Lagren
2015-12-21, 01:09 PM
Behold, another Iron Chef knock-off.
However, unlike Iron Chef, this contest isn't about restricting your options: rather, it's about providing new ones. Each round will be run under the effect of a house rule that significantly broadens the options available to optimizers.
For this inaugural round:
Arcane/Divine Magic Transparency
What scholars once thought of as wholly separate magic systems are in fact much closer than anyone suspected. While Clerics and Wizards still approach their studies differently, many specialized methods of training have been found to apply equally well to both arcane and divine magic.
All prestige classes that advance "+1 level of an existing Arcane spellcasting class" or "+1 level of an existing Divine spellcasting class" instead advance "+1 level of an existing spellcasting class." Similarly, all "able to cast Xth level Arcane spells" or "able to cast Xth level Divine spells" prerequisites become "Able to cast Xth level spells" prerequisites.
All Theurge classes require you to have two separate spellcasting progressions at the appropriate levels, but you can theurge Paladin with Favored Soul or Bard with Sorcerer: you're only prohibited from theurging a class with itself. Yes, this means you can qualify for Sublime Chord with Bard and then theurge Sublime Chord/Bard.
Any questions about the house rules should be posted publicly in the thread, so that the answers can be known to all contestants.
More general rules follow. Most of them are identical to Iron Chef, but you should still review them.
Contestants: You will need to present a full 20-level build for your entry. Also required is a rundown of how your build works at lower levels, to demonstrate that it is a functional character that could be played from 1-20 in a real game. Traditionally contestants give "snapshots" of tactics and abilities at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, as well as a "sweet spot" of their choosing that represents what they believe to be the high point of the build.
Menu:
32 point-buy is the presumed creation method, but we have generally allowed other levels of point-buy.
If you do use a different point-buy, please make your case for its necessity in your entry. Keep in mind that for using exceptionally large or small point-buys may warrant deductions in elegance and/or power.
Kitchen: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon magazine is disallowed, 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 or Generic Classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Please refrain from using Taint or Item Familiars.
NB: Official Errata and 3.5 updates to 3.0 content are considered valid regardless of whether their sources would otherwise be legal. This includes the 3.5 update of Oriental Adventures given in Dragon Magazine, and the 3.5 updates of Dragonlance Campaign Setting content given in later third party Dragonlance books.
Cooking Time: Contestants will have until January 9th, 2016 to create their builds and PM them to the Chair, Lagren. Please put the name of your build in the subject line of your PM. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until January 22nd, 2016 to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted. The Chair reserves the right to judge builds in the event that no other judges can be found.
Judging: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, Use of House Rules.
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. It's difficult to accept your award if you have to keep ducking flying books.
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 considered in poor taste, and judges are asked to take a dim view of this option, taking it into account while grading. Other things that will cause penalties here are excessive multi-classing, and classes that don't fit the concept - using Cloistered Cleric in a front-line melee fighter, for example, will lose you points. 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 result in a penalty to Elegance at the judges' discretion, but a book's relative obscurity may not. In that same vein, drawing solely from the Core 3 (and the d20 SRD) should not be punished for lacking Originality.
Presentation: Builds will be posted anonymously, in order to avoid the potential of bias towards a particular competitor. For this reason, please don't put your name in the build.
Please use the hallowed standard table, handed down from the ancestors:
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 sacred Spells per Day and Spells Known table. (Spells Known only if necessary, i.e. Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage)Spells per Day/Spells Known
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
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
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list.
Leadership is banned; we're producing a meal, not a seven-course banquet for a hundred diners. If your entry includes a prestige class or ACF that grants Leadership or a Leadership-like ability as a bonus feat, the feat should be ignored and is not eligible to be traded away for another feat or ACF through any means.
We will award 1st through 3rd places, as well as a shout-out for honourable mention. The honourable mention prize is given to the most daring or unexpected build. Judges, contestants and guests alike are invited to vote for honourable mention via PM. If there are no votes, Honourable Mention will go to the chair's favorite build. I will note that I much prefer originality and good flavor over power. :smallwink:
However, unlike Iron Chef, this contest isn't about restricting your options: rather, it's about providing new ones. Each round will be run under the effect of a house rule that significantly broadens the options available to optimizers.
