Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground LXXXI

[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 Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde.

Chairwoman: This month's theme is... Serene Guardian! ALLEZ OPTIMISER!


-----------------------------------------------------------------

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 07:59 GMT on Tuesday, October 18th, 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 07:59 GMT on Tuesday, November 1st, 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)
Iron Chef LXXVII: Great Rift Skyguard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?482249-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXVII)
Iron Chef LXVIII: Risen Martyr (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?487560-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXVIII)
Iron Chef LXXIX: Black Blood Hunter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?492923-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXIX)
Iron Chef LXXX: Master of Many Forms (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?498359-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXX)

[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.

[Inevitability]

Well, at least it's not Solar Channeler...

[Sian]

oh boy ...

[Darrin]

Very interesting choice! I recall going through that book recently and looking at the options in there... I remember looking at Serene Guardian, and thinking to myself that I'd love to see what some Iron Chefs could do with this.


Well, at least it's not Solar Channeler...

I thought that one would be more likely as an ingredient, since it's so gawdawfully sparse on... well, pretty much everything.

[Korahir]

Wow.... great SI, Heliomance. Horrible in a unique way, plenty to work with. Hope I find the time to cook.

[Darrin]

Any idea on how we want to handle the Affiliation Score? 9 is required, but most of the positive modifiers depend on the PC doing something specific in Slaughtergarde. If we're trying to build a character without any setting-specific material, then it's not really possible to enter this PrC without 17 or 18 class levels under your belt.

[Venger]

I had forgotten this class existed. At least it's not solar channeler.

[Amphetryon]

Asking a potentially dumb question in order to get clarification for criteria:

The last sentence under 'Monk Advancement or Bonus Feat' on page 8 of SGoS specifies "from among the allowed fighter bonus feats (PH 38)." Are Serene Guardians restricted to the Players Handbook in selecting bonus feats? One valid reading of the preceding would say 'yes.'

[Darrin]

The last sentence under 'Monk Advancement or Bonus Feat' on page 8 of SGoS specifies "from among the allowed fighter bonus feats (PH 38)." Are Serene Guardians restricted to the Players Handbook in selecting bonus feats? One valid reading of the preceding would say 'yes.'

No. Subsequent sourcebooks that add [Fighter] bonus feats also effectively add them to the list of fighter bonus feats listed in the PHB.

At least, that'd be my ruling.

[Heliomance]

No. Subsequent sourcebooks that add [Fighter] bonus feats also effectively add them to the list of fighter bonus feats listed in the PHB.

At least, that'd be my ruling.

Mine also.

Affiliation score is possibly a tricky one, I don't actually have SGoS and I don't know how Affliation works.

[Inevitability]

Affiliation score is possibly a tricky one, I don't actually have SGoS and I don't know how Affliation works.

Basically, you do stuff for an organization and gain affiliation points that cause you to increase in rank. Every new rank gives you more benefits.

[WhamBamSam]

I have thoughts on this. Really going to try getting an entry in.

[Darrin]

Basically, you do stuff for an organization and gain affiliation points that cause you to increase in rank. Every new rank gives you more benefits.

Here's an excerpt of the positive modifiers (Fair Use):

Character level bonus, +1/2 PC's level
Cleric or paladin of good-aligned deity, +1
Discover Slaughtergarde laboratory, +1
Prevent further access to Slaughtergarde laboratory, +1
Defeat wererats infiltrating Sumberton, +1
Destroy the altars in the Slaughtergarde temple, +1
Destroy the gate in the Slaughtergarde armory, +3

The book is supposed to cover levels 1-6, so presumably after a PC successfully completes the module, they would be rewarded with an opportunity to enter Serene Guardian as a member of the Luminous Order. As mentioned on page 17:

"As the characters earn affiliation points, they gain access to spells, magic items, and powerful weapons. By the time they reach the end of Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde, the PCs might be able to join prestige classes detailed in the Player's Guide."

So long as there's at least a cursory mention of Slaughtergarde in a submission's backstory, I think we can assume they have earned enough affiliation points to enter Serene Guardian.

[Zaq]

Huh. This class is actually pretty neat. It's definitely got some fairly glaring flaws, but it's a neat concept—it reminds me of Legend, actually, which is a pretty high honor in my book. (I'm specifically thinking of the [Imbalance] mechanic from Discipline of the Serpent C6 and of the whole Iron Magi track.) I mean, it's definitely less elegant than anything in Legend, but I like that it's actually a mechanic you don't see much of in 3.5.

Question: what's the save DC on Confounding Release? It's "as the spell," so there's going to be a Will Negates aspect to it, because nothing says that that wouldn't be the case. The spell, of course, appears at different levels on different lists, so even assuming 10 + spell level (and possibly + stat; Confounding Release doesn't give a stat, even though Soul Release does) isn't actually definitive.

Second question: Is the line saying "you usually need to make a full attack to create resonance, but a single attack followed by a successful attack of opportunity also allows you to do so" descriptive or prescriptive? I hope that it's descriptive (by which I mean that anything that allows you to invoke multiple sources of damage will trigger resonance, not only full attacks or single attacks + AoOs, which are just examples), but I feel like it wouldn't hurt to get a ruling in place before we get too deep into things.

For reference, the table with sources of affiliation is on pg. 17. There's basically two plot-independent ways of increasing your affiliation score (you get a +1 if you're a Cleric or Paladin of a good-aligned deity, and you get a +1 per 2 levels you have), and everything else relies on you doing things related to the plot of the module. Not sure what the most elegant way to handle that is, but I'm sure we can come up with something.

[The Viscount]

I suppose it was time we got to this one. At least it's full BA...

[Darrin]

Question: what's the save DC on Confounding Release? It's "as the spell," so there's going to be a Will Negates aspect to it, because nothing says that that wouldn't be the case. The spell, of course, appears at different levels on different lists, so even assuming 10 + spell level (and possibly + stat; Confounding Release doesn't give a stat, even though Soul Release does) isn't actually definitive.


It's an (Su) ability, so the MM (page 315) covers this:

"The saving throw (if any) against a supernatural ability is 10 + 1/2 the creature's HD + the creature’s ability modifier (usually Charisma)."



Second question: Is the line saying "you usually need to make a full attack to create resonance, but a single attack followed by a successful attack of opportunity also allows you to do so" descriptive or prescriptive?


If I understand your wording, it's descriptive. If you can make additional attacks outside your turn but still within the same round, then it counts for creating resonance.

I have some questions about bleed damage, acid flasks, Arterial Strike, and so forth. If an attack has an effect that continues to do damage on subsequent rounds count for the purposes of resonance? If so, how exactly is this damage grouped? Arterial Strike, for example, stacks with itself, but if you hit an enemy 3 times on round 1, and then he takes 3 damage on round 2, is that one 3-point hit or three 1-point hits?

My inclination would be "damage is as damage does", so damage on subsequent rounds should count toward resonance, but multiple bleeding damage from the same source should only count once.

[Kaje]

Took a quick look at the class, spent over an hour fiddling with a build, took a second look a the class, realized perhaps the biggest problem with it and the fact that there is exactly one way in the system to get around it, and then finally decided that maybe I'm just not up for this.

[Amphetryon]

This PrC basically throws a giant "not allowed" sign at my first inclination towards synergy with the features it grants.

[Zaq]

Yeah, there's definitely a key flaw in the mechanics. Still, on the surface at least, it seems like a class that's fairly well-suited for Iron Chef. After all, it's got an interesting core mechanic that (mostly) plays nicely with other aspects of the character, it does offer a unique trick that most other classes can't automatically replicate (even if that trick isn't necessarily a showstopper), and it's not soul-grindingly difficult to enter.

I mean, for all I know, I might be cursing this class's very name by the time this is all over, but at first pass, this looks like a fun ingredient. I think the biggest obstacle will be defending why it's actually more valuable to use resonance than it is to, you know, get more levels in a less finicky class, but that's part of what makes Iron Chef what it is, no?

I did come up with a slightly gimmicky trick to use, but on closer inspection, it doesn't actually work the way I thought it did, which is a shame.

[Kaje]

I like that we're all talking about exactly the same thing and we know it.

[Darrin]

I like that we're all talking about exactly the same thing and we know it.

I'm confused then... are you talking about (Su) requires a standard action to activate? I don't think that's the case here, as the wording "Whenever you deal damage" appears to mean it piggy-backs on any action that can cause damage.

I suppose we should get a Chair ruling on that, just so everyone is clear on how Resonance is supposed to work?

[Venger]

I'm confused then... are you talking about (Su) requires a standard action to activate? I don't think that's the case here, as the wording "Whenever you deal damage" appears to mean it piggy-backs on any action that can cause damage.

I suppose we should get a Chair ruling on that, just so everyone is clear on how Resonance is supposed to work?

I think he means we're all thinking of the same trick to render resonance actually usable.


Asking a potentially dumb question in order to get clarification for criteria:

The last sentence under 'Monk Advancement or Bonus Feat' on page 8 of SGoS specifies "from among the allowed fighter bonus feats (PH 38)." Are Serene Guardians restricted to the Players Handbook in selecting bonus feats? One valid reading of the preceding would say 'yes.'


related to this feature, it says if you're a monk you can choose monk advancement, and if you're not, you can pick a fighter feat. if you're a monk, are you allowed to pick a free feat instead of advancement?

[Inevitability]

I've got the greatest of ideas, and I don't think anyone else is going to come up with it. Let us begin the cooking!

[The Viscount]

In the interests of being perfectly clear:

at 5th level you can get a foe three times for 2 points of resonance. Are we to understand that this is the limit per round, and there's no extrapolating (4 times for 3 points, etc)?

[Darrin]

at 5th level you can get a foe three times for 2 points of resonance. Are we to understand that this is the limit per round, and there's no extrapolating (4 times for 3 points, etc)?

Yes, the text uses the phrasing "two or more" and "three or more", so multiple hits on the same target produce only a fixed number of resonance points per round for that target.

However, as I understand it, hitting multiple enemies should incur resonance in each enemy. For example, I have six attacks and hit goblin#1 three times, and hit goblin#2 three times, then both goblins get resonance points.

[Amphetryon]

However, as I understand it, hitting multiple enemies should incur resonance in each enemy. For example, I have six attacks and hit goblin#1 three times, and hit goblin#2 three times, then both goblins get resonance points.
That's a valid reading, though the phrasing of 'a target' without any 'or targets' rider could be read as limiting Resonance to a single target per round. Additionally, note the 'can only release Resonance in one target at a time' restriction.

[Thurbane]

Interesting ingredient! Assuming my extremely hectic real life allows, I'll try my hand at an entry.

I was lucky enough to pick up a PDF of SGoS when it was free for one day at DriveThruRPG.

I've played through the adventure and quite enjoyed it. The Cleric in our group was aiming for one of the other PrCs in the module.

[Venger]

Interesting ingredient! Assuming my extremely hectic real life allows, I'll try my hand at an entry.

I was lucky enough to pick up a PDF of SGoS when it was free for one day at DriveThruRPG.

