Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground LXXVII

[Heliomance]

A dimly-lit library. Rows of bookshelves line the walls, and as the camera slowly pans over them, we see that they are filled with gaming books. From the original brown-cover D&D manuals to the newest fifth edition supplements, we are given a brief but breathtaking history of over four decades of gaming in visual form.

A pair of feet, clad in Converse, appear. The camera pans back to reveal the Chairwoman as she strides out into Optimization Stadium. Slowly, she looks around at the battleground. Rapidly, we are shown shots of the gaming materials here assembled: books, miniatures, maps, dice. The Chairwoman reaches down and picks up a twenty-sided die. She rolls it, then turns to the camera... and smiles.

The camera pulls back from the smile to reveal... the Iron Gamers. Row upon row they stand, clad in the uniform of their trade: t-shirts with fantasy images, buttons with obscure quotes from novels and movies, dice bags at the ready. The shot dissolves into flames and the logo:


Iron Gamer

A montage of the contestants plays, with summaries of their optimization triumphs and achievements. Interspersed are brief interviews. Finally, though, the introductions are over. The contestants stand arrayed before the Chairwoman.

Chairwoman: We unveil the ingredient!

Tense music plays as the pedestal containing the mystery ingredient rises from below. Stacked neatly on the pedestal are copies of Races of Faerun.

Chairwoman: This month's theme is... Great Rift Skyguard! ALLEZ OPTIMISER!


http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/api/content/nl/en-us/SSZND2_6.0.0/com.ibm.etools.webreference.doc/images/hr_runtime.gif

Welcome, contestants, judges, and guests to Iron Chef LXIX. Here in Optimisation Colosseum, contestants will endeavour to create an optimized and flavourful character using a specified D&D3.5 prestige class as a "Secret Ingredient".

Contestants: You will need to present a full 20-level build for your entry. Also required is a rundown of how your build works at lower levels, to demonstrate that it is a functional character that could be played from 1-20 in a real game. Traditionally contestants give "snapshots" of tactics and abilities at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, as well as a "sweet spot" of their choosing that represents what they believe to be the high point of the build. The purpose of these snapshots is not just to showcase your use of the SI, it is to demonstrate that your character is playable at every level. For this reason, it's still worth giving a snapshot before you have entered the SI.

Menu: The "special ingredient" can be drawn from any legal source. Originally, the plan was to mostly use Core and Completes, but that was a long time ago, and we've started running out of interesting classes to use if we restrict ourselves to those.

32 point-buy is the presumed creation method, but we have generally allowed other levels of point-buy.
If you do use a different point-buy, please make your case for its necessity in your entry. Keep in mind that for using exceptionally large or small point-buys may warrant deductions in elegance and/or power.

Kitchen: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon magazine is disallowed, and Unearthed Arcana is allowed; but see Elegance below. Web-exclusive 3.0 or 3.5 materials by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt or Generic Classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Also, item familiars are forbidden because I hate 'em. Please refrain from using Taint unless it's necessary for the Secret Ingredient.
NB: Official Errata and 3.5 updates to 3.0 content are considered valid regardless of whether their sources would otherwise be legal. This includes the 3.5 update of Oriental Adventures given in Dragon Magazine, and the 3.5 updates of Dragonlance Campaign Setting content given in later third party Dragonlance books.

Cooking Time: Contestants will have until 09:59 GMT on Sunday, April 10th, 2016 to create their builds and PM them to the Chairwoman, Heliomance. Please put the name of your build in the subject line of your PM. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 09:59 GMT on Sunday, April 24th, 2016 to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted.

Judging: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, Use of Secret Ingredient.

Power level is up to you. Cheese is acceptable, but should be kept to a sane level unless you're showcasing a new TO build you've discovered. In the words of one of my predecessors, a little cheddar can be nice, but avoid the mature Gruyere unless you're making a cheese fondue.
Elegance could bear a little elaboration. It basically measures how skillfully you put your build together, and whether you sacrificed flavor for power. We're cooking here - if your dish doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter how well-presented it is. Use of flaws is considered in poor taste, and judges are asked to take a dim view of this option, taking it into account while grading. Other things that will cause penalties here are excessive multi-classing, and classes that don't fit the concept - using Cloistered Cleric in a front-line melee fighter, for example, will lose you points.Please note the following change: a legal source's relative obscurity should not be considered as penalizing Elegance, excepting the aforementioned issues with Unearthed Arcana. Using too many sources may result in a penalty to Elegance at the judges' discretion, but a book's relative obscurity may not. In that same vein, drawing solely from the Core 3 (and the d20 SRD) should not be punished for lacking Originality.
Presentation: Builds will be posted anonymously, in order to avoid the potential of bias towards a particular competitor. For this reason, please don't put your name in the build, as I'm likely to miss it when reviewing the entries!

Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, I'd like everyone to try to use the following table for their entry.NAME OF ENTRY


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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



Code immediately below (spoiler).

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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



For entries with spellcasting, use the following table for Spells per day and Spells Known. (Spells Known only if necessary, i.e. Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage)Spells per Day/Spells Known
Spells per Day/Spells Known


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


1st
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


3rd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


4th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


5th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


6th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


7th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


8th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


9th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


10th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


11th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


12th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


13th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


14th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


15th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


16th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


17th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


18th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


19th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


20th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


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


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


1st
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


3rd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


4th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


5th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


6th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


7th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


8th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


9th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


10th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


11th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


12th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


13th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


14th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


15th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


16th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


17th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


18th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


19th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


20th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-



For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list.
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.

Leadership is banned; we're producing a meal, not a seven-course banquet for a hundred diners. If your entry includes a prestige class or ACF that grants Leadership or a Leadership-like ability as a bonus feat, the feat should be ignored and is not eligible to be traded away for another feat or ACF through any means.

So! Who wants to sign up as a contestant, and who wants to sign up as a judge? Looking for as many contestants and judges as feel like playing!

We will award 1st through 3rd places, as well as a shout-out for honourable mention. The honourable mention prize is given to the most daring or unexpected build. Judges, contestants and guests alike are invited to vote for honourable mention via PM. If there are no votes, Honourable Mention will go to the chairwoman's favourite build.

The Builds

Past Competitions

Iron Chef I: Entropomancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142470)
Iron Chef II: Psibond Agent (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146583)
Iron Chef III: Cancer Mage (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148584)
Iron Chef IV: Stonelord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150595)
Iron Chef V: War Chanter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152543)
Iron Chef VI: Master of Masks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156876)
Iron Chef VII: Green Star Adept (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158633)
Iron Chef VIII: Pyrokineticist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160266)
Iron Chef IX: Animal Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162702)
Iron Chef X: Mythic Exemplar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164381)
Iron Chef XI: Blade Bravo (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166539)
Iron Chef XII: War Mind (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9426386)
Iron Chef XIII: Vigilante (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172233)
Iron Chef XIV: Seeker of the Song (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174434)
Iron Chef XV: Drunken Master (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176049)
Iron Chef XVI: Assassin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178202)
Iron Chef XVII: Ardent Dilettante (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182492)
Iron Chef XVIII: Unseelie Dark Hunter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=186097)
Iron Chef XIX: Dread Pirate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190607)
Iron Chef XX: Incandescent Champion (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10976416)
Iron Chef XXI: Ghostwalker (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198921)
Iron Chef XXII: Dervish (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206576)
Iron Chef XXIII: Divine Crusader (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210071)
Iron Chef XXIV: Tactical Soldier (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214198)
Iron Chef XXV: Scion of Tem-Et-Nu (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217441)
Iron Chef XXVI: Shadowdancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220956)
Iron Chef XXVII: Mindbender (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224008)
Iron Chef XXVIII: Cryokineticist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227304)
Iron Chef XXIX: Consecrated Harrier (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229688)
Iron Chef XXX: Initiate of Pistis Sophia (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233346)
Iron Chef XXXI: Shadow Sentinel (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236908)
Iron Chef XXXII: Temple Raider of Olidammara (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239786)
Iron Chef XXXIII: Drow Judicator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243052)
Iron Chef XXXIV: Dragon Disciple (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246072)
Iron Chef XXXV: Death Delver (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249542)
Iron Chef XXXVI: Acolyte of the Skin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252923)
Iron Chef XXXVII: Justiciar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13865473)
Iron Chef XXXVIII: Hand of the Winged Master (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255215)
Iron Chef XXXIX: Renegade Mastermaker (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=260333)
Iron Chef XL: Nightsong Infiltrator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263173)
Iron Chef XLI: Geomancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266709)
Iron Chef XLII: Shadowblade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270196)
Iron Chef XLIII: Bladesinger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274122)
Iron Chef XLIV: Urban Soul (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=279116)
Iron Chef XLV: Talon of Tiamat (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15216595)
Iron Chef XLVI: Cipher Adept (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287314)
Iron Chef XLVII: Cold Iron Warrior (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=291294)
Iron Chef XLVIII: Shadow Sun Ninja (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=297327)
Iron Chef XLIX: Thrall to Orcus (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=302487)
Iron Chef L: Corrupt Avenger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=307823)
Iron Chef LI: Black Flame Zealot (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=312773)
Iron Chef LII: Anointed Knight (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=317934)
Iron Chef LIII: Zerth Cenobite (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=325164)
Iron Chef LIV: Osteomancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=330890)
Iron Chef LV: Mountebank (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?336373-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LV)
Iron Chef LVI: Dwarven Defender (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?342807-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LVI)
Iron Chef LVII: Darkrunner (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?349040-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LVII)
Iron Chef LVIII: Spellsword (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?357412-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LVIII)
Iron Chef LIX: Fleet Runner of Ehlonna (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?364667-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LIX)
Iron Chef LX: Lasher (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?371835-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LX)
Iron Chef LX(II): Acolyte of the Ego (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?372145-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LX)
Iron Chef LXII: Dungeon Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?376810-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXII)
Iron Cheff LXIII: Witchborn Binder (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?382632-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXIII)
Iron Chef LXIV: Slime Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?387166-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXIV)
Iron Chef LXV: Thunder Guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?394981-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXV)
Iron Chef LXVI: Dwarven Chanter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?400810-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXVI)
Irogn Chef LXVII: Gnome Giant Slayer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?406613-Irogn-Chef-Optimisatiogn-Challegnge-ign-the-Playgrougnd-LXVII)
Iron Chef LXIX: Fang of Lolth (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?412530-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXVIII)
Iron Chef LXIX: Shiba Protector (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?420165-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXIX)
Iron Chef LXX: Order of the Bow Initiate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?425634-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXX)
Iron Chef LXXI: Silver Key (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?431484-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXI)
Iron Chef LXXII: Spellfire Channeler (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?439020-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXII)
Iron Chef LXXIII: Flux Adept (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?448596-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXIII)
Iron Chef LXXIV: Crinti Shadow Marauder (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?458711-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXIV)
Iron Chef LXXV: Thief of Life (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?472831-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXV)
Iron Chef LXXVI: Legacy Champion (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?477153-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXVI)

[Heliomance]

FAQ:
Q: What's this even about?
A: I'm glad you asked, actually... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15415117&postcount=1)

Q: Is Dragon Compendium Allowed?
A: Yes (as well as its Errata), but individual issues of Dragon Magazine are not.

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

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

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

Q: Where's the line drawn with "acceptable/unacceptable" for Unearthed Arcana? This will likely vary a bit from Chairman to Chairman. Item Familiars and Gestalt have always been verboten, since before IC migrated to GitP; don't expect that to change. Flaws have similarly always been noted as warranting a deduction; while I am Chairman, I'm extending that to Traits, though they warrant 1/2 the penalty in Elegance that a Flaw would because they're roughly 1/2 as useful. Alternate spell systems, alternate skill systems and alternate crafting rules all create an uneven playing field, and as such, will be disallowed for as long as I am Chairman. In a similar vein, LA buyoff and fractional BAB are also disallowed. Bloodlines and the Retraining options presented in the PHB2 are ripe for abuse, and will be strongly discouraged as long as I am Chairman. Note that judges are allowed to look askance at any use of Unearthed Arcana not specifically mentioned above, at their discretion, and otherwise penalize Elegance according to their preference.

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

Q: What's the minimum score in a category?
A: Assuming an entry is legal, the minimum score in any category is 1. If a judge is convinced that an entry is mechanically illegal by the RAW, the judge may give the build a score of 0 in Elegance, and proceed to judge the entry as if the offending material was not included. Failing to meet a special requirement for a prestige class does not merit a 0, but may qualify for a penalty, at the judge's discretion. Because this contest focuses on Player Characters, an entry that is not technically allowed for a PC, but is viable as an NPC, counts as a legal entry, but may receive a minimum score at the judges' discretion.

Q: Creatures and templates with no listed LA are playable, right?
A: No. No listed LA is equivalent to LA: -. It is not suitable for PCs. If you use it, expect judges to look extremely disfavourably on it.

Q: So what's the deal with equipment, anyway?
A: There is no official policy on how much equipment you should list. Historically, judges have frowned upon "item dependent" builds, but unfortunately the definition of that has been applied to mean anything from builds that don't function if you remove one very specific item, to builds that so much as mention a particular weapon. Builds that don't list gear should be assumed to buy useful generics - items to boost their primary stats, cloaks of resistance, appropriate magical weapons and armour, and so forth. If a build would find particular items useful, they should be listed, but experience suggests that the more generic you keep them, the more favourably judges are likely to look upon them, as a build being shut down because the Thundering Bagpipes of Urist McTrumpetbritches were unavailable is considered a weakness. Similarly, requiring items in order to be able to qualify for things tends to be frowned upon.

Q: Do you have any other rules and guidelines on how to judge?
A: We do, actually, designed to try and avoid unpleasantness we've encountered in past contests. The things we've come up with to avoid repeating this are given below.

One Mistake, One Penalty

Judges are only allowed to penalise once for a given mistake. If someone messes up their skills and doesn't qualify for a PrC, ding them as hard as you like. Once. In one category. You don't then get to declare that because they didn't qualify for that PrC, they don't get those levels, and thus don't qualify for anything else. If Ranger is a common ingredient, ding them for Originality. Once. Don't also take off points for Two-Weapon-Fighting being a common ingredient.

Non-exhaustive list of examples:

Skills

Allowed:

Giving a penalty for miscalculating the number of skill points gained
Giving a penalty for not having enough ranks to meet a prerequisite
Increasing the harshness of a skill miscalculation penalty if it affects critical skills including prereqs


Not allowed:

Giving separate penalties for miscalculating skill points and for non-qualification where the non-qualification is solely caused by the miscalculation



Prereqs

Allowed:

Giving a penalty for not meeting prereqs
Scaling the penalty depending on how important the item that the build failed to qualify for is
Giving minimum score in UotSI for not qualifying for the SI
(Trial, may be disallowed later)Not giving credit for (note: not the same as penalising for) tactics using feats or classes other than the SI that were not qualified for (but see below)


Not Allowed:

"Cascading" failures to qualify - declaring that because a build doesn't qualify for a feat, for example, it also doesn't qualify for anything using that feat as a prereq
Treating a build as having fewer levels than it does because of FtQ for classes



Other general things that are no longer allowed:

Penalising because someone has chosen to build a tribute to an existing creative work
Deciding that a backstory has not met a fluff prerequisite well enough, or because its method of meeting it is "unrealistic". You may penalise if a fluff prereq is not addressed at all, but not for how well it is addressed.


Note that these are protections, not licenses. Deliberately taking a feat that you know you don't qualify for hoping to just suck up the judging penalty for a feat that you couldn't normally take is not okay, and may lead to your build being disqualified.

Q: Do you have any contest house rules or clarifications to ambiguous rules?
A: Some that have come up in previous contests and needed answers to:

All creatures are proficient with any natural weapons they may have or acquire.
Bonus feats that are granted even if you do not meet the prerequisites do not require you to meet the prerequisites in order to use.
Able Learner's benefit applies to the level you take it.

[Korahir]

So insane skydiving dwarves? :D let's see if I find enough time to hit the books and find something interesting. I like this class.

[Amphetryon]

Build stub is already done. :smallbiggrin:

[WhamBamSam]

I posted these questions in the other thread, but now that this round is up they may as well just go here.

1. As it references Flyby Attack, I take it Skyhook uses both the Hippogriff's move and standard actions?
2. During a Skyhook, when is the Skyguard considered mounted again? If the Hippogriff provokes an AoO as it flies away after picking up the Skyguard, can the Skyguard use his Mounted Combat feat against that AoO, or is he not mounted until the end of the move?
3. Does Glide For Distance apply to Drogue Wing deployments for Axes From the Sky/Drogue Charge? If so, does it take a separate move action (which Drogue Charge generally wouldn't allow for), or do we just control where we land as part of the standard/full-round action of the feature in question?
4. Am I correct in thinking that Skyguard Catapult is a full-round action for both mount and rider?

[Piggy Knowles]

Adding to WhamBamSam's questions, I have a few of my own...

1. When using Axes from the Sky, is the skyguard considered mounted when he makes his attack? Will he be able to apply modifiers from mounted combat during that charge?

2. And again with Axes from the Sky, the skyguard must deploy his drogue wing to perform the maneuver. According to the equipment section of the book, the drogue wing is 15 feet wide when unfurled, requires 20 feet of falling distance to arrest a fall and requires at least 50 feet in diamater of "unrestricted gliding room."

--2a. What qualifies as "unrestricted gliding room" for these purposes? Would a crowded battlefield full of aerial combatants but no other physical obstacles qualify? What about a wide hall with regularly spaced pillars?

--2b. If any of the conditions for use of the drogue wing are not met, does that mean that the Axes from the Sky attack fails? Or does deploying it for use in the Axes from the Sky maneuver not require these conditions to be met? What happens if conditions change during your attack?

--2c. According to Axes from the Sky, the drogue wing is deployed "just before attacking." Does this mean that the attack must occur before the skyguard falls the requisite 20 feet (see above)? Or is the intent that he falls from a greater height, deploys the drogue wing to arrest his fall on the way down, and attack an enemy that is on the ground?

[Venger]

You told us what was coming, and yes still I'm somehow shocked. Some part of me just didn't want to believe this class was a possibility. Well done.


I posted these questions in the other thread, but now that this round is up they may as well just go here.

1. As it references Flyby Attack, I take it Skyhook uses both the Hippogriff's move and standard actions?
2. During a Skyhook, when is the Skyguard considered mounted again? If the Hippogriff provokes an AoO as it flies away after picking up the Skyguard, can the Skyguard use his Mounted Combat feat against that AoO, or is he not mounted until the end of the move?
3. Does Glide For Distance apply to Drogue Wing deployments for Axes From the Sky/Drogue Charge? If so, does it take a separate move action (which Drogue Charge generally wouldn't allow for), or do we just control where we land as part of the standard/full-round action of the feature in question?
4. Am I correct in thinking that Skyguard Catapult is a full-round action for both mount and rider?


Adding to WhamBamSam's questions, I have a few of my own...

1. When using Axes from the Sky, is the skyguard considered mounted when he makes his attack? Will he be able to apply modifiers from mounted combat during that charge?

2. And again with Axes from the Sky, the skyguard must deploy his drogue wing to perform the maneuver. According to the equipment section of the book, the drogue wing is 15 feet wide when unfurled, requires 20 feet of falling distance to arrest a fall and requires at least 50 feet in diamater of "unrestricted gliding room."

--2a. What qualifies as "unrestricted gliding room" for these purposes? Would a crowded battlefield full of aerial combatants but no other physical obstacles qualify? What about a wide hall with regularly spaced pillars?

--2b. If any of the conditions for use of the drogue wing are not met, does that mean that the Axes from the Sky attack fails? Or does deploying it for use in the Axes from the Sky maneuver not require these conditions to be met? What happens if conditions change during your attack?

--2c. According to Axes from the Sky, the drogue wing is deployed "just before attacking." Does this mean that the attack must occur before the skyguard falls the requisite 20 feet (see above)? Or is the intent that he falls from a greater height, deploys the drogue wing to arrest his fall on the way down, and attack an enemy that is on the ground?

http://2static2.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/5565614+_0b326a2f9698dc52649ee62eb323968e.jpg

4. Does the +1 bonus on attack rolls stack with the higher ground bonus, or is this just restating the higher ground bonus?
5. Does entering the class grant us all a pet hippogriff?
6. Is the steed's damage reduction understood to now be dr 5/magic?
7. Does glide for distance apply to skyguard catapult? Meaning if you fall from some given height, are you allowed to move 15 feet horizontally for every 5 you fall in addition to the 50 you get from skyguard catapult, or does using skyguard catapult cap you at 50 and block you from using glide for distance?

[The Viscount]

The class requires gold dwarf, and Races of Faerun discusses culture but it doesn't seem to have different stats. Do we just use the standard hill dwarf set?

[WhamBamSam]

The class requires gold dwarf, and Races of Faerun discusses culture but it doesn't seem to have different stats. Do we just use the standard hill dwarf set?Gold Dwarves are statted somewhere or other. They have +2 Con -2 Dex and some other minor changes relative to Hill Dwarves.

[Venger]

The class requires gold dwarf, and Races of Faerun discusses culture but it doesn't seem to have different stats. Do we just use the standard hill dwarf set?


Gold Dwarves are statted somewhere or other. They have +2 Con -2 Dex and some other minor changes relative to Hill Dwarves.

Races of Faerun doesn't have any stats.

Gold dwarves are hidden away on page 171 of the dmg. those are indeed the ability adjustments, and they have a +1 racial bonus against aberrations instead of orc and goblins. they are otherwise identical to hill dwarves.

[Thurbane]

Another FR ingredient? *sigh* Well, better than Eberron I guess.

I find that FR stuff often has pointless regional or racial requirements.

What are the rules on presenting a setting neutral/Greyhawk "variant" of the entry?

[Sian]

The class requires gold dwarf, and Races of Faerun discusses culture but it doesn't seem to have different stats. Do we just use the standard hill dwarf set?

IIRC, the reasoning for that is that the stats is presented in Forgotten Realms: Campaign Setting

[Venger]

Another FR ingredient? *sigh* Well, better than Eberron I guess.

I find that FR stuff often has pointless regional or racial requirements.

What are the rules on presenting a setting neutral/Greyhawk "variant" of the entry?
I find Eberron ingredients much less restrictive to work with fluffwise than fr. They seem to be a lot more prescriptive about your background in my experience.

Yeah it really does. Why is jumping on enemies something only gold dwarves can do?

[Sian]

Vizzini is strong as a giant on this one :smallcool:

[Troacctid]

Vizzini is strong as a giant on this one :smallcool:

Nooooo that means he has no reason to hire Fezzik anymore noooooo

[Venger]

Vizzini is strong as a giant on this one :smallcool:
It always is with racially restrictive ingredients.


Nooooo that means he has no reason to hire Fezzik anymore noooooo

He could probably use a pointer or two when it comes to wine. ..

[WhamBamSam]

I have a few ideas fomenting that I really like, but there are issues that need to be straightened out and as always fitting everything in will be something of a struggle. Also, naturally, some of it is incumbent on how the class actually works including but potentially not limited to the questions that have already been asked.

[KrimsonNekros]

*grumbles about stupid rules interfering with wonderfully cheesy ideas.*

[Thurbane]

I have a vague build in mind.

I may well enter...

[erok0809]

I'm gonna try to put something together, but I don't quite know where to go with it quite yet. We'll see.

[daremetoidareyo]

What are the rules on templates without LAs?

[Deadline]

What are the rules on templates without LAs?

Do you mean a listed LA of 0, or a listed LA of -?

[daremetoidareyo]

Do you mean a listed LA of 0, or a listed LA of -?

LA -, or no listed LA whatsoever.

[WhamBamSam]

What are the rules on templates without LAs?Judges are likely to look askance at the RAW cheese of a template with unlisted LA being LA+0 (though that is pretty clearly the RAW) and the FAQ has them alongside creatures with unlisted LA as unplayable. LA - is absolutely unplayable, RAW and RAI.

One more question re: how the hell this class works mechanically.

What happens to a Drogue Wing after it's been deployed and you've landed? Can it be dropped as a free action, or is taking it off more involved?

[PoeticDwarf]

I'm going to compete, 100% just for fun. I can't optimize in 3.5e and I don't know much from 3.5e. It just sounds as fun and I like doing this kinda stuff, I only know way more from 4e and 5e. I'm probably going to end last:smallredface:

Edit: Although I have a pretty cool idea, but I bet most of you have :D

[Zaq]

I mean, on the one hand, it's not Shining Blade of Halitosis.

On the other hand, Shining Blade of Hydrodynamics has clearer rules. And a clearer idea of what it does on Round 2 of a battle.

This is one of the most Faeruntastic PrCs I've ever seen. Faerun PrCs often have ridiculously specific requirements (GOLD dwarves only!), they have feat/skill prereqs that are only tangentially related to the class at hand, and most importantly, they clearly are designed for one specific NPC in some dev's game rather than being a package of abilities that a PC would want to explore and use in a game. It'd be hard to find a PrC that exemplifies that more than this one does. I mean, the feat/skill prereqs aren't totally bananas compared to some other PrCs, but this is obviously meant to be an NPC. One specific NPC, not just "this class is more suited for NPCs than for PCs." Some dev clearly wanted one specific gold dwarf to do a handful of skydiving attacks in one specific battle, and somehow that got turned into this mess.

I think what bothers me the most is how hard it is to use these abilities more than once. Once your drogue wing is deployed, you can't use anything else involving it until you repack it (unless you have a way of quick-swapping between them, and I dunno how much the judges will like that).

I have some questions about the mechanics, but I don't have time to word them as clearly as I would like to right now (and we've got quite enough pending questions anyway), so I'll have to come back to that in a bit. I have zero ideas for how to do anything unique with this class, but I've surprised myself before.

[Piggy Knowles]

LA -, or no listed LA whatsoever.

I haven't decided yet whether I'm judging or cooking (leaning toward judging at the moment but we'll see), but judges AT BEST look at classes with no listed LA with a very critical eye, and I personally consider them unplayable unless there is really compelling evidence to the contrary.

LA --, on the other hand, is unambiguously unplayable per the rules, and if I judge, I would without question penalize a build that utilized such a race/template.

[Thurbane]

It really depends on the template. If it's something along the line of Paragon CReature that doesn't have an LA entry, expect a hefty deduction for cheese++.

[Heliomance]

Apologies for the lack of response to rules questions. Work's been slightly manic lately, and when I get home I don't want to think. I'll tackle the rules questions over the long weekend - if necessary, I'll extend the cooking deadline a week to compensate for the uncertainty.

I will say off the top of my head that no, the class does not in any way grant you a hippogriff. You have to source your own. Or not bother, if you're feeling particularly brave - it's not like it's a prereq either.

[The Viscount]

LA -, or no listed LA whatsoever.

This one has been addressed (for this competition at least)

Q: Creatures and templates with no listed LA are playable, right?
A: No. No listed LA is equivalent to LA: -. It is not suitable for PCs. If you use it, expect judges to look extremely disfavourably on it.


It always is with racially restrictive ingredients.



He could probably use a pointer or two when it comes to wine. ..
Fortunately dwarf has a resistance on saves against poison.

[riccaru]

Apologies for the lack of response to rules questions. Work's been slightly manic lately, and when I get home I don't want to think. I'll tackle the rules questions over the long weekend - if necessary, I'll extend the cooking deadline a week to compensate for the uncertainty.

I will say off the top of my head that no, the class does not in any way grant you a hippogriff. You have to source your own. Or not bother, if you're feeling particularly brave - it's not like it's a prereq either.

If it dpesn't grant you a hippogriff then what does it refer to for the abilities which level up your hippogriff? Can you name yourself hippogriff and gain hit dice?

It also says you may only have 1 hippogriff so does it take away your ability to purchase others?

[Venger]

If it dpesn't grant you a hippogriff then what does it refer to for the abilities which level up your hippogriff? Can you name yourself hippogriff and gain hit dice?

It also says you may only have 1 hippogriff so does it take away your ability to purchase others?

that would probably be... frowned upon.

well, just getting in is now going to be an adventure. I can see some potentially contentious ways of getting these hippogriffs.

replacement hippogriff is a good question. could we get a clarification just in case our hippogriffs are killed by people who took levels in a good prestige class, that it means "one hippogriff at a time"

[WhamBamSam]

that would probably be... frowned upon.

well, just getting in is now going to be an adventure. I can see some potentially contentious ways of getting these hippogriffs.

replacement hippogriff is a good question. could we get a clarification just in case our hippogriffs are killed by people who took levels in a good prestige class, that it means "one hippogriff at a time"Note that what it actually says is that you can have only one hippogriff steed at a time, and says that in a feature called Hippogriff Steed. Nothing stops you from owning other hippogriffs.

By my reading, it means you can only have one special bonded hippogriff at a time. Said hippogriff is probably the only one that can be used for your Skyhook and Skyguard Catapult class features, and the only one that gets the bonuses from Hippogriff Steed. Since Axes From the Sky only says you jump out of the saddle, so you can presumably use any mount you please for that one. Should your extra special hippogriff die, you can choose/buy/whatever another previously less special hippogriff to train for a month's time after which it will gain the Hippogriff Steed bonuses and can perform the secret arts of picking you up off the ground and sending you plummeting to earth.

[Korahir]

Note that what it actually says is that you can have only one hippogriff steed at a time, and says that in a feature called Hippogriff Steed. Nothing stops you from owning other hippogriffs.

By my reading, it means you can only have one special bonded hippogriff at a time. Said hippogriff is probably the only one that can be used for your Skyhook and Skyguard Catapult class features, and the only one that gets the bonuses from Hippogriff Steed. Since Axes From the Sky only says you jump out of the saddle, so you can presumably use any mount you please for that one. Should your extra special hippogriff die, you can choose/buy/whatever another previously less special hippogriff to train for a month's time after which it will gain the Hippogriff Steed bonuses and can perform the secret arts of picking you up off the ground and sending you plummeting to earth.

I read it exactly the same way, so confirmation on this would help a lot.

[Amphetryon]

that would probably be... frowned upon.

well, just getting in is now going to be an adventure. I can see some potentially contentious ways of getting these hippogriffs.

replacement hippogriff is a good question. could we get a clarification just in case our hippogriffs are killed by people who took levels in a good prestige class, that it means "one hippogriff at a time" Does this mean you can see some ways of getting a hippogriff for this PrC that are not potentially contentious, given Heliomance's ruling?

[riccaru]

Also, would your hippogriff change size as it gains hit die from the class feature? The entry says 7-9HD makes a hippogriff huge

[PoeticDwarf]

Just asume you can get a Hippogrif from the time you have +5 handle animal or should you take some sort of other PrC or feat or something to get one?

[WhamBamSam]

Also, would your hippogriff change size as it gains hit die from the class feature? The entry says 7-9HD makes a hippogriff hugeNo. The feature explicitly says that the hippogriff remains large.

[Venger]

Does this mean you can see some ways of getting a hippogriff for this PrC that are not potentially contentious, given Heliomance's ruling?

Without getting speculative, yes.


Just asume you can get a Hippogrif from the time you have +5 handle animal or should you take some sort of other PrC or feat or something to get one?

That's certainly one option.

[Amphetryon]

Without getting speculative, yes.

I'm not sure which of us is seeing more 'potential' here, then.

[Heliomance]

I've extended the deadline a week, both because of the ongoing rules questions (ye gods, when was the last time we had this many?) and because I realised I'm not going to be around next weekend. I hope to respond to rules queries this afternoon.

[Vaz]

In tentatively to judge, time permitting. Thoroughly loath tgis class for all aforementioned reasons.

FYI, though. I will be looking at having the ability to source your Hippogriff in some way as being part of the elegance clause. If you cannot without 'handwavium', whether through backstories, or actual in game ability (whether through magical or mundane abilities'skills etc) expext a penalty. Please be more exciting than 'oh i got given it'.

[Piggy Knowles]

I also plan to judge, time permitting. That said, I take the opposite stance of Vaz regarding the hippogriff - I'm going to assume that as members of skyguards of the Great Rift, it's probably not going to be all that hard for you to lay your hands/paws/tentacled extremities on a hippogriff or two. But of course I'm only one judge...

[Darrin]

According to the MM, a young hippogriff costs 3000 GP, and training it costs an additional 1000 GP. By the time a PC qualifies for Great Rift Skyguard (ECL 5ish), this is reasonably within WBL.

I'm looked at the Drogue Wing before, but now that I'm looking at it again... what an odd item. 1 hour to fold and a 25% chance it's ruined after one use, but no information on how it's worn, how long to put on, can you carry/wear backups, and no rules on what happens if you don't have room to glide.

[Amphetryon]

In tentatively to judge, time permitting. Thoroughly loath tgis class for all aforementioned reasons.

FYI, though. I will be looking at having the ability to source your Hippogriff in some way as being part of the elegance clause. If you cannot without 'handwavium', whether through backstories, or actual in game ability (whether through magical or mundane abilities'skills etc) expext a penalty. Please be more exciting than 'oh i got given it'.

I am legitimately curious about how any method we describe for obtaining a Hippogriff will not butt heads with the 'handwavium' warning, while simultaneously recognizing that any more specificity on your part would potentially run afoul of our general policy against speculation.

[Zaq]

In tentatively to judge, time permitting. Thoroughly loath tgis class for all aforementioned reasons.

FYI, though. I will be looking at having the ability to source your Hippogriff in some way as being part of the elegance clause. If you cannot without 'handwavium', whether through backstories, or actual in game ability (whether through magical or mundane abilities'skills etc) expext a penalty. Please be more exciting than 'oh i got given it'.


I also plan to judge, time permitting. That said, I take the opposite stance of Vaz regarding the hippogriff - I'm going to assume that as members of skyguards of the Great Rift, it's probably not going to be all that hard for you to lay your hands/paws/tentacled extremities on a hippogriff or two. But of course I'm only one judge...


I am legitimately curious about how any method we describe for obtaining a Hippogriff will not butt heads with the 'handwavium' warning, while simultaneously recognizing that any more specificity on your part would potentially run afoul of our general policy against speculation.

With Leadership out of the picture, I can only think of three ways to be guaranteed access to a hippogriff (aside from buying one, like Darrin mentioned), and none of those methods are perfect (all have some semi-major flaws for the purposes of this class). I'm not at all convinced that any method I've thought of is going to actually be better than just buying one, though of course that might cause friction with some judges' expectations (especially because it's always dicey to need to rely on expenditure of gold to use abilities from the SI). Whatever happens, I hope we don't end up devolving into a shouting match about where all these dang hippogriffs (hippogrives?) came from.

Speaking of the hippogriff thing, look at this section from Hippogriff Steed I: "Because of the telepathic link, the skyguard has the same connection to an item or place that the hippogriff does, just as a master and his familiar." Um, what the hell does that mean? No, seriously. What does it mean? I genuinely have absolutely no idea what that sentence is referring to. What "connections to items or places" do hippogriffs have, and what does it mean that a GRS also has that connection? Since when do masters and familiars share "connections to items or places" like that?

[Douglas]

Speaking of the hippogriff thing, look at this section from Hippogriff Steed I: "Because of the telepathic link, the skyguard has the same connection to an item or place that the hippogriff does, just as a master and his familiar." Um, what the hell does that mean? No, seriously. What does it mean? I genuinely have absolutely no idea what that sentence is referring to. What "connections to items or places" do hippogriffs have, and what does it mean that a GRS also has that connection? Since when do masters and familiars share "connections to items or places" like that?
Teleport and Scrying have modifiers (chance of on target arrival, and a modifier on the will save respectively) that depend on how well the caster knows the destination/target. A wizard can use how well his familiar knows the destination/target instead if that would get better odds for those spells. That ability means that the hippogriff works the same way, for example letting the Skyguard use the "very familiar" (97% on target chance) line for teleporting to where the hippogriff grew up even if the Skyguard has never even seen it.

[Troacctid]

It shouldn't be an issue buying or training a hippogriff without a specific feat or class feature to do so, because we know there are already plenty of them flying around the Great Rift. There's a DC 25 Handle Animal check to train it, but that shouldn't be too difficult for most characters, since you're already putting ranks in Handle Animal to qualify for the class.

[Korahir]

I am pleasantly surprised that I found something for this ingredient. Let's see if I can flesh it out.

[Heliomance]

I posted these questions in the other thread, but now that this round is up they may as well just go here.

1. As it references Flyby Attack, I take it Skyhook uses both the Hippogriff's move and standard actions?
2. During a Skyhook, when is the Skyguard considered mounted again? If the Hippogriff provokes an AoO as it flies away after picking up the Skyguard, can the Skyguard use his Mounted Combat feat against that AoO, or is he not mounted until the end of the move?
3. Does Glide For Distance apply to Drogue Wing deployments for Axes From the Sky/Drogue Charge? If so, does it take a separate move action (which Drogue Charge generally wouldn't allow for), or do we just control where we land as part of the standard/full-round action of the feature in question?
4. Am I correct in thinking that Skyguard Catapult is a full-round action for both mount and rider?
1. This is correct, yes.
2. Uh... not sure what RAW is but I'll be nice and say you're considered mounted immediately.
3. On reading the abilities carefully, Glide for Distance says you can travel 15 feet horizontally for every 5 feet you fall. As Axes from the Sky involves deploying the wing just before impact, and Drogue Charge starts with you on the ground, in neither case do you fall five feet and thus Glide for Distance is irrelevant. That said, Drogue Charge sends you over the target regardless of the size of the target, so it might work if charging particularly big foes.


Adding to WhamBamSam's questions, I have a few of my own...

1. When using Axes from the Sky, is the skyguard considered mounted when he makes his attack? Will he be able to apply modifiers from mounted combat during that charge?

2. And again with Axes from the Sky, the skyguard must deploy his drogue wing to perform the maneuver. According to the equipment section of the book, the drogue wing is 15 feet wide when unfurled, requires 20 feet of falling distance to arrest a fall and requires at least 50 feet in diamater of "unrestricted gliding room."

--2a. What qualifies as "unrestricted gliding room" for these purposes? Would a crowded battlefield full of aerial combatants but no other physical obstacles qualify? What about a wide hall with regularly spaced pillars?

--2b. If any of the conditions for use of the drogue wing are not met, does that mean that the Axes from the Sky attack fails? Or does deploying it for use in the Axes from the Sky maneuver not require these conditions to be met? What happens if conditions change during your attack?

--2c. According to Axes from the Sky, the drogue wing is deployed "just before attacking." Does this mean that the attack must occur before the skyguard falls the requisite 20 feet (see above)? Or is the intent that he falls from a greater height, deploys the drogue wing to arrest his fall on the way down, and attack an enemy that is on the ground?
1. No, you have hurled yourself from the saddle like a lunatic. You are not mounted.
2a. I'll be merciful and say you can use it in an aerial battlefield because otherwise what even is the point? As for the pillars... I'll say it works so long as there is an unobstructed path at least 50 feet long that is at no point narrower than 15 feet. Curves would increase the width needed on an ad-hoc basis, because I can't imagine threading the needle with these things is easy.
2b. No, Axes from the Sky does not require these conditions to be met. It does, however, require you to be able to deploy the 15 foot wingspan.
2c. The Drogue wing is manually deployed, it does not deploy automatically on falling. It means you fall however far you like, then pull the ripcord right before impact.


You told us what was coming, and yes still I'm somehow shocked. Some part of me just didn't want to believe this class was a possibility. Well done.





http://2static2.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/5565614+_0b326a2f9698dc52649ee62eb323968e.jpg

4. Does the +1 bonus on attack rolls stack with the higher ground bonus, or is this just restating the higher ground bonus?
5. Does entering the class grant us all a pet hippogriff?
6. Is the steed's damage reduction understood to now be dr 5/magic?
7. Does glide for distance apply to skyguard catapult? Meaning if you fall from some given height, are you allowed to move 15 feet horizontally for every 5 you fall in addition to the 50 you get from skyguard catapult, or does using skyguard catapult cap you at 50 and block you from using glide for distance?


If it dpesn't grant you a hippogriff then what does it refer to for the abilities which level up your hippogriff? Can you name yourself hippogriff and gain hit dice?

It also says you may only have 1 hippogriff so does it take away your ability to purchase others?
4. The fact that it states higher ground makes me think it's just restating the higher ground bonus. Yes, it's just that crap.
5. No.
6. Yes, once you have the third Hippogriff Steed ability.
7. Skyguard Catapult doesn't involve you deploying the drogue wing (you lunatic). For this reason, Glide for Distance does not apply.

As for dead hippogriffs, you may only have one bonded hippogriff at once. You may have as many hippogriffs as you like, but only one gains the "benefits" of the class. If it dies, it takes a month to train another. I'm not seeing any restrictions on swapping them around if your steed doesn't die, however.

[WhamBamSam]

Thanks for answering all the questions Heliomance. Between that Glide For Distance ruling and Skyguard Catapult being Skyguard Catapult it's hard to see a good reason to take all 10 levels of this class. Most of the stubs I've come up with are better leaving after 2nd level.

One of my builds looks like it'll work out though. Just have to make a few final decisions.

[Zaq]

Thanks for answering all the questions Heliomance. Between that Glide For Distance ruling and Skyguard Catapult being Skyguard Catapult it's hard to see a good reason to take all 10 levels of this class. Most of the stubs I've come up with are better leaving after 2nd level.

One of my builds looks like it'll work out though. Just have to make a few final decisions.

An Iron Chef ingredient where the later abilities are in no way worth the opportunity cost? How unprecedented!

[Sian]

Bonus Mounted feat have this text: "Gain a feat of his choice with the Mounted Combat feat as a prerequisite"

Does this include Spirited Charge, which doesn't directly call out Mounted combat as a prerequisite, but for which the prerequisite (Ride-by Attack) have Mounted combat as a prerequisite?

[ATHATH]

Holy Mystra.

Dwarven Paratroopers?! Count me in.

Alas, uber-mount builds (based off of this class's Hypogriff) seem to be impossible, because every time you gain the Hypogriff Steed class feature, your Hypogriff's HD gets set to a fixed amount. This messes up Animal Companions and such, and is hard to get around (Being a special Hypogriff is abnormal (keeping you from making a Hypogriff special before you make it your Animal Companion), and making a Hypogriff special after you make it your Animal Companion will mess up its HD). Every time your mount dies (or you gain another level of the Hypogriff Steed class feature), you'll have to level up in a class that progresses the Animal Companion class feature to "update" its HD to be level relevant. Keep this in mind when you try to make builds that are playable at all levels.

[WhamBamSam]

Bonus Mounted feat have this text: "Gain a feat of his choice with the Mounted Combat feat as a prerequisite"

Does this include Spirited Charge, which doesn't directly call out Mounted combat as a prerequisite, but for which the prerequisite (Ride-by Attack) have Mounted combat as a prerequisite?I'd suspect no. You could conceivably qualify for it without ever taking Mounted Combat (I'm not sure if it's possible with the allowed materials, but a Martial Monk taking Ride-By Attack would be an example using Dragon Magazine). Spirited Charge doesn't work with any of the class feature charges anyway though.

This write up is turning out to be a lot of work, and it's looking like I'll probably be going back to change a few levels around in my table as well, which is always irksome, but I think I'm over the biggest hurdle. I'm pretty happy with the build though, and I've had a pretty fun second idea which I might try throwing together in the extra week.

[The Viscount]

Finally managed to whip my silly build into a workable shape. Now to carve out some cook time. Why did we want this again?

[Zaq]

I have an idea I kinda want to try, but it has approximately jack to do with Great Rift Skyguard. Not sure if this is the right round for it or if I should wait for a round where the SI has something to do with this idea. I mean, it's definitely not something that meshes well with the SI, but on the other hand, there's no guarantee that the next round or two will actually have anything to do with this idea either, and I don't want to end up forgetting it or talking myself out of it.

I'll see if I can kludge something together. It's a goofy idea for sure, though not necessarily the goofiest I've submitted recently.

[erok0809]

I don't think I'm going to be able to cook this round. Real Life is getting in the way, and also I can't seem to think of stuff that actually interests me about this class. Maybe next round.

[PoeticDwarf]

I'm almost done, my concept isn't surprising and STILL it took me hours of work. Don't think I'm going to compete again if it isn't holiday for me.

[Vaz]

In an effort to clarify my points over the Judgement of a penalty for not being able to source your Hippogriff, what the intention was in an effort to have more to it than the usual 'it was handed down to me' or 'it was given to me', or even 'i bought it'.

If you can make it a more interesting story than just some passing 'oh, and now I have A hippogriff because I'm a great rift skyguard'

If you've gone to the effort of using a more significant investment than 'just gold' (after all, you have 700K~ gold eventually) I'm going to award a bonus, or rather, not penalise. 1/144th of your gold resource is not enough.

You can get a bonus for a good backstory (Originality) but part of the class itself is the Hippogriff, even if it mechanically isn't overmuch, and it should have some focus somewhere. Not putting in the effort into the Elegance part of the class (that an integral part of the classes reason d'aitre) whether it is through skill ranks, feats, classes, or whatever significant means and part of your character creation is something that risks a penalty. If you are building it into a background story exclusively, I am hoping it is a good one.

A samurai who focuses on his magic sword as in the Anointed Knight, for example, is going to donate significant parts of his character background and build to the Weapon. The same should apply here.

Considering that there are numerous penalties i've seen scattered around include for not completing all Skill Ranks to 23, or multiple 'dips' being considered unelegant when building a character, having to rely on a DM to agree to giving you a Hippogriff because you want a hippogriff is a bit more unelegant.

If it wasn't such an integral and mandatory part of the Skyguard's purpose, and fluff, or even the SI, I wouldn't be so fussed; but it is.

That said, this is also a character creation 'competition' that has no prize outside of the kudos that a couple of dozen people scattered around the world usually have interest in making for a few weeks every month, but after then, nothing. That brief kudos is often quickly forgotten, and it shouldn't really effect your build, and you shouldn't be penalising your build for the sake of a judges view. Build what you want, i'll rate it.

You'll excuse me however of I'll save myself some paperwork and time by being uofront and honest in that I am looking for a hippogriff mount go be something more than some casual battle buddy called on every often.

Alternatively, turn it on its head. I will give bonuses to those people who put more investment into their Hippogriff and their reason for having him outside of "the class told me so". It is functionally the same thing after all.

[Piggy Knowles]

My thoughts are just the opposite: I have never penalized a melee character because she didn't adequately explain where she got her greatsword from other than "I bought it." I'm assuming due to the nature of the class, hippogriffs exist and are available. If you have a legal means to obtain a hippogriff, which includes purchase by cold hard cash, then as a judge I'm happy.

[Troacctid]

I'm with Piggy here. There's a listed price for hippogriffs, and they're established to be available in the region, so you should be able to buy a hippogriff egg for 2000 gp or a foal for 3000, just like you'd buy any other item, and then rear it with Handle Animal or pay a trainer 1000 gp to rear it for you.

Backstory can be used to explain the character's relationship with her beloved hippogriff, but I don't see why that would be any more necessary than e.g. explaining how a Shadowdancer first learned how to dance.

[PoeticDwarf]

I wish I'd put more thought in my build. It's finished and I put many hours of work in it but next to the (back)story it is just a normal decent build. Don't want that to be my first build. Next time I'll make something really cool but I won't compete sadly

[Thurbane]

I have two different ideas, not sure if I'll get a chance to submit one or not.

[Vaz]

The statement of my criteria is there. Like it or not, it is what I'm looking for. Build to it or not, it's your choice. It's not changing however.

Think on it that it's a particular magic item that's integral to your build. If you cannot make that item yourself, you have typically been penalised over and above being item dependent as well as being DM dependent. Here, unless you can make that backstory interesting enough, I'm looking for some mechanics that will let you have said Hippogriff. I can think of one way that EVERY character can manage at least, so It should be a good story to make those points.

See it as a bonus for meeting, rather than a penalty for not meeting if it suits you better.

[Amphetryon]

See it as a bonus for meeting, rather than a penalty for not meeting if it suits you better.
As you observed yourself, these two things are identical.

[Vaz]

As you observed yourself, these two things are identical.

But Blizzard* and World of Warcraft showed that the two have entirely different effects on people.

*They originally penalised people for playing too long with experience penalties. People got angry. So they rewrote the code, and sold it as getting a log in bonus each day for a duration to XP gaining. It was a miracle! No net difference to what people got, but gave Blizzard the kudos for playing only short stints and social responsibility or some such nonsense.

[Amphetryon]

But Blizzard* and World of Warcraft showed that the two have entirely different effects on people.

*They originally penalised people for playing too long with experience penalties. People got angry. So they rewrote the code, and sold it as getting a log in bonus each day for a duration to XP gaining. It was a miracle! No net difference to what people got, but gave Blizzard the kudos for playing only short stints and social responsibility or some such nonsense.

How nice for Blizzard.

[Vaz]

Oh sass. I bet that was cute back when you 12.

Lack of mechanical difference isn't the same as a Psychological difference.

[OMG PONIES]

Hmm, no sure I'll be able to cobble together a build by the deadline. I may be able to judge, but I'll have to see what time I can find for it. My position on hippogriff acquisition will remain a Super Secret For British Eyes Only Ultra Top Mystery until such a time as I figure out if I care about it.

[Amphetryon]

Yeah. Good luck, contestants.

[Darrin]

Submitted. Although I think I still have time to send in about a dozen or so last-minute revisions... ugh. I think I prefer it to when I procrastinate up to the last minute. It doesn't give me any time to second-guess myself and worry about stupid mistakes.

Is it too late to get into a rules hullabaloo about falling object damage? There's two ways to calculate it: DMG or Rules Compendium. I wasn't sure if the Chair had expressed a preference.

[Troacctid]

Rules Compendium takes precedence in games that use it. Granted, not every game uses it, but considering that it is an allowed source for this contest, I'd expect a build that relies on it not being used to be considered less elegant than a build that is compatible with it.

[Darrin]

Rules Compendium takes precedence in games that use it. Granted, not every game uses it, but considering that it is an allowed source for this contest, I'd expect a build that relies on it not being used to be considered less elegant than a build that is compatible with it.

There's an argument about precedence when you consider the core books have been reprinted after the Rules Compendium without some of the changes. But the only person insisting on that argument hasn't been posting.

Ok, well, this isn't covered well by either the DMG or Rules Compendium: does a creature always fall a maximum of 150' on the first round, or can they fall farther if accelrated, by... oh, let's say an extremely enthusiastic hippogriff?

[WhamBamSam]

Build submitted. That's the most work I can remember putting into an Iron Chef entry. Really hope it ends up doing well, it's one of those builds that I could see landing at either extreme. I might try to throw together an entry for my second idea as well, as it can probably be completed a lot more quickly.

EDIT: Woo! Got the second build in. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else came up with for this SI.

[Heliomance]

Here come the builds here come the builds!

[Heliomance]

Number 1 (sorry, no witty commentary this month)


Vultag Thunderkeg

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--_83XFIi2--/qwsmbxqlpnt22oodv8pg.jpg

Race: Gold Dwarf
Build Stub: Sim.Barbarian 1/Cob.Monk 2/Cl.Cleric 1/Fighter 1/Great Rift Skyguard 2/Drunken Master 2/Artificer 3/Great Rift Skyguard +8
Multiclass Penalty: Yes (13th-20th, add Otyugh Hole + Dragonslayer 1 instead of Artificer 3 to avoid).
Languages: Common, Riftspeak (Dwarven), Undercommon, Auran
Alignment: LN
Ability Scores:


Ability
Score
Racial
Points
4th
8th
12th
16th
20th


Strength
16

10
17
18
19
20



Dexterity
10
-2
4







Constitution
16
+2
6







Intelligence
14

6







Wisdom
12

4




13


Charisma
10

2









Vultag was praying in the temple when the news arrived. Runemaster Gwillar appeared in one of the transepts and beckoned him over to a private alcove with stubby finger. Gwillar was always somber and stoic, but his chiseled face was even more stonelike than usual. After a brief moment of grave silence, Gwillar shook himself, breaking the sharp lines of his face into a deep grimace.

"There is no easy way to say this," said Gwillar. "Sky pirates attacked four riftedge towers along the Silverskull Rim yesterday. Red Wizards looking for slaves. They were defeated, but there were heavy losses among the Skyguard. Your brother was one of the fallen."

Vultag could not feel his legs, his arms. He tried to speak, but it took a moment to get his mouth to work. He was able to stammer, "But... the b... the body... my mother! She ... she could pay..."

Gwillar barely shook his head, but the slight motion carried a mountain's weight of irrefutable finality. "His body could not be recovered. I am sorry, Vultag."

Cold, so cold inside. Vultag's muscles were still numb, still refusing to move. He should hit something, very hard, or burn something. Not now, maybe later. He searched his body, looking for anger, vengeance, rage... it wasn't there. Not yet. But it would come, and there would be time for smashing, burning, and raging. For right now... "I need to see my mother."

Gwillar nodded. "Go."

Underhome was always crowded and loud, but now even more so. The Deep Lords had called their shieldbearers, and the caverns echoed not only with hammer and anvil, but now with the sound of marching boots, armor plates clapping on chainmail, and hammers banging on shields. War was in the rocks, and you could feel it through your boots, vibrating along the tunnels. The merchants were also louder: armies needed provisions, gear, and weapons. If you weren't going with the flow of traffic, then the tunnels were effectively blocked by the overburdened pack lizards, plodding along shoulder-to-shoulder, dragging wagons behind them that barely cleared the tunnel roofs. The Thunderkeg warehouses were no different: wagons and packlizards everywhere, merchants shouting at loaders and drivers to fit one more box, one more basket, one more barrel. Vultag expected to find his mother there, the loudest of all, but she wasn't. He checked the offices, but Master Yarrek told him she'd gone home.

The runelanterns were all dimmed but that's where he found her. Boggs, her personal secretary, showed him into her chamber.

The first thing she did was hug him, which suprised Vultag. After that, it was all business.

"You went to the warehouses?" she asked.

"Yes. Master Yarrek told me they are ahead of schedule, 32 wagons were going out today, 20 more tomorrow."

"Good, good. And the earthsilk shipment?"

"200 bolts arrived this morning."

And so on. Shipments. Deliveries. Suppliers. Purchase orders. Anything and everything to keep her busy, to keep her mind from thinking about what she'd lost. After several hours of this, she managed to exhaust herself. Suddenly sinking into a chair, she said, "Enough. Vultag. One last thing... I can't... not yet. Maybe in a few days. I need you to take care of something."

"Of course."

"Skycaptain Biro was here earlier. I... I couldn't. First your father, now your brother... I just couldn't."

Vultag nodded. His brother's things. "I'll take care of it."

The Skycaptain was happy to see him, or at least put up a good cheerful facade over the somber reserve of an old soldier. Biro asked, "How's your mother?"

"As well as can be expected. Keeping busy with work."

"Same as us lot. Got time to share a mug?"

"Does Moradin like hammers?"

Vultag spent the rest of the day, emptying mugs and swapping stories with the Skyguard. Maybe it was the alcohol, but that's where he felt the first spark... just an ember, but he could feel it. Burning. Anger. Vengeance. But not now. He had to get his brother's things and get back to his mother.

Biro showed him into the barracks. His brother's footlocker had already been packed up and was ready to go. "One last thing," Biro said, almost a whisper. "Guthook."

"The hippogriff? She survived?"

Biro nodded. "Almost lost an eye, but the Peacehammers managed to patch up the rest of her."

"Show me!"

Biro led him into the stables. Vultag almost lost a finger when he approached too quickly and Guthook snapped at him, but once the hippogriff recognized his scent, she lowered her head with an apologetic cluck.

"Will she take another rider?" asked Vultag.

Brio shrugged. "Haven't tried yet."

Vultag ran his fingers along the hippogriff's neck, and felt that ember flicker, a little brighter. "You have someone to feed her, exercise her?"

Biro laid a hand on Vultag's shoulder. "So long as a single stone of this riftedge tower is left standing, a Thunderkeg will be welcome here."

The ember flared into a geyser of hot flame, but it also felt like a white-hot axe splitting him in half. "I can't... my mother. First my father, now my brother... it would destroy her."

Biro nodded. "I know. But it had to be said. We all do our duty, in our own way, be it with axe, prayerbook, or abacus."

For the next tenday, Vultag helped his mother with the warehouse, running messages to Master Yarrek, helping with the loading, pitching in whenever they needed another pair of hands. Having a priest of Vergadain on hand was also useful: contracts could always use another blessing, a joke from the Laughing God to put a client at ease, a quick divination on a new business venture. When his mother was finally tired enough to sleep, he'd sneak off to the stables to feed Guthook, rub down her feathers, and make sure she got enough exercise. The fire inside him was still there, cutting him in half, but Vultag discovered that his racial disposition to consume large quantities of alcohol was surprisingly effective in keeping that fire dampened. His mother was so busy with work, she didn't notice, as always.

However, Boggs did notice, as always, and that was about the same as his mother noticing.

One morning, as Vultag reported for duty, he found his mother sunken into her chair, already cradling a half-empty bottle of firewine. "Is it true?" she demanded. "You've been to the stables?"

Vultag nodded. "To feed Guthook. She needs grooming, exercise."

"The Skyguard can do that well enough. Do you need riding spurs to feed a hippogriff? A drogue wing?"

Vultag looked at his feet and said nothing.

"Oh Vultag... you were the dutiful son. Two sons, one for his Skyguard, one for the Laughing God. That's the deal I made with your father. Have I lost you as well?"

"No, mother. I am sworn to Vergadain, the Lord of Coins. I am honored to bring the fortune and blessings of the Merchant King to our family. I live to serve the Laughing God."

"This is not a question of duty. I am asking about desire. Do you want this?"