For this inaugural round:
Arcane/Divine Magic Transparency
What scholars once thought of as wholly separate magic systems are in fact much closer than anyone suspected. While Clerics and Wizards still approach their studies differently, many specialized methods of training have been found to apply equally well to both arcane and divine magic.
All prestige classes that advance "+1 level of an existing Arcane spellcasting class" or "+1 level of an existing Divine spellcasting class" instead advance "+1 level of an existing spellcasting class." Similarly, all "able to cast Xth level Arcane spells" or "able to cast Xth level Divine spells" prerequisites become "Able to cast Xth level spells" prerequisites.
All Theurge classes require you to have two separate spellcasting progressions at the appropriate levels, but you can theurge Paladin with Favored Soul or Bard with Sorcerer: you're only prohibited from theurging a class with itself. Yes, this means you can qualify for Sublime Chord with Bard and then theurge Sublime Chord/Bard.
Any questions about the house rules should be posted publicly in the thread, so that the answers can be known to all contestants.
More general rules follow. Most of them are identical to Iron Chef, but you should still review them.
Contestants: You will need to present a full 20-level build for your entry. Also required is a rundown of how your build works at lower levels, to demonstrate that it is a functional character that could be played from 1-20 in a real game. Traditionally contestants give "snapshots" of tactics and abilities at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, as well as a "sweet spot" of their choosing that represents what they believe to be the high point of the build.
Menu:
32 point-buy is the presumed creation method, but we have generally allowed other levels of point-buy.
If you do use a different point-buy, please make your case for its necessity in your entry. Keep in mind that for using exceptionally large or small point-buys may warrant deductions in elegance and/or power.
Kitchen: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon magazine is disallowed, 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 or Generic Classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Please refrain from using Taint or Item Familiars.
NB: Official Errata and 3.5 updates to 3.0 content are considered valid regardless of whether their sources would otherwise be legal. This includes the 3.5 update of Oriental Adventures given in Dragon Magazine, and the 3.5 updates of Dragonlance Campaign Setting content given in later third party Dragonlance books.
Cooking Time: Contestants will have until January 9th, 2016 to create their builds and PM them to the Chair, Lagren. Please put the name of your build in the subject line of your PM. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until January 22nd, 2016 to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted. The Chair reserves the right to judge builds in the event that no other judges can be found.
Judging: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, Use of House Rules.
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. It's difficult to accept your award if you have to keep ducking flying books.
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 considered in poor taste, and judges are asked to take a dim view of this option, taking it into account while grading. Other things that will cause penalties here are excessive multi-classing, and classes that don't fit the concept - using Cloistered Cleric in a front-line melee fighter, for example, will lose you points. 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 result in a penalty to Elegance at the judges' discretion, but a book's relative obscurity may not. In that same vein, drawing solely from the Core 3 (and the d20 SRD) should not be punished for lacking Originality.
Presentation: Builds will be posted anonymously, in order to avoid the potential of bias towards a particular competitor. For this reason, please don't put your name in the build.
Please use the hallowed standard table, handed down from the ancestors:
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 sacred Spells per Day and Spells Known table. (Spells Known only if necessary, i.e. Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage)Spells per Day/Spells Known
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
-
-
-
-
-
-
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18th
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-
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19th
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20th
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Code immediately below (spoiler)Spells per Day/Spells Known
Spells per Day/Spells Known
Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
1st
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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-
2nd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3rd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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6th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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8th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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10th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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11th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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12th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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13th
-
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-
-
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-
-
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14th
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15th
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16th
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17th
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-
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18th
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-
-
-
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19th
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-
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20th
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For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list.
Leadership is banned; we're producing a meal, not a seven-course banquet for a hundred diners. If your entry includes a prestige class or ACF that grants Leadership or a Leadership-like ability as a bonus feat, the feat should be ignored and is not eligible to be traded away for another feat or ACF through any means.
We will award 1st through 3rd places, as well as a shout-out for honourable mention. The honourable mention prize is given to the most daring or unexpected build. Judges, contestants and guests alike are invited to vote for honourable mention via PM. If there are no votes, Honourable Mention will go to the chair's favorite build. I will note that I much prefer originality and good flavor over power. :smallwink: