Zinc Saucier XXXII: Dancing with the Stars

[Sian]

Welcome one and all to the thirty-second Zinc Saucier challenge, where Playgrounders come to test their skill in the art of beautiful and bizarre (and bizarrely beautiful) builds, summoning a savory dish of superb swordplay and sublime sorcery.

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 thirty-second challenge, get ready to dance your night away; straight from Dragon Compendium, it's the Battle Dancer

Our challengers will have about 2 weeks to build a complete build up to Effective Character Level 20 using a 32 point buy and all official WOTC D&D 3.5 materials (excluding Dragon Magazine, but including any WOTC online enhancements) with the abilities and feel of a Battle Dancer without actually using any levels in it.

Entries must be submitted by Wednesday, 21:00pm UTC, 8 July, 2015. As usual, please submit your entries via private message to the chairman, so as not to influence the other sauciers.

Judges will then have until Wednesday, 21:00pm UTC, 22 July, 2015, to post scores for all dishes.

Contestants will be judged and awarded a score out of 5 in each of 4 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)
* 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


Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


20th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities



Code immediately below (spoiler).

Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


20th
New Class Level
+x
+x
+x
+x
Skills
Feats
New Class Abilities


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)Spells per Day/Spells Known


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
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


Code immediately below (spoiler)Spells per Day/Spells Known


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
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-



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 don't want to overfeed the judges.

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)
Pyrokineticist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259654)
Ninja * (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263278)
Druid (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=265347)
True Necromancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=276267)
Dervish (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280212)
Whisperknife (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=285337)
Epic Infiltrator * (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=289233)
Master of Vipers (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=295287)
Ranger * (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298478)
Flayerspawn Psychic (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16076729#post16076729)
Totemist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16448992#post16448992)
Walker in the Waste (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=322436)
Drunken Master (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16879574#post16879574)
Cleric (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=333648)
Duskblade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=339182)
Psibond Agent (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346900)
Argent Fist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353923)
Fighter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360816)
Artificier (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=365391)
Knight (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=370235)
Spellthief (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=377945)
Factorum (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=386586) no cooks submitted
Dragonfire Adept (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=418282)


* Classes marked with an asterisk have had their original posts updated to reflect the final results.

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

[Sian]

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 and generic classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Also, item familiars are forbidden because I hate 'em.

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, may lose you points. Please note the following: 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.

Concerning Experience Requirements: Each build is allotted exactly 200,000 EXP. This is roughly 10,000 EXP more than necessary to get to 20th level. Please take note of this when planning your character for circumstances like LA Buyoff, Item Crafting, Magic Use, Multiclassing EXP Penalties, etc.

Definition of Power for scoring: Since this has been a point of contention, let me lay down this guideline. Since the goal is to emulate the Secret Ingredient, achieving much higher power than the Secret Ingredient is capable of is overkill and should be marked accordingly. Likewise if the build cannot match the power of the Secret Ingredient it should be marked accordingly. Individual judges can decide how much is too much for Power scoring, as each judge will have different tastes. The goal here is to prevent all entries being Wizard 20 because "they do it better."

What's the minimum score in a category? Assuming an entry is legal, the minimum score in any category is 1. If a judge is convinced that an entry is illegal by the RAW, the judge may give a 0 or decline to score a given entry. Because this contest focuses on Player Characters, an entry that is not technically allowed for a PC, but is viable as an NPC, counts as a legal entry, but may receive a minimum score at the judges' discretion.

Is Dragon Compendium Allowed? Yes, but individual issues of Dragon Magazine are not.

What about 3.0 materials? 3.0 materials, whether online or in printed form, are allowed unless they've been officially updated to a 3.5 edition.

Are Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, or Kingdoms of Kalamar allowable sources? The Dragonlance Campaign Setting is allowed, but the subsequent books for Dragonlance are considered 3rd party, and are therefore not eligible, despite the "WotC approved" status of those books. The same holds for Oriental Adventures (1st party) and the subsequent Rokugan books (3rd party). Materials from Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, and Kingdoms of Kalamar are considered 3rd party for purposes of this contest, and are therefore not allowed.

What about online sources in general? If the online source is a) published by WotC, and b) not replaced by an updated version at a later time, it is eligible. Use it, link it.

Where's the line drawn with "acceptable/unacceptable" for Unearthed Arcana? This will likely vary a bit from Chairman to Chairman. Variant class features and variant character classes are espressly permitted. Item Familiars and Gestalt have always been verboten; don't expect that to change. Flaws have similarly always been noted as warranting a deduction; even now that its me that is Chairing, its still extended to Traits, though they warrant 1/2 the penalty in Elegance that a Flaw would because they're roughly 1/2 as useful. Alternate spell systems, alternate skill systems and alternate crafting rules all create an uneven playing field, and as such, will be disallowed for as long as I am Chairman. Bloodlines are ripe for abuse, and will be discouraged as long as I am Chairman. Note that judges are allowed to look askance at any use of Unearthed Arcana not specifically mentioned above, at their discretion, and otherwise penalize Elegance according to their preference.

What, exactly, does the ban on Leadership mean? As folks have started to try to work around the edges of this one, I'm forced to spell it out more plainly. No Leadership, Draconic Cohort, or Feats that grant a similar ability are allowed EXCEPT Wild Cohort while I am chairman. Any PrC you choose with Leadership or a Leadership-analog has that ability entirely ignored for this contest, as it may neither be used nor traded away via any means whatsoever.

How the heck do I even do this? Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to select a combination of race, templates, classes, alternate class features, prestige classes, skills, and feats, meld them into a single character that progresses from ECL 1 to ECL 20, that is as close as possible to the secret ingredient as possible in look, feel, class features. How you do it is up to you, I recommend you read previous competitions if you are interested in seeing how others have done it before you. Capture the essence!

A thread for your amusement/edification: Handy Tips for the Iron Chef in the Playground Noob (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287603)

[samduke]

battle dancer - interested - I think the link from the DFA might be off..

[Sian]

I'm excused ... its 11:30pm 'round here and i'm just about to head to bed

[ZamielVanWeber]

I can judge again. We just need some dishes.

[dysprosium]

So are those cooking the dancing professionals or the stars?

I will have to see what I can do with this one?

[Sian]

So are those cooking the dancing professionals or the stars?

One of the two, or prehaps the audience. :smallbiggrin:

[dysprosium]

I just realized I have longer to work on this than I thought.

The demon real life and I are battling once again.


One of the two, or prehaps the audience. :smallbiggrin:

Well I am going to consider myself a "star."

And now I'm torn between being partnered with Cheryl Burke or Julianne Hough. Decisions. Decisions.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Our challengers will have about 2 weeks to build a complete build up to Effective Character Level 20 using a 32 point buy and all official WOTC D&D 3.5 materials (excluding Dragon Magazine, but including any WOTC online enhancements) with the abilities and feel of a Dragonfire Adept without actually using any levels in it.

I just noticed this. Whoops!

[Sian]

:smalleek: well, thats embarrassing

[AvatarVecna]

I'm sad: something absolutely perfect popped into my head, and it'll never work because it'll be way too obvious.

[Sian]

Make it anyways ... with the ammount of dishes Zinc have its not to big to turn away obvious builds ... specially since they might not actually be so

[AvatarVecna]

Make it anyways ... with the ammount of dishes Zinc have its not to big to turn away obvious builds ... specially since they might not actually be so

Oh, I intend to make it, but my biggest problem is that I'm always way to nitpicky of my own builds.

[Jurai]

It's time to plant the seeds of an idea.

Chairperson/human/elf/illumian/dragonfire adept/battle dancer, may I please get confirmation of my submission?

[Sian]

27½ Hour to the bell, and 3 submissions have entered (so i'm most likely not extending unless someone come with a specific very short request).

and Jurai, sorry i didn't answer (your post here was missed) but yours is one of 'em

[Jurai]

Awesome. Mine's a bit of a gamble.

[Svata]

Would enter, but there's no time. Will judge, though.

[Chronos]

Huh, I could have entered this one, if I had seen it sooner, but not enough time now. Eh, my idea was probably going to be the same as AvatarVecna's, anyway.

[AvatarVecna]

Huh, I could have entered this one, if I had seen it sooner, but not enough time now. Eh, my idea was probably going to be the same as AvatarVecna's, anyway.

Uh, yeah. My build. That I totally submitted on time. *rushes to google docs*

12 hours to go, and work in the morning...I can do this!

[Sian]

Uh, yeah. My build. That I totally submitted on time. *rushes to google docs*

12 hours to go, and work in the morning...I can do this!

there's still some 15¾ hours to go so not quite as dire

[Sian]

two hours to go... unless someone explicitly asks for a very short (8hours or less) extension to finalize their build

[dysprosium]

I'm not going to be able to get my entry in.

Turns out that I didn't have enough call in votes from the audience to keep me on the floor.

However, since I have been involved with Zinc Saucier in one way or another since Round XII, I will hopefully find the time to judge the entries.

[AvatarVecna]

two hours to go... unless someone explicitly asks for a very short (8hours or less) extension to finalize their build

I am currently getting into the last nitty-gritty details of my build's mechanics, and I've got the story in my head...I just need to write it out. I'd like to say that two hours would be enough to do all that, but I'm at work, so I'm doing the best I can in between the infrequent customers. I estimate roughly 3-4 hours before everything's totally finished and all sources are cited, assuming business continues at this pace; if business goes slower, I should be done on time; if it goes faster than it has been, I estimate I'll be done in about 6-7 hours.

My build is almost complete; I would appreciate a small extension.

[Sian]

extending to 6am UTC then :smallwink:

[Jurai]

http://img04.deviantart.net/fe04/i/2015/076/9/9/wario_will_destroy_termina_by_triforce_knight95-d85ycs9.jpg

Untimed Wario-moon. Apologies.

[AvatarVecna]

GOOD GOD. I love my job, and our customers are nice, but there's just too many frickin' people sometimes, you know? By the Nine...

So yeah, I finally sent in my submission. Thanks for the extension, can't wait to see the reveal...and can't wait to see if my original idea turns out to be as common/obvious as I thought it was.

[Sian]

Time! ... Hold back all traffic as theres a contender train incoming.

[Sian]

I would have had the perfect reference to this entry, but its a reference to a danish childrens song so I fear it would get lost in translation


There once was a young snow-white feline named Sabrina; Sabrina lived deep in an ancient forest with the fae that watched over the woods. She played with them, and they taught her magic, and life was good. She was never much for hunting, but the fae always protected her, whether from storm, from starvation, or from the more predatory animals that lived in the forest. Every once in a while, strange folks from outside the forest wandered nearby, always obsessing over small bits of metal. Ever since first encountering this poor addicted souls, Sabrina had decided she didn't want any part of that nonsense, and so she kept her distance. Whenever they spotted her, and tried to talk or fight, she'd simply run like the wind, the way she'd been taught by her fairy friends.

The years went by, and Sabrina got bigger, and stronger, and tougher, and faster. Her fairy friends were still faster than she was, but it was never a problem: they all had fun playing games anyway. As Sabrina got older, she grew particularly attached to a young nymph named Nasille; although she'd never admit it, Sabrina had never learned to swim properly, and was terrified of the water, but when she was playing with Nasille, it never even crossed her mind that she was learning to swim. The two of them grew closer over the years, and Sabrina began playing games with Nasille more often than with the other fae...and the games had grown more numerous, and more complicated...but more fun, too. Sometimes, they would race through the woods; sometimes, they hid objects for the other to find; sometimes, they laid down on the island in the middle of Nasille's lake and watched the stars, making up stories for the figures they thought the stars depicted. Much fun was had, and life was happy.

But happiness didn't last: one day, people came, and this time it was more than just a handful; this time, there were many of them, far more at once than Sabrina had seen in her entire life put together. When they got close, they were loud, and had nets, and tried to catch her, but she just ran away from then, thankful for the speed playing with the fairies had given her. But there were too many: everywhere she tried to run, there was always more of them. They went in every direction, and there were too many to run past. As the swept through the forest, Sabrina was eventually captured in their ruthless hunt. She never saw Nasille again.

Sabrina was taken away, far away from the forest. She saw sights she'd never even imagined: places where many people lived, places where they gathered, and places where more humans than even those that took her from the forest gathered, but only so they could go somewhere else. What a strange people, she thought.

At long last, her journey was at an end: she was brought to a massive gathering place, where people from all walks of life were being brought in chains, like she was; scaly people, slimy people, hairy people, even a few other felines, like her. It was explained to them, by scary-looking men with heavy arms and armor, that they were going to fight each other as entertainment for the other people. They would be given no armor, and tiny weapons; the others seemed scared of being so vulnerable, but it was nothing new to Sabrina, so she kept silent; she would cope, somehow.

As days turned into weeks, more and more fights took place, and Sabrina realized just how far out of her depth she was: while she was fast, she didn't really have any combat training beyond the occasional wrestling match with Nasille; there were some here who had that kind of training, and they tore their foes apart. If she was to survive in this place and escape one day, she needed to learn how to fight. And so she threw herself into the combat training, pushing herself to her limits, and hating every moment of it. So much work, just to live because somebody decided people killing each other was funny. Sick, absolutely sick...but necessary, if she was to live. She felt so restrained, so constricted by this, being forced to fight for survival; a life consisting of fun and games had not prepared her well for hardship, and she feared her apathy would be the death of her.