Vultag could feel the fire inside tearing him in half. He was sworn to Vergadain, but he could feel the fire growing stronger every day. Loyalty, duty, and honor were his entire life, his entire purpose, his entire being. His brother went to the Skyguard, he went to the church. That was the deal. He had accepted it, lived with it. But now... his father and brother were dead. He had Thunderkeg blood flowing in his veins. And the Thunderkegs had always been Skyguards.

He lifted his head and stared his mother in the eye. "I want to dive onto our enemies and cleave their skulls with my axe. I want to wash my hands in their blood. I want the Red Wizards to look up into the sky with fear in their eyes. When my shadow falls on them, I want them to run in terror. I can feel it burning inside me. It's in my blood."

There was a flash of a smile that tugged at his mother's lips, so quick that Vultag almost missed it. Then he saw tears in her eyes, like squeezing water from a stone, he couldn't quite believe it. She said, "It's your father's blood. And as he liked to say, there's always a Thunderkeg in the Skyguard. If this is what you want, then so be it."

Vultag wasn't quite sure if he was still in the real world or had fallen into some nightmarish dream. "But... the church! Runemaster Gwillar..."

"Will no doubt be quite satisfied if I make a large donation to the church. Don't get all mawkish with me, or I'll change my mind! Now, give me a hug and then go see Biro. I imagine there's quite a bit of training you need to catch up on."

His mother must have already spoken to Biro, because when Vultag got to the riftedge tower, Guthook was already saddled and waiting.





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


1st
Simple Barbarian 1
+1
+2
+0
+0
Bluff 2(cc), Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Ride 4, Know:Local 1(cc), Know:Nature 1(cc), Tumble 2(cc)
Power Attack
Favored Enemy: Aberrations, Pounce (Spirit Lion Totem)


2nd
Cobra Strike Monk 1
+1
+4
+2
+2
Bluff 2, Handle Animal 4, Jump 5(+1), Ride 4, Know:Arcana 2(+2), Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Tumble 5(+3)
Dodge
Flurry of Blows, AC Bonus, Unarmed Strike


3rd
Cobra Strike Monk 2
+2
+5
+3
+3
Bluff 2, Handle Animal 4, Jump 6(+1), Ride 4, Know:Arcana 5(+3), Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Religion 1(+1), Tumble 6(+1)
Mobility, Toughness
Evasion


4th
Cloistered Cleric 1
+2
+5
+5
+3
Bluff 2, Diplomacy 4(+4), Handle Animal 4, Jump 6, Ride 5(+2cc), Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1(+1), Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1(+1), Know:Religion 1, Tumble 5
Great Fortitude, Knowledge Devotion (Dungeoneering), Trickery Devotion
Turn Undead (3/day), Deity: Vergadain (Dwarf, Trickery, Knowledge)


5th
Fighter 1
+3
+7
+3
+3
Bluff 2, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 5(+1), Jump 6, Ride 8(+3), Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Tumble 6
Mounted Combat



6th
Great Rift Skyguard 1
+4
+9
+5
+3
Bluff 2, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 6(+1), Jump 8(+2), Ride 9(+1), Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Tumble 6
Roofwalker
Axes From the Sky


7th
Great Rift Skyguard 2
+5
+10
+6
+3
Bluff 2, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 7(+1), Jump 10(+2), Ride 10(+1), Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Tumble 6

Hippogriff Steed I, Skyhook


8th
Drunken Master 1
+5
+12
+8
+3
Balance 5(+5), Bluff 2, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 7, Jump 10, Ride 10, Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Tumble 7(+1)

Drink Like a Demon, Improvised Weapons


9th
Drunken Master 2
+6
+13
+9
+3
Balance 5, Bluff 5(+3), Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 7, Jump 10, Ride 10, Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Tumble 10(+3)
Roof-Jumper
Stagger


10th
Artificer 1
+6
+13
+9
+5
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 7, Jump 10, Ride 10, Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1(+1), Tumble 10, UMD 5(+5)
Scribe Scroll
Artificer Knowledge, Artisan Bonus, Disable Trap, Item Creation


11th
Artificer 2
+7
+13
+9
+6
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 7, Jump 10, Ride 10, Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 10, UMD 11(+6)
Brew Potion



12th
Artificer 3
+8
+14
+10
+6
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 7, Jump 10, Ride 10, Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 10, UMD 15(+4), Skill Trick: Collector of Stories 2(+2)
Craft Wondrous Item, Improved Bull Rush



13th
Great Rift Skyguard 3
+9
+14
+10
+7
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 8(+1), Jump 11(+1), Ride 10, Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 11(+2cc), UMD 15, Skill Trick: Collector of Stories 2
Ride-By Attack
Bonus Mounted Combat Feat


14th
Great Rift Skyguard 4
+10
+15
+11
+7
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, [B]Handle Animal 9(+1), Jump 12(+1), Ride 10, Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 12(+2cc), UMD 15, Skill Trick: Collector of Stories 2

Fly-By Attack


15th
Great Rift Skyguard 5
+11
+15
+11
+7
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 10(+1), Jump 13(+1), Ride 10, Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 13(+2cc), UMD 15, Skill Trick: Collector of Stories 2
Shock Trooper
Hippogriff Steed II


16th
Great Rift Skyguard 6
+12
+16
+12
+8
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 10, Jump 14(+1), Ride 11(+1), Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 14(+2cc), UMD 15, Skill Trick: Collector of Stories 2

Drogue Charge


17th
Great Rift Skyguard 7
+13
+16
+12
+8
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 10, Jump 15(+1), Ride 12(+1), Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 15(+2cc), UMD 15, Skill Trick: Collector of Stories 2
Spirited Charge
Bonus Mounted Combat Feat


18th
Great Rift Skyguard 8
+14
+17
+13
+8
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 10, Jump 16(+1), Ride 13(+1), Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 16(+2cc), UMD 15, Skill Trick: Collector of Stories 2
Martial Study: Shadow Stride
Hippogriff Steed III


19th
Great Rift Skyguard 9
+15
+17
+13
+9
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 10, Jump 17(+1), Ride 14(+1), Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcradft 1, Tumble 17(+2cc), UMD 15, Skill Trick: Collector of Stories 2

Glide For Distance


20th
Great Rift Skyguard 10
+16
+18
+14
+9
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Handle Animal 10, Jump 18(+1), Ride 15(+1), Know:Arcana 5, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 1, Know:Religion 1, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 18(+2cc), UMD 15, Skill Trick: Collector of Stories 2

Skyguard Catapult





Cleric Spells per Day


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


4th
3
2+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-



Typical Cleric Spells Prepared
0lvl: create water, guidance, mending
1st: blade of blood (PHBII), bless, magic weapon{D}

Artificer Infusions per Day


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


10th
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


11th
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


12th
4
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-



Typical Artificer Infusions Prepared
1st: lesser armor enhancement, pending potion (Magic of Eberron), personal weapon augmentation, spell storing item
2nd: armor enhancement, swift ready (Forge of War)


Vultag starts as a Simple Barbarian, which trades Rage away for some Ranger abilities. I knew I wanted to focus on charging, so I needed to get Pounce into the build, and trading Fast Movement for Spirit Lion Totem was the easiest way to do that. But I also knew he'd need to be lawful for Monk/Drunken Master, and I didn't like the idea of an alignment change. Lawful barbarians lose rage, but if there was never any rage to begin with, why not just start lawful? I see this as Vultag's father grooming him for the Skyguard, training him in riding, animal handling, and martial weapons before making the agreement with his mother. Vultag turned out to not quite have the right temperament for a typical battlerager, and entered a monastery dedicated to Vergadain to please his mother. Favored Enemy: Aberrations dovetails nicely with the Gold Dwarf racial bonus against aberrations. After his father dies, Vultag's brother ably fulfills the family obligation to the Skyguard, and Vultag enters the clerical orders. When his brother dies, Vultag finds that his heart really belongs with the skyguard, and switches to Fighter to complete his mounted combat training.

In combat, Vultag plays mostly as a monk, but he can combine Pounce with Flurry of Blows. Power Attack isn't all that much help at this level, but it's there if he wants to two-hand a quarterstaff or greataxe. The Cloistered Cleric level brings in a little backup healing (wands of CLW/lesser vigor), and a few things that will pay off later: Great Fortitude from the Dwarf Domain, a little damage buff from Knowledge Devotion (picking up Knowledge: Dungeoneering as a class skill), and the Trickery Devotion for duplicate shenanigans. With the extra skill points, Vultag picks up the monster-based knowledge skills he's missing and some ranks in Diplomacy, which is there for two reasons: back up the party Face, and to negotiate with intelligent mounts (Skyguard hippogriffs start off with Int 2 but get smarter).



Vultag enters Great Rift Skyguard and can now combine Axes from the Sky with Pounce. He can also Flurry with a quarterstaff (gripped two-handed for Power Attack), but given his not-so-stellar BAB he may be better off sticking with a greataxe. Once he's on the ground, Voltag is kinda stuck just hitting things, which is a problem we'll address later, but for right now there are worse things he could do than tag-teaming his enemies with a hippogriff. Roofwalker represents his familiarity with growing up in the heavily-populated caverns of Underhome and with the broken terrain common around the Great Rift: he's adept at moving across rough surfaces and dealing with sudden changes in elevation.

Acquiring a Hippogriff: In his backstory, Vultag "inherits" a hippogriff from his brother. However, for practical reasons, you can also assume that Vultag just buys a young hippogriff and pays to have it trained. While this isn't the most elegant method to get a hippogriff, 4000 GP is only 30% of WBL at ECL 6. My original idea for this build involved taking a level of Beast Heart Adept to get a hippogriff as a monstrous companion, but I had to switch in Fighter 1 to pick up Mounted Combat.

After developing a telepathic link with a stronger hippogriff, Vultag reconnects with his old drinking buddies at the monastery, and after getting really good at being drunk, this helps him solve the problem of what to do once he's on the ground. Stagger lets him charge without moving in a straight line, so he can now charge in any direction, move around obstacles, and even loop back to his original target. This means he can charge + Pounce every single round. Drunken Master may also fix another problem for Vultag: quaffing a potion is normally a standard action, but if the potion contains alcohol, then Drink Like a Demon can reduce that to a move action. Since Axes from the Sky is a standard action, he can squeeze in a potion buff on the first round before he drops in on an enemy.

Speaking of dropping on an enemy from above... at the same time Vultag gets Stagger, Vultag also gets Roof-Jumper. Presumably the "Death from Above" option can be used to add extra damage to Axes from the Sky, +1d6 for every 10' Vultag falls after the first 10'. However, there are some rules issues with this, namely "You cannot use any ability to slow your fall (such as the monk's slow fall ability, or the feather fall spell) while attacking in this manner." By strict RAW, the drogue wing isn't an ability, it's a piece of equipment. However, there two problems with this argument: 1) "ability" is not an explicitly defined game term that only refers to class abilities, so it's entirely possible that equipment can give you abilities, and 2) it flies against basic common sense, as the drogue wing is deployed just before your attack and it must be slowing your fall because you don't take any falling damage. So unless the DM is going out of his way to be flexible on this point, it's probably not possible to combine Axes from the Sky with Roof-Jumper. On the other hand, this gives Vultag something else to do with Skyhook: he can dive down on the first round, get back up on his hippogriff, and then drop down again the old-fashioned way via "Death From Above", adding the Landing property to his armor (via infusion or otherwise) to negate the falling damage.

Now if he could only find a way to re-fold that drogue wing...



Vultag's interest in arcane magic takes him on a detour into Artificer as he looks for new ways to get the most out of his equipment. Yes, I know Artificer is an Eberron-only class, but the rune magic in FRCS doesn't quite do what I need it to do, and flavor-wise Artificer is very, very close to what the dwarves are supposed to be doing with rune magic anyway. At least, it made more sense than three levels of Assassin.

The first level of Artificer adds Scribe Scroll and 1st level infusions. Lesser armor enhancement gives him access to the Landing property (+4000 GP, MIC) and the Quickness property (+5000 GP, MIC), if he doesn't have them already. This allows him to ignore 60' of falling damage or increase his land speed by +5' (or +10' when charging). Personal weapon augmentation gives him access to the Valorous property (+1 enhancement, Unapproachable East) if he doesn't have it already. Pending potion allows him to delay a potion effect, and spell storing item may become more important later. The second level of Artificer adds Brew Potion, which helps fix the problem of finding a source for alcoholic potions. But it's the third level of Artificer that Vultag has been waiting for, which gives him access to swift ready (Forge of War p. 117). This solves his biggest problem with the drogue wing, and here's the relevant text:

"At any time before the spell expires, you can, as a swift action, cause the affected equipment to instantly appear on your body or in your grasp, as though you had taken the time to properly don and prepare it."

This infusion allows Vultag to refold his drogue wing as a swift action. He can now use Skyhook to climb back up on his hippogriff and drop down again with Axes from the Sky. He also has multiple ways to cast swift ready on his drogue wing: two 2nd level infusions per day (he can stack multiple castings on the same object), potions/oils of swift ready, spell storing item infusions, or by using wands. The sticking point here is the 1 minute casting time, which makes it difficult to cast during combat. However, Vultag now has Craft Wondrous Item, so he can create Glyph Seals (1000 GP, MIC) to activate swift ready as a free action, or he can create his own enchanted drogue wing with an unlimited use-activated swift ready. DMG Guidelines suggest this should cost about (2 x 3 x 2000) = 12000 GP, or possibly just 6000 GP because the duration is 24 hours (ok, that's probably a stretch). Oh, and something else he can use Craft Wondrous Item to create fairly cheaply: Feather Token: Tree for 20d6 falling object damage.

So, now that the drogue wing can be used repeatedly during the same combat, Vultag returns to Great Rift Skyguard. Ride-By Attack doesn't do all that much but helps us get Spirited Charge later. Fly-By Attack allows him to use Axes from the Sky + Pounce and then glide to a safer distance where his opponent can't full attack him, and after that Stagger allows him to move wherever he likes within 50'. If Vultag would rather return to the air, he can reset his drogue wing with a swift action, raise a dwarven buckler-axe over his head as a free action (using the rule in Complete Warrior to switch his racial weapon familiarity from the urgrosh to the buckler-axe), Guthook can grab him with Skyhook, and he's ready to drop down again with Axes from the Sky on the same round.



At this level, Vultag unlocks his "signature move": fake dive-bombing dwarves. The duplicates created by the Trickery Devotion gain a Strength score (one half of Vultag's) and can perform combat actions... such as Axes from the Sky! Round one, drop Fake Dwarf #1. Round two, Fake Dwarf #1 continues to charge + Stagger + Pounce from the ground, and Vultag trades in his three Turn Undeads for Fake Dwarf #2 to drop in from above. Round three, Vultag can drop down himself, or if he gets his hands on a Nightstick (7500 GP, Libris Mortis), send down Fake Dwarf #3. The half Strength score takes some of the sting out of the duplicates (Strength is 9ish at this level unless Vultag does a little Drinking Like a Demon), but if he can buff his Strength up to 26 (with items/infusions), then they can Power Attack for full BAB and Shock Trooper the attack penalty over to AC, and what do they care if they get hit?

Also at 15th level, Guthook improves with Hippogriff Steed II. In addition to higher Strength, Intelligence, and Natural Armor, her fly speed improves to 110' (good). At 7 Hit Dice, she also gains a feat, so she'll take Improved Flight (Races of the Wild) to improve her maneuverability to (perfect). After grabbing Vultag with Skyhook, this allows her to quickly climb to more interesting altitudes (that is, more damage from Roof-Jumper or falling objects). Wingover is now redundant, so check with your DM if you can retrain her feats, maybe swap Dodge/Wingover for Fly-By Attack/Great Fly-By Attack.



Vultag continues to finish off Great Rift Skyguard. Drogue Charge adds a little more variety to his charges on the ground. After re-folding his drogue wing, he can now hop over his opponent with an additional +1 attack bonus. At 17th, Spirited Charge adds another damage multiplier on a lance attack (on top of Power Attack and Valorous). At 18th, Vultag picks up Martial Study: Shadow Stride. This allows him to teleport back into the saddle as a move action after dropping down with Axes from the Sky if Guthook is still within 50', or skip the hippogriff entirely by teleporting 50' above his opponent and dropping down with Roof-Jumper. Also at 18th level, Guthook picks up SR 20, DR 5/magic, 9 Hit Dice, and another feat: Diving Charge (Races of the Wild). At 19th level, Glide for Distance allows Vultag to turn vertical falls (via Axes from the Sky, Jump Check, Shadow Stride) into triple the horizontal distance.

Finally, at level 20, Vultag can combine Skyguard Catapult with Roof-Jumper. Guthook has Str 21 and can carry 459 lbs as a light load, so assuming Vultag + equipment starts somewhere around 400 lbs (2d6 damage), a 90' fall (8d6 damage) plus Roof-Jumper (8d6 damage) works out to be 18d6 damage (63 average). Vultag can increase the damage by increasing Guthook's carrying capacity and adding more weight. This can be done with infusions or magic items, such as barding with the Easy Travel enhancement (MIC), Belt of Wide Earth (MIC), Bridle of Burden-Bearing (A&EG), etc. He can also increase the height of the drop, up to 150', which is supposedly the maximum distance a creature can fall in one round (DMG p. 20). It's not clear to me if this is a terminal velocity that can be exceeded by flying straight down (Guthook can double-move straight down up to 440'), but the text for Skyguard Catapult does say "falling any vertical distance", which would appear to include distances above 150'. However, for the sake of argument, if we assume a 150' drop, Vultag + equipment weighs about 400 lbs, and Vultag activates a pending potion of enlarge person on the way down, he does 16d6 damage by weight (400 x 8 = 3200 lbs), 14d6 damage by height, and 14d6 damage by Roof-Jumper for 44d6 damage total (154 average). If you go by the DMG, damage by height is capped at 20d6. If you go by the Rules Compendium, all falling damage is capped at 20d6, so 20d6 + 14d6 for Roof-Jumper would be 34d6 (119 average), which is still pretty decent. Vultag can ignore 90' of the fall via the Landing property + Roofwalker's "Graceful Drop" (Jump Check DC 15) + Tumble Check DC 15, and he takes half damage for the remaining 60', so about 10.5 damage on average. Too bad those Trickery Devotion duplicates don't weigh anything, although they can still get 14d6 damage from Roof-Jumper.

So, wrapping up the Secret Ingredient...

Axes from the Sky: Vultag and his duplicates use this frequently, over and over again if need be.

Hippogriff Steed I/II/III: Vultag doesn't do anything too fancy with his hippogriff, but it's an important part of his build, and the increases help keep his mount relevant in the mid/higher levels.

Skyhook: For most of his career, this is how Vultag gets back in the saddle, using a Dwarven Buckler Axe as his shield (swapping racial weapon familiarity via Complete Warrior). Once he's reset his drogue wing with swift ready, this allows him to drop down again with Axes from the Sky or Skyguard Catapult.

Bonus Mounted Combat Feats: Ride-By Attack is mostly redundant with Fly-By Attack, but Spirited Charge gives him something interesting to do while his duplicates are charging around on the ground, just before he drops down himself.

Fly-By Attack: This didn't really come up much in the build, but it's nice to have available until Spirited Charge comes online.

Drogue Charge: Somewhat overshadowed by Stagger, but it can be done more than once after resetting the drogue wing, and it's a good way to set up flanking with Vultag's allies/duplicates.

Glide for Distance: Vultag did not manage to pick up any Fast Movement or speed bonuses, so being able to move quickly around the battlefield helps with his mobility.

Skyguard Catapult: A bit of a rules headache, but loads of fun.



Cityscape: Roofwalker, Roof-Jumper
Complete Champion: Spirit Lion Totem, Knowledge Devotion, Trickery Devotion
Complete Scoundrel: Collector of Stories
Complete Warrior: Drunken Master, Shock Trooper, Dwarven Buckler Axe
Eberron Campaign Setting: Artificer, infusions
Forge of War: swift ready infusion
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting: Dwarf Domain
Magic of Eberron: pending potion infusion
Races of Faerun: Great Rift Skyguard, Drogue Wing
Races of the Wild: Improved Flight, Diving Charge
Tome of Battle: Martial Study, Shadow Stride
Unearthed Arcana: Simple Barbarian, Cloistered Cleric, Cobra Strike Monk



http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--_83XFIi2--/qwsmbxqlpnt22oodv8pg.jpg
DIVE!

[Heliomance]

Number 2, part 1


Ivarr Deathborn
CE Gold Dwarf Totemist 2/Battle Dancer 2/Death Master 3/Great Rift Skyguard 8/Horned Harbinger 5

Ability Scores32 Point Buy: 14 Str, 10 Dex, 12 Con, 12 Int, 8 Wis, 18 Cha
After Racial Adjustments: 14 Str, 8 Dex, 14 Con, 12 Int, 8 Wis, 18 Cha
All stat increases go into Cha
Build Table


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


1st
Totemist 1
+0
+2
+2
+0
Ride 4, Handle Animal 4, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Jump 2cc, Tumble 2cc
Azure Toughness
Wild Empathy, Illiteracy


2nd
Totemist 2
+1
+3
+3
+0
Ride 5, Handle Animal 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Perform (Dance) 1cc, Jump 2, Tumble 2
-
Totem Chakra Bind (+1 capacity)


3rd
Battle Dancer 1
+2
+5
+5
+2
Ride 5, Handle Animal 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Perform (Dance) 1, Jump 4, Tumble 5
Improved Unarmed StrikeB, Mounted Combat
AC Bonus, Unarmed Strike


4th
Battle Dancer 2
+3
+6
+6
+3
Ride 5.5cc, Handle Animal 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 4, Tumble 5
-
Dance of Reckless Bravery


5th
Death Master 1
+3
+6
+6
+5
Ride 6.5cc, Handle Animal 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 4, Tumble 5, Spellcraft 1
-
Rebuke Undead, Undead Minion


6th
Death Master 2
+4
+6
+6
+6
Ride 7.5cc, Handle Animal 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 6, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 4, Tumble 5, Spellcraft 1
Open Least Chakra (Hands)
-


7th
Death Master 3
+5
+7
+7
+6
Ride 8cc, Handle Animal 5, [b]Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 4, Tumble 5, Spellcraft 1
Feats
New Class Abilities


8th
Great Rift Skyguard 1
+6
+9
+9
+6
Ride 9, Handle Animal 6, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 5, Spellcraft 1
-
Axes From the Sky


9th
Great Rift Skyguard 2
+7
+10
+10
+6
Ride 10, Handle Animal 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 5, Spellcraft 1
Multiattack
Hippogriff Steed I, Skyhook


10th
Horned Harbinger 1
+7
+10
+10
+8
Ride 10, Handle Animal 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 6.5cc, Spellcraft 1
Death DevotionB
Bone Horns, Rebuke Undead, Death Domain


11th
Horned Harbinger 2
+8
+10
+10
+9
Ride 10, Handle Animal 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7cc, Spellcraft 1, Dismount Attack
-
Deathwatch, Animate Dead


12th
Great Rift Skyguard 3
+9
+10
+10
+10
Ride 13, Handle Animal 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7, Spellcraft 1, Dismount Attack
Mounted MobilityB, Power Attack
-


13th
Great Rift Skyguard 4
+10
+11
+11
+10
Ride 16, Handle Animal 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7, Spellcraft 1, Dismount Attack
-
Flyby Attack


14th
Great Rift Skyguard 5
+11
+11
+11
+10
Ride 17, Handle Animal 10, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7, Spellcraft 1, Dismount Attack
-
Hippogriff Steed II


15th
Great Rift Skyguard 6
+12
+12
+12
+11
Ride 18, Handle Animal 12, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7, Spellcraft 1, Dismount Attack
Divine Might
-


16th
Great Rift Skyguard 7
+13
+12
+12
+11
Ride 18, Handle Animal 15, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7, Spellcraft 1, Dismount Attack
Tremendous ChargeB
-


17th
Great Rift Skyguard 8
+14
+13
+13
+11
Ride 18, Handle Animal 18, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7, Spellcraft 1, Dismount Attack
-
Hippogriff Steed II


18th
Horned Harbinger 3
+15
+14
+14
+11
Ride 18, Handle Animal 18.5cc, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7, Spellcraft 1, Use Magic Device 1cc, Dismount Attack
Extra Turning[supB[/sup], Improved Multiattack
-


19th
Horned Harbinger 4
+16
+14
+14
+12
Ride 18, [b]Handle Animal 20cc, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7, Spellcraft 1, Use Magic Device 1, Dismount Attack
Extra TurningB
-


20th
Horned Harbinger 5
+16
+14
+14
+12
Ride 18, Handle Animal 21cc, Knowledge (The Planes) 9, Perform (Dance) 5, Jump 5, Tumble 7, Spellcraft 1, Use Magic Device 1, Dismount Attack
-
Captain of Undeath


Spellcasting and Meldshaping Spells per Day/Spells Known


Level
Soulmelds
Essentia
Chakra Binds


1st
2
2
0


2nd
3
3
1


6th
3
3
2


Spells per Day/Spells Known


Level
0lvl
1st
2nd


5th
3
1
-


6th
4
2
-


7th
4
2
1

*Does not take into account bonus spells for a high Int score.

Level 6“From death I am born anew. I gaze into the face of death and dance with the reaper upon the thread that dangles before oblivion. I dive headlong into the void and rise again with new life. From the Death-Womb I emerge, greater and mightier than before.”

My mother died before she could give birth to me, they say. You’ll sometimes hear of women dying in childbirth, but she fell a few weeks short even of that. They had to cut me out of the womb, and the clerics apparently had a real job of keeping me alive.

In the end I did survive and my father was finally able to bring me home. He made his living as a merchant and when I came of age I joined the business as a guard. I have a way with beasts and I was trained in the rituals of calling their spirits across the planes to join me in battle. Truth be told though; I’ll always be most pleased with the one that I found without even searching beyond the boundaries of the Great Rift itself. A mated pair of hippogriffs attacked the caravan and fought us to the bitter end, unwilling to allow us to continue along the road. We were able to slay them in the end, and seeing how viciously they had defended the area, it was guessed that their nest would be nearby. I was lucky enough to be the one to find the nest, and to do so just as the first of the eggs was hatching. A hatchling with red plumage and black hair emerged, gave me a quizzical look, and chirped expectantly. I took a bit of meat from my food bag, ground it up in a claw so it’d go down easier, then placed it into the mouth of the little hippogriff. “I’ll call you Myna,” I told her, stroking her neck feathers with one hand, as I signaled the others.

***

Not every incident on the road went quite so smoothly. A few months later, I had ridden Myna out to scout the area surrounding the desert road that led toward Dambrath, when a sandstorm struck, seemingly out of nowhere. Before we could even land, we were blown away by the stinging wind. For what felt like leagues the wind and sand buffeted us until Myna finally crashed to earth, crying out in pain. I was able to crawl from the saddle, but my leg had been crushed by the impact, and Myna had fared even worse. The wing she had landed on was bent at an unsightly angle, and her hind legs had been crumpled beneath her by the landing. Worse, the sandstorm still raging about us and what I could make out of the sun was setting. I had no idea if or when the others would find us, and the chill of the desert night was already creeping over the land. Myna was thrashing and shrieking and I reached out my hand to her neck to still her. As she quivered against me in fretful terror, I could feel my hand going numb, whether from the cold or horror at what I was about to do, but the beast spirit flowing through me did not falter. My claws closed down upon her neck and she slumped down into the sand. “Go to your ancestors. Join their spirits,” I whispered as another slash opened her belly. I retched at the smell and the prospect of seeking warmth and shelter in such a way, but there was no alternative. I crawled inside and shivered in revulsion until exhaustion finally overwhelmed me and I slipped into darkness.

I found myself standing before a terrible castle constructed of bones. A pair of enormous skeletal figures looked at me with fixed grins and gleaming eyes as they turned gears and the gates opened. Standing in the entrance hall was an dwarven woman pale as death, bright fangs glinting out from a beard streaked with stains of dark red. Her midriff was bare and her abdomen was scarred as if from some horrific gash. I stood transfixed as she seemed to glide across the floor of bones toward me and took me in her arms. About her neck she wore a pendant showing a laughing skull atop the head of a mace. She flashed her fanged smile again, sweeping me into a strange, wild dance. Through the halls and up the walls she led me. Past skeletons whose rattling bones seemed to play a rhythm that I couldn’t count but my feet followed all the same. Past rolling heads chanting the melody of some wordless dirge. Past ghosts and demons and monstrosities beyond my comprehension. Finally, we danced down along a thread of viscera that hung down into a seemingly endless chasm. When we reached the tip, she dipped me so that my blood-drenched beard was cast down over my eyes.

When I cleared the hair out of my eyes, she was gone, and I found myself prostrated before a massive throne of skulls. I dared not lift my eyes to see who sat upon the seat, and left my head pressed against the brow of a skull in the floor below me. From every direction, a cacophony of voices chanted to me in a tongue that I did not know that I understood. “Glory to the Prince of Demons, the Lord of Undeath,” they cried. “Eat of his body and drink of his blood and new life awaits you. Emerge from the Death-Womb and be born again, greater and more terrible than ever before.”