I've played through the adventure and quite enjoyed it. The Cleric in our group was aiming for one of the other PrCs in the module.
good luck!

I hope for his sake it wasn't solar channeler.

[Thurbane]

good luck!

I hope for his sake it wasn't solar channeler.

Yeah, it was. I play in a mostly low op group, and this player in particular always values fluff over crunch.

[KrimsonNekros]

got an idea i think works fairly well.

[Zaq]

I had an incredibly stupid idea, but it's one of those stupid ideas that I can't stop giggling over, so barring any unforeseen circumstances, I'm planning to compete.

There's actually two separate goofy ideas I'd like to squeeze into the character, but I'm likely to need to lay off of one of them, because fitting in both of them basically removes my ability to do anything that could be perceived as useful. Not that this character is going to be especially useful to begin with.

[Heliomance]

Yes, the text uses the phrasing "two or more" and "three or more", so multiple hits on the same target produce only a fixed number of resonance points per round for that target.

However, as I understand it, hitting multiple enemies should incur resonance in each enemy. For example, I have six attacks and hit goblin#1 three times, and hit goblin#2 three times, then both goblins get resonance points.

This is how I read it.

[daremetoidareyo]

One final thought: if half damage from a fireball is fire and the other half sacred, say by the use of a feat, does that count as two different instances of damaging the target(s)

[Sian]

One final thought: if half damage from a fireball is fire and the other half sacred, say by the use of a feat, does that count as two different instances of damaging the target(s)

Given that you only roll one set of dice, its considered one instance of damaging. at least thats my reading of it

[daremetoidareyo]

Given that you only roll one set of dice, its considered one instance of damaging. at least thats my reading of it

I was afraid reasonableness would win the day

edit-Scrubbed for speculative reasons

[Darrin]

One final thought: if half damage from a fireball is fire and the other half sacred, say by the use of a feat, does that count as two different instances of damaging the target(s)

No. Regardless of the different types of damage, they all resulted from a single attack.

A better question would be, what about magic missile? If I hit a target with multiple missiles, but did not make an attack roll, is that one attack or three?

And as much as I would like to simplify this to parcel out the damage by attack roll, magic missile doesn't even use an attack roll. But the text doesn't talk about attacks, it says, "Whenever you deal damage..."

So, how about this... you've got an effect that involves different types or different parcels of damage. Can you remove or retarget that particular type/parcel of damage and still have the attack/effect succeed?

Magic missile still works, because you can remove or re-target one of those missiles, and the rest of the missiles still work as intended.

The fireball example doesn't, because if you remove the sacred damage, you remove the fire damage.

A flaming sword doesn't work, because if you don't hit with the sword damage, then you don't hit with the fire damage, and vice versa.

Which leaves us with effects that use one attack roll for multiple attacks. This was more common in 3.0 (e.g. shuriken x3), but most of these were updated in 3.5. There's one left in Core, though... Manyshot. Since you choose how many arrows you want to shoot, and we can be somewhat confident that separate projectiles can be considered separate damage events, this is easy enough to parse.

Did I miss anything?

[Bucky]

Did I miss anything?

Whirlwind Attack

[Darrin]

Whirlwind Attack

Huh. I've never actually used that one before.

It's ambiguous... is it one melee attack applied to all targets (single roll), or one melee attack to *each* target (multiple rolls)?

Or rather, since the Resonance text doesn't care how many attack rolls you made... Is the damage roll made separately for each target, or does one damage roll apply to all targets?

However, I'm not sure the answer matters. If you cast fireball twice in the same round, and both of them damage three opponents, each opponent gets resonance, yes? Same thing with Whirlwind Attack, assuming you manage to damage each opponent at least 2 or more times.

[Venger]

No. Regardless of the different types of damage, they all resulted from a single attack.

A better question would be, what about magic missile? If I hit a target with multiple missiles, but did not make an attack roll, is that one attack or three?

And as much as I would like to simplify this to parcel out the damage by attack roll, magic missile doesn't even use an attack roll. But the text doesn't talk about attacks, it says, "Whenever you deal damage..."

So, how about this... you've got an effect that involves different types or different parcels of damage. Can you remove or retarget that particular type/parcel of damage and still have the attack/effect succeed?

Magic missile still works, because you can remove or re-target one of those missiles, and the rest of the missiles still work as intended.

The fireball example doesn't, because if you remove the sacred damage, you remove the fire damage.

A flaming sword doesn't work, because if you don't hit with the sword damage, then you don't hit with the fire damage, and vice versa.

Which leaves us with effects that use one attack roll for multiple attacks. This was more common in 3.0 (e.g. shuriken x3), but most of these were updated in 3.5. There's one left in Core, though... Manyshot. Since you choose how many arrows you want to shoot, and we can be somewhat confident that separate projectiles can be considered separate damage events, this is easy enough to parse.

Did I miss anything?

Would scorching ray, or similar spells count as multiple attacks? You do roll attack multiple times.

Without speculating, do volleys count?

[Heliomance]

I think a good rule of thumb for what counts as multiple sources of damage is whether resistances would apply multiple times. If DR or a relevant energy resistance would apply separately to each hit, they count for resonance.

[Darrin]

Would scorching ray, or similar spells count as multiple attacks? You do roll attack multiple times.


I thought I already addressed this. Each ray is targeted separately, so each ray is considered a separate damage event.



Without speculating, do volleys count?

Count for what? I believe there are only two types of "volley attacks" in 3.5 (Heroes of Battle pp. 68-69), and they both involve multiple archers firing arrows into an area. Unless each archer was a Serene Guardian and you could show each one hit the same target twice, I'm not sure Resonance would apply on volleys of arrows.


I think a good rule of thumb for what counts as multiple sources of damage is whether resistances would apply multiple times. If DR or a relevant energy resistance would apply separately to each hit, they count for resonance.

I think I understand what you're saying, but it's not so clear... if I hit a target once with a flaming sword, and the target has both DR and fire resistance, then the DR applies to the sword damage and the resistance applies to the fire damage. But it's still a single damage event. Likewise, if a target gets hit with a Born of Three Thunders lightning bolt and they have both electricity resistance 10 and sonic resistance 10, resistance is applied twice but it's still a single damage event.

What you mean is, if you get hit with multiple projectiles, and the DR or resistance applies to each projectile, then that's multiple damage events rather than one.

[MisterKaws]

Well, I'm back after having no network connection for two months. I guess it was for the best... I did plan to do a pun-pun wannabe last round after all.

Anyway, I guess I'm going to stay a spectator for this round. I messed too much with multiple attacks back at LXXIX, so I'd rather not do it again so soon. Still a pretty interesting ingredient.

I guess everyone's going for action economy abuse this time?

[Brannmuffyn]

I've got a pretty dumb build up my sleeve, can't wait to flesh it out.

[Thurbane]

There seems to be a lot of discussion relating to how the PrC works that may directly be influencing builds. I'm not sure this is a good thing?

[Thurbane]

On second thought, I din't think there's really a very interesting build I can do with this SI.

If I don't get an entry in, and if I'm around, I'll try to judge.

[Darrin]

There seems to be a lot of discussion relating to how the PrC works that may directly be influencing builds. I'm not sure this is a good thing?

Most likely my fault, and I apologize if I'm influencing things by asking too many questions. But if I don't hammer some of these things out, I'll just be badgering Helio with a bunch of PMs.

[Venger]

Most likely my fault, and I apologize if I'm influencing things by asking too many questions. But if I don't hammer some of these things out, I'll just be badgering Helio with a bunch of PMs.

I like publicly figuring out vagaries of the class that will apply to everyone. it saves all the chefs and chair a lot of time

[Amphetryon]

Most likely my fault, and I apologize if I'm influencing things by asking too many questions. But if I don't hammer some of these things out, I'll just be badgering Helio with a bunch of PMs. FWIW, I did not find your questions particularly speculative.

[Inevitability]

I guess everyone's going for action economy abuse this time?

Nah, I'll just stand there and make full attacks round after round, while somehow not dying or killing my enemy.
Also, does anyone find it funny the guy with the beholder avatar will stay a spectator? Anyone?

[Venger]

Nah, I'll just stand there and make full attacks round after round, while somehow not dying or killing my enemy.

you shouldn't have any trouble with that. fortunately the game helpfully provides a class with an abundance of attacks that deal almost no damage

[Inevitability]

you shouldn't have any trouble with that. fortunately the game helpfully provides a class with an abundance of attacks that deal almost no damage

And Serene Guardian even progresses it! Monk 10/Serene Guardian 10, here I come!

[Inevitability]

Build submitted! No, it's not a monk.

[Darrin]

First idea... Not working out, and not sure I can bang it into shape. Second idea, need to PM the Chair.

[Amechra]

And Serene Guardian even progresses it! Monk 10/Serene Guardian 10, here I come!

You stole my build.

You monster.

[Inevitability]

You stole my build.

You monster.

For science? :smalltongue:

[Bucky]

Does Confounding Release have a will save, or is it automatic confusion if the target isn't immune?

-----

I have a really good idea, but unfortunately I don't have the time to build it out. I'll post fragments of it afterwards.

[Darrin]

Does Confounding Release have a will save, or is it automatic confusion if the target isn't immune?

I think we already addressed this above. It's an (Su) so the MM gives us the save: 10 + 1/2 HD + Cha bonus.

[Bucky]

That little glitch drives my build too MAD. Since it's only (usually) CHA, can I switch it to, say, CON?

[Darrin]

That little glitch drives my build too MAD. Since it's only (usually) CHA, can I switch it to, say, CON?

There is definitely a "usually" in the text, but I'm not sure how you'd argue it should be something else outside of saying "because I said so."

The other alternative is to treat it as a spell effect, in which case the save would be 10 + 3 (spell level) + spellcasting ability score, so I think Cha? SLAs are always Cha by RAW, but (Su) is "usually Charisma".

There's an argument it should be Wisdom because that's what Soul Release (Su) uses, and there's another class ability that mentions Monk abilities, which are usually Wisdom-based.

I'm not sure there's any guidance on when an ability is Constitution-based... I think that's poison? Or does poison sometimes go by Strength?

[Bucky]

On further analysis, I think it's supposed to be "affected as a creature affected (i.e. that failed its save) by the Confusion spell would be" and thus not allow a save.

Compare, for example, to Gibbering Mouthers; their ability uses similar wording, but under the interpretation we're using, anyone affected would be able to save twice: once vs. the gibbering and once vs. the actual confusion.

[daremetoidareyo]

On further analysis, I think it's supposed to be "affected as a creature affected (i.e. that failed its save) by the Confusion spell would be" and thus not allow a save.

Compare, for example, to Gibbering Mouthers; their ability uses similar wording, but under the interpretation we're using, anyone affected would be able to save twice: once vs. the gibbering and once vs. the actual confusion.

I concur with the "no save" reading of the ability. Resonance ain't easy to accumulate, and the wording is pretty declarative.

[Troacctid]

That was my reading too.

[The Viscount]

Perhaps we could get the Chair to weigh in on the issue?

