM|
9|
5|
4|
8|
-|
-|
-|

12th|
JPM|
10|
6|
5|
9|
-|
free|
Firebird Stance, Jade Phoenix Master|

13th|
JPM|
11|
6|
5|
9|
-|
-|
-|

14th|
JPM|
12|
7|
5|
9|
-|
-|
Quickening Strike|

15th|
JPM|
13|
7|
6|
9|
-|
free|
-|

16th|
JPM|
14|
8|
6|
9|
-|
-|
Emerald Immolation|

17th|
Swordsage|
15|
9|
7|
9|
-|
-|
AC Bonus|

18th|
Swordsage|
16|
9|
7|
10|
-|
Martial Stance: Rising Phoenix|
-|

19th|
Sorcerer|
16|
9|
7|
10|
-|
-|
-|

20th|
Swordsage|
17|
10|
8|
10|
-|
-|
Discipline Focus|[/table]

Spells of note (up to 7th level Sor/Wiz spells):
Energy Resistance (to emulate Fire Adaptation)
Flame Whips (to emulate Fire Lash)
Snowcasting Fire Substituted Searing Disintegrate (to emulate Heat Death)

Maneuvers of note(up to 9th level manuevers):
Distracting Ember (for special requirement of Elemental Savant)
Burning Blade (Hand aflame)
Fan the Flame (Bolt of Fire)
Searing Blade (Weapon Afire)
Inferno Blade (Greater Weapon Afire)
Inferno Blast (Conflagration, also Emerald Immolation)
Moment of Perfect Mind
Action Before Thought (both for Fire Adaptation, to be used versus Fire)

Stances of Note:
Rising Pheonix (Firewalk)

Class Features of Note:
Emerald Immolation (Conflagration, also Inferno Blast)

Command fire by using Snowcasting to make any damaging spell [cold] then use Energy Substitution Fire with Elemental Savant to make it [Fire] instead.

[mattie_p]

The Story...
My name is Ervan Karenth. My tribe roams the desert, banished to the Prime Material for crimes against our ancestors. Our memory is long, but even we do not know what our forefathers did to receive this punishment. The tribe now seeks to perfect themselves, hoping to regain their place of honor. However, the blood of our forefathers has begun to run thin, granting us even less of an attachment to our homeplane. I decided different measures must be taken to regain our honor.

I was always different from my kin. I was fascinated by the desert, especially fire. I decided to find out why our forefathers were banished, so left the tribe in search of knowledge.

I apprenticed myself to an old wizard named Venn. He was a harsh master, and threatened to send me out on my own in the desert if I did not learn quickly enough for his tastes. I learned the art of magic under his tutelage, but I wanted more than that. I had left to learn why my tribe was banished. One day during my studies, I came across texts detailing an ancient library, even older than the tribes oldest memories, that was lost to the desert sands. I hoped to search through the library for mention of my people's past.

I joined a caravan that was going into the desert to look for this library. It was there that I met my next master, a Jade Phoenix Mage by the name of Jordan Alexei. While we were traveling to the library, I studied swordplay with him to pass the time. Little did I know he was teaching me the Sublime Way. Just before we arrived at the library, he revealed to me that both I and him were Jade Phoenix Mages, and he performed the Rite of Wakening for me.

The Rite opened my eyes to the world around me. Jordan had been trying to teach me, but I had been too worried about my own perfection to worry about his philosophical teachings.

The search for knowledge on my people was fruitless, but the library had many texts on the Sublime Way. However, when we tried to leave with the scripts, we learned that the library had a guardian. This guardian was the reason that the library was lost. The guardian did not allow people to leave with scripts. Jordan bargained with the guardian, exchanging his life for us to leave with the scripts. I was the only one who knew that his sacrficie was not the entirety of his life, just this one.

I used the martial scripts to master the Sublime Way, and take up the mantle of a Jade Phoenix Mage. I eventually mastered not only the arcane arts, but also all nine of the disciplines of the Sublime Way.


The Basics...
32 point buy. Lesser Zenthyri
STR 10, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 16, WIS 14, CHA 10 after Point Buy.
STR 12, DEX 16, CON 14, INT 16, WIS 16, CHA 8 after Racial Adjustments
STR 13, DEX 20, CON 14, INT 16, WIS 16, CHA 8 after Level Increases.'

The Build...

LG
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|Wizard (Conjurer) 1|
+0|
+0|
+0/center]|[center]+2|Concentration 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (History) 4, Spellcraft 4|Dodge, Improved Initiative (Bonus)|Abrupt Jaunt,

2nd|Wizard (Conjurer) 2|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Concentration 1, Knowledge (Religion) 1, Knowledge (Arcana) 1, Knowledge (History) 1, Spellcraft 1||

3rd|Wizard (Conjurer) 3|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Concentration 1, Knowledge (Religion) 1, Knowledge (Arcana) 1, Knowledge (History) 1, Spellcraft 1|Blind-Fight|

4th|Wizard (Conjurer) 4|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Concentration 1, Knowledge (Religion) 1, Knowledge (Arcana) 1, Knowledge (History) 1, Spellcraft 1||

