Villainous Competition IX: The Power of Villainous Thinking [Archive]

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Telonius

2016-01-06, 06:06 PM

Welcome to Round 9 of the Villainous Competition!

Previous Competitions
Round One: Leader of Armies (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?395046-Villainous-Competition-Or-Optimize-my-BBEG!)
Round Two: Nature's Revenger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?400517-Villainous-Competition-Round-2-Or-Give-me-something-evil!&p=18868986)
Round Three: Double Agent (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?406015-Villainous-Competition-3-Or-No-Holds-Barred!)
Round Four: Grave Keeper (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?413480-Villainous-Competition-IV-or-The-Truth-is-in-the-(Blood)-Pudding)
Round Five: Crime Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?420704-Villainous-Competition-V-A-Contest-You-Can%92t-Refuse)
Round Six: Ultimate Predator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?430650-Villainous-Competition-VI-Clever-Girl)
Round Seven: Wicked Witch (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?444478-Villainous-Competition-VII-Double-Double-Toil-and-Trouble&p=20099077)
Round Eight: Master of the Tundra (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?461482-Villainous-Competition-VIII-The-Weather-Outside-is-Frightful”)

We're a little different than most of the optimization threads. We run on CR instead of ECL.

Contestants: You will need to present a write-up of your build with at least one of the following points: 5 CR, 10 CR 15CR, 20 CR, and a "sweet spot" that you feel is the high point of the build, as well as presenting a fully-fleshed out 20 CR build in the table below. Feel free to present as many of these as you like, and please give a rundown of the build's abilities and playability at all of the levels you didn't show. The rules are as follows:

Secret Laboratory: 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. Item Familiars and Taint are also banned from the competition. We don’t want to make this too easy, do we?

Some monstrous characters can technically qualify for Epic feats as soon as their ECL is over 20. While regular Epic feats will be allowed, Epic Spellcasting and all other Epic feats that affect spells, psionic powers, or item creation are not permitted. Including these would give an unfair advantage over standard characters. For Incarnum characters, Epic Open Chakra feats are allowed; other Epic Incarnum feats are not. The Essentia Capacity increases for Epic capacity as described on p. 212. For all characters, please note that Racial Hitdice do not count towards Epic Progression; use the regular progression even if the BAB ends up higher than 20.

Contestants will have until 23:59 GMT Friday January 22nd to create their builds and PM them to the Supreme Chancellor (yours truly, Telonius). Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until Friday February 5th to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted.

Judging: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Build Elegance, Competence and Power, Memorable Villainy.

Keep these questions in mind when judging each category:
Originality - Is it unexpected?
Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?

Build Elegance: For this competition, 5 manifesting levels are required; beyond that, builds that are fully monstrous are allowed at no penalty.
All class levels are to be added on as associated class levels.
Amount of sources can be penalized, but obscurity of sources should not be penalized. Count the three Core books as one source. For this competition, psionics are a required component. XPH and Complete Psionic should be included with the Core books as a single source. Unearthed Arcana can be penalized for elegance if the specific feature seems unnecessary or makes the playing field unfair (In this case, you can give a 0 if it makes the field unfair.)
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. As the Iron Chef competition states, a little cheddar can be nice, but avoid the mature Gruyere unless you're making a cheese fondue.

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

Using the table below, the easiest way to use it is to go to the top left of the private message, and click the little a/A icon. It allows you to see what you're writing.
Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, I'd like everyone to try to use the following table for their 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

You can use the below table for Spells.

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,
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
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

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

Get ready to share those Evil thoughts. This edition’s villain is:

The Psionic Overlord
An interesting twist on a classic villain, a Psionic Overlord is the BBEG that uses the power of their own mind to achieve domination. Whether it’s mentally-enhanced fighting, discovering their enemies’ darkest secrets, or simply overwhelming the will of all who oppose them, a Psionic Overlord will give your players a powerful figure to oppose.

Limitations:
The character must have at least five Manifesting levels. (Soulknife will count as a manifesting class for this contest). Psionic/Magic transparency can be assumed.
Spell to Power Erudite, Psionic Artificer, and Thrallherd are specifically disallowed.
The character cannot be a naturally Psionic race (Elan, Kalashtar, Synad, etc.) or creature with an ability described as psionic (such as Aboleth, Couatl, Yuan-ti, Mind Flayer, etc). Creatures with spell-like abilities that are not described as psionic are fine. The Phrenic template is specifically allowed.
The character must be the open and acknowledged leader of a territory of some size. (The Leadership feat is not necessary for this, but it should be in the backstory). How the character came to rule the territory, and whether their Evil nature is open and acknowledged, is left up to the contestants.
As always, must have an Evil alignment.

We will award 1st through 3rd places, and a possible Honorable Mention.

Use Elite Array instead of Normal Array, no Penalty on using Elite Array on a creature without any class levels.

Tips for submitting your entry, provided by Weaselguy:

- Use capitalization and punctuation, correctly.
- Make good use of Spoilers, for cleanliness.
- Don't forget your sources. If it's something that can be found in the contents section, then book title seems to be fine. Obscure stuff, may want to include page number too.
- DeviantArt has about 9 billion pictures that you can reference, I can almost guarantee you can find one there to fit your character.
- Make good use of tables. In addition to the Build table and the Spells table, I like doing on e for my Ability Scores, just to keep it neat.
- Do a build stub at the top of your Build Table, something like Wizard 2/Fighter 3/Abjurant Champion 5/Eldritch Knight 10

So, start your evil plotting!

To standardize Entries, please use this format when sending it in:

PM: Telonius
Subject: Villainous Competition 9, Name of your Entry

For Revisions and disputes, do the same thing. It makes it easier for me finding the entries in my mail box.

More questions? PM me with Villainous Competition 9 Questions in the header.

WeaselGuy

2016-01-06, 11:35 PM

This will be interesting. I should be able to whip something up for this round!

Inevitability

2016-01-07, 03:10 AM

Clarification requested: When you say 'naturally psionic', does that include everything with the psionic subtype?

Troacctid

2016-01-07, 03:24 AM

Clarification requested: When you say 'naturally psionic', does that include everything with the psionic subtype?

It couldn't, could it? Any creature with a power point reserve has the psionic subtype...it would make it impossible to meet the requirements.

Telonius

2016-01-07, 06:48 AM

If it has Psionics or Psi-Like abilities as special attacks, if any of its special attacks or special qualities are described as psionic, if it has bonus power points from its race, or if it's listed as Naturally Psionic (such as in the Elan entry), it's not allowed.

JyP

2016-01-07, 08:00 AM

The character must be the open and acknowledged leader of a territory of some size. (The Leadership feat is not necessary for this, but it should be in the backstory). How the character came to rule the territory, and whether their Evil nature is open and acknowledged, is left up to the contestants.
No "power behind the throne" profile then, like a gnome servant psionically domining the rightful leader ?

Telonius

2016-01-07, 09:03 AM

No "power behind the throne" profile then, like a gnome servant psionically domining the rightful leader ?

Exactly. The villain is the person in charge, and everybody knows it.

WeaselGuy

2016-01-07, 11:54 AM

How about a published non-psionic version of a race that's typically psionic?

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-07, 06:20 PM

Exactly. The villain is the person in charge, and everybody knows it.
Could it be a more indirect leadership position (e.g, Hand of the King rather than the King himself), or does the villain need to be the direct sovereign of a region?
Does the region need to be a sovereign nation, or can the villain be a vassal of someone?
Does the villain's leadership position need to be a primary part of his public persona, or can it be secondary to other duties/actions (e.g, a landed knight)?

I might be a bit of a feudalism nerd. (It's one of the most dramatic forms of government ever invented.)

Deadline

2016-01-07, 06:38 PM

Could it be a more indirect leadership position (e.g, Hand of the King rather than the King himself), or does the villain need to be the direct sovereign of a region?
Does the region need to be a sovereign nation, or can the villain be a vassal of someone?
Does the villain's leadership position need to be a primary part of his public persona, or can it be secondary to other duties/actions (e.g, a landed knight)?

I might be a bit of a feudalism nerd. (It's one of the most dramatic forms of government ever invented.)

I'm getting the impression that so long as everyone knows who is really in charge, that's probably ok. So an evil Vizier that everyone knows is really the power, rather than the Sultan, seems like it fits the bill.

Telonius

2016-01-07, 10:28 PM

How about a published non-psionic version of a race that's typically psionic?

Clarified over PM to be talking about the Thri-Kreen, as listed in MM2. In that particular case, the Psionics entry is asterisked to be used if Psionics Handbook is in play. (There are different CRs listed for whether or not it is). Since Psionics are all in play, you can assume that the Psionics are active; so it would count as a naturally psionic race.

On that note, unfortunately real life has encroached; I unexpectedly have to travel back to my hometown tomorrow, and will not be checking the boards. I should be back by Sunday evening.

JyP

2016-01-08, 03:00 AM

Got a very dumb idea, I will surely participate :smallbiggrin:

daremetoidareyo

2016-01-09, 12:18 AM

Maybe this has been asked before:

When I apply a template at low level, so it reads "CR: HD 1-3: as base creature, HD 4-10: CR+1, HD 11+:+2"

Do I increase the CR as that creature gains HD? So if the villain in question gains level 4 in whatever class, not only does his CR increase by 1 for gaining that level, but does his CR also increases by another one because of the template?

Just trying to figure out how get all the stats I want.

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-10, 10:16 PM

I was thinking of doing a goliath slave-turned-knight who managed to plot his way to the top while staying within his warped misunderstanding of human honor, but I didn't like how much things had to conveniently go his way for him to have an opening, and I kept hitting barriers when I turned to the actual mechanics of the villain. It didn't help that I couldn't nail down what sort of build he should have.

I think I'll just judge this time.

Telonius

2016-01-10, 10:21 PM

Back online - thanks for your patience. Also, I received the first build!

For the templates, I did run into a similar problem a few competitions ago when I made a Half-Fiend Changeling (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19121436&postcount=65). For that template (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/halfFiend.htm), the break points are HD 1-4 = CR+1, 5-10=CR+2, HD 11+ = CR +3. You would indeed add an extra CR at upon gaining each hit die at the break points. So for each one of those break points on the Build table, I did kind of a dummy row, with something to the effect of "5 HD = +1 CR" in the Class Features column. That notation seemed to work fairly reasonably; you could do something similar.

Zombulian

2016-01-11, 12:49 AM

daremetoidareyo

2016-01-11, 09:17 AM

What's our policy on cheese fondue? My problem right now is deciding whether to reign it in, or go sak slapping mad.

Telonius

2016-01-11, 12:03 PM

Hoookay right quick. Psionic races are not allowed, but if I were to use the class table for Half-Giants in the back of CPsi and stop the progression before they get their PP and PsLA, could I still use Half-Giant?

You don't technically have to take all levels of the racial class, so that wouldn't be a problem in itself; an individual judge might not like the style though.

Re: Cheese Fondue... that would be up to the individual judges. Personally I'd either go completely bananas, or try to reign it in.

Zombulian

2016-01-11, 03:52 PM

You don't technically have to take all levels of the racial class, so that wouldn't be a problem in itself; an individual judge might not like the style though.

Alrighty I'm in. Though looking at the OP, Thrallherd being banned throws a bit of a wrench in my plans.

Edit: I'd like to use Bloodlines, how do they correlate to CR?

Zombulian

2016-01-15, 12:57 AM

Bump for unanswered question.

Telonius

2016-01-15, 07:38 AM

Sorry, hadn't seen the edit!

The bloodlines rules are pretty messy; nobody knows for certain how they're actually supposed to work. My best guess about it is in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?472318-3-5-Bloodlines-After-a-week-of-research-I-still-don-t-get-them):

The rules are a pretty heaping mess, but here's what I've been able to piece together as how it's supposed to work. This is my interpretation only; your DM will have to rule on whatever you come up with. I'm assuming a regular PHB race, with nothing weird like Racial Hit Dice, Templates, or any kind of Level Adjustment.

Level
1 Binder1 (ECL 1)
- Gain 1000 xp -
2 Binder2 (ECL 2)
- Gain 2000 xp -
(3) Major Bloodline/I'mNotActuallyARealLevel1 (ECL 2)
- Gain 3000 xp
3 Binder3 (ECL 3)

I'mNotActuallyARealLevel does give you a few things. It allows you an additional +1 to your maximum ranks in class skills (when you take you next real level). It increases your Caster Level by 1 for all spells. (Note that this is Caster Level only; it doesn't give you any additional spells known or spells per day. It mostly matters to spell damage and duration, as well as a couple of other things). Effective Character Level is defined as Character Level plus racial hit dice plus level adjustment. INAARL does not actually grant a level, and isn't a racial hit die or a level adjustment, so it doesn't count against it.

If you take a Bloodline, you will not reach Epic before you get to level 21. You'll need a higher XP total than usual to hit 21, since you'll have spent some amount of XP reaching INAARL 3.

Most Prestige Classes advance the casting of the original class, rather than granting a list of their own. The PrC isn't affected by INAARL. If you had a Wizard15/Archmage4/INAARL3, both the Archmage and INAARL modify Wizard; so the caster level would be 22. There are some Prestige Classes that don't work like that - Ur-Priest, and any of the others that give a unique spell list. Those classes would count just as though they were their own spellcasting class. So if you were to somehow get a Bard10/Assassin8/INAARL3, you'd have a caster level of 13 for the Bard and 11 for the Assassin.

EDIT: The closest parallel I've been able to figure for it would be something like the MM1 Half-races. While they have a static Level Adjustment, their CRs vary depending on how many hit dice they have. Increasing the CR doesn't do much for them, it's just a bookkeeping thing. Similar thing going on with Bloodlines. At various hitdice, you wait a bit longer to level up; but they throw you a bone on caster level and skill point cap so it doesn't hurt quite so bad.

So, on the one hand, this is a really weird section of the rules, with loads of confusion and no clear consensus on how it works. On the other hand, the actual bonuses it gives aren't unbalancing; it doesn't give an unequal playing field in the same way Gestalt or Generic Classes would; and the only mechanically unusual things would be the caster level increase and the increased skill rank cap.

If you want to use it, go ahead; I'd suggest you use the same blank-CR format I used with that Half-Fiend earlier. However, do note that it might be subject to an Elegance penalty (at the individual judges' option).

ben-zayb

2016-01-15, 10:20 AM

Telonius

2016-01-15, 02:08 PM

Bloodlines are usually mentioned in TO for it counting as class levels for ALL your class, so class level-based features such as obtain familiar's familiar progression, Fiend of Possession, Initiators, etc, get ridiculously high. Wizard 1 / Sorc 1 / Wu Jen 1 / Bard 1 / Major Bloodline 3 has its familiar counted as a 16th level caster's familiar, while a Swordsage 1 / Warblade 1 / Crusader 1 / A 1 / B 1 / C 1 / D 1 / E 1 / Major Bloodline 3 counts as IL18 on all of its initiator classes.

Yeah, that's some TO that's trying to twist a poorly-written rule into something that nobody outside of TO would actually allow. For the purposes of this contest, no double-dip stacking; you add the bonus once. So if you have two PrCs that independently advance the base class's features, you'd only be adding 3 to the base class, not 3 to the base class plus 3 each from the prestige classes. Swordsage4/Warblade4/Crusader4/Bloodline3 would count as an 11th-level initiator for each class (4 from the class, 3 from the bloodline, and 8/2=4 from the other two initiator classes).

daremetoidareyo

2016-01-15, 03:01 PM

It may make sense to adjudicate the bloodline levels as "invisible hit dice." Depending on the creatures type, advancing by hit dice is different. The CR change for Bloodline levels would take into account the HD and compare them to the advancing a creature table:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/improvingMonsters.htm#tableImprovedMonsterCRIncrea se

Playing with this chart and the rules, you have a few options that might be helpful in case someone wants to get into the bloodline levels in the future.

1
Seeing as how all class levels are associated class levels, it would be prudent to have all bloodline levels follow the same rubric (+1 CR per "level"), but this seems hamfisted on a single base classed character (e.g. straight sorcerer) and totally legitimate on a multiclassed character.

A monk 2/Sorcerer 2/duskblade 2/ bloodline 2 is treated as a CR 8 being. Which is still nice compared to how it as it would behave like a monk 4/sorcerer 4/duskblade 4 with the class features of monk2/sorc2/duskblade2. (no new spells, cast at higher level, higher stun DCs) This is the CR reading that I support. With the singular caveat that Bloodlines don't advance prestige class abilities. If the Bloodlines increase prestige class abilities, this becomes meddlesome to both write and judge, and the power gets out of hand, (your caster level would be ridiculous).

So a Major Bloodline is at +3 CR, an intermediate CR +2, and a minor is a +1 CR adjustment under this.

2.
Considering that you aren't taking a legit class level, stipulating that bloodline levels as non-associated (+1 CR per two "invisible HD") seems balanced. The invisible HD accumulate per base class that they advance. So our monk 3/Sorcerer 3 that uses it's abilities as a monk 5/sorcerer 5 would have a CR of +2. Abilities of 10HD creature - 6 actual HD = 4HD to contend with.

Psychic warrior 2/ monk 3/ druid 4/ bloodline 3 has 9 real HD.
It would behave as psychic warrior 5/ monk 6/druid 7 = 18 HD equivalents
18-9 = 9 invisible HD
8HD/2CR per HD = CR+4

This seems a little harsh, but it scales with multiclassing.

Inevitability

2016-01-15, 03:45 PM

Got a nice idea. Expect a build, though not too soon.

Zombulian

2016-01-15, 08:59 PM

Telonius

2016-01-15, 10:54 PM

A question came up regarding gear and purchased items. There was a question about it sometime in the last couple of competitions as well; I think we'll make an official mention of it in the guidelines next time.

Generally speaking, the builds tend to ignore magic items. The idea is that they're a villain controlled by the DM, so the DM can outfit them however they like. While resource management is an important part of the game, this contest is more about the strength of your build and less about WBL-mancy. If there's a particular item that's important to the mechanics or the effectiveness of a character, it should probably be mentioned. Specifying which Weapon Focus you select, or the fact that a melee-focused Bard should have a Crystal Echoblade to help with combat, or describing the abilities that a Kensai gives his special weapon would be examples of mechanically important things. If there's some item that helps establish the character (or is just plain cool) feel free to mention that as well.

Inevitability

2016-01-16, 06:12 AM

A question: various prestige classes (Anima Mage, Mindbender, Daggerspell Mage) have a suggested psionic adaption. Can we use those adaptions to make up for the lack of psionic prestige classes?

Telonius

2016-01-16, 05:10 PM

Psionic adaptations (that are suggested in a published book) are generally fair game. Psionic Artificer is an exception; those aren't allowed.

Telonius

2016-01-17, 08:58 PM

The clock is ticking - five days left! So far we have two entries.

AvatarVecna

2016-01-17, 11:12 PM

To clarify, are Leadership and Leadership-like abilities banned here? I know they have been before...

Telonius

2016-01-18, 06:56 AM

To clarify, are Leadership and Leadership-like abilities banned here? I know they have been before...

Yes, they are. This is only for the main villain; they can be assumed to have as many minions as necessary to perform their evil deeds.

Also, I received the third submission!

JyP

2016-01-19, 06:26 AM

The clock is ticking - five days left! So far we have two entries.
Build submitted :smallwink:

Telonius

2016-01-19, 12:50 PM

Got it, thanks!

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-20, 02:42 PM

I've been thinking about a possible theme for the next competition. I'll call it "Heroes of the Wrong Story". The gist is, potentially-heroic characters who have one or a few traits warped, leaving a character who can't be considered anything but antagonistic, even outright evil.
Maybe they go too far; there are plenty of examples, you can probably think of some off the top of your head. Maybe their goal—while noble—doesn't deserve the focus the villain gives it. Maybe they are misinformed. Maybe, like Miko Miyazaki, they are paranoid and see conspiracies in every shady nobleman sending bands of magically-empowered thugs across the globe. Maybe they've lost sight of the forest while dealing with the trees—or vise versa.
One way or another, you have a villain utterly convinced they are doing the right thing—who might well be doing so, from a certain point of view that happens to not be our own—and yet who the players have to stop.

Telonius

2016-01-20, 03:19 PM

Two days left!

Apparently some of the enemies from the previous Villainous Competition are staging an assault on my location. (Forecast for Friday-Saturday is calling for 2+ feet of snow at the moment). I'll be posting the reveal fairly soon after the contest is closed, in case the power gets cut.

Telonius

2016-01-21, 03:29 PM

One day left - time's nearly up!

I may actually be able to turn in a fully-realized build (not for judging), if none of the entrants are similar to it.

Deadline

2016-01-22, 01:09 PM

I finally got an idea, but I know I won't have the time to get it ready for submittal for at least a few days, maybe longer. I'll happily share the build stub after the reveal, but I must say that this one was particularly difficult for me to draw any inspiration from. I had to dip into my large well of "dumb ideas" to come up with the idea I did this morning. :smalltongue:

Good luck all, looking forward to seeing what comes of it.

Zombulian

2016-01-22, 02:31 PM

Inevitability

2016-01-22, 04:44 PM

Build submitted!

Next time I have a great but complicated idea a few hours before a contest ends, remind me not to act on it. I'm exhausted. :smallsigh:

Telonius

2016-01-22, 06:51 PM

Duly noted!

Just a few minutes to go now. I'll be posting the reveal soon after the deadline, then crawling under a rock until the snow is done.

Telonius

2016-01-22, 07:06 PM

And here we go! In no particular order, our contestants.

First up, Marx "Orthopoxia Vulgaris"!

Marx “Orthopoxia Vulgaris”
CE Tauric Elven Hound/Phrenic Medusa
Assassin 2 /Psion 3 /Ballisteer 9 /Cragtop Archer 4
Ballisteer found here (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20030426b)

http://i.imgur.com/SdSxsde.jpg

There is a lawless region in-between the very ordered and structured kingdoms of Whatever and Uneed. This lawless region has been beset upon by a number of terrible maladies; the orthopoxic disease, where young officials, particularly hardworking and earnest men and women of society, will suddenly burst open in a spray of their viscera, as if an invisible beast exploded from within their bodies. Many of the victims of this disease are incredibly stressed, so both Kingdoms have legislated mandatory recreation and limited work hours, which seems to have stayed the virulence of the mysterious illness. This is quite an affront to the High Caste nobles, who can now do little to increase in power. Further, many of these untimely deaths have resulted in myriads of slaves from one of the kingdoms, (we all know which) running away and staging small resistances. Squashing them has become quite costly, and the loss of 10% of the field labor has led to food shortfalls of such a magnitude that we’ve had to ration the proportion of food available to the lower classes. Historically, this has been fine, but paired with the apparent lack of effort the nobles are displaying due to fear of the disease, the underclass have become quite restless, some even colluding with the slaves! What terrible times we live in.