Thanks to her great speed, Sabrina had yet to lose a fight, something only a handful of the original group to boast such success: where once there had been nearly two hundred of them, now only a couple dozen or so remained. Instead of pitting them against one another, they decided to weed out the weaker veterans...by pitting them against wild animals. Many were brought in (bears, boars, badgers for some reason...), but the ones that always entranced her were the tigers and lions: these large felines moved with a grace all their own, and their leaping and jumping and pouncing style caused some primal part of Sabrina to stir in recognition. If she could fight as the tiger fought, she could beat it at its own game, and maybe survive this...

Game. Game! Of course, it's a game! Make it game, make it fun, and she could throw herself into it without feeling bound by the shackles of requirement. She would play this jungle cat's game, she would learn the rules, and she would win against a master at a game she'd never played before.

She could do this.

AC: 19
HP: 4d6+1d10+10 (avg. 30 hp)
Saves: Fort +5; Ref +9; Will +3
Full Attack (dual-wielding daggers): +6/+6, 1d4+2, 19-20/x2
Casting as Bard 4

At this point in her gladatorial career, Sabrina is pretty much just coasting on her high Dex for both offense and defense, but that's not going to help her out much without either a lot of luck or a major upgrade. It is recommended that you not start playing Sabrina at this point: surviving the arena without assuming training took place in the background can force your character to depend on XP from combat to level up, and Sabrina is not yet a particularly powerful combatant.
With a mighty thud, the beast fell. Sabrina breathed a sigh of relief; all her training, all her observation, all her effort...it had finally paid off. She had won the game! As her conscious mind returned to reality, she heard the crowd cheering. Dimly, she noted some magically-enhanced voice shouting "Put your hands together for...The Siberian!"

...

Weeks became months became years. Fight after fight, win after win, The Siberian never lost. She never wore armor, she never picked up a weapon, and yet she mopped the floor with one opponent after another. But even as the crowd loved her to pieces, those running the arena were no longer appreciating the business she brought in; the odds of her failure had fallen too low; they needed to make things more uncertain, or their meager gambling profits would dwindle even further.

After coming to the decision to get rid of her somehow, they convinced a prince visiting from afar that her gladiator contract was close to expiring, and that she would need some new source of income. The prince decided to negotiate a new contract with her 'manager', with her as his bodyguard, and The Siberian ended up getting shipped away from the arena back to the prince's homeland. The prince treated her to dinner, informed her of her new position in life, and assured her that she would be treated to the best of luxuries. The next morning, he awoke to find her missing; all that was left was a note that read "your home is beautiful, but a gilded cage is still a cage".

The Siberian laughed as she ran free for the first time in years. Free, free free!

AC: 29
HP: 6d6+2d8+2d10+20 (avg. 61 hp)
Saves: Fort +10; Ref +14; Will +7
Full Attack: +15/+15/+10/+10, 1d8+3 and golden ice; 20/x2
Casting as Bard 5
Initiator Level 7

At this point, Sabrina The Siberian is a much more capable, well-rounded gish: the combination of dual-wielding unarmed strikes, maneuvers, and decent buff casting makes The Siberian a nightmare in a straight up fight; throw in high Jump/Tumble skills, and this combat acrobat isn't likely to lose any time soon. Good thing she doesn't have to fight anymore...
The Siberian became a freelance adventurer, righting wrongs and saving lives wherever she went using the skills she'd honed in the arena. Over the years, she continued training both her martial skills and her magical aptitude, attempting to master both as she made her way in the world. As she continued her warpath of heroism, she slowly worked her way back towards her childhood forest home, using her knowledge of the stars to guide her.

AC: 41
HP: 11d6+2d8+2d10+75 (avg. 134 hp)
Saves: Fort +14; Ref +19; Will +12
Full Attack: +23/+23/+18/+18/+13; 6d6+19 and golden ice (+2d6 if SA), 20/x2
Casting as Bard 7, Sublime Chord 3
Initiator Level 11

These stats were calculated assuming that The Siberian is in her Assassin's Stance while "Greater Mighty Wallop" and "Bite of the Weretiger" are active. As you can see, she's a frickin' badass...and that's just what she can do herself; at this point, she can be in a high-level party, and be a wonderful backup melee monster. Don't get me wrong, you get more powerful after this, but as far as the relationship between ECL and total character power, this is the best it gets: you're a powerful gish with good maneuvers, good dual-wielding, and powerful unarmed attacks.
After enough adventuring to last a lifetime, The Siberian Sabrina found her way back to the forest where she'd grown up. Most of the fae were gone, since the forest had been pillaged in a search for anything valuable long ago, but Sabrina didn't mind; she would see this forest restored to its original glory, now that she had the power to defend it from attack. She would rebuild this forest, one tree at a time. It would take time, and effort, and hard work, but Sabrina had long since learned that something worth doing is worth doing right.

She could do this.

AC: 46
HP: 16d6+2d8+2d10+100 (avg. 176)
Saves: Fort +19; Ref +24; Will +15
Full Attack: +32/+32/+32/+27/+27/+22/+22/+17, 6d6+23, 20/x2

This is your capstone (I'm assuming Haste, Bite of the Weretiger, and Greater Mighty Wallop are active while you're in your Assassin's Stance). 8th lvl spells, 8th lvl maneuvers, 7 attacks per round, wonderful damage, and good synergy all around. You are ridiculously powerful for a melee monster, and you're still not even really low T2, making The Siberian a decently balanced character for mid-op games taking place beyond about 8th lvl or so.Basic Build
Race: Catfolk
Classes: Bard 4/Fighter 2/Unarmed Swordsage 2/Jade Phoenix Mage 10/Sublime Chord 2
Alignment: Chaotic Good
XP Total: 197,000 XP (LA reduction)
Flaws: Inattentive
Stats (before racial adjustment): 12/16/14/12/8/15



ECL
Class
Lvl
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Class Features
Skills
Feats
VoP Features
VoP Feats


1
Bard
1
+0
+0
+2
+2
Bardic Music; Bardic Knowledge; Spellcasting
Concentration 4; K (Arcana) 4; K (History) 2; K (Religion) 2;
Listen 4; Per (Dance) 4; Pro (Astrologer) 4; Spellcraft 4; Tumble 4

Sacred Vow; Vow of Poverty
AC bonus +4
Nymph's Kiss


2
Bard
2
+1
+0
+3
+3

Concentration 1; Jump 1; K (Arcana) 1; Listen 1; Per (Dance) 1; Pro (Astrologer) 1; Spellcraft 1; Tumble 1


Nimbus of Light


3
Bard
3
+2
+1
+3
+3

Concentration 1; Escape Artist 1; K (Arcana) 1; Listen 1; Per (Dance) 1; Pro (Astrologer) 1; Spellcraft 1; Tumble 1
Weapon Finesse
AC bonus +5; Enduring Elements



4
Bard
4
+3
+1
+4
+4

Concentration 1; Escape Artist 1; K (Arcana) 1; Listen 1; Per (Dance) 1; Pro (Astrologer) 1; Spellcraft 1; Tumble 1

Exalted Strike +1 (magic)
Knight of Stars


5
Fighter
1
+4
+3
+4
+4

K (Arcana) 1; Listen 1
Two-Weapon Fighting
Sustenance



6
Unarmed Swordsage
1
+4
+3
+6
+6
Quick to Act +1; Discipline Focus (WF: Unarmed Strike)
Concentration 1; Jump 1; K (Arcana) 1; Listen 1; Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 1
Ascetic Mage
AC bonus +6; Deflection +1
Touch of Golden Light


7
Unarmed Swordsage
2
+5
+3
+7
+7
AC Bonus
Concentration 1; Jump 1; K (Arcana) 1; Listen 1; Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 1

Resistance +1; Dex +2



8
Fighter
2
+6
+4
+7
+7

K (Arcana) 1; Listen 1
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Natural Armor +1; Mind Shielding
Sanctify Martial Strike (Unarmed Strike)


9
Jade Phoenix Mage
1
+7
+6
+7
+7
Arcane Wrath; Rite of Passage
K (Arcana) 1; Listen 1
Superior Unarmed Strike
AC bonus +7



10
Jade Phoenix Mage
2
+8
+7
+7
+7
Mystic Phoenix Stance
K (Arcana) 1; Listen 1

Exalted Strike +2; DR 5/magic
Lliira's Blessing


11
Jade Phoenix Mage
3
+9
+7
+8
+8

Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 2

Dex +4; Cha +2



12
Jade Phoenix Mage
4
+10
+8
+8
+8
Empower Strike
Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 2
Improved Natural Attack (Unarmed Strike)
AC bonus +8; Deflection +2; Greater Sustenance
Gift of Discernment


13
Sublime Chord
1
+10
+8
+8
+10

Per (Dance) 2; Tumble 2

Resistance +2; Energy Resistance 5



14
Sublime Chord
2
+11
+8
+8
+11

Per (Dance) 2; Tumble 2

Exalted Strike +3; Freedom of Movement
Vow of Chastity


15
Jade Phoenix Mage
5
+12
+8
+8
+11

Jump 1; Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 1
Shadow Blade
AC bonus +9; Dex +6; Cha +4; Con +2; DR 5/evil



16
Jade Phoenix Mage
6
+13
+9
+9
+12
Firebird Stance; Jade Phoenix Master
Jump 1; Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 1

Natural Armor +2
Vow of Abstinence


17
Jade Phoenix Mage
7
+14
+9
+9
+12

Jump 1; Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 1

Exalted Strike +4; Resistance +3; Regeneration



18
Jade Phoenix Mage
8
+15
+10
+9
+12
Quickening Strike
Jump 1; Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 1
Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
AC bonus +10; Deflection +3; True Seeing
Stigmata


19
Jade Phoenix Mage
9
+16
+10
+10
+13

Jump 1; Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 1

Dex +8; Cha +6; Con +4; Str +2; DR 10/evil



20
Jade Phoenix Mage
10
+17
+11
+10
+13
Emerald Immolation
Jump 1; Per (Dance) 1; Tumble 1

Exalted Strike +5; Energy Resistance 15
Vow of Obedience



Spells per Day/Spells Known


Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th


1st
2/4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
3/5
0/2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


3rd
3/6
1/3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


4th
3/6
2/3
0/2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


5th
3/6
2/3
0/2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


6th
3/6
2/3
0/2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


7th
3/6
2/3
0/2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


8th
3/6
2/3
0/2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


9th
3/6
2/3
0/2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


10th
3/6
3/4
1/3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


11th
3/6
3/4
2/3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


12th
3/6
3/4
2/4
0/2
-
-
-
-
-
-


13th
3/6
3/4
2/4
0/2
2/3
1/1
-
-
-
-


14th
3/6
3/4
2/4
0/2
2/4
2/2
-
-
-
-


15th
3/6
3/4
2/4
0/2
3/4
2/2
1/1
-
-
-


16th
3/6
3/4
2/4
0/2
3/4
2/2
1/1
-
-
-


17th
3/6
3/4
2/4
0/2
3/4
3/3
2/2
-
-
-


18th
3/6
3/4
2/4
0/2
3/4
3/3
2/2
1/1
-
-


19th
3/6
3/4
2/4
0/2
4/4
3/4
3/3
2/2
-
-


20th
3/6
3/4
2/4
0/2
4/4
4/4
3/3
2/2
1/1
-

Spells

Bard 1 (Bard CL 1)
--Detect Magic (Bard 0)
--Easy Math (Bard 0)
--Ghost Sound (Bard 0)
--Light (Bard 0)

Bard 2 (Bard CL 2)
--Cure Light Wounds (Bard 1)
--Expenditious Retreat (Bard 1)
--Mage Hand (Bard 0)

Bard 3 (Bard CL 3)
--Guided Path (Bard 1)
--Mending (Bard 0)

Bard 4 (Bard CL 4)
--Circle Dance (Bard 2)
--Glitterdust (Bard 2)

Jade Phoenix Mage 2 (Bard CL 5)
--Heroism (Bard 2)
--Serene Visage (Bard 1)

Jade Phoenix Mage 4 (Bard CL 7)
--Grace (Bard 2)
--Haste (Bard 3)
--Weapon of Impact (Bard 3)

Sublime Chord 1 (Bard CL 8; Sublime Chord CL 8
--Cure Critical Wounds (Bard 4)
--Greater Heroism (Sorcerer 5)
--Greater Mighty Wallop (Sorcerer 3)
--Legend Lore (Sorcerer 4)

Sublime Chord 2 (Bard CL 9; Sublime Chord CL 9)
--Overland Flight (Sorcerer 5)
--Polymorph (Sorcerer 4)

Jade Phoenix Mage 5 (Bard CL 10; Sublime Chord CL 10)
--Bite of the Weretiger (Sorcerer 6)

Jade Phoenix Mage 7 (Bard CL 12; Sublime Chord CL 12)
--Greater Dispel Magic (Bard 5)
--Nixie's Grace (Bard 6)

Jade Phoenix Mage 8 (Bard CL 13; Sublime Chord CL 13)
--Emerald Flame Fist (Sorcerer 7)

Jade Phoenix Mage 9 (Bard CL 14; Sublime Chord CL 14)
--Arcane Fusion (Sorcerer 5)
--Summon Aspect of Bahamut (Sorcerer 7)
--Wages of Sin (Sorcerer 6)

Jade Phoenix Mage 10 (Bard CL 15; Sublime Chord CL 15)
--Veil of Undeath (Sorcerer 8)

Maneuvers

Swordsage 1 (IL 3)
--Blood in the Water (Tiger Claw, Stance 1)
--Burning Blade (Desert Wind, Boost 1)
--Counter Charge (Setting Sun, Counter 1)
--Mountain Hammer (Stone Dragon, Strike 2)
--Shadow Blade Technique (Shadow Hand, Strike 1)
--Sudden Leap (Tiger Claw, Boost 1)
--Wolf Fang Charge (Tiger Claw, Strike 1)

Swordsage 2 (IL 4)
--Shadow Jaunt (Shadow Hand, Teleportation 2)
--Stance of Clarity (Diamond Mind, Stance 1)

Jade Phoenix Mage 1 (IL 6)
--Emerald Razor (Diamond Mind, Strike 2)

Jade Phoenix Mage 3 (IL 8)
--Bounding Assault (Diamond Mind, Strike 4)

Jade Phoenix Mage 5 (IL 11)
--Dancing Mongoose (Tiger Claw, Boost 5)
--Assassin's Stance (Shadow Hand, Stance 3)

Jade Phoenix Mage 7 (IL 13)
--Pouncing Charge (Tiger Claw, Strike 5)

Jade Phoenix Mage 9 (IL 15)
--Girallon Windmill Flesh Rip (Tiger Claw, Boost 8)A battle dancer, fluff-wise, is a slave who has broken free of their chains and refuses to be limited. Mechanically, they are a martial artist with full BAB that can essentially dual-wield unarmed strikes, have high unarmed strike damage, get Cha to AC, and are such good tumblers that they can pounce, walk on water, and fly.