From out of the floor before me there rose a pillar of bones carved in the totemic likeness of a hippogriff and painted red and black by blood and offal. I had just enough time to muse that the hippogriff’s coloration looked like Myna’s, before the beast stepped down from the totem resolving into living flesh and blood, and I realized that it was indeed her. Trembling, I clambered onto her back, wrapped my arms about her neck and buried my face in her feathers as she took off towards a glimmer of what might have been daylight.

I awoke with a start of horror and clambered out of Myna’s corpse, spilling onto the ground now being heated by the first rays of the desert sun. Even with the sandstorm having subsided, I couldn’t see the road, and knowing that I wasn’t likely to go far on a broken leg, wondered if my desperate bid for survival and the night’s ordeal had all been for naught, when suddenly, I heard the sound of something rising up from the ground behind me. I turned to see Myna’s skeleton walking towards me, the bones broken the night before magically repaired. It stopped in front of me, and her skull nuzzled against my shoulder in the way her head had in life, before continuing on a few paces to dig at the sand with her claws. After a moment the digging stopped and her beak clicked almost happily. I dragged myself over to the spot and looked down to see a thin black tome that had been buried in the sand. On its cover in red ink was the skull-mace that I remembered from my dream. With trembling hands, I stowed the book away and hauled myself into the saddle.
Totemist is pretty front loaded, so even with stats that are less than ideal for the time being, Ivarr will manage alright. If not for multiclass penalties, I’d probably go Totemist 2/Death Master 3/Battle Dancer 1 through the first 6 levels and skip Battle Dancer 2 entirely, but such is life. At least it shores up your AC a bit. You’ll most likely use the Landshark Boots Totem Bind as your go-to offensive weapon until 6th level, unless full attacks with Unarmed Strikes and Girallon Arms are turning out to be very easy to come by. Once Ivarr's got his Hand Chakra open, he'll bind the Sphinx Claws there and the Girallon Arms to his Totem Chakra for a standard Totemist pouncer setup. Death Master’s Undead Minion ability says you can get any CR1 skeleton or zombie in place of the usual Wolf Skeleton or Troglodyte Zombie at the DM’s discretion. At 3HD, a Hippogriff Skeleton is CR1, so I made that choice for fluff reasons, though it’s hardly the end of the world from an optimization standpoint if the DM vetoes it.


Level 11I got some funny looks to say the least when I returned to the Rift covered in blood and gore on the back of an undead monstrosity, but they let it slide. I even found a cleric willing to fix my leg after some cajoling and a small donation to the church, though I couldn’t afford to have Myna resurrected. While I was waiting around in the church antechamber, I chatted up an old skyguard with his arm in a sling and his head wrapped in bandages partially covering what looked like a pretty nasty injury. A swollen purple bruise extended down from under the binding into his beard, but he seemed pretty jovial about the situation.

“Had to do a Skyguard Catapult,” he laughed, “and my damn cleric went ’n’ got himself killed so I had to fly all the way back here for a proper patchin’ up. Ye should see the other guy though. Flat as a pancake!”

From his description it sounded as though he’d been thrown out of his saddle in midair and landed on some brigand head-first. It didn’t exactly inspire a great deal of enthusiasm when he asked me if I’d like to join the skyguards, but after an hour or so of talking (it was a busy day at the church) and a bottle of brandy something convinced me to say yes.

***

The signal sounded and I ran forward pulling a shield from my back, lifting it aloft to glint in the sun. My new hippogriff grabbed hold of it and we spiraled up into the sky to overlook the battlefield. I singled out a hulking orc from among the brigands and let the shield slip from my arm leaping from the saddle after it. As the wind whipped at my face and the ground loomed ever closer I thought, as I often did, of that desert night. I thought of my desperate plunge into death in hope of survival, of the mad dance of horror in my dream, of that thin thread of death overhanging oblivion, and I thought that I was dancing down that thread again. I saw the face of death staring at me from the looming ground.

“Emerge from the Death-Womb and be born again, greater and more terrible than ever before.”[/]

My drogue wing unfurled and I let loose a barrage of claws and kicks upon the orc, who had noticed me dropping out of the air too late, perhaps distracted by the shield clattering to the ground a few feet away. He collapsed under the onslaught and as I landed in front of his dying form a pair of skeletons rushed up behind me to assist me out of my expended wing and into a new one, just before another bandit rushed forward to swing an axe at my head. I ducked under the blow and danced away laughing and lifted a second shield to my steed, plummeting down to strike elsewhere a moment later. I dove into death and rose again and again, while the brigands were not so fortunate.

The enemy scattered before the rout, and soon the mountain pass was empty but for the warriors of the Rift and the dead or dying. As I absently watched my skeletons set about the menial task of repacking the drogue wings I’d used during the fight, the old commander stepped forward and clapped a hand on my shoulder.

“Knew there was something special about you, boy!” He roared, raising a flask and taking a pull. “Moradin’s beard, but you fight like a mad demon, especially with all the dead followin’ ye around.” I managed a half-smile, but didn’t say anything. “Anyhow,” he continued, “looks as though the rabble were camped out near here. The big wigs want us to root around in the caves and see if we can find anything.”

***

The cave I was directed toward didn’t seem a likely candidate for shelter, even for desperate brigands. It was cold, damp, and generally unpleasant. Still, I made my way into its depths, with Myna’s skeleton trotting along behind me. After twenty yards or so comprised of a single winding passage, we came to a fork. I had all but resolved to take the left path, which looked more spacious and hospitable when the skeletal hippogriff suddenly shot down the right at a gallop. Following after in bewilderment, I stumbled over the rough cave floor until suddenly coming upon a wide chamber of smooth, worked stone. At the center was a pedestal about which Myna’s skeleton was pacing and upon which sat a silver circlet set with four horns of bone and a black diamond pulsing with sinister energy at its center. I stepped toward it in trepidation, reaching out a hand toward it. I hesitated, but Myka’s skeleton was nudging my arm toward the pedestal and at her insistence, I touched my hand to one of the horns. Of its own volition the crown turned so that the black gem faced directly at me and the light within it surged forth to fill the entire chamber. I staggered back only to feel a presence behind me, and whirling, met the gaze of the same fanged woman from my dream that desert night, except that the skull on her pendant was not now set at the head of a mace, but upon a black field at the center of an outline of vertebrae in the suggestion of a cowl. She led me through a dance over the floor, the walls and the ceiling of the chamber in some unfathomable pattern, before finally arriving back before the crown, where she handed me off into another pair of arms. I gazed up into the face of a hooded figure - a skull sprouting four horns just like those of the crown. He led me once around the room in a plodding waltz that might as well have been a funeral march, then spun me toward the center of the chamber where the pedestal stood. “All shall one day know the embrace of the Lord of Bones,” the vampire woman whispered in my ear, “but we send you back once more, having gazed into the face of death to spread the Reaper’s will upon the earth.” The cloaked figure drew a scythe seemingly from nowhere and slashed four times, each leaving no more than a small gash upon my brow, but searing with pain as horns of bone sprouted out of the cuts into the likeness of the crown.

I clutched my head and sank to my knees as the light faded and my dancing partners seemed to melt away. Rising to my feet, I looked toward the crown just in time to see it twinkle and then vanish into thin air.

[i]“Once more you dive into oblivion and once more you rise again. Each time you gaze into the face of death, be born once more out of its womb.”

With that, the cavern began to collapse around me.
Ivarr has entered the SI. With Make Whole, Desecrate, and Animate Dead as 2nd level Death Master spells, he can repair Drogue Wings that break and has a few skeleton lackeys who can save him actions by helping him out of a spent Drogue Wing and into a fresh one after an Axes From the Sky attack, as well as handle the tedious task of repacking Drogue Wings after a battle. Thanks to the Sphinx Claws Hand Chakra Bind, Ivarr can make a full attack with both his Unarmed Strikes and Girallon Arms claws on his Axes From the Sky attack, and as it’s only a standard action, he can take a move action to tumble 10ft activating a pair of Slippers of Battledancing before Skyhooking up into the saddle as a free action, so that he can to use his high Cha in place of Str on the attack and damage rolls (the bonus to damage then being doubled by Axes From the Sky). You’ll also use your move action to pull out a shield for Skyhook, since you’d rather not be wearing one most of the time so as to get Cha to AC from Battle Dancer. Ask your DM whether you need to actually be wearing the shield or just carrying it. If you only need to be carrying it, you can just drop it as a free action sometime after your Skyhook (perhaps off of your hippogriff to potentially deal some falling object damage), whereas if it has to actually be worn, you may need an extra skeleton or zombie to undo or cut the straps after your landing possibly adding a few extra things to the pile of Drogue Wings to be repaired with Make Whole. In any case, you’ll need a bunch of shields, light wooden ones if you can just drop them or bucklers if you need to keep the hand free to attack with on the charge itself, but you probably needn’t worry about splurging to make them Masterwork or anything fancy like that. The -1 ACP to Tumble is annoying due to how much we need to take it cross-class, but Ivarr will scrape the bonus he needs.

We duck out of Skyguard briefly after two levels to enter Horned Harbinger. This means shifting from worshipping Orcus to worshipping Myrkul, but Faiths and Pantheons says that most Horned Harbingers serve other evil gods before touching the Crown of Horns and that Clerics of other gods retain their abilities. I also believe there’s some connection between the two in Faerun anyway. Horned Harbinger grants an additional natural attack which deals double damage on a charge (so triple on an Axes From the Sky charge), the Death Domain (promptly traded away for Death Devotion, which I believe is also multiplied by Axes From the Sky, though it’ll only apply to one of your natural weapons, probably either Unarmed Strikes or Bone Horns), a constant Deathwatch effect, and a SLA (meaning no material components) Animate Dead with a CL that stacks with the CL from Death Master, and tacks on your Cha mod for good measure. With Horned Harbinger not offering many skills that we’re actually interested in, we drop a few points on the Dismount Attack skill trick, which lets him attack as if charging (and hence pounce) as a standard action after succeeding on a fast dismount from a mount that has moved at least 10 ft during the round, giving a nice 1/encounter backup if Ivarr can’t pull off an Axes From the Sky attack for whatever reason.


Level 15Blazing lights flared in the pits of Myna’s eyes. Stringy, tough skin and muscle appeared over her bones, and the black hair and red feathers that I remembered sprouted from the flesh. Myna stood before me, living once more, and yet still bearing the traces of undeath. I embraced her feathered neck and she rubbed against my horns, squawking happily.

“How was your visit with Grandma?” I asked jokingly. “Where did she take you this time?”

“Just the training grounds,” she chirped.

I grinned. If they’d sent Myna back on a fighting regimen, that meant that the rumors of war coming to the Great Rift were true and Myna wouldn’t need to spend another lunar cycle in the Death-Womb anytime soon. “Excellent. Well, you must be hungry after your trip, and it would be poor form to go into battle without making a sacrifice first.”

Myna nuzzled her newly feathered neck against mine, then padded over to the altar of skulls behind me, where a young dwarf whimpered and struggled in vain against his restraints. Her beak slid under the dwarf’s beard, clamping down to open his jugular. She slurped up the blood that issued forth, then paused briefly as I touched the corpse causing its bones to slide free from the flesh and ropes that had bound them. Myna watched the skeleton step down from the altar to kneel before me, then returned to consume the rest of the dwarf’s body.

***

We flew out to join the other skyguards, a host of the dead following along below, and I marveled as I often did at how little scrutiny I’d received. My horns were, I suppose, essentially hidden in plain sight. Why, after all, would they look out of place on a dwarf already sporting four glowing clawed arms. The undead raised more eyebrows, but as a Skyguard, there was a certain degree of eccentricity to be expected, and all but the most uptight clerics let it slide without comment. Just as well. Their time would come eventually, but I did intend to help them win their little war first.
Four more levels of Skyguard. Ivarr picks up Divine Might to get an extra Cha to damage (a separate flat bonus which is multiplied separately, meaning that he now deals 4*Cha on his Axes From the Sky attacks) as well as Drogue Charge as a backup plan if his hippogriff is too busy to do a Skyhook (see below), and pumps ranks into ride so that he now passes fast mount/dismount checks on a 1, making Dismount Attack a reliable option as well.

More importantly, with Great Rift Skyguard 5, we’ve reached Hippogriff Steed II, and with it, the signature trick of this build. Given that Great Rift Skyguard doesn’t actually give you a hippogriff, it got me thinking about various ways to obtain hippogriffs, and the sorts of hippogriffs that one could reliably acquire. This led me to a few rules questions which I sent along to our distinguished chairwoman.

Seeing as the Hippogriff Steed feature bonds you to a hippogriff you already had, is it possible to make a templated hippogriff (which is after all still a hippogriff) your special steed? Specifically, (since it's a type of hippogriff that's easier to ensure native access to), is a Hippogriff Zombie or Skeleton a valid choice of Hippogriff Steed?

Assuming yes, would they cease to be mindless as a result of the intelligence increase, and would that result in getting feats? Since the feature says that the steed is a magical beast, would their type change, and would this result in a change of FHD with all that entails? Would a Skeleton Hippogriff Steed gain the ability to fly at Hippogriff Steed II, when fly speed improves to 110 (good)?

On the opposite side of the coin if I have a regular hippogriff as a steed and I animate it after it dies, do the increased HD and non-Int numbers apply to the resulting undead?
Yes to all.There you have it. Designating an animated Hippogriff Skeleton as our Hippogriff Steed we give it its Magical Beast type and ability to fly back along with a set of feats. This is nice enough on its own, but with a little downtime it can get downright silly. If you’ve got a month free, you can kill your Hippogriff, leaving the corpse of a living creature (complete with physical stat adjustments from Hippogriff Steed any previous iterations of the zombie or skeleton templates you’ve applied to it), reanimate the corpse as a zombie or skeleton, then spend a month training it back into a Magical Beast Hippogriff Steed. Since you need your hippogriff not to have the Single Actions Only special quality, and you need to clear the -2 to Dex, you should always have an iteration of the Skeleton template after an iteration of the Zombie template, but with enough time, you can drive the Hippogriff’s Str and Dex as high as you like by repeatedly Magical Beast-izing, killing, and reanimating said hippogriff. Its HD will always be the number set by Hippogriff Steed, as the feature sets that to a specific number (so the doubling of HD from any application of the Zombie template will be nullified), but as Hippogriff Steed says it increases Str to its given value, it presumably won’t decrease it if the creature’s Str score already exceeds that number. You’ll also get the bonus HP from animating on desecrated ground with an altar at least once and possibly each time you do the rigamarole (ask your DM whether said HP falls under the rules regarding bonuses from the same source). In addition, each reanimation clears its preexisting feats, and each time it regains its sentience it regains feats, so it’s possible that you can re-choose the feats each time. If so, this opens up a number of possibilities for our Hippogriff friend, though admittedly not as many at 7HD as at 9. I’ve included different such feat setups in a separate section below.

Some DMs might say that killing a zombie or skeleton requires destroying the body so that it can’t be reanimated, even if it’s had its type changed back to Magical Beast. But once it becomes a Magical Beast it needs to do all the various things living creatures do, like eat and breathe. Thus, to avoid the need for overmuch DM adjudication and for the sake of fluff, I propose killing the hippogriff as follows. On the night of the new moon (a significant one to Orcus’ cult), Myna will take a sedative and step into the Death-Womb, which is a hollow compartment in the bloated gut of a statue of Orcus (with the horns of Myrkul sprouting from its head, natch) kept at the headquarters of Ivarr’s cult. The statue will then be sealed off so that Myna goes gently into the night without sustaining significant damage to the corpse she leaves behind, after which her body will be reanimated and then trained for a month to become a Hippogriff Steed (if your DM gets on your case about the body decomposing during this period, you’ve got Gentle Repose among your Death Master spells).
Level 20I was screaming towards the ground head first. My horns dug into the enemy’s neck and I tore and pounded at every inch of flesh I could reach, ending with a knee to the jaw as my drogue wing pulled me out of the dive at the last moment. Myna was shrieking a war cry and my skeletons scarcely had time to replace my wing before I had rushed off and used the new wing to lift myself up over the head of another victim tearing at him as I went. I took a sword cut across my arm, but ducked away from the blade, leapfrogging over the saddle of a zombified tiger to pounce on another enemy who had been hacking at it with an axe, feeling death course through me as I tore her limb from limb. I danced over the slaughter, around it, and through it. I kicked at the Death-Womb and was fed with the blood of my enemies. Newborn from the splendor of victory upon the fresh graveyard I delivered foe after foe to the embrace of the Reaper, and the dead were reborn alongside me, my brothers and sisters before the dead eyes of the Old Skull.

***

As the fog of war cleared from the battlefield I picked up a lance from one of the enemy’s fallen cavalry, and signaled to Myna. Overlooking my legion of the dead, we flew to meet with the old commander whose great grey hippogriff was hovering not far off.

“You’re a right terror, to be sure. Well done!”

I inclined my head at the compliment. “How are things on your end?”

He grimaced. “Lost a few. Hrothnar did a Skyguard Catapult and never came back up. Sihtric and Aelfwynn lost hippogriffs. Bunch o’ the newer lads got cut down.”

“Comes with the territory for a Skyguard. It’s our lot to stare into the face of death. They blinked.”

“You’re a morbid one. But I suppose you’re right… Say, what’s with the lance? Looks like one of theirs”

“That’s the idea.” Myna flapped her wings and rushed toward the commander’s hippogriff. I braced the lance against her shoulder to make use of the strength born of her many trips through the realms of death. The point pierced the commander’s heart before the weapon splintered into pieces before the force of the blow. “I couldn’t have a shard of one of our lances found lodged inside you.”

The blow had knocked him clear of the saddle, though Myna had ripped open the commander’s hippogriff as well a moment later. I watched him fall and, amusingly, land on a dwarf I hadn’t noticed on the ground, who had looked up from repacking his drogue wing to bear witness to the grizzly scene. The commander’s body landed on the upturned face, sending blood and debris flying.

I stroked Myna’s neck affectionately. “I guess Skyguard Catapult is good for something after all.”
We’ve picked up another Extra Turning and General of Undeath from Horned Harbinger and get Hippogriff Steed III from Great Rift Skyguard. We also pick up Drogue Charge, for situations where Myna’s actions are better spent on things besides Skyhook and have enough ranks in Ride to ensure success on a fast mount and/or dismount to set up a Dismount Attack or Axes From the Sky without needing to Skyhook for a standard action charge. Tremendous Charge is our second bonus Mounted Combat feat, and allows Ivarr an additional way to make use of Myna’s potentially obscene Str score. Other than that, it’s basically more of the same. The extra HD from Hippogriff Steed III open up a wider variety of options for Myna’s feats (see below), and we scrape the 4th iterative for the unarmed strike portion of Ivarr’s pounces.

[Heliomance]

Number 2, part 2


Hippogriff Feat SetupsWe’re already potentially dealing with arbitrarily high Str, Dex, and NA on our hippogriff, so for completeness’ sake, here’s a section dedicated to the things you can do if allowed to pick out feats for your hippogriff steed. While it’s somewhat true that any Great Rift Skyguard could use these options were they allowed to choose their hippogriff’s feats and had the downtime to keep training new ones, that gets expensive in non-reanimated hippogriffs (indeed it’s somewhat expensive for reanimated hippogriffs if you’re shelling out on Black Onyx for non-SLA Animate Dead). Additionally, the ability to improve the same body through repeated cycles through reanimation and returning the Magical Beast type with Hippogriff Steed gives Ivarr and Myna an added incentive to bother with this nonsense, and the fact that mindlessness from the Zombie and Skeleton templates clear a creature’s feats gives an argument for being able to customize all of the hippogriff’s feats when it gets them back, whereas a Hippogriff Steed made from a regular hippogriff might be stuck with Dodge and Wingover and only get to choose feats at 6 and 9 HD. It is, I suppose, possible that Myna could be stuck with the Improved Initiative feat after being a skeleton, but even so that would allow for a bit more freedom, and many of these setups do leave feat slots open.

To start off, here are some straightforward combat setups, assuming a relatively low-downtime campaign.

1: Dodge
3: Mobility
6: Elusive Target
9: Improved Flight

This is essentially a setup for optimizing around Skyhook. With this, Myna can create some chaos as she provokes AoOs in the process of picking him up. With the +8 total AC from Mobillity and Ivarr’s Mounted Mobility (to say nothing of her higher NA and Dex), making attacks miss to trip enemies via Cause Overreach is feasible, and if Ivarr is Skyhooking from a flanked position one of those attacks is a guaranteed miss which gets diverted into the other enemy by Diverting Defense, and Ivarr can attempt to force another miss with Mounted Combat (assuming his check can actually exceed her AC). This is essentially viable for any Hippogriff Steed though, with the only change being the possible need to forego Improved Flight and delay Mobility and Elusive Target due Wingover being locked into the 3rd level feat slot.

1: Willing Deformity
3: Martial Study (Leading the Attack)
6: Martial Stance (Leading the Charge)
9: Deformity (Madness)

This is in essence two separate pairs of feats that you might consider either or both of. Being a Magical Beast instead of an Undead allows for some useful tricks, but it also likely takes away undead immunities which would otherwise be helpful to self-preservation. Immunity to Mind-Affecting is perhaps the most glaring lapse, especially with only 1 Cha. Not being rendered catatonic by a single Ego Whip is a nice thing. Getting a hold of Leading the Charge is pretty straightforward. Ivarr is a charger (in particular a charger with a long attack routine and damage doubling) and commands an army of undead who are likely to do a fair bit of charging. Even at a low IL, Leading the Charge is a really nice thing to have. If you can get reliable access to Plane Shift and a Crown of the White Raven for White Raven Tactics (I suppose you could also use a Psychic Reformation or Dark Chaos shuffle), you can go even further into White Raven shenanigans with the following setup.

1: Education
3: Martial Study (Leading the Attack)
6: Martial Stance (Leading the Charge)
9: Planar Touchstone (Were Glade)

If you can keep the higher order condition charged, the Were Glade will turn Myna into a werewolf (wolfogriff?) with all the benefits that entails. In particular, that’ll include 2 Animal HD, which will drive her IL up to 5 and open up White Raven Tactics, which is pretty much the holy grail of things a sidekick pet could be doing. It’s also just potentially useful to have her take Planar Touchstone (Were Glade) on at least one set of feats that she assumes at some point if the Shapechanger subtype it leaves behind is ruled to be a subtype retained under the application of the Skeleton and Zombie templates, just to have an ace in the hole against baleful polymorph.

If you have a lot of downtime, and actually get away with NI Str and Dex, then the go-to setup is probably the following.

1: Willing Deformity
3: Flyby Attack
6: Great Flyby Attack
9: Deformity (Madness)

If Myna is allowed to go full ubermount, then Great Flyby Attacks are really the best use of her time. With effectively no limit on the number of targets beyond how many of them actually stand within reach of a 110 ft line and auto-kill attacks, she has better things to do than bother with Skyhooks. Ivarr can make a Zombie Dragon or something to give him a ride for his Axes From the Sky.

But hey, there are other things besides training dead hippogriffs that you might want to do with a lot of downtime. Crafting, for instance. Here are two stubs that allow Myna to help with just that (though you’ll still need most of the spells to be provided from somewhere. It’ll even allow you to skirt exp costs, since it’s not Ivarr himself doing the crafting.

1: Truespeak Training
3: Minor Utterance of the Evolving Mind
6: Crafting Feat
9: Open Feat

1: Open Feat
3: Fiendish Heritage
6: Fiendish Presence
9: Crafting Feat

Minor Utterance of the Evolving Mind and Fiendish Presence grant Myna a CL equal to her HD which can be used to qualify for Crafting feats. The first setup is largely better due to working at a lower level, but I like the flavor of the second a bit better given the build’s fluff (either with Myna turning out to have had a small trace of fiendish blood all along or with her blood taking on fiendish characteristics when regenerated after a trip into the Death-Womb). Potentially useful choices for the Open Feat include feats that grant class skills necessary or are themselves necessary for particular items (for example, if you can’t buy a pair of Slippers of Battledancing on the open market, Apprentice (Entertainer) would allow Myna to get the ranks in Perform (Dance) to be able to craft one), Martial Study for the purposes of making Crowns of the White Raven and the like (this is somewhat limited, but can be expanded if you can get access to things like Heroics and uses of Martial Scrips to springboard to maneuvers with harsher prereqs), and additional crafting feats.

Maybe there’s a spell that your party has decided they want access to. Maybe they don’t have that spell and can’t or won’t even get a scroll for whatever reason, but they do have Owl’s Wisdom, Plane Shift, and a month or two. Well, if this spell is 6th level or lower on some domain, they’re in luck. There’s a hippogriff setup for just that slightly implausible scenario.

1: Education
3: Open Feat
6: Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment)
9: Planar Touchstone (Were Glade)

With the Were Glade bumping Wis up to 12, and her HD up to the 11 necessary to cast 6th level spells with the Catalogues of Enlightenment higher order ability, she’s just a casting of Owl’s Wisdom away from being able to do so. If the spell is 1st or 2nd level you don’t even need Owl’s Wisdom. A friendly Bard with Inspire Greatness and a little more Wis boosting could even push this casting further allowing her to reach 7th level spells.

But yeah, floating feats are pretty cool. There’s a reason people like Chameleon 2 so much. Depending on the situation, there are probably more abilities you can patch together for Myna on a bit of notice. Unfortunately Incarnum is off the table as Myna won’t regain her Con score with her Magical Beast type but there are a lot of things that feat-o-mancy can accomplish if you dig deep enough.


Use of Secret IngredientDespite only taking 8 levels, I feel that Ivarr really wrings a lot out of Great Rift Skyguard.
Prereqs: Gold Dwarf is at least preferable over other Dwarf subraces for this build as it lacks a Cha penalty and the build is very Cha focused. Dwarf itself isn’t entirely desirable, but they do have a longer adulthood than the other PHB races, which is potentially useful on a build that can do so much with downtime but doesn’t have a native means to prevent aging. Azure Toughness is slightly more useful than regular Toughness and Mounted Combat is a nice way to help keep Myna or a ridable undead minion from dying (though Myna’s AC may eventually exceed what Ivarr can pull off with a Ride check). Ride and Handle Animal are kept relatively high. Ranks in Jump help early on when the Landshark Boots Totem Bind is Ivarr’s go-to means of attack, and the synergy bonus to Tumble checks helps him just scrape a +14 to Tumble for AoO avoidance with the help of a +2 Masterwork Item and the +5 competence bonus from his Slippers of Battledancing, even after the -1 ACP from using a non-masterwork shield for Skyhook.
Axes From the Sky: As it only uses a Standard Action, Axes From the Sky leaves Ivarr’s move action free to move 10 feet and activate his Slippers of Battledancing allowing him to use his massive Cha for his attack and damage rolls in place of Str. With Divine Might, he adds his Cha mod to damage again, for a grand total of 4x with the doubling of damage from Axes From the Sky. He also has pounce from the Sphinx Claws Hand Bind and a nice long natural attack routine to really lay into an enemy, including the Bone Horns from Horned Harbinger which add an extra damage doubling, for 3x damage on an Axes From the Sky charge. I believe you also can multiply negative levels from Death Devotion for further pain. If you don’t mind using Str on attack rolls and only getting Cha to damage from Divine Might, you can also use your free move action on Dance of Reckless Bravery to boost saves against fear for your living allies. Finally, you can repair any Drogue Wings that break as you have Make Whole as a Death Master spell, and your huge control cap for undead minions makes it easy to spare a few HD worth of skeletons to help you swap out your expended Drogue Wing for a fresh one upon landing and to handle the task of repacking the wings after a fight.
Skyhook: Basically does what it does for everyone else, though Ivarr likes being able to run around on his own two feet to activate his Slippers of Battledancing before saddling up for Axes From the Sky. The shield aspect is a tad annoying, and but he manages until he (as with any build which puts enough ranks into Ride) can reliably fast mount and no longer needs Skyhook.
Hippogriff Steed: And how. Ivarr has a very high Handle Animal mod (which can be potentially boosted a few more points with the Riding Bracers) to acquire and train regular hippogriffs, and can animate a Hippogriff Skeleton for the purpose without any ill effects (at least no ill effects once he reaches Hippogriff Steed II). This in turn allows things to get really silly, as Hippogriff Steed turns the Skeleton back into a Magical Beast, meaning it can be turned back into a corpse and reanimated ad nauseum which between the Skeleton and Zombie templates allows for potentially arbitrarily high Str, Dex, NA, and possibly HP as well as potentially opening up various floating feat tricks.
Bonus Mounted Combat Feats: Mounted Mobility is a natural first choice, as it protects the steed against AoOs during a Skyhook, and you don’t spend much time actually mounted to use the other feats available. With the second Mounted Combat feat, I took Tremendous Charge, to help get a little extra mileage out of the ability to potentially give Myna NI Str. With that much Str, you don’t really need to worry about the lance being magical or even masterwork most of the time and don’t need to sweat the fact that it might break.
Flyby Attack: You won’t use this over Axes From the Sky very often, but at least the fact that you’re moving probably means your Slippers of Battledancing activate.
Drogue Charge: Losing the move action for Slippers of Battledancing hurts, and both Axes From the Sky and Dismount Attack will take priority over Drogue Charge for that reason. You do still have your Pounce routine and all the nice amenities for Drogue Wing management though, so that’s something.
Glide For Distance: The chair ruled that this doesn’t work with Axes From the Sky, and only kinda-sorta works when enemies are tall enough on a Drogue Charge, so it just isn’t worth it. The other levels that Ivarr takes instead do more to expand his go-to schtick.
Skyguard Catapult: I’ll be surprised if anyone has a compelling reason to use this. I guess if you don’t have a fresh Drogue Wing for Axes From the Sky it gives you something to do with your actions, but that’s essentially never going to be the case for Ivarr, and even if that situation does come up, he has Dismount Attack in his back pocket.