Further, there are reports of a ragtag collection of miscreants assembling in the mountainous passes between the two kingdoms. The kingdoms best spies and special forces claim that there is a guild of thieves being collected by a leader known only as “Marx.” There are scant reports of what this Marx character looks like, but it is said that he is an anarchic centaur that sold his soul to the fiends. Other reports are that Marx is a Yuan ti anathema who rebelled against it’s god to instead follow a philosophy that he learned through consorting with Slaad death masters. None of that would matter much, as Marx seems unconcerned with interrupting trade between the two kingdoms…and we have bigger domestic problems to sort out first.

-Excerpt from the final letter that high lord Wintermoon,
penned before the orthopoxia disease took his life.

Campaign notes:
You will need two lawful kingdoms, at least one of which condones slavery. Between these two kingdoms you need about a two week ride through craggy forested terrain. I strongly suggest giving Marx a CN Skulk Druid as a Lieutenant who prescribes to the same worldview as Marx. This will allow for fell conspiracy use with awakened songbirds. A goliath Cragtop Archer would make sense in her retinue, as would a low level psionic artificer who esteems intellectual freedom (who probably does some outlawed far-realm stuff). Marx also needs a few thieves guild go-betweens who are steadfastly loyal to her, even if it is because they know (not believe) that she can kill them at any time from any distance. Marx has the most dramatic effect in a low Psi campaign. Marx is particularly susceptible against locate city bomb hi-jinx.

Character Background:
Clawing her way out of a shallow grave from the body of what she now assumes was her mother, Marx was born with no idea of her identity or her own backstory. A few years later, after being taken in by githzerai psion, she was able to unravel that she was the result of an experiment performed on an enslaved medusa, probably blinded and enslaved by the neogi. Living with her mentor, an assassin and tracker of some local renown, Marx was given some instruction on building psionic talent and how to develop her creeping around skills. When her mentor met his end due to an infected wound he sustained in a battle with a tainted slaver, Marx was once again alone in the world.

The Build:
Stats
Str 17 (Base 10, +7 elven hound racial bonus)
Dex 20 (Base 13, +7 elven hound racial bonus)
Con 15 (Base 12, +3 elven hound racial bonus)
Int 19 (Base 15, +2 phrenic +2 medusa racial bonus)
Wis 19 (Base 14, +2 phrenic, +3 medusa racial bonus)
Cha 17 (Base 8, +4 phrenic, +5 medusa racial bonus)

If stat increases occur, apply them all to intelligence.

Mechanical Premise
Remember when you were a kid, and you thought it would be so cool to use a knife made of ice to kill someone. The police would never be able to find you because the murder weapon melted. (Apparently empathy is a learned behavior). That kid grew up to be this monstrosity. This build uses some exact RAW wordings to facilitate this effect.

The assassin death attack reads:

If an assassin studies his victim for 3 rounds and then makes a sneak attack with a melee weapon that successfully deals damage, the sneak attack has the additional effect of possibly either paralyzing or killing the target (assassin's choice). While studying the victim, the assassin can undertake other actions so long as his attention stays focused on the target and the target does not detect the assassin or recognize the assassin as an enemy. If the victim of such an attack fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the assassin's class level + the assassin's Int modifier) against the kill effect, she dies. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis effect, the victim's mind and body become enervated, rendering her helpless and unable to act for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per level of the assassin. If the victim's saving throw succeeds, the attack is just a normal sneak attack. Once the assassin has completed the 3 rounds of study, he must make the death attack within the next 3 rounds. If a death attack is attempted and fails (the victim makes her save) or if the assassin does not launch the attack within 3 rounds of completing the study, 3 new rounds of study are required before he can attempt another death attack.

Look at this reading carefully, the attack doesn’t need to be a melee attack. It simply needs to be made with a melee weapon. The melee weapon that I have chosen is the javelin. Although technically, it is a ranged weapon, it can be wielded as a melee weapon. If you’re DM is skeptical of this reading, you have a few options: 1.) Take weapon proficiency (javelin; used as a melee weapon), 2.) Take weapon group proficiency (spears and javelins) (UA), or 3.) take weapon focus javelin and tormtor school (DotU p.57). These options require taking an additional early fighter or psychic warrior levels. Otherwise, use flaws...or get rid of ability enhancer, replacing it with fell conspiracy, and change "weapon proficency (javelin as melee)" to weapon focus (javelin) and take tormtor school in the HD 21 feat slot.

Great! now you can make a ranged death attack. But what if you wanted to make a ranged death attack from far away?

That’s where cragtop archer comes in: by using your assassin 1st level spell “sniper’s shot” and pairing it with the far shot feat, you can make death attack from extremely far away.

Sniper’s shot: Your next single ranged attack (if it is made before the start of your next turn) can be a sneak attack regardless of the distance between you and your target. Swift action casting time, lasts 1 round.
Arcing Shot (Ex): A cragtop archer of 3rd level or higher can fire a high, arcing shot to gain greater range with her projectile weapon. Any time the cragtop archer can fire a projectile weapon in an area with at least 40 feet of clearance between her position and the ceiling (or any other overhead obstruction, such as a forest canopy), her maximum range with the projectile weapon is fifteen range increments rather than the normal ten range increments.
Horizon Shot (Su): From 4th level on, a cragtop archer can seemingly hit targets as far away as the horizon as easily as she can hit something nearby. As a full-round action, the cragtop archer can make a single attack with a projectile weapon. This attack is made with no penalty for range, though it still has the same maximum range as a normal attack by the cragtop archer. This ability can be used in conjunction with any ability that extends the range of a projectile weapon, such as the Far Shot feat or the cragtop archer's arcing shot ability.

All of this requires that the DM allows an attack with a melee weapon being used as the ammunition for a projectile weapon. As you can see, this requires the use of a projectile weapon that isn’t a javelin. The Icechucker from Frostburn comes to the rescue:

Icechucker: The icechucker appears to be a large crossbow at a casual glance, larger even than a heavy crossbow. Its launching mechanism is designed to fire large shards of ice (usually icicles) rather than regular crossbow bolts. You draw an icechucker back by pulling on a thick lever on the underside of the weapon. Loading an icechucker is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. If icicles aren’t handy to load into an icechucker, it can also be used to fire a javelin, dealing the same damage. The icechucker has a range increment of 30’.

But, perhaps the DM in charge of this game isn’t that liberal. No worries. Throw anything comes to the rescue. This feat allows you to throw a melee weapon with which you are proficient with a range increment of 20. Load your icechucker with your javelin and throw the entire thing.

With far shot, that range increment increases to 45’. Paired with arching shot, that means that the character can hit something 15x45 feet away =675 feet. Once he can afford the distance enhancement, that increases to 4,500 feet away.

Now, it is really hard to hit a person from a mile away because of cover and concealment rules...but don’t worry about that so much. Because 3.0 has a fancy little prestige class called the ballisteer, which is basically the soul bow minus the soul knife! It was never updated, so it stands. With this class, you can make ammunition that you shoot from a ranged weapon be invisible, explosive, and teleport through concealment and cover!

Phase Shot (Sp): By expending 3 power points per shot, the ballisteer causes his ammo to phase and move through the Astral Plane. His shots ignore most natural and magical barriers, and his target is denied any armor bonuses it may have had. The target also loses any Dexterity and dodge bonuses if the ballisteer is attacking from a concealed position. This power also allows you to shoot targets through opaque walls, but the target gets total concealment against these attacks. Phase shot does not allow for sneak attacks unless the ballisteer could make a sneak attack without using phase shot. This is considered a teleportation effect and can be blocked by powers and spells that affect those. There is also a chance something occurs to the shot while it is on the Astral Plane: Any attack roll of a natural "1" or "2" is an automatic miss, and the shot is lost. This ability is applied as the attack is made.

Seeing as how your ammunition is a melee weapon, it can trigger the assassin’s death attack, and seeing as how you’re using a projectile weapon to sling the melee weapon based ammunition you can invoke the crag top archer’s ability, and seeing as how you can imbue that ammo with extra effects, you can use the ballister’s manifested abilities to assassinate anyone from nearly a mile away. The problem with doing all of this is line of sight.

To cover these line of sight bases, you have fell conspiracy, which allows a message spell between yourself and your allies. You also have clairvoyance or sense link as a manifestable power. If you have extensive geographical knowledge, a grid coordination system, and spotters, you can have a line of sight to your victim. Your spies use the message spell to report the targets to you using your predefined grid numbering system. You use clairvoyance on that region. Draw a bead for three turns and send an invisible exploding phasing javelin through the astral plane to kill them in a single hit. So long as you have pp, every 18 seconds, someone might die.

Now, if your DM really doesn’t like you using a melee weapon as ammunition that you shoot from a projectile weapon. You need to buy a bayonet for your icechucker and get the returning property put on it in addition to the distance enhancement. This turns your projectile weapon into a melee weapon with which you are proficient. You can now use it with throw anything. If you load the javelin into it, you can charge it with psionic stuffs, and although the chucker itself cannot bypass any cover, the ammunition inside of it can, which leads you to a weird rules conundrum…which can only be solved by paying a gnome to invent a “weapon flinger” for you. Retrain your exotic weapon proficiency: icechucker if this is how you have to do this. If this DM also doesn’t allow retraining, well….fine, I guess the build don’t work so good.

And so, putting it all together. This character can make your PC’s faces explode from a mile away with invisible ammunition. Over and over again…

…actually only a few times a day…unless, of course, they find some cognizance crystals and a wand of sniper’s shot.

The weakest part of this technique, besides the lack of PP, is the low DC of the death attack (DC 16 for many levels). The best way to lift this DC is to boost the daylights out of this character’s Intelligence. You will also wants gloves of endless javelins.

The absolutely necessary magical gear is: icechucker with distance enhancement, intelligence boosters, cognizance crystals, a wand of sniper’s shot, a wand of near horizon(CM), and gloves of javelins.

Note: This build can be made to work with a simple human, but the abilities don’t come online until level 20. And unless you use flaws, you won’t get to add craven and zen archery into it for more punch. But you could totally destabilize an entire kingdom. (Just add martial rogue and more psywar levels…)

Race:
Monstrous Humanoid, psionic subtype
Tauric (SS p. 133) elven hound (ROW p.189) / Phrenic (XPH) Medusa

The cheese with this template never ends. The CR is listed as “base creature +1.” The “base creature” is defined in the template as the animal half. This means that you can make a CR 2 creature with any amount of HD you want. The CR of the “base humanoid” is irrelevant. I chose medusa and elven dog because it got me enough feats and skills to hit the ground running. This arrangement is super sweet because the CR for the phrenic template doesn’t increase the CR of the entire creature, just the medusa half, which is totally subsumed by the template’s “as base creature +1”

The weird thing is that the template turns you into a monstrous humanoid in the end. So you can nest your tauric villain within a tauric villain. All at CR 2. My prelim research identified some other candidates for this cheese. All of the following are CR 1 animal/,magical beasts/vermin with more than 1 HD that fit into the specs for the template. If you ever do nest tauric species together, you can bring in the heavy hitting magical beasts after going through a two humped camel gateway. Your DM might just ignore you for a week…
MM1: riding dog, giant ant, giant bee, medium monstrous centipede, scorpion, and spider. The light horse, pony, mule, donkey (all of which you can modify the stats and speeds of with CoV)
FB: Snowspider
SSt: two humped camel
City of Splendor: Waterdeep: Watch spider
RoW: Brixashulty & Elven hound
Dragon Magic: phynxkin (Pounce Yo)

The following are some of the other monstrous humanoid candidates that I considered:
Sarrukh (SK), Abeil Queen (MM2), Spellweaver (MM2) Armand or Gulgar(MM3), Zern (MM4), Yuan ti (any of em), and paragon human, chitine (MoF).

Just imagine the tauric watchspider/tauric shedu/tauric titanic crab of legend/spellweaver! CR 2 sorcerer 20+ with a bunch of cleric casting…

This race grants Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Intimidate, Move Silently, Spot, Balance, Hide, Jump, Listen, Survival, Swim as class skills. With 2+int points to spend per HD, with a x4 bonus for the first HD. This race grants 8 racial hit dice and a natural armor bonus of +4. The speed is 50.

Skill bonus: Elven hounds have a +4 racial bonus on Balance, Hide, Jump, and Swim checks, and a +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks. Elven hounds have a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent. I’m not entirely sure if the scent quality remains on the creature, but it’s marginally useful at best.

The race grants proficiency in all simple weapons as well as short bow, dagger, and apparently, snakes…Which I will try to optimize at some point in the future “Dual snake wielding medusa!” I’m thinking totemist…anyway, back to the matter at hand.

This race has Immune to sleep, low-light vision, dark vision 60, resist enchantment, Scent, sprint (move 5 times speed during charge 1/day). This race also has a charisma based petrification gaze attack that targets all within 30’ (DC=10+1/2HD+Cha mod) as well as a Constitution based poison: initial damage 1d6 Str, secondary damage 2d6 Str (DC = 10 +1/2 HD + Con mod).  

CR
Level
Class
BAB
fort
ref
will
Skills
feats
Class Abilities
PP

2
0
8d8 racial hit dice
8
4
7
6
Bluff 5, Diplomacy 2, Disguise 5, Intimidate 5, Move Silently 8, Spot 8, Balance 5, Hide 8, Jump 5, Listen 5, Survival 8, tumble 1(cc)
Track(bonus), Dodge (1), mobility (3), exotic weapon proficiency (icechucker (FB))(6)
Racial skill bonus. Poison. Petrifying Gaze.
Immune to sleep, low-light vision, resist enchantment, scent, sprint,
3/day defensive precognition, 1/day force screen, 3/day empty mind, mind thrust, 1day body adjustment, brain lock, 1/day aversion, blast
1

3
1
Assassin 1
8
4
9
6
UMD 6, decipher script 1, tumble 2
point blank shot (9)
Sneak attack +1d6, death attack, poison use, spells, 3/day intellect fortress, 1/day psychic crush,
1

4
2
Psion 1
8
4
9
8
knowledge religion 4, knowledge geography 1, knowledge local 1
psionic shot (bonus)
Bonus feat, Seer Discipline, 3 psion powers known
3

5
3
Psion 2
9
4
9
9
tumble 5

1/day psionic dominate, 5 psion powers known
7

6
4
Psion 3
9
5
10
9
tumble 6, profession cartography 1, concentration 3
Weapon proficiency (javelin as a melee weapon)* (12)
7 psion powers known
12

7
5
Ballisteer 1
9
5
12
9
concentration 9
throw anything (CW), psionic sidestep (web)
1/day energy current, tower of iron will, Psionic Sidestep, Throw Anything.
12

8
6
Ballisteer 2
10
5
13
9
climb 6

invisible shot, Psychic warrior manifesting level 1
13

9
7
Ballisteer 3
11
6
13
10
climb 10, concentration 11
mountain warrior (RoS)(15)
3/day psionic teleport, ethereal shot, Psychic warrior manifesting level 2
15

10
8
Ballisteer 4
12
6
14
10
concentration 15, UMD 7

energy shot
17

11
9
Ballisteer 5
12
6
14
10
concentration 19, UMD 8

1/day fission, incorporeal shot, Psychic warrior manifesting level 3
19

12
10
Ballisteer 6
14
7
15
11
UMD 10, decipher script 3
far shot (18)
Pinpoint shot, Psychic warrior manifesting level 4
23

13
11
Ballisteer 7
15
7
15
11
Profession cartographer 5, survival 10

1/day ultra blast, explosive shot
27

14
12
Ballisteer 8
16
7
16
11
Gather information 3
improved psionic sidestep (web)(bonus)
Psychic warrior manifesting level 5, improved psionic sidestep
31

15
13
Ballisteer 9
16
8
16
12
Gather information 5, knowledge geography 2
Fell Conspiracy (EoE) (21)
Psychic warrior manifesting level 6, phased shot
35

16
14
cragtop archer
17
10
16
12
survival 12, spot 10, Hide 10

Adept climber, far sight
35

17
15
cragtop archer
18
11
16
12
survival 14, spot 12, concentration 20

Strike from above
35

18
16
cragtop archer
19
11
17
13
Hide 12, knowledge local 3
ability enhancer (death attack) (SS) (24)
Arching shot
35

19
17
cragtop archer
20
12
17
13
knowledge local 5, profession cartographer 7

Horizon shot
35

20
18
Assassin 2
21
12
18
13
UMD 16, decipher script 5

+1 save against poison, uncanny dodge
35

*See Mechanical Premise above.

Assassin Spells
1st Level: Snipers Shot (SpC), Ebon Eyes (SpC), Instant Search (SpC)

Psion Powers:
1st Level: Sense link, Urban Strider (RoD), Deja Vu, Call to mind, Missive
2nd Level: Clairvoyant Sense, Object reading, Psychic Beacon (MoE p.105)

Psychic Warrior Powers
1st Level: Call Weaponry, Channel the Psychic Dragon (DM p. 77), Synesthete, Chamelion
2nd Level: concealing amorpha, Animal affinity

Spell and Power notes:
Sense link is used on an underling who shared the fell conspiracy near where Marx is hiding. If the underling sends a message, Marx will link to the underlings sense’s and use their eyeballs to aim a snipershot enhanced phase shot exploding death attack on the intruders.

Instant search is used rarely on those missions where Marx is intruding on a premises to retrieve an item (like a kings crown or such). Ebon eyes is there to pierce magical darkness; stupid Drow… Synesthete is there to handle fogs.

Urban strider, concealing amorpha, and chamelion are all used for city intrusion. With urban strider being a manifester’s spider climb. The Body Adjustment Psi-Like Ability (PLA) is used for intrusions over water (typically at night or during fog).

Object reading, Psychic beacon, Synesthete and the Scent ability are all used for tracking important people that Marx wants dead.

Deja Vu is rarely used and saved for flat footed opponents that are within real (not remote) viewing of Marx. Usually a preferred tactic for Marx to get away using her high speed.

Marx dislikes using psionic dominate seeing as it is very akin to slavery, and only uses the power to turn direct threats to herself onto others or to otherwise end an immediate threat. Marx is intelligent and eloquent enough to make most non-lawful folks to at least empathize. Ultrabalst, however, Marx is fine with opting for. For her, it’s better to be dead than out of control of one’s destiny and she extends that courtesy to her opponents.

Psionic Teleport allows Marx to get close (within a mile of her target) and to return to a safe base of operations.

The Fission PLA, paired with cognizance crystals, allows Marx to make two death attacks on either single or multiple targets.

Character Notes:
Marx is a Radical Anarchist Nihilist. Marx sees all sentient life as having a drive to impose order on a chaotic universe in order to hoard it’s power for themselves. This desire causes a dis-unity with fate and destiny that leads to dysfunction. In a conversation, Marx will point out that the Gods don’t actually care about their followers except as a means to an ends: to play stupid games with other gods that are just extreme passion plays no different than what semi-human nobles do.

Marx will point out how systematized government is a force multiplier that ultimately benefits one being at the expense of all others. This power imbalance, to Marx, as been so systematized that even the gods themselves, (who Marx views as extensions of the collective will of the people) perpetuate this injustice on reality itself. She’s even whispered to herself at night, “Change the people, change the gods, change reality.” If Marx counteracts some of the power imbalance, at least locally, she would not only be in defiance of the same artificial order that created an abomination like herself, but that she could actually create reality ripples wherein all of the multi-verse’s existence will re-equilibrate around truer ideals: Nothing actually matters, and that struggle and pain are unfair corruptions of a pure universe, so why can’t everything be good for everyone? Therefor, barriers to pleasure are the highest sins that one creature can impose on another. Given enough power, beings start taking the maximum potential pleasure that a creature can obtain and hoarding it for themselves. Marx sees herself as a Robin Hood in this regard. Because of this, occasionally she spies on common people in nearby kingdoms using clairvoyance, and after watching for a bit, she “frees” them by killing their abusive husband, landlord, boss, wife, or whathaveyou, as a type of guardian angel of vengeance. For the poor, these are freebie hobbies that she uses as opportunities to learn more about the local culture, relationships and to hone her assassination skills. For the rich, they need to contract a local thieves guild and pay for an assassination, which she’ll subcontract from them using a go between.

To Marx, the entire multiverse is in disharmony right now. To her, it is because there is an arbitrary order imposed on the raw fabric of existence. This idea is reinforced by her experience of turning life to stone, which she describes as entering a being through their eyes and stacking each part of their essence in neat little piles, with the heaviest bits weighing down the squirmiest bits so that all motion in their being stops. Because of this perception of petrification, Marx wears semi-opaque crystal goggles to protect others, opting to use this supernatural power only when her life is threatened, and even thereafter she feels hypocritical and often self atones through a couple day long bender of drug use.

Marx will attempt to keep from killing children and slaves. But not at great personal risk. Marx targets ostentatiously wealthy, especially if the adornment with wealth has little practical purpose. (She’d target a person in mundane golden plate mail before she would target a person with elven chain mail +15)

Write ups:
So when the PCs encounter Marx, it will be either to solve the problems of the kingdoms involved, or to petition her to solve the PC’s problem for them. The sweet spot for Marx is at CR 19. But PCs can interact with her at any point before then. At CR 6, she is psion medusa assassin who is for hire. At CR 15, she can use phase shot, and is the leader of her own assassin’s guild. Her guild operates as a tyrannical Co-op, with 10% of all gains going towards her personal wealth acquisition (she always spends her money on upgrading gear and hiring/bribes) and 70% of the rest of the wealth is perfectly evenly distributed. A 10% finders fee is given to those that secure marks.

At CR 19, Marx is probably well known as the world’s greatest assassin, with the ability to get within a mile of a target and plink away at them with an assassin’s death attack. The knowledge of this assassin will only be known to assassin tribes and thieves guilds, but they will won’t know exactly her race or all of her abilities, other than her marks wind up untraceably dead.

Further, she has developed a plan to destabilize the two most powerful lawful kingdoms on her continent in hopes that she can foment a movement to create a worldwide fear of power acquisition at the expense of others. She has chosen a spot of craggy mountain forest in-between these two kingdoms. She develops an intense knowledge of the land and a longitude Latitude grid system and distributes maps to her underlings of what their patrol regions are.

Even if her direct overlording isn’t directly acknowledged by the public at large as hers, the orthopoxia vulgaris disease is acknowledged as being the worst plague either kingdom has ever seen. Even the poor workers in the fields work less hard for fear of “catching it.” The fact that the occasional abusive husband/uncle/wife randomly has his/her face explode from the “disease” [really an invisible exploding phase shot poisoned javelin] really helps to keep the fear up. Although it is the political keepers of power that Marx slays most often. Slave traders and owners stopped using the routes through this pass between the two kingdoms because the “disease” is at its worst along the crags. Those trade caravans rather take an additional 4 week round about route.