The Siberian has nearly full BAB and uses a combination of maneuvers and spells to simulate the various abilities the Battle Dancer has while also adding even more to the pile (such as a significantly higher Fort and Will save, Dex to damage, multiple sources of extra attacks, high-level self-buffing gish abilities, and VoP benefits).

All in all, the Siberian isn't a perfect build (there's things I'd like to have been able to do with it that weren't feasible due to the limited feats available), but I'm happy with it. I'd definitely play this character...as long as it was at least past level 6, when it stops mostly sucking.

[Sian]

Scored a good enough X in the last villaincy test





Al X. Goodenuff

https://scaggsaway.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/godunov.jpg
http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/b/b8/DH-PPK-2.jpg/600px-DH-PPK-2.jpg

LE Dark Lion Tribe Human Invisible Fist Monk 16 / Antiquarian Rogue 3 / Tattooed Monk 1

Name: Al X. Goodenuff
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Race: Human from Lion Tribe (Shining South 164)
Template: Forgotten Realms Dark Creature (Cormyr: The Tearing Of The Weave 152)
Region: The Shaar, Faerûn (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 197)
Serving: Pandorym (Elder Evils 80)
Organization: Lightbringers (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft 204)

Abilities:
STR 14
DEX 12
CON 13 (+1 @ 20) = 14
INT 12
WIS 13 (+3 @ 8, 12, 16) = 16
CHA 15 (+1 @ 4) = 16




Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


1st
Monk (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/monk.htm) 1
+0
+2
+2
+2
Balance +4, Climb +4, Hide +4, Knowledge (religion) +4, Listen +4, Tumble +4
Improved Unarmed Strike (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedUnarmedStrike)B, Improved Grapple (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedGrapple)B, Vile Ki StrikeVB (Elder Evils 14), Lion Tribe WarriorHB (Shining South 20), Endurance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#endurance)
Bonus feat, flurry of blows, unarmed strike


2nd
Monk 2
+1
+3
+3
+3
Balance +1 (5), Climb +1 (5), Hide +1 (5), Knowledge (religion) +1 (5), Listen +1 (5), Tumble +1 (5)
Deflect Arrows (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#deflectArrows)B
Bonus feat, Invisible Fist (Exemplars of Evil 21)


3rd
Rogue (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/rogue.htm) 1
+1
+3
+5
+3
Climb +1 (6), Hide +1 (6), Listen +1 (6), Spot +6, Tumble +1 (6)
Ascetic Rogue (Complete Adventurer 106)
Sneak attack +1d6, Antiquarian (Complete Champion 51)


4th
Monk 3
+2
+3
+5
+3
Climb +1 (7), Hide +1 (7), Knowledge (religion) +1 (6), Tumble +1 (7); Twisted Charge (Complete Scoundrel 90)

Still mind


5th
Monk 4
+3
+4
+6
+4
Climb +1 (8), Hide +1 (8), Knowledge (religion) +2 (8), Listen +1 (7), Tumble +1 (8)
Chosen of EvilVB (Elder Evils 12)
Ki strike (magic), Water Step 20' (Stormwrack 50)


6th
Tattooed Monk 1 (Complete Warrior 82)
+3
+6
+8
+6
Climb +1 (9), Hide +1 (9), Knowledge (religion) +1 (9), Move Silently +2, Tumble +1 (9)
Daredevil Athlete (Complete Scoundrel 76)
Monk abilities, Tattoo (Falcon)


7th
Monk 5
+3
+6
+8
+6
Climb +1 (10), Hide +1 (10), Knowledge (religion) +1 (10), Listen +1 (8), Move Silently +1 (3), Tumble +1 (10)

Purity of body


8th
Monk 6
+4
+7
+9
+7
Climb +1 (11), Hide +1 (11), Knowledge (religion) +1 (11), Listen +1 (9), Move Silently +1 (4), Tumble +1 (11)
Improved Trip (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedTrip)B
Bonus feat, Water Step 30'


9th
Monk 7
+5
+7
+9
+7
Climb +1 (12), Hide +1 (12), Knowledge (religion) +1 (12), Listen +1 (10), Move Silently +1 (5), Tumble +1 (12)
Weapon Focus (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#weaponFocus) (unarmed strike)
Wholeness of body


10th
Monk 8
+6
+8
+10
+8
Climb +1 (13), Hide +1 (13), Knowledge (religion) +1 (13), Listen +1 (11), Move Silently +1 (6), Tumble +1 (13)
Slave to EvilVB (Elder Evils 14)
Water Step 40'


11th
Monk 9
+6
+8
+10
+8
Climb +1 (14), Hide +1 (14), Knowledge (religion) +1 (14), Listen +1 (12), Move Silently +1 (7), Tumble +1 (14)

Blink (Exemplars of Evil 21)


12th
Monk 10
+7
+9
+11
+9
Climb +1 (15), Hide +1 (15), Knowledge (religion) +1 (15), Listen +1 (13), Move Silently +1 (8), Tumble +1 (15)
Giantbane (Complete Warrior 111)
Ki strike (lawful), Water Step 50'


13th
Monk 11
+8
+9
+11
+9
Climb +1 (16), Hide +1 (16), Knowledge (religion) +1 (16), Listen +1 (14), Move Silently +1 (9), Tumble +1 (16)

Diamond body, greater flurry


14th
Monk 12
+9
+10
+12
+10
Climb +1 (17), Hide +1 (17), Knowledge (religion) +1 (17), Listen +1 (15), Move Silently +1 (10), Tumble +1 (17)

Abundant step, Water Step 60'


15th
Monk 13
+9
+10
+12
+10
Climb +1 (18), Hide +1 (18), Knowledge (religion) +1 (18), Listen +1 (16), Move Silently +1 (11), Tumble +1 (18)
Vile Natural AttackVB (Elder Evils 14), Sand Dancer (Sandstorm 52)
Diamond soul


16th
Monk 14
+10
+11
+14
+11
Climb +1 (19), Hide +1 (19), Knowledge (religion) +1 (19), Listen +1 (17), Move Silently +1 (12), Tumble +1 (19)

Water Step 70'


17th
Monk 15
+11
+11
+14
+11
Climb +1 (20), Hide +1 (20), Move Silently +1 (13), Tumble +1 (20); Acrobatic Backstab (Complete Scoundrel 84)

Quivering palm


18th
Monk 16
+12
+12
+15
+12
Climb +1 (21), Hide +1 (21), Listen +1 (18), Move Silently +2 (15), Tumble +1 (21)
Pebble Underfoot (Dragon Compendium 103)
Ki strike (adamantine), Water Step 80'


19th
Rogue 2
+13
+12
+16
+12
Climb +1 (22), Hide +1 (22), Move Silently +1 (16), Spot +6 (12), Tumble +1 (22)

Evasion


20th
Rogue 3
+14
+13
+17
+13
Climb +1 (23), Hide +1 (23), Move Silently +1 (17), Spot +6 (18), Tumble +1 (23)
Vile Martial StrikeVB (Elder Evils 14)
Sneak attack +2d6, Lightbringer Rogue Penetrating Strike (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft 208)




Growing up in The Shaar, Al X. Goodenuff was a very disciplined child. He trained as a capoeira dancer, mixing Tumble skill and martial arts moves into a visually pleasing whole. For a time this was a lucrative performance art. Then his brother was seduced by a charismatic thief, and both were killed on their criminal caper by a Knight/Justiciar named Brutes Wills. Al embraced his Dark side and vowed to dance on the grave of Brutes Wills.

The +1 level adjustment from Dark template is bought off (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingLevelAdjustments.htm) for 3,000 XP at class level 3, leaving 7,000 XP beyond the level 20 minimum.

Al X. Goodenuff has very simple needs. He doesn't require any armor, weapons, spellbooks, spell components, other creatures (mounts, familiars, companions), or any magic items. All he needs is 200 gp to pay his Lightbringer initiation and dues (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft 204) and a single body alteration at level 17, costing 10,000 gp: Feathered Wings graft (Fiend Folio 210). Al's alignment is compatible with this graft.

A graft is not a magic item. It does not radiate magic once completed (although a graft might require the casting of specific spells as part of the construction process), and it does not take up a body slot like a magic item would. A graft cannot be suppressed with dispel magic, nor is it affected by an antimagic field or similar effects.
There are a couple things in the "would be nice" category for Al:
Monk's Belt (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#beltMonks) to offset Rogue levels for a closer match to the Battle Dancer AC Bonus feature
Sparring Dummy of the Master (Arms and Equipment Guide 137) for 1 month of training, after which he could take 10' steps as well as 5' steps

Al has the Battle Dancer class features covered pretty well (see below for comparisons). He's also got a ton of abilities beyond the Battle Dancer list. Monk has many class features, most of which don't work together very well, but the large number of these abilities mean there's a respectable chance that some of them may be useful. (Who knows? Quivering Palm might actually function as the powerful insta-death attack it's supposed to be. :smallwink:) Rogue (with ACFs) adds some more capabilities, such as Evasion and being able to identify magic items with a Knowledge (religion) check (leveraging a Tattooed Monk entry requirement).

Serving an Elder Evil grants [Vile] bonus feats (Elder Evils 10). With his [Vile] feats Al gets to be virtually immune to divine spells, and add +3 points of Vile damage to every unarmed strike (+1 each in the categories of unarmed strike, natural weapon strike, and martial weapon strike; as a Monk, his unarmed strike is all of those). This damage is a good counter to enemies with Fast Healing or Regeneration.

... vile damage does not heal naturally, and even healing magic is effective only within the area of a consecrate or hallow spell.
To be fair, there's nothing that would prevent a Battle Dancer of appropriate alignment also serving an Elder Evil; these [Vile] bonus feats aren't a power boost over the Secret Ingredient any more than bonus [Exalted] feats would be for a very Good-aligned character with Vow of Poverty. Rather, the feats are present as simply part of the overall character build. The same goes for the Dark Creature template: a Battle Dancer from Faerûn could have that, too. The template adds some stealth and speed boosts that are nice, but still most of Al's stealth and speed come from skill ranks and Monk Fast Movement. Service and template choices are integral elements of a fully-realized character.

The skills could use some explanation. Tumble is required for Battle Dancer abilities, but most of the emulations don't require Tumble skill. (Sand Dancer and Giantbane feats and the two skill tricks are exceptions.) Still, Tumble is a very useful skill, and one which Al maximizes for that very reason (which also means satisfying all the Battle Dancer skill rank requirements at every level, for what it's worth). Perception is key to avoiding surprise, and the build has respectable ranks (plus good Wisdom bonus) in both Listen (a Battle Dancer class skill) and Spot (not a BD class skill). The numbers match for these two skills, which puts Spot ranks a bit past the BD cross-class limit. (That could merit a tiny boost to Power and a tiny ding to Elegance if a judge wanted to be persnickety about the emulation.) The stealth skills are also high, as Al needs to qualify for sneak attack to deliver +2d6 damage duplicating BD Dance of Death's Embrace. The build includes many ways to qualify for sneak attack so as to make for a more thorough emulation. All these skills should come as no surprise, as should the 5 ranks in Balance (both to avoid being caught flat-footed, and as a requirement for Twisted Charge trick). The two that are out of the ordinary are Knowledge (religion) and Climb. Al has enough ranks in Knowledge (religion) to always identify (equivalent of Identify spell) divine magic items through CL 20 with his Antiquarian Rogue ACF. The Climb ranks have general utility, but are maximized specifically to use the Climb Aboard maneuver of the Giantbane feat. This lets Al enter an enemy's space (emulating Dance of the Crushing Python) where he uses Climb checks to oppose the enemy's grapple checks.

