Base Class Challenge XXII Voting Thread

[Temotei]

Welcome to the voting thread for Base Class Challenge XXII, Taking Pixars of Dreamworks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?343354-Base-Class-Contest-XXII-Taking-Pixars-of-Dreamworks)! Voting will consist of each voter giving a first, second, and third place vote for three separate base classes. Anyone can vote.

A first place vote is worth three points, a second place vote is worth two points, and a third place vote is worth one point. You may not vote for your own class.

You are encouraged to include reason with your votes, though this is not absolutely required.

The class that ends up with the most points wins the challenge contest. Voting starts now and will continue until 23:59 (Central Standard Time USA/Canada) on June 15th.



Base Class
Author
1st
2nd
3rd
Total Points


Man (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17356983&postcount=4)
sengmeng
1
0
3
6


Soul Reaper (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17373721&postcount=5)
somebody27else
0
0
0
0


Animator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17396967&postcount=6) (Other (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17407207&postcount=7))
Zaydos
2
1
1
9


Magical Girl (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17420444&postcount=8) (Familiar Mentor (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17420455&postcount=9))
Beelzebub1111
0
3
0
6


Monsterbound (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17516880&postcount=12) (Other (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17516884&postcount=13))
ben-zayb
0
0
2
2


Scarer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17531303&postcount=15)
Xhosant
0
1
0
2


Mecha Ace (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17549854&postcount=16) (Modules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17549860&postcount=17))
Jester of Doom
3
1
0
11



Unfortunately, the prince(ss) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17341827&postcount=3), scamster (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17480580&postcount=10), and incredible (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17550112&postcount=18) are ineligible for voting.

[1pwny]

Votes:
1st - Mecha Ace
2nd - Magical Girl
3rd - Man

[gr8artist]

Should votes be based on adherence to theme, balance, or personal preference?

[Temotei]

Should votes be based on adherence to theme, balance, or personal preference?

It's really up to you.

Most people pick the classes they think are the best entries, in my experience, whatever "best" means to them. Sometimes that just means the most character-inspiring, or the one that makes them want to play it, or the one that they think simply works the best or had the most work put into it.

There are no wrong answers in terms of voting, so just go with your gut if you can't decide.

Also, votes tallied.

[Beelzebub1111]

1st)Animator - Once again Zaydos knocks it out of the park, filling the theme and surpassing all expectations. There are just so many ways that this class can go. An evil animator using his toons to create havoc, attempting to make the world in his own insane image. You could have a good one trying to create beauty. You could play as Walt Disney, the actual Walt Disney, transported into the world of dungeons and dragons. THAT would be something.

2nd)Scarer - A solid, easy to understand class with a lot of options that fit the theme. What more can be said?

3rd)The Man - It's a good monk fix, But that's pretty much just what it amounts to. The Nationalism thing is kind of strange, mechanically, and a bit loosely defined. You end up with something solid, but maybe needs a bit of a polishing before it gets to a game. I almost deducted 100 points for getting that song stuck in my head, but I'll overlook that flaw.

And the rest:
Monsterbound - I honestly am not sure how I feel about the Monsterbound. On one hand it's technically sound, but on the other there is a ton of bookkeeping with the class, and it would

Mecha Ace - Mostly the same core problem as the Monsterboun (The bookkeeping, but to a lesser degree), but the entire wording and the rules to the class seem off. I feel like the mechanics of the class could have been done in a simpler way.

Soul Reaper - The class has one major glaring balance issue that cannot be overlooked. I understand what he was going for and that perhaps in campaigns where everyone is this class it would make sense, but that's not how games usually work.

[Temotei]

Votes tallied.

Also, on the man--flaw? More like integral feature.

[Temotei]

Friendly reminder: ten days left to vote.

[ben-zayb]

1st: Man
The song was indeed an integral feature, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't partly what inspired me to join in on the fun. The design may be simple but so is the goal anyway (I think): a skillful mundane badass who later turns his allies into physical badasses as well. Most of the class features are synergistic, and the addition of Manly feats give the class extra kick and versatility. Being clean, compact, simple, and to the point, works perfectly for this class.

2nd: Mecha Ace
In contrast, this class is big (literally too), very customizable, and complex. The formatting could be better (like separating the Ace Mecha entry from the class features) but that is a minor complaint for me at best. While complex, the class is easy to follow, has logical progression, and is well-organized, largely due to being separated into modules of different levels.

3rd: Animator
It's, thematically, the most unique (and what's the word... meta?) entry. It has a reality-warper vibe, an archetype that is usually not known in 3.5 as easily designable on the same weight class as T3-4 classes. This class accomplishes that rather easily, however.

[Temotei]

Votes tallied.

[Jester of Doom]

1st: Animator.
Fits the theme perfectly, has rather clean mechanics, and fills that "monster summoner" niche that Conjurers haven't filled properly ever since they decided to add everything to the Conjuration school.

2nd: Magical Girl.
Not too familiar with the source material, but the mechanics are interesting, and I like the versatility and tone.

3rd: Monsterbound.
YES. This is the class that needed to be made. Love of Pokémon aside, the class has some neat mechanics and seems like it would be real fun to play. I would have given it a higher vote, but it's just too strong; it's probably tier 1, and I would have to weaken it if I were to use it in a game.

[Temotei]

Votes tallied. There's a tie for second place currently. 1, 2, 3, break! :smalltongue:

[Zaydos]

1st Mecha Ace. Probably the most ambitious class here. Their optimization range in melee is a little narrow, which can be good or bad depending upon the game (good in that it's predictable, bad in that it means they can only keep up in a narrow optimization range) and they need more modules, but their size gives them reach for lockdown builds. It was a nice shot at a mecha pilot for D&D.

2nd Magical Girl. Has issues at low levels, and as a 2 level sorcerer dip (Cha to AC, hp, and saves and full BAB; I'd have to check what gish PrCs they can enter with it since I forget which require armor proficiencies), but one of the better balanced and interesting classes in the contest. The Magician build is significantly more interesting than the others, but the other two do have their highlights (temperance makes good cohorts, chariot can touch attack fiends).

3rd Monsterbound. This class almost came in much higher but I noticed you changed the Rebirth abilities to be class features of the Monsterbound uninfluenced by the level modification for the creature's starting HD. Couple this with LA - creatures which typically have LA +too big to be reasonably playable, and once you have Supernatural Rebirth things get crazy (you effectively have 6 characters each day with higher ECL than yours and additional potentially at-will SLAs). That and the bonus HD causing size advancement* marked off a lot of points.

*The problem with this is one that disappears due to the change to the rebirth abilities. With the change you will always want creatures with the most powerful/broken Ex and Su abilities. Without it you get disproportionately more from HD advancement due to size increase compared to just picking up a creature.

Honorable Mention: The humor value was something, but not enough to get a vote off that alone, and besides that it was a basically balanced fighter fix; I say fighter because you're more likely to end up with a longsword than unarmed. But fighter fixes are a dime a dozen, and tier 4 ones aren't that hard to find. Also you unfortunately did not link to Jackie Chan singing the song in Cantonese (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SLJJc8siyU) which would have been worth bonus points and the lack is sorely felt.

[Temotei]

Jackie Chan singing the song in Cantonese (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SLJJc8siyU)

I never knew JC could sing. Is good. Am glad.

Votes tallied.

[Xhosant]

0th: Soul Reaper Spell System. The class itself seems, although iconic and interesting, too front-loaded and powerful for me to rank high (Invisibility, for example), plus minor issues (when is Walking on Sunshine acquired? +1 items get no enhancements i think), but this system takes the cake. Top honorary mention.

1st: Ace Mecha Pilot. It's interesting, versatile, Voley is cringe-worthy and If I read it correctly, you could keep backup mechas around.

2nd: Animator. Great class, very interesting, just not a fan of pet classes.

3d: Man. Exceptionally interesting and well-built, and don't get me started on humor.

Magical Girl would have placed 4th, since I really like the great diversity. Disapointed it can't run Cardcaptor Sakura (to my knowledge) despite a guardian largely influenced by it.

Monsterbound was nicely built, but as I said, not a pet fan :/

All in all, this one competition was loaded in goodies, mine was probably the only entry without at least a saving grace :smalltongue:

Also, something of note:

The mecha [..] has 50% arcane spell failure.

How can you possibly not picture a typical mecha weaving arcane energies with precise hand motions?

...and that creates a whole rambling about arcane-physical links and how caster size might affect magic, but that's for another time :smallsigh:

[Temotei]

Votes tallied.

[Temotei]

I really enjoyed the manly feats at the end of the man. Nice touch there.

Those feats and the slap upside an ally's head were funny and I enjoyed reading it. Also, song in my head the whole time I was reading it (though it magically turned off when I was done--oh well).

Overall, simple, but effective.

As for the magical girl, the familiar mentor was...familiar enough to be easily implemented while at the same time different enough from an ordinary familiar to feel unique. The additional abilities granted by personality and built-in class features for making the familiar mentor a combat machine were cool to see, as well.

The magician seems like the most fun option in terms of aspect, but the others are decent enough to allow picking them without feeling bad, I think.

Anyway, I guess I should tie break. I'm going to have to go with the magical girl on this one. Some of the wordings could be cleared up (or even just broken up occasionally with separate sentences, lines, and whatnot), but overall, I liked it. It allowed for a good amount of customization in-class without being overly complicated and without discouraging multiclassing entirely (Zaydos' example of a sorcerer multiclass is a good one).