Campaign Design:
One of the more horrifying ways to run a Marx campaign is to give the PCs the job of escorting officials that are on Marx’s kill list. The officials hire NPCs who also have access to disease removal, thinking that the orthopoxia is just a disease. As the PCs move throughout the two week treck, Marx uses her grid system using animal or low level hidden spies to fell conspiracy messages back to her to get into place to make death attacks. Depending on how OP the group is, I suggest not targeting any PCs with the instant death attack, but if your PCs have raise dead and the like, go for it. Marx has limited PP per day, and thus can only kill off 3 or 4 of the officials and their retainers at a time. With each event being an opportunity for the PCs to using magic or tracking to discover the true nature of the disease. If you stack the escorting job enough, you can kill a few people a day at random. If the PCs don’t figure enough out by half way, the rest of the magistrates will want to hustle the rest of the way.

If an unrelated bandit ambush occurred at the same time, that would be a great red herring.

Following the 3 clue rule, you could have one of Marx’s spotters have what looks like a super expensive map with the patrol grid on it, maybe with a descriptor of the next grid’s sentry pencilled in. Certain killers in the group might be able to identify the weapon based basis of the disease, or those with super spot/psicraft checks or astral tracking abilities can see that some teleport effect is responsible for the deaths. Lastly, clairvoyance is a traceable power, so perhaps that can tip them off. If the PCs split up, thinking that just the magistrates are what the targets are, have a messenger from Marx meet them in the middle of the road and tell them, “You are just hired help. The disease doesn’t want you. Go home to your spouses and to your health. Drink mead. Be happy.” If PCs don’t comply, Marx will attempt to pick them off. If she clairvoyantly saw them fight (bandit raid) she will take off her goggles after the first round of combat. Before combat, she will kill any PC using her particular trick, particularly those that own slaves or those that violently or sexually mistreat others. If she loses more than 25% of her hp, she attempts to psionically teleport away.

The other campaign design around marx is to need her to finish an assassin job, but they need to do the pre-prep. They need to infiltrate the castle and deactivate the teleportation blocking device. So that Marx can do her thing. If she is at CR 15 during this mission, her range is greatly reduced, and thus she will need to get within 450’ of the destination. I suggest an ocean’s 11 type scenario, with skill checks dominating the play, until something goes wrong and PCs need to fight their way out of some jam.

CA = COMPLETE ADVENTURER
CM = COMPLETE MAGE
DM = DRAGON MAGIC
DotU = DROW OF THE UNDERDARK
EoE = EXEMPLARS OF EVIL
FB = FROSTBURN
MoE = MAGIC OF EBERRON
RoD= RACES OF DESTINY
ROS = RACES OF STONE
ROW = RACES OF THE WILD
SpC = SPELL COMPENDIUM
SS = SAVAGE SPECIES
SSt = SANDSTORM
XPH = EXPANDED PSIONICS HANDBOOK
CoV = CHAMPIONS OF VALOR
Web = Ballisteer, (http://“http://(http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20030426b”) Psychic Feats (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/pse/20030426a)

Telonius

2016-01-22, 07:08 PM

Next up, The Cackling Prince!

Aside from the some complaints about the lack of accommodations from some of the diplomats you are escorting, your party arrives at the palace of the Athanth kingdom without issue.
The few Athanthi elves you have encountered on the travel have been even more cold and distant than the stories from centuries ago would indicate: some among your party have begun to voice questions as to whether renewing relations would even be worth the effort.

As you approach the throne room, you immediately note that the all the guards (despite appearing extremely dour) have crude, enormous smiles drawn on their faces in some kind of paint. Ambassador Fitzton seems to take this as a good thing: “See, the palace staff is decked out to celebrate our arrival. This mission is off to a great start son, a great start.” The page he’s speaking, (you seem to recall her name is Tisha) to politely declines to mention both that she isn’t anyone’s son and that painted smiles seem a very odd way to celebrate a guest.

As you enter the throne room, you are immediately faced with the court jester.
“GUESTS! We have guests! WELCOME! Welcome!” The rest of the court seems unresponsive and inattentive as he spins around and grabs a serving tray.

He offers the refreshments on the tray to the Ambassador with a flourish and motions to the similar trays situated around the room, indicating their presence to the rest of the Ambassador’s mission.
“Do have some Ambrosia. And don’t neglect the other liquid pick-me-ups in the small glasses: they were a pain to get a hold of. Once everyone is happy with their drink, we can get the party started.”

Ambassador Fitzton motions to the empty throne across the room: “Shouldn’t we wait for the King to arrive?”

The jester does a cartwheel across the room, landing beside the throne. He brings his hand to his face in a parody of deep thought. “King? I don’t think we have a king. We do have a dog though. Come out doggy.”
An elderly man with a chain and collar attached to his neck crawls out from behind the throne. Though his face is somewhat obscured by a smile like the one on the Guard’s faces, you immediately recognize it: it’s the same face as the one on the coins in this kingdom.

Color starts to drain from the Ambassador’s face has he reaches the same conclusion. “Bark for them dog.” With no sign of emotion on his face, the King coldly replies: “woof...woof.”

The jester glares angrily around the silent room. “It was funny. Laugh.” On command, some of the elves around the edge of the room respond with what could be charitably described as a golem’s attempt at laughter.
The jester shakes his head and makes an exaggerated sigh: “I hate this crowd. They might as well be dead.”

Grabbing the scepter hanging from his side, he waves it in the general direction of your party and the diplomats.
“You though, you’re new. What about it: can you take a joke?”
Behind you, the diplomats who had drank the ambrosia begin to fall to the floor. The guards have closed and barred the door to the throne room behind you.

Roll for initiative.

The Cackling Prince

http://orig07.deviantart.net/c8d0/f/2011/175/7/c/king_joker_by_mr__jack-d3jtdjr.jpg
Credit: Mr. Jack/Luke Mancini (http://mr--jack.deviantart.com/)

Grey Jester RHD 8/Dark Creature Template/Ardent 3/Swordsage 2/Psibond Agent 10

CR/HD
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Features

4/8
Grey Jester RHD
4
2
5
5
Gather Information 5, Sense Motive 4, Hide 11, Move Silently 11, Tumble 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 5, Psicraft 5, Preform (Comedy) 9, Intimidate 5
Weapon Finesse, Psionic Meditation, Hidden Talent (Chameleon)1, Overchannel , Talented, Flaw: Inattentive, Flaw: Vulnerable
Empathic Feeding, Fey features, Tasha's Hideous Laughter

5/8
Dark Creature Template
4
2
5
5
Hide 19, Move Silently 17

Darkvision, +10 speed, Resistance, Superior Low Light Vision, Extraplanar, Hide in Plain Sight (Su), Cold Resistance 10

6/9
Ardent 1
4
2
5
7
Concentration 10
Practiced Manifester (Ardent)
Substitute Power ACF, Mental Power Mantle, Deception Mantle

7/10
Swordsage 1
4
2
7
9
Concentration 13, Move Silently 19, Hide 21, Tumble 7
Instant Clarity1
Quick to Act +1, Discipline Focus (Diamond Mind)2

8/11
Swordsage 2
5
2
8
10
Move Silently 20, Hide 22, Gather Information 7, Tumble 10
Maiming Strike
AC Bonus

9/12
Ardent 2
6/1
2
8
11
Concentration 15

Freedom Mantle

10/13
Ardent 3
7/2
3
9
11
Concentration 16, Gather Information 8, Tumble 11

11/14
Psibond Agent 1
7/2
3
11
11
Concentration 17, Move Silently 23, Hide 25, Tumble 13
Fey Heritage
Psibond (forced sense link)

12/15
Psibond Agent 2
8/3
3
12
11
Concentration 18, Move Silently 24, Hide 26, Trick: Acrobatic Backstab, Tumble 17

Psibond (nudge)

13/16
Psibond Agent 3
9/4
4
12
12
Concentration 19, Move Silently 25, Hide 27, Tumble 19, Preform (Dance) 4

Sneak attack +1d6

14/17
Psibond Agent 4
10/5
4
13
12
Concentration 20, Move Silently 26, Hide 28, Tumble 20, Preform (Dance) 5, Balance 2
Fey Legacy
Psibond (empathy)

15/18
Psibond Agent 5
10/5
4
13
12
Concentration 21, Move Silently 27, Hide 29, Tumble 21, Balance 5, Trick: Shrouded Charge

Lingering Psibond

16/19
Psibond Agent 6
11/6/1
5
14
13
Concentration 22, Move Silently 28, Hide 30, Tumble 22, Bluff 8, Psicraft 7

Psibond (suggestion), Sneak attack +2d6

17/20
Psibond Agent 7
12/7/2
5
14
13
Concentration 23, Move Silently 29, Hide 31, Tumble 23, Psicraft 12
Fiendish Heritage
Double Psibond

18/21
Psibond Agent 8
13/8/3
5
15
13
Concentration 24, Move Silently 30, Hide 32, Tumble 24, Psicraft 17

Psibond (False sensory input)

19/22
Psibond Agent 9
13/8/3
6
15
14
Concentration 25, Move Silently 31, Hide 33, Tumble 25, Psicraft 22

Sneak Attack +3d6

20/23
Psibond Agent 10
14/9/4
6
16
14
Concentration 26, Move Silently 32, Hide 34, Tumble 26, Psicraft 24, Preform (Comedy) 10
Fiendish Legacy
Psibond Dominate

1Hidden Talent (Chameleon) is retrained to Instant Clarity at CR 6
2Sadly, the Grey Jester’s scepter does not appear as a preferred weapon for any discipline.

Power & Maneuvers

CR
PP3
ML4
Powers Known
IL
Maneuvers
Stances

≤5
2
-
Chameleon
-
-
-

6
4
5
Skate, Chameleon
-
-
-

7
2
5
(lose duplicate Chameleon
6
Cloak of Deception, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Mind over Body, Action before Thought Moment of Perfect Mind Mind Strike
Child of Shadows

8
2
5
-
7
Zephyr Dance
Assassin's Stance

9
8
6
Ego Whip
7
-
-

≥10
11
7
Schism
85
-
-

3Base Power Points only
4Reflects Practiced Manifester but not Overchannel
5 +1/2later HD

Base Ability Scores
These scores do not reflect bonuses from gear or inherent bonuses.
Those will be addressed in the level by level breakdown. The basis of the Racial Modifiers is handled in the next section.

Elite
Array
Racial
Mod.
Score/
Bonus
Leveling
Increases

STR
10
+0
10/+0

DEX
8
+12
20/+5

CON
14
+4
18/+4

INT
12
+4
16/+3

WIS
15
+0
15/+2
CR 8, CR 16

CHA
13
+6
19/+4
CR 12, CR 20

Extrapolating from the example Grey Jester
The Grey Jester appears in Heroes of Horror on page 151. Since the character needs to be moved up to the elite array per contest rules, I had to isolate the racial bonuses, class skills, etc. from the example monster. The Prince’s racial features are then further modified by the Dark Creature template from Cormyr:The Tearing of the Weave page 152.

Summary of the Prince’s Features from RHD:
Medium Fey (Extraplanar)
Racial Stat Bonuses: +12 Dex, +4 Con, +4 Int, +6 Cha
RHD: 8d6 HD, 6+int Skill points, Good Reflex & Will Saves
Racial Skill bonuses: +8 hide, +6 move silently
Class Skills: Diplomacy, Hide, Perform (Comedy), Move Silently, Use Magic Device
Movement Speed: 60ft
Weapon Proficiencies: Proficient with all simple weapons and with the scepter listed in the Grey Jester’s stat block
Special Qualities: DR 10/cold iron, SR 18, +2 AC (deflection), Superior low-light vision, Darkvision, Cold Resistance 10
Special Item: Scepter, 1d4 damage (finessable, presumably bludgeoning)
Special Abilities: Empathic Feeding (SU, DC 15), Tasha’s Hideous Laughter (SP, CL 5, Wisdom based DC), Hide in Plain Sight (Su)
Bleak Ones: Enemies of HD less than 8 drained to 0 from Empathic Feeding become bleak ones. The Cackling Prince can control 32 HD of Bleak Ones.
Languages: Common, Elven, Sylvan, 1 additional bonus language (from high INT bonus)

Methodology:
Grey Jester has a listed LA, but (as is common for higher HD playable monsters) the entry does not break out racial bonuses, RHD elements, and stat bonuses.
Isolating these elements is a necessary step in building the character, since (among other reasons) the contest rules indicate the elite array rather than the standard array.

Given the prevalence of monsters in this competition, I’m assuming the judges are fairly familiar with the rules for advancing monsters and/or using them as PCs.
If anyone in the audience needs a refresher, however, GitP’s very own Ur-Priest has provided an excellent primer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?207928-Urpriest-s-Monstrous-Monster-Handbook) on the subject.

In this case however, three elements of the monster seem to break the standard rules.

First, the example character has a +2 AC Deflection bonus. Deflection bonuses usually come from something (feats, shields, something), but no such element is present. As such, it looks like the Grey Jester gets a racial +2 Deflection Bonus to AC instead of something more ordinary (like natural armor).
Second, the skills are problematic. If we assume that the example Grey Jester’s skills are all class skills for its RHD, then it has spent less than half of its skill points. Of the skills the example Grey Jester has, the following must be class skills (because they exceed its cross-class cap of 5.5): Diplomacy, Hide, Perform (Comedy), Move Silently, Use Magic Device
Not all of the remaining skills can be cross-class (it would cost too many points). To spend the remaining points without half-ranks, there are 3 possible situations:

Bluff and Sense Motive are class skills
Tumble and Spot are class skills
Tumble and Listen are class skills

Since the situation is unclear, I’ve only treated the skills that would exceed cross-class cap as class skills for this entry.
Finally, the DC for Tasha Hideous Laughter does not match the calculation based on Cha, which is the standard unless otherwise noted.
With a specified caster level of 5, a DC based on CHA (as is the standard unless otherwise noted) would be 18.
The listed DC of 15 only works if the DC is Wisdom-based.

Items
The Scepter
As a Grey Jester, the Prince has an unusual weapon. His scepter deals 1d4 damage (unspecified, but presumably bludgeoning), and is finessable (and therefore must be light).
This damage is somewhat sad, but his only other option for delivering Tasha’s Hideous Laughter is a touch attack. As such, the Prince will be keeping his bling-stick scepter and will get it enhanced throughout his career.

The following enhancements (all +1 bonus equivalents) directly enhance the build. The Scepter is important and should be further enhanced throughout the build, but these elements are prioritized.

Power Storing (MIC 40): This allows the Prince to store a 5PP Ego Whip in the scepter ahead of time, increasing his Charisma damage output against his first melee target.
Deadly precision (MIC 32): +1d6 Sneak Attack Damage. There’s actually an earlier version that does +2d6: I’m working under the technically un-RAW assumption that the MIC version supersedes it.
Assassination (Cityscape Web Enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070314a)): +1d6 Sneak Attack, along with some poison benefits we won’t be using because there are no injury poisons that damage charisma.

Other specific items

Rogue’s Vest (MIC 130): +1d6 Sneak Attack, some check & save bonuses.
Misters (DotU 92): Deliver inhalation poison as a 5 ft. ranged touch attack. Used to deliver:

Dreammist (BoVD 42): Enthralls the user with “exotic” and “exotic” visions for d20+10 minutes, 50% chance not to act. Used as a conduit a way to make a target valid for Empathic feeding.
Burning Angel Wing Fumes (BoVD 44): Expensive poison with significant Charisma damage
Ungol Dust (SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#poison)): Cheaper poison with lower Charisma damage
A method of dispelling is highly desirable. Third Eye Repudiate (MIC 142) is a thematic option, but a version crafted above standard CL would be preferable.

Power Point & Augmentation Items
The prince is more than a little hungry for power points: his base pool and ability score bonus aren’t nearly enough. Each of the CR-specific walkthroughs indicates the PP budget used in the example combat. The budget is largely item-dependent. Cognizance crystals are the easiest option and will make up the majority of the budget, though there are a couple specific options that are superior:

A Torc of Power Preservation (MIC 143) will save a couple power points, but more importantly it will add one additional tier of augmentation (both inside and outside of Schism)
Power Link Shards (MoE 115) will both save points on augmentation and allow the Prince to exceed his manifestation cap.
The manifester weapon properties is more cost effective than the equivalent cognizance crystals

General Note
The items here will be included in the walkthroughs by CR. They are well under-budget for both PC WBL and NPC equipment for a character of the Prince’s ECL at CR 10.
Since this is a boss villain, that’s probably an appropriate target. This gear would, however, be over-budget if compared to the treasure of an EL 10 encounter. The Scepter in particular would be problematic under such constraints, and would likely need to be reworked to just +1 power sharing.

The Prince at CR 5 (8 HD, Average HP 60.5, Attack +9, Fort 6, Ref 16, Will 7)
At CR 5 the Prince is just a Grey Jester with the Dark Creature template, which is to say a Grey Jester that can Use Hide in Plain Sight. This introduces a pattern he will reuse throughout his career: attack, then use HiPS avoid his enemies. Even without the benefit of Cloak of Deception, his Hide check is still sufficient to make the check against most enemies: with the benefit of Chameleon his check reaches 34 before even rolling. This will generally be enough to make the check against most enemies even with the 20 penalty for attacking. With his base move speed of 60, he can move at 30 while hiding without further penalty.

If one of his attacks successfully inflicts Tasha’s Hideous Laughter on his enemies, he will remain hidden as long as possible while using Empathic Feeding. If the enemy is fully drained, he will aim the resulting Bleak One at the party before re-engaging.

If faced with an enemy that is routinely making their saves against Hideous Laughter, the Prince will resort to a Mister with Dreammist to disable an enemy and begin feeding. Alternately, he can use one with Ungol Dust for some direct Charisma damage.

The Prince at CR 10 (13 HD, Average HP 97, Attack +12/+7, Fort 7, Ref 14, Will 14, PP 17)
By CR 10 the Prince has gained access to a small array of Powers and Maneuvers via Ardent (with practiced manifester to take advantage of the class's unique powers known mechanism) and Swordsage (with the benefit of a bunch of RHD to boost IL)

On the Ardent side, the chief benefits are Schism and Ego Whip. As a general rule, Schism will be his first standard action in combat. His first action from within the Schism will generally be to manifest Chameleon for the longer-than-encounter buff to hide.

Several of his tools now use psionic focus. To restore his psionic focus, his preferred option is to use Sapphire Nightmare Blade then and Instant Clarity. After the 3/day limit, he will hide instead take a breather round. While hidden, he will exchange his Standard action in the Schism for a Move action to use Psionic Meditation. At the same time, he will use his normal Full-round action to refresh his Swordsage Maneuvers.

Between Ardent and Swordsage, the Prince has netted several defensive options. Mind over Body, Action before Thought, Moment of Perfect Mind will allow him substitute concentration for a save. Zephyr Dance & the Deception Mantle’s granted power also give him defensive options against a direct attack.

The Prince has also added some improvements to his Attack & Hide routine: Cloak of Deception to become invisible gives an additional +20 to his hide checks. Skate and the Freedom Mantle will increase his movement speed 80 ft., allowing him to move at 40 feet while hiding without incurring further penalty.

The Prince’s attack routines build on his Empathic Feeding by targeting Charisma. This both speeds accelerates the turn-around on Empathic Feeding when an enemy is vulnerable to it and targets something that generally scales slower than HP (if at all).

Continuing on his Attack & Hide routine, the general pattern will be:

Standard Attack: 4d6 Sneak Attack (Assassin’s Stance, Assassination, and Deadly Precision) converted into 2 Charisma damage via Maiming Strike. The first attack will also carry a 5 PP Ego Whip for a potential 2d4 Charisma.

If needed to restore focus, this will be a Sapphire Nightmare Blade. Otherwise the secondary attack brings the possibility of 2 more Charisma damage.
The resulting Charisma damage range is on a failed save is 4-10 (average 7). On a successful save, the range is instead 4-8 (4.5)
A successful attack also carries a potential application of Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, thus allowing Empathic Feeding.

Schism Standard Action: As mentioned above, this will depend on whether there is a valid target for Empathic Feeding.

With at least one valid target available, Empathic Feeding will deal 1d4 Charisma (average 2.5) damage per target that fails their save.
Without a valid feeding target, he will instead use a Talented Overchannel and a Torc of Power Preservation to manifest a once augmented Ego Whip (2-8 Charisma damage, 2-4 on a successful Save)

Swift Action: Cloak of Deception to improve his hide check.
Move Action: Move at half speed and hide.
Taken as a whole, this will yield between 5 and 20 Charisma damage in a turn: enough to incapacitate a high CHA target at the high end or get halfway there for a low CHA target.

He also has other options:

Though it will cut into his PP reserve, he can go nova with Ego Whip. With a talented overchannel, a use of his Torc of Power Preservation, and a use of a Power Link Shard it will result in a 6d4
Charisma.
Using a move action to for Psionic Meditation and using the same resources as above a 2nd time will allow and additional 3d4 Charisma damage inside the schism.
This yields a range of 9-36 Charisma damage (average 22.5).
Realistically, this will require an 11 PP cognizance crystal. He can likely only afford this once per day.
As before, he continues to have the option of using a Mister of Dreammist or Ungol Dust.
Finally, he can simply attack with HP damage with Sneak Attack: using Sapphire Nightmare Blade, this will yield 1d4+5d6+1 damage for a range of 7-35 (average 21).

Power Point pool

Wisdom boosting items will help some, but realistically he’ll need an about 35 points worth of external power points, at least 1 of which comes in the form of an 11 point crystal.
This should handle 1 combat per day. For a PC, this would be problematic. For a villain, however, it’s an acceptable option.

The Prince at CR 20 (23 HD, Average HP 172, Attack +19/+14/+9, Fort 11, Ref 19, Will 23, PP 24)
At CR 20, Psibond Agent has given the Prince additional options for to use inside the Schism. Beyond the direct option of dominating the enemies, false sensory input provides a method of disrupting mainfesters (and, via transparency, casters).

Mind Blank is a significant issue at this level: item based dispel psioncs/dispel magic should be used proactively. This also provides a method to dispel Hideous Laughter on a Bleak One before its duration is over, allowing them to attack their former comrades sooner.

Additionally, Fey Legacy and Fiendish Legacy have given the Price the following additional 1/day SLAs that can be used from within the Schism (all at CL 23):

Confusion
Dimension Door
Summon nature's ally V
Teleport (self plus 50 pounds of objects only)
Summon Monster V (fiendish creatures only)
Unholy Blight

Stat Bonuses: by this level the Prince should readily be able to afford a +5 inherent bonus and +6 enhancement bonus to both Wisdom and Charisma.
Both will serve to prop up the DCs of his abilities (though sadly not that of Empathic Feeding).
Additionally, the Wisdom will also boost his Power Points.
With the level bonuses, this should yield Wisdom 28 and Charisma 32.