[remetagross]

I ask here because my research didn't return anything and I don't think it is worth starting a new thread.
Is there somewhere around a compendium of IC's craziest builds ever ? Stuff like Eric the Dread Gazebo for example.

[Heliomance]

Yes, I think I'm going to come down on the "no save" side of the fence. The only ability with a save is Soul Release, and that very explicitly spells it out.

[Venger]

I ask here because my research didn't return anything and I don't think it is worth starting a new thread.
Is there somewhere around a compendium of IC's craziest builds ever ? Stuff like Eric the Dread Gazebo for example.

here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?276993-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-Hall-of-Heroes-(Under-Construction)&p=14937721#post14937721) is OMG PONIES's list of all the iron chefs past and present. there are a lot of really good ones in there.

you're conflating a couple things: eric and the gazebo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_and_the_Dread_Gazebo) is its own thing. I assume you're referring to gazebo jones. you'll find him and many other colorful weirdos in drunken master.


Yes, I think I'm going to come down on the "no save" side of the fence. The only ability with a save is Soul Release, and that very explicitly spells it out.

bless you

[remetagross]

you're conflating a couple things: eric and the gazebo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_and_the_Dread_Gazebo) is its own thing. I assume you're referring to gazebo jones. you'll find him and many other colorful weirdos in drunken master.


Ah yes sorry, i meant Gazebo Jones. Thank you for the link :)

[Thurbane]

you're conflating a couple things: eric and the gazebo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_and_the_Dread_Gazebo) is its own thing.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?501192-Killer-Gazebo-For-Reals :smallbiggrin:

[Zaq]

I've rebuilt this character at least two and a half times by now. Every time, it gets stupider in one way and less stupid in another.

There have been multiple times over the course of this endeavor when I've said, out loud, "the problem with this is that it's stupid and I know it."

I'm still going to do it. But at this point I really no longer know what it is that I'm actually expecting to turn out.

[Venger]

I've rebuilt this character at least two and a half times by now. Every time, it gets stupider in one way and less stupid in another.

There have been multiple times over the course of this endeavor when I've said, out loud, "the problem with this is that it's stupid and I know it."

I'm still going to do it. But at this point I really no longer know what it is that I'm actually expecting to turn out.

Oh wow. Can't wait to see what you've cooked up. good luck!

[Korahir]

So far I burned through 4 old build stubs of mine that I never used and every time I hit a point were I said to myself: this is not the round for this trick/stub and whenever I think of a new way to enter the class I vizzini myself very hard.

[The Viscount]

It seems I'm able to stick to my original idea which is goofy, but we'll see if i'll be hit with the same curse as the rest.

[MisterKaws]

here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?276993-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-Hall-of-Heroes-(Under-Construction)&p=14937721#post14937721) is OMG PONIES's list of all the iron chefs past and present. there are a lot of really good ones in there.

Well, this is pretty great, but it doesn't really help listing the craziest. I think it might be good to make something like that and list all the weirdos.

Though, oddball rounds like Cipher Adept, Risen Martyr and the recent Black Blood Hunter have mostly crazy builds, so that'd take a lot of work.

[Zaq]

The devil is in the details, and the details keep tripping me up.

I'm going to try my damnedest to get this in under the deadline, but that clock is ticking much faster than I would have hoped. Guh.

[Venger]

The devil is in the details, and the details keep tripping me up.

I'm going to try my damnedest to get this in under the deadline, but that clock is ticking much faster than I would have hoped. Guh.

you got time. can't wait to see what you made.

[The Viscount]

I did it in time. You can, too!

[Venger]

Just got mine in. This was a surprisingly fun ingredient for what it is. good pick, chair!

[Heliomance]

It's submission day and I have four entries in my inbox! Is there anyone else that'll be able to submit if I give it a few more hours?

[Darrin]

It's submission day and I have four entries in my inbox! Is there anyone else that'll be able to submit if I give it a few more hours?

Yes. I will need an extension.

[Zaq]

Build submitted! Several hours late, and it took an all-nighter (which I genuinely did not expect—I haven't done an all-nighter in years! I barely ever even did them in college!), but it's in. I pray that you will accept it, honored Chair!

[Inevitability]

Build submitted! Several hours late, and it took an all-nighter (which I genuinely did not expect—I haven't done an all-nighter in years! I barely ever even did them in college!), but it's in. I pray that you will accept it, honored Chair!

So I'm not the only one who does those for these competitions!

Well, Brightness turned out to be worth a sleepless night, so I hope your build will be too.
As long as it's not better than mine. :p

[WhamBamSam]

I haven't had time to work on an entry at all, and will likely be needing an all-nighter tonight for other reasons. I'll post the rough ideas I had after the reveal.

[The Viscount]

Build submitted! Several hours late, and it took an all-nighter (which I genuinely did not expect—I haven't done an all-nighter in years! I barely ever even did them in college!), but it's in. I pray that you will accept it, honored Chair!

I've probably pulled more all-nighters for IC during my college years than I did for my classes. Sometimes it's the only way to get several uninterrupted hours.

[Zaq]

It really shouldn't have been an all-nighter—that was mostly the result of poor planning on my part. (As well as me noticing at the last minute that I managed to disqualify myself for an important [REDACTED], which I then had to frantically paper over. And then being disgustingly unable to focus at the last minute. Bleh.)

I'll be honest, I really don't feel like the final result was my finest work. But I absolutely had to get something in, because the core of the character is still fun, even if the edges are way less smooth than I wanted them to be.

[Darrin]

Ok, most of this entry is done, I just need to add the backstory. I'm hoping to have that done this evening or tomorrow morning. So... I'm not sure if Helio wants to wait that long. Uh... maybe I should send this off as-is, and then hope the time delay buys me another half-day to get an updated version in?

Could be worse, though... you could be waiting for me to finish judging.

[KrimsonNekros]

i had my build put on hold for moving ><

[WhamBamSam]

My ideas are pretty straightforward this time around, so I might actually be able to get a build in given a little more extension. I'm feeling pretty lucid despite my long night, and as chances are no one will be coming to my office hours, I'll have a chunk of time in the middle of the day where I'll have to be awake with nothing better to do anyway.

[Darrin]

Ok, so... in the process of finishing my first (late) entry, which was based on my second idea, I managed to figure out how to fix most of my problems with my first idea...

So I managed to complete that entry as well (with only about 2 hours of sleep).

Um. Tired now.

WhamBamSam: If I can do it (twice), you can do it (once)!

[WhamBamSam]

I actually have multiple ideas as well, though there's some overlap between them. The stubs are done, just have to pick one and write it up.

EDIT: Got one in. Would like to get another, and might start working on another idea if the reveal hasn't happened when I next check in, but obviously I'm not asking for any further extension.

[Heliomance]

Dammit - I aim for a few hours' extension, then work blows up and the first time I have the time and energy to do the reveal is two days later. Sorry guys! Here we go!

[Heliomance]

But do they burn with the fires of a thousand evils?



The Spirit of All Pointy Things

http://data.whicdn.com/images/16767762/original.jpg

LN Jermlaine Wilderness Rogue 10/Serene Guardian 10

I’m the spirit of all pointy things.
I’m all that pricks and all that stings.
I’m all that’s spiked and all that’s thorned.
I’m all that’s spined and all that’s horned.
I’m all that’s sharp and all that’s peaked.
I’m all that’s fanged and all that’s beaked.
I’m all that stabs and pierces through.
And tonight I'll come for you.
-Song of the Needle-Spitter

Starting ability scores:
STR: 8
DEX: 18
CON: 12
INT: 16
WIS: 10
CHA: 8

Post-racial adjustments:
STR: 1
DEX: 24
CON: 10
INT: 14
WIS: 16
CHA: 6

All ability score increases go into dexterity.

The Spirit speaks Jermlaine, Common, and Goblin.

The fey are more numerous than any mortal can ever imagine. From singular flowers and pebbles to the very seasons: all concepts are represented by them.

The Spirit of All Pointy Things used to be a plain, weak spirit, whose power was derived from a handful of hedgehogs, porcupines, and thorny plants. It lacked the power to assume physical form as anything more than a wretched, small humanoid. As a result, it rarely influenced the physical world: at most it'd fling a few poisoned needles at a predator that was eating too many of its proteges.

Yet one day, all changed. The Spirit discovered that slowly, its powers were increasing. Intrigued, it assumed physical form once more, and traveled its forest. All the while, it grew more powerful. Had it once barely been able to hurt other creatures, now its darts would leave them wracked with pain if not killed outright.

At last, the Spirit found the source of its power boom. A tribe of humans had moved into its forest. The Spirit, who had never seen humans before, was intrigued: how could these fangless, clawless, spikeless beings empower him? They weren't part of his domain!

Soon: it discovered the answer: the humans were a part of his domain after al. They used small needles to sew cloth and suture wounds, cooked food on sharpened sticks, and hunted animals with spears and arrows.

The Spirit, its power greater than ever before, came to favor the humans. It'd weaken great beasts and lead them to the human hunters, and command vermin to stay away from their food piles. The humans, pleased with their good luck, settled down near the forest.

For centuries, the Spirit watched the humans, and with them itself, grow more powerful. Its primal, chaotic mindset slowly eroded away, and in its place came a sense of duty and order: just like the humans it observed.

One group of humans in particular interested it. Calling themselves the Luminous Order, they lived by principles of discipline and serenity. The Spirit watched them from the shadows, slowly adding to its own techniques with the Order's teachings.

All this happened long ago, but the Spirit still lingers. It is said that when a threat to the humans arises, it rises from its forested home. Unseen and unheard by those it protects, the Spirit will track down its quarry... and kill it.