This build includes a 1-level dip into Tattooed Monk, where Al acquires his Falcon tattoo to emulate BD Dance of Reckless Bravery. If taking just 1 level of this PrC offends your judging sensibilities, consider instead an Adaptation: add 2 more levels of Tattooed Monk (total of 3 levels) in place of 2 Monk levels (total of 14 levels). This would add one more tattoo, Monkey, for a +2 competence bonus to Tumble (and other skills), improving Al's emulation of BD Dance of the Vexing Snake; it would also worsen Al's emulation of BD Dancer's Strike by dropping Ki Strike (adamantine). Due to Tattooed Monk class feature Monk Abilities, unarmed damage, AC Bonus, and Fast Movement remain unchanged. Skill points, class skills, BAB, all saves, and hit die at each level would also be unchanged.




Levels
Battle Dancer
Al X. Goodenuff*


1st
+1
-2/-2


2nd
+2
-1/-1


3rd
+3
-1/-1


4th
+4
-0/-0


5th
+5
+1/+1


6th
+6/+1
+1/+1


7th
+7/+2
+2/+2


8th
+8/+3
+3/+3


9th
+9/+4
+4/+4


10th
+10/+5
+5/+5/+0


11th
+11/+6/+1
+6/+6/+1


12th
+12/+7/+2
+7/+7/+2


13th
+13/+8/+3
+8/+8/+8/+3


14th
+14/+9/+4
+9/+9/+9/+4


15th
+15/+10/+5
+9/+9/+9/+4


16th
+16/+11/+6/+1
+10/+10/+10/+5


17th
+17/+12/+7/+2
+11/+11/+11/+6/+1


18th
+18/+13/+8/+3
+12/+12/+12/+7/+2


19th
+19/+14/+9/+4
+13/+13/+13/+8/+3


20th
+20/+15/+10/+5
+14/+14/+14/+9/+4


* - Does not include +1 bonus from Weapon Focus (unarmed strike) or +2 from being unseen.



Battle Dancer
Al X. Goodenuff


Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Perform, Sleight of Hand, Swim, Tumble
Appraise, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (religion), Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Perform, Profession, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Use Magic Device, Use Rope





Build
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Hit Points
Skill Points


Battle Dancer
+6
+12
+6
d8 x20 (average of 133.5 HP)
(5 + INT mod) x23 = 138


Al X. Goodenuff
+13
+17
+13
d8 x17 + d6 x3 (average of 130.5 HP)
(5 + INT mod) x20 + (9 + INT mod) x3 = 150





Battle Dancer Feature (@ level)
Emulation (@ level)


Proficient with all simple weapons @1
Monk weapons @1; all simple weapons + Rogue weapons @3


AC Bonus (CHA-based) @1
AC Bonus (WIS-based) @1; can (optionally) add Monk's Belt (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#beltMonks) to offset Rogue levels for better emulation


Unarmed Strike @1
Unarmed Strike @1 (an exact match in unarmed damage through every level of the build thanks to Ascetic Rogue feat)


Dance of Reckless Bravery @2: move action to activate; lasts 5 + CHA mod rounds; +4 morale boost to saves vs. fear for allies within 30'
Tattooed Monk Falcon Tattoo @6: always active; +4 morale boost to saves vs. fear for allies within 10'; also personally immune to fear


Bonus Speed: +10' @4; +20' @10; +30' @16
Fast Movement: +10' @4; +20' @8; +30' @11; +40' @14; +50' @18


Dance of the Vexing Snake @5: Tumble at normal speed (60') without -10 penalty
Daredevil Athlete @6: +5 bonus to Tumble (or other skill) as immediate action 3/day; also ½ speed is 45'


Dancer's Strike: magic @6; alignment @12; material/alignment @18
Ki Strike (magic) @5; (lawful) @12; (adamantine) @18


Dance of the Floating Step (normally 40' @8; 50' @10; 60' @16)
Water Step ACF (20' @5; 30' @8; 40' @10; 50' @12; 60' @14; 70' @16; 80' @18)


Dance of the Springing Tiger @11: Pounce
Lion Tribe Warrior feat @1: Pounce with single light weapon (including unarmed strike); Twisted Charge skill trick @4: make a turn during charge movement


Dance of the Crushing Python @14: fight in opponent's space
Giantbane feat Climb Aboard maneuver @12: fight in space of opponent 2+ sizes larger


Dance of the Soaring Eagle @17: fly @ land speed/average
Buy Feathered Wings graft (Fiend Folio 210) @17: fly @ 2x land speed/average [Note: a graft is not a magic item.]


Dance of Death's Embrace @20: activate with full-round action and DC 35 Tumble check; deal +2d6 damage to single target, and auto-confirm critical threats
Sneak attack +2d6 @20: enable sneak attack with any of (1) Invisible Fist (become invisible for 1 round every 3 rounds); (2) Acrobatic Backstab skill trick; (3) Dark Creature Hide in Plain Sight; (4) flanking with ally (Lightbringer Penetrating Strike makes sneak attack still work vs. sneak-immune foes); (5) Giantbane Death from Below maneuver; (6) Sand Dancer feat

[Sian]

I'd make a comment on the stereotypical response of Paladin on wild beauty, but I'll hold my tongue.


Aquila Frostheart, Lawful Good Female Nymph Monk 2/Sacred Fist 5 (6d6+7d8+26 (87 HP))
The SRD states that Nymph's Level Adjustment is +7, so this build only shows off 13 levels. Assuming modifiers of +0 Strength, +6 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +6 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, and +4 Charisma. Only listing important skills.
Before modifiers: Strength 10, Dexterity 10, Constitution 12, Intelligence 12, Wisdom 12, Charisma 18
After modifiers: Strength 10, Dexterity 16, Constitution 14, Intelligence 18, Wisdom 16, Charisma 22
After Increases and Vow of Poverty: Strength 10, Dexterity 16, Constitution 14, Intelligence 18, Wisdom 18, Charisma 29
Ability Score Increases at 4, 8, and 12 go to Charisma


Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats and Ability Score Increases
Class Features


1st
Fey 1
+0
+6
+8
+8
4 ranks of Concentration (+6) and Tumble (+7); 2 ranks each of Knowledge (Religion) (+6). The rest are open.
Combat Casting
Blinding Beauty (DC 10 + Charisma modifier + ½ Hit Dice), Spells, Spell-like Abilities, Stunning Glance (DC 10 + Charisma modifier + ½ Hit Dice), Damage Reduction 10/Cold Iron, Low-light Vision, Unearthly Grace, Wild Empathy (+16), AC Bonus +4


2nd
Fey 2
+1
+6
+9
+9
5 ranks of Concentration (+7) and Tumble (+8); 2.5 ranks each of Knowledge (Religion) (+6). The rest are open.
--
--


3rd
Fey 3
+1
+7
+9
+9
6 ranks of Concentration (+8) and Tumble (+9); 3 ranks each of Knowledge (Religion) (+7). The rest are open.
Sacred Vow
AC Bonus +5, Endure Elements


4th
Fey 4
+2
+7
+10
+10
7 ranks of Concentration (+9) and Tumble (+10); 3.5 ranks each of Knowledge (Religion) (+7). The rest are open.
Charisma +1
Exalted Strike +1 (Magic)


5th
Fey 5
+2
+7
+10
+10
8 ranks of Concentration (+10) and Tumble (+11); 4 ranks of Knowledge (Religion) (+8). The rest are open.
--
Sustenance


6th
Fey 6
+3
+8
+11
+11
9 ranks of Concentration (+11) and Tumble (+12); 4.5 ranks of Knowledge (Religion) (+8). The rest are open.
Intuitive Attack, Vow of Poverty
AC Bonus +6, Deflection Bonus +1


7th
Monk 1
+3
+12
+15
+15
10 ranks of Concentration (+12) and Tumble (+13); 8 ranks of Knowledge (Religion) (+12). The rest are open.
Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist
Flurry of Blows, Unarmed Strike, AC Bonus, Resistance +1, Charisma +2


8th
Monk 2
+4
+14
+17
+17
11 ranks of Concentration (+13), Tumble (+14) and Knowledge (Religion) (+15). The rest are open.
Animal Friend, Charisma +1, Combat Reflexes
Evasion, Mind Shielding, Natural Armor +1


9th
Sacred Fist 1
+5
+16
+19
+17
12 ranks of Concentration (+14), Tumble (+15), and Knowledge Religion (+16). The rest are open.
Superior Unarmed Strike
AC Bonus +7, Unarmed Damage


10th
Sacred Fist 2
+6
+18
+20
+17
13 ranks of Concentration (+15), Tumble (+16), and Knowledge Religion (+17). The rest are open.
Sanctify Natural Attack
Exalted Strike +2 (Good), DR 5/Magic


11th
Sacred Fist 3
+7
+19
+21
+19
14 ranks of Concentration (+16), Tumble (+17), and Knowledge Religion (+18). The rest are open.
--
Charisma +4, Wisdom +2, Fast Movement +10 Ft.


12th
Sacred Fist 4
+8
+20
+22
+19
15 ranks of Concentration (+17), Tumble (+18), and Knowledge Religion (+19). The rest are open.
Charisma +1, Snap Kick, Touch of Golden Ice
AC Bonus +8, Deflection +2, Greater Sustenance, Sacred Flames 1/day


13th
Sacred Fist 5
+9
+21
+23
+19
16 ranks of Concentration (+18), Tumble (+19), and Knowledge Religion (+20). The rest are open.
--
Resistance +2, Resist Acid, Cold, Electric, Fire, and Sonic 5



10 + Exalted (8) + Monk’s Wisdom (4) + Nymph’s Unearthly Grace (9) + Natural Armor (1) + Dexterity (3) + Sacred (2) = AC 37, Touch 28, Flat-footed 34, Flat-footed Touch 25


[tr]
Ingredient
Dish


Base Attack Bonus
Flurry of Blows allows for three attacks as a full round action, and then Snap Kick offers a third, only asking that multiple weapons be used for a melee attack, thus netting four attacks as a full round action at a -4 penalty to all attacks, which Exalted Strike +2 and Intuitive Attack partially Mitigate.


Fortitude Save
With a base Fortitude modifier of 9, I exceed the base Fortitude Save modifier of a twentieth level Battle Dancer, and Unearthly Grace adds an exceptional +9 to all saves.


Reflex Saves
With a base Reflex modifier of 12, I meet the base Reflex Save modifier of a twentieth level Battle Dancer, and Unearthly Grace adds an exceptional +9 to all saves.


Will Saves
With a base Will modifier of 9, I exceed the base Will Save modifier of a twentieth level Battle Dancer, and Unearthly Grace adds an exceptional +9 to all saves.


AC Bonus
Nymph’s Unearthly Grace


Unarmed Strike
Monk’s Unarmed Strike, Superior Unarmed Strike, Sacred Fist’s Unarmed Damage


Dance of Reckless Bravery
Met by Druid Spells given by Nymph and advanced by Sacred Fist.


Bonus Speed
Met by Druid Spells given by Nymph and advanced by Sacred Fist.


Dance of the Vexing Snake
Met by Druid Spells given by Nymph and advanced by Sacred Fist.


Dancer’s Strike
Vow of Poverty’s Exalted Strike meets the Magic and Good qualities, but not material. However, these work constantly, as well as the Align Fang spell.


Dance of the Floating Step
Met by Druid Spells given by Nymph and advanced by Sacred Fist.


Dance of the Springing Tiger
The 3rd level Druid Spell Lion’s Charge.


Dance of the Crushing Python
Nymph’s Blinding Beauty, which applies Stunned condition.


Dance of the Soaring Eagle
The 3rd level Druid spell Fire Wings.


Dance of Death’s Embrace
Missed, although a feat could be swapped out for a Banemagic feat.



Aquila’s parents were a satyr and a nymph, two lovers that frequented a monastery of Ilmater to play music for them and to join them during services. It was, in fact, during one of those services, that Aquila’s mother went into to labor. She gave birth to a little girl, but died. Her father was distraught, and ran, abandoning the young nymph to the monastery. An abbess of the monastery raised the young nymph, and she showed great talent for spellcasting and fighting.
Here you’re just a Nymph with fists and Druid spells and the ability to stun with a glance. The build actually sets itself up next level, though the fourth level spells you have as a Nymph are amazing at this point, since fourth level spells on a sixth level character is several kinds of bonkers. Combat Casting, Sacred Vow, and Vow of Poverty strike here, for reasons of simplicity of build, Intuitive Attack comes online as well, adding Wisdom to Attack rolls in place of Strength.
Eventually, Aquila finally took the first step to enlightenment, mastering her body and mind. She took to the lessons quickly, but was pulled aside by the Abbess one day, and put into advanced training. Here she was taught to manipulate her magic to improve herself.
Here, Aquila picks up both levels of Monk, adding Wisdom to AC, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, and Combat Reflexes. She’s got fifth level spells now, so that’s a lot of neat tricks. Sanctify Natural Attack modifies her fists because they are treated as both natural weapons and manufactured weapons for the purpose of effects that enhance those weapons. She punches like a ninth level Battle Dancer, but has the ability to penetrate damage reduction X/Good and X/Magic. Her fists are treated as +2 weapons at this point as well. She has evasion, and with her ridiculous save modifiers after everything she adds, she’s highly unlikely to fail Reflex saves. Then you toss in such nice things as Stunning Fist or her Stunning Glance to set up Flurry next turn, to make up for the penalty, since she doesn’t get improvements on her Flurry. Her once per day dimension door also covers for Abundant Step, though it’s not as high a caster level.
Her monastery was attacked by demons while she was on a pilgrimage to another temple of Ilmater, and she returned to see the demons lounging. She was furious, and charged them, fighting the entire horde to a standstill, using her skills and powers to the best of her ability, defeating them. After she put the bodies to rest, she left, to become more powerful and to establish her own temple.
Accursed Level Adjustment. Seri-effing-ously. She picks up two levels of Sacred Fist. This gives her sixth level spells, a Fast Movement, gains the ability to add eight damage that is half fire and half divine, like Flamestrike, to her fists, the ability to afflict her foes with Golden Ice, as well as Snap Kick adding a fourth attack to her Flurry routine or a third to her standard full attack.