Power Point pool
At this level, the Prince should easily be able to a far larger supply of cognizance crystals. A budget of 70/encounter will allow significantly more liberal use of the nova option.

The Bleak Ones
The build above presumes that the Prince will only be using Bleak Ones he creates in the course of combat (since Bleak Ones turned in advance would each contribute CR separately to the Encounter Level). If generic Bleak Ones are available, their job is mostly to run interference to prevent the enemies from catching up with the Prince if he fails to hide.

If he gets his pick of Bleak Ones, it’s worth noting that Joystealers (MM IV 78) have a Charisma attack: since they’re 6 HD, the Prince can keep 5 of them. I do SO hate dining alone.

Telonius

2016-01-22, 07:09 PM

Our third competitor, Scar the Lion King of the Serengeti!

Scar the Lion King of the Serengeti

Huge Phrenic Dire Lion CR 13 / Phantom +2 / Ardent 1 / storm disciple 4

http://www.epilogue.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/gallery_lg/images/07/06/36353_1170651600.jpg

CR Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
2 Phrenic Dire Lion cub (tiny, cat model 1/4HD) +0 +2 +2 +2 hide 0-4 size+4 racial, listen 1, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 0 Alertness 3/day—defensive precognition; 1/day—force screen ; 2 claws 1d2 and bite 1d3; power resistance HD+10; low-light vision, scent
3 very young dire lion (medium, leopard model 3HD) +2 +3 +3 +3 hide 0-4 size+4 racial, listen 2, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 1 Run 3/day—empty mind, mind thrust ; 2 claws 1d3 and bite 1d6; improved grab, pounce, rake; +1 natural armor
4 phrenic young dire lion (large, lion model 5HD) +3 +4 +4 +4 hide 0-4 size+4 racial, listen 2, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 3 1/day—body adjustment, brain lock ; 2 claws 1d4 and bite 1d6; +3 natural armor
6 juvenile dire lion (lion 8HD) +6 +5 +5 +5 hide 0-4 size+4 racial, listen 4, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 4 Speed of Thought 1/day—aversion, psionic blast
7 young adult dire lion +6 +6 +6 +6 hide 0-4 size+4 racial, listen 4, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 4 2 claws 1d6 and bite 1d8; +4 natural armor
9 adult dire lion (11HD) +8 +7 +7 +7 hide 0-4 size+4 racial, listen 5, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 6 Multiattack 3/day—intellect fortress; 1/day—psionic dominate, psychic crush
10 mature adult dire lion (14HD) +10 +9 +9 +9 hide 0-4 size+4 racial, knowledge (religion) 3, listen 5, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 6 Improved multiattack 1/day—energy current, tower of iron will
12 old dire lion (huge, 17 HD) +12 +10 +10 +10 hide 0-8 size+4 racial, knowledge (religion) 6, listen 5, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 6 Improved initiative 3/day—psionic teleport; 1/day—fission ; 2 claws 1d8 and bite 2d6; +7 natural armor
13 very old dire lion (20HD) +15 +12 +12 +12 hide 0-8 size+4 racial, knowledge (religion) 8, listen 6, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 6 Psionic Charge 1/day—ultrablast
15 Phantom template AC deflection bonus, phantom defense, vulnerability to ghost touch, phantom strike, incorporeal jaunt
16 Ardent 1 +15 +12 +12 +14 concentration 1, hide 0-8 size+4 racial, knowledge (religion) 8, listen 6, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 6 Epic Speed Assume psionic mantles (Natural World, Physical Power), 2 PP/day, 2 powers known : chameleon, adrenaline boost
17 Storm Disciple 1 +16 +14 +12 +16 concentration 2, hide 0-8 size+4 racial, knowledge (religion) 8, listen 6, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 6 shocking aura 5 ft
18 Storm Disciple 2 +17 +15 +12 +17 concentration 3, hide 0-8 size+4 racial, knowledge (religion) 8, listen 6, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 6 resistance to electricity 5, 6 PP/day, metaphysical claw
19 Storm Disciple 3 +18 +15 +13 +17 concentration 4, hide 0-8 size+4 racial, knowledge (religion) 8, listen 6, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 6 Superior Initiative shocking aura 10 ft, stormwalker, 11 PP/day, animal affinity
20 Storm Disciple 4 +19 +16 +13 +18 concentration 5, hide 0-8 size+4 racial, knowledge (religion) 8, listen 6, move silently 0+4 racial, spot 6 resistance to electricity 15, 17 PP/day, vigor

Dire Lion Age model CR HD advancement CR for Phrenic Dire Lion
cub cat 1/2 1/4 - 1+1/2
very young leopard 2 3 4-5 HD (Medium) 2+1
young lion 3 5 6-8 HD (Large) 3+1
juvenile 4 8 4+2
young adult dire lion 5 8 9-16 HD (Large); 17-24 HD (Huge) 5+2
adult 6 11 6+3
mature adult 7 14 7+3
old 9 17 (+1 CR Huge) 9+3
very old 10 20 10+3
ancient 11 24 11+3

CR class Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Elite array -2 +4 +2 0 +2 +4
Phrenic template +2 +4
Awakened (optional) (3d6)
2 Cat 3-2 15+4 10+2 2 12+4 7+8
3 Leopard 16-2 19+4 15+2 2 12+4 6+8
4 Lion 21-2 17+4 15+2 2 12+4 6+8
6 Lion 8HD 16+2
7 Dire Lion 25-2 15+4 17+2 2 12+4 10+8
9 Dire Lion 11HD
10 Dire Lion 14HD 20 (+1 12HD)
12 Dire Lion 17HD (Huge size) 23+8 21-2 (+1 15HD, -2 Huge size) 19+4
13 Dire Lion 20HD 20 (+1 18HD)
15 Phantom
16 Ardent 1 21 (+1 21HD)
17 Storm Disciple 1
18 Storm Disciple 2
19 Storm Disciple 3 3 (+1 24HD)
20 Storm Disciple 4

In the Serengeti, during a big storm, lion cubs play near a big baobab... which is hit by lightning ! Only 2 cubs survive, one of them with strange powers... which will help him dominate the whole pride and devastate the environment.

My basis here is a Phrenic Dire Lion - but I use Lion, Leopard and Cat to simulate the younger versions and the progeny of our freak. Only changes are :
1) Good Will Save for Dire Lions,
2) Removal of racial bonuses/feats which are not possessed by Dire Lions.
Right now our phrenic lion is able to send dangerous mind thrusts 3/day for 8d10 damage - other psionics are used to defend itself or stun ennemies before pouncing on them.

His cubs can be captured to be used in a circus or menagerie, and then escape and wreak havoc in any environment - this would be a good lead for low level adventures.

(You can play this in D&D&D mode - Dungeons&Dragons&Disney - a prime material plane world where animals are awakened. Or you can place this in the Beastlands in the Outer Planes, which is much the same, or in your own world, in the south. Awaken is only an option there, as there's no guide to update CR with it.)

Once we are on Dire Lion basis, I only increase hit dices as Scar psionically dominates more and more lions and eat most herbivores - and expand his territory, where only the fitest survive - including humans which are soon hunted. But can adventurers even contain the freak lions from conquering all nearby countries, with Scar possessing psionics at 14th manifester level, which allow him to go Pikachu mode (with energy current)?

Scar was so strong that he became the biggest lion the Serengeti ever saw - humans were exterminated, only Dire Animals were able to survive, creating an hellish Dire Savannah populated by freak animals. Nearby human tribes rejoiced when he finally died, with a popular song and a hope to hunt his lesser progeny down to extinction. But as they tried to reclaim their ancestral home, they had to recoil in fear - the freak lions and dire animals would call upon Scar even after his death to protect his realm ! Can adventurers call upon other mighty totems against the Dire King ?

First I used Spirit Animal from Frostburn - but it is restricted to animals. Then I had the choice between the Ghost from Monster Manual 1, the same from Ghostwalk, and Phantom from Monster Manual 5... I think Phantom is best tailored here, as it does not add fancy powers. I would probably add extraplanar subtype on top to show that Scar came back from afterlife - but this is a house rule. Otherwise with 20th manifester level Scar is a fearsome foe, which should use and abuse of fission to come back again and again...

Gaining more sentience and powers after death, called by the dire wildlife of his realm, Scar hunts humans and subdues them - humans would raise big cattle and be no more than slaves under the tyrannical freak lions. As the lions find a small magic portal to another plane, they send young cubs the other way... soon the Serengeti Empire will conquer all the realities !

Monster Manual I on Improving Monsters chapter says that it's possible for a monster with a template (a half-dragon lammasu, for example) to be improved by both increasing its Hit Dice and adding character class levels. A phantom would not continue to grow in size, so Scar is stuck on his previous physical appearance. I consider he can develop its mental powers though - hence class levels. Storm Disciple prestige class matches a Natural World Leader quite well (even better for Scar which gained his powers through a lightning strike).

Complete Psionic (Ardent, Storm Disciple)
Epic Level handbook (Epic Speed, Superior Initiative feats)
Monster Manual 5 (Phantom template)

Telonius

2016-01-22, 07:11 PM

Competitor number 4: The Overmind!

The Overmind
http://oi66.tinypic.com/slr0qu.jpg
"A horde of high-ranking sycophants and charlatans supplant themselves at the fore of the podium, staging rituals and theatrics to somehow cheat one another into thinking that the Overmind approves of their intentions."
-Administrator Antony

Someone wanted to become a leader but had no leadership skills, so started taking over people's minds instead. As people started to get a bit annoyed with him doing this, he eventually hid away and, when he returned, pretended to be some kind of transcendent being, using this power to rule over them.

The lack of leadership skills is represented by low CHA, taking over minds with Telepath levels, his hiding away to accumulate power is part of his time as a slayer, his pretense to be transcendent by the fact that he has no psion uncarnate levels or any other way to transcend reality, and the power to rule over them... well, again, telepath powers.Lawful Evil Human Telepath (With Telepathic Communication) 10/Slayer 10. Telepath is a type of Psion found on the SRD. Slayer is found on the SRD. Telepathic Communication is found in The Mind's Eye (Expanded Classes Part 3 section).Fun fact: I have screwed up the elite array in every previous VC I've entered, and no-one has noticed! Ha!

But for real this time, we're having STR 10 DEX 12 CON 14 INT 15 WIS 13 CHA 8

All bonus points go to intelligence. To clarify any skill point related confusion, whenever I gain intelligence at level 4, 12, or 20, I do get extra points at the level I improve the ability score but don't at any previous level:

For example, when Mialee becomes a 4th-level wizard, she decides to increase her Intelligence score to 16.
[...]
As a new 4th-level character, she can get the skill points immediately after raising her Intelligence, so she’ll get 5 points for attaining 4th level in the wizard class. She does not retroactively get additional points for her previous levels (that is, skill points she would have gained if she had had an Intelligence score of 16 starting at 1st level).

Yes, this gets weird fast. Oh well.

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

1st
Telepath 1
+0
+2
+1
+3
Concentration 4, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Psionics) 4, Psicraft 4, Sense Motive 4
Psicrystal AffinityB, Improved InitiativeB*, Hidden Talent (Astral Construct)
Discipline

2nd
Telepath 2
+1
+2
+1
+4
Concentration 5, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Psionics) 5, Psicraft 5, Sense Motive 5
-
-

3rd
Telepath 3
+1
+3
+2
+4
Concentration 6, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Psionics) 6, Psicraft 6, Sense Motive 6
Track

-

4th
Telepath 4
+2
+3
+2
+5
Concentration 7, Knowledge (Local) 1, (Dungeoneering, Psionics) 7, Psicraft 7, Sense Motive 7
-
-

5th
Telepath 5
+2
+3
+2
+5
Concentration 8, Knowledge (Local) 2, (Dungeoneering, Psionics) 8, Psicraft 8, Sense Motive 8
-
Telepathy

6th
Telepath 6
+3
+4
+3
+6
Concentration 9, Knowledge (Local) 3, (Dungeoneering, Psionics) 9, Psicraft 9, Sense Motive 9
Mindsight

-

7th
Telepath 7
+3
+4
+3
+6
Concentration 10, Knowledge (Local) 4, (Dungeoneering, Psionics) 10, Psicraft 10, Sense Motive 10
-
-

8th
Telepath 8
+4
+4
+3
+7
Concentration 11, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering, Psionics) 11, Psicraft 11, Sense Motive 11
-
-

9th
Telepath 8/Slayer 1
+5
+4
+3
+9
Concentration 12, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 12, (Psionics) 11, Psicraft 12, Sense Motive 12, Spot 4
Psicrystal Containment

Favoured Enemy +2, Enemy Sense

10th
Telepath 8/Slayer 2
+6
+4
+3
+10
Concentration 13, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 13, (Psionics) 11, Psicraft 13, Sense Motive 13, Spot 8
-
Brain Nausea

11th
Telepath 8/Slayer 3
+7
+5
+4
+10
Concentration 14, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 14, (Psionics) 11, Psicraft 14, Sense Motive 14, Spot 12
-
Lucid Buffer

12th
Telepath 8/Slayer 4
+8
+5
+4
+11
Concentration 15, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 15, (Psionics) 11, Listen 2 Psicraft 15, Sense Motive 15, Spot 15
Boost Construct
Favoured Enemy +4

13th
Telepath 8/Slayer 5
+9
+5
+4
+11
Concentration 16, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 16, (Psionics) 11, Listen 6 Psicraft 16, Sense Motive 16, Spot 16
-
-

14th
Telepath 8/Slayer 6
+10
+6
+5
+12
Concentration 17, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 17, (Psionics) 11, Listen 10 Psicraft 17, Sense Motive 17, Spot 17
-
Cerebral Blind

15th
Telepath 8/Slayer 7
+11
+6
+5
+12
Concentration 18, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 18, (Psionics) 11, Listen 14 Psicraft 18, Sense Motive 18, Spot 18
Practiced Manifester
Favoured Enemy +6

16th
Telepath 8/Slayer 8
+12
+6
+5
+13
Concentration 19, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 19, (Psionics) 11, Listen 18 Psicraft 19, Sense Motive 19, Spot 19
-
Breach Power Resistance

17th
Telepath 8/Slayer 9
+13
+7
+6
+13
Concentration 20, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 20, (Psionics) 11, Listen 20 Psicraft 20, Sense Motive 20, Spot 20, Survival 2
-
Cerebral Immunity

18th
Telepath 8/Slayer 10
+14
+7
+6
+14
Concentration 21, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 21, (Psionics) 11, Listen 21 Psicraft 21, Sense Motive 21, Spot 21, Survival 5
Overchannel
Blast Feedback, Favoured Enemy +8

19th
Telepath 9/Slayer 10
+14
+8
+7
+14
Concentration 22, Knowledge (Local) 5, (Dungeoneering) 22, (Psionics) 14, Listen 21 Psicraft 22, Sense Motive 22, Spot 21, Survival 5
-
-

20th
Telepath 10/Slayer 10
+15
+8
+7
+15
Concentration 23, Knowledge (Local) 9, (Dungeoneering) 23, (Psionics) 14, Listen 21 Psicraft 23, Sense Motive 23, Spot 21, Survival 5
Improved PsicrystalB
-

Your psicrystal has the Nimble personality to start, and gains the Hero personality at 20th.
B Denotes a bonus feat for being a Psion.
B* Denotes the bonus feat for being a human.
Mindsight is from Lords of Madness. Practiced Manifester is CPsi. Hidden Talent is XPH.All power are obtained in the order listed. Astral Construct is obtained from a feat, circumventing the restriction that normally prevents Telepaths accessing it (Feats are specified to ignore the restriction).

B is a bonus power. M'sE is a power from the Mind's Eye supplement, CPsi is one from Complete Psionic.

1st: Astral ConstructB, Psionic Charm, Matter Agitation, Call ItemM'sE, Entangling Ectoplasm, Control Flames
2nd: Control Sound, Read Thoughts, Psionic Tongues, Psionic Suggestion
3rd: Time Hop, Touchsight, Hostile Empathic Transfer, False Sensory Input
4th: Psionic Dominate, Schism, Psionic Modify Memory, Psionic Divination
5th: Anticipatory Strike, Mind Probe, Psionic Major Creation, Psionic Plane Shift
6th: Temporal Acceleration, PsychometryCPsi, Retrieve
7th: Psionic Moment of Prescience, Decerebrate, Divert Teleport
8th: Psionic Iron Body, True Metabolism, Planar EmbraceCPsi
9th: Affinity Field, Stygian Conflagration, Affinity Field Pain

Explanations:

Astral Construct: Useful if you want a big bully to go and hit things for you. Also, when you "transcend reality", you need an avatar to appear and look awesome for a minute or so, right?
Psionic Charm: Diplomacy without the pesky having to roll for it part. Plus being able to spam it about four hundred times per day at high levels is nice.
Matter Agitation: You can set someone on fire. You can also commit arson at range. Not that anyone would ever want to do that. This power has the best damage:PP ratio in the game except for the other one you're going to use it with.
Call Item: Wait, I'm sorry, what, you can, for 5 power points, just produce a freaking alchemy lab out of nowhere? Oh, and alchemical items aren't actually magical, so you can just grab one of them. In general, though, this is just a really useful power for randomly producing objects you need.
Entangling Ectoplasm: Low level no-save-just-suck. It's pretty decent.
Control Flames: Essential for the budding arsonist: at high levels as well, the ability to turn a ceremonial-looking candle (or censer if you want to save on PP) into a freaking massive wave of flame that looks enough like a fire elemental that someone is probably going to try to fight it is absolutely awesome.
Control Sound: Fun for making your "Fire elemental" "Talk". Hey, you have enough random extra languages to blow one on Ignan.
Read Thoughts: Self-explanatory, really.
Psionic Tongues: Some of your stuff is language-dependant, like your telepathy.
Psionic Suggestion: Because of your Tongues effect, you can use this on anything with a mind, which is neat.
Time Hop: If you're being searched for, you can randomly disappear, but honestly it works best as a temporary disintegrate - it affects up to about 12 cubic feet of wood, which easily means that you can time hop an entire door. You can affect a tenth of that much steel, which is still... probably a door. Sometimes the fact that the thing comes back makes it better than disintegrate.
Touchsight: Now you know where everything is, even if it doesn't have a mind! For when Mindsight doesn't quite cut it.
Hostile Empathic Transfer: You'll need this when you snap and go into "Now you will feel my pain!" mode.
False Sensory Input: Make someone think that your astral construct is a freaking angel or something? I dunno. This is about the best thing for messing with any sense you like, so go crazy. Also, you can mess with true seeing!
Psionic Dominate: ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOPSION. Being able to Dominate Monster, only for longer, is really and truly neat.
Schism: So that you can have a big fake fire elemental and a little fake fire elemental!
Psionic Modify Memory: So that those people you annoyed when you were younger will forget about it.
Psionic Divination: Oh look, one of the best cleric spells in existence. I'll take twenty. And still have most of my power points left over.
Anticipatory Strike: Celerity isn't broken enough, guys.
Mind Probe: If you're going to maintain law and order, mind probing the accused is a quick way of forcing answers from someone.
Psionic Major Creation: Takes a while, but having a shower of gems appear out of nowhere is a cool display of power, and the ability to make something actually useful is, well, useful. You can arm a roomful of people if you think PCs are coming or create a wall to use to escape, for example.
Psionic Plane Shift: So you can mess with enemies who are on another plane.
Temporal Acceleration: What about a low level swift action version of time stop is not to like?
Psychometry: Really really good divination spell.
Retrieve: PCs show up brandishing their weapons, and then their weapons just disappear. And then you go out and hit them with them.
Psionic Moment of Prescience: For when you absolutely positively gotta pass that check.
Decerebrate: It's a nice save or die.
Divert Teleport: For when the PCs try to escape your chambers by teleporting.
Psionic Iron Body, True Metabolism, Planar Embrace, Affinity Field Pain: All of these are for the final fight, when you burst out of your hiding place, fast healing as you go, and force your enemies to suffer for every hit they land on you while you regenerate faster than they can kill you, and also you are somehow flying despite being a massive lump of iron.
Affinity Field: Use with True Metabolism to provide your congregation with a blessing as they fire spells and arrows at the encroaching PCs.
Stygian Conflagration: Take off some of the PCs' best spells. It looks like it allows a save but then you actually read it and it doesn't.http://oi63.tinypic.com/ap9277.jpg
"While in service to King Icari, I encountered a vagabond accused of using some kind of magical power to control people's minds, which is of course illegal. The stranger refused to give a name, a family of origin, or even a gender, and indeed appealed that attempting to find out any of these details is considered an intrusive search, in which matter the accused was most assuredly correct. When brought to trial, this stranger managed to leverage a defence based upon the unlikely idea that these powers were nonmagical. When asked how this was to be proved, the idea was put to us that magic detection spells would reveal the arcane school to which they belonged, even if the power in question was divine... the search could not reveal this detail or even whether the user was arcane or divine... the accused went free.

I have begun petitioning the nobles to make additions to the law to include this new type of power."
- Administrator Antony (Icarian Era), Notes of the Administrator Vol 3.

"It should be noted that Volumes 1 and 2 were destroyed by fire, and Volume 3 was only barely recovered with parts of the text illegible and whole chapters burned."
- Archivist Ari'El (Jonasite Era), Archive of Notes of Senior Officials.

At level 1, this person only has a few powers, but can make anyone friendly, until the power wears off of course. Well, then you just have to move on. Possibility of meeting PCs is existent, but there's no reason for them to be hostile, and certainly no reason for them actually to kill the psion, or to recognise it when it turns into the Overmind.

The next few levels give a few more person manipulation powers, and also your astral construct lasts long enough to be useful - which is nice, since it can punch out a fighter of your level.http://oi68.tinypic.com/2s8qtti.jpg

"The person claiming to be a Telepath reported to me to announce departure, and I responded requiring all given names, family names and called names. The Telepath smiled, and claimed lack of given names and ignorance of parentage, presumably due to orphanhood. Thus, under the previous emigrant - David Spear, called the Sunspear - I simply wrote "Called the Telepath". Apparently the given profession was as some kind of performer: trite little tricks with a fire that impressed children. The Telepath admitted to sharing my feelings on such use of this power, and indeed this was part of the reason for leaving. The Telepath had heard of some obscure group known as the Slayers, and wished to seek them out. I put the reasons for emigration down as a religious pilgrimage, a journey to meet friends, and a wish to seek other cultures. I wished the Telepath farewell as sincerely as possible, and received thanks in kind."
- Administrator Antony (Icarian Era), Notes of the Administrator Volume 4.

"It should be noted that the Notes of the Administrator, Volume 4 were not damaged by fire, but still not lauded during the Overmind Era as later volumes were."
- Archivist Ari'El (Jonasite Era), Archive of Notes of Senior Officials.