5th|Unarmed Swordsage 1|
+2|
+1|
+3|
+6|Balance 5, Tumble 3, Concentration 1|Weapon Focus (Diamond Mind), Improved Unarmed Strike|Quick to Act +1

6th|Unarmed Swordsage 2|
+3|
+1|
+4|
+7|Balance 2, Tumble 6, Concentration 1|Adaptive Style|Armor Bonus

7th|Jade Phoenix Mage 1|
+4|
+3|
+4|
+7|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 3||Arcane Wrath, Rite of Waking

8th|Jade Phoenix Mage 2|
+5|
+4|
+4|
+7|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 3||Mystic Phoenix Stance

9th|Jade Phoenix Mage 3|
+6|
+4|
+5|
+8|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 3|Fiery Blast|

10th|Jade Phoenix Mage 4|
+7|
+5|
+5|
+8|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Martial Lore 2||Empowering Strike

11th|Jade Phoenix Mage 5|
+8|
+5|
+5|
+8|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Martial Lore 2||

12th|Jade Phoenix Mage 6|
+9|
+6|
+6|
+9|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Martial Lore 2|Quicken Spell|Firebird Stance, Jade Phoenix Master

13th|Jade Phoenix Mage 7|
+10|
+6|
+6|
+9|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Martial Lore 2||

14th|Jade Phoenix Mage 8|
+11|
+7|
+6|
+9|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Martial Lore 2||Quickening Strike

15th|Jade Phoenix Mage 9|
+12|
+7|
+7|
+10|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Martial Lore 2|Power Attack|

16th|Jade Phoenix Mage 10|
+13|
+8|
+7|
+10|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Martial Lore 2||Emerald Immolation

17th|Master of Nine 1|
+13|
+8|
+7|
+12|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Sense Motive 6||New Class Abilities

18th|Master of Nine 2|
+14|
+8|
+7|
+13|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Sense Motive 6|Extra Readied Maneuver|Dual Stance

19th|Master of Nine 3|
+15|
+9|
+8|
+13|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Sense Motive 6||Perfect Form

20th|Master of Nine 4|
+16|
+9|
+8|
+14|Concentration 1, Tumble 1, Diplomacy 1, Sense Motive 5, Balance 1||Counter Stance[/table]


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

1st|3|1+1|-|-|-|-|-

2nd|4|2|-|-|-|-|-

3rd|4|2|1|-|-|-|-

4th|4|3|2|-|-|-|-

5th|4|3|2||-|-|-

6th|4|3|2|-|-|-|-

7th|4|3|2|-|-|-|-

8th|4|3|2|1|-|-|-

9th|4|3|3|2|-|-|-

10th|4|4|3|2|1|-|-

11th|4|4|3|3|2|-|-

12th|4|4|3|3|2|-|-

13th|4|4|4|3|2|1|-

14th|4|4|4|3|3|2|-

15th|4|4|4|4|3|2|1

16th|4|4|4|4|3|2|1

17th|4|4|4|4|3|2|1

18th|4|4|4|4|3|2|1

19th|4|4|4|4|3|2|1

20th|4|4|4|4|3|2|1[/table]

Sublime Way...
{table=head]Level|Maneuvers|Stances
5|Burning Brand, Mountain Hammer, Shadow Jaunt, Cloak of Deception, Emerald Razor, Counter Charge|Flame's Blessing
6|Burning Blade|Stance of Clarity
7|Foehammer
9|Revitalizing Strike
11|Divine Surge|Holocaust Cloak
13|Rallying Strike
15|Inferno Blade
17|Mind over Body, Shadow Blink
18|Wall of Blades,Rising Phoenix
19|Strike of Righteous Vitality
20|Time Stands Still, Mountain Tombstone Strike[/table]


Comparison to Pyrokineticist
Alright, lets go over the Pyro's main abilities.
Fire Lash- You get a whip that deals relatively poor damage and makes touch attacks. My answer to this is Burning Brand. I gain the ability to hit at a similar range, make touch attacks, deal fire damage, but I can make that a Strike, or a Full-Attack as I see fit.

Fire Resistance- Pyro gets increasing Fire resistance as he levels. I can run around in Flame's Blessing stance for better resistance, or cast a Resist Energy spell and use a different stance as I see fit. Mine eventually improves to Immunity.

Hands of Fire- Pyro gets to make touch attacks at range to deal fire damage. I'm a Wizard, I'll cast Scorching Ray at it. I also can throw around 5 ft Bursts of fire at will.

Weapon Afire- You get to add fire damage to your weapon? I've been doing this since level 5. For more damage.

Nimbus- Ignite yourself? I'll take Holocaust Cloak and a side of Mystic Phoenix Stance. You get to do yours together, but my DR is DR/Evil.

Fire Walk- By this point I can flick a Wand of Fly when I want to fly. Later I'll also get to fly around at will on a flaming inferno of my own awesomeness (Rising Phoenix) at will.

Greater Weapon Afire- I get Inferno Blade two levels after this. Also note that Burning Blade does slightly more damage at the level the Pyro gets this.