EquipmentSlippers of Battledancing and Cha boosters are the main things Ivarr wants, as well as an Amulet of Mighty Fists or Necklace of Natural Attacks, and naturally, a bunch of Drogue Wings. He’ll also carry around a few shields at any given time, but they aren’t a major expenditure.

Beyond that, a little love for Con and maybe Str wouldn’t go amiss. He can use wands of Death Master spells and would benefit from the usual items that meldshapers like. With all the points that have to be spent cross-class on Tumble, a masterwork item would be nice to have to scrape a +14 mod to make his 10ft of movement for the Slippers without risking AoOs. With Cha boosters he ends up with plenty of turn attempts to manage without Nightsticks, even if you’re using Death Devotion in each fight and Divine Might every round, but if you want a few more turn attempts earlier on or to do something crazy like throw Death Devotion on your Unarmed Strikes and Bone Horns in subsequent rounds of the same fight, that’s a way to make that happen. Certain spellcasting services (see the Hippogriff Feat Setups section above) can help considerably and with reliable Plane Shift access specifically Myna will be able to use a Crown of the White Raven for White Raven Tactics.

While providing spells is potentially an issue, Myna’s crafting feat setup can help to make access to certain items cheaper and more accessible. Also, before slamming me too hard for item reliance, I would urge you to consider the money Ivarr saves on Drogue Wings compared to any other build that doesn’t have access to Make Whole and possibly on replacement Hippogriff Steeds thanks to SLA Animate Dead. I also feel like Slippers of Battledancing are something of a special case given how resilient to optimization they end up being most of the time.


AdaptationsWhile I left it out of the build for Elegance reasons, Ivarr’s fluff fits in very well with dedication to Atropus, the World Born Dead. The extra vile feats would get him access to Deformity (Teeth) to add a bite attack to his routine, and could get Myna Deformity (Madness) for Mind-Affecting Immunity without her having to burn two real feats on it.

As I said earlier, if multiclass penalties aren’t in effect, then Totemist 2/Death Master 3/Battle Dancer 1 is a better way to start off the build. The extra level should probably go to Horned Harbinger 6 at level 20, as there’s not much to gain from Skyguard 9. This change is mostly significant for the purposes of making the build a little better at low levels and getting PrC abilities a level earlier.

Your DM might argue that because Hippogriff Steed III says that the steed is “still a Large magical beast,” it no longer shifts the type back from Undead. If so, then you should leave Great Rift Skyguard after 5 levels. Being limited to 7 HD hurts, but it is what it is. Alternately, just rejigger your levels to delay Hippogriff Steed III to 20th level and get all the Death Womb shenanigans in before then, with the final Undead version at 20th level being the “final form” as it were. I would argue that the “still” is in reference to the earlier levels of Hippogriff Steed though, and that Hippogriff Steed III should still follow the chairwoman’s ruling with regard to regaining the Magical Beast type.

You might consider jumping back into Horned Harbinger after Skyguard 5 to get the Extra Turnings, Animate Dead CL increase, and Captain of Undeath in a greater hurry even if Hippogriff Steed works the way it seems to depending on the campaign. I vacillated on the point, but we are showcasing Skyguard after all.

Another thing you might consider if, say, you or your DM are particularly vexed by the shield issue, is to drop the Battle Dancer levels for a level of Fighter to squeeze in Improved Unarmed Strike and another of Horned Harbinger, or, if Hippogriff crafting is working out for you, consider just making a Fanged Ring and replacing the Battle Dancer levels with 2 more Horned Harbinger levels. Of course, any of these make it a bit harder to squeeze ranks in Perform (Dance) and Tumble in, which would need to be factored in to your decision.

Sources List
Complete Champion: Rules for swapping domains for domain feats, Death Devotion
Complete Mage: Fiendish Heritage, Fiendish Legacy
Complete Scoundrel: Dismount Attack
Complete Warrior: Divine Might, Elusive Target
Dragon Compendium: Battle Dancer, Death Master
Dragonlance Campaign Setting: Tremendous Charge
Dungeon Master’s Guide II: Slippers of Battledancing, Apprentice
Eberron Campaign Setting: Education
Elder Evils: Deformity (Madness), Dedication to an Elder Evil
Faiths and Pantheons: Horned Harbinger
Heroes of Battle: Mounted Mobillity
Heroes of Horror: Willing Deformity, Deformity (Teeth)
Magic of Incarnum: Totemist, Azure Toughness, Open Least Chakra, Soulmelds
Planar Handbook: Planar Touchstone, Touchstone Sites
Races of Faerun: Great Rift Skyguard
Tome of Battle: Martial Study, Martial Stance, Maneuvers, Crown of the White Raven, Martial Scrips
Tome of Magic: Truespeak Training, Minor Utterance of the Evolving Mind
Everything else is in the SRD. This list is somewhat artificially long due to the citing of things referenced in the Hippogriff Feats and Adaptation sections. Items used in the build proper are bolded.

[Heliomance]

Number 3 -



http://i.imgur.com/qCXWue6.jpg

Bromdorn 'Bolt' Stormspear
LN --> CN Gold Dwarf Warblade 3/Barbarian 3/Bloodstorm Blade 4/Great Rift Skyguard 10

Bromdorn was born in 1306, the Year of Thunder. Like most dwarves born around that time, a twin brother was born together with him, and like most such twins, their bonds were strong.

Unlike most such twins, Bromdorn and his brother Vortorn were polar opposites. Bromdorn was calm, collected, and careful, while his brother was wild and impatient. Despite this, the two of them got along very well.

When they came of age, the two brothers entered the Eartheart guard together. As could be expected, Bromdorn was a calculated warrior; his brother a brute fighter. Despite those differences, the two often fought together, earning them the nickname 'Thunder and Lightning'.

"I say we kill it." Vortorn whispered. Bromdorn frowned, and pointed at the sleeping otyugh.

"Have you seen the size of that thing? It's half... almost twice as big as a normal one. I say we return to the others and tell them what we've found. This thing isn't going anywhere."

"You know the two of us are the strongest guards around. Having those newbies around won't make a difference. And this way, we're sure none of them will get killed."

Bromdorn sighed. "I swear; you're going to be the death of me one day. We charge on the count of..."

Vortorn rushed forward, leaving Bromdorn baffled for a moment. What was he thinking? Sighing, Bromdorn drew his axe and charged after his brother.

The fight was bloody and long. Axe and spear wounded the otyugh countless times, but the beast retilated fiercely.

Its tentacles flailed around and its teeth snapped wildly. Time after time did the dwarves strike at it, but it kept fighting. Bromdorn's furious assault grew more desparate, less calm, until suddenly a tentacle came out of nowhere and knocked the dwarf out.

Three days after his and his brother's disappearance, Bromdorn was found unconscious in a cave. The dwarf was feverish, dehydrated, and had sustained at least half a dozen lethal wounds, but he survived. Next to him, his brother laid, his spear still embedded in the otyugh's forehead. Both were dead.

Bromdorn was hurried back to civilization, his condition growing worse with every passing day. Occasionally he'd wake up to moan and ask for his brother, but those spells of consciousness grew shorter and shorter.

Then, when all hope for his survival had been lost, Bromdorn started to recover. When the dwarves eventually arrived back at the capital, Bromdorn had regained enough strength to walk into the healer-priest's quarters himself. There, all remaining traces of the disease were wiped from him.

Bromdorn, however, had changed. Some said that the souls of his and his brother had merged after his brush with death: others simply figured the dwarf refused to accept his brother's death, and as a result was trying to emulate him. Still, all admitted that his battle style had grown more fierce and less careful.

Bromdorn never returned to the Underdark after nearly dying there. Instead, the dwarf turned his gaze upwards, to the skies. Why had he ever chosen to imprison himself beneath tons of stone when the open skies were ever available?

Bromdorn's fighting techniques changed to fit his new battlefields. Now, the dwarf would fling axes and spears before rushing in, or even stay at a distance and only engage foes in melee when absolutely necessary. It was almost if his desire for battle had died when his brother did.

Yet being outside wasn't enough for Bromdorn. He desired more freedom! And soon, soon he'd receive it...

At the age of eighty-five years, Bromdorn was accepted in the Great Rift Skyguard. Finally, he had gained the freedom he'd longed for. His personal hippogriff he named Vortorn, after his deceased brother.

His unusual combat style remained, and with it, his victories.

Bromdorn watched from his hippogriff as the giants approached. The dwarf drew his lance, grinned, and moved his mount into position. The lance was flung, and hit the giant leader. And again. And again. And again.

The dwarf saw how his other foes noticed him now, and they began to grab boulders to throw. He gained altitude and moved away from the giants, then leaped.

Just before hitting the ground, the dwarf opened his drogue wing and landed more-or-less softly. The giants were over forty paces away, but he was fast. His lance rained down upon the foes once more, who clearly hadn't expected to be attacked from this direction. A moment later, Bromdorn appeared amidst them.

The giants, confused and disoriented, failed to hit their foe. Bromdorn leapt away and raised his shield, and his faithful hippogriff carried him upwards. The giants flung some boulders after him, but they were ill-aimed.

This deadly dance of death repeated itself. Bromdorn would fling his lance, jump down and charge across the battlefield at impossible speed, and be carried up again; leaving less and less giants alive with every cycle, until finally the last one fell.

Bromdorn scribbled something on a piece of paper. "Three minutes and twelve seconds: should've gone faster."

Starting array (after racial adjustments):

STR: 18
DEX: 10
CON: 16
INT: 14
WIS: 8
CHA: 8

Ability score increases: All in strength, because why not?



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


1st
Warblade 1
+1
+2
+0
+0
Balance +4, Climb +4, Jump +4, Knowledge (History) +4, Martial Lore +4, Swim +4
Power Attack
Battle Clarity (Reflex saves), Weapon Aptitude, Maneuvers


2nd
Warblade 2
+2
+3
+0
+0
Balance +5, Climb +5, Jump +5, Knowledge (History) +5, Martial Lore +5, Swim +5

Uncanny Dodge


3rd
Warblade 3
+3
+3
+1
+1
Balance +6, Climb +6, Jump +6, Knowledge (History) +6, Martial Lore +6, Swim +6
Point-Blank Shot
Battle Ardor (Critical Confirmation)


4th
Barbarian 1
+4
+5
+1
+1
Handle Animal +2, Jump +7, Ride +3

Spirit Lion Totem, Whirling Frenzy 1/day


5th
Barbarian 2
+5
+6
+1
+1
Handle Animal +4, Jump +8, Ride +6

Uncanny Dodge


6th
Barbarian 3
+6/+1
+6
+2
+2
Jump +9, Ride +9, Survival +2
Precise Shot
Trapkiller


7th
Bloodstorm Blade 1
+7/+2
+8
+2
+2
Jump +10, Martial Lore +10, Tumble +1
Throw AnythingB
Returning Attacks, Weapon Aptitude


8th
Bloodstorm Blade 2
+8/+3
+9
+2
+2
Jump +11, Martial Lore +11, Tumble +5

Martial Throw, Thunderous Throw


9th
Bloodstorm Blade 3
+9/+4
+9
+3
+3
Jump +12, Martial Lore +12, Tumble +9
Improved Bull Rush, Far ShotB



10th
Bloodstorm Blade 4
+10/+5
+10
+3
+3
Jump +13, Martial Lore +13, Tumble +13

Lightning Ricochet


11th
Great Rift Skyguard 1
+11/+6/+1
+12
+5
+3
Jump +14, Ride +12

Axes from the Sky


12th
Great Rift Skyguard 2
+12/+7/+2
+13
+6
+3
Jump +15, Ride +15
Shock Trooper
Hippogriff Steed I, Skyhook


13th
Great Rift Skyguard 3
+13/+8/+3
+13
+6
+4
Handle Animal +6, Jump +16, Ride +16
Ride-By AttackB



14th
Great Rift Skyguard 4
+14/+9/+4
+14
+7
+4
Handle Animal +8, Jump +17, Ride +17

Fly-By Attack


15th
Great Rift Skyguard 5
+15/+10/+5
+14
+7
+4
Handle Animal +10, Jump +18, Ride +18
Spirited Charge
Hippogriff Steed II


16th
Great Rift Skyguard 6
+16/+11/+6/+1
+15
+8
+5
Handle Animal +12, Jump +19, Ride +19

Drogue Charge


17th
Great Rift Skyguard 7
+17/+12/+7/+2
+15
+8
+5
Handle Animal +14, Jump +20, Ride +20
Mounted MobilityB



18th
Great Rift Skyguard 8
+18/+13/+8/+3
+16
+9
+5
Handle Animal +16, Jump +21, Ride +21
Improved Critical
Hippogriff Steed III


19th
Great Rift Skyguard 9
+19/+14/+9/+4
+16
+9
+6
Handle Animal +18, Jump +22, Ride +22

Glide For Distance


20th
Great Rift Skyguard 10
+20/+15/+10/+5
+17
+10
+6
Handle Animal +20, Jump +23, Ride +23

Skyguard Catapult



Known maneuvers:
-Wolf Fang Strike (1)
-Sudden Leap (1)
-Stone Bones (1)
-Steel Wind (2)
-Battle Leader's Charge (3)

Known stance:
-Punishing Stance (1)

Level 5:
By now, you're mostly a standard charger, save for your slightly atypical skill and feat choices. A whirling frenzy pounce with Battle Leader's Charge can deal enough damage to one-shot most foes. If necessary, you can disengage with Sudden Leap and charge again.

Level 10 (sweet spot):
Bloodstorm Blade has come and gone, and left us with a very nice gift: the ability to count ranged attacks as melee attacks. By staying around 100 ft. away from your target, every attack you make can be a charge, and your weapon returns to your hand immediately after. All the damage of being an ubercharger: none of the positioning issues.

Level 15:
A few levels in Great Rift Skyguard give us some abilities that interact interestingly with our tendency to charge at range. Jumping from the saddle, throwing the same lance a few times as you do so, and being 'randomly scattered in an adjacent square' afterwards: even if you were a hundred feet away from your target! Fluff it as moving with incredible speed.

Level 20:
More fun interactions! Drogue Charge lets us move forty feet, throw our lance, then instantaneously move over a hundred feet to the other side of our foe. Glide For Distance gives us a bit more maneuverability, and Skyguard Catapult, while suboptimal to use, is a flavorful way to end encounters.

[Heliomance]

Number 4 -

Bolfarg of Knoss
CE Half-Goristro Gold Dwarf Barbarian 1/Fighter 6/Great Rift Skyguard 9

The MonsterAbility Scores32 Point Buy: 17 Str, 12 Dex, 13 Con, 12 Int, 8 Wis, 14 Cha
After Stat Adjustments and size increase for Half-Goristro Gold Dwarf: 33 Str, 8 Dex, 25 Con, 12 Int, 8 Wis, 16 Cha
Stat Improvements go to Str
The Build

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


1st
Whirling Frenzy Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian
+1
+2
+0
+0
Ride 4, Handle Animal 4, Intimidate 4, Jump 4, Bluff 2cc
Toughness
Pounce, Whirling Frenzy 1/day, Smite Good 1/day, Levitate 3/day, Illiteracy


2nd
Fighter 1
+2
+4
+0
+0
Ride 5, Handle Animal 5, Intimidate 5, Jump 4, Bluff 2
Power Attack (Bonus)
-


3rd
Dungeon Crasher Fighter 2
+3
+5
+0
+0
Ride 6, Handle Animal 6, Intimidate 6, Jump 4, Bluff 2
Improved Bull Rush
Dungeon Crasher ACF, Fear 1/day


4th
Zhentarim Soldier Fighter 3
+4
+5
+1
+1
Ride 6, Handle Animal 6, Intimidate 6, Jump 4, Bluff 5
Skill Focus (Intimidate) (Bonus)
-


5th
Fighter 4
+5
+6
+1
+1
Ride 8, Handle Animal 6, Intimidate 7, Jump 4, Bluff 5
Mounted Combat (Bonus)
Unholy Blight 1/day


6th
Great Rift Skyguard 1
+6
+7
+3
+1
Ride 8, Handle Animal 6, Intimidate 8, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
Shock Trooper
Axes From the Sky


7th
Great Rift Skyguard 2
+7
+8
+4
+1
Ride 8, Handle Animal 7, Intimidate 10, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
-
Hippogriff Steed I, Skyhook, Poison* 3/day


8th
Great Rift Skyguard 3
+8
+8
+4
+2
Ride 9, Handle Animal 8, Intimidate 11, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
Mounted Casting (Bonus)
-


9th
Great Rift Skyguard 4
+9
+10
+5
+2
Ride 10, Handle Animal 9, Intimidate 12, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
Knockback
Flyby Attack, Contagion 1/day


10th
Great Rift Skyguard 5
+10
+10
+5
+2
Ride 11, Handle Animal 10, Intimidate 13, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
-
Hippogriff Steed II


11th
Great Rift Skyguard 6
+11
+11
+6
+3
Ride 12, Handle Animal 11, Intimidate 14, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
-
Drogue Charge, Blasphemy 1/day


12th
Great Rift Skyguard 7
+12
+11
+6
+3
Ride 13, Handle Animal 12, Intimidate 15, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
Imperious Command, Mounted Mobility (Bonus)
-


13th
Great Rift Skyguard 8
+13
+12
+7
+3
Ride 14, Handle Animal 13, Intimidate 16, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
-
Hippogriff Steed III, Unholy Aura 3/day, Unhallow 1/day


14th
Great Rift Skyguard 9
+14
+12
+7
+4
Ride 15, Handle Animal 14, Intimidate 17, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
-
Glide For Distance


15th
Zhentarim Soldier Fighter 5
+15
+12
+7
+4
Ride 16, Handle Animal 15, Intimidate 18, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
Improved Levitation
Extended Intimidation, Horrid Wilting 1/day


16th
Dungeon Crasher Fighter 6
+16
+13
+8
+5
Ride 17, Handle Animal 16, Intimidate 19, Jump 4, Bluff 5, Never Outnumbered
-
Dungeon Crasher ACF

*Ask your DM if you can swap Poison for the Goristro’s Spider Climb per the general guidelines in the Half-Fiendish Variety Web Enhancement. It isn’t explicitly mentioned in the Half-Goristro entry, but that seems to be because the template is being applied to a 4HD Centaur.

The MythOld Lord Knoss consorted with dark powers they say.

They say that he called forth a great bull of Baphomet from the depths of the Abyss that its services might be purchased for a campaign into the Deepwild.
But one never knows what coin demons will truly take.

The lord’s wife became enamored of the bull. She mated with the monster and conceived an abomination. A vile half-breed of dwarf and fiend was born to her. Lest the clan elders learn of his transgressions, Lord Knoss spread word that the child had not survived, and feigned grief such that he commissioned a great labyrinth be made beneath his palace to serve as a tomb. Into this labyrinth he took the newborn beast and there it remained for many years. Yet, the suspicions grew amongst the clan, for as the years went by, sounds of fury and destruction seemed to echo distantly from out of the maze. When Lord Knoss finally died, the new lord commanded a full troop of dwarves to search the labyrinth. A short distance into its depths, they began to find walls that had been broken down where the monster had been unwilling to puzzle out the winding passages. Then, finally, they came upon the beast itself. A hulking mockery to the very name of dwarf, it towered over the terrified search party and snorted smoke at them from its bullish snout. A few of the braver warriors stepped forward, but were quickly slain, their skulls smashed against the walls of the maze. The others pleaded with the beast to spare their lives in exchange for freedom from the maze, and the creature was released.

But one never knows what coin demons will truly take.

Cast out from the clan, the demonspawn was taken in by a small bastion of the Zhentarim and became a soldier of renown through his overwhelming strength. Despite protestations from Knoss and from the clergy, his reputation was such that he was permitted to join the Skyguards, though his bulk made riding a hippogriff impractical. Perhaps the dwarf lords thought that the monster could be turned toward their enemies until it met its end performing one of the ill-advised stunts for which the Skyguards were infamous, but if that was their plan, it backfired. Despite claims of his depravity, tales of the monster mating with beast and dwarf alike to sire more monsters like himself, of bloodlust and savagery well beyond the necessities of war, of those who crossed him then did not return from battle, his victory after victory allowed him to rise to ever greater prominence. In time, he assumed a position from which he could challenge his clan’s exile and make a claim upon the lordship of Knoss.


The LegendECL 5Size increasing templates are pretty thin on the ground without Dragon Magazine material, but not entirely unavailable if you dig. The 4 LA hurts, but Bolfarg manages alright. He’s got a huge Con, a d12 Barbarian HD, and Great Rift Skyguard’s Toughness prereq, meaning he’s not quite as frail as he might be with all that LA. You also have a pair of slams and Whirling Frenzy once per day to help make up for your slowed iterative attack progression, and can move and full attack with pounce.
ECL10After some Fighter levels, Bolfarg has entered the SI and picked up Shock Trooper. He’s too big to ride a hippogriff, but with his Levitate SLA, he might be able to move a huge mount (depending on whether your DM says that the weight limit applies to creatures as well as objects, it’s not altogether clear) into the air to set up Axes From the Sky even if it doesn’t fly normally. In any case, assuming he can arrange a way to be mounted at a sufficiently high vantage point, he’s got a free move action to move an ally with Levitate (or, if he can get a hold of a suit of Fearsome Armor demoralize enemies) as Axes From the Sky lets him charge as a standard action. With Pounce, huge Strength, Power Attack, Shock Trooper, his 1/day racial Smite, and the damage doubling from Axes From the Sky, he’ll have no trouble turning whichever enemy he drops down on into paste. Alternately, against a grounded enemy, he can use his charge for a Bull Rush, as he’s got a ready-made wall to Dungeon Crash them into, and can use Shock Trooper’s Directed Bull Rush to shunt them 5ft in a direction, and so gain some control over where he lands (since it’ll be a random square adjacent to the enemy in question).

ECL 15For those of you wondering why I wanted Large size so badly that I was willing to eat 4 LA for it, this is why. Bolfarg now has Knockback, which means he no longer has to choose between Dungeon Crashing an enemy and pouncing on them, and he can push them further for the purpose of dictating his landing spot. He can do even more in this regard on a Drogue Charge (which is now available to him), as the wing explicitly takes him up and over his target and lands him on their other side, meaning that he’ll follow the enemy as he drives them back. If this seems screwy, you can think of it as Bolfarg using the wind from his strikes or pushing himself off of the enemy as he dribbles them against the ground to keep himself airborne. I’m not sure either of those explanations actually make sense from a physics standpoint, but we are playing D&D here.

Bolfarg also now has a Bonus Mounted Combat feat (Mounted Casting to shore up Concentration checks for his racial SLAs which explicitly use the same checks as casting spells), and the Hippogriff Steed feature. Where is he getting the hippogriff, you may be asking? The answer is, he’s making his own. By undergoing the Ritual of Alignment in Savage Species, Bolfarg becomes an Outsider (Evil), which should be enough for him to count as a fiend, and so allow him to sire Half-Fiend Hippogriffs (whether they’ll follow any of the Half-Fiendish Variety guidelines is something of a grey area, though it’s likely preferable if you can get away with it, as the wings, claws, and bite from the standard template are redundant and you’d rather give it slams). A Half-Fiend Hippogriff is still a Hippogriff and should be a valid choice for Hippogriff Steed. While this will likely obviate some of the bonuses from Hippogriff Steed and it’ll revert from Outsider to Magical Beast HD, the increase of HD will allow the hippogriff to access more SLAs and it will have higher than animal intelligence from birth, which may open up more feat options to it than the default Dodge and Wingover, which will in turn allow for more interesting possibilities on higher HD feats. It also may get a slightly expanded skill list if Half-Fiendish Variety is in effect, which would likely include Intimidate (a class skill for Goristros and hence for Half-Goristro RHD, even though Bolfarg doesn’t have any), which would allow it to help Bolfarg in any fear-op he gets up to.
ECL 20The last few levels are basically more of the same, but they do have some nice things. Imperious Command and Extended Intimidation for demoralize shenanigans. Hippogriff Steed III with all that entails. Improved Levitation expanding the usage of Bolfarg’s Levitate SLA dramatically (increasing from 3 uses of min/level Levitate each day to 3 10 minute Levitates per level each day). The Dungeon Crash damage upgrade and 4th iterative attack, though he likely doesn’t need the boost in damage that badly.

He also gets Glide For Distance and might actually be able to do something with it as part of his regular combat shtick. The chair said that Glide For Distance might work on a Drogue Charge if the enemy is particularly tall – that is if you get high enough up in the air going over its head. Well, even if the enemy isn’t that tall, you can make the point above their head higher by using Knockback and Directed Bull Rush on your Drogue Charge. Knock the Enemy 5ft in a direction you want to go in and 5ft up with each hit and the power of Bolfarg’s swing will give him an updraft to carry him higher into the air, allowing for him to glide off to some other point on the battlefield (as far as 90ft if all iteratives and both slams hit, and the enemy is knocked upward each time) after passing over the (presumably dead) enemy’s head.

The StorybookComplete Champion: Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian
Complete Scoundrel: Never Outnumbered Skill Trick
Complete Warrior: Shock Trooper
Champions of Valor Web Enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a): Zhentarim Soldier Fighter
Dungeon Master’s Guide: Gold Dwarf
Dungeonscape: Dungeon Crasher Fighter
Drow of the Underdark: Imperious Command, Fearsome Armor
Fiendish Codex I: Goristro
Half-Fiendish Variety Web Enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060630x&page=1): Half-Goristro
Heroes of Battle: Mounted Mobility
Miniatures Handbook: Mounted Casting
Races of Faerun: Great Rift Skyguard
Races of Stone: Knockback
Savage Species: Ritual of Alignment
Underdark: Improved Levitation
Everything else should be in the SRD.

[Heliomance]

And that's everything. Only four entries! I was really expecting more.

I'm really sad I didn't manage to find the time to put a build together, actually. I was planning on submitting an Ardent, sharing Metamorphosis with their psicrystal to turn it into an animated drogue wing to bypass the hour long folding time and break chance, as well as for action economy to better handle the full-round attack actions the class has.

[Thurbane]

My bare bones build was a Gold Dwarf Fighter 1/Wizard 5/Silverwood Arcanist 5/Great Rift Skyguard 9

Using a Giant Bat through Wild Cohort as his first flying mount...later picking up a Hippogriff with Improved Familiar. He had two mounts to switch between later in his career.

https://easilylead.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_20151107_121819.jpg?w=300&h=225

Two things I wasn't sure about: 1.) Can you use Handle Animal to get the Warbeast template on a Wild Cohort? And 2.) would the bonus HD and other perks added to your Hippogriff through GRS work on an Improved Familiar?

[Darrin]

Two things I wasn't sure about: 1.) Can you use Handle Animal to get the Warbeast template on a Wild Cohort?


This is still the subject of some debate. It's not clear if Warbeast can only be applied to an animal that is specifically "born and raised" to be a Warbeast, or if it can be applied to any animal that goes through the training. So it would be up to the judge to call shenanigans on adding the template to a Wild Cohort that you just find wandering around and didn't specifically raise to be a Warbeast.



And 2.) would the bonus HD and other perks added to your Hippogriff through GRS work on an Improved Familiar?

Yes, that should work.

[Amphetryon]

Mine would have been Barb 3/Totemist 3/GRS 10/Totem Rager 4.

[WhamBamSam]

Huh, only four entries. The chefs don't seem to like the taste of dwarf. Two of the builds are mine, so I'm guaranteed a medal. Well, this shouldn't be too painful for our esteemed judges. Good luck all.