Losing a manifester level and everything that comes with it sucks, but you're going to return from your little trip able to wield better weapons and wear better armour, and then you start getting cool immunities (Divinations/Clairsentiences and mind affecting) later on, so it's way, way, way worth it. Anyway, powers... yeah, you can dominate stuff, and you can also create even better astral constructs! Make bigger animated fires! Why are all of my first-level powers really good? I dunno!

Upon meeting the PCs, your typical strategy is to throw a construct at them, and Dominate one of them so that they end up throwing their best stuff at their allies. That is, if the PCs have any reason to be hostile towards you.http://oi66.tinypic.com/slr0qu.jpg

"King Icari died in a fire today. The city mourns him, and a new ruler will have to be appointed soon lest the city be dissolved into chaos."

"A force calling itself the Overmind has taken over the King's chamber, claiming that it is the spirit of what it means to be a ruler. We have reason to believe it, although those reasons cannot be disclosed here for the public good."

"In a typical ceremony, the avatar of the Overmind appears for just a minute or two at the beginning, and while a clever few see past it and beseech the Overmind itself, a horde of high-ranking sycophants and charlatans supplant themselves at the fore of the podium, staging rituals and theatrics to somehow cheat one another into thinking that the Overmind approves of their intentions. Once its part is done, braziers are brought forth, and the Overmind lights them without even being present. Sometimes the Overmind will create shapes in the fire, other times it gives gifts of wealth to those assembled, distracting those of weaker mind while they scramble for treasure that will disappear in a few hours. Our faith in the Overmind is never in question, and it seeks out criminals with deadly precision."

- Administrator Antony (Overmind Era), Notes of the Administrator Volume 5.

"It should be noted that the fifth volume was prominently displayed whenever the Administrator was not working on it during the Overmind Era."

- Archivist Ari'El (Jonasite Era), Archive of Notes of Senior Officials.

At this point, you basically know everything that's going on, and you can put on great displays of power without ever having to lead your hiding place. If you have to fight, your tactic is to send animated fires and astral constructs indirectly, and in any case, you have an entire congregation of dominated magi on your side. You'll be fine.http://oi67.tinypic.com/1zxtwqx.jpg

"Adventurers stormed the room, and finally, the Overmind could take it no more. "I have tried to be a good ruler, but you simply will not DIE. Now, you will feel my pain first hand!" it shouted, and out from its hiding place came the Telepath - though its power wrought it in iron and gave it foul devilish wings, it was unmistakable. For these long years, it had tricked us. By this point there was a mad rush to leave the room, and I myself hastened to safety. I do not know the events that transpired in this room, but I do no this: thus passed Overmind, called the Telepath."

"We later appointed Jonas Lightborn as king. May he rule over us with a fair hand."
- Administrator Antony (Jonasite Era), Notes of the Administrator Volume 6.

During the final fight, you finally snap. Using Iron Body, True Metabolism, Planar Embrace and Affinity Field Pain to buff yourself out the wazoo, you launch yourself towards the enemy... but before you reveal yourself, you throw astral constructs, animated fires, and negative-level blasts at the enemy to wear them down before launching into melee like the gish you kinda are - hey, you have medium BAB, you're cool.

Telonius

2016-01-22, 07:12 PM

And, our last competitor: Brightness, the Star that Sees!

http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xd/487597025.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=F13A1F9190F009366A6CD666F0160A16FE9531BE62E93F72 976F3323136C3E197771DCA9D9982A80

Brightness: the Star that Sees
LE Warforged Psion (Seer) 10/Crystal Master 10

"The stars shall fade away, the sun himself grow dim with age, and nature sink in years, But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, unhurt amidst the wars of elements, the wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds."

"Am I stupid?"

The warforged looked at his cellmate, waiting for a response. The other warforged turned his metal head at him, and gave him a curious look. The other rubbed the yellow crystal on its temple, something it always did when thinking about complicated things.

The other warforged was smarter, the first one knew that. Still, not much smarter... right?

"There was... There was this tentacled one, and he was adding more crystals, and I asked why he did all this... And he just looked at me funny. And then he said I wouldn't understand even if he told me.

Does that mean I'm stupid?"

The other warforged was silent for a long time. Was it thinking about the experiments? About the crystals? Or did he know what to say but didn't want to?

The other warforged turned his head again, and spoke. The first one wasn't sure, but the other's expression seemed sad.

"No. You're the brightest thing down here."

Much time had passed. The tentacled ones had come and gone, adding more and more crystals. They had seemed excited the last few times. For some reason, this worried the warforged.

One day, the other one came back from an experiment, visibly shaken. He did not speak of what had happened, which worried the warforged even more.

It was only a few minutes later that the tentacled ones returned. This time, they gestured for both of them to rise. The other ones eyes went great with fear, and he jumped to his feet.

Before the warforged could intervene, his cellmate had already jumped towards the tentacled one and slammed his fist in its face. The tentacled one gazed at its prisoner with rage, and let its anger wash over its assailant. The other warforged fell to its knees, dark smoke emerging from its orifices. The other turned, and looked at the first warforged one last time.

They were... going to... kill you... Don't... let... *hack*

Bright... ness....

Tentacled ones took his cellmate's lifeless body, and brought him along. Brightness wasn't sure what had happened then. He remembered the sound of groaning metal, the clear resonance of crystals, and the feeling of power, but what had happened, he didn't know.

He was placed in his cell again. The warforged inspected his new body carefully, then saw something that would have made his heart skip a beat had he had one.

It was a yellow crystal, smooth after having been rubbed by metal fingers countless times.

Brightness cried out, but none listened.

Brightness wasn't sure how much time passed after that. He wasn't experimented on again, he wasn't visited, and no one talked to him. Then, one day, one of the tentacled ones visited. It just stared silently at him, and then all went black.

When Brightness woke up, he was lying on his back on a grassy hill. Above him was nothing. No rock, no cave, no smooth white ceiling. Just an endless sky, filled with countless points of light.

Brightness' enhanced mind looked at the stars. And embedded in his body, a monster looked, too.

Basic Array: STR 11, DEX 12, CON 12, INT 17, WIS 12, CHA 12
Post-racial adjustments: STR 11, DEX 12, CON 14, INT 17, WIS 10, CHA 10
Ability score increases All increases go into Intelligence. INTELLIGENCE ALL THE WAY.

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

1st
Psion 1
+0
+0
+0
+2
Craft (gemcutting) +2, Concentration +4, Knowledge (Gemology) +2, Knowledge (Psionics) +4 Listen +2 Spot +2, Psicraft +4
Psiforged Body, Psicrystal AffinityB
Bonus Feat, Discipline (Clairsentience)

2nd
Psion 2
+1
+0
+0
+3
Craft (gemcutting) +3, Concentration +5, Knowledge (Psionics) +5, Spot +3 Psicraft +5
-
-

3rd
Psion 3
+1
+1
+1
+3
Concentration +6, Knowledge (Gemology) +3, Knowledge (Psionics) +6, Listen +3, Psicraft +6
Illithid Heritage
-

4th
Psion 4
+2
+1
+1
+4
Craft (gemcutting) +4, Concentration +7, Knowledge (Psionics) +7, Spot +4, Listen +4, Psicraft +7
-
-

5th
Psion 5
+2
+1
+1
+4
Concentration +8, Knowledge (gemology) +4, Knowledge (Psionics) +8, Spot +5, Listen +5, Psicraft +8
Psicrystal ContainmentB
Bonus Feat

6th
Crystal Master 1
+2
+1
+1
+6
Craft (gemcutting) +6 Concentration +9, Knowledge (Psionics) +9 Psicraft +9, Intimidate +3
Improved PsicrystalB, Illithid Compulsion
Improved Psicrystal

7th
Crystal Master 2
+3
+1
+1
+7
Craft (gemcutting) +10, Concentration +10, Knowledge (psionics) +10, Psicraft +10, Intimidate +4
-
Embed Gem (Aquamarine)

8th
Crystal Master 3
+3
+2
+2
+7
Craft (gemcutting) +11, Concentration +11, Knowledge (Psionics) +11, Psicraft +11, Intimidate +8
-
-

9th
Crystal Master 4
+4
+2
+2
+8
Craft (gemcutting) +12, Concentration +12, Knowledge (Psionics) +12, Psicraft +12, Intimidate +12
Illithid Legacy
Embed Gem (Diamond)

10th
Crystal Master 5
+4
+2
+2
+8
Appraise +3, Craft (gemcutting) +13, Concentration +13, Knowledge (Psionics) +13, Psicraft +13, Intimidate +13
-
-

11th
Crystal Master 6
+5
+3
+3
+9
Appraise +6, Craft (gemcutting) +14, Concentration +14, Knowledge (Psionics) +14, Psicraft +14, Intimidate +14
-
Embed Gem (Opal)

12th
Crystal Master 7
+5
+3
+3
+9
Appraise +9, Craft (gemcutting) +15, Concentration +15, Knowledge (Psionics) +15, Psicraft +15, Intimidate +15
Greater Illithid Legacy
-

13th
Crystal Master 8
+6/+1
+4
+4
+10
Appraise +13, Craft (gemcutting) +16, Concentration +16, Knowledge (Psionics) +16, Psicraft +16, Intimidate +16
-
Embed Gem (Moonstone)

14th
Crystal Master 9
+6/+1
+4
+4
+10
Appraise +17, Craft (gemcutting) +17, Concentration +17, Knowledge (Psionics) +17, Psicraft +17, Intimidate +17
-
-

15th
Crystal Master 10
+7/+2
+4
+4
+11
Appraise +18, Craft (gemcutting) +18, Concentration +18, Knowledge (Psionics) +18, Spot +7, Psicraft +18, Intimidate +18
Illithid Skin
Embed Gem (Ruby), Psicrystal Synergy

16th
Psion 6
+8/+3
+5
+5
+12
Craft (gemcutting) +19, Concentration +19, Knowledge (Psionics) +19, Spot +9, Psicraft +19, Intimidate +19
-
-

17th
Psion 7
+8/+3
+5
+5
+12
Craft (gemcutting) +20, Concentration +20, Knowledge (Psionics) +20, Spot +11, Psicraft +20, Intimidate +20
-
-

18th
Psion 8
+9/+4
+5
+5
+13
Craft (gemcutting) +21, Concentration +21, Knowledge (Psionics) +21, Spot +13, Psicraft +21, Intimidate +21
Illithid Skin
-

19th
Psion 9
+9/+4
+6
+6
+13
Craft (gemcutting) +22, Concentration +22, Knowledge (Psionics) +22, Spot +15, Psicraft +22, Intimidate +22
-
-

20th
Psion 10
+10/+5
+6
+6
+14
Craft (gemcutting) +23, Concentration +23, Knowledge (Psionics) +23, Spot +17, Psicraft +23, Intimidate +23
Quicken PowerB
Bonus Feat

Brightness' psicrystal is a crystal with the abilities of a 20th-level psicrystal. It has the Hero and Single-Minded personalities.

Number of PP/day (including bonus PP):

Level 1: 4
Level 2: 10
Level 3: 16
Level 4: 26
Level 5: 36
Level 6: 36
Level 7: 48
Level 8: 61
Level 9: 75
Level 10: 91
Level 11: 109
Level 12: 134
Level 13: 157
Level 14: 180
Level 15: 180
Level 16: 206
Level 17: 233
Level 18: 262
Level 19: 293
Level 20: 335

Powers Known:

Level 1: Control Light, Disable, Precognition
Level 2: Empathy, Vigor
Level 3: Clairvoyant Sense, Sensitivity To Psychic Impressions
Level 4: Ego Whip, Psionic Levitate
Level 5: Object Reading, Share Pain
Level 6: -
Level 7: Telekinetic Force, Time Hop
Level 8: Correspond, Remote Viewing
Level 9: Psionic Dimension Door, Energy Adaption, Psionic Charm, Read Thoughts
Level 10: Clairtangent Hand, Power Resistance
Level 11: Adapt Body, Psionic True Seeing
Level 12: Psionic Disintegrate, Dispel Psionics, Psionic Dominate
Level 13: Retrieve, Psionic Contingency
Level 14: Personal Mind Blank
Level 15: -
Level 16: Divert Teleport, Psionic Moment of Prescience
Level 17: Hypercognition
Level 18: Bend Reality, Psionic Greater Teleport
Level 19: Metafaculty
Level 20: Microcosm, Reality Revision

Gained through the (Greater) Illithid Legacy feat

Brightness watched the stars all night. When dawn came, it walked. It walked through forests and mountains, it crossed rivers and lakes, until at last it arrived at a village.

The villagers were kind. They let Brightness stay in their village, where he learned to cut gems. The warforged was a tireless worker, and his jewelry was sold for high prices.

One day, when Brightness was carving gems, he heard a voice. The voice was familiar, almost like that of the other warforged. But that one was dead, right? Still, the voice persisted.

It talked to him of great tortures, of hiding its consciousness in a single crystal, and then watching as said crystal was transferred to Brightness. It talked of waiting for months until it had grown strong enough to talk to Brightness again. It talked of joy at being together once again. And Brightness looked at his hand, at the yellow crystal there, and rejoiced.

And so the monster drew him in.

Brightness had gained a second purpose. By day, he carved gems, but by night, he practiced his psionic powers under the starry sky. The warforged grew stronger and stronger, and so did the yellow gem embedded in him.

One day, Brightness manifested his powers on an expensive necklace brought to him by a wandering adventurer. Curious, the warforged peered into the objects past. But the things he saw...

A goblin, brutally killed by the adventurer...
A screaming noblewoman being robbed by goblins...
A dying noble, having been poisoned by his own daughter...
A wretched farmer, his last heirlooms taken from him by a greedy young noble...

Brightness stared at the necklace. One item. One single item, yet so much suffering had come from it. Was this true for everything? Was life, at its core, strife and conflict?

The warforged left the village that day. Never did he return. The monster looked on in amusement.

Brightness travelled once more, this time with a small crystal crawling over his body. Yet everywhere he went, he saw lawlessness and chaos. People took what they wanted, corrupt guards did nothing, and dead bodies lied rotting in the gutters. Only in the beauty of the stars and the company of his friend did he find peace.

The psicrystal became more single-minded. It told him to seize power himself, to root out the chaos and evil that had bloomed here. Yet Brightness refused.

Then one day, as Brightness was staying in a city, a hostile nation attacked. The warforged saw hundreds die, cut down by the swords of the enemy soldiers. Only through a recently-learned teleportation power did the warforged escape this fate.

From a distance, Brightness watched the city burn. He heard the cries of the pillagers, the screams of the survivors, the roar of fire. As he looked up, he noticed the fire made it hard to see the stars.

A world of constant fighting, of pain, of torture... a world where the fog of war obscured the stars... could one be happy in such a world? Brightness doubted it.

So he left.

Many years passed. The city Brightness saw burn was forgotten, as was he himself.

Then one day, a new star appeared in the sky. It was a large star, yellow and strangely close. Astronomers debated the significance of its appearance, sages consulted tomes, and the common folk shrugged and went on with their lives.

After the star's appearance, however, things began to change. Major nations started incorporating it in their art, their architecture, their laws. The leaders started to rely upon astronomers for advice, then guidance, then most of their decisions.

Centuries after its appearance, the star has become the center of several nations' government. Of course, its desires had to be obeyed, but few minded. The star seemed to have almost superhuman knowledge of what other nations would do, or where valuable resources could be found. Criminals, too, were swiftly found and executed.

Over time, mystical aspects emerged. Some people claimed to hear the star talk to them. Others spoke of the star appearing to them in dreams. All worked to further its goals of order and obedience.

And Brightness? He floated there in the void. A thick, greenish membrane had covered him, and he barely moved, but his mind was active. He knew all. He knew best. If only those people would obey, all would be good. If they didn't, they deserved death.

The monster revelled. It had succeeded at its task.

Level 1:
You're a pretty standard psion. Disable should end fights quickly, though you are more of a non-combat character at this moment. Use craft (gemcutting) to repair yourself during downtime, or just to make some money.

Level 5:
You've got a lot of useful powers, both utility and combat-oriented. Nothing very interesting, though.

Level 10:
Crystal Master gives some fun permanent bonuses, Illithid Legacy gives great (and normally Telepath-only) powers, but most of all you get Remote Viewing. Through your sky-high Concentration score, you can manifest powers at virtually infinite range. Adventure from the comforts of your living room!

Level 12:
Time to leave the planet behind. Psionic Levitate lasts 10 minutes/level, so you need to expend only 36 power points to not fall to your death each day. Keeping Energy Adaption up all day costs 84 points, and Adapt Body costs 18 power points per day. You can pay this all, letting you effectively stay in space as long as you want.

A neat side effect of Energy Adaption is that you start to glow, which lets us pretend to be a star. If necessary, you can keep the glow hidden with Control Light.

You can use Clairvoyant Sense and Remote Viewing to observe and alter a location from outer space, so from here on it'll be a lot harder for anyone to notice your subtle plans.

Level 15:
Access to Personal Mind Blank makes you very hard to find. More PP and longer power durations also means you won't be spending most of your reserves on not dying horrible spacedeath. At this level, you should be able to send projections of yourself down, Dominate or Charm key people, and slowly reform their societies to better suit you.

Level 20:
Ever seen one of these old science fiction movies where an insane rogue AI controls a planet from outer space? You're that AI. Reality Revision, Hypercognition, and Metafaculty means that whatever you want to know is known and whatever you want to alter is altered.

If anyone tries to teleport to you, Divert Teleport lets you send them wherever you want. If anyone does reach you despite all this, you can just decimate them with Psionic Disintegrates, Ego Whips, and Microcosms, or move a few thousand miles away with Greater Psionic Teleport.

Brightness thinks he is doing good. However, manipulation through an illithid-forged psicrystal and centuries of isolation have driven him mostly mad. There are several scenarios where Brightness can be the antagonist:

-Brightness determines (using Hypercognition) that a descendant from one of the PC's will start a revolution if allowed to live, and starts sending assassins against the PC.
-The PC's are hired by a mysterious individual who knows the star's true nature and wants it gone.
-A cabal of mind flayers assault the surface world, seemingly always knowing where to strike next and where their foes are the weakest. Brightness is informing them, and the PC's need to remove him to have any chance of winning this war.

You can't be a psiforged! The rules say no psionic races!
The chairman said:
'The character cannot be a naturally Psionic race (Elan, Kalashtar, Synad, etc.) or creature with an ability described as psionic (such as Aboleth, Couatl, Yuan-ti, Mind Flayer, etc). Creatures with spell-like abilities that are not described as psionic are fine. The Phrenic template is specifically allowed.'

If it has Psionics or Psi-Like abilities as special attacks, if any of its special attacks or special qualities are described as psionic, if it has bonus power points from its race, or if it's listed as Naturally Psionic (such as in the Elan entry), it's not allowed.

Warforged are not naturally psionic in any way, nor do they have abilities or special attacks/special qualities described as psionic.

While we do gain a bonus power point from Psiforged Body, these are not inherent to our race. Saying that a warforged is a naturally psionic race because an obscure racial feat grants you PP is like saying all warforged are made out of adamantine.

You can't survive the vacuum of space!
Yes I can. I'm using the space rules from Nailed to the Sky here, because I honestly can't think of any different rules dealing with extraterrestrial travel.

So what does Nailed to the Sky specify?
-You take 2d6 cold/fire damage per round, depending where in space you are. This is resisted through Energy Adaption.
-You take 1d4 damage from the vacuum of space per turn. Ignoring that warforged, being constructed creatures, probably shouldn't suffer from the vacuum, you can manifest Adapt Body. Or perhaps just buy a necklace of adaption, which is incredibly cheap and easy to get.
-You begin to suffocate. Big deal, we're a warforged.

And yes, I did make a character solely to prove that you can, in fact, play a spy satellite in D&D. :P

Telonius

2016-01-22, 07:30 PM

And last, an entry from me. Not for judging just for kicks. Qubit!

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iyTvTYhZtak/maxresdefault.jpg

I will remake this world in crystal and steel.

Build stub: Warforged Psion (Shaper)10/Constructor10

Qubit was created as an experimental Warforged, to see if they were capable of Psionics. Just as his construction was completed, the Creation Forge came under attack by a powerful (and jealous) Psion, who manifested the Microcosm power on Qubit and five of the low-level Artificers in the forge. They were all trapped in a world of their own devising, unaware that anything had gone wrong. His creators succumbed to starvation one by one. But Qubit, unburdened by the need for food or water, survived. Having just awakened, he had no idea that he was experiencing anything other than the real world. As he interacted with the constructed reality, he began to grasp how to shape it to his own dreams and desires. Soon he was at the center of a constructed utopia.

Years later, a recovery team located Qubit. With the help of a higher-level Psion, he was revived. His beautiful world was ripped away in an instant – a shock from which he never fully recovered. Worse, the world no longer bent to his every whim. Deprived of his beautiful dream, he now aims to recover his lost reality, by any means necessary. He is slowly gaining followers and influence in the Warforged community, and it’s only a matter of time before he unleashes some hideous strike.