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


1st
Wilderness Rogue 1
+0
+0
+2
+0
Craft (Poisonmaking) +4, Escape Artist +4, Hide +4, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Listen +4, Move Silently +4, Spot +4, Survival +4, Use Magic Device +4
Point-Blank Shot
Poison Use, Sneak Attack +1d6


2nd
Wilderness Rogue 2
+1
+0
+3
+0
Craft (Poisonmaking) +5, Escape Artist +5, Hide +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Listen +5, Move Silently +5, Search +1, Spot +5, Survival +5, Use Magic Device +5
-
Evasion


3rd
Wilderness Rogue 3
+2
+1
+3
+1
Craft (Poisonmaking) +6, Escape Artist +6, Hide +6, Knowledge (nature) +6, Listen +6, Move Silently +6, Search +2, Spot +6, Survival +6, Use Magic Device +6
Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Fukimi-Bara)
Death's Ruin, Sneak Attack +2d6


4th
Wilderness Rogue 4
+3
+1
+4
+1
Craft (Poisonmaking) +7, Escape Artist +7, Hide +7, Knowledge (nature) +7, Listen +7, Move Silently +7, Search +3, Spot +7, Survival +7, Use Magic Device +7
-
Disruptive Attack


5th
Wilderness Rogue 5
+3
+1
+4
+1
Craft (Poisonmaking) +8, Escape Artist +8, Hide +8, Knowledge (nature) +8, Listen +8, Move Silently +8, Search +4, Spot +8, Survival +8, Use Magic Device +8
-
Sneak Attack +3d6


6th
Wilderness Rogue 6
+4
+2
+5
+2
Craft (Poisonmaking) +9, Escape Artist +9, Hide +9, Knowledge (nature) +9, Listen +9, Move Silently +9, Search +5, Spot +9, Survival +9, Use Magic Device +9
Darkstalker
-


7th
Wilderness Rogue 7
+5
+2
+5
+2
Craft (Poisonmaking) +10, Escape Artist +10, Hide +10, Knowledge (nature) +10, Listen +10, Move Silently +10, Search +6, Spot +10, Survival +10, Use Magic Device +10
-
Sneak Attack +4d6


8th
Wilderness Rogue 8
+6/+1
+2
+6
+2
Craft (Poisonmaking) +11, Escape Artist +11, Hide +11, Knowledge (nature) +11, Listen +11, Move Silently +11, Search +7, Spot +11, Survival +11, Use Magic Device +11
-
Uncanny Dodge


9th
Wilderness Rogue 9
+6/+1
+3
+6
+3
Craft (Poisonmaking) +12, Escape Artist +12, Hide +12, Knowledge (nature) +12, Listen +12, Move Silently +12, Search +8, Spot +12, Survival +12, Use Magic Device +12
Sickening Strike
Sneak Attack +5d6


10th
Wilderness Rogue 10
+7/+2
+3
+7
+3
Craft (Poisonmaking) +13, Escape Artist +13, Hide +13, Knowledge (nature) +13, Listen +13, Move Silently +13, Search +9, Spot +13, Survival +13, Use Magic Device +13
-
Skill Mastery (Concentration, Escape Artist, Hide, Move Silently, Use Magic Device)


11th
Serene Guardian 1
+8/+3
+5
+9
+3
Concentration +2, Hide +14, Move Silently +14
-
Resonance, Painful Release


12th
Serene Guardian 2
+9/+4
+6
+10
+3
Concentration +4, Hide +15, Move Silently +15
Arterial Strike
Damaging Release


13th
Serene Guardian 3
+10/+5
+6
+10
+4
Concentration +6, Hide +16, Move Silently +16
Woodland ArcherB
Bonus Feat (Woodland Archer)


14th
Serene Guardian 4
+11/+6/+1
+7
+11
+4
Concentration +8, Hide +17, Move Silently +17
-
Staggering Release


15th
Serene Guardian 5
+12/+7/+2
+7
+11
+4
Concentration +10, Hide +18, Move Silently +18
Terrifying Strike
Greater Resonance


16th
Serene Guardian 6
+13/+8/+3
+8
+12
+5
Concentration +12, Hide +19, Move Silently +19
-
Traumatic Release


17th
Serene Guardian 7
+14/+9/+4
+8
+12
+5
Concentration +14, Hide +20, Move Silently +20
-
Immunity to Fear


18th
Serene Guardian 8
+15/+10/+5
+9
+13
+5
Concentration +16, Hide +21, Move Silently +21
Savvy Rogue (Skill Mastery)
Confounding Release


19th
Serene Guardian 9
+16/+11/+6/+1
+9
+13
+6
Concentration +18, Hide +22, Move Silently +22
-
Unclouded Mind


20th
Serene Guardian 10
+17/+12/+7/+2
+10
+14
+6
Concentration +20, Hide +23, Move Silently +23
-
Soul Release



Serene Guardian is a class that functions best when you hit people several times per turn for a lot of turns. The problem is that those things don't go well together.

By hitting people several times per turn, you should be killing them long before you ever get to use interesting SG abilities. In addition, you'll probably be full attacking, which limits your versatility to 'I hit it' and makes it hard to avoid opponent fire. Even if fifteen of your full attacks aren't enough to kill a foe, fifteen of its full attacks should be killing you.

The alternative, drawing out fights so you can use SG abilities, runs into the issue that it's very hard to avoid being hit while striking foes several times a round. Either you aren't building up Resonance or you're being killed.

However, there is a simple solution to this: stealth. By sneaking, enemy attacks can be avoided completely, which should allow you to slowly create Resonance.

But wait: how does one attack multiple times a round while sneaking? After all: stealth typically requires actions. The answer comes in the form of an obscure OA weapon: the Fukimi-Bari (mouth darts). Their description explicitly says:


You can fire up to three mouth darts per attack (all at the same target).

Combine this with sniping:


Sniping
If you’ve already successfully hidden at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack, then immediately hide again. You take a -20 penalty on your Hide check to conceal yourself after the shot.

Basically, one can sneak around, spit three mouth darts, and immediately try to hide again. This allows for the buildup of Resonance while also keeping the user safe.

At this level, you're a regular jermlaine rogue... which means your Hide is through the roof. Expect monsters to be flat-out unable to spot you unless you let them. 9d6 points of sneak attack damage per round means you'll be keeping up with normal rogues even if you haven't got Craven.

A tower shield can be used as a source of mobile cover: you don't need your hands, do you? If your DM thinks it's silly, paint it in camouflage colors and ask again.

The build has one weakness at this level, though: non-undead immune to sneak attacks and poison. A regular homunculus will be able to survive the Spirit's attacks for several rounds. In such a situation, I recommend completely avoiding the encounter if possible, or using Disruptive Strike to boost allies' attacks if not.

At 10th-level, the reason we entered rogue becomes clear: skill mastery (though the 5d6 sneak attack doesn't hurt the build either). Now, your Hide and Move Silently checks are immune to the cruelty of the dice, reducing the chances of being detected.

Two other valuable abilities gained in the past 5 levels are Darkstalker (for obvious reasons) and Sickening Strike (because no-save debuffs are always good). Remember, the -2 penalty the latter imposes on skill checks also applies to Listen and Spot!

Now things are getting interesting. By hiding and sniping with mouth darts, the Spirit can stack resonance points. It doesn't matter if the initial wounds get healed: once enough resonance has accumulated a single swift action will kill the enemy outright. If foes try to flee, use Staggering Release to immobilize them for a while, then snipe them from just outside their melee range.

With accumulating resonance more important than dealing damage, I recommend making every sneak attack Arterial, Sickening and Terrifying, which will impose huge penalties on about everything and create extra resonance on your next turn without you having to do anything. Only when faced with an opponent that's got DR should you make 'plain' attacks.

Woodland Archer, gained through SG's bonus feat, is also worth mentioning. It lets you move forty feet after each snipe attempt, which lets you stay mobile and makes AoE's less effective.

The capstone to this build effectively reduces the number of rounds you need to snipe from a few dozen to about fifteen. Also, killing foes by pulling out their souls is much more stylish compared to pricking them a bunch and waiting for them to die of structural collapse.

The other abilities are so-so. Unclouded Mind is great against what AoE-will save abilities your opponents employ, immunity to fear is decent, and Confounding Release allows you to fight foes through their allies.

The build's final feat is Savvy Rogue, which replaces Skill Mastery's 'take 10' with 'take 12'. It's not much, but it sure helps.

How does this build fulfill the contest's requirements? I took the liberty of listing some arguments here:

Originality: Jermlaine. Wilderness rogue. Did you really see those coming for a monk-oriented component? The combat style of hiding and dart-spitting isn't too common either: in fact I've never seen anyone use fukimi-bara.

Power: The build is very good at its speciality (killing stuff with darts) and decent in a number of other situations. It's a good scout, can craft poison or use magical devices, and in a party it'll function as a debuffer. It'll also make those low-level rat quests much easier by being able to talk to the rodents.

Elegance: No dips, no feats, no interrupted class progressions. One could argue having a jermlaine be two steps from his usual alignment is inelegant, but it's no stranger than a TN dwarf, CN gnome, or LG halfling.

Use of Secret Ingredient:The SI's skills are used heavily. Concentration improves the Spirit's moderate Will save, while Hide and Move Silently are essential in getting the build to work.

(Greater) Resonance, Damaging Release, Traumatic Release and Soul Release are all used heavily. Painful Release, Confounding Release and Staggering Release also have their uses.

Unclouded Mind, as has been mentioned before, improves the build's weakest save, the bonus feat adds to its sneaking ability, and Immunity to Fear is useful on any character not already immune.

One would expect the Spirit, as a martial character, to require lots of gear. In practice, this doesn't hold true.

A source of flight is obviously necessary, as is a way to easily detect enemies, but the Spirit doesn't require expensive weapon abilities or protective items. After all: it can kill most things with a pouch of needles already, and protective items are useless if no one ever targets you.

An unconventional but potent item choice would be Shackles of Silence from the BoED. It requires some size-fiddling, but in the end you'd be inaudible by all mortal means. And remember: you don't need your hands to be free to attack.

Finally, it'd be nice for this build to have a permanent Collar of Umbral Metamorphosis, if only for the huge stealth bonuses it grants.

Jermlaine - MMII

Wilderness Rogue - UA

Arterial Strike - CW
Darkstalker - LoM
Savvy Rogue - CS
Sickening Strike - DotU
Terrifying Strike - DotU
Woodland Archer - RotW

Fukimi-Bara - OA

[Heliomance]

He wonders as he wanders...



http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rdJdT7DztUc/ThPTplk8rEI/AAAAAAAAFXw/ZrRkLUJYPzg/s1600/MON01.png

Ben Neru of the Crab clan, the Imperceptible Skulk

The enclosed is to be read only by the master of the temple within the hidden valley.

Let me begin by saying how truly sorry I am.

By now, you’re doubtless wondering how Ben came to your dojo in the first place. While the boy undoubtedly has talent, he sometimes gets carried away.

At first, I thought he was just striking students while he had disappeared from the eye’s view. There’s nothing unusual about that after all. It’s one of the hallmarks of the dark moon dojo.

But once Ben reappeared again during sparring, I saw his opponents react as if struck even though he hadn’t laid a hand on them.

I’m aware of some schools that teach motion of the mind, but one master to another, that frightens me. I’m not accusing Ben of anything, mind you, it’s just beyond my ability to tutor him in something I don’t understand.

If I had my own way of things, I would’ve told him things just weren’t working out, wished him well, and sent him on his way. But we all know things don’t work out the way we like when we send out star pupil out into the world. They always come back, burn the place down, and make an example of us. I understand it’s how you came to your current position, as a matter of fact, taking the place of your former master after the Red Fist of the West himself descended upon you. You have both my congratulations and deepest sympathies.

It might gladden you to know that you won’t have to worry about him anymore.

Just as I was preparing to talk with Ben about the way he was surpassing me as a student, he attacked here too. They fought for hours, and then Ben struck the soul straight from his body. We were all relieved, of course, but Ben was horrified. He told me he didn’t know his own strength and would understand if I wanted him to wander the land in search of a new tutor.

You can’t blame me for seizing the opportunity. I advise you to do the same as soon as you can. You’re not the first, and I assure you you won’t be the last. Ben has the tattoos of more dojos than I’ve ever seen on one man’s back. If that eases your conscience when you send him on your way, so be it. If you want to keep him around, I wish you the best.

Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

LN strongheart halfling monk 9/psychic warrior 1/serene guardian 10


str 8
dex 18
con 14
int 12
wis 14
cha 8

after abilities
str 6
dex 20 (increases here)
con 14
int 12
wis 14
cha 8




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


1st
Monk 1
+0
+2
+2
+2
balance 4, hide 4, jump 4, ms 4, tumble 4
evasive reflexes, shape soulmeld (astral vambraces)
bonus feat (underfoot combat), flurry of blows, unarmed strike


2nd
Monk 2
+1
+3
+3
+3
balance 1 (5), hide 1 (5), jump 1 (5), ms 1 (5), tumble 1 (5)

bonus feat (combat reflexes), invisible fist (invisible)


3rd
Monk 3
+2
+3
+3
+3
hide 1 (6), ms 1 (6), spot 2, tumble 1 (6)
weapon finesse
darkvision 60ft


4th
Monk 4
+3
+4
+4
+4
hide 1 (7), ms 1 (7), spot 2 (4), tumble 1 (7)

ki strike (magic), slow fall 20ft


5th
Monk 5
+3
+4
+4
+4
hide 1 (8), ms 1 (8), spot 2 (6), tumble 1 (8)

fire resist 5


6th
Monk 6
+4
+5
+5
+5
hide 1 (9), ms 1 (9), spot 2 (8), tumble 1 (9)
martial study (cloak of deception)
bonus feat (improved trip), slow fall 30ft


7th
Monk 7
+5
+5
+5
+5
hide 1 (10), ms 1 (10), spot 2 (10), tumble 1 (10)

shadow blend


8th
Monk 8
+6/+1
+6
+6
+6
hide 1 (11), jump 1 (6), ms 1 (11), spot 1 (11), tumble 1 (11)

slow fall 40ft


9th
Monk 9
+6/+1
+6
+6
+6
hide 1 (11), jump 1 (7), ms 1 (11), spot 1 (11), tumble 1 (11)
confound the big folk
invisible fist (blink)


10th
Psychic Warrior 1
+6/+1
+8
+6
+6
autohypnosis 3

bonus feat (spectral skirmisher), new power known (compression)


11th
Serene Guardian 1
+7/+2
+10
+8
+6
hide 3 (14)

Resonance, painful release


12th
Serene Guardian 2
+8/+3
+11
+9
+6
tumble 3 (14)
martial stance (child of shadow)
Damaging release


13th
Serene Guardian 3
+9/+4
+11
+9
+7
hide 2 (16), tumble 1 (15)

bonus feat (shadow blade)


14th
Serene Guardian 4
+10/+5
+12
+10
+7
hide 1 (17), tumble 2 (17)

Staggering release


15th
Serene Guardian 5
+11/+6/+1
+12
+10
+7
hide 1 (18), jump 1 (8), tumble 1 (18)
gloom razor
Greater resonance


16th
Serene Guardian 6
+12/+7/+2
+13
+11
+8
hide 1 (19), jump 1 (9), tumble 1 (19)

Traumatic release


17th
Serene Guardian 7
+13/+8/+3
+13
+11
+8
hide 1 (20), jump 1 (10), tumble 1 (20)

Immune to fear


18th
Serene Guardian 8
+14/+9/+5
+14
+12
+8
hide 1 (21), jump 1 (11), tumble 1 (21)
open chakra (hand)
Confounding release


19th
Serene Guardian 9
+15/+10/+5
+14
+12
+9
hide 1 (22), jump 1 (12), tumble 1 (22)

Unclouded mind


20th
Serene Guardian 10
+16/+11/+6/+1
+15
+13
+9
hide 1 (23), jump 1 (13), tumble 1 (23)

Soul release





you function like a standard monk here, albeit with a few extra tricks. hin disciple is up and running, allowing you to run circles around those foolish tall people with underfoot combat. you gain soft cover when you’re in the square of someone 2+ sizes bigger. niche now, but it’ll be part of your regular combat strategy later. and as a monk bonus feat, we don’t need to meet the req for it, so can take it even though it breaks the skillcap. neat, huh?

that’s not all. dark moon disciple gives you darkvision, much more applicable than still mind, and your evasion’s been gone and pawned for invisible fist! as an immediate, you can turn invisible for an entire round (so greater invisible essentially) with all the resultant benefits. instantly say no to any attack whenever you want! there’s a cooldown of 3 rounds, but you can do this as often as you like aside from that. can your wizard friend do that?

you’re punching through dr with your karate chops, and you’ve got energy resist to the most common type, helping those burning hands not sting as much. you’ve got dr of your own too thanks to the handy dandy astral vambraces, helping improve monk’s trademark survivability


you’re up to your old tricks, but they pack a much stronger punch. cloak of deception’s up now, which makes you greater invisible for 1 round as a swift. sound familiar? it should, it’s just like your wonderful invisible fist. this means you can alternate rounds should you need to be invisible for more than one round successively in a given encounter. it also lays groundwork for later.

shadow blend is online, giving you total concealment in anything less than full daylight. take advantage of this in combination with underfoot combatant and its big (or small, as the case may be) brother, confound the big folk when you’re in tall peoples’ squares.

a tactical feat, it gives you a ton of options, boosting your crit rolls, and helping out your tripping ability. move into a foe’s square, trip him (using your immense dex) and he can’t add his size bonus, plus he can’t trip you back, and if you’ve got improved trip (which you do) you get a free attack once you trip him.

all these things work in tandem to give you a zillion sources of attacks when it comes time to build resonance for serene guardian. plus flurry, so you got that too. the penalty’s negated by being invisible all the time, and your bonuses from all your sneaky feats.

psychic warrior opens up dorjes and gives compression, to make you smaller, boost your numbers, and make you better at everything

invisible fist’s second boost comes up now. when normal monks are limping along with improved evasion, you can use your invisible fist now to activate blink for a number of rounds equal to your wis mod with a 3 round cooldown.

spectral skirmisher’s up and running. when an enemy takes a poke at you while you’re invisible and misses (so all the time,) then you gain an aoo.

this aoo can then be used either to do stuff to them via combat reflexes as usual.

or

you can use it to fuel evasive reflexes and take a 5 foot step immediately.

oh like, say, into the enemy’s square? it’s certainly the last place he’d look, and it’ll make him provoke more aoos from you using your other tricks, so keep the cycle of violence going.

get in people’s grills, take aoos and names, and kick shins. it’s all gravy from here.


you’re building on everything you’ve been laying foundation for. all your sources of extra attacks now help you build all the resonance you could ever want and more. child of shadow gives you more skulky bonuses to help you stay hidden and rack up bonuses against bad guys. shadow blade helps boost your damage when you’re in melee.

gloom razor is pulling its weight, giving you yet another way to stay invisible, render bad guys flat-footed, and use your prodigious tumble to move around behind enemy lines


you’re rounding out serene guardian, and between all these sources, you can gather resonance and use it against enemies essentially at will.

your hand chakra is open now, letting you pick up any ability from astral construct menu a via your astral vambraces. there are plenty of goodies there, like flight, letting you become essentially impossible for your foolish tall enemies to pin down


srd: monk, weapon finesse, combat reflexes
exemplars of evil: invisible fist
champions of valor: hin disciple, dark moon disciple
planar handbook: planar monk
magic of incarnum: shape soulmeld, open chakra
tome of battle: martial study, martial stance, gloom razor, shadow blade, evasive reflexes
races of the wild: confound the big folk, underfoot combat
player’s handbook 2: spectral skirmisher

[Heliomance]

Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!



Guru Lahima, Flame of Righteousness
http://www.goshir.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Vajrapani_01.jpg
LN Azurin Dragon Shaman 1/Incarnate 6/Crusader 3/Serene Guardian 10

Stats
Str 13
Dex 10
Con 17 (Increases Here)
Int 10
Wis 16
Cha 8
Build


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


1st
Dragon Shaman 1
+0
+2
+0
+2
Heal 4, Intimidate 4
Shape Soulmeld (Winter Mask), Soulsight
Draconic Aura +1 (Energy Shield, Senses, Vigor), Gold Totem Dragon


2nd
Incarnate 1
+0
+4
+0
+4
Concentration 2

Aura, Detect Chaos


3rd
Incarnate 2
+1
+5
+0
+5
Concentration 4
Necrocarnum Acolyte
Chakra Bind (Crown)


4th
Incarnate 3
+1
+5
+1
+5
Concentration 6

Expanded Soulmeld Capacity +1, Incarnum Radiance 1/day


5th
Incarnate 4
+2
+6
+1
+6
Concentration 8

Chakra Binds (Feet, Hands)


6th
Incarnate 5
+2
+6
+1
+6
Balance 1, Concentration 9
Martial Study (Wall of Blades)
Rapid Meldshaping 1/day


7th
Incarnate 6
+3
+7
+2
+7
Balance 2, Concentration 10




8th
Crusader 1
+4
+9
+2
+7
Balance 5, Concentration 11

Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5


9th
Crusader 2
+5
+10
+2
+7
Concentration 12, Intimidate 3
Martial Study (Burning Brand)
Indomitable Soul


10th
Crusader 3
+6/+1
+10
+3
+8
Concentration 13, Intimidate 6

Zealous Surge


11th
Serene Guardian 1
+7/+2
+12
+5
+8
Concentration 14, Tumble 1

Resonance, Painful Release


12th
Serene Guardian 2
+8/+3
+13
+6
+8
Concentration 15, Tumble 2
Stone Power
Damaging Release


13th
Serene Guardian 3
+9/+4
+13
+8
+9
Concentration 16, Tumble 3
(B)Martial Stance (Holocaust Cloak)
Bonus Feat


14th
Serene Guardian 4
+10/+5
+14
+9
+9
Concentration 17, Tumble 4

Staggering Release


15th
Serene Guardian 5
+11/+6/+1
+14
+9
+9
Concentration 18, Tumble 5
Open Lesser Chakra (Brow)
Greater Resonance


16th
Serene Guardian 6
+12/+7/+2
+15
+10
+10
Concentration 19, Tumble 6

Traumatic Release


17th
Serene Guardian 7
+13/+8/+3
+15
+10
+10
Concentration 20, Tumble 7

Immune to Fear


18th
Serene Guardian 8
+14/+9/+4
+16
+11
+10
Concentration 21, Tumble 8
Double Chakra (Shoulders)
Confounding Release


19th
Serene Guardian 9
+15/+10/+5
+16
+11
+11
Concentration 22, Tumble 9

Unclouded Mind


20th
Serene Guardian 10
+16/+11/+6/+1
+17
+12
+11
Concentration 23, Tumble 10

Soul Release



Maneuvers
1st: Crusader’s Strike, Douse the Flames, Leading the Attack, Stone Bones, Vanguard Strike
2nd: Burning Brand (via study), Wall of Blades (via study)
3rd: Revitalizing Strike
Stances: Martial Spirit, Thicket of Blades, Holocaust Cloak (via stance)
Backstory
Sir Brok the Mighty had done little to earn his title. He was a brute born with more strength in his arm than brains in his head, but he still put that brawn to enough use to get himself into a mercenary company. From enough time in the wars, he was able to learn that the only loyalty that matters is to coin. He and his lieutenants earned a pretty penny turning on the duke that hired them. When the invading force installed themselves in the duchy, he earned a title partially as a reward and partially to tie him to the land. Since earning it he rapidly began abusing it, and was often found having a free drink or five at the tavern nearest his house.