[Sian]

by and large, a misfit, but a surprisingly elegant one.


Sean

AL CG: Goliath : Ninja 3 /Barbarian 3 /OA Shaman 3 /Shou Disciple 5 /Uncanny Trickster 1 /Forsaker 3 /Uncanny Trickster +2

Character Background

Background
Sean grew up an orphan in a large town in the middle of noplace. he was taught the city’s best style of fighting in the known world by the Academy. and quickly learned that he had to be both vicious and talented to survive. The rules stifled him a little since all he originally wanted to do was dance,he took the time to practice his stealth whenever he went out to dance the night away. Quite the street thug, he made some of his living dancing, for whomever would pay him for it.
In the summer of his 17th year, he begain training as a ninja, and quickly became known for how easily he went into a rage. It was an elder man that taught him the art of unarmed combat and who encouraged him to stay the path, which he did becoming a shou disciple. This also saw him go astray with his uncanny tricks and particular tricks that he picked up through training. once again the elder spoke with him and encouraged him to give up magic, and in fact most material posessions in an attempt to bring a sense or order to the chaotic Sean. even with giving up all magic & most material things, Sean found it much easier to focus his talents even though they were still chaotic in nature.


Character Abilities


Racial Atributes
+4 Str, –2 Dex, +2 Con

32 point buy
Str 13 Dex 15 Con 12 Int 16 Wis 12 Cha 09

Abilities

Str 17 Dex 13 Con 14 Int 16 Wis 12 Cha 09

lv 4: Cha +1
VOP 7: Dex +2
lv 8: Wis +1
VOP 11: Dex+2, Con+2
lv 12: Wis +1
VOP 15: Dex+2, Con+2, Wis+2
lv 16: Str +1
forsaker 17: Cha +1
forsaker 18: Dex +1
VOP 19: Dex+2, Con+2, Wis+2, Str+2
forsaker 19: Wis +1
forsaker lv4: Wis +1
forsaker lv5: Str +1
lv 20: Cha +1

@20th
Str 21 Dex 22 Con 20 Int 16 Wis 20 Cha 12
*LA buyback @ECL 4
* forsaker lv4 ability bonus +1, dr 5/+2, SR14
* forsaker lv5 ability bonus +1, fast healing 2(30), SR15


Racial

Goliath (RoS p56)
Monstrous Humanoid
speed is 30 feet
Medium
Languages: Common, Gol-Kaa
Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Giant, Gnoll
Favored Class: Barbarian
+2 bonus on Sense Motive checks
Powerful Build, Mountain Movement, Acclimated
Level adjustment +1

Useing LA Buyback at ECL 4
The character must pay an amount of XP equal to (his current ECL – 1) × 1,000 xp
(ECL 4-1=3X1,000= 3,000 xp)
*Note (I left the LA listed at ECL 1 and just added level 21 to reflect the 20 class levels)


VOP

1st AC bonus +4
2nd -
3rd AC bonus +5, endure elements
4th Exalted strike +1 (magic)
5th Sustenance
6th AC bonus +6, deflection +1
7th Resistance +1, ability score enhancement +2
8th Natural armor +1, mind shielding
9th AC bonus +7
10th Exalted strike +2 (good), damage reduction 5/magic
11th Ability score enhancement +4/+2
12th AC bonus +8, deflection +2, greater sustenance
13th Resistance +2, energy resistance 5
14th Exalted strike +3, freedom of movement
15th AC bonus +9, ability score enhancement +6/+4/+2, damage reduction 5/evil
16th Natural armor +2
17th Exalted strike +4, resistance +3, regeneration
18th AC bonus +10, deflection +3, true seeing, bonus exalted feat (Sanctify Natural Attack)
19th Ability score enhancement +8/+6/+4/+2, damage reduction 10/evil
20th Exalted strike +5, energy resistance 15, bonus exalted feat (Exalted Spell Resistance)


ACF's

Fangshields Barbarian Substitution Levels (CV p40): must be nonhumanoid <Goliath>
3rd level: Fast Charge (increased movement when charging), replaces trap sense

Spiritual Totem Barbarian (CC, p 46): Lose fast movement, gain one of the following:
Lion Totem: Gain Pounce ability

Whirling Frenzy Barbarian ACF (UA p66)
enters a rage, he temporarily gains a +4 bonus to Strength and a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class and on Reflex saves make one extra attack in a round at his highest base attack bonus at –2 penalty as does each other attack made that round


Skill Tricks

Extreme Leap: Horizontal jump of at least 10 feet allows 10 extra feet of movement that round
Acrobatic Backstab: Move through foe’s space to render it flat-footed
Back on Your Feet: React immediately to stand up from prone
Collector of Stories: Gain +5 bonus on Knowledge checks to identify monsters
Twisted Charge: Make one direction change during a charge
Nimble Charge: Run or charge across difficult surface without Balance check
Timely Misdirection: Successful feint allows you to avoid attacks of opportunity




Effective Character Levels
Effective Character Levels



Level
Class/Prc
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features


1st
Ninja
0
0
2
0
Balance 4, Bluff 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 4, Jump 4, Move Silently 4, Open Lock 4, Sleight of Hand 4, Tumble 4
dodge
Ki power, sudden strike +1d6, trapfinding


2nd
Ninja
1
0
3
0
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Escape Artist 5, Hide 5, Jump 5, Move Silently 5, Open Lock 5, Sleight of Hand 5, Tumble 5
Sacred Vow
Ghost step (invisible)


3rd
Ninja
2
1
3
1
Balance 6, Bluff 6, Escape Artist 6, Hide 6, Jump 6, Move Silently 6, Open Lock 6, Sleight of Hand 6, Tumble 6
-
Sudden strike +2d6, poison use


4th
Barbarian
3
3
3
1
Balance 7cc, Bluff 7cc, Jump 7, Move Silently 7cc, Tumble 7cc, ST:Extreme Leap
-
Pounce, illiteracy, rage 1/day


5th
Barbarian
4
4
3
1
Balance 8cc, Bluff 8cc, Jump 8, Move Silently 8cc, Tumble 8cc, knowledge local (shou expatriate) 2
great fortitude
uncanny dodge


6th
Barbarian
5
4
4
2
Balance 9cc, Bluff 9cc, Jump 9, Move Silently 9cc, Tumble 9cc, knowledge local (shou expatriate) 4
-
Fast Charge +10ft


7th
OA Shaman
5
4
4
4
Balance 10cc, Bluff 10cc, Jump 10cc, Move Silently 10cc, Tumble 10cc, knowledge local (shou expatriate) 6
improved unarmed strike
Unarmed strike (UAS 1d6), animal companion, Knowledge [Domain], Travel [Domain]


8th
OA Shaman
6
4
4
5
Balance 11cc, Bluff 11cc, Jump 11cc, Move Silently 11cc, Tumble 11cc, knowledge local (shou expatriate) 8
weapon focus (unarmed)
Spirit sight


9th
OA Shaman
7
5
5
5
Balance 12cc, Bluff 12cc, Jump 12cc, Move Silently 12cc, Tumble 12cc, knowledge local (shou expatriate) 10
-
Turn undead


10th
Shou Disciple
8
7
7
5
Balance 13, Jump 13, Tumble 13, ST:Acrobatic Backstab
-
dodge bonus +1, unarmed strike (uas 1d6)


11th
Shou Disciple
9
8
8
5
Balance 14, Jump 14, Tumble 14, ST:Back on Your Feet
lightning reflexes
uas 1d8, dodge bonus+2, bonus feat (power attack)


12th
Shou Disciple
10
8
8
6
Balance 15, Jump 15, Move Silently 14, Tumble 15
-
uas 1d10, dodge bonus+2, martial flurry light


13th
Shou Disciple
11
9
9
6
Balance 16, Jump 16, Move Silently 16, Tumble 16
-
uas 1d10, dodge bonus+3, bonus feat (combat reflexes)


14th
Shou Disciple
12
9
9
7
Balance 17, Jump 17, Move Silently 17, Open Lock 7cc, Tumble 17
iron will
uas 2d6, dodge bonus+3, martial flurry any


15th
Uncanny Trickster 1
12
9
11
7
Balance 18, Jump 18, Move Silently 18, Open Lock 9, Sleight of Hand 9, Tumble 18, BST:Twisted Charge
-
Bonus trick, favorite trick


16th
Forsaker 1
13
11
11
9
Balance 19cc, Jump 19, Move Silently 19cc, Open Lock 10cc, Tumble 19
-
ability bonus +1 inherent, fast healing 1(10), forsake magic, SR 11


17th
Forsaker 2
14
12
11
10
Balance 20cc, Jump 20, Move Silently 20cc, Sleight of Hand 10cc, Tumble 20
Vow of Poverty
ability bonus +1 inherent, dr 3/+1, magic destruction, SR12


18th
Forsaker 3
15
12
12
10
Balance 21cc, Move Silently 21cc, Open Lock 11cc, Sleight of Hand 11cc, Tumble 21
-
ability bonus +1, fast healing 1(20), natural weapons, tough defense, SR13


19th
Uncanny Trickster 2
16
12
13
10
Balance 22, Escape Artist 10, Jump 22, Move Silently 22, Tumble 22, BST:Timely Misdirection
-
Bonus trick, favorite trick, +1 level of existing class features (forsaker lv4)


20th
Uncanny Trickster 3
17
13
13
11
Balance 23, Bluff 13, Escape Artist 12, Jump 23, Move Silently 23, Open Lock 12, Sleight of Hand 12, Tumble 23, BST:Nimble Charge
-
Bonus trick, favorite trick, tricky defense, +1 level of existing class features (forsaker lv5)

[Sian]

And there they are... Gee, 3 Vow of Poverty and an Elder Evil ...

[dysprosium]

I am taken by surprise for all of these entries. None of them went the way I was thinking. Vow of Poverty never even crossed my mind (and Elder Evil worship doesn't normally either).

I would like to say that I will find time to judge these in true DwtS fashion.

[Jurai]

And what way were you thinking, Dysprosium?

[dysprosium]

And what way were you thinking, Dysprosium?

Mine was only in the planning stages but I was looking at Unarmed Swordsage 20 as the build itself. A lot of the Battle Dancer class abilities seemed to be able to be emulated with skill tricks and feats and a maneuver or two.

But like I said earlier, I got voted out early in one of those shocking elimination ceremonies. Cheryl and I were disappointed but we wish the remaining contestants the best of luck!

[Jurai]

I had an idea that involved Monk/Sorcerer and Ascetic Mage, but that would have been cliche.

[AvatarVecna]

I am taken by surprise for all of these entries. None of them went the way I was thinking. Vow of Poverty never even crossed my mind (and Elder Evil worship doesn't normally either).

I would like to say that I will find time to judge these in true DwtS fashion.

I like VoP, both in general (it's wonderfully flavorful, even if it's not optimal), for these competitions in specific (since I can't assume items, I like knowing what the full build would be capable of anyway), and for Battle Dancer in particular (it's an Cha-based unarmed combatant that isn't fully dependent on items at the highest levels). As soon as I saw the SI, I knew I'd be making a VoP build. Now, I wouldn't have claimed VoP if I'd been the only one using it (like in the Dwarven Defender IC round, when only two of the 21 builds used VoP), but seeing as there's only one guy not using it...


I had an idea that involved Monk/Sorcerer and Ascetic Mage, but that would have been cliche.

TBH the first idea I had was a Monk/Dervish combo that somehow becomes Cha-SAD. I scrapped the idea because making a Cha-SAD Monk/Dervish not such is beyond my optimization skills.

[samduke]

TBH the first idea I had was a Monk/Dervish .
heh like you one of the first ideas I ran through was this, but figured it was on the everyone would use it or expected thus deduction potential

[Svata]

Yeah, I won't be able to judge anything until Monday, I just learned that I'm likely going out of town for the weekend, back to the land of no internet access. Sorry guys...

[Sian]

How are the judging going around at the respective judges?

[Svata]

I have only just begun.

[ZamielVanWeber]

I am slowed down by copious wedding planning, so I have gotten through the first one and a half, sorry.

[j_spencer93]

Wish I had seen this in time, have a nice monk/dervish build that works.

[samduke]

Wish I had seen this in time, have a nice monk/dervish build that works.

yeah if you have a build for it share/post it, as it would not affect this round , unless of course your saving it for a future round?

[Sian]

given that a future round wouldn't ask for Battle Dancer, a build emulating battle dancer wouldn't do much good to save.

[samduke]

did we have more than the 1 judge this round?

[Sian]

Zamiel, Svata and dysprosium have all mentioned interest in judging the builds

[Svata]

Yeah, but life's been busy. If I can't do it today, I don't know that I'll be able to at all.

[samduke]

Yeah, but life's been busy. If I can't do it today, I don't know that I'll be able to at all.

well busy RL is understandable but there are still about 5 days left to judge

[Svata]

If I'm not done tomorrow, I won't be. Leaving town Sunday, will be back Tuesday at the soonest. Won't have Internet while I'm there.