Str 8
Dex10
Con 12->14
Intelligence 15
Wisdom 14->12
Charisma 13->11
Level-up increases go to Wisdom, Intelligence, Intelligence, Intelligence, Intelligence

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

1st
Psion1
+0
+0
+0
+2
Concentration 4, Disguise 4, Craft 4, Use Psionic Device 4
Psiforged Body, Psicrystal Affinity
Bonus Feat, discipline (Shaper)

2nd
Psion2
+1
+0
+0
+3
Concentration 5, Disguise 5, Craft 5, Use Psionic Device 5
-
-

3rd
Psion3
+1
+1
+1
+3
Concentration 6, Disguise 6, Craft 6, Use Psionic Device 6
Boost Construct
-

4th
Psion4
+2
+1
+1
+4
Concentration 7, Disguise 7, Craft 7, Use Psionic Device 7
-
+1 Wisdom

5th
Psion5
+2
+1
+1
+4
Concentration 8, Disguise 8, Craft 8, Use Psionic Device 8
-
Personal Construct (ACF)

6th
Psion6
+3
+2
+2
+5
Concentration 9, Disguise 9, Craft 9, Use Psionic Device 9
Psionic Meditation
-

7th
Psion7
+3
+2
+2
+5
Concentration 10, Disguise 10, Craft 10, Use Psionic Device 10
-
-

8th
Psion8
+4
+2
+2
+6
Concentration 11, Disguise 11, Use Psionic Device 11, Knowledge(Psionics) 1, Psicraft 1
-
+1 Intelligence

9th
Psion9
+4
+3
+3
+6
Concentration 12, Disguise 12, Use Psionic Device 12, Knowledge(Psionics) 2, Psicraft 2
Expanded Knowledge (Metamorphosis)
-

10th
Psion10
+5
+3
+3
+7
Concentration 13, Disguise 13, Use Psionic Device 13, Knowledge(Psionics) 3, Psicraft 3
Extend Power
Bonus Feat

11th
Constructor1
+5
+3
+3
+9
Concentration 14, Disguise 14, Use Psionic Device 14, Knowledge Psionics) 4,Psicraft 4, Bluff 1
-
Advanced Construction

12th
Con2
+6
+3
+3
+10
Concentration 15, Disguise 15, Use Psionic Device 15, Knowledge Psionics) 5,Psicraft 5, Bluff 2
Metamorphic Transfer
Ecto Protection 1, +1 Intelligence

13th
Con3
+6
+4
+4
+10
Concentration 16, Disguise 16, Use Psionic Device 16, Knowledge Psionics) 6,Psicraft 6, Bluff 3
-
Combat Construction

14th
Con4
+7
+4
+4
+11
Concentration 17, Disguise 17, Use Psionic Device 17, Knowledge Psionics) 7,Psicraft 7, Bluff 4
-
Boost Construct, Ecto Protection 2

15th
Con5
+7
+4
+4
+11
Concentration 18, Disguise 18, Use Psionic Device 18, Knowledge Psionics) 8,Psicraft 8, Bluff 5
Psicrystal Containment
Extended Construction

16th
Con6
+8
+5
+5
+12
Concentration 19, Disguise 19, Use Psionic Device 19, Knowledge Psionics) 9,Psicraft 9, Bluff 6, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1
-
Ecto Protection 3, +1 Intelligence

17th
Con7
+8
+5
+5
+12
Concentration 20, Disguise 20, Use Psionic Device 20, Knowledge Psionics) 10,Psicraft 10, Bluff 7, Knowledge (Planes) 1
-
Utility Construct

18th
Con8
+9
+6
+6
+13
Concentration 21, Disguise 21, Use Psionic Device 21, Knowledge Psionics) 11,Psicraft 11, Bluff 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 1
Practiced Manifester
Boost Construct, Ecto Protection 4

19th
Con9
+9
+6
+6
+13
Concentration 22, Disguise 22, Use Psionic Device 22, Knowledge Psionics) 12,Psicraft 12, Bluff 9, Knowledge (Nature) 1
-
Enhanced Construction

20th
Con10
+10
+6
+6
+14
Concentration 23, Disguise 23, Use Psionic Device 23, Knowledge Psionics) 13,Psicraft 13, Bluff 10, Knowledge (Local) 1
-
Quickened Construction, Ecto Protection 5, +1 Int

Power Points increase as a Psion, except at levels 11 and 20. Psiforged Body grants an extra PP at level 1.

Level Powers
1 Astral Construct, Ecto Protection, Vigor
2 Inertial Armor, Detect Psionics
3 Psionic Repair Damage, Share Pain
4 Ego Whip, Psionic Tongues
5 Dispel Psionics, Time Hop
6 Solicit Psicrystal, Energy Wall
7 Psionic Divination, Psionic Fabricate
8 Psionic Freedom of Movement, Wall of Ectoplasm
9 Psionic Major Creation, Psionic Plane Shift, Metamorphosis (from feat)
10 Psychic Crush, Incarnate
11 -
12 Temporal Acceleration
13 Crystallize, Psionic Contingency
14 Personal Mind Blank
15 Energy Conversion, Mass Ectoplasmic Coccoon
16 Bend Reality
17 Psionic Greater Teleport, Astral Seed
18 Assimilate
19 True Creation, Genesis
20 -

Level 5
Qubit has just taken the Personal Construct alternate class feature, which he can use to summon an Astral Construct as though quickened. Several of his powers are spoken for, as Constructor prerequisites. His Psiforged Body turns him into his own Cognizance Crystal, giving him a few more options. Otherwise he is roughly as powerful as a typical Psion. The Vigor-Share Pain combination has come online. His Disguise check is unusually high for a Psion; he often uses it to “pass” for a humanoid.
At this level, Qubit is openly working as a powerful member of the town council representing the Warforged. His main day-to-day work is running what’s supposedly a charity. The charity has been designing homes for the town that look nothing like anything anyone has ever seen. At this level, the adventurers might get a hint of something wrong when a rival contractor comes to a sticky end, or a group of people are being forced off their land for being inconvenient to Qubit’s planned civic renewal.

Level 10
At this level Qubit has just recently gotten the Metamorphosis power (from a feat). Depending on how this is ruled to work with Living Constructs, you might be able to completely act the part of a Transformer; or, just change into other creatures as needed. The Incarnate power frees up several power points per day, at the cost of a bit of XP; and Extend Power can help with keeping his Astral Constructs around long enough to do some real damage. The power level is slightly lower than the average Psion, due to a general lack of Metapsionic feats (instead being taken up with prerequisites).
At this level, Qubit is the mayor, or has achieved a minor title of nobility. A series of new laws, supported by his Warfoged enforcers and other Lawful-Evil minions, is starting to bite hard. Beautiful older structures are being demolished, and there’s a growing sense of alarm within the city.

Level 15
Qubit now has access to Metamorphic Transfer, which greatly expands his power and versatility. Several important powers (like Temporal Acceleration, Personal Mind Blank, and Psionic Contingency) are now available, and his Astral Constructs are now much more dangerous thanks to the Constructor class. Unfortunately he has lost a manifesting level, but them’s the breaks.
At this level Qubit has achieved dominion over a large chunk of territory. Most of the older buildings have been relegated to scrap heaps. “Undesirable” humanoids have been enslaved to create increasingly bizarre structures and landscaping, though his supporters are enjoying a nice quality of life.

Level 20
Qubit is really getting to play Deity now. With Bend Reality, True Creation, and Genesis, he can recreate almost whatever he wants. Enhanced Construction now allows him to make more than one Astral Construct at a time. His Power Point total and number of Powers known is lower than the typical Psion, but Practiced Manifester helps a bit.
At this level, Qubit has an entire nation under his (literally) iron fist. His terrible plan is revealed: he’s researching a way to overcome the limitations of Genesis, and truly manifest it on the Material Plane.

Psiforged Body: Magic of Eberron
Constructor: Mind’s Eye (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625b)
Personal Construct: Mind’s Eye (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070411a)
Practiced Manifester: Complete Psionic

Rules Note: The Astral Construct power was famously nerfed in Complete Psionic, limiting the number of Astral Constructs to one only. If you play without this nerf, Qubit becomes quite a bit more powerful.

It looks like we have a great crop of competitors this time around - thank you to all of the competitors for your hard work. Judging starts now!

daremetoidareyo

2016-01-23, 12:13 AM

Korahir

2016-01-23, 03:40 AM

daremetoidareyo

2016-01-23, 03:00 PM

I sincerely think these entries are the most diverse and crazy submissions to a contest I have ever seen. I sit in shock and awe at the creativity on display here. Thanks to anyone who entered, you just made my day.

I just gave all of them an intenser reading. I would introduce all of these characters into the same campaign world at first level. They all have such great overlap!

You hear rustling cues about the winds changing over the steppe as the lion king is born. Your first adventure subplot is about a weak psion dominating people to be his friends and when the PCs step in he skips town. Mid levels, the PCs are commissioned to do oceans 11 level type heist for a custom rod of domination that can operate on warforged for a mysterious dogtaur. That rod of domination is later attempted to be used on the spy satellite the brightness as the worlds most powerful remote viewing tool by the worlds most long range assassin. The cackling prince ways waste to the interior kingdoms at mid high levels while the rumors from the step get much more forboding. After handling the mad prince, the phrenic dire animal problem starts spilling into the mainland and the PCs must consider allying with the robot nation of Cubit in order to have a chance of beating them back, because every other kingdom has been destabilized by the medusa/the brightness spy satellite duo...Who are being "controlled" by the overlord. Kind of. The overlord is having a ton of trouble keeping the medusa in line on her "assignments", mostly because she's so difficult to mind control when she's drugged out of her mind, which she routinely does whenever any little part of his will slips because she feels enslaved by him. And the satellite, being eternal, has only his own inscrutable plan and is just playing along...

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-23, 03:31 PM

I'm convinced that psionics characters get way weirder per level of optimization than any other subsystem.
A lion, a spy satellite, An evil lego set, medogsa, a false prophet with no social skills, and a jester.
I can't wait to see this...

I'll be using the criteria I outlined here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?461482-Villainous-Competition-VIII-The-Weather-Outside-is-Frightful/page3&p=20259663#post20259663), for all of the entries. Probably not all at once, possibly not soon.

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-23, 10:25 PM

Let's start with some First Impressions I had, quickly looking over the fluff and builds. I'll refer to this for when I do the actual judging, mainly so I can keep in mind how good or bad a given factor is in context. To avoid biasing the other judges, I'll spoiler it all twice.

Random silly thoughts

Mechanical notes

Fluff/Plot notes

Miscellaneous notes

Play notes

Parting thoughts

Is the Kingdom of Whatever near Anywhere?
Didn't expect to see the icechucker again. The idea of chucking the icechucker amuses me.

You keep talking about Karl's build like she was a PC, not a villain—"Talk with your DM about doing X." That seems odd.
You keep treating the javelin chucked by the icechucker as a melee weapon or as ammunition for a ranged weapon whenever it would suit you. This is...questionable. Now, it's a neat trick, but it's questionable. Now, if you were just using it to justify the idea of ranged death attacks, I'd be OK, but you're trying to justify the use of ranged death attacks on a human-sized target a mile away who you can't see. Considering that sneak attacks and death attacks are both (by fluff) just normal attacks, perfectly aimed, I'm not sure I'd allow that. I might allow it if Karl was Skitter, but fell conspiracy doesn't cut it. Chucking a loaded icechucker, while amusing, seems to exist only to get the ammunition's effects to apply...which makes even less sense.
The tauric trick is nasty and I'm glad you didn't go all-in.
The build doesn't work very well at its stated purpose until high levels, and doesn't use most of its side abilities. In particular, you barely use psychic powers and write how Karl avoids using gaze attacks (even more than expected for a massively long-range attacker).
I'd have to look up a lot of powers from a lot of sources to understand your character's stuff. You provided most of them, thankfully, but not all.
Fifteen sourcebooks and two web enhancements...that's a lot of sources.

The described effects of Karl's attacks is neat, but doesn't quite match up to how she does them.
Just about everything with Karl's backstory is just there. She's an experiment—so what? Her mom was a neogi's slave—so what? She was mentored by a githzeri—so what? Look at how Lady Lenadel Sere's backstory affected her—she felt the desire to strike back at those she associated with the experimenters, and eventually tries to get direct revenge! The friends and allies mentioned play directly into her plans! None of this shows up here.
Why have psi-dominate at all? Karl should have picked a power that isn't inherently opposed to her ideology.
Karl's motivation is...not terribly original. "The government is evil," extended to all possible governments and even the gods.
Her plan is kinda silly, and it doesn't line up with her goals. Prevent people from obtaining more power at the expense of others...but don't do anything about the people who already have it. And hope no one assumes it's limited to the areas Karl can reach.
I'm not convinced that she would be seen as the rightful sovereign of the region, so much as a freak who happens to keep the peace there. And who is associated with Orthopoxia vulgaris.

I have trouble seeing how to implement Karl properly in play. If she uses her abilities as best as they can, the PCs have to deal with a save-or-die every several rounds, from a mile away, with nothing to do but try to kill the people who are somehow sending detailed enough information to let Karl make a perfect precision shot. If the PCs confront her at close range, she has little, because of how overspecialized she is for ridiculously long-ranged combat. She's a one-trick pony, and that trick doesn't offer much counterplay value. Dark Souls wouldn't touch this crap.
It was nice that you described how to use Karl at lower levels. Shame she can't do her trick until high levels.

An overly-complicated questionably-legal definitely-cheesy rocks-fall-level bad guy...once she gets there. Also a bunch of unused frills and a dull motivation.

The introduction is great. A bit non-interactive for actual play, but a good way to get in the right mindset.

No clever tricks, but the mechanics are effective nonetheless.

The flavor is pretty much nonexistent. Who is the Cackling Prince? Why is he a prince? He is he torturing the king? How would he be worked into an adventure?

Joff seems like more of an encounter than a villain. Maybe the head monster at a local haunted house or something, but that's stretching it just to get him to an adventure scale.
The hide-in-plain-sight-based tactics are interesting, and will definitely be a difference in kind from most D&D combat.
I like the explanations of how to run Joff at any level.

Joff's a neat monster, but I'm not sure it's villain material. Nonexistant fluff doesn't help.

It's a lion. For all of its psionic abilities, it's really just a beast which mauls things.
I don't know why you added the +1 Int at 19th level. It was too little and too late to make the villain anything but an animalistic brute.
I can't complain about the extra sources. One was just a couple of simple feats whose effects are built into the stat block, the other was the best, simplest ghost-y template.

The character for this guy is...basically nonexistent. That said, it's more of a force of nature than a traditional villain, which isn't a bad thing. That said, the "explanation" for how it got its powers is silly and unneeded.

You provided ways for Leo to be a threat at all levels.

More of a force than a character.

The art for each tier is neat, but kind of crude, and it doesn't really explain or clarify anything. It probably would have been better to leave it out.

The build is nice and simple. 50-50 classes.
[
I don't get a sense of who Om is. He's...there. And his plan is basically "control people psionically, ???, profit". Only I don't know what he's trying to to do, so I don't know what he would consider a profit...

Astral Construct is a neat, flexible power, but a pain to run without proper preparation. Like, statting out one or two good constructs the manifester uses?
Vague tactics are better than none. Barely.

A simple build, with nothing but numbers.

So sue me, I was listening to the Undertale soundtrack when I was thinking of these nicknames.
Fantasy spy satellite? I approve.

No neat tricks, aside from pointing out what's possible within the rules. Admittedly, that's pretty neat.
I can't find the Crystal Master class, and you didn't say where you got it. Is it in the original Psionics Handbook?

The backstory is far more detailed than anything else in the contest. For once, I feel like I'm looking at a character rather than a cliche or—worse—a pile of numbers.
I like this guy. Is it the fact that such a villain is alien to the typical D&D campaign, yet its origins make sense from within? Is it how its motivations are perfectly logical? Is it that any action against such a godlike intelligence, theoretically benevolent, can be considered morally questionable? Hell, what's the difference between an immortal, all-knowing, extremely powerful being with supernatural power and a god?

The biggest problem I can see is using MT's background—its strongest and most interesting component—to any effect. It keeps to itself too much and wanders away from any potential conflict too frequently for the PCs, or anyone else, to learn of its motives. Connecting the star to the warforged would be basically impossible if the PCs didn't get up close and personal before and after.
The "level breakdown" section is pretty thin on tactical advice.
I'm honestly not sure how PCs could deal with MT once he started orbiting. He seems better-suited to background material than someone the PCs actually go up against—again, like a god.

Gimmicky on the surface, but far more than a mere spy satellite(/TV star). Probably better suited for some other medium.

If anyone disagrees with or has something to say about the points I bring up here, I'd appreciate feedback!

Telonius

2016-01-24, 09:35 AM

One response from Brightness:

The Crystal Master class can be found here (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625d). It's basically a tattooed monk who can choose from a list of passive abilities.

Looking back, I definitely should have added a link. I blame my then-sleep-deprived mind.

Also, thank you for your feedback! I agree with most of it: I should indeed have posted more combat information but hey, time constraints.

Telonius

2016-01-24, 05:26 PM

From Overmind:

Thanks for looking over the build. This isn't really a dispute per se, just a guided tour of OM's layout and stuff you might have missed, as well as addressing some stuff.

The art, yeah, I'm bad at art and using stuff from DeviantArt is hard because you need permission and it's hard to find a picture of an astral construct standing on a podium surrounded by worshipers, much less a flying psion made of iron on a broken podium surrounded by fire and worshipers.

I guess I didn't quite clearly convey that OM wanted to rule a kingdom because hey, who doesn't want to rule a kingdom? (Don't answer that.) Also I guess OM just wants revenge on the people who used to mock it for having no social skills. Also, it wanted to be remembered as a powerful leader, hence selective (if not quite efficient) burning of Administrator Antony's works. The ideas are there, I just didn't want to be quite explicit about them.

Astral construct isn't actually that hard to work with, having done so. You basically grab the stat block and go "Oh, and remember it poisons stuff" or "Oh, and it has X many more hit points". It's not that difficult to achieve.

Vague tactics, maybe, but all of my powers have a little guidance on how OM uses them, so you should be able to work something out.

I'm wondering a little what you mean by "Nothing but numbers"?

From the Cackling Prince:

I tried to get a good deal of this across through implication in the introduction (the same way I might foreshadow plot elements at the beginning of a campaign): apparently I didn't do a good enough job- I probably should have included some spoiler-ed knowledge rolls & such in the write-up, but it seemed clunky.

Since I seem to have botched that, I understand if you don't want to include it in your judging, but since you explicitly asked:
The elves of the Athanth kingdom withdrew from the rest of the world and have had no contact for centuries. This is why their culture is only known through "stories from centuries ago." Maintaining this isolation requires a certain degree of Deus Ex Machina, but c'est la vie. Your party is escorting the Ambassador and his mission, who have been invited to visit (ostensibly in hopes of restoring relations).
The few elves you have been encountered on your travel through the kingdom have been "even more cold and distant than the stories [...] would indicate". You might initially write this off as elves being unusually stuck up, even for elves. The actual cause is that, for at least a significant portion of the centuries of isolation, they have been under the control of the Prince -- an evil fey who eats their emotions and eventually leaves them as near catatonic husks (Bleak Ones). Cf. also the suggestion to include Joystealers (who also feed on emotion to largely similar effect) as henchmen.
'Torturing' is probably the wrong word for what he has done to the king. The king (and the others mentioned as having the smiles drawn on their face, as well as the elves in the room who laugh on demand) are the Bleak Ones that the villain is currently controlling: anyone under 8HD whose emotions he eats becomes a Bleak One, but he can only control 32 HD worth at once.

Don't let the fact that its not in a tavern fool you: the introduction is just that -- the campaign introduction. The prince - or more properly getting rid of him so that the kingdom has a future better than "emotionless mind-slaves of an evil clown" available - is the adventure.

Yes, you're running into him right away in a hostile introduction. It's risky, but not as much as you might think.

Keep in mind, you have civilians to protect

The Ambassador won't have drank the ambrosia or liquid pain (he was waiting on the king)
Tisha has a name (so she's probably fine too)

Also, keep in mind that he has 32 HD worth of mind-slave hostages that will do whatever he says, such as throw themselves to certain death while he escapes.

Also, some of these hostages are the members of the Ambassador's mission who fell down behind you- the Prince has been feeding on them since they drank the Ambrosia or liquid pain. When they fell down, it was because their Cha hit 0 - making them Bleak Ones.

If you can 1-shot him before he initiates a hide sequence, it would make the whole thing moot*. Short of that, however, his worst case scenario is hide and escape (and a nice dinner to boot, since he just ate the minds of a good portion of the Ambassador's staff).

The palace is nice and shiny, but he doesn't need to be there to keep turning the entire kingdom into emotionless zombies

To some of your other questions:

Who is the prince? He's just an unusually competent Grey Jester who, discovering that a Kingdom had isolated itself, decided to take it over and turn it into his very own all-you-can-eat buffet.
Why is he called the prince? He's in charge of the kingdom, and look at the picture: he has a totally-boss crown. King simply sounds too stodgy.

*In an actual game, the Bleak Ones provide a way to manage this risk. Unless it is Cha or Alignment based, Bleak One casters & manifesters maintain their abilities. 1 or 2 8-HD tier 1 minions could certainly provide a decent exit plan while still allowing us to introduce the villain. That's probably not in play here though: navigating the Bleak Ones without veering into the banned leadership space has been something of a tightrope walk for this character.

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-24, 09:29 PM

Brightness:
No problem. I'm glad to give feedback!

Overmind:
It's still helpful to know if you should get the one that poisons stuff, the one with more hit points, or what-have-you.
The Overmind doesn't really have character. He was mocked, and now he wants his own kingdom. That's about it.

Cackling Prince:
Thanks for the clarifications.
So...the campaign opens with fighting the boss? That seems unfair. And you also force them into his inner sanctum, closing off the means of escape, before letting them act? I've gotten crap for starting players in a prison cell, this is harsh.

Telonius

2016-01-25, 08:32 AM

From the Cackling Prince:

When the group is willing, I much prefer to DM like my father taught me to swim: throw them in the deep end and rescue to prevent drowning as needed.

More to the point however, they aren't really that far up the creek: the doors are barred, not sealed by a cave in our anything. Additionally, the Prince has ample reason not to go for broke: he'll want to eat tomorrow and the day after too, and if he Ego Whips them into catatonia there won't be much CHA left to eat then. Until they establish themselves as threats instead of cattle, he has no reason to treat them as such.

Unless the refuse to attempt a retreat despite ample cause (there are civilians there that it is explicitly their job to protect), most of the PCs should make it out of the initial encounter with their minds intact.

From Scar:

I don't know why you added the +1 Int at 19th level. It was too little and too late to make the villain anything but an animalistic brute.
well, it's more about the background - the lion gaining more sentience after death, with intelligence higher than animals.

The character for this guy is...basically nonexistent. That said, it's more of a force of nature than a traditional villain, which isn't a bad thing. That said, the "explanation" for how it got its powers is silly and unneeded.
I should have added "The Lion King" from Disney in the sources :smallbiggrin: Scar is basically the BBEG from the movie there, but his added psionic powers gave him an edge to oust and replace the "rightful" king. This needed an awakened lion, with Awaken not giving CR adjustment by RAW... So I kept this only as an option, going the way of a force of nature as the main build.

The "explanation" is mainly used to make a link between a lion cub freak, and his future as a Storm Disciple - to reinforce the idea of a force of (dire) nature.

More of a force than a character.
Yes, and I would even say a new lion invasive species - as the build can be used to describe Scar and his progeny as a new aggressive species destroying whole ecosystems to replace them by Dire animals.

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-26, 11:46 PM

Scar: You weren't exactly subtle with your Disney references. And if the lion is awakened, why is its Intelligence listed as 2?

Right, let's get started on the scores.

Overall: The capabilities of this sniper were incredible, but some critical rules assumptions had to be made, and as a villain she's a bit stale. It felt more like a min/max'd PC than a proper villain.