My bare bones build was a Gold Dwarf Fighter 1/Wizard 5/Silverwood Arcanist 5/Great Rift Skyguard 9

Using a Giant Bat through Wild Cohort as his first flying mount...later picking up a Hippogriff with Improved Familiar. He had two mounts to switch between later in his career.

https://easilylead.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/img_20151107_121819.jpg?w=300&h=225

Two things I wasn't sure about: 1.) Can you use Handle Animal to get the Warbeast template on a Wild Cohort? And 2.) would the bonus HD and other perks added to your Hippogriff through GRS work on an Improved Familiar? I thought about fooling around with Changeling Wizard 5 and Improved Familiar to get a fancy hippogriff that I could then turn into other things, but ended up not pursuing it. I'd say that the Hippogriff Steed bonuses could apply to a familiar, though the added HD would really only be good for feats, since its HP, BAB, etc would still be based on yours.

I also toyed around with Charging Smite Paladins a bit, and thought about a Wolf Totem Pouncebarian 2/Evil Incarnate 3/Skyguard using the free move action that Axes From the Sky leaves to charge up the stun ability on Incarnate Weapon's Arm bind, but ended up scrapping all those ideas. I also tried to go for Mantas Leap for two charges per round, but couldn't get it to fit together what with needing 7 levels of Monk.

I'm pretty happy with the builds I ended up with though.

[Sian]

Played a bit around with the idea of using Tunnel Riding to use the Hippogriff in Underdark, and pair this with Cavestaker (Drow of the Underdark) for hilariousness, but never got anywhere.

Also, just stumbled upon a class that could be interesting for a later swing.

Thrall of Eltab, from Forgotten Realms: Champions Of Ruin p134 ... so obscure that even Wizards' Prestige class index doesn't know of it

[WhamBamSam]

Played a bit around with the idea of using Tunnel Riding to use the Hippogriff in Underdark, and pair this with Cavestaker (Drow of the Underdark) for hilariousness, but never got anywhere.

Also, just stumbled upon a class that could be interesting for a later swing.

Thrall of Eltab, from Forgotten Realms: Champions Of Ruin p134 ... so obscure that even Wizards' Prestige class index doesn't know of itThrall of Etlab is very similar to Thrall of Orcus in a lot of ways. I guess it's been a while, but even so I feel like we've seen a lot of the things people would submit are things we've seen before.

[A.A.King]

I was certain that Improved Familiar (Hippogriff) was the obvious thing here. Surprised that not a single official entry used it. My idea was to be Battle Sorcerer 4 / Fighter 1 / Great Right Skyguard 10 / Abjurant Champion 10 (not in that order exactly) but I figured I wouldn't be the only one..

[Troacctid]

The only timely way to get Improved Familiar for a hippogriff is Duskblade, and Arcane Channeling doesn't synergize very well with Great Rift Skyguard, since it doesn't work on a charge. I'm not surprised it didn't show up.

[OMG PONIES]

I'm surprised that we didn't have anyone trying to get fancy sidestepping the Gold Dwarf requirement via Racial Emulation, Shaper of Form, or trying to make a case for Stoneblessed. Or at least a Gold Dwarf were-hippo named Griff.


Vultag Thunderkeg (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650036&postcount=77):Gold Dwarf Barbarian 1/Monk 2/Cleric 1/Fighter 1/Great Rift Skyguard 10/Drunken Master 2/Artificer 3
Ivarr Deathborn (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650043&postcount=78) Gold Dwarf Totemist 2/Battle Dancer 2/Death Master 3/Great Rift Skyguard 8/Horned Harbringer 5
Bromdorn Stormspear (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650047&postcount=80) Gold Dwarf Warblade 3/Barbarian 3/Bloodstorm Blade 4/Great Rift Skyguard 10
Bolfarg of Knoss (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650049&postcount=81) Half-Goristro Gold Dwarf Barbarian 1/Fighter 6/Great Rift Skyguard 9
With only 4 entries, I may be tempted to judge.

[The Viscount]

Oh pooh. I had completely forgotten about the deadline so I was only finished with the table for my build. Wish I could have seen how it would do in the competition. I used what seemed to me the simplest and most reliable way to get a hippogriff, being Beast Heart Adept. Here's a table and some tips, please give them a look, I think it worth a chuckle since I made this entirely as a joke build.

Muir Komet, Falling Stone

NG Gold Dwarf Crusader 3/Duskblade 2/Great Rift Skyguard 1/Beast Heart Adept 1/Great Rift Skyguard 10/Deepstone Sentinel 4

Stats (with racial adjustments)
Str 16
Dex 12(10)
Con 15 (17)(all increases here)
Int 14
Wis 10
Cha 10

Build


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


1st
Crusader 1
+1
+2
+0
+0
Balance 4, Handle Animal 2(4), Intimidate 4, Jump 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 1(2), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1(2), Ride 4
Animal Affinity; Flaw: Slow(no benefit)
Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5


2nd
Crusader 2
+2
+3
+0
+0
Balance 5, Handle Animal 2.5 (1), Jump 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 1.5 (1), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1.5 (1), Ride 5

Indomitable Soul


3rd
Crusader 3
+3
+3
+1
+1
Balance 6, Handle Animal 3 (1), Knowledge (Arcana) 2(1), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 2(1), Jump 6, Ride 6
Mounted Combat
Zealous Surge


4th
Duskblade 1
+4
+5
+1
+3
Handle Animal 3.5(1), Knowledge (Arcana) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Ride 7

Arcane Attunement, Armored Mage (Light)


5th
Duskblade 2
+5
+6
+1
+4
Handle Animal 4 (1), Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Ride 8
(B)Combat Casting
Combat Casting


6th
Great Rift Skyguard 1
+6/+1
+8
+3
+4
Handle Animal 8
Martial Stance (Roots of the Mountain)
Axes from the Sky


7th
Beast Heart Adept 1
+7/+2
+10
+3
+6
Concentration 5, Ride 9

Monstrous Companion(Hippogriff), Monster Empathy, Monster Handler


8th
Great Rift Skyguard 2
+8/+3
+11
+4
+6
Intimidate 5, Jump 7, Ride 11

Hippogriff Steed I, Skyhook


9th
Great Rift Skyguard 3
+9/+4
+11
+4
+7
Knowledge(the Planes) 2(4)
Elemental Grafter (Tremor Graft), (B) Ride-By Attack
Bonus Mounted Combat Feat


10th
Great Rift Skyguard 4
+10/+5
+12
+5
+7
Balance 8, Ride 13

Fly-By Attack


11th
Great Rift Skyguard 5
+11/+6/+1
+12
+5
+7
Balance 11, Ride 14

Hippogriff steed II


12th
Great Rift Skyguard 6
+12/+7/+2
+13
+6
+8
Balance 14, Ride 15
Martial Study (Mountain Hammer)
Drogue Charge


13th
Great Rift Skyguard 7
+13/+8/+3
+13
+6
+8
Jump 10, Ride 16
(B)Spirited Charge
Bonus Mounted Combat Feat


14th
Great Rift Skyguard 8
+14/+9/+4
+14
+7
+8
Jump 14, Ride 17

Hippogriff Steed III


15th
Great Rift Skyguard 9
+15/+10/+5
+14
+7
+9
Handle Animal 11, Ride 18
Stone Power
Glide for Distance


16th
Great Rift Skyguard 10
+16/+11/+6/+1
+15
+8
+9
Handle Animal 14, Ride 19

Skyguard Catapult


17th
Deepstone Sentinel 1
+16/+11/+6/+1
+17
+8
+9
Listen 4

Mountain Fortress Stance, Passwall


18th
Deepstone Sentinel 2
+17/+12/+7/+2
+18
+8
+9
Listen 8
Shielded Casting
Crashing Mountain Juggernaut


19th
Deepstone Sentinel 3
+18/+13/+8/+3
+18
+9
+10
Listen 12

Indomitable Redoubt


20th
Deepstone Sentinel 4
+19/+14/+9/+4
+19
+9
+10
Listen 16

Stone Curse, Dragon’s Tooth



Spells
Spells per Day


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


1st
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


3rd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


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


5th-10th
4
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


Spells Known


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


1st
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


3rd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


4th
4
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


5th-10th
4
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


Spells Known
0th: Acid Splash, Disrupt Undead, Ray of Frost, Touch of Fatigue
1st: True Strike, Obscuring Mist, Stand

Maneuvers
1st: Crusader’s Strike, Douse the Flames, Leading the Attack, Stone Bones, Vanguard Strike
2nd: Foehammer, Mountain Hammer (at 9)
4th: Bonesplitting Strike (at 17)
6th: Crushing Vice (at 19)
Stances: Martial Spirit, Leading the Charge (at 2), Roots of the Mountain (at 6)

This build is basically centered around 2 ideas: The first being the superhero landing (http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/36/590x/secondary/Superhero-landing-455757.jpg). This is based on the fact that mountain fortress stance doesn't turn on until you are in contact with the ground, so you start roots of the mountain, hop on your griffin, so that way when you jump off and hit the ground you activate the crater effect. Indomitable Redoubt allows you to also gain the benefit of Roots of the Mountain (some small DR, a big penalty to enemy Tumble, and a boost to resist bullrush, trip, and grapple) to drive home that concept that you've really planted yourself when you land. You can use Douse the Flames to protect your Hippogriff for when you use Skyhook, heal it and yourself with Crusader's Strike and Martial Spirit, and help it out with White Raven.

And now enters the second idea, springing partially from building on deepstone sentinel, and partially from wondering what kind of madman would attack by falling off his mount. Muir Komet cannot move. He begins as a dwarf with 20ft movement. Then take the slow flaw to half speed to 10 feet. Next we impose blinded condition (either from being blind from birth or by being hit by blindness/deafness or the like) which halves speed again to 5. Some penalties of blindness are reduced from being blind for a long time, but it doesn't say which so I assume all of them apply. At level 9 Muir takes Elemental Grafter (using the caster level from arcane attunement, which isn't listed so defaults to HD) to gain the tremor graft to cover for his blindness, but it comes at the cost of his last 5 feet of movement speed. Since he can't move at all, the normally irritating "no moving more than 5 feet" requirement for Stone Dragon stances and Mountain Fortress no longer matter!

Duskblade also helps counteract Muir's many shortcomings. It gives shields for Skyhook. Obscuring Mist subjects everybody to miss chance, True Strike negates the miss chance from blindness, and Stand allows you to recover from Skyguard Catapult and the like. The Hippogriff Steed is vital for Muir because it acts as both seeing eye pet and the only way he can move around the field, tactically deploying him on the battlefield.
As a capstone of sorts at 19 you can Crushing Vice enemies to subject them to your own special curse, the inability to move, with no save.

Hope you enjoyed my silly build.

[daremetoidareyo]

The idea that I had consisted of abusing the free action hippogriff and the fling ally feat. You lift your shield, a hippogriff appears, and rather than use it as a mount, you use it as a projectile. With throw anything feat and rapid shot, you could throw multiple hippogriffs around. And thus scout was a great chassis for this. Then, I tried to optimize battlejump and other charging antics on the hippogriff, (cometary collision?) but everything was weird and I was only using one class feature.

My other idea was an attempt to template stack a gold Golem into stoneblessed (technically a gold dwarf) into great rift skyguard. Impossible to do in 20 levels...

[Darrin]

Oh pooh. I had completely forgotten about the deadline so I was only finished with the table for my build. Wish I could have seen how it would do in the competition. I used what seemed to me the simplest and most reliable way to get a hippogriff, being Beast Heart Adept. Here's a table and some tips, please give them a look, I think it worth a chuckle since I made this entirely as a joke build.


After the actual judges have weighed in, I can probably give your build an unofficial judging.

I was expecting to see a Beast Heart Adept somewhere. Something else I thought I'd see, which could help your blind dwarf: Mindsight feat (due to telepathy out to a mile).


The idea that I had consisted of abusing the free action hippogriff and the fling ally feat. You lift your shield, a hippogriff appears, and rather than use it as a mount, you use it as a projectile. With throw anything feat and rapid shot, you could throw multiple hippogriffs around.

Not with Fling Ally you won't. Move action to grab, standard action to throw, so unless you're doing some action economy shenanigans, you could only throw one hippogriff per round. This would work better with Hulking Hurler/Really Throw Anything. Expansion or Stoneblessed -> Mountain Rage to make the dwarf large. MM gives us a weight of 1000 pounds, although ideally we'd want to quadruple that. It has claws/beak, so I think that should count as a "sharp" object. Warblade 1/Bloodstorm Blade 4 might work better than multiple hippogriffs.

I may have to put that build together... at any rate, something to do while waiting for the judges.



And thus scout was a great chassis for this. Then, I tried to optimize battlejump and other charging antics on the hippogriff, (cometary collision?) but everything was weird and I was only using one class feature.


Hippogriff raised by Taers... huh. I don't see how Cometary Collision would be involved. Do you mean, thrown hippogriff on a parabolic, it drops 5' from the high point of the arc to trigger Battlejump?



My other idea was an attempt to template stack a gold Golem into stoneblessed (technically a gold dwarf) into great rift skyguard. Impossible to do in 20 levels...

Hmm. Gold dragon wyrmling is ECL 12. Gold horror (MM2)... Int 17 but LA: --. Maybe an animated object + incarnate construct?

[daremetoidareyo]

Not with Fling Ally you won't. Move action to grab, standard action to throw, so unless you're doing some action economy shenanigans, you could only throw one hippogriff per round. This would work better with Hulking Hurler/Really Throw Anything. Expansion or Stoneblessed -> Mountain Rage to make the dwarf large. MM gives us a weight of 1000 pounds, although ideally we'd want to quadruple that. It has claws/beak, so I think that should count as a "sharp" object. Warblade 1/Bloodstorm Blade 4 might work better than multiple hippogriffs.

I may have to put that build together... at any rate, something to do while waiting for the judges.

Hippogriff raised by Taers... huh. I don't see how Cometary Collision would be involved. Do you mean, thrown hippogriff on a parabolic, it drops 5' from the high point of the arc to trigger Battlejump?


You're right about fling ally. That was the seed that I was thinking of using, but it has too many prohibitions, mostly because it eats up your move action.

Throw anything seems like the better feat for hippgriff tossing. Improvised weapons from drunken master may also help. The thing is, bloodstorm blade isn't all that necessary: The hippogriff just comes back to you when you lift your buckler (or gnome battle cloak?) above your head as a free action. If you interrupt that hippogriff mid turn, and throw him as a weapon, you shouldn't have to be saddled. You would always have cover... Further, your hippogriff, seeing as how your not mounting it, could have a rider of its own, (another skyguard?) who can get his own axes from sky or dismount charge skill trick. A rider who can do his own skyhook to get out of danger in the same turn.

I imagine that round 1, a stoneblessed goliath and a dwarf ally axes from the sky an opponent, using hurling charge, he deploys his drogue wing, lifts his shield, throws his hippogriff at the opponent, and attacks the same turn. Round two, the goliath moves at least 10 feet to activate skirmish using his free action skyhook to reload his hippogriff cannon, and then using the hippogriff that is now adjacent to the opponent as a melee weapon a second time, picking it up on the way. Somewhere during the battle, the dwarf ally, if they mount the goliaths hippogriff using a fast mount action, can be used as a projectile weapon. Thrown into a different enemy as a weapon. Then the hippogriff still has movement, which can be used to set up the dwarf's charge, (battle jump, dismount attack, axes from the sky).

The multiple hippogriffs was an exploit of the terrible rules regarding hippogriffs in the prestige class, with the assumption that any hippogriff that you train could be used. It would actually make the class really interesting if any great rift trained hippogriff could be used by any great rift skyguard.

Cometary collision would be a feat of the hippogriffs that you train, Where they ready a cometary collision charge action, land on your buckler, and you use them to break up charges coming at you. If I could figure out a way to get bloodspiked charger feat on those hippogriffs with spiked barding, (heartfire fanner with the right feats could do it...) they could be pretty potent, acting as both a ranged weapon and a charger...

EDIT:
Skyguard catapult, the capstone ability, "the skyguard catapult turns the Great Rift Skyguard into a living catapult stone." which means that you can be rendered functionally invisible by the 3rd level clearstone spell from Lost empires of faerun. You can also double your hitpoints with the 2nd level druid spell Earthfast from Spell compendium...Heart of stone, the 8th level necromancy spell is a hilarious application of this line, Make sure the dwarf's net assets are over 5000gp, and you can use him as your heart! Ring of sustenance is suggested. Stone metamorphosis (underdark 4th level into sickstone or photogenerative rock (p.105 underdark) is a sweet combo!

[WhamBamSam]

Oh pooh. I had completely forgotten about the deadline so I was only finished with the table for my build. Wish I could have seen how it would do in the competition. I used what seemed to me the simplest and most reliable way to get a hippogriff, being Beast Heart Adept. Here's a table and some tips, please give them a look, I think it worth a chuckle since I made this entirely as a joke build.Spirited Charge isn't a valid choice for a Bonus Mounted Combat feat and you don't seem to have the necessary CL for Elemental Grafter. I like the idea in concept though. It'd be cool if you could squeeze in Order Forged From Chaos at the end as well to give a use for the move action that would be left open were you to use Axes From the Sky. It's hard to see how to do that as I can see why Deepstone Sentinel 4 and Shielded Casting are there. You could conceivably squeeze in an extra feat and extra level by going Martial Wizard 1 instead of Duskblade 2, but that opens up ASF issues.


I was expecting to see a Beast Heart Adept somewhere. Something else I thought I'd see, which could help your blind dwarf: Mindsight feat (due to telepathy out to a mile).I thought about Beast Heart Adept, but ultimately it seemed like there wasn't enough reason to stick around in Great Rift Skyguard. X 5/BHA 1/GRS 5/BHA +9 gets the best main hippogriff unless the difference between Int 6 and Int 8 is really important for some reason, and BHA class features are generally better, especially comparing the classes at the back end.

I considered Mindsight briefly, but it seemed sketchy. I know there's evidence that any (or at least most) abilities that allow you to communicate telepathically count as telepathy, but Hippogriff Steed struck me more as working like Telepathic Bond, and it didn't seem right somehow. It's also sort of limited in its utility in general, since most Skyguards are going to be chargers, and hence might need LoS for Axes From the Sky/Drogue Charge even if they can detect the target with Mindsight.


Hmm. Gold dragon wyrmling is ECL 12. Gold horror (MM2)... Int 17 but LA: --. Maybe an animated object + incarnate construct?Half-Gold Dragon? It's only LA+3 and you could just take a single level (or maybe even no levels) in the template class (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20030912a) if all you want is the name. That's of course assuming that being a race with Gold in its name and a Dwarf is equivalent to being a Gold Dwarf, which is a little dubious, but hey, whatever.

[Darrin]

The thing is, bloodstorm blade isn't all that necessary: The hippogriff just comes back to you when you lift your buckler (or gnome battle cloak?) above your head as a free action.


That's not how Skyhook works. From the text:

"The hippogriff then swoops down and grabs the shield (and consequently the skyguard) in the middle of its move, as if it had the Flyby Attack feat." (emphasis added)

The hippogriff has to spend a move action, so you can't keep calling it back to your shield every time you want to "load" a hippogriff projectile. Presumably, the hippogriff also has to spend a standard action to grab you, as that's how Fly-By Attack would work, although the text doesn't explicitly mention a standard action.



Cometary collision would be a feat of the hippogriffs that you train, Where they ready a cometary collision charge action, land on your buckler, and you use them to break up charges coming at you. If I could figure out a way to get bloodspiked charger feat on those hippogriffs with spiked barding, (heartfire fanner with the right feats could do it...) they could be pretty potent, acting as both a ranged weapon and a charger...


There's an unwritten "benefit" to Cometary Collision: "If you take this feat, the DM will never declare a charge on your character ever again."

As far as Bloodspiked Charger goes, put a level of Osteomancer (Dragon Compendium) on the hippogriff, and it can grow it's own armor spikes.


Skyguard catapult, the capstone ability, "the skyguard catapult turns the Great Rift Skyguard into a living catapult stone."

Stone shape yourself into a hippogriff on the way down, then activate Skyhook... urk, that could get messy.

[WhamBamSam]

That's not how Skyhook works. From the text:

"The hippogriff then swoops down and grabs the shield (and consequently the skyguard) in the middle of its move, as if it had the Flyby Attack feat." (emphasis added)

The hippogriff has to spend a move action, so you can't keep calling it back to your shield every time you want to "load" a hippogriff projectile. Presumably, the hippogriff also has to spend a standard action to grab you, as that's how Fly-By Attack would work, although the text doesn't explicitly mention a standard action. Heliomance did indeed rule that Skyhook eats both the Hippogriff's move and standard actions. Really, the only good things about Skyhook are a) that you get it relatively early, likely before you can trivially fast mount, and b) the dwarf doesn't provoke AoOs, which he might do if he tried to fast mount the hippogriff in between it taking two move actions.

[The Viscount]

Spirited Charge isn't a valid choice for a Bonus Mounted Combat feat and you don't seem to have the necessary CL for Elemental Grafter. I like the idea in concept though. It'd be cool if you could squeeze in Order Forged From Chaos at the end as well to give a use for the move action that would be left open were you to use Axes From the Sky. It's hard to see how to do that as I can see why Deepstone Sentinel 4 and Shielded Casting are there. You could conceivably squeeze in an extra feat and extra level by going Martial Wizard 1 instead of Duskblade 2, but that opens up ASF issues.

I can't see any reason why Spirited Charge isn't a valid choice. It has Mounted Combat as a prerequisite, and that's all the class feature says on the issue. Are you saying this because it also requires Ride-by Attack? Did I miss something?

The CL for Elemental Grafter is coming from Duskblade, specifically from arcane attunement. The SLAs granted have no listed CL, and even the errata didn't add one, so we default to HD.

Yeah there's certainly ways to improve it, but I was definitely not shooting for max power here, mostly just for the fun idea of a dwarf who's so eager to get back on the ground he leaps out blindly. Glad you liked the idea, and thanks for your input.

[WhamBamSam]

I can't see any reason why Spirited Charge isn't a valid choice. It has Mounted Combat as a prerequisite, and that's all the class feature says on the issue. Are you saying this because it also requires Ride-by Attack? Did I miss something?

The CL for Elemental Grafter is coming from Duskblade, specifically from arcane attunement. The SLAs granted have no listed CL, and even the errata didn't add one, so we default to HD.

Yeah there's certainly ways to improve it, but I was definitely not shooting for max power here, mostly just for the fun idea of a dwarf who's so eager to get back on the ground he leaps out blindly. Glad you liked the idea, and thanks for your input.Huh, my mistake. Someone else said something earlier about Spirited Charge only requiring Ride By Attack and not Mounted Combat explicitly, and a certain website also has it wrong.

Ah I see. Nifty. I'll have to remember Arcane Attunement as a way of getting a CL equal to your character level with relatively little investment.

Sure thing. One thing that I sort of miss in the general affairs of Iron Chef is the back and forth of optimization discussion, so I'm always happy to try to help with an interesting build.

[The Viscount]

Yeah I was surprised I hadn't heard of it either. A very small catch is that someone might pooh-pooh it because arcane attunement's text actually says that it grans you "spell-like powers" and not SLAs. Between that and the stuff they had to errata one wonders what was going on when they made PHB2.

Something I had thought about that never got past the rough sketching stage was trying to optimize the capstone. I got to binder 8 with willing deformity (Obese) to triple weight, then binding haagenti to add another 50%, and binding dahlver-nar to make your target take half the damage you take from the fall. I couldn't really get anything beyond this, so it stayed there.

[WhamBamSam]

Yeah I was surprised I hadn't heard of it either. A very small catch is that someone might pooh-pooh it because arcane attunement's text actually says that it grans you "spell-like powers" and not SLAs. Between that and the stuff they had to errata one wonders what was going on when they made PHB2.

Something I had thought about that never got past the rough sketching stage was trying to optimize the capstone. I got to binder 8 with willing deformity (Obese) to triple weight, then binding haagenti to add another 50%, and binding dahlver-nar to make your target take half the damage you take from the fall. I couldn't really get anything beyond this, so it stayed there.Eh, it's marked (Sp). That makes it pretty clear in context.

I thought about a Tenebrous Apostate build doing something similar (Tenebrous was helping to fuel Trickery Devotion so that I could actually use all the class features competing for actions in the span of two turns in a way that made sense), but was more interested in other stubs and the inability to fit the full Cleric 1/Binder 5/Tenebrous Apostate 5 in with Great Rift Skyguard 10 is exactly the sort of thing that would've annoyed me to the point of scrapping the build. Incidentally, I don't think character weight is one of the things covered under D&D multiplication, so you probably get your weight multiplied by 4.5 under both Haagenti and Deformity (Obese). There's a danger of getting too fat for your hippogriff, but you could keep Haagenti's sign suppressed then show it as a swift action while falling. Another thing that a Tenebrous Apostate could do as a swift during a Skyguard Catapult is end the effect of Umbral Body to turn corporeal if, say, you're trying to bomb someone inside of a building (say if the telepathic communication with your hippogriff counts as Telepathy for Mindsight purposes).

[OMG PONIES]

My other idea was an attempt to template stack a gold Golem into stoneblessed (technically a gold dwarf) into great rift skyguard.
This, my friend, earns bonus points.

[The Viscount]

Eh, it's marked (Sp). That makes it pretty clear in context.

I thought about a Tenebrous Apostate build doing something similar (Tenebrous was helping to fuel Trickery Devotion so that I could actually use all the class features competing for actions in the span of two turns in a way that made sense), but was more interested in other stubs and the inability to fit the full Cleric 1/Binder 5/Tenebrous Apostate 5 in with Great Rift Skyguard 10 is exactly the sort of thing that would've annoyed me to the point of scrapping the build. Incidentally, I don't think character weight is one of the things covered under D&D multiplication, so you probably get your weight multiplied by 4.5 under both Haagenti and Deformity (Obese). There's a danger of getting too fat for your hippogriff, but you could keep Haagenti's sign suppressed then show it as a swift action while falling. Another thing that a Tenebrous Apostate could do as a swift during a Skyguard Catapult is end the effect of Umbral Body to turn corporeal if, say, you're trying to bomb someone inside of a building (say if the telepathic communication with your hippogriff counts as Telepathy for Mindsight purposes).

Somehow I simply forgot that being too fat for the Hippogriff was an option. Let's check now. An Obese max weight gold dwarf bound to Haagenti weighs 1017 pounds. By level 8 in skyguard, your hippogriff has a strength of 21. Being a Large quadruped gives it a max heavy load of 1260, so can easily carry our dwarf. That gives us 5d6 for falling 10 feet, +1d6 for every 10 feet more. Not all that impressive, all said and done.

Tenebrous Apostate oddly enough would run counter to the plan, since you cannot turn off Visage of the Dead halving your weight. Darn undead promoting unhealthy standards of mortal beauty! Who'd have thought it would ever come up, eh?
In the proposed build above, couldn't you just clip the cleric level off and pay for trickery devotion like normal?

[WhamBamSam]

Somehow I simply forgot that being too fat for the Hippogriff was an option. Let's check now. An Obese max weight gold dwarf bound to Haagenti weighs 1017 pounds. By level 8 in skyguard, your hippogriff has a strength of 21. Being a Large quadruped gives it a max heavy load of 1260, so can easily carry our dwarf. That gives us 5d6 for falling 10 feet, +1d6 for every 10 feet more. Not all that impressive, all said and done.

Tenebrous Apostate oddly enough would run counter to the plan, since you cannot turn off Visage of the Dead halving your weight. Darn undead promoting unhealthy standards of mortal beauty! Who'd have thought it would ever come up, eh?
In the proposed build above, couldn't you just clip the cleric level off and pay for trickery devotion like normal?Doesn't it need to be a light load for it to carry you while flying? Though with damage that low it doesn't matter much. Seems the height of the fall is the only meaningful variable anyway and we'd be better off optimizing spot to be able to target enemies from further up or making the case that the telepathic link from Hippogriff Steed qualifies you for Mindsight and trying to negate obstacles and miss chance.

I wanted a few low level Cleric spells in the build as well. Also, it seems like you need to be able to spend 3 turn attempts at once to fuel Trickery Devotion, which Tenebrous alone can't do.

[Darrin]

My other idea was an attempt to template stack a gold Golem into stoneblessed (technically a gold dwarf) into great rift skyguard. Impossible to do in 20 levels...

Feh.

Gold golem (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20030901a) is a large-sized construct, 10 HD, 10,000 GP per HD. Here's the important part:



Spending the gold that makes up the golem reduces its size and power, at the same rate as additional gold adds to its statistics. If half or more of the gold is permanently removed by the creator, the golem is destroyed. Any gold removed cannot be returned to the golem.


So, you can "spend" up to half of it's "body", knocking it down to 5 HD. That gives us 50,000 GP to spend on some template wankery.