As fortune would have it, this is where he was when Guru Lahima strolled into town. He was clothed in simple robes, a plain walking stick in his hand. His stature was unremarkable, but his eyes gleamed bright. A few heads turned when the man entered, Brok’s was not among them. He only noticed the man when he approached the bar.

“Do you have any hot water here, good sir?”
“Only noontime in the summer, old timer. We have cool rainwater if you want.”
“That will do, thank you kindly.”
He accepted the ceramic cup quietly and reached into a pouch at his waist for a pinch of leaves that he added to the cup. He wrapped his hands around the cup and the air surrounding him shimmered briefly as he hunched himself over the water as if sheltering it from a storm until it began steaming in his hands. He set it on the counter to steep, at which point Brok turned his head to take in the sight of the newcomer.

“I thought they said they didn’t have any hot water.”
“The ale has not dulled your memory of the past.”
“Are you having a laugh at my expense, old man?”
“I was only attempting to make my own joy. I did not think I took any of yours.” He smiled warmly as Brok puzzled at his turn of phrase, leaning over to glance at the cup.
“You made the water boil yourself!”
“You have solved the riddle. I have concentrated my own breath of life outward to give energy to the water.”
“What’s those green bits in there?”
“I have added some herbs for flavor, and to ease the ache in my joints from the walk here.”
“It looks like you’re making some sort of witch’s brew. You learn anything for reducing the headache from too much ale?”
“It would take more herbs than I have with me to clear a head such as yours.”
“That’s enough, old man! I’ve had enough of your insults. I am a knight and will not take this insult on my character! Stand and fight me, if you do not lack the strength!”

Guru Lahima quickly stood to face his opponent, and the mild shimmering around him gave way to a full blistering heat, and his face became shrouded beneath a snarling mask of a wolf.
“Do not underestimate me, you drunkard. The only reason I do not reduce you to ashes with my own blazing power is because I am bound to never use my strength in aggression. Know that if you reach to strike me, your own anger shall be your undoing.”
“What kind of stupid code doesn’t protect you?! Enough talk! Fight or die!”

Brok rushed forward and swung with the full force of his arm swinging his tankard at the old man’s head. Guru Lahima bent over under the force of the blow, but did not fall. As he straightened up, gouts of flame lashed out at Brok’s face. The knight stubbornly slapped the embers out of his face and swung again at the man before him. Guru Lahima withstood several such blows, each time the fire striking back at Brok, until finally the mountain of a man wavered on his feet, unsteadied by the weight of an almost palpable tension seemingly emanating from Guru Lahima’s clenched fist. The old man opened his hand and the knight rocked backwards before falling to the ground dead.

Guru Lahima reached to lean on the bar as he raised his hand gently to the welts growing on his head. He looks up at the patrons who had witnessed all this take place.
“You all saw that. He struck both first and last. I took no action in retaliation, and he attacked knowing the consequences. It was only his fury that drove him to his death. A shame it had to be this way.” He reached for the tea and drank deeply as he looked at the body on the ground. He took a deep breath of the last of its steam and set it down before centering himself as a deep black crown formed on his head. The corners and edges of it dug into his bruising temples as he spoke in a voice resonant with purpose.
“Sir Brok the Mighty, your wickedness has led you to an unmemorable death. Your soul is tainted but not beyond redemption. I call you to rise once more so that you may perform the good you never did in life, and then know release. I shall shoulder the burden of guiding you for the part I have played in your death.”

The sizzling corpse of Brok awkwardly rose to stand with cracks and pops of unnatural life, silently waiting as its master collected his staff, bowed slightly to the patrons, and set out of the tavern to wander the land once more.
Level 5
We’re going to be practicing a particular stripe of nonviolence, so we have to use some particular classes and feats to get there. We start with Azurin for the feat and essentia. Dragon Shaman provides us with the first element, the energy shield. I’ve chosen fire for thematic unity, but anything works. Whenever an enemy strikes you, they take fire damage. Vigor is to help recover help from the fights, and sense’s is just a good utility aura. Shape Soulmeld for the Winter Mask gives us something to do with our actions that isn’t forcefully attacking our foe. Touch someone and fatigue them. You can invest essentia to deal nonlethal cold damage as well, in keeping with the code, but if you don’t want just invest no essentia. Soulsight’s a neat ability to detect thinks around you, but also gives you a point of essentia.

Incarnate immediately provides us with our other portion we need to get the trick up and running: the Mantle of Flame. If someone hits you, they take fire damage, 1d6 per essentia you sink into it, at this point 2d6. If someone hits you, they’re then taking damage from you, twice in a single round. That’s enough to activate resonance when you get it, and that’s the conceit of the build. Shape the Fellmist Robe to give miss chance to everything but adjacent attackers. They’ll move closer to avoid it, which means they trigger your retaliatory auras. If you kill someone with it and think they could undo the bad of their past actions, raise them as a necrocarnum zombie with the Necrocarnum Circlet. The Vitality Belt is something you should have shaped most of the time to give you extra hitpoints, which you can gain and lose when you move essentia around to game Vigor aura’s half health healing. The Necrocarnum Vestments (unlocked with Necroncarnum Acolyte) also give temp hp for this purpose, so shape both if you really want to prep for battle. Consider the Astral Vambraces for the DR, especially at low levels. Your enemies just have to hit you to trigger your response, they don’t have to damage you. Activate your incarnum radiance when you want, it boosts attack rolls so works on your touch attack.
Level 10
Now we have more levels of incarnate, rapid meldshaping can 1/day switch to give us something we need, highly useful. We also have 2 binds now, so in addition to/instead of Necrocarnum Circlet, the Lucky Dice are great for boosting everybody’s actions, and the Impulse Boots for Uncanny Dodge and Evasion.

For feats we have Wall of Blades to deflect attacks you don’t want/won’t trigger your auras of retribution, and Burning Brand to extend your reach. It seems it still works when used on the touch attack for Winter Mask, the no damage it deals now becomes no fire damage. It’s unclear whether nonlethal cold becomes nonlethal fire or lethal fire; if B don’t combine the two.

Now to Crusader. Zealous surge is a free reroll, and furious counterstrike plus steely resolve combine to turn damage into bonus on attack and damage rolls. That’s a general wording so applies to Mantle of Flame (and damaging resonance when we get to it). Attack bonus applies to your touch attacks. For maneuvers I’ve selected ones that can provide use in healing, support, or protection without damaging others. Martial Spirit is likely your default stance for now. Tome of Battle does support making touch attacks with winter mask to trigger strikes, you don’t have to hit with weapons dealing damage.
Level 15 (Sweet Spot)
Now it’s time for the SI! First let’s do feats. Open Brow Chakra opens up things like see invisibility and a big chunky Soulspark Familiar. Stone Power is critical for survivability, as it activates when you take damage, and then again when your delayed damage from Steely Resolve kicks in the following turn. You can probably afford to take full penalty most of the time since you’re making touch attacks with pretty good attack bonus. And finally, Martial Stance is nabbed at level 13 from the SI’s free fighter bonus feat. The effect is, you guessed it, fire damage when somebody strikes you. That means if someone hits you once, they get damaged 3 times in that turn. That’s the ticket for gaining 2 points of resonance, without you having to lift a finger. This should be your default aura when combat starts.

Now SI Proper. You’re generating resonance primarily by getting attacked and damaging them with Mantle of Flame, Energy Shield Aura, and Holocaust Cloak. If you need to switch stances, you can juice your winter mask with essentia and add that in as the third source of damage, nonlethal as it is. Getting hit so much is precisely why you’ve invested so much in survivability and self-healing. Your fat chunk of hp from vitality belt and necrocarnum vestments, healing from devoted spirit maneuvers (and even Vigor Aura if necessary), temp HP from stone power, and DR from astral vambraces or Stone Bones all add up. If you need to disengage or take a breather, slap your foe with a strong enough staggering release and their speed will be reduced to 0, most of the time 3 will do it. Painful release is a very useful debuff for the rest of the party to target their saves as always, and it also helps you fatigue enemies more easily, which reduces their attack and AC indirectly. Trigger damageing release really whenever you feel like it, it’s free damage.
Level 20
Now we’re just mopping up and getting stronger. Traumatic release makes releasing resonance even more damaging, which is great. Confounding release is highly useful for getting some relief from getting attacked, even for a short burst of 2 rounds, since they have only a 20% chance of going after you if you are not the closest creature. Immunity to fear helps you fight dragons and liches much more efficiently. Unclouded Mind is a very nice safety net. We’ve maxed Concentration, so you are nearly bound to guarantee with that and your high will save. For the capstone, if you focus on generating a big pool of resonance, you can generate enough to kill someone if you don’t try it on a big brute with a ton of HD. A DC of 23 is a decent one, so might as well give it a shot.

Our final feat is double chakra to throw the therapeutic mantle onto our shoulders, boosting the healing from maneuvers by spell level +2e, I’m assuming maneuver level equals spell level here, with full investment that’s spell level +10. Our full investment at this point is 5 essentia in a meld, so we can cause 6d6 fire damage with Mantle of Flame, generate a 50% miss chance with Fellmist robe, have DR 12/magic via Astral Vambraces, and between Vitality Belt and Necrocarnum Vestments generate 45 extra hitpoints.
Sources
Incarnate, Double Chakra, Open Lesser Chakra, Necrocarnum Acolyte, Soulsight, Shape Soulmeld: Magic of Incarnum
Dragon Shaman: Players Handbook II
Crusader, Martial Study, Martial Stance, Stone Power: Tome of Battle

[Heliomance]

What is truth?