Heat Death- This is a neat ability, but I'll cast Disintigrate and effect more than just living creatures. If I want Fire damage I'll Empowering Strike a Scorching Ray.

Conflagration- Ok, yours is cool I'll give you that, and you get yours a full level ahead of me. I'll even agree with you when you say that you get to do it every day. Mine has a higher save by 4 points, I do more damage, and get a full restoration.


Leveling...
You start late, but you become a pretty effective mobile striking platform with good combat healing and defenses.
1-5
Your a Wizard, cast Color Spray, Web, all your favorite encounter finishers.
6-10
Get yourself a nice Fey-craft Rapier and back up your party's heavy. Be careful though, you're still squishy.
11-15
You start to get a half-way decent caster level, so throw up long-term buffs. You've become a combat medic/mobile striker at this point. Beware the Fort Save!
16-20
You've finally gotten a solution to your Fort Save, but you don't care. Have fun with high level maneuvers. Grab an Iron Heart Vest for Iron Heart Surge. Yes the Warblade had it at level 5, I don't care. Iron. Heart. Surge.
Note, you've also got 1/week BLOW IT ALL UP.


Sources...
Tome of Battle- Swordsage, Jade Phoenix Mage, Master of Nine
Player's Handbook- Wizard
Player's Handbook 2- Abrupt Jaunt
Complete Mage- Fiery Blast
Player's Guide to Faerun- Lesser Planetouched
Monster Manual 2- Zenthyri
Unearthed Arcana- Combat Wizard


Two entries this time. If there are any volunteer judges out there, I'm sure our potential sauciers would love to see them. On your mark, get set, judge!

[motoko's ghost]

I'm judging this time, when should I have it done by?

[mattie_p]

I'm judging this time, when should I have it done by?

1st of December, if you please.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Yea, I'd figured. Searing Spell is one of the ways to bypass immunities, and swordsage with JPM is the obvious go-to for this sort of thing.

The other option would have been Hellfire Warlock, which is known cheese, but at least it fits the flavor and bypasses fire immunity.

[mattie_p]

Yea, I'd figured. Searing Spell is one of the ways to bypass immunities, and swordsage with JPM is the obvious go-to for this sort of thing.

The other option would have been Hellfire Warlock, which is known cheese, but at least it fits the flavor and bypasses fire immunity.

Well, Shneeky, since you are all over this, perhaps you'd care to judge the two entries that actually got made?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Well, Shneeky, since you are all over this, perhaps you'd care to judge the two entries that actually got made?

Considering the two builds are virtually identical, there's not much to judge. The second is a bit more flexible but lower caster level (due to Master of Nine levels), the former has a higher caster level, but somewhat less flexibility due to being Sorcerer based. Of course, given that the PrC being emulated is about as inflexible as they come, that's not necessarily a disadvantage in this case.

Snowcasting was a cute trick for throwing on an elemental flavor (which is conveniently converted to Fire by the glaringly obvious Elemental Savant dip) to spells like Disintegrate. I'll give it that. However, that seems to be the primary point of divergence.

[mattie_p]

I'll vouch that the two builds are submitted by different competitors. Should you choose to judge, feel free. If not, that's ok too, we'll find a way to scrape by.

[mattie_p]

Do we have any judges for this competition? You don't earn anything except for our undying appreciation.

[motoko's ghost]

I'm almost done judging

[motoko's ghost]

Alright, I've finished judging and seeing as no-one else seems to be judging I'll just give some general feedback, rather than trying to give scores.

Snowcasting pyromancer;

You got bonus points in originality for using Snowcasting to make all your attacks do fire damage:smallamused:, however JPM was literally the first thing I thought of when I saw this ingredient, so you lost some there.

You lost some in elegance for the 1 lv dips and because your build seemed a little choppy at time.

You actually made a fairly powerful build with high level manoeuvres, spells and a good BAB progression.

And you manage to replicate the feel and abilities of the class in a neat-looking build.


Ervan Karenth;

I dont often see Lesser Zenthyr used, but as above JPM seems like a fairly obvious choice.

You had a 2-lv dip but other than that you build was quite smooth and flowed well, while still taking all of a PrC as it could.

You managed to replicate the pyrokinetist's abilities quite well and still made a powerful build that had a good background that fit with the classes and fluff quite well.


It was fairly close in my book but I'm going to give this one to;

Ervan Karenth
(won in 2 of the 5 categories, tied in 2 of the 5 categories)

[Aegis013]

I'm ok with being runner-up. His was quite good too.
I did like my cute trick though, lol, even if it required a dip. The choppy-ness of the build (especially at high levels) was to max out the benefits of ilvl and maneuver gains, since I've always been one to make mechanically powerful characters before elegantly built ones.

[mattie_p]

So, with one judge (hopefully we'll have more next time) the winner is:

Techwarrior with Ervan Karenth

Second place is Aegis013 with The Snowcasting Pyromancer.

Congrats to our entries, and those who were interested. The next round will be posted shortly.

[mattie_p]

New competition (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263278) is posted, congratulations to the competitors.