Originality (2.75/5)
Was its concept surprising? Yes, and I like the way it surprised me. 1.5/1.5
Was its build surprising? Yes, but I'm not quite so sure I like how it did so. 0.3/0.5
Does it and its plan fall into villain stereotypes? It's a violent anarchist. Yes. It's not as bad a stereotype as it could have been, though. 0.3/0.75
Does it involve a clever trick or plan? It uses some mechanical trickery to get its perfect sniping abilities...but its plausibility and legality are both disputable, and the villain's plan leaves much to be desired. 0.4/1.25
How long does it take to summarize your character? Weird monster who is a perfect assassin and a stereotypical anarchist. And all of those adjectives are optional. 0.25/1

Elegance (1.1/5)
Is the progression smooth? Its schtick doesn't come into play until high levels. Level 15's Phased Shot is vital, and even then Arching and Horizon Shot are almost required as well. You can do things with those stats at lower CRs, but not her thing. 0.1/1
Is everything legal and consistent? Questionably so at best, and the rules disputes don't even lead to a result that makes logical sense with what the abilities are supposed to represent. 0/1
Did you fulfill contest requirements? Manifesting levels and evil alignment are present; forbidden classes and races are not. However, she is not a legitimate leader of any region. She leads a group of bandits in a lawless region, and she is the guildmaster of an assassin's guild...but neither of those would be the "open and acknowledged leader of a territory of some size" even if Marx wasn't secretive to the point of pretending to be a plague and her own minions not knowing who she is. I can't even give you partial credit. 0/0.5
Did you avoid dips? Two levels of assassin. Three of psion, but you do advance that part further with Ballisteer. It could be worse, but it could be better. 0.75/1.25
How easy is it to run your villain? The biggest problem is that the villain's difficulty is punishing more than challenging. How do you run an encounter with an enemy who can kill you from a mile away within a minute of one of her minions getting a good look at you? In case this isn't bad enough, the villain is so secretive that the PCs won't be able to figure out what's going on. Third of the author's suggestions make this even worse. First, they suggest running her in a low-psi campaign, which reduces the chance of understanding what the hell is going on even further. Second, their suggested campaign involves protecting some nobles—and being told that her attacks are caused by a disease. There is a bit of a suggestion of how to figure out what's going on...if they catch a spotter, identify a "disease" which tricked two whole kingdoms, or think to try and detect clairvoyance. Third, a foe this mysterious doesn't need red herrings. The author did try, though, and they did more than some people. 0.25/1.25

Competence and Power (3.15/5)
Marx is a brute, albeit one with delusions of grandeur.
How capable is the villain of achieving its goals? Marx's ideology is well-explained, if shamelessly derivative of Marxism, but her goals are completely unexplained. Certainly, the idea of her tearing down every major government—even leaving aside local governments and her hatred of the gods—is implausible. The described effects her attacks are having are more in line with ruining productivity and impeding slavers than actually breaking down any governments...which is in line with her limited abilities and her methodology. In short, whatever her goals are, she doesn't seem capable of fulfilling them. 0/0.8
How difficult is it to reach the villain? Ha! 1.6/1.6
How much of a fight can the villain put up? Depends on the details. If the PCs start at extreme range, victory is almost impossible. If they start closer, they have a chance, since the villain is so heavily specialized for extreme-range combat...though the petrifying gaze makes for a final unexpected "F you". So the battle is either nasty or nothing special as far as difficulty goes. 1.05/2.05
Any classic blunders? Nothing I can see. 0.55/0.55

Memorable Villainy (1.5/5)
Is the villain a character? Marginally. 0.5/1.25
Would I like to run the villain? Heck no! 0/0.5
Does the villain have a sensible, fitting goal and plan? No. For all the talk of philosophy, no goal is mentioned, and the plan is vague and ineffective. 0/1
Does the villain inspire strong emotions in the players? Yes, but "frustration" isn't what I was going for. 0.3/1
Is the villain's concept linked to its rulership? The villain's concept is centered around its sniper abilities, with its assassin's guild and bandits being a secondary consideration, but the ideology is a good touch for this category. 0.1/0.5
What scale is the villain? Too much for an encounter, but I'm not sure I can build a whole campaign around her. Maybe a short one. 0.6/1

Overall: Creepy, terrifying, and a unique challenge, but its minimal background and lack of a motive cost heavily.

Originality (4.35/5)
Was its concept surprising? For this contest? Yeah. (1.5/1.5)
Was its build surprising? I didn't expect to see any martial stances in a psionic contest. (0.5/0.5)
Does it and its plan fall into villain stereotypes? The Prince strikes me as channeling the essence of horror movie monsters, with no small amount of trickster added in. Still, that's hardly an expected stereotype, so I can't ding you too much. (0.5/0.75)
Does it involve a clever trick or plan? Combat use of Hide in Plain Sight completely changes the dynamic of combat. (Unless some of the characters are really good at Spot checks, I guess.) (1.25/1.25)
How long does it take to summarize your character? Hm...would something like "dark soul-draining fey who usurped an elven kingdom" work? (0.6/1)

Elegance (4.15/5)
Is the progression smooth? Even as a Dark Gray Jester, his central gimmicks—Hide in Plain Sight and Charisma loss—are clearly present. (1/1)
Is everything legal and consistent? So far as I can tell. (1/1)
Did you fulfill contest requirements? Manifesting levels and evil alignment are go, forbidden classes and races are not, but I'm not sure if he counts as the "open and acknowledged leader" of Athanth. That said, he doesn't seem to be hiding his influence so much as not being noticed, and Athanth is at least an actual kingdom rather than some arbitrary patch of lawless land, so I can comfortably give you partial credit. (0.25/5)
Did you avoid dips? Two levels of Swordsage. Could be better, could be worse. (0.75/1.25)
How easy is it to run your villain? You provide a good amount of information that helps run the Prince, especially at high levels. That said, a villain whose primary gimmick is the players not knowing where he is is a good deal harder to run, so I can't give you a perfect score. (1.15/1.25)

Competence and Power (3.25/5)
The Cackling Prince is a Brute, which makes me think I should rethink my use of the term "Brute".
How capable is the villain of achieving its goals? Goals? What goals? If it's just trying to hold onto the kingdom, I'm not sure how well the Prince could do it; he controls only a handful of Bleak Ones, and there's no indication that the kingdom loyally serves him. Perhaps he is manipulating the kingdom from behind the scenes using the king, but then I'd need to deduct points from contest requirements...not that I'm convinced a Bleak One could pretend to be a king. (0/0.8)
How difficult is it to reach the villain? He literally invites the PCs into his inner sanctum. That said, his hiding ability and the minions he has around him make fighting him trickier, so I can't give you a 0. (0.25/1.55)
How much of a fight can the villain put up? Fighting the Prince means trying to hit a practically invisible target who see invisibility and true seeing won't help find, while taking damage to an attribute most adventurers dump. Not only is it challenging (but not too punishing—there are ways to get around his stealth), but it's unique—a difference in kind from normal combat. (2.1/2.1)
Any classic blunders? Invites the heroes into his inner sanctum. Still, this is hardly the worst mistake he could make, and is easily changed without affecting the villain. (0.25/0.55)
There isn't any category which properly represents the biggest selling point of the Cackling Prince—the difference of kind offered by his encounter—so I'm increasing this category's score by 25%, from 2.6 to 3.25

Memorable Villainy (2.2/5)
Is the villain a character? Barely. (0.25/1.25)
Would I like to run the villain? Not as written, but I can see him making a great head monster for a haunted-castle adventure. (0.4/0.5)
Does the villain have a sensible, fitting goal and plan? Not that I can see. (0/1)
Does the villain inspire strong emotions in the players? Oh yes. (1/1)
Is the villain's concept linked to its rulership? Tangentially. (0.05/0.25)
What scale is the villain? Probably only an adventure. (0.5/1)

This is a tricky one to grade, since it's more of a force of nature than a classic villain. I've adjusted the values of certain categories to account for this.

Originality (3.55/5)
Was its concept surprising? Yeah, I'd say so. (1.75/1.75)
Was its build surprising? Most of it was just increasing the CR of the base cat, but I wouldn't expect Storm Disciple. (0.4/0.75)
Does it and its plan fall into villain stereotypes? A bit, I suppose. It's very...plague-ey, like a zombie apocalypse without the infection. Still, it's far from the worst stereotype. (0.15/0.25)
Does it involve a clever trick or plan? No...though the unexpected force-of-nature thing deserves credit somewhere. (0.25/1)
How long does it take to summarize your character? Psionic alpha lion, leading a horde of dominated lions to turn the world into a quasi-Darwinist wilderness. (1/1.25)

Elegance (3.9/5)
Is the progression smooth? It hits a bump when it goes from phrenic lion to phantom lion ardent, but it's pretty good overall. It even provides statistics for a CR 1.5 mook! (1/1)
Is everything legal and consistent? Ability score bonuses are wonky, and you're listing a Hide penalty for the Tiny and Medium sizes, but other than that I don't see any problems. (0.7/1)
Did you fulfill contest requirements? Five levels of manifester? Barely. "Open and acknowledged leader of a territory"? I'm not sure a pack leader counts, though it's better than a secret bandit leader. (0.2/0.5)
Did you avoid dips? One level of Ardent, but Storm Disciple continues advancing those powers. Still, they mostly feel like they're there because the contest requires five manifester levels. (0.75/1.25)
How easy is it to run your villain? Simple. It's a big lion with a few psionic powers and such rounding everything out. As for the big picture, it's a horde of lions rampaging across the land. You don't need to be a master roleplayer or a master of improvisation to deal with this. (1.25/1.25)

Competence and Power (4.65/5)
Closer to a Brute than a Schemer, though as a force-of-nature it isn't quite either.
How capable is the villain of achieving its goals? For a certain definition of "goals," very capable indeed. I'm not convinced that the psionically-controlled lion horde could destroy civilized towns, but it would wreak havoc on the countryside—especially if the phrenic lions bred true. (0.7/0.8)
How difficult is it to reach the villain? He's in the middle of a wild expanse full of dominated lions and the like. Tricky, and very...similar to the overall leonine conflict. (1.6/1.6)
How much of a fight can the villain put up? It's a darn impressive gish. The lion would be pretty vulnerable to full casters—but what isn't? (2.05/2.05)
Any classic blunders? I'm not sure I can fault the creator of this creature either way. (0.3/0.55)

Memorable Villainy (4/5)
Is the villain a character? Force of Nature, so...not really applicable. It certainly feels like more than a pile of statistics—indeed, the statistics of the lion itself are one of the least important parts of the adventure! (0.5/0.5)
Would I like to run the villain? Yes. (1.25/1.25)
Does the villain have a sensible, fitting goal and plan? So far that it has a plan, yes. (0.5/0.5)
Does the villain inspire strong emotions in the players? It should inspire some, but I can't think of any in specific that it would inspire. (0.5/1.5)
Is the villain's concept linked to its rulership? Pride leader, psionically dominating other lions. (0.25/0.25)
What scale is the villain? I can see focusing a large campaign centered around Scar, or at least the phenomena it represents or causes. (1/1)

Overview: Bland.

Originality (0/5)
Was its concept surprising? In a contest about psionic rulers, a person who became a ruler by psionically dominating people is not surprising. (0/1.5)
Was its build surprising? Not really. (0/0.5)
Does it and its plan fall into villain stereotypes? Yeah. Mind-control-based domination is a common stereotype, as is the villain taking by "unfair" measures what they can't get the "fair" way. (0/0.75)
Does it involve a clever trick or plan? Not that I see. (0/1.25)
How long does it take to summarize your character? Psionic overlord. (0/1)

Elegance (3.95/5)
Is the progression smooth? Yes. Overmind can start (limited) mind control right off the bat. (1/1)
Is everything legal and consistent? So far as I can tell, yes. I'm docking points for not saying when the various powers are learned. It's still not explained clearly—you have to know how many powers a psion learns at each level—but I won't deduct as many points. (0.85/1)
Did you fulfill contest requirements? It is evil. No forbidden choices have been made. It has plenty of manifesting levels, one of only two villains that didn't abandon their primary manifesting class for a prestige class ASAP. Finally, it is the single villain in this contest which is, by the end of its history, indisputably the open and acknowledged ruler of a territory. (0.5/0.5)
Did you avoid dips? Ten and ten? Yes. (1.25/1.25)
How easy is it to run your villain? It's a generic overlord villain. The DM needs to work to figure out an Evil Plan or something, but beyond that... (0.8/1.25)
And yes, the total should be 4.3...but a lot of the "elegance" feels more like shallowness to me. Thus, I'm docking about 10%.

Competence and Power (3.7/5)
Overmind is a schemer, which makes me realize I need to rethink that nomenclature.
How capable is the villain of achieving its goals? With care taken to make sure the right people (with a high power-to-Will-save ratio) are charmed, yes. Assuming that "control the land" is its only goal—I'm docking extra points for not having solid goals beyond "Love me, mind-slaves!". (1.05/1.8)
How difficult is it to reach the villain? It's hard to tell, but pretty hard once the fanatics and whatnot are set up. (1.25/1.55)
How much of a fight can the villain put up? The villain is designed to be surprisingly tanky. (1.1/1.1)
Any classic blunders? No, but more due to flatness than anything. (0.3/0.55)

Memorable Villainy (0.5/5)
Is the villain a character? No. Even the creator admitted this. THIS IS A BAD THING. (0/1.25)
Would I like to run the villain? No, not if I had the time to make a deeper one. (Or steal borrow one from these contests.) (0/0.5)
Does the villain have a sensible, fitting goal and plan? Nothing beyond "take over". Which is also what it needs to do ahead of time to be a threat. (0/1)
Does the villain inspire strong emotions in the players? Nothing special, no. (0/1)
Is the villain's concept linked to its rulership? Yes. Rulership is about all it has. (0.25/0.25)
What scale is the villain? A long campaign could be made to dethrone the Overmind...but the GM would need to make up a lot on their own to do so. Come to think of it, they'd basically need to invent their own villain... (0.25/1)

Originality (4.25/5)
Was its concept surprising? YES! It's a D&D spy satellite. (1.5/1.5)
Was its build surprising? No...aside from being designed to be a freaking spy satellite! But that barely counts. (0.25/0.5)
Does it and its plan fall into villain stereotypes? Technically, but "antagonistic benevolent AI" isn't a fantasy villain stereotype. (0.75/0.75)
Does it involve a clever trick or plan? D&D! Spy! Satellite! And the fact that it all works requires several other clever tricks. (1.25/1.25)
How long does it take to summarize your character? Artificial life disenfranchised by the world, who sought ultimate power to make the world perfect. (1/1)

Elegance (4.5/5)
Is the progression smooth? It loses points for not getting its schticks ready until 10-12 level...but not many, since dealing with the fantasy spy satellite shouldn't be something that you do in one adventure. (0.75/1)
Is everything legal and consistent? Surprisingly for a spy satellite, yes! (1/1)
Did you fulfill contest requirements? We again run into the question of if a spy satellite acting as a quasi-deity counts as "the open and acknowledged leader of a territory of some size". I'm inclined to say "no". I'm also not convinced it's evil, and warforged built for psionics seem like a spiritual violation of the no-psionic-races rule. (0/0.5)
Did you avoid dips? Yes. (1.25/1.25)
How easy is it to run your villain? Here's a tricky bit. Run it as the Big Bad (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigBad)? Tricky. But it makes a great setting element, and it can make an effective Bigger Bad (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BiggerBad). This doesn't even require knowing the details of the rules, just the background and the thought of fantasy spy satellites. (Not that the details hurt.) (1/1.25)

Competence and Power (4.45/5)
Schemer, all the way.
How capable is the villain of achieving its goals? I keep comparing Brightness to a god. There's a reason for that. Immortal, omniscient, and if not all-powerful then extremely powerful. Also, people more or less worship it. (1.8/1.8)
How difficult is it to reach the villain? It's in orbit. Getting there requires braving the dangers of space...and also getting to space somehow. (1.6/1.6)
How much of a fight can the villain put up? Not its strong suit, but it has a few tricks it can pull out in a pinch. (0.5/1.05)
Any classic blunders? Not that I see. (0.55/0.55)

Memorable Villainy (5/5)
Is the villain a character? Certainly. (1.25/1.25)
Would I like to run the villain? Maybe not as a villain per se, but as a setting element or plot-driver? (0.5/0.5)
Does the villain have a sensible, fitting goal and plan? Yes. (1/1)
Does the villain inspire strong emotions in the players? Spy satellite. In D&D. If that doesn't inspire strong emotions...well, imagine all the AI overlord tropes, in an alien setting. This should do something to unsettle your players. (1/1)
Is the villain's concept linked to its rulership? Yes, even if it's indirect rulership. (0.25/0.25)
What scale is the villain? Some villains can define a campaign. Brightness can define a campaign setting. Or, y'know, you could just be on a quest to smash it. There's nothing wrong with that, though it does waste Brightness's dramatic potential. (1/1)

Brightness in first place, Scar not too far behind, Cackling Prince not far behind that, and Marx and the Overmind behind them, the Overmind taking last place. Sounds right.

If you think I screwed up, do let me know. Possible screwups include:
* Grading you too harshly
* Grading someone else too softly
* Grading one person lower than another in one category despite my notes suggesting I like how they did it better
* Unjustified arbitrary adjustments
* Lack of justified arbitrary adjustments
* Adding wrong

Telonius

2016-01-27, 07:38 AM

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-27, 08:28 AM

Thank you for the judging! My inbox is open for any disputes. We still have a week left, if any other judges want to jump in.

One minor quibble from the Chancellor - it looks like the possible scores for Competence don't actually add up to 5? I may have missed that in the last competition too.
I was a contestant in that competition, so no you didn't.
On closer inspection, they all add up to 4.75. Whoops. That's probably why so many were so hard to add...I'll go back and add in that 0.25. Let's say 0.05 to each category, plus 0.05 to whichever category that contestant did well in?

EDIT: That also let me catch a couple addition errors. And might have introduced one or two.
Could you think the chancellor guy for me?

Telonius

2016-01-27, 12:51 PM

No problem!

Dispute from Overmind:

So there's a problem with your originality score. The scores range from 1 to 5, with the exception of using UA variants where you can give 0. Similarly there's a problem with your second criterion for excellence:

I'm docking points for not saying when the various powers are learned.

All power are obtained in the order listed.

Notwithstanding the s on powers which I didn't check thoroughly enough, that would seem to answer that.

You seem to have docked points for "Flatness" and the fact that the build doesn't inspire you, personally, no less than thirteen times. It reads as "Actually, everything about this villain is fine, but I don't like it so I'm going to take away all its points."

The "How long does it take to summarise your character" section strikes me the wrong way. Here, let me have a go: Sniper, Soul eater, Lion, Psionic mastermind hellbent on getting back those who have wronged it and gaining total rulership through mental domination, psionic satellite. See what I'm getting at? You can't really summarise the overmind as just a "Psionic overlord" without essentially ignoring, well, the entirety of the overmind's character.

It just looks as though you've gone into the judging determined to give the overmind a bad score before you've even looked it through, properly.

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-27, 02:51 PM

I didn't realize categories weren't supposed to fall below 0. Unfortunately, rectifying this error would require completely overhauling my entire grading system. Or I could just bump up those scores to 1, but that doesn't seem fair to the people who did well enough to get 1+ in all categories under the grading system and aren't getting a score boost. If Telonius complains, I'll figure something out, but otherwise...correcting this just isn't worth the effort. Bear in mind that if I do have to correct it, everyone's getting a score boost of some kind.

My bad on the power order thing; I'll give those points back.

I've docked you points for flatness in thirteen categories because the flatness touches on a lot of my categories. Should I not grant or dock points for a clever build in the "Was its build surprising to me?", "Does it involve some kind of clever trick or plan?", and "How much of a fight can the villain put up when the climatic final battle comes?" categories? It's just how the grading system was designed. Think of it less as being marked down for general flatness thirteen times and more thirteen areas where Overmind was flat enough to be marked down.

The Overmind doesn't have character, not that I see. "All the other kids picked on him so he's going to control EVERYTHING!" isn't exactly a deep character motivation—it's barely there. You don't give any examples of how society rejected him or whatever, meaning that he could be anything from the victim of a trauma conga-line to an entitled bastard who didn't have the world handed to him on a silver platter. His methods are extremely vague, left up tot he interpretation of the DM. Who does he mind-control? What does he have them do? Why does he kill people? Is there anything he doesn't want to do? So many unanswered questions.

Your one- or two-word summaries are leaving out things that are prominent in the entries. On the other hand, your lengthy summary doesn't add anything of value to my summation. "Hellbent on getting back at those who wronged him"—you don't actually say this anywhere, and you don't even imply what he's getting revenge for or how. The rest is mostly adding superfluous adjectives and adverbs—what's the difference between "overlord" and "gaining total rulership," and how does "psionic" not imply "through mental domination"?

But you know what? You're right about one thing. Your villain doesn't inspire me in any way. I wouldn't play it. I don't even see it as a character, it's so bland. Its build is equally uninspired, little more than a straight psionic character. But I ask you—what am I supposed to grade the villain on? Because about all that's left is visible effort, and the other four blow you out of the water.
* Marx: Created an admittedly derivative driving philosophy for the villain, gave her a plan that if poorly-thought-out was interestingly-executed, and most importantly figured out how to use the tools at their disposal to make Marx an almost-perfect sniper.
* The Cackling Prince: Created a background for the villain (even if it wasn't communicated effectively), crafted an introduction which evoked the unease and powerlessness the Prince is supposed to invoke, and gave an interesting, unexpected build which builds on the abilities of the basic creature to create a combat experience divorced from the rote hack-and-slash of most D&D combat.
* Scar: Using an unusual concept, and gave it a build which fit the contest requirements and the build perfectly, with a background that fits the character concept and its class levels.
* Brightness: Figured out what it would take to make a character that can reach and survive in space indefinitely, as well as affect the surface world despite being hundreds of kilometers or more from everything, then created it. Also gave it a background which explained its psionic abilities and crystals and why it wanted to go to space today in the first place...and he writes it well enough for me to care about Brightness as a person.
* Overmind: One prestige class from the most generic psionic build ever, the second-most-generic villain motivation ever (second only to "Because I'm f'ing evil!") without any explanation of who or how he's getting back at, some out-of-context third-party narration that tries to give the reader a scope of the villain's activities, and a few MS Paint pictures. As far as I can tell, you spent more time on the pictures and typing everything out than you did actually considering what, who, or why your villain was.

I know I gave you a bad score. Someone's going to come in last, and it happened to be you. Yes, I was pretty sure that would be the case before I started putting numbers to things. But that isn't representative of a flaw with me and my system—that's me recognizing and using my system to quantify that the Overmind was the worst villain. Someone has to be.

Anyways! I've been thinking that for Competition X, we should do something special. Inspired in part by daremetoidareyo's comment about combining all of the villains into one world, I thought we should create someone who could be manipulating them all—a Bigger Bad Bash (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BiggerBad) rather than our normal Big Bad Bash, if you will. A few possible requirements that came to mind:
* Extend the build to a higher CR and probably remove requirements for lower CRs (which conveniently also allows high-CR base monsters like older dragons and more powerful fiends to be created, or monsters with lots of class levels).
* Sufficient power, whether personal or indirect, to threaten the interests of an entire nation/world/multiverse.
* Include references to manipulating one or more previous villains. ("The Dark Emperor didn't destroy the Serene Kingdom for his dark purposes—he was told to by the Darker Lord for his own darker purposes!")
* Require an plan or goal to be described, rather than the opt-in we seem to have now. (No offense.)