Bobo McShootiepants
Lawful Good Human Soulknife 1/Fighter 1/Soulknife +1/Fighter +1/Soulknife +1/Soulbow 2/Kensai 3/Serene Guardian 10

"Also, I can kill you with my brain."
--River Tam--


Str 08
Con 08
Dex 13
Int 14
Wis 17
Cha 15

All level increases to Wis.
VOP increases:
7th: Wis +2
11: Wis +2; Int +2
15th: Wis +2; Int +2; Dex +2
19th: Wis +2; Int+2; Dex +2; Con +2




Stat
Start
4th
7th
8th
11th
12th
15th
16th
19th
20th


STR
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08


CON
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
10
10


DEX
13
13
13
13
13
13
15
15
17
17


INT
14
14
14
14
16
16
18
18
20
20


WIS
17
18
20
21
23
24
26
27
29
30


CHA
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15







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


1st
Soulknife 1
+0
+0
+2
+2

4 Autohypnosis
1 Concentration
2 Diplomacy
4 Hide
4 Knowledge: psionics
4 Listen
4 Move Silently
4 Spot

1st: Sacred Vow; H: Vow of Poverty; BEF: Nymph's Kiss; B: Weapon Focus (Mind Blade); B: Hidden Talent (Mindlink)
Mind Blade


2nd
Fighter 1
+1
+2
+2
+2

4 Autohypnosis
2 Concentration
2 Diplomacy
4 Hide
4 Knowledge: psionics
4 Listen
4 Move Silently
5 Ride
4 Spot

B: Combat Expertise; BEF: Intuitive Attack
--


3rd
Soulknife 2
+2
+2
+3
+3

6 Autohypnosis
2 Concentration
2 Diplomacy
6 Hide
4 Knowledge: psionics
5 Listen
6 Move Silently
5 Ride
5 Spot

3rd: Quick Reconnoiter
Throw Mind Blade


4th
Fighter 2
+3
+3
+3
+3

6 Autohypnosis
6 Concentration
3 Diplomacy
6 Hide
4 Knowledge: psionics
5 Listen
6 Move Silently
5 Ride
5 Spot

B: Point Blank Shot; BEF: Sanctify Martial Strike (Mind Blade)
--


5th
Soulknife 3
+4
+4
+3
+3

8 Autohypnosis
6 Concentration
4 Diplomacy
6 Hide
4 Knowledge: psionics
8 Listen
6 Move Silently
5 Ride
6 Spot

B: Precise Shot
--


6th
Soulbow 1
+4
+4
+5
+5

9 Autohypnosis
6 Concentration
4 Diplomacy
9 Hide
4 Knowledge: psionics
9 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
8 Spot

6th: Skill Focus: Listen; B: Zen Archery; BEF: Nimbus of Light
Mind Arrow


7th
Soulbow 2
+5
+4
+6
+6

10 Autohypnosis
7 Concentration
5 Diplomacy
9 Hide
5 Knowledge: psionics
10 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
10 Spot

--
Mind Arrow Enhancement (+1 ability)


8th
Kensai 1
+5
+4
+6
+8

10 Autohypnosis
11 Concentration
9 Diplomacy
9 Hide
5 Knowledge: psionics
10 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
10 Spot

BEF: Holy Radiance
Signature Weapon


9th
Kensai 2
+6/1
+4
+6
+9

10 Autohypnosis
3 Balance
12 Concentration
11 Diplomacy
9 Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
10 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
10 Spot

9th: Keen-Eared Scout
Power Surge


10th
Kensai 3
+7/2
+5
+7
+9

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
13 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
9 Hide
2 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: the planes
10 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
10 Spot

BEF: Gift of Discernment
--


11th
Serene Guardian 1
+8/3
+7
+9
+9

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
14 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
9 Hide
2 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: the planes
13 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
13 Spot

--
Resonance; Painful Release


12th
Serene Guardian 2
+9/4
+8
+10
+9

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
14 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
10 Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: religion
3 Knowledge: the planes
15 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
14 Spot

12th: Knowledge Devotion; BEF: Gift of Faith
Damagaing Release


13th
Serene Guardian 3
+10/5
+8
+10
+10

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
14 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
11 Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: religion
7 Knowledge: the planes
16 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
15 Spot

B: Rapid Shot
--


14th
Serene Guardian 4
+11/6/1
+9
+11
+10

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
14 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
14 Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: religion
8 Knowledge: the planes
17 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
17 Spot

BEF: Vow of Abstinence
Staggering Release


15th
Serene Guardian 5
+12/7/2
+9
+11
+10

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
14 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
18[/b] Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: religion
8 Knowledge: the planes
18 Listen
7 Move Silently
5 Ride
18 Spot
2 Skill Trick: Spot the Weak Point

15th: Planar Touchstone
Greater Resonance


16th
Serene Guardian 6
+13/8/3
+10
+12
+11

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
14 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
19 Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: religion
8 Knowledge: the planes
19 Listen
10 Move Silently
5 Ride
19 Spot
2 Skill Trick: Listen to This
2 Skill Trick: Spot the Weak Point

BEF: Vow of Purity
Traumatic Release


17th
Serene Guardian 7
+14/9/4
+10
+12
+11

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
14 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
20 Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: religion
8 Knowledge: the planes
20 Listen
15 Move Silently
5 Ride
20 Spot
2 Skill Trick: Listen to This
2 Skill Trick: Spot the Weak Point

--
Immune To Fear


18th
Serene Guardian 8
+15/10/5
+11
+13
+11

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
14 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
21 Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: religion
8 Knowledge: the planes
21 Listen
20 Move Silently
5 Ride
21 Spot
2 Skill Trick: Listen to This
2 Skill Trick: Spot the Weak Point

18th: Sense Weakness; BEF: Vow of Obedience
--


19th
Serene Guardian 9
+16/11/6/1
+11
+13
+11

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
22 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
22 Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: religion
8 Knowledge: the planes
22 Listen
18 Move Silently
5 Ride
22 Spot
2 Skill Trick: Listen to This
2 Skill Trick: Spot the Weak Point

--
Unclouded Mind


20th
Serene Guardian 10
+17/12/7/2
+12
+14
+11

10 Autohypnosis
5 Balance
23 Concentration
13 Diplomacy
23 Hide
1 Knowledge: local
1 Knowledge: nobility and royalty
5 Knowledge: psionics
1 Knowledge: religion
8 Knowledge: the planes
23 Listen
23 Move Silently
5 Ride
23 Spot
2 Skill Trick: Listen to This
2 Skill Trick: Spot the Weak Point

BEF: Vow of Chastity
Soul Release





There's a lot of set-up going on here. Such is the life of a Soulbow-wanna be, really. Many of the skills and feats taken in these levels are pre-reqs for other things later on, but have their uses.
The Intuitive Attack feat makes melee possible with the other Mind Blade feats. But once Throw Mind Blade comes online, a ranged approach to combat may very well be preferred.

The Quick Reconnoiter feat with solid Listen and Spot abilities weigh in for the scouting roll and offer good use for Hide and Move Silently as well.



Soulbow comes online right with Zen Archery. (It's almost as though it was planned that way!) Mind arrows can be enhanced with a +1 ability. I'd suggest Seeking as the normal day-to-day option, but different adventures may find more use out of different abilities. Once Keen-Eared Scout comes along at 9th, ask a friendly spellcaster to hit the battlefield with Obscuring Mist or Fog Cloud or Magical Darkness or....

Three levels of Kensai is enough to add the Splitting ability to your mind arrows.



And we're into Serene Guardian. The major abilities here run off of Resonance. At 11th level, we've got 2 attacks (from BAB) per round for four arrows (Splitting). Another attack comes along at 13th (Rapid Shot) and a fourth at 14th (higher BAB).

At 15th level, the Planar Touchstone feat offers Oxyrhynchus (Planar Handbook p. 172). Go read that base ability. Now read it again. Now say "pretty-please" when you ask that friendly spellcaster for the Obscuring Mist or Fog Cloud or.... Also, keep in mind your Hide skill and use surprise rounds to your advantage.
This is also the level where Greater Resonance comes along. With 4 attacks (3 from BAB plus one from Rapid Shot) each launching two arrows (Splitting) as seperate damage sources, there will be plenty of opportunity to create resonance. Add to that a possible four more attacks (from Planar Touchstone), and you could end up with a whole squad of foes buzzing with resonance.
Yet another attack (high BAB) comes along at level 19.

By 20th level, 5 attacks per round are Splitting into 10 (which might get Planar Touchstoned into 20). An attack bonus of 2 (worst of the BAB line) minus 2 (Rapid Shot) plus 5 (Vow of Poverty enhancement) plus 10 (Zen Archery) plus 1 (Weapon Focus) plus a possible 1 (Point Blank Shot) plus 0-5 (Knowledge Devotion insight) = 16 plus 0-6 and 1d20. That can hit a lot of ACs (especially if the foe is flat-footed)
Trueseeing means most things can't stay hidden from you. Keen-eared Scout with full ranks in Listen (and a Skill Focus) with a high WIS lets you find the rest, even in an anti-magic field. Seeking mind arrows manage to still hit what you can't see (which function in an anti-magic field, no-less.)




Expanded Psionic Handbook -- Soulknife class (see also: Mind's Eye (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070214a)); Autohypnosis skill; Knowledge: psionics skill; Hidden Talent feat (p.67)
Book of Exalted Deeds -- Sacred Vow feat; Vow of Poverty feat; Nymph's Kiss feat; Intuitive Attack feat; Sanctify Martial Strike feat; Nimbus of Light feat; Holy Radiance feat; Gift of Discernment feat; Gift of Faith feat; Vow of ___ feats;
Complete Adventurer -- Quick Reconnoiter feat
Complete Warrior -- Zen Archery feat; Kensai class
Complete Psionic -- Soulbow class
Player's Handbook 2 -- Keen-Eared Scout feat
Complete Champion -- Knowledge Devotion feat
Complete Scoundrel -- Skill Tricks
Planar Handbook -- Planar Touchstone
Draconomicon -- Sense Weakness feat

[Heliomance]

Look into my eyes...


Opsablepsia

Dragonborn of Bahamut [RotD] (Heart aspect) (previously Silverbrow Human [DrM])
LG
Dragonfire Adept [DrM] 1 / Binder [ToM] 8 / Serene Guardian [SGoSG] 10 / Swordsage [ToB] 1
Multiclass penalties: No [Favored Class: Any and Fighter]

Feats with asterisks will change upon undergoing the Rite of Rebirth; see below.


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


1st
Dragonfire Adept 1 [DrM]
+0
+2
+0
+2
Intimidate 4, K: Planes 4, Concentration 4, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 4, UMD 4
Entangling Exhalation [RotD], Human bonus: Least Dragonmark (Mark of Passage)* [ECS] (post-rebirth: Dragon Wings [RotD]), DFA bonus: Dragontouched* [DrM] (lost upon rebirth)
Breath Weapon, Invocation: Endure Exposure


2nd
Binder 1 [ToM]
+0
+4
+0
+4
Intimidate 5, K: Planes 5, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 5

Soul binding (1 vestige), 1st level vestiges


3rd
Binder 2
+1
+5
+0
+5
Intimidate 6, Sense Motive 6, Concentration 5, Spellcraft 6
Breath of Syberis* [DMk] (post-rebirth: Improved Dragon Wings [RotD])
Pact augmentation (1 ability), Suppress sign


4th
Binder 3
+2
+5
+1
+5
Intimidate 7, Sense Motive 7, Concentration 6, Spellcraft 7

2nd level vestiges


5th
Binder 4
+3
+6
+1
+6
Intimidate 8, Sense Motive 8, Concentration 7, Spellcraft 8
Binder bonus: Improved Binding [ToM]
3rd level vestiges


6th
Binder 5
+3
+6
+1
+6
Intimidate 9, Sense Motive 9, Concentration 8, Spellcraft 9
Elemental Grafter [MoE]
Pact augmentation (2 abilities), 4th level vestiges


7th
Binder 6
+4
+7
+2
+7
Intimidate 10, Sense Motive 10, Concentration 9, Spellcraft 10

Soul guardian (immune to fear)


8th
Binder 7
+5
+7
+2
+7
Intimidate 11, Sense Motive 11, Concentration 10, Spellcraft 11