Borrow a treehugger to cast transmute metal to wood, which drops the golem's Immunity to Magic for a round. Then we can use the 9th level spell awaken construct/incarnate construct (Savage Species) to get the first template, but no spell for the second template... so let's create one. DMG p. 198 says 1000 GP per level, so we'll just create a 9th-level version of incarnate construct that creates dustform creatures instead, call it dustform construct. 9000 GP, and we'll assume the Spellcraft check DC 19 is trivially easy for a 17th level caster with full skill ranks. It costs 1530 GP per casting (CL=17), but there's that 5000 XP component with a nasty 25000 GP price tag, and that's outside our budget. So instead we buy our wizard a 20000 GP Thought Bottle (Complete Arcane). We can repeat the incarnate construct/dustform spells several times to buff up our Strength... looks like we've got enough for 3060 x 3 = 9180 GP. Strength goes up to 39 and Dex is 2 for the moment. One more casting of incarnate construct (1530 GP) to turn us into a giant. For Int and Con, we could assume an "average" roll of 12, but... aw shucks, let's Maximize it with a gate to an Enhanced Magic plane (Manual of the Planes) that Maximizes all transmutation spells (1530 GP).

Now we've got a large-sized giant, 5 HD, with the following stats:

Str 39
Dex 3
Con 18
Int 18
Wis 11
Cha 1

Unfortunately, incarnate construct strips off all our Special Attacks/Special Qualities, and doesn't give us feats or skill points:



Skills: An incarnate construct gains no skill points for becoming a living creature, but if it gains levels, it acquires skill points normally.
Feats: An incarnate construct has no feats when it becomes a living creature, but if it gains levels, it acquires feats normally.


So let's get a Power Stone for five levels of psychic reformation (1950 GP, XPH). That gets us two feats (Toughness, Mounted Combat) and 48 skill points. Everything is cross-class and our max rank is 4, but we can work with that. Add a level of Fighter and we have:

Feats: Toughness, Mounted Combat, Power Attack, PB Shot.
Skills: Appraise 2, Craft (Stonework) 5, Handle Animal 4, Jump 5, Ride 8, and Tumble 4.
Languages: Common, Dwarven, Terran, Giant, EBICS

We're now ready for Stoneblessed 3 (Races of Stone), after which we are a "gold" dwarf. Along the way, we pick up Weapon Focus (Hippogriff) and Hulking Hurler 1 (Complete Warrior). We also buy a hippogriff for 3000 GP, train it for 1000 GP, and we've got a little gold left over, so we pay the 17th level caster to polymorph any object our hippogriff from a large-sized hippogriff into a huge-sized hippogriff. Same kingdom, same class, same intelligence, so the duration is permanent. Weight goes up to 8000 lbs, but our Strength is now 40ish and we can pick it up and throw it as an improvised weapon. (We will have to repeat this PAO several times, as Hippogriff Steed II/III periodically resets our hippogriff's size to large, but we should have plenty of WBL by then.)



http://dragonstaverns.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dragon-quest-goldman.jpg

Build Stub: Gold Golem 5/Fighter 1/Stoneblessed 3/Hulking Hurler 1/Great Rift Skyguard 10
Multiclass Penalty: No.
Languages: Common, Dwarven, Terran, Giant, EBICS
Alignment: Neutral Gold
Ability Scores: Str 39, Dex 3, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 11, Cha 1 (All ability score increases go to Str)
Level Adjustment: ## RUNTIME ERROR '11': DIVISION BY CUCUMBER ##



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


1st
Giant 1
+0
+2
+0
+0
Appraise 2, Craft (Stoneworking) 2, Handle Animal 2, Jump 2, Ride 2, Tumble 2
Toughness



2nd
Giant 2
+1
+3
+0
+0
Appraise 2, Balance 0.5, Craft (Stoneworking) 2.5, Handle Animal 2.5, Jump 2.5, Ride 2.5, Tumble 2.5




3rd
Giant 3
+2
+3
+1
+1
Appraise 2, Balance 1, Craft (Stoneworking) 3, Handle Animal 3, Jump 3, Ride 3, Tumble 3
Mounted Combat



4th
Giant 4
+3
+4
+1
+1
Appraise 2, Balance 1.5, Craft (Stoneworking) 3.5, Handle Animal 3.5, Jump 3.5, Ride 3.5, Tumble 3.5




5th
Giant 5
+3
+4
+1
+1
Appraise 2, Balance 2, Craft (Stoneworking) 4, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Ride 4, Tumble 4




6th
Fighter 1
+4
+6
+1
+1
Appraise 2, Balance 2, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 4, Jump 5, Ride 8, Tumble 4
Power Attack, PB Shot



7th
Stoneblessed 1
+4
+8
+1
+1
Appraise 2, Balance 2, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 4, Jump 9, Ride 8, Tumble 5

Stonebond (Races of Stone)


8th
Stoneblessed 2
+5
+9
+1
+1
Appraise 2, Balance 4, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 4, Jump 11, Ride 8, Tumble 5

Racial Battle Technique, Str +1 (40)


9th
Stoneblessed 3
+6
+9
+2
+2
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 4, Jump 11, Ride 8, Tumble 7
Weapon Focus (Hippogriff)
Stoneborn


10th
Hulking Hurler 1
+7
+9
+4
+2
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 4, Jump 13, Ride 8, Tumble 9

Catch Weapon, Really Throw Anything (Complete Warrior)


11th
Great Rift Skyguard 1
+8
+11
+6
+2
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 4, Jump 14, Ride 8, Tumble 14

Axes from the Sky, Skilled City-Dweller ACF: Tumble (Cityscape Web Enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a))


12th
Great Rift Skyguard 2
+9
+12
+7
+2
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 8, Jump 15, Ride 8, Tumble 15
Natural Heavyweight (Planar Handbook)
Hippogriff Steed I, Skyhook, Str +1 (41)


13th
Great Rift Skyguard 3
+10
+12
+7
+3
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 12, Jump 16, Ride 8, Tumble 16
Mounted Archery
Bonus Mounted Combat Feat


14th
Great Rift Skyguard 4
+11
+13
+8
+3
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 16, Jump 17, Ride 8, Tumble 17

Fly-By Attack


15th
Great Rift Skyguard 5
+12
+13
+8
+3
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 18, Jump 18, Ride 9, Tumble 18
Brutal Throw (Complete Adventurer)
Hippogriff Steed II


16th
Great Rift Skyguard 6
+13
+14
+9
+4
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 18, Jump 19, Ride 11, Tumble 19

Drogue Charge, Str +1 (42)


17th
Great Rift Skyguard 7
+14
+14
+9
+4
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 18, Jump 20, Ride 13, Tumble 20
Improved Mounted Archery (Complete Warrior)
Bonus Mounted Combat Feat


18th
Great Rift Skyguard 8
+15
+15
+10
+4
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 18, Jump 21, Ride 15, Tumble 21
Far Shot
Hippogriff Steed III


19th
Great Rift Skyguard 9
+16
+15
+10
+5
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 18, Jump 22, Ride 17, Tumble 22

Glide For Distance


20th
Great Rift Skyguard 10
+17
+16
+11
+5
Appraise 2, Balance 5, Craft (Stoneworking) 5, Handle Animal 18, Jump 23, Ride 19, Tumble 23

Skyguard Catapult, Str +1 (43)



"Sweet Spot": Level 15. Although Goldy is strong enough to lift his huge-sized hippogriff at level 12 (Natural Heavyweight doubles his Light Load to 9812 lbs.), this is where Goldy gets Brutal Throw, and thus can ignore his -4 Dex penalty on thrown weapon attacks. From the ground (after performing Axes from the Sky), Goldy can lift his shield up for Skyhook. When his hippogriff gets him up to at least 20' above his opponent, Goldy throws two stones from a colossal-sized scorpion (Heroes of Battle p. 67). These weigh 600 lbs, and although Goldy can't quite match the force of a siege engine, they do 7d6 damage as improvised weapons (drawing ammunition is a free action). For his third thrown attack, Goldy "grabs" his hippogriff and throws it directly downward. As an 8000 lb improvised weapon, the hippogriff does 43d6 damage. Goldy then drops down from above, dealing damage as a falling object: he weighs at least 1000 lbs, so 6d6 damage plus +2d6 for each 10' fallen past the first (1d6 from the distance fallen and 1d6 from Roof-Jumper). If he prefers to stay on the ground, he can use Skyhook to "grab" his hippogriff as a free action, throw it as his first ranged attack, and then throw stones for his second and third attack. Since his hippogriff flies back to him every round, he can repeat this as often as necessary. Once his drogue wing is deployed, he can throw that as well (60 lbs, 3d6 as an improvised weapon).

At Level 20, Goldy can start off with Skyguard Catapult (19d6 damage from 150'), use Skyhook to perform an Axes from the Sky on the next round or stay on the ground with a Drogue Charge, and once his drogue wing is deployed, use the "Skyhook Drop" or "Skyhook Throw" every round after that.


Costs:


Price
Item/Service


20,000 GP
Thought Bottle


910 GP
Transmute metal to wood


9,000 GP
Spell Research for dustform construct


9,180 GP
(incarnate construct + dustform construct) x 3


1,530 GP
Gate to Enhanced Magic plane


1,530 GP
Maximized incarnate construct


1,950 GP
Power Stone of five-level psychic reformation


3,000 GP
Hippogriff


1,000 GP
Hippogriff Training


1,200 GP
Polymorph any object


49,300 GP
Total



Which leaves the question of "Level Adjustment". We're kinda stuck with the Eyeball Method here, but based on the Flesh Golem monster class (Savage Species) and the Nimblewright (MM2), it should probably be around the neighborhood of +6. However, after losing 5 HD I'm going to say it's +5 because HA! MADE YOU LOOK!. After the last incarnate construct, this brings it down to +3, which isn't too far off for a 5 HD giant (Ogres are 4 HD with LA +2). With LA Buyoff at 9th, 15th, and 18th, that makes this reasonably manageable within 20 levels.

And yes, Ponies, if you're going to judge, you might as well score this one, too, as an "unofficial entry".

[daremetoidareyo]

Darrin, This is why we need collusion threads for iron chef. Bravo. You can have half of a camel. This is an arbitrary award made of words only. But it does beg the question, What do I do with a purely conceptual half of camel? You throw a tauric template on that bad boy and get workin with it, apparently, because your "Gold Dwarf" is like the one Mengele experiment that actually produced worthwhile results. Consider it a Loquacious transgressive semi-hidden double Bravo!

[TroubleBrewing]

Backstory pretty much writes itself, too.

Gold Golem does some great service to the Dwarves who built it, so they honor it by uplifting it to be as alive as they are. It becomes their king.

[OMG PONIES]

Backstory pretty much writes itself, too.

Gold Golem does some great service to the Dwarves who built it, so they honor it by uplifting it to be as alive as they are. It becomes their king.

Entry art:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_RdkapcBy4s/TfD1lng-omI/AAAAAAAADGo/AB52_olhRoo/s1600/C3P0%2Bis%2Ba%2Bgod%2Bamong%2Bthe%2Bewoks%2Bon%2Be ndor.jpg

[Darrin]

Darrin, This is why we need collusion threads for iron chef. Bravo. You can have half of a camel.

Thanks! But it was your idea originally, so I guess you get the other half of the camel?


Backstory pretty much writes itself, too.

Gold Golem does some great service to the Dwarves who built it, so they honor it by uplifting it to be as alive as they are. It becomes their king.

Heh. Not even sure a 'great service' is necessary:

Dwarf#1: "So... why'd ya make 'im a dwarf?"
Dwarf#2: "Are ya daft?!? Bloke is SOLID GOLD! Wha's more DWARF tha' that?!?"


Entry art:

Excellent Move! But I went with Dragon Warrior instead.

[Inevitability]

I nominate Reaping Mauler for the next challenge!

Come on, you know you want to...

[Sian]

I nominate Reaping Mauler for the next challenge!

Come on, you know you want to...

there's probably two issues with that. Its only 5 levels and its was used in Junkyard V (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?360271-Junkyard-Wars-in-the-Playground-V-Dread-Witch-Reaping-Mauler-Fighter)

[Inevitability]

there's probably two issues with that. Its only 5 levels and its was used in Junkyard V (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?360271-Junkyard-Wars-in-the-Playground-V-Dread-Witch-Reaping-Mauler-Fighter)

1. I don't see how being 5 levels long is an issue. It'll allow for more diverse builds, because entries no longer share half their class distribution, and if you don't count upgrades to already existent abilities, Reaping Mauler gives just as much as Hand of the Winged Masters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255215-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XXXVII) (just to name something).

2. Junkyard Wars (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?337864-Junkyard-Wars-in-the-Playground-I) ingredients and Iron Chef (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?220956-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-In-The-Playground-XXVI) have used the same ingredient in the past. When RM got used in Junkyard Wars, it was under very tight restrictions, and only two builds got submitted. I seriously doubt there will be much overlap.

[Deadline]

1. I don't see how being 5 levels long is an issue. It'll allow for more diverse builds, because entries no longer share half their class distribution, and if you don't count upgrades to already existent abilities, Reaping Mauler gives just as much as Hand of the Winged Masters (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255215-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XXXVII) (just to name something).

2. Junkyard Wars (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?337864-Junkyard-Wars-in-the-Playground-I) ingredients and Iron Chef (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?220956-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-In-The-Playground-XXVI) have used the same ingredient in the past. When RM got used in Junkyard Wars, it was under very tight restrictions, and only two builds got submitted. I seriously doubt there will be much overlap.

1. Traditionally, IC have been 10 level ingredients (I think Heliomance did a round with Dungeon Lord earlier). Besides, it's not like there's a shortage of 10 level potential SI's floating around.

2. 4, there were 4 submitted builds (which wasn't all that bad for JW). I remember that one, because Muggins pretty roundly trounced me there. :smalltongue:

[WhamBamSam]

Hand of the Winged Masters at least fits into an existing precision damage build with relatively little pain beyond severely delaying Darkstalker. It doesn't give you much, but nor does it take that much away.

Reaping Mauler doesn't even fit into a standard grappler build because of the size restriction on Clever Wrestling, and the features are actually worse. The capstone doesn't accomplish anything that you weren't already getting with Sleeper Hold, which is already not great, and beyond that you're getting a +2, and at best breaking even on the feat tax to get in.

I suspect we're due for something castery. Maybe Oozemaster, since that was probably one of the voting options in the last thread.

[Thurbane]

As always, putting my hand up for the wonderful nothingness of Dragon Samurai (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906c). I defy anyone to make anything of this class that couldn't be better done with a base class or other PrC. This makes Talon of Tiamat (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?283148-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XLV&p=15216595#post15216595) look positively dynamic.

[Heliomance]

I'm thinking something shiny next round. And not Shining Blade of Hier Heir Herbert. I look forward to your tears of rage.

[The Viscount]

Hm... maybe something shiny related like techsmith? Or perhaps the light in the darkness of Shadowbane Inquisitor? Both of those may be somewhat too good.

Unless that was a hint itself. Tears of rage, so perhaps an emotion based thing of one sort or another. Rage and shining together to me sounds like Dawncaller maybe?

[Amphetryon]

I'm thinking something shiny next round. And not Shining Blade of Hier Heir Herbert. I look forward to your tears of rage.

You're going to leave us shattered, aren't you?

[KrimsonNekros]

I'm thinking something shiny next round. And not Shining Blade of Hier Heir Herbert. I look forward to your tears of rage.

Blast it Heliomance! When am I getting my 8 levels of spider goodness? Well the torment never cease?

[OMG PONIES]

Dwarf#1: "So... why'd ya make 'im a dwarf?"
Dwarf#2: "Are ya daft?!? Bloke is SOLID GOLD! Wha's more DWARF tha' that?!?"
Spoken like a true azer.

[Heliomance]

Blast it Heliomance! When am I getting my 8 levels of spider goodness? Well the torment never cease?

Fang of Lolth happened ages ago!

[The Viscount]

Blast it Heliomance! When am I getting my 8 levels of spider goodness? Well the torment never cease?

I'll be honest I would have no idea what to do with Arachnomancer.

Now if we were working with Defiant, I'd have tons of fun.

[Venger]

I'll be honest I would have no idea what to do with Arachnomancer.

Now if we were working with Defiant, I'd have tons of fun.

Oh man, I'd love to cook a defiant.

[WhamBamSam]

I could roll with Arachnomancer or Defiant. First we have to get over whatever the upcoming "shiny" hurdle is though. I fear Risen Martyr, I really do. Even the best case scenario would be Vassal of Bahamut or something.

[Venger]

I could roll with Arachnomancer or Defiant. First we have to get over whatever the upcoming "shiny" hurdle is though. I fear Risen Martyr, I really do. Even the best case scenario would be Vassal of Bahamut or something.

man, I hope it's not risen martyr. the only prc so bad, it has to actively prevent you from leaving it.

[KrimsonNekros]

Fang of Lolth happened ages ago!

Because 10 levels is the same as 8. They are not truly devoted to the Spider Queen!


I'll be honest I would have no idea what to do with Arachnomancer.

Now if we were working with Defiant, I'd have tons of fun.
I've actually got most of a build for an Arachnomancer figured out from an old character I used to play.

[Inevitability]

I could roll with Arachnomancer or Defiant. First we have to get over whatever the upcoming "shiny" hurdle is though. I fear Risen Martyr, I really do. Even the best case scenario would be Vassal of Bahamut or something.

Vassal of Bahamut is horrible from the entry requirements down. Slaying an underCR'ed monster that can fly, cast spells, and give anyone who melees with it a horrible time... as a paladin or fighter. The worst part is that if you want to do it in time to finish the class, you're going to have to kill one of these at level 10.

Oh, and if you want to keep using your primary class feature, you better keep killing those dragons.

[WhamBamSam]

Vassal of Bahamut is horrible from the entry requirements down. Slaying an underCR'ed monster that can fly, cast spells, and give anyone who melees with it a horrible time... as a paladin or fighter. The worst part is that if you want to do it in time to finish the class, you're going to have to kill one of these at level 10.

Oh, and if you want to keep using your primary class feature, you better keep killing those dragons.That primary class feature is actually sort of interesting though. There aren't many things that deal damage that can't be healed. Even vile damage can be healed on consecrated/hallowed ground, but it seems as though even Wish/Miracle aren't guaranteed to work on Dragonwrack. EDIT: Rereading it, Wish and Miracle do work, but that's it.

I'd actually be sort of excited by Vassal of Bahamut. It's a big steaming pile of BoED, but there are nuggets of corn in there, and whatever else it might be, it isn't Risen Martyr.

[Troacctid]

Slaying an underCR'ed monster that can fly, cast spells, and give anyone who melees with it a horrible time... as a paladin or fighter.
Hey, the class description also says you can do it as a ranger or barbarian.

Actually, it's kind of odd that barbarian would be mentioned as a standard entry, considering that you have to be lawful.

[Vaz]

Judging up later tonight guys, having to pop out for a bit today, and had a lie-in as it was the sproglings decided to have a restful morning so had a lazy one in bed. Apologies!

As for classes, I'm hoping for an Ashworm Dragoon sometime.

[TroubleBrewing]

Enter the lurking judge.

Vultag Thunderkeg

Originality:

What can I say. Changing alignment isn't uncommon for backstories, but actually starting as the "wrong" alignment for a class and intending to make the switch? That's rare enough. On top of that, you splashed some caster classes into a build already possessing Barbarian and Drunken Master. The icing on the cake here is that he's a walking diving Flash Gordon reference. 5/5.
Power:

You've got all the best melee tricks here: Cloistered Cleric/Knowledge Devotion shenanigans, the Shock Trooper line, Pounce, etc. 5/5. Best you can expect from this archetype.
Elegance

Your build is a lot of things. Beautiful in a sort of patchwork, tatterdemalion way. Elegant, it is not. Looking at this class line made me wrinkle my nose as if from bad eggs. I do like the end product, and it's a tricky class to qualify for, so ultimately, it's somewhere in the middle. 3/5.
Use of Secret Ingredient

This is how Secret Ingredients should be used. The rest of the build needs to enhance and magnify the inherent power buried in this absolute dumpster fire of a class, and it works hilariously. 5/5, no question.



Ivarr Deathborn

Originality:

Your steadfast refusal to use anything resembling a core base class amuses me. The trick is... unique, if a bit cheesy. More on this below. 4/5.
Power:

Relying on DM approval for the time, resources, and know-how to create a comically over-templated Griffon to endlessly murder, reanimate, and murder again to stack additional power on until you can actually use the phrase "We’re already potentially dealing with arbitrarily high Str, Dex, and NA..." is basically the epitome of a cheese fondue. I'm a fan of this kind of thing as a general principle, but for the ICOC, it's a horse of a different color. 2/5 for the mature Gruyere.
Elegance:

I'm confused by the lack of any kind of backstory, or indeed any fluff at all, but I am utterly bewildered by the idea of leaving it out for Elegance purposes. Without any flavoring, this is just calorie pills in protein paste. 1/5.
Use of Secret Ingredient:

No Drogue Charge or Skyguard Catapult... but the central trick of your build, regardless of my feelings on it, relies entirely upon the abilities of the class. It does feel a bit like you could benefit from ducking out as soon as you hit level 8. 3.5/5
Final Notes: Scoring aside, I love the detail, the dogged pursuit of some kind of value amidst the mountains of waste this class consists of, and the amount of work this build clearly required. If we're still doing Honorable Mentions (I've been away for some time), this build has my vote. Seriously, other builds WISH they had this much documentation.


Bromdorn 'Bolt' Stormspear

Originality:

Bloodstorm Blade is an interesting pick. The idea of treating the jump/charge as a loose teleport-like ability is likewise interesting. That said, the march from Warblade/Barbarian/Bloodstorm Blade is pretty cut-and-dry. No penalty, just fewer points. 3/5.
Power:

I'm not seeing anything here that improves on the basic expected power level of a class like this. You've got some tricks to make it more interesting, and maybe more useful, but I don't know that it's an obvious power increase. The Shock Trooper line alone is not enough. 3/5.
Elegance:

This is a really smooth progression. No weird jumps, no bizarre shoehorning, just a well made build. Whatever points you lost in Originality you make up for here. 5/5.
Use of Secret Ingredient

Here's where things get ugly. You labeled the "sweet spot" of your build the level before you enter the SI. Honestly, you could get by with just 2 levels of the secret ingredient and not lose too much. Like I said, the leaping teleporting charge thing is a neat trick, but you don't need ten levels to pull it off. It's a tricky class to use in its entirety, and unfortunately, I'm not seeing that here. 2/5.



Bolfarg of Knoss

Originality:

The classes aren't anything special, but that's not where your eggs are. Good on you for being the lone build without a factory-standard race. I must also give you credit for siring your own Hippogriff. My copy of Savage Species salutes you from my shelf. 4/5.
Power:

Find a new way to use a well-known melee trick? That's good. Happen across a way to actually improve on the original? That's great. Stacking Intimidate shenanigans is always good for ending encounters that can't be dived at. 5/5.
Elegance:

Flows pretty well, though the rapid sequence of Fighter substitution levels is a bit jarring. 4.5/5.
Use of Secret Ingredient

I can't give full marks here, as you've only got 9 levels of it, but I like the way it turned out. Knockback is crazy good here, and you actually found a solid use for Glide for Distance, which nearly everyone else kind of brushed off. 4.5/5.

[Inevitability]

How about Arachnomancer for the next round? Weird entry requirements, 7/10 arcane casting, and has lots of weird class features that don't make up for its lost caster levels.

[WhamBamSam]

How about Arachnomancer for the next round? Weird entry requirements, 7/10 arcane casting, and has lots of weird class features that don't make up for its lost caster levels.KrimsonNekros has been pushing for the 8 level DotU version of Arachnomancer for ages. They're pretty similar, but with a few potentially noteworthy differences.

Heliomance says we're getting something shiny next round though. She says it isn't Shining Blade, and her comments from the voting in the last thread suggest it isn't Solar Channeler, but she's made no such assurances about Risen Martyr, and says she expects tears of rage. As I said, even the best case scenario is something like Vassal of Bahamut.

Iron Chef Optimization is one of the few situations in which getting something spidery is preferable to getting something shiny.

[Inevitability]

I can think of a few other shiny classes. How about Sun Soul Monk?

[WhamBamSam]

I can think of a few other shiny classes. How about Sun Soul Monk?Sure. There's also Platinum Knight, Dawncaller (which The Viscount mentioned a few posts back as a possible "tears of rage" interpretation), and a few others, most of which offer too much casting to be good SI candidates.

[Sian]

While it's an interesting class (of little obvious use), I kinda hope it won't be Sun Soul Monk, as it would be 6th Setting specific class out of the last 8 at that point (Silver Key (Eberron), Spellfire Channeler (Faerûn), Flux Adept (Generic), Crinti Shadow Marauder (Faerûn), Thief of Life (Eberron), Legacy Champion (Generic), Great Rift Skyguard (Faerûn), XXX (XXX) )

...

Soldier of Light maybe?

[WhamBamSam]

While it's an interesting class (of little obvious use), I kinda hope it won't be Sun Soul Monk, as it would be 6th Setting specific class out of the last 8 at that point (Silver Key (Eberron), Spellfire Channeler (Faerûn), Flux Adept (Generic), Crinti Shadow Marauder (Faerûn), Thief of Life (Eberron), Legacy Champion (Generic), Great Rift Skyguard (Faerûn), XXX (XXX) )

...

Soldier of Light maybe?True, we have gotten a lot of setting-specific stuff lately. I'd rather see Vassal of Bahamut than Sun Soul Monk myself. For all its many shortcomings, damage that can't be healed is fairly unique, and I like dragons.

Soldier of Light is probably too good (it's certainly not "tears of rage" bad), though you usually don't see more than 2 levels of it, so it could be a potential SI in the future.

[Thurbane]

...and I like dragons.

*cough* Dragon Samurai *cough*

[TroubleBrewing]

Has judging closed?

[ben-zayb]

Is 3.0 content fair game? I was thinking of Faiths and Pantheons Goldeye as the Shiny SI. Then again, we already had a gold-related PrC this round.

[Inevitability]

Has judging closed?

Seems to be the case. Time for a reveal, perhaps?


Is 3.0 content fair game? I was thinking of Faiths and Pantheons Goldeye as the Shiny SI. Then again, we already had a gold-related PrC this round.

I doubt it. I mean, it gives full casting progression.

[Sian]

Seems to be the case. Time for a reveal, perhaps?

Given that we've had no disputes as of yet, and Vaz seems to be basicly done (from his last post), I'd say it being somewhat premature

[Inevitability]

Given that we've had no disputes as of yet, and Vaz seems to be basicly done (from his last post), I'd say it being somewhat premature

Whoops, failed to notice Vaz was judging. Nevermind.

[Vaz]

It'll be up tonight, poorly children, then Game of Thrones hype took over. Apologies!

[Sian]

Another prestige class that might well fit "Shining" and "tears of Rage" would be Cavalier ... they're rather bad, and they're described as the quintessential knight in shining armor

[Heliomance]

Has judging closed?

Oh, huh. Lost track of this, thought there was another week to go. Still, I'll wait for Vaz.

And what I'm planning for the next contest has been mentioned ^_^

[Heliomance]

I have a dispute sitting in my inbox. Just one, actually - I think that's some sort of record!


Thanks for judging TroubleBrewing. I do have some disputes however.


Power:

Relying on DM approval for the time, resources, and know-how to create a comically over-templated Griffon to endlessly murder, reanimate, and murder again to stack additional power on until you can actually use the phrase "We’re already potentially dealing with arbitrarily high Str, Dex, and NA..." is basically the epitome of a cheese fondue. I'm a fan of this kind of thing as a general principle, but for the ICOC, it's a horse of a different color. 2/5 for the mature Gruyere. Time is really the only necessary resource. Horned Harbinger gives Animate Dead as a SLA, so it doesn't require material components. The fancy statue and sedatives aren't really necessary either. They just add a flair of ceremony compared to, say, drowning the hippogriff. As for know-how, Detect Undead is Death Master 1, so all Ivarr would need to do is prepare it once on a whim or hunch to discern that Myna was no longer undead. Time is, as you say, and as I indicate within the build, not certain, but there's also a competent charger build with various bells and whistles to manage the eccentricities that come from using a Drogue Wing for his class features (a small crew of animated skeletons among his armies of the dead dedicated to replacing his Drogue Wing after he lands, Make Whole from his Death Master casting to fix Drogue Wings that break). Even if you limit Myna to a single skeletonization, Ivarr should manage alright.


Elegance:

I'm confused by the lack of any kind of backstory, or indeed any fluff at all, but I am utterly bewildered by the idea of leaving it out for Elegance purposes. Without any flavoring, this is just calorie pills in protein paste. 1/5. Ivarr has a ton of backstory. Probably more than you actually want to read. It's in the embedded spoiler tags within the level snapshots. Apologies if the formatting caused you to miss it.


Use of Secret Ingredient:

No Drogue Charge or Skyguard Catapult... but the central trick of your build, regardless of my feelings on it, relies entirely upon the abilities of the class. It does feel a bit like you could benefit from ducking out as soon as you hit level 8. 3.5/5He gets something out of Drogue Charge, though it is a pretty big cut in damage compared to Axes From the Sky. At the very least, he's got pounce, the damage doubling on Horned Harbinger's Bone Horns, and his various Drogue Wing management tricks. The undead pit crew and use of Make Whole may not quite be as slick as Vultag's use of Swift Ready, but they come to largely the same result.