[Sian]

soo... Judges?

[dysprosium]

I am working on it.

Hopefully it will be entertaining as well as judge-y

[AvatarVecna]

Working on it...slowly, but working on it.

[Sian]

If anyone got interesting ideas for future Ingredients, i'm contineously collecting to list.

[samduke]

so its judgement day

some few hours left judges ... ?


is it becoming a trend to run over time ?

maybe its to hard to judge a few dishes here, I know at one point this was running its build time while IronChef was in judging and judging while IC was in building...


just wondering??

[dysprosium]

I've hardly ever been on time, even when I was the Chair here. :smallwink:

That said, I am working on judgment and should be up today (hopefully on time).

[Sian]

need another day?

[AvatarVecna]

need another day?

Actually, it occurred to me that my response that I was working on my judgements was placed in the wrong thread; namely, this one, where I've submitted a build; needless to say, it turns out I won't actually be judging.

[samduke]

need another day?

looks that way maybe extend it some, then have the next SI build portion held off to alternate off iron chef perhaps..
just a suggestion

[dysprosium]

Apparently I did need the extra day. :smallsigh:

A note from dysprosium before beginning
Confession time. Once upon a time I used to watch Dancing with the Stars, but stopped sometime after Season 6 or 7. I think they just finished Season 20 here in America not too long ago. I hope that even someone who has never watched the show can get some enjoyment out of this judging, though those that have will probably find it more amusing. Apologies to all of the real cast of Dancing with the Stars that I have parodied here.

And here is my normal judging criteria. It has been adjusted for use in Zinc Saucier.
First of all, though some may not agree with this assessment, I believe that the four categories are interrelated. It’s more of an observation really. I’ve noticed that by really trying to score high in one category can create a drop in one or more of the others. Second, my scoring style is more organic, that is to say that you might not necessarily be able to say definitively that you were awarded 0.5 for a particular thing or penalized 0.25 for another. All categories start at 3 and are adjusted from there which makes 12 an average score.
Originality: This seems easy enough. Try and come up with an idea that has not been thought up before. However just because you pick some weird monster or race out of Monster Manual Infinity does not necessarily mean that the entire idea is original. Also how does your idea stack against your fellow competitors? Does your story catch my interest and make me want to read more? Do you have more for me to read? Did I roll my eyes as I read the entry?
Power: OK so you’re a powerhouse and can do ungodly amounts of damage. That is not that impressive if you can be easily charmed into OMGsmashing your party by an opposing spellcaster. Also do you rely on other things to make you go? Does your DMM Persist Cleric rely on nightstick stacking or does your Shadowdancer rely on a Mobility feat from his armor to qualify for that class? Also how relevant are you in different situations? Social power is power too. I hope I made my point here. Are you viable and playable at all levels or is there a certain maturation process that has to take place?
Elegance: Call me old fashioned but I believe certain things should stay in certain settings. Please don’t tell me about your warforged Wizard from Sharn studying at the Library in Silverymoon using the Greyhawk Method. Don’t tell me about how you sold your soul to an Elder Evil, a Demon Prince, and an Archdevil (all to gain bonus feats) all while proclaiming your innocence before the Seven Heavens of Celestia for that prestige class you really want to get into. Do you qualify for all of your feats and prestige classes? Have you provided a list of sources to make judging easier? Are you basing the entire premise of your build on questionable rules?
Emulation of the Secret Ingredient: How much of the SI do you emulate? Is it a central part of your theme or is it just an add on to some other kind of build with things being taken to satisfy the parameters of the competition? Does your build showcase the class abilities of the SI? How does it all tie together? Does the build feel like it would be a strong member of the SI?
Tom: Hello! And welcome back to this special edition of Dancing with the Stars! I’m Tom Bergeron.
Erin: And I’m Erin And-
Tom: And we’ve got a special show for you today.
Erin: [eyeroll]
Tom: We have here the final three contestants to win the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy!
Erin: Actually Tom, there are four contestants here.
Tom: But the Finals always include three.
Erin: But this isn’t our regular show. This is the special Zinc Saucier edition!
Tom: Wait? What?
Erin: You didn’t read the memos again, did you Tom?
Tom: Nope.
Erin: [eyeroll] This is the Dungeons and Dragons edition. These contestants emulated the class features of the base class Battle Dancer out of the Dragon Magazine Compendium.
Tom: That’s this week?
Erin: [eyeroll] Yes, Tom. That’s this week.
Tom: Why didn’t you say so? This week is the special Zinc Saucier edition of Dancing with the Stars!
Erin: [eyeroll] Ugh!
Tom: [aside to Erin]You know, Erin, Brooke was much more fun than you are. [resumes] And now let’s introduce our judges! These judges will be giving out their scores based upon the four categories of Zinc Saucier!
Erin: Each judge will take on one of the categories: Originality, Power, Elegance and Emulation of the Secret Ingredient.
Tom: Erin, what is the Secret Ingredient?
Erin: [eyeroll] Battle Dancer. I just mentioned that.
Tom: Oh right. I guess I wasn’t listening. And here are our judges! First up for the Originality score is Carrie Ann Inaba. As one of the original Fly Girls from In Living Color, she got the Originality category. And she proves that you can get a job after In Living Color if your name doesn’t end in Wayans.
Carrie Ann: You know Tom, plenty of other people got jobs after the show ended too. Jim Carrey, ring a bell? Jennifer Lopez? She was one of the Fly Girls too. Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for crying out loud!
Tom: Carrie Ann, I think you might have ruined the joke. Besides I never heard of them and I don’t get the reference.
Erin: [eyeroll] Our second judge is our newcomer judge Julianne Hough. She will discuss each of the contestants’ Power score.
Tom: And I’d love to hear what she would say about my power!
Julianne: Eww! Like I would ever comment on an old guy like you!
Erin: You dated Ryan Seacrest.
Julianne: Ugh, don’t remind me of my past contractual agreements.
Tom: Next up is our head judge Len Goodman. Len is a man of elegance and style so it was natural that he got the Elegance category. Len what do you think of our contestants?
Len: Honestly, I don’t know why we’re doing this. None of these contestants actually danced in front of us. How are we supposed to score them? And why do I feel a distinct Lord of the Rings feel around here?
Tom: That’s the spirit, Len! Our final judge is Bruno Tonioli. He will judge the Emulation category.
Bruno: Yes! And I’m quite excited about it! My score is . . . TEN!
Len: You always give out tens.
Bruno: You’re too critical! Watch as they dance before us, in those wonderful outfits! Enjoy yourself for once. TEN!
Erin: Bruno, you know the highest score in any one category is five.
Bruno: Five? Really? I think I threw out my paddle with the number five on it.

Erin: Before we start with the scoring we should probably go through what is different.
Bruno: TEN!
Tom: What could possibly be different, Erin? The contestants dance. The judges give out tens. The audience votes who they like best even if they show no actual talent for dancing. This is the cushiest gig in show business!
Erin: [eyeroll] For you maybe, Tom. But since this is for Zinc Saucier, we had to make some adjustments. Like was mentioned in the memo you didn’t read.
Bruno: TEN!
Julianne: Not yet, Bruno. They didn’t call out our names.
Len: He doesn’t listen. That’s why he gets along so well with Tom.
Carrie Ann: Please go on, Erin.
Erin: Thank you, Carrie Ann. Each of the judges were given a crash course of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Edition by former contestant dysprosium.
Tom: What? You mean one of the former contestants is indirectly judging this?
Erin: Yes. Even though he and Cheryl were voted out earlier by the Demon Real Life, they are still involved in the contest itself. Besides, our judges do not know the game that this contest is based on.
Julianne: Exactly, Carrie Ann and I are too pretty to know anything about that nerd stuff. And Len is too old to care.
Len: I’m not old, young lady. I am just set in my ways.
Bruno: TEN!

Tom: And now for our first contestant! She’s no ordinary housecat!

The Siberian 14
Carrie Ann (Originality): 4
You’re certainly one pretty kitty! Even though your race is unique this round, you were one of three to take Vow of Poverty. Bard, Jade Phoenix Mage and Sublime Chord were all unexpected. Spells are the usual go to for emulations of things but the Bard spell list is usually not what is called upon often.
Julianne (Power): 4
Vow of Poverty is one of those things that give bigger numbers but can be terribly hard to roleplay. To make up for these shortcomings you have spells and maneuvers. But you have to get to those first. There is a maturation process that could hinder your playability at the earlier levels. But when you get there you are there. And that’s all my card hard to say on this.
Len (Elegance): 2.5
Well first of all, we have to deduct you one point automatically for the use of the flaw. We understand why you needed it--to get Vow of Poverty at 1st Level and the extra bonus Exalted feat. You may also have to get permission to use the Faerun specific Exalted feat Liira’s Blessing. You never specified that you were in the Realms but some DMs are going to disallow it if you are not playing there. You also have the classic problem of those who take the Vow so early—what do you do with all of those Exalted feats? Some of them seem like they are tacked on, but a bonus is a bonus. Vow of Obedience is the big question mark to me, especially since you had explained Nymph’s Kiss so well in the background. What organization do you owe your fealty to? Did you really pick an [Evil] spell on your Exalted build too (veil of undeath)?
Bruno (Emulation): 3.5
You have embraced the wonderful fluff of the Battle Dancer. You move with freedom after you have broken your chains that had bound your spirit in those gladiatorial games. You are also the one contestant who actually has ranks in Perform (dance)! I like the use of Ascetic Mage to get Charisma to AC like the Battle Dancer does. I would have liked to have a showcase of all of the emulations exactly for a point by point analysis. You cover your bases though.

Erin: Our second contestant is vile for a reason!

Al X Goodenuff 13.75 14
Carrie Ann (Originality): 3
Our only human and our only totally evil character here. Monks and the like were expected this round though. These two factors balance each other out for the average score. Your fluff entry is minimal (and I’m kicking myself for not getting the obvious movie reference). I’m greedy when it comes to stories and would have liked a little more as it helps give the impression that he is more than just a bunch of numbers.
Julianne (Power): 3.5
So you’re a Monk with a lot of the best alternate class features available to you. However, you’re still a Monk. On the plus side, you can actually make use of WBL unlike our other participants. The dark template is also a nice addition to your build and adds to your overall performance. If you could have stuck the Darkstalker feat in there it would be even better at stealth. Penetrating strike is great, but it comes online very late for you. Giantbane and Pebble Underfoot are also great feats for what you want but it too comes a little later than my own personal preference and is a little too situational for a medium sized creature. If you were a smaller race or had reliable access to some kind of size reducer, these would be more beneficial. Slave of Evil is dependant upon your Elder Evil’s power sign and if the campaign is not going that way, this can be a minimally useful feat. That’s what it says on my card by the way. I don’t have a preference either way.
Len (Elegance): 2.5 2.75
Well it looks like you qualify for all of your feats and prestige class. That’s a plus. However you have some DM dependent factors here. Obviously your character is from the Forgotten Realms which might make it a problem if your character was not being played there. You also are dedicated to an Elder Evil. Though setting neutral, these things are dependent upon the DM if these are going to be included in the Realms. You also make use of the Lightbringer Guild from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. There are two issues with this one. First this is an organization that exists outside of Faerun altogether (and depending upon how you play Ravenloft, it might not even be on the same plane!). The second issue is that this is a known good organization dedicated to fighting undead. Considering your proclivity to Evil, you might not be allowed to enter this organization.
Bruno (Emulation): 4.75
If there is only one thing to pick on, it is the fact that the Battle Dancer embraces the Chaotic alignment (as they are Chaotic only) and Al is Lawful. It is understandable given your class choices but that difference is still there. Especially since you were so complete in matching everything else up. I like the showcase presented that lets us know how you emulate the Battle Dancer. You have all of them matched up in a neat little table. What is also nice is the fact that you didn’t go the whole spells do everything I need route. You found ways to emulate a class feature with some other kind of class feature.

Tom: Next up is someone too good looking to care!

Aquila Frostheart 13.5
Carrie Ann (Originality): 3
Here we have our only fey and it’s a nymph. Sacred Fist is a good combination class considering your race choice and the expected Monk choice. Though she is also a Vow of Poverty character like two of the other contestants. You have a good start for your background fluff (and like I’ve said above, I’m greedy when it comes to these kinds of things).
Julianne (Power): 3
I’m just reading off the card here. You are more nerfed than you mention. To be a viable character, the nymph with 6 HD and a +7 LA means that she can’t start unitl ECL 13. So that means that it is a higher level campaign to start and you are already behind. Touch of Golden Ice is extremely weak for when you get it at ECL 19 since it has a fixed DC Fortitude save. Most opponents at that level can just shrug off the effects. You have Druid casting coupled with your blinding beauty and that can help with both versatility and changing the course of the battle.
Len (Elegance): 3.75
Well you take the entire Level Adjustment and you should be applauded for that. However it would be considered more correct to list your ECL instead of class level. At the end, you are an ECL 20 character, not an ECL 13 character. It is also customary to fill out all of the skill ranks (even if they can be filled in with whatever). Tumble is not on the class list for nymphs so these need to be bought cross class. Your bonus Exalted feats do not seem tacked on either, but that could be most likely because of that +7 LA. With all that said though you seem to qualify for all of your feats and prestige class.
Bruno (Emulation): 3.75
Gorgeous! Amazing! Ahh! I can’t see! You have the most Charisma of all of the contestants. If only she would embrace the Chaotic nature of both her race and emulated class! Like Al above, given your class choices you were pegged to be in the opposite side of the alignment pool. You have a showcase, though it is not as complete as Al’s. Though some of your emulated features come from other class features, most of your emulations come through spells. There are things that make you seem like a Battle Dancer but I’m not feeling Battle Dancer. I’m feeling more faerie defender.