Deadline

2016-01-27, 04:00 PM

As a reminder from the OP:

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, Build Elegance, Competence and Power, Memorable Villainy.

Keep these questions in mind when judging each category:
Originality - Is it unexpected?
Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG the players talk about for years to come?

The bolded lists what the maximum and minimums are. The Chancellor may want to rule on if a build can be scored below 1 in any category, as it's been something that has hit a few other competitions here in the past.

I didn't get a build in this time around because of a lack of time, and won't be able to judge either for the same reason. Hopefully we can get more than one judge, because one-judge rounds are always rough. That said, thanks to GreatWyrmGold for judging.

Anyways! I've been thinking that for Competition X, we should do something special. Inspired in part by daremetoidareyo's comment about combining all of the villains into one world, I thought we should create someone who could be manipulating them all—a Bigger Bad Bash rather than our normal Big Bad Bash, if you will.

While the idea is interesting, I'd probably avoid it mainly due to not wanting to take the creation of someone else and futz with it. I'd feel awkward doing so, and I know of a few people (not here) who wouldn't take too kindly to such things. Also, I'm curious to see what the Chancellor Telonious has up his sleeve for the next round. I do like the idea of Round X being some sort of special event. Get those creative juices flowing Chancellor! *whipcrack* :smalltongue:

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-27, 05:28 PM

Eh, just being a Bigger Bad who could have been manipulating an unstated villain or group of villains would be enough for the spirit of my idea.

The Chancellor is Telonius? Suddenly that makes sense.

Telonius

2016-01-28, 07:57 AM

No problem, my numerous secret identities can get confusing.

One from Scar:

Thanks for judging !

I agree that Scar's abilities are a little wonky, I could have updated cat/leopard/lion abilities to have a smooth progression (it’s definitely in house rules area anyway). And I definitely missed the size modifier on Hide for smaller models.

on Scar global score : I think it sums up to 16.1 now.

And one from Overmind. Executive ruling that the judge will have the opportunity for response and score alteration, then we're moving on.

I have tried to be polite, but you are trying my patience and insulting my intelligence. This is not a good combination.

Telonius (to whom I'm obviously sending this) can correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine that if he didn't want you to follow the rules, he wouldn't have put them in the OP.

Also "You need to know how many powers a psion has" is a crappy excuse to dock points, and I expect you know it, and chose it for exactly that reason. Psion. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/psion.htm) There, read it. Gratz, you know how many powers the overmind has at each level.

Also, what happened to one fault one fall? Not only are you subtracting points for your own lack of imagination thirteen times, but you're docking them from how easy it is to run, and then docking another ten per cent from the same category.

If there are no classic blunders, there are no classic blunders, so give me full marks. If you think I admitted that the OM isn't a character, show me where I said "Character" in the entire post. (Hint: it's in the sentence "As a new 4th-level character, she can get the skill points immediately after raising her Intelligence, so she’ll get 5 points for attaining 4th level in the wizard class." Confused? That's because it's a quote about Mialee, not the overmind). If you think that slayer levels are unsurprising for someone based on leading from the back, what the hell does a full base attack bonus signify for you? If you think that controlling the entire flow of history by selectively controlling the survival of Administrator Antony's works - a plan that would have succeeded if it hadn't been for Archivist Ari'El - isn't a clever scheme, then what is? If you think that being able to summarise something quickly (and lose practically everything of their character - which in hindsight perhaps explains why you think it doesn't have any) is a mark against it, that's on you.

If you think I'm angry because you've graded me low, you are under a very grave misapprehension. I am angry because you have failed to read the rules of the Villainous Competition, because you haven't even read the Overmind well enough to know what order it gets its powers in, and because you haven't even read the Overmind well enough to know what bloody gender it is - which presumably means you didn't read Administrator Antony's notes, where its gender-neutrality is actually discussed before you judged it. That is why I am angry: not because you have judged me as poor, but because you have judged me poorly. You have half-read my entry as if in a daze, and then acted in direct contravention to the judging rules when going out of your way to condemn it far beyond what anyone with any sense of fairness would do.

In conclusion, your judgement is not fair, not thought through, and not even legal. I am beyond the point of requesting: I demand that you actually take the time to read the entry, follow the rules to which you as a judge are bound, and stop using ridiculous excuses to the tune of "You have to know what a psion is" or else retire from judging and allow someone who is actually willing to do so to take up what's left of the flag.

*Mic drop.* That is all.

Inevitability

2016-01-28, 08:53 AM

Calm down, overmind-builder. Getting angry won't help anyone in any way.

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-28, 10:16 AM

I'm not insulting your intelligence, I'm criticizing your entry. Smart people can be bad at specific things. If you can't distinguish between the two, you probably shouldn't join this sort of contest.

I find it interesting how Telonius has remained silent about reshuffling everyone's scores to fit a 1-5 scale rather than a 0-5 scale, despite me asking him to let me know if he thought it was a problem. Perhaps he realized what I did—that it changes nothing in the end and just gives me extra work.

Here's a funny thing...I don't know how many powers a psion knows at each level. I would have to look it up in the psionics handbook if I wanted to run Overmind. That goes beyond "knowing what a psion is". Worse, your bonus powers throw off this as well, requiring that the theoretical DM cross-reference both the psionics handbook and your build table. Compare this to other builds, which helpfully list what powers you receive at each level. Either I ought penalize you or I ought give everyone else a bonus, and given that I expect a proper by-level list of powers, I took the former option. Ultimately, it doesn't matter—either way, your score is lower relative to the others.

You're blaming my lack of imagination on my inability to divine a character from the scant information you have, and you have the gall to accuse me of insulting you? I've half a mind to dock points for your conduct.
"One fault one fall"? I don't remember anything about that in the rules. Your character was flat in a dozen areas, so I docked points in a dozen areas. Simple as that. The other option would be to lump together all of the possible ways a villain could be interesting into one category, but that's ridiculous. Why on Earth would I combine everything from interesting mechanical tricks to a well-thought-out plot to a deep backstory in one category?
I deducted 10% from the simplicity category because I don't want to reward making simple villains. I was accounting for how most of your points in that category were due to simplicity rather than elegance, which I felt was giving your character an unfair advantage relative to the villains who were elegant rather than simple.

"Character" isn't the only word that can be used to describe personality, motivation, and so on, and the entry post isn't the only place you talked from. I'm not entirely sure what made me say you admitted the Overmind's lack of character, but the following doesn't exactly make me think you spent time on character:
"I guess I didn't quite clearly convey that OM wanted to rule a kingdom because hey, who doesn't want to rule a kingdom? (Don't answer that.)"
Base attack bonus isn't exactly unsurprising for a character whose battle tactics are described as "Using Iron Body, True Metabolism, Planar Embrace and Affinity Field Pain to buff yourself out the wazoo, you launch yourself towards the enemy." And
Destroying historical documents to control the public's perception isn't clever, it's another trope in the Standard Cliche Evil Villain Guide.

Well excuse me for not noticing every little detail about the character including freaking pronouns! Excuse me for being so damn bold as to make a few little mistakes!

And no, it's not unfair to condemn your creation so harshly. Tell me something—what does the Overmind have that the other entries do not? Marx has a cleverer build, the Cackling Prince has a more unique dynamic, Leo has a unique MO, and Brightness has superior characterization. Explain to me why I should give the Overmind a good score, what makes it worthy of being used in a real game instead of one of these other villains or one of my own creation?

The rules issues amount to nothing but a technicality and do not even affect the results, since I would be increasing everyone's score if I changed that. I have read the entry, multiple times, and I fail to understand why I should spend the most time on understanding the simplest villain. Your claims are all on minor points which wouldn't help you or change anything even if I felt you were in the right. Oh, and you're insulting me again. Stop doing that if you want any kind of resolution to this.

Telonius, would it be against the rules or spirit of the Villainous Competition to dock points for the creator's conduct? If he keeps his current tone, I'll have a strong desire to do so.

Telonius

2016-01-28, 10:54 AM

No additional points docked for losing tempers this time. At this point the score would stand as-is, and the issue is closed.

Just in general - to everyone judging and submitting - please remember that everybody is doing this for fun, and on a voluntary basis. Everybody is proud of their build, or they wouldn't submit it. Judges screw up and miss things, and so do competitors. Disagreements are fine, but there's no need to get disagreeable.

Vaz

2016-01-28, 11:17 AM

This is a game. I've not read any criticisms or complaints to keep myself unbiased, but it is hard to see comments like the ones above and not be moved to be instantly more wary of what Overmind's reaction will be after they gets their scores from md, and possibly less likely to get a modification to their points.

Much like in real life, if someone is being amtagonistic, it gets you nowhere. Man up, take the hit on your chin, and move on. What is omes pleasure is anothers poison and the same works in reverse.

FWIW, I have not marked Overmind yet short of a quick read through and initial notes.

JyP

2016-01-29, 05:11 AM

Anyways! I've been thinking that for Competition X, we should do something special
Round X => X-files => aliens vs mutants :smallbiggrin:

ben-zayb

2016-01-29, 07:11 AM

Round X => X-files => aliens vs mutants :smallbiggrin:

I like it! I don't know if D&D offers much in the way of SF archetypes. Closest I can think of would be outsiders or far realm creatures for aliens, or some template stacking for mutants.

Korahir

2016-01-30, 03:15 PM

I know it is a rather stupid pun, but how about that for round ten:

race must have ten in its name i.e. tengu, tendriculus
must have exactly 10 manifester, caster, initiator or incarnum levels
must be tenacious in a way: either very persistent or durable

This stupid pun grows on me. ;)

Jormengand

2016-01-30, 03:30 PM

Inevitability

2016-01-30, 03:33 PM

Tenser's Floating Disk does have some optimizing potential...

GreatWyrmGold

2016-01-30, 08:42 PM

The sci-fi villain theme has some merit...but I still believe some kind of Bigger Bad competition would be more suitable.

Telonius

2016-02-01, 06:19 AM

So far we only have one judge. Would anyone else like to jump in? More judges are always appreciated!

Vaz

2016-02-01, 07:11 AM

I should have finished judgimg tonight or tomorrow ;)

Telonius

2016-02-01, 01:53 PM

A quick note from Scar:

Hi GreatWyrmGold,

on Scar global score : I think it sums up to 16.1 now, could you please update it ?

(Originality 3.55 + Elegance 3.9 + Competence and Power 4.65 + Memorable Villainy 4)

(No worries on the addition; judging by my group's Saturday session, there's been a plague of Cantmathitis sweeping the gaming community this week).

GreatWyrmGold

2016-02-01, 03:47 PM

I've taken calculus, I should be able to handle basic addition...

Fixed.

ImSAMazing

2016-02-03, 11:18 AM

Just a question, when will the next competition start?

zergling.exe

2016-02-03, 11:54 AM

Just a question, when will the next competition start?

This competition isn't over till Friday, unless the Chancelllor wants to end it early.

Telonius

2016-02-03, 12:14 PM

Deadline

2016-02-03, 12:21 PM

We'll keep it open until Friday in case we have any late-breaking judging.

Unfortunately I think I'm going to have to bow out of the Chancellorship for the next competition. Real-life concerns are about to make things very busy over the next several months.

Do you have a successor picked out, at least for the interim?

Edit - Also, I believe Vaz is finishing up with judging (based on their last post), so we should have another judge weigh in soonish.

Telonius

2016-02-03, 07:30 PM

No successors yet. I was planning to leave the candidates in a room with a single poisoned dagger in the center, and see who came out. But if anyone wants to step up and take the reins, let's discuss it here.

Muggins

2016-02-03, 10:21 PM

I'd volunteer myself, but the position of chairman should probably go to someone who has actually placed.

Deadline

2016-02-04, 01:09 AM

I'd volunteer myself, but the position of chairman should probably go to someone who has actually placed.

I'd volunteer, but my free time is pretty much non-existent these days. :smallfrown:

Korahir

2016-02-04, 12:51 PM

I'd volunteer myself, but the position of chairman should probably go to someone who has actually placed.

Not to sure if having placed is actually a criteria for this. As with everything in these contests, it is more on a "hey, let's do this" basis.

I think my free time will allow me to manage this contest for a round or two, although i only entered this contest once before. I judged and entered in Iron Chef rounds before (and placed if this is in any way important).

Inevitability

2016-02-06, 08:56 AM

I believe all disputes are settled: isn't it time to reveal the scores?

GreatWyrmGold

2016-02-06, 09:58 AM

I believe all disputes are settled: isn't it time to reveal the scores?
As the only judge...
In first place we have Brightness, with 19.4 points! A combination of an interesting backstory, an unusual concept, and enough research and rules-fu to make it work made this an easy pick. A spy satellite, that I can empathize with?
In second place we have Scar, with 16.1 points! This force-of-nature villain still managed to be a bit of an overlord, and the idea of a psionic hivemind lion horde converting the countryside into a dangerous wilderness is epic. Making sure there are statistics for every possible level was a nice touch; it helps for, say, leonine minions.
In third place is the Cackling Prince, with 13.45 points! While he isn't the most fleshed-out of characters, and his place as the ruler of the land questionable, the Prince's ability to hide in plain sight and focus on Charisma damage make for new, interesting combat dynamics.
In fourth place is Marx, with 8.55 points! The author put together an interesting trick, but it's not clear that it works and lacks good counterplay if used intelligently. While Marx's ideology is interesting, it's not used as much or as well as it could be, meaning Marx will inevitably come off as a generic destroy-the-kingdom-type villain. Worse, her plan isn't very interesting. "Kill important people until the survivors start doing what I want them to for some reason".
And finally, we have Overmind, with 8.15 points. There's simply nothing special about him—his background and personality are meh at best, his build is average, his plan is nonexistent, and at the end he goes One-Winged Angel for no apparent reason. I'm not sure he deserved the whole eight-and-change points—I personally think he's a much worse villain than Marx, not just a slightly worse one—but here we are.

Thank you for playing, almost everyone.

Muggins

2016-02-06, 10:30 AM

I'd like to nominate "Villainous Competition X: Ten Times the Trouble" for the upcoming Biggest Bad Beatdown, please. :smallbiggrin:

Deadline

2016-02-06, 12:49 PM

Hey Vaz, are you going to be able to finish your judging?

And finally, we have Overmind, with 8.15 points. There's simply nothing special about him—his background and personality are meh at best, his build is average, his plan is nonexistent, and at the end he goes One-Winged Angel for no apparent reason. I'm not sure he deserved the whole eight-and-change points—I personally think he's a much worse villain than Marx, not just a slightly worse one—but here we are.

Thank you for playing, almost everyone.

This came off as remarkably small and petty. I sincerely hope that as a judge, that was not your intent. :smallfrown:

Jormengand

2016-02-06, 01:19 PM

This came off as remarkably small and petty. I sincerely hope that as a judge, that was not your intent. :smallfrown:

Given GWG's tone throughout the whole of the conversation, I can only imagine that it was.

Telonius

2016-02-06, 03:29 PM

Thanks folks - I was allowing a few extra hours for any last-second judges to jump in, but apparently no takers. The scores stand as they are! To reveal....

1. Brightness, by Dire_Stirge!
2. Scar, by JyP!
3. The Cackling Prince, by Hecuba!
4. Marx, by daremetoidareyo!
5. Overmind, by Jormengand!

Inevitability

2016-02-06, 04:21 PM

Congrats, everyone!

Korahir

2016-02-07, 01:44 AM

Grats to everyone.
Brilliant build Dire Stirge. I am quite jealous ;) Definitely one of my favourite builds of all time.

ben-zayb

2016-02-07, 02:28 AM

Yeah, the diversity of this round's entries is just remarkable. I would've voted Scar for HM, but I guess it's too late ow after the reveal.

Inevitability

2016-02-07, 04:32 AM

Grats to everyone.
Brilliant build Dire Stirge. I am quite jealous ;) Definitely one of my favourite builds of all time.

Thank you!

GreatWyrmGold

2016-02-07, 11:24 AM

Given GWG's tone throughout the whole of the conversation, I can only imagine that it was.
To be fair, I wasn't the only one with a bad tone in that conversation.

Jormengand

2016-02-07, 11:42 AM

To be fair, I wasn't the only one with a bad tone in that conversation.

True, but I like to think I was justified in being angry at someone who seemed to have some kind of vendetta against me despite neither knowing who I was, nor basic information about my entry such as the character's freaking gender or the psion's power progression.

Like, I don't know about you, but I expect people to know what gender someone is before trying to review the finer aspects of their villainy. In fact, it utterly baffles me that you even managed to avoid accidentally working out its gender. Maybe the fact that the concept-in-a-minute uses the gender-neutral he (because it was written before I'd decided on the Overmind's gender) threw you, but the fact that Administrator Antony fervently avoids using any kind of pronouns in Notes of the Administrator Volumes 3-4 and uses the words "It", "Its" or "Itself" no fewer than eleven times in the shown extracts of Volumes 5 and 6, while outside of that I used the words only twice, so I guess maybe you didn't read the Notes of the Administrator for some reason? I dunno, but if I'd been judging something like that, I'd have at the very least tried to read all the fluff text. I just cannot fathom how you read the entire thing, without skimming through, being in a daze, or having drunk a little too much, and didn't realise that the Overmind wasn't male.

Inevitability

2016-02-07, 12:05 PM

True, but I like to think I was justified in being angry at someone who seemed to have some kind of vendetta against me despite neither knowing who I was, nor basic information about my entry such as the character's freaking gender or the psion's power progression.

Like, I don't know about you, but I expect people to know what gender someone is before trying to review the finer aspects of their villainy. In fact, it utterly baffles me that you even managed to avoid accidentally working out its gender. Maybe the fact that the concept-in-a-minute uses the gender-neutral he (because it was written before I'd decided on the Overmind's gender) threw you, but the fact that Administrator Antony fervently avoids using any kind of pronouns in Notes of the Administrator Volumes 3-4 and uses the words "It", "Its" or "Itself" no fewer than eleven times in the shown extracts of Volumes 5 and 6, while outside of that I used the words only twice, so I guess maybe you didn't read the Notes of the Administrator for some reason? I dunno, but if I'd been judging something like that, I'd have at the very least tried to read all the fluff text. I just cannot fathom how you read the entire thing, without skimming through, being in a daze, or having drunk a little too much, and didn't realise that the Overmind wasn't male.

To be honest, Jormengard, I think you're getting a bit worked up over this. I understand that gender is sensitive business for some people, but we're talking about a make-believe character here. I suggest just accepting that GWG didn't interpret the character fluff the way you intended it to be interpreted and moving on.

Jormengand

2016-02-07, 12:12 PM

To be honest, Jormengard, I think you're getting a bit worked up over this. I understand that gender is sensitive business for some people, but we're talking about a make-believe character here. I suggest just accepting that GWG didn't interpret the character fluff the way you intended it to be interpreted and moving on.

I really think you would have a different opinion if someone had thought that a male character was female or vice versa. It's just something that you should know about a character. I mean, how many characters do you appreciate from any medium but you don't know their gender, even though it's clearly stated in the text? I'm guessing zero. It's just such an obvious, basic piece of information that I can't believe that someone understands the character if they don't know it.

Muggins

2016-02-07, 12:26 PM

I really think you would have a different opinion if someone had thought that a male character was female or vice versa. It's just something that you should know about a character. I mean, how many characters do you appreciate from any medium but you don't know their gender, even though it's clearly stated in the text? I'm guessing zero. It's just such an obvious, basic piece of information that I can't believe that someone understands the character if they don't know it.
On the other hand, given that your submission includes some references to "he" (which isn't typically used as a gender-neutral pronoun; it or they would've been clearer), your attempts to conceal the Overmind's gender could've been interpreted more as Othering (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other) than as an attempt to convey the character's lack of gender.

Jormengand

2016-02-07, 12:29 PM

On the other hand, given that your submission includes some references to "he" (which isn't typically used as a gender-neutral pronoun; it or they would've been clearer), your attempts to conceal the Overmind's gender could've been interpreted more as Othering (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other) than as an attempt to convey the character's lack of gender.

Right, except that the it pronouns were used in character five and a half times as often as out of character, so unless Administrator Antony is attempting to use advanced rhetoric to alienate his own boss, I don't think that even sounds likely.

Muggins

2016-02-07, 12:47 PM

Right, except that the it pronouns were used in character five and a half times as often as out of character, so unless Administrator Antony is attempting to use advanced rhetoric to alienate his own boss, I don't think that even sounds likely.
That's exactly what happens, though. There's no personality ascribed to the Overmind, so we are left to view it as the genderless being that it claims to be - in this case, described as the manifestation of what it means to rule - rather than as an actual person.

Although I suppose that, at that point, the Overmind's actual gender (and whether the 'he' used in the concept pitch is meant to refer to a male entity or is supposed to be gender-neutral; my reading puts his sex as male and gender as unclassified) is somewhat irrelevant.

Jormengand

2016-02-07, 01:14 PM

That's exactly what happens, though. There's no personality ascribed to the Overmind, so we are left to view it as the genderless being that it claims to be - in this case, described as the manifestation of what it means to rule - rather than as an actual person.

I mean, if you're still not convinced, there's also the fact that GWG deliberately referred to the Overmind as male after I'd specifically said not to, which suggests not just ignorance but willful ignorance.

GreatWyrmGold

2016-02-07, 05:15 PM

I mean, if you're still not convinced, there's also the fact that GWG deliberately referred to the Overmind as male after I'd specifically said not to, which suggests not just ignorance but willful ignorance.
Or that I just forgot. Because hey, I'm not perfect. Or I used the "gender-neutral he" you admit you used because I don't like referring to (alleged) people as "it".

But nooo, clearly everything I've said about the Overmind is proof that I apparently (in your words) had some kind of vendetta against you despite not knowing who you were (a concept which makes no sense), which is obviously the only possible reason I could have disliked the villain.

daremetoidareyo

2016-02-09, 01:13 PM

I didn't find it until after I submitted, but in Races of Faerun p. 158, there is the Spike Shooter, which totally makes Marx's build entirely legal, as well as saves you a feat, which the build could use for so many other things.

Inevitability

2016-02-09, 03:19 PM

Suggestion for the next competition:

"Henchmen are Villains Too!"

The theme would be antagonists who for whatever reason aren't quite the most powerful kids on the block. Maybe they like enjoying a more powerful person's protection, maybe their abilities are support-focused, or maybe they're just a greedy mercenary, but they all serve more powerful villains.

Zombulian

2016-02-09, 03:59 PM

TerrickTerran

2016-02-09, 08:41 PM

just found this competition...very neat idea.

GreatWyrmGold

2016-02-09, 11:22 PM

Korahir

2016-02-10, 01:41 PM

I asked Telonius and since noone else stepped forward I dared to move on and fill as chancellor. Villainous Competition X will be up soon.