Unless you meant Glide For Distance rather than Drogue Charge. I'll agree that he doesn't get that, but as you note in your judging of Bolfarg, most builds don't get much out of it anyway, as it doesn't play nicely with Axes From the Sky and only does with Drogue Charge if you're consistently fighting taller enemies or engaging in some manner of shenanigan, like Bolfarg is. Vultag would probably do better to jump out after Skyguard 8 as well, though I guess I understand giving points for his sticking it out.

[TroubleBrewing]

Ivarr has a ton of backstory. Probably more than you actually want to read. It's in the embedded spoiler tags within the level snapshots. Apologies if the formatting caused you to miss it.


Yup, that's on me. I'll have an edited version up shortly.

EDIT: Okay, here we go. Updates in blue.

Ivarr Deathborn

Originality:

Your steadfast refusal to use anything resembling a core base class amuses me. The trick is... unique, if a bit cheesy. More on this below. 4/5.
Power:

Relying on DM approval for the time, resources, and know-how to create a comically over-templated Griffon to endlessly murder, reanimate, and murder again to stack additional power on until you can actually use the phrase "We’re already potentially dealing with arbitrarily high Str, Dex, and NA..." is basically the epitome of a cheese fondue. I'm a fan of this kind of thing as a general principle, but for the ICOC, it's a horse of a different color. 2/5 for the mature Gruyere.
Elegance:

I'm confused by the lack of any kind of backstory, or indeed any fluff at all, but I am utterly bewildered by the idea of leaving it out for Elegance purposes. Without any flavoring, this is just calorie pills in protein paste. 1/5. The (very sneaky) backstory is extremely well-written, squicky in all the right places, and it manages to shine a light on every ability shown in the build. Solid theme throughout, and doesn't change enough of the original flavor of the class to warrant any quibbling. The levels flow naturally into each other, and despite some difficult-to-blend classes pulls off that rare trick of having all of its best tricks at levels when they'd be relevant. 5/5
Use of Secret Ingredient:

No Drogue Charge or Skyguard Catapult... but the central trick of your build, regardless of my feelings on it, relies entirely upon the abilities of the class. It does feel a bit like you could benefit from ducking out as soon as you hit level 8. 3.5/5 Having looked over my notes, I think the reason I'd assumed you weren't using Drogue Charge was due to the wording of "We also pick up Drogue Charge, for situations where Myna’s actions are better spent on things besides Skyhook..." in combination with the infinite template stacking. Taken together, this sentence looks very sarcastic. I'll give you the half point I'd deducted, as well as a quarter point for the bemused snort at using Catapult as a running joke. 4.25/5
Final Notes: Scoring aside, I love the detail, the dogged pursuit of some kind of value amidst the mountains of waste this class consists of, and the amount of work this build clearly required. If we're still doing Honorable Mentions (I've been away for some time), this build has my vote. Seriously, other builds WISH they had this much documentation.

[WhamBamSam]

That's a pretty substantial swing in points.

Scores After One Judge
EntryPlaceTotal
Vultag ThunderkegGold18
Bolfarg of KnossGold18
Ivarr DeathbornBronze15.25
Bromdorn 'Bolt' StormspearFourth13

[Sian]

From how i read it, he started at 5/5 in all, retracting when he found something disagreeable, instead of the usually excepted, starting at 3/5, and raising it if the entry goes above and beyond expected

[TroubleBrewing]

From how i read it, he started at 5/5 in all, retracting when he found something disagreeable, instead of the usually excepted, starting at 3/5, and raising it if the entry goes above and beyond expected

I split the difference, starting at 4/5, adding if it's exceptional and removing if it needs improvement.

[OMG PONIES]

Sorry friends, I won't be able to hold court on this one.

[The Viscount]

Aw, too bad.

Then we're done once Vaz weighs in?

[Sian]

Given that Vaz said 'Later tonight' last Sunday ... ehhh ...

[WhamBamSam]

It would seem to be nearing time to wrap this round up.

[Darrin]

I would prefer to hear from Vaz before calling it closed.

(Maybe he's angling for my record... I think I went two weeks after the deadline once?)

[Troacctid]

Here come the builds here come the builds!
Before I start my judging, I just want to say that I read this like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5mAW4QuedM).

I grade holistically and I don't like fractions.
Originality: 3
We've seen a lot of this formula before: Barbarian dip for pounce, Monk and Fighter dips for bonus feats, Cloistered Cleric dip for domain feats and turning. These all do a good job of supporting the secret ingredient, but the ground here is well-trodden. Artificer is uncommon, though, and the backstory is quite good, so on balance you squeeze through with a baseline score here. You also have some nifty little tricks that are pretty creative, but while that helps your Originality a little bit, it's primarily boosting your UoSI.

Power: 4
You have a strong damage output, you come online early, and you have good ways to stay relevant late. I'm not going to say my mind is blown, but you're doing decently well for yourself.

Elegance: 1
Hopefully this isn't a surprise to you, since you took two illegal classes and a 60% multiclass xp penalty. I realize that you don't lose anything for shifting alignment after taking your Barbarian level, but that doesn't mean it's not inelegant. And I might give you a pass if you were just grabbing a spell or a feat from an Eberron book, but Artificers are one of the most iconic features of the Eberron setting. You might as well give your character a dragonmark while you're at it. As for that 60% xp penalty, you can consider yourself lucky I'm not also docking you in Power for not having enough xp to reach 20th level.

On the upside, I wish more contestants had written their skills out with as much clarity as you did.

Use of Secret Ingredient: 5
You certainly found some clever ways to jump off your hippogriff. Trickery Devotion is getting you the bulk of the points here, since it is legitimately awesome with this class, but Drunken Master is also very cute, as is swift ready, and while the standard ubercharger tricks were an obvious place to go, I would be remiss if I didn't give you credit for them.
Originality: 5
Wow, this was definitely not an expected concept. Totemist, sure, that's nothing out of the ordinary on a chargey prestige class like this one, but Death Master into Horned Harbinger to get a buffed-up undead hippogriff? That was way off my radar. And the story is also great. I feel pretty good giving you full marks here.

Power: 4
Not much to say here except that I think your overall power level is roughly similar to Vultag's—the additional MADness hurts you, but it's not like I'm doing a bunch of math to properly figure out who has the better damage output when it probably wouldn't change the scores either way. It's close enough.

Elegance: 2
While you avoid multiclass penalties, you're eating a dead level in order to do so, which, honestly, is almost as bad. Not quite as bad, but still bad. An elegant build would have found a better break point. You also have two patron deities (Orcus and Myrkul), where Forgotten Realms characters are generally only allowed one, IIRC. I would normally scold you for taking Mounted Combat and then not maxing Ride, but I'll cut you some slack since you left a soulmeld slot free for Riding Bracers to make up for it. Then there's the elephant in the room, which is the template-looping to power up your hippogriff. I'll be blunt: this doesn't work. It relies on stacking bonuses from the same source, which is against the rules. Lucky for you, the build doesn't rely on that trick, or I'd be harsher.

Use of Secret Ingredient: 4
There's some nice stuff going on here. Using an undead hippogriff is clever. You have lots of ways to boost your charges. You have minions to help with drogue wings, although I question whether that's the most efficient use of them. I like that you managed to get good use out of the Toughness prerequisite. All in all, I think you earned an above average score despite not taking all 10 levels, which is hard to do.
Originality: 2
While Bloodstorm Blade is a cute gimmick, this is still a fairly standard ubercharger build. The addition of thrown weapon synergies sets you apart at least enough to keep you off of a 1, but on the whole, I'm not impressed.

Power: 3
The reason you're receiving a lower grade than the previous two entries is because you fall off harder in the later levels. You definitely have a good kick at the start with your early Warblade levels, and you can hold your own as a Shock Trooper (even if it's delayed somewhat), which is enough to earn you a 3. However, most of the latter half of your build does very little to improve your capabilities outside of just adding more BAB to Power Attack with.

Elegance: 2
I think TroubleBrewing let you off too easy in this category. It's good that you kept your build relatively simple, maintained full BAB for all 20 levels, and stuck to a coherent high concept. But you also chose a baffling break point for Barbarian (do you really need Trapkiller?), took a multiclass xp penalty at 4th level for no reason, failed to place your initiator levels strategically when you easily could have done so, and, most importantly of all, blatantly forgot to take the prerequisite feats for Great Rift Skyguard. Elegance is more than simplicity, and this build looks a little rough around the edges to me.

Use of Secret Ingredient: 2
On the other hand, I agree 100% with TroubleBrewing in this category. As funny as the teleporting trick may be, I'm skeptical as to its actual usefulness, and it looks to me like this build just isn't doing all that much with Great Rift Skyguard.
Originality: 4
Suddenly, a half-fiend who sires his own half-fiendish hippogriffs. I certainly did not see that coming. A bold move, and you are rewarded for it in this category—although the fact that you used what may have been the two most blatantly obvious base classes possible keeps you from scoring full marks.

Power: 2
Unfortunately, you are punished for your boldness in this category, where that +4 LA rips a big chunk off of your Power score. It hurts both your offensive and defensive capabilities, and makes your key tricks come online much later than they normally would. Knockback is not worth it, especially considering that it doesn't come until all the way at ECL 13.

Elegance: 4
That being said, I think this is the most elegant of the four builds. It keeps things relatively simple, and I can't find any glaring rules issues aside from the problem of dungeoncrashing enemies into the ground, which, let's be honest, isn't really all that problematic. The pieces click together well, and there's a solid flow to the build.

Use of Secret Ingredient: 3
Getting a better hippogriff by siring your own is amusing, and you have Shock Trooper and pounce doing their usual good work. On the other hand, Large size seems to actively work against the SI, and the other abilities of the class don't seem to be seeing a ton of use here. I don't see a reason to go below the baseline here, but I'm also not seeing much reason to go above it.

[Heliomance]

We have a second judge! And you know what that means - more disputes!


I don't know what 'prerequisite feats' you're talking about: could you clarify?



I grade holistically and I don't like fractions.


Huzzah!



Hopefully this isn't a surprise to you, since you took two illegal classes and a 60% multiclass xp penalty.


Could you specify which classes are illegal?

And in what I suspect would be mostly in the interests of pointless pedantry, I believe only Simple Barbarian and Cloistered Cleric count towards the XP penalty, so that would be 40%, not 60%. Monk is within 1 level of Artificer, and Fighter is a favored class for gold dwarves. I attempted to address this with a note about picking up Iron Will/Otyugh Hole and taking a level of Dragonslayer, but that's not entirely elegant either. Swift ready is also available as an Assassin spell, so replacing Artificer 3 with Assassin 3 would also avoid an XP penalty, but Divebombing Dwarf Assassin seemed like just a shade too far.

[Troacctid]

I don't know what 'prerequisite feats' you're talking about: could you clarify?
Mounted Combat and Toughness.


Could you specify which classes are illegal?
Barbarian (requires nonlawful alignment) and Artificer (not available in the Forgotten Realms).


And in what I suspect would be mostly in the interests of pointless pedantry, I believe only Simple Barbarian and Cloistered Cleric count towards the XP penalty, so that would be 40%, not 60%. Monk is within 1 level of Artificer, and Fighter is a favored class for gold dwarves.
This is true. I mistyped it. It seems you got the gist, though.


I attempted to address this with a note about picking up Iron Will/Otyugh Hole and taking a level of Dragonslayer, but that's not entirely elegant either. Swift ready is also available as an Assassin spell, so replacing Artificer 3 with Assassin 3 would also avoid an XP penalty, but Divebombing Dwarf Assassin seemed like just a shade too far.
Yes, it is a puzzle, isn't it? I think Dragonslayer or Assassin might have improved your score if you'd found a way to work it into the story, but who knows. Anyway, while I encourage adaptations (they're a helpful tool for players who might want to try out a build in their own games, and an interesting insight into the author's thought process), I usually don't include them in my scores.

No changes.

[Darrin]

Table updated.

Scores After Two Judges
EntryPlaceTroubleBrewingTroacctidTotal
Vultag Thunderkeg (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650036&postcount=77)Gold181331
Bolfarg of Knoss (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650043&postcount=78)Gold181331
Ivarr Deathborn (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650047&postcount=80)Bronze15.2515.530.75
Bromdorn 'Bolt' Stormspear (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650049&postcount=81)Fourth13922

No word from Vaz... were you close to done, or is it a lost cause now?

[Heliomance]

I've got another four messages in my inbox which I'll post once I get on a proper computer. Apologies for the slow pace of my updates this contest.

[Heliomance]

Sorry for the delay folks.



Thanks for judging Troacctid. I just have a few small points/explanations.


Elegance: 2
While you avoid multiclass penalties, you're eating a dead level in order to do so, which, honestly, is almost as bad. Not quite as bad, but still bad. An elegant build would have found a better break point. You also have two patron deities (Orcus and Myrkul), where Forgotten Realms characters are generally only allowed one, IIRC. I would normally scold you for taking Mounted Combat and then not maxing Ride, but I'll cut you some slack since you left a soulmeld slot free for Riding Bracers to make up for it. Then there's the elephant in the room, which is the template-looping to power up your hippogriff. I'll be blunt: this doesn't work. It relies on stacking bonuses from the same source, which is against the rules. Lucky for you, the build doesn't rely on that trick, or I'd be harsher.The class description for Horned Harbinger says that most Horned Harbingers worship other evil deities (what with Myrkul being dead and all) prior to adopting the prestige class and that Clerics of those deities retain their powers and domains even after switching to worship Myrkul. Technically, it says that most were former Myrkul worshipers whose patron shifted after his death then reverted back, as opposed to new converts like Ivarr, but even so, the class is explicitly designed around a shift in worship. I believe there's also some connection between Faerun Orcus and Myrkul which smooths the transition a bit, though I'm not exactly an expert in the nuances of FR lore.

Mounted Combat I had sort of given up on due to how little time Skyguards actually spend in the saddle and the fact that they require a race with a Dex penalty. I was also operating under the impression that the template looping would potentially give Myna an AC well above any Ride check Ivarr would be able to manage. But as you say, the Riding Bracers somewhat make up for it. With at least a point of essentia invested there, Ivarr can actually tie or exceed the highest Ride mod of any of the entries. Sounds as though you didn't actually take points away here though.

I hadn't thought about the bonuses from templates coming from the same source. I did think of it with regard to the increased HP from Desecrate, but not with regard to template numbers themselves. You might have a point there. Still, the "baseline" Hippogriff Zombie Skeleton gets a net +2 Str,+5 NA which can actually be stacked on top of the set values given by Hippogriff Steed, and DR 5/bludgeoning to overlap with the DR/magic, an added Slam attack, and Cold Immunity. Also, what constitutes a bonus? Because the glossary definition doesn't seem to even extend to this case (though it would also fail to cover a number of other things which are explicitly bonuses), and it would certainly be a stretch to consider non-numerical things like added natural weapons (the Slam that the zombie template adds, for instance) to be bonuses. So even if the numbers don't go up, they won't go down either as penalties from the same source also don't stack and a Hippogriff Zombien Skeleton will arguably have n slams along with the aforementioned statistical improvements. I'd fluff the slams as the bones of Myna's rib cage opening up and then striking the enemy as they closed shut. It's appropriately gross and fits with the womb imagery I used throughout the story. It's not quite as sexy as the +2n Str, +5n+2k NA, +2m Dex from the Hippogriff (Zombie Skeleton)n Skeletonm proposed in the write-up would have been, but it's something. She can't just use the Sphinx Claws to get pounce like Ivarr as she has Con and hence can't take Incarnum feats, but it's not that hard to construct a means of moving and full attacking through either items (possibly self crafted through feat shenanigans during the iterations of template looping) or feats (if nothing else, 9 HD is enough for Travel Devotion x4 which will get her through an adventuring day). So it does at least work to some extent. I'm not sure that makes the trick any more elegant, but it's probably at least more functional.


Use of Secret Ingredient: 4
You have minions to help with drogue wings, although I question whether that's the most efficient use of them.A Drogue Wing pit crew takes 2 HD worth of undead, or 3 if you need to add one to help Ivarr out of his shield as well. While he can certainly do other things with some of his animated minions, he also has a few HD worth of commanded undead through rebuking. The max HD of undead commanded in this way is pretty low, and there really isn't much better use for them than standing by to do menial work like this, especially in combat. I doubt that this is enough to get Ivarr from a 4 to a full 5, but figured I might as well mention it.



Shame on me for not using a reliable source. That's the last time I'm going to use that site again without checking the book first.


Aside from the absurdity of making a statement about something "not available" in a campaign world that contains magical gunpowder, beholder spaceships, and a miniature giant space hamster, I concede the point. No further disputes.

[Troacctid]

You shouldn't get infinite slam attacks either.

The number of attacks a creature can make with its natural weapons depends on the type of the attack—a creature can make one bite attack, one attack per claw or tentacle, one gore attack, one sting attack, or one slam attack. Large or larger creatures that have arms or armlike limbs can make a slam attack with each arm.
I didn't notice that bit about Horned Harbingers switching deities, though. The point you lost in Elegance was maybe half that and half the Battledancer thing, so I'll give you back half a point. (I mean, that's not exactly how it works when you're grading holistically, but I don't want to let you off the hook for the dead level.)

+0.5 to Ivarr.

[WhamBamSam]

Alright then. That would appear to be that.

While we're waiting for the final reveal, I had a thought for a build combining things from a few of the different builds.

Divine Minion of Anhur Gold Dwarf Dungeon Crasher Fighter 6/Archivist 3/Great Rift Skyguard 10
1. Fighter 1 - Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush
2. Dungeon Crasher Fighter 2
3. Archivist 1 - Mounted Combat, Scribe Scroll
4. Archivist 2
5. Archivist 3
6. Fighter 3 - Toughness
7. Great Rift Skyguard 1
8. Great Rift Skyguard 2
9. Great Rift Skyguard 3 - Knockback, Mounted Casting
10. Great Rift Skyguard 4
11. Great Rift Skyguard 5
12. Great Rift Skyguard 6 - Assume Supernatural Ability (Ravid's Animate Objects)
13. Fighter 4 - Shock Trooper
14. Fighter 5
15. Dungeon Crasher Fighter 6 - Improved Unarmed Strike
16. Great Rift Skyguard 7 - Mounted Mobility
17. Great Rift Skyguard 8
18. Great Rift Skyguard 9 - Improved Assume Supernatural Ability
19. Great Rift Skyguard 10

Archivist 3 gives us Make Whole as a 1st level spell (Balance Domain), Swift Ready as a 2nd level spell (Divine Bard), and Alter Self as a 2nd level spell (Divine Bard or Favored Soul of Bahamut or Tiamat) along with some nice things like Rhino's Rush to work in with charging. Alter Self into a Ravid and gain their ability to animate objects at random. From your position up in the air you can limit this somewhat so that it will include your Drogue Wing which will also have Swift Ready cast on it and suspiciously be sized for a large creature. Being a creature, it will then presumably not meld into your form when you Fast Wild Shape into a Lion as a free action mid dive (allowing you to be an appropriate size to ride your large-sized Hippogriff while also being able to do Bolfarg's Knockback tricks). With the Ritual of Alignment, the build can also sire Half-Celestial Hippogriffs, assuming that you can convince your DM that bestiality is an act befitting a Good - (Good), in fact - character. Being able to make yourself large mid-fall even makes Skyguard Catapult a bit better.

A less elegant evil version of the build might try to work in Thrall of Juiblex 4 to get Alter Self at will instead of burning through spell slots. This would require a fall from grace, and likely being dedicated to an Elder Evil (Zargon, presumably), but it'd invite a Bartholomew and the Ooblek expy in the fluff (the magicians would cause something new to come down from the sky by warping the Divine Minion into a servant of the Faceless Lord who would then do just that), which would bring the classiness factor back up a bit.

Alternately (or additionally if you don't mind losing a few Skyguard levels and can retain PrC abilities after disqualifying yourself) for the feat tax of Weapon Focus (Falchion), the build could go Ordained Champion 3 and get Channel Spell for the move actions that Axes from the Sky frees up. Maybe Unarmed Swordsage 1/Archivist 1/Dungeon Crasher Fighter 2/Ordained Champion 3/Great Rift Skyguard 10/Deepstone Sentinel 1/Swordsage +1.

[daremetoidareyo]

. Alter Self into a Ravid and gain their ability to animate objects at random. From your position up in the air you can limit this somewhat so that it will include your Drogue Wing which will also have Swift Ready cast on it and suspiciously be sized for a large creature.


If you only have one item with you, it will be the only item that changes. That means that you must be naked except for the drogue wing, and you have ride the hippogriff bareback, at a huge minus to the ride check. Maybe you'll develop callouses from the hippogriff hair?

[WhamBamSam]

If you only have one item with you, it will be the only item that changes. That means that you must be naked except for the drogue wing, and you have ride the hippogriff bareback, at a huge minus to the ride check. Maybe you'll develop callouses from the hippogriff hair?It's CL20 and happens as a free action every round. You can afford to have more items than just the Drogue Wing around. Of course, that means you need some advanced warning of combat or need to wrangle the Thrall of Juiblex version so you can just sit around in Ravid form all day.

[Sian]

sooo ... what are we waiting for?

[TroubleBrewing]

sooo ... what are we waiting for?

Chairman, if I had to guess.

[The Viscount]

Yeah since disputes are responded to, I think it's probably time to wrap up and move on.

[Heliomance]

sooo ... what are we waiting for?
My tardy arse. Here you go, folks! And thanks for the handy table, Darrin.


Scores After Two Judges
EntryChefPlaceTroubleBrewingTroacctidTotal
Vultag Thunderkeg (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650036&postcount=77)DarrinGold181331
Bolfarg of Knoss (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650043&postcount=78)WhamBamSamGold181331
Ivarr Deathborn (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650047&postcount=80)WhamBamSamBronze15.2515.530.75
Bromdorn 'Bolt' Stormspear (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20650049&postcount=81)Dire_StirgeFourth13922

Congratulations to our chefs, all three of you!

[WhamBamSam]

Good round all.

I'm glad that Ivarr's backstory went over so well. I had a lot of fun writing it. I was a little disappointed that he fell just short of the Gold, as he was really the labor of love, whereas Bolfarg was more thrown together at the last minute, but them's the breaks. Can't really complain about pulling in a Gold and a Bronze.

[Darrin]

I promised the Viscount an unofficial judging for his blind dwarf build.

Muir Komet: 10

Originality: 4.5
So... jumping off a flying mount wasn't whackadoodle enough. Let's make him blind! You would have also been the only entry with Beast Heart Adept. Crusader/Duskblade entry is also kinda unusual.

Power: 2
My first issue is it's not clear how you find your foes. The Tremor graft won't work while flying. You have telepathy out to a mile via your hippogriff, so I'm curious why you didn't pick up Mindsight instead of Elemental Grafter. However, this might have made detecting your foes *TOO* easy, as you'd be able to pinpoint all intelligent creatures out to a mile. This might have made the whole "Blind Justice" trick somewhat meaningless (outside of mindless creatures). It would have also left you with a 5' movement, which would have been against the spirit of the build. Using the Tremor graft restricts your attacks to one standard action a round, which means three of your four iterative attacks from BAB +19 are going to waste. There are some other methods to get tremorsense or blindsense that might have worked better here... Willing Deformity (Tongue), for example, or Soulsight from MoI. Then there are the typical psionic options: synesthete, touchsight, etc. Once you're on the ground, the Tremor graft requires you to expend a move action to pinpoint creatures within 20', and there's no duration so you can't tell if your enemies have moved. You do eventually get enough ranks in Listen that you can pinpoint your foes that way, but it comes in very late.

My second issue is, once you've located your foe, you still have a 50% miss chance due to total concealment, and no Blindsight. Dragon Totem Barbarian 1 or Knight of the Middle Circle 1 can get it as a bonus feat, and after that, Blindsight 5' Radius (from Sword & Fist) would have been ideal: if you're lucky enough to actually land adjacent to your foe, no miss chance to worry about. I have no idea how you'd meet the the Wis 19 prereq, although you can get a similar ability with Combat Focus/Combat Awareness (PHBII).

My third issue is once you've hit your foe... how much damage are you actually doing? If you have to depend on your Tremor graft to pinpoint them, then not much damage at all, as you've only got a standard action left, and no Power Attack. You do have some maneuvers you can use, such as Bonesplitting Strike, Mountain Hammer, and so forth, but nothing really earth-shaking. Damage output goes up if you can pinpoint your foes with a free action via a Listen check (DC 20), which allows you to full attack and enjoy all that BAB.

You still have the hippogriff to pick you up and drop you off wherever you need to be, and the hippogriff itself can see and attack enemies normally, so that's mostly why you don't have a "1" in this category. However, it's disappointing that you couldn't take more Beast Heart Adept levels for a stronger hippogriff.

Elegance: 1.5
There's something else missing in this build other than eyesight: the Toughness feat, which is a requirement for Great Rift Skyguard. However, this is easily fixed: you took a flaw, and didn't use it for anything, so... use it for Toughness. I'm not entirely sure how to penalize that, as you're using the flaw to deliberately reduce your speed, which is at least a clever idea if not a particularly effective one. Duskblade doesn't seem like it fits well here... you already have shield proficiency via Crusader, and true strike still takes a standard action to cast. I would have preferred to see Deepstone Sentinel earlier rather than later in the build, as taking more levels of Great Rift Skyguard doesn't appear to be helping you much. You'd have to spend a feat on Martial Study to get Crushing Vice, but I think I would have preferred that to Shielded Casting. Outside of all that... the Blind Dwarf and Superhero Landing are neat ideas, but they needed a little more effort to get them past the Tufnel/St. Hubbins line. Even so, rather than give you a minimum score here, I'll give you half a point for at least getting close to the line.

Use of Secret Ingredient: 2
Outside of the not qualifying thing, there are several abilities here you don't mention or have much use for, although that's probably because you didn't post a full write-up for what was going to be a joke entry. You're using Axes from the Sky, the Hippogriff Steed stuff, and a heckuva lot of Skyhook (to move around), but not much else. Drogue Charge, Glide For Distance, and the mounted combat feats look like a waste of levels. Skyguard Catapult still looks interesting, but I'd really, really hate to see something as dramatic as that ruined by a 50% miss chance.

[The Viscount]

Thanks a lot for your feedback, Darrin.

How very embarrassing that I missed Toughness! As you can see I tied myself into knots to knock my speed down, and it didn't leave much room for the rest. As for knowing where enemies were, I suppose I was hoping a combination of difficult terrain and them moving in to attack me would mean they weren't moving around too much.

Duskblade's primary purpose in all of this nonsense is using its cl for SLAs to get elemental grafter (since it was the easiest way I could find to decrease my speed that final 5 feet) and for stand after being prone from catapult. Shielded casting was to shore up the fact that I don't have concentration for almost any levels, so can't cast defensively.

I'll definitely use some of your ideas to refine if I ever get to use this joke of a build.

[Darrin]

This thread didn't kill nearly enough catgirls... and I'm still wondering:

When Skyguard Catapult says "fall any vertical distance", does this really mean *any* vertical distance? As in, however arbitrarily high I start my fall, I hit my target at the end of my turn? Does this text override the standard falling rate or terminal velocity?

If the answer is "No", is 150' the maximum distance a creature can fall by RAW on the first round, and then 300' every round after that? Or can my hippogriff accelerate me to a higher speed before I begin my fall? If my hippogriff flies straight down (double speed) and uses a double move, am I moving at 440' per round or 150'? Or if I'm already moving faster than terminal velocity, does drag/friction/etc. slow me back down to 300'?

And that's assuming the whole 150'/300' thing is a rough approximation of "terminal velocity". The text doesn't identify what exactly those speeds are supposed to represent.

So, I ask you... what is the highest possible height where you can perform a Skyguard Catapult?

[daremetoidareyo]

Or if I'm already moving faster than terminal velocity, does drag/friction/etc. slow me back down to 300'?

And that's assuming the whole 150'/300' thing is a rough approximation of "terminal velocity". The text doesn't identify what exactly those speeds are supposed to represent.

So, I ask you... what is the highest possible height where you can perform a Skyguard Catapult?

None of the following is RAW. But it is likely what I would rule on the fly as a DM to those questions.
So long as your velocity is towards the mass of the planet, you fall towards it. If you accelerate towards the ground, and quick dismount, I would rule that you can "fall" at a rate of your max speed on the first round, (so if your hippogriff goes 440, you can go either 300 or another 440), on subsequent rounds you fall at 300 per round, and you can make a modified physical ability stat check (players choice) DC 18 or so, to either increase or slow the terminal velocity by their movement rate for the round, with a failure resulting in you simply falling at terminal velocity.