Erin: And finally, he may be a goliath but that doesn’t stop him from dancing!

Sean 11.75
Carrie Ann (Originality): 4
Oh my! You’re a big guy aren’t you? Goliath is not an expected race and not one of your classes was on my radar for this ingredient. However you took Vow of Poverty, later than the others, but still there. Also as mentioned, I am greedy for more backstory. It helps to know more about you and your motivations which helps tie everything together.
Julianne (Power): 2.5
Look, I don’t know what any of this stuff means. Hopefully you do. This build has a problem in that I’m not sure exactly what it is supposed to do. It seems like it is a skillmonkey type but some of the skill selections do not support that role—trapfinding but no Search or Disable Device skills for example. You have lots of Bluff ranks but a low Charisma to offset this. The Shaman’s turn undead is stifled by the low Charisma as well. Then it moves to a melee type with Barbarian and Shou Disciple. Shou Disciple taken up to Level 5 is great for incorporating flurries with any kind of weapon. But you have given up all weapons with Forsaker/Vow of Poverty. In theory Forsaker is a good pair up with the Vow of Poverty but both of these are coming online a little late. Part of this problem is the feat tax for Forsaker—all of the +2 to saves feats. Your build is feat starved already and these could have been used elsewhere. Maybe just taken one of the two choices. Forsaker also hurts the Shaman choice—you lose the little spellcasting you had available to you. And if the DM plays the animal companion part as written, you could lose your animal companion too once becoming a Forsaker.
Len (Elegance): 2.5
It has been mentioned already that you are all over the place with this build. The table also seems to have your character feats being granted at the wrong levels. Even with an LA buyback, the character feats are still going to be at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18. These are all moved up to incorrect levels. The Shaman from Oriental Adventures can cause issues because of the animal companion feature. As written it was to emulate the 3.0 Druid which has been superceded by how animal companions are in 3.5. You also have Shou Disciple which is setting specific so DMs may limit its inclusion in their campaigns. At least you have the Knowledge skills to be able to qualify if allowed. Forsaker has a fluff requirement that would need to be met. That’s a completely DM fiat and the story given does not have enough to qualify for that. You also don’t qualify for Uncanny Trickster when you take it as you only have three listed skill tricks and you need four. You have collector of stories listed in your skill tricks section but your build table does not say when it is taken.
Bruno (Emulation): 2.75
You have fully embraced the chaos within you with every choice you made. However, you do not have an emulation showcase to explain how you are a Battle Dancer. I can see where some of the connections are but it would be nice for you to tell me also. That said, I’m not sure how it all ties together. You don’t even have Perform (dance) and with a starting Charisma of 9, you sadly won’t be a very good one either. The other two builds without Perform (dance) have the Charisma to at least make checks more successfully.
Tom: So that’s it from the judges. Now we turn to you, the audience. Call our toll free number or go to our website to vote for your favorite.
Erin: Wait, Tom! That’s not part of the Zinc Saucier process.
Tom: Doesn’t the audience get a say in all of this?
Erin: [eyeroll] Not the way you are describing. The memo. Remember?
Tom: Memo?
Bruno: TEN!
Erin: Good night everybody!

[Sian]

Posting whatever disputes there is in ~2 hours before I go to bed, and unless theres any new disputes before I wake tomorrow and Dys has answered them, i'm starting the next round tomorrow morning.

While getting it in sync with Iron Chef is nice, that would need the judging to have been done faster than the allocated two weeks, as the next round, in sync, should have had started the previous monday (20th for those counting at home)

[Sian]

Dispute Time

Al X Goodenuff:


Al X Goodenuff 13.75
Carrie Ann (Originality): 3
Your fluff entry is minimal (and I’m kicking myself for not getting the obvious movie reference). I’m greedy when it comes to stories and would have liked a little more as it helps give the impression that he is more than just a bunch of numbers.
My hope was that the movie reference would be obvious enough to enhance the story. Alexander Godunov (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0324231/) was a Russian ballet dancer during the Soviet era. He defected to the U.S. and joined the American Ballet Theater (first picture), until he was kicked out by fellow Soviet defector Mikhail Baryshnikov. Alex had a well-received small role in Witness and after that a memorable part as a heavy in the Bruce Willis movie Die Hard (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095016/combined) (second picture). Following that role, every producer wanted him to play a similar evil, brooding character. Alex drank himself to death at age 45.


Julianne (Power): 3.5
So you’re a Monk with a lot of the best alternate class features available to you. However, you’re still a Monk.
Different judges have different expectations for Power. In particular, some deduct heavily if you greatly exceed the Power of the Secret Ingredient. Because the SI here is a weak one, I tried to exceed its Power slightly (though in diverse ways, with the template, class features, ACFs, and Vile feats). Obviously I had no advance notice of your particular criteria.


Len (Elegance): 2.5
You also are dedicated to an Elder Evil. Though setting neutral, these things are dependent upon the DM if these are going to be included in the Realms. There's built-in support for this Elder Evil in Faerûn; see "PANDORYM IN FAERÛN" on page 82 of Elder Evils. Now, obviously a DM could exclude Elder Evils from their Forgotten Realms game, but that would involve a house rule.

First this is an organization that exists outside of Faerun altogether (and depending upon how you play Ravenloft, it might not even be on the same plane!). The second issue is that this is a known good organization dedicated to fighting undead. Considering your proclivity to Evil, you might not be allowed to enter this organization.

Regarding the first point:
This adventure is intended for use in any DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game.
As to the second point, the Lightbringers is not a Good-aligned organization. It is adamantly opposed to Undead. Most affiliates opposed to Undead are Good-aligned, but Lightbringers itself has no alignment stipulations. Lightbringers would happily hunt down and kill a Good-aligned Necropolitan, for example. The information about this organization starts on page 204 of Expedition to Castle Ravenlof. Entry to the Lightbringers requires fees (which a character without Vow of Poverty can manage), and 4 ranks in an associated skill. Al X. Goodenuff has 19 ranks in Knowledge (religion), which more than adequately satisfies that entry requirement (and lets him identify most Undead with his Knowledge checks).

I checked suitability of Lightbringers (both in terms of setting and alignment) beforehand, and I think I've adhered to the RAW.

Sean:


First and formost I wish it to be know that the chair asked for a resubmit from what was originally submitted as they felt the judge(s) might be to confused and I felt it was fine, but resubmitted anyways.

originally the build chart was level 1 through 21 to reflect the LA and all the feats would have been properly alligned and when resubmitted I forgot to realign the feats when renumbering the levels.


Julianne (Power): 2.5- what it is supposed to do

it is supposed to emulate the SI battle dancer, within the classes chosen.


Len (Elegance): 2.5 - It has been mentioned already that you are all over the place with this build. The table also seems to have your character feats being granted at the wrong levels - fluff requirement that would need to be met. That’s a completely DM fiat - You also don’t qualify for Uncanny Trickster when you take it as you only have three listed skill tricks and you need four

refer to above explaination, as for the fluff it was attempted to be incorperated into the background..
as for uncanny trickster again failure to realign things properly after being asked to resubmit..

Bruno (Emulation): 2.75 - ehh hes a goliath what can I say...except that you have the final stats incorrect @20th they are: Str 21 Dex 22 Con 20 Int 16 Wis 20 Cha 12

Addendum:

Formal protest: that the judge is giving a deduction based on perferm (dance) as it is not required nor used as in portion of any ability within the class itself.


Furthermore some of Seans intended dispute is, as seen from the Chair more of an (highly belated) addendum to the character than a proper Dispute, and should in this Chairs mind be seen and commended on as such.


SI: Battle dancer (emulation explanation):

Characteristics: Battle dancers are skilled combatants who use their unarmed attacks to overwhelm their foes

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A battle dancer is proficient with all simple weapons is not proficient with any type of armor or shield.

AC Bonus (Ex): When unarmored and unencumbered, the battle dancer adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her AC.

Unarmed Strike: A battle dancer uses unarmed strikes in a manner similar to a monk, The battle dancer's unarmed attacks deal lethal
damage, medium 2d8 / large 4d8

Dance of Reckless Bravery (Su): gain a +4 bonus on saves against fear effects for a number of rounds equal to 5 + the battle dancer's Charisma modifier

Bonus Speed (Ex): gains a +10 foot bonus to speed at 4th level. gains additional +10-foot bonuses at 10th level and 16th level

Dance of the Vexing Snake (Su): dancer with 8 ranks in Tumble gains the ability to dodge her opponent's blows with her sudden, unpredictable maneuvers. can use the Tumble skill to move at her normal speed without penalty

Dancer's Strike (Su): These auras can defeat an opponent's damage reduction. The battle dancer can generate this aura as a standard action at will. It persists for a number of rounds equal to 5 + the battle dancer's Charisma modifier before it fades.

Dance of the Floating Step (Su): The battle dancer moves with such grace and speed that can dance across water. Tumble can cross the surface of a liquid, such as water
or magma, without taking damage or sinking below the surface.

Dance of the Springing Tiger (Su): When charging, she can attempt a DC 20 Tumble check. If she succeeds, may make a full attack rather than a standard attack as part of charge.

Dance of the Crushing Python (Su): 17 ranks in Tumble can rain a series of hammering blows upon a foe. must use the Tumble skill to enter her opponent's space without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Dance of the Soaring Eagle (Su): 20 ranks in Tumble gains a fly speed equal to base land speed with average maneuverability

Dance of Death's Embrace (Su): 23 ranks in Tumble can perform a vicious, deadly dance to defeat opponent. If succeeds, any time makes a successful attack gainst designated target deals +2d6 points of damage

The battle dancer's class skills (and the key ability foreach skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).

Alignment: Any chaotic.
Hit Die: d8.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier)

********
Sean uses unarmed attacks to overcome his foes

he has preficiency with simple weapons but does not use them nor armor

gains bonuses to AC from VOP AC bonus +10, deflection +3, Natural armor +2

gains lethal unarmed strike bonus from the following classes,
OA Shaman +1d6
Shou Disciple +2d6
(Sanctify Natural Attack)
Exalted strike +5

saves vs. fear:resistance +3, mind shielding,

bonus to speed: Extreme Leap: Horizontal jump of at least 10 feet allows 10 extra feet of movement that round, Fast Charge +10ft

Dance of the Vexing Snake (Su): skill tricks

Dancer's Strike (Su): (Sanctify Natural Attack) Exalted strike +5 (good), true seeing

Dance of the Floating Step (Su): Nimble Charge: Run or charge across difficult surface without Balance check, Twisted Charge: Make one direction change during a charge, Acrobatic Backstab: Move through foe’s space to render it flat-footed

Dance of the Springing Tiger (Su): Spiritual Totem Barbarian (CC, p 46): Lose fast movement, gain one of the following: Lion Totem: Gain Pounce ability

Dance of the Crushing Python (Su): Timely Misdirection: Successful feint allows you to avoid attacks of opportunity, Nimble Charge: Run or charge across difficult surface without Balance check, Twisted Charge: Make one direction change during a charge, Acrobatic Backstab: Move through foe’s space to render it flat-footed

Dance of the Soaring Eagle (Su): probly the only ability not emulated in some fasion

Dance of Death's Embrace (Su): gains sudden strike +2d6

Skills that Sean has access to whether he takes them as ranks or not

Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex)

Alignment: Any chaotic. - sean is chaotic
Hit Die: d8. - HD should average out to D8 or really close
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) SP should average out to 4+ or really close

[dysprosium]

Tom: And we're back from commercial! It appears that some of the entrants did have something to say after all. I told you Erin!
Erin: Well I did say things are different for Zinc Saucier. Just imagine if the contestants in our regular series got a chance to complain in front of the judges
Len: They do. And they have. And I remember for the next week's dance.
Tom: Well let's see what a couple of the contestants had to say. Al has some points for Carrie Ann, Julianne and Len.
Carrie Ann: I knew I recognized him from somewhere! Thanks for that.
Julianne: Look I have no idea what these people are talking about! And I just got handed a card. It's true that some judges in past rounds have knocked builds that were very overpowered compared to the SI, I wasn't really looking at it like that. After all, everyone could just put Wizard 20 for their builds and say magic and spells for emulation and call it a day. Given what we're working with here, it came down to what does your character do in a given situation. For stealth, Darkstalker is the go to feat, just for one example. Dysprosium also does not believe in giving his criteria beforehand because really the builder should be proud of what was built and not try and work their builds to try and satisfy any particular judge. Also he really believed that he would have been able to enter this round but got voted out instead. Do I have to read any more of this stuff?
Len: Well first of all color me surprised about Pandorym. However, this reveal cuts both ways. Since it was a Forgotten Realms novel, all of this happened without you involved. Putting you into this story would be akin to DM fiat wouldn't you say? Also I stand corrected about the Lightbringers. They are not an exclusively good organization. However considering that the Church of Pelor is considered to be a main factor and one of the example contacts is a mid level Paladin, you can see where that assumption is made. However, despite the disclaimer it is still cross setting material compared to Al. He is clearly Faerunian and the Lightbringers are not necessarily from Faerun. My own personal taste is Ravenloft exists is its own Dream Realms. You are going to need the DM to be on board with you any which way you cut it. So let's agree to disagree on this particular point. We'll increase your Elegance score by 0.25.
Bruno: TEN!
Tom: Bruno, Al did not have anything to say for your score.
Bruno: I know. I just felt left out.

Erin: Next Sean has a few comments for Julianne, Len, and Bruno.
Julianne: But I don't know how to answer. And here comes another card. Yes, I see that was the intent. However, it didn't feel like there was a connection between what the build wanted to do and what it is capable of.
Len: I can understand how the table got misaligned. However, the final presentation was what we get to see. All of us have had different editorial and table issues over many different contests. It happens to everyone. When it happens to me, I know that I have to be that much more attentive the next time.
Bruno: As Len has already mentioned, we can only judge what was presented to us at the time. When the music stops the dance is over. When the teacher says pencils down, you can't just keep writing. And when that paper is handed in, it belongs to the teacher. You can't just add things afterwards. The additional emulations would have been great for the entry itself, not as an explanation afterwards. It's better to say too much than not say enough. That seems like the case here. Also the comment was about your starting Charisma which is 9. At ECL 4 it becomes 10 and does not get increased again until Level 17 and finally again at Level 20. Your own personal fluff that was provided for Sean was that he danced for a living. My point was that with no ranks in Perform (dance) and a starting negative Charisma modifier, he would not make much doing so. No one was credited or penalized for the number of Perform (dance) that they had. The point was the numbers weren't matching up with the story.
Tom: So Sean's score stands?
Len: Yes, it does.

Erin: Join us for the next show. Our musical guest is supposed to be the Deep Ones.
Tom: Who are the Deep Ones? I never heard of them.
Erin: According to their bio, they are a sahuagin metal band.
Tom: Sounds a bit fishy to me.
Erin: [eyeroll]

I'm going back to edit the first judging post for the score change.

[Sian]

last(?) one before closing time.

Siberian:



First of all, though some may not agree with this assessment, I believe that the four categories are interrelated. It’s more of an observation really. I’ve noticed that by really trying to score high in one category can create a drop in one or more of the others. Second, my scoring style is more organic, that is to say that you might not necessarily be able to say definitively that you were awarded 0.5 for a particular thing or penalized 0.25 for another. All categories start at 3 and are adjusted from there which makes 12 an average score.
Originality: This seems easy enough. Try and come up with an idea that has not been thought up before. However just because you pick some weird monster or race out of Monster Manual Infinity does not necessarily mean that the entire idea is original. Also how does your idea stack against your fellow competitors? Does your story catch my interest and make me want to read more? Do you have more for me to read? Did I roll my eyes as I read the entry?
Power: OK so you’re a powerhouse and can do ungodly amounts of damage. That is not that impressive if you can be easily charmed into OMGsmashing your party by an opposing spellcaster. Also do you rely on other things to make you go? Does your DMM Persist Cleric rely on nightstick stacking or does your Shadowdancer rely on a Mobility feat from his armor to qualify for that class? Also how relevant are you in different situations? Social power is power too. I hope I made my point here. Are you viable and playable at all levels or is there a certain maturation process that has to take place?
Elegance: Call me old fashioned but I believe certain things should stay in certain settings. Please don’t tell me about your warforged Wizard from Sharn studying at the Library in Silverymoon using the Greyhawk Method. Don’t tell me about how you sold your soul to an Elder Evil, a Demon Prince, and an Archdevil (all to gain bonus feats) all while proclaiming your innocence before the Seven Heavens of Celestia for that prestige class you really want to get into. Do you qualify for all of your feats and prestige classes? Have you provided a list of sources to make judging easier? Are you basing the entire premise of your build on questionable rules?
Emulation of the Secret Ingredient: How much of the SI do you emulate? Is it a central part of your theme or is it just an add on to some other kind of build with things being taken to satisfy the parameters of the competition? Does your build showcase the class abilities of the SI? How does it all tie together? Does the build feel like it would be a strong member of the SI?

Before we begin, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to judge our builds, especially seeing as you seem to be the only judge for this round. With that said, on to the judging disputes!


Tom: And now for our first contestant! She’s no ordinary housecat!

The Siberian 14
Carrie Ann (Originality): 4
You’re certainly one pretty kitty! Even though your race is unique this round, you were one of three to take Vow of Poverty. Bard, Jade Phoenix Mage and Sublime Chord were all unexpected. Spells are the usual go to for emulations of things but the Bard spell list is usually not what is called upon often.

Spells only account for part of it: maneuvers help quite a bit as well. that said, I'll be the last person to argue that Unarmed Swordsage was a particularly unusual choice for this round. No real disputes, just comments made in reply and explanation.


Julianne (Power): 4
Vow of Poverty is one of those things that give bigger numbers but can be terribly hard to roleplay. To make up for these shortcomings you have spells and maneuvers. But you have to get to those first. There is a maturation process that could hinder your playability at the earlier levels. But when you get there you are there. And that’s all my card hard to say on this.

I believe that this build is never underpowered for it's level; less than optimal, sure, it's whole career (it's a bard/swordsage theurge pretending to be a monk), but never underpowered. The absolute worst is the first 3 levels, when that LA +1 is hanging over its head and it only has VoP and Bard levels; once the LA is bought off, however, it's no weaker than any bard with VoP would be; in fact, it's arguably more powerful, due to it's rather high Dexterity and Charisma: I have a better AC, more spells, more effective spells, and better performance. Once Swordsage comes online, I get maneuvers and add Cha to AC, and from there on I'm either gaining powerful maneuvers, powerful spells, or both.

At the absolute earliest levels, I will admit that this build is slightly less than effective; that said, it's only a single level behind, and the AC bonus from VoP combined with a huge Dexterity makes this character very difficult to hit this early in the build, and the high Charisma makes her spells and performances effective enough for what her party might need. Sure, she absolutely bombs as a solo character, but that's partially because she's supposed to: she's a low-level VoP bard with level adjustment, little real-world experience, skill, or common sense, and next to no offensive capabilities. She needs a party to function, and within a party, she's about as effective as a low-level Bard ever is.


Len (Elegance): 2.5
Well first of all, we have to deduct you one point automatically for the use of the flaw. We understand why you needed it--to get Vow of Poverty at 1st Level and the extra bonus Exalted feat. You may also have to get permission to use the Faerun specific Exalted feat Liira’s Blessing. You never specified that you were in the Realms but some DMs are going to disallow it if you are not playing there. You also have the classic problem of those who take the Vow so early—what do you do with all of those Exalted feats? Some of them seem like they are tacked on, but a bonus is a bonus. Vow of Obedience is the big question mark to me, especially since you had explained Nymph’s Kiss so well in the background. What organization do you owe your fealty to? Did you really pick an [Evil] spell on your Exalted build too (veil of undeath)?

Cannot and will not dispute the flaw, although I will make a minor clarification: the flaw was less because I needed VoP online at level 1, but because of just how many feats I needed to get into three separate PrCs in the time frame I had to work with while still getting VoP; since I was taking a flaw anyway, I figured I may as well get the bonus Exalted feat out of it.

Liira's Blessing is certainly a campaign-specific feat, but not only is it easily adaptable to other settings, there are no other settings this feat is competing to keep me in. That said, while having it certainly limits the character's legality outside of the Realms if the DM doesn't like cross-setting mechanics, it's not an incredibly essential part of the build, and the non-world-specific fluff and mechanics fit the character well.

On the subject of Nymph's Kiss: thank you for noticing. This is simultaneously one of my favorite feats (for its useful mechanics and interesting fluff) and one of my least favorite feats (for having a fluff that sounds like a pre-req, but isn't). When you consider that Nymph's Kiss is the only reason I have enough Skill points to enter all my PrCs, you'll understand why I wanted to be damn sure that nobody could dispute my ability to have it, even by fluff. I loved writing that part, and I love what it does for both the character and the build.

Sadly, Vow of Obedience (as well as some of the other less than perfect matches) made sense in the story outline I originally wrote, but writing out the details that explain its presence got procrastinated in favor of working out some mechanical kinks in the build, and by the time the builds were displayed and I realized my mistake, it was a little late for changes. Still, I will include it here for reading pleasure (spoiler'd), and I won't demand a higher Elegance score for including it now.

In the original summary of the story, the story ends with Sabrina deciding to use her power to defend the forest she grew up in while helping the fey to rebuild it. Having little to no personal common sense and no idea how her abilities can be best put to good use outside of combating evildoers, she entrusts her decisions to a higher power: the Court of Stars that she has already trusted and been blessed by. Such wise, kind beings could make better overall decisions than she could, and she welcomed the renewed and newly-directed purpose that freely-given fealty would bring her.

*Sees bolded part*

Uhhh...okay, it was late, and I was tired; I'll admit to being less than thorough in making sure my spells fit my fluff. It was so powerful, and useful, and...reasons. Yeah, no dispute here.


Bruno (Emulation): 3.5
You have embraced the wonderful fluff of the Battle Dancer. You move with freedom after you have broken your chains that had bound your spirit in those gladiatorial games. You are also the one contestant who actually has ranks in Perform (dance)! I like the use of Ascetic Mage to get Charisma to AC like the Battle Dancer does. I would have liked to have a showcase of all of the emulations exactly for a point by point analysis. You cover your bases though.

I would argue that, between Perform (Dance), Tumble, Bardic Performance, spellcasting, and maneuvers, I fit both the fluff and the mechanics of the SI to a T. Ascetic Mage is not as useful for a Bard/Swordsage as it is for a Sorcerer/Monk, but it's still useful.

I would also argue that a build's ability to mimic the SI should be the primary focus of their score in this category; the absence of a point-by-point breakdown does not make them any less capable of mimic'ing the SI, although I will admit that it makes it harder to determine for someone not familiar with the build. That said, if there is a penalty present for not having such a point-by-point breakdown, I would argue that, if it was not removed altogether, it should at least be moved to Elegance where it fits better.

Final point I'll argue: a Battle Dancer's abilities are fueled by their unusual combat style, a style that involves graceful, seemingly random twirls, flips, spins, and other impressive acrobatic feats. That said, while it is certainly pleasant to watch, the point of this style is effectiveness, not impressiveness; the Battle Dancer cares more for functionality than how entertaining their fighting style is to watch (much like the difference between Perform: Weapon Drill X and BAB +X) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mur-c5IiWJI).

This is well-represented in the original class: while Perform is a class skill for Battle Dancers, and their class features are advanced in a manner similar to the Bard's Bardic Music, it is not Perform (Dance), but Tumble that fuels these abilities, despite "Dance" literally being in the name of the class. The Siberian is lucky enough that she has the spare skill points to keep both of these skills quite high, but I don't feel it's fair to penalize the other builds for not having Perform (Dance) when it's only a mechanically tertiary part of the original class at best.

I realize that this only helps the other builds, but it struck me as potentially unfair, given the goal of this contest.

[dysprosium]

Tom: Once again we're back! Looks like another contestant has something to say.
Erin: The Siberian has comments for all of our judges.
Carrie Ann: I'm glad to be noticed!
Julianne: Why does everyone want to talk to me about this stuff? And how do these cards get written so quickly? You have the Vow of Poverty from Level 1--that means no WBL for you ever. That puts you behind in a standard D&D game alone. I'm not denying that you have things that make you go but this is a case for the build needing to mature. And compared to your competitors you have more things available.
Len: Thank you for the explanations. They were helpful for seeing the thought process for the character. But of course we can only judge what was presented before us at the time.
Bruno: This is situation where we as a judge think we can tell where all of your emulations come from. It just makes it better if we knew that you knew so to speak. I started with the mention of Ascetic Mage and then thought to myself, why am I doing this? It is my opinion that for these kinds of things it makes it better if the contestant tells us what is meant, instead of the judges looking. I could miss something that you meant or find something that you didn't intend. That's why I appreciate the showcases. Two of the others did and they were rewarded. If I didn't say it earlier, I will say it now, you felt like a Battle Dancer.
Tom: So what are we doing with the score?
Len: Score stands on all counts.
Erin: Thanks to everyone!

[Sian]

Scores:



Rank
Character
Cook
Score


1st
The Siberian
AvatarVecna
14


1st
Al X. Goodenuff
Curmudgeon
14


3rd
Aquila Frostheart
Jurai
13.5


4th
Sean
samduke
11.75



Please stay tuned, next contest is up Now (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?430066-Zinc-Saucier-XXXIII-Reign-in-Blood)

[AvatarVecna]

Early this morning, I was reading through some old playground threads and came across something that made me realize that my build isn't as effective (or, indeed, legal) as I thought it was. Is it alright if I just cede the tie for first to Curmudgeon, rather than trying to get scores altered to better reflect this?

[dysprosium]

Congratulations everyone!

Judges (this one in particular) aren't perfect and things are missed. I don't know exactly what you are referring to (though I haven't gone back to look either).

What did people think of the judging in character(s)? It was the first time I tried doing that.

[Curmudgeon]

What did people think of the judging in character(s)? It was the first time I tried doing that.
You lost me completely. I've never watched any of those shows, so I don't know the characters involved.

[AvatarVecna]

I had neither the right age nor the right interests to ever watch any of those shows. Still, I'm sure you did a wonderful job of representing them.