9th
Binder 8
+6
+8
+2
+8
Intimidate 12, Sense Motive 12, Concentration 11, Spellcraft 12
Irresistible Gaze [SS]
Soul binding (2 vestiges), 5th level vestiges


10th
Serene Guardian 1 [SGoSG]
+7
+10
+4
+8
Intimidate 13, Sense Motive 13, Concentration 13

Resonance, painful release


11th
Serene Guardian 2
+8
+11
+5
+8
Intimidate 14, Concentration 14, Tumble 2

Damaging release


12th
Serene Guardian 3
+9
+11
+5
+9
Intimidate 15, Concentration 15, Tumble 4
Martial Study (Vanguard Strike) [ToB], Serene Guardian bonus: Martial Stance (Iron Guard's Glare) [ToB]



13th
Serene Guardian 4
+10
+12
+6
+9
Intimidate 16, Concentration 16, Tumble 6

Staggering release


14th
Serene Guardian 5
+11
+12
+6
+9
Intimidate 17, Concentration 17, Tumble 8

Greater resonance


15th
Serene Guardian 6
+12
+13
+7
+10
Intimidate 18, Concentration 18, Tumble 10
Martial Study (Entangling Blade) [ToB]
Traumatic release


16th
Serene Guardian 7
+13
+13
+7
+10
Intimidate 19, Concentration 19, Tumble 12

Immune to fear


17th
Serene Guardian 8
+14
+14
+8
+10
Intimidate 20, Concentration 20, Tumble 14

Confounding release


18th
Serene Guardian 9
+15
+14
+8
+11
Intimidate 21, Concentration 21, Tumble 16
Piercing Gaze [SS]
Unclouded mind


19th
Serene Guardian 10
+16
+15
+9
+11
Intimidate 22, Concentration 22, Tumble 18

Soul release


20th
Swordsage 1 [ToB]
+16
+15
+11
+13
Intimidate 23, Concentration 23, Tumble 23, Craft: Basketweaving 1

Discipline focus (Diamond Mind), Quick to act +1, Maneuvers (Moment of Perfect Mind, Action Before Thought, Mind Over Body, Insightful Strike, Ruby Nightmare Blade, Disrupting Blow, Stance of Clarity)



STR: 12 (4 pts)
DEX: 12 (10 after transformation) (4 pts)
CON: 14 (16 after transformation) (6 pts)
INT: 14 (6 pts)
WIS: 10 (2 pts)
CHA: 16 (10 pts)

Level-up points go into CHA.

Change at 6 HD: Opsablepsia becomes a Dragonborn of Bahamut at 6 HD. Per the sidebar on pg. 20 of Races of the Dragon, she must lose her dragonmark, as well as any feats for which her dragonmark was a prereq, replacing them with other feats. (In this case, we lose Least Dragonmark and Breath of Siberys.) Per the sidebar on pg. 10 of the same book, she may turn a feat into a 1st-level-only feat, in this case Dragon Wings. From the same sidebar, bonus feats granted by one's race are also lost upon transformation, but when that bonus feat is not a specific feat (as is the case here), "any feat may be lost," so Opsablepsia loses the Dragontouched feat granted by her level in Dragonfire Adept. In short, when she becomes a Dragonborn at 6 HD, Opsablepsia sacrifices Dragontouched, she turns Least Dragonmark into Dragon Wings, and she turns Breath of Siberys into Improved Dragon Wings. (She qualifies for Improved Dragon Wings at 6 HD when the transformation happens, and there is no rule saying that she had to qualify for it when she took the feat that she is forced to replace.)

Backstory: Once a scion of House Orien, the woman who would eventually take the name of Opsablepsia knew early on that she had an energy inside of her, and that energy was just waiting for the right conduit to release itself. Her adventures through the Valley of Obelisks (in and around the Slaughtergarde laboratory, eventually destroying the Shattered Gate itself) gave her lots of chances to experiment with different ways of channeling power through herself—from nurturing a spark of dragonfire in her heart (which eventually blossomed into taking the form of one pledged to the service of the Platinum Dragon), to experimenting with the vestiges of those banished from this reality, to replacing her own eyes with those of a fire elemental after an incident involving some wererats, and so on. She climbed the ranks of the Luminous Order until she realized that the energy inside her could be allowed to burst forth through her eyes, and she also realized that that same energy could sync up with the energy inside other folks in a way that she could control. The rest, of course, is history.

Strategy: Opsablepsia starts out as a basic Dragonfire Adept—Entangling Exhalation is a great strategy from level 1 on, and truthfully, it stays her bread and butter for a long time. Endure Exposure is used to make the breath weapon ally-friendly. Breath of Siberys isn't something we keep forever, but it does make our breath weapon stay marginally more relevant damage-wise for a little while longer. Binder is never a bad choice early in the game (Aym is great defensively because most low-level things don't want to hit someone who's on fire, Malphas's scouting ability is legendary, Focalor is useful right out of the box as soon as he is available, and so on), and of course, a Binder's strength is their versatility, so we can adapt to the order of the day.

We do want to use the Duel of Wills [ToB pg. 27] rules whenever possible, since if the target accepts the challenge and loses, we get a +1 bonus to damage rolls against it. Every +1 adds up.

Things start to shift a bit around 6th or 7th level, when we take Elemental Grafter (the caster level prereq for which is handled by virtue of the supernatural abilities of Binder) and gain the ability to implant the Scorching Gaze graft [MoE pg. 133]. If we can't find a friendly spellcaster willing to help us with the Scorching Ray prereq, we can bind Karsus and just use a wand of Scorching Ray for the same purpose. But the upshot is that this gives us a gaze attack that deals fire damage. We also undergo the Rite of Rebirth around this level, transforming from a Silverbrow Human into a Dragonborn of Bahamut. (The reason that we're a Silverbrow instead of a regular Human is twofold. First, this prevents us from needing to recalculate skill points, and second, since Silverbrow Humans have the Dragonblood subtype from the get-go, Dragontouched is not needed to serve as a prereq for Entangling Exhalation, so there's absolutely no ambiguity about whether or not it can be the feat that we sacrifice in the transformation.) This gives us a nice scaling breath weapon to use—again, it's not going to be a damage powerhouse, but it's noticeably better than the one we get from a single level of DFA (even if it is on a recharge timer). We still have the DFA one, and even though it's going to do a negligible amount of damage, it's still going to entangle just as well. We're forced to lose our dragonmark (and, with it, Breath of Syberis), but we get Dragon Wings/Improved Dragon Wings in return, which can certainly make aiming breath weapons easier.

After we take our eighth level of Binder, we gain access to several breakpoints all at once. We hit BAB +6 (qualifying for Serene Guardian), we gain the ability to bind two vestiges at once, and (thanks to Improved Binding) we gain the ability to access 5th level vestiges, the relevant ones of which are Balam and Geryon. Balam gives a gaze attack that deals cold damage, and Geryon gives a gaze attack that deals acid damage. From here on out, our vestiges are pretty consistent—unless there's something weird going on, we want Balam and Geryon in action together. (Those two vestiges have a few other abilities as well, like Balam's instant reroll of a d20 and Geryon's all-around vision—which nicely cancels out the penalty we take from Scorching Gaze—but the gaze attacks are the important pieces.) After that, we dive into Serene Guardian headfirst.

Gaze attacks, of course, do automatic damage with no action required on the part of the user. (Yes, there's a saving throw allowed, but still, no action required, and Irresistible Gaze helps with the saving throw, considering that it uses the word "all.") We have three separate gaze attacks, so we can conceivably do three pings of damage to each foe anywhere near us every single round, and that's before we spend any actions at all. We can also trigger pings of damage by means of our breath weapons—the initial hit is a ping, and the residual damage from entangling is also a ping, so it's pretty easy for us to set up resonance in lots of enemies at once. It should also be mentioned that our Binder levels give us two Pact Augmentations, which we choose to use for a net +2 insight bonus on (all!) damage rolls, including gaze attacks, residual entangle damage, and so on. +2 might not sound like a lot on its own, but when you consider how many separate sources of damage we're adding it to, it's definitely not nothing. (It also means that even our timid little 1d6 from the DFA breath weapon is likely to do at least one point of damage, even with half damage for Entangling Exhalation and half damage from a successful saving throw—it's not that hard to roll 2 or better on a d6.) Our goal, as always, is less striker and more controller, to put it in 4e parlance. Entangle honestly still messes folks up even through mid-high levels, but when we add in penalties from Painful Release or speed penalties from Staggering Release, we can be a real thorn in the side of our foes. (Staggering Release's speed penalties combine with the speed penalties from entangled in very nasty ways, and Entangling Blade is icing on that particular cake once per encounter.) Damaging Release isn't going to be a showstopper, but even it benefits from our bonuses to general damage rolls.

At level 12, we pick up Iron Guard's Glare, which, in addition to being thematically appropriate (our eyes have power, and we dare you to look at them), gives us another way to harass enemies. If they try to avert their eyes to avoid the gaze attacks, they'll have a hard time hitting Opsablepsia or her friends. We're proficient with the longspear, so we can threaten a decent area if necessary, and a spiked gauntlet at least lets us fill out the threatened zone, even if the gauntlet itself isn't very dangerous. There's no reason that Opsablepsia's Weapon of the Celestial Host can't be a longspear, after all. While actually attacking with a weapon isn't going to be a primary strategy outside of the handful of piecemeal maneuvers we pick up, we do have tolerable BAB.

Basically, what makes Opsablepsia interesting in comparison to other Serene Guardians is the fact that gaze attacks affect lots of enemies without expending any actions, so we can therefore build up resonance in lots of enemies at once, regardless of who we're focusing the bulk of our attention on. Sure, the class itself caps how much resonance each foe can be given per turn, but even if we release it in one foe per round, the fact that we're passively building it up in many foes at once means that we aren't starting completely over every time we release it. Consider a fight with 3 enemies. If we release 1 round worth resonance in enemy A, then B and C are still accumulating resonance from our passive damage pings. We then release it in B (2 rounds worth), while C is still accumulating more resonance and A is gaining resonance after spending it all last round. When we release it in C (3 rounds word), A and B will still have more resonance (2 rounds worth for A and 1 round worth for B, which will have incremented again by the time we can release next turn). We usually don't have to spend time building up from zero midway through the battle. We want to focus on the control effects (penalties, speed reduction, Confusion), though we're not going to be shy about using the damage effects or the save-or-die, when appropriate. (Unfortunately, the immunity to fear granted by Serene Guardian is redundant with the immunity to fear we get from Binder 6, but if it's useful from the SI, it's more useful when we pick it up early, right?)

Optional material and adapations: We have Elemental Grafter, so we can slap on other elemental grafts, if desired. If you can crowbar in some skill points somewhere, Knowledge Devotion is another bonus to arbitrary damage rolls, and while the Draconic Knowledge invocation will help, it will be difficult to get the bonus (which doesn't stack with the pact augmentation bonus) to be higher than the bonus we get from pact augmentation. Useful items include magical armor (ideally a mithril breastplate), bonuses to CHA/CON, bonuses to saves, and so on.

Source list: Player's Handbook (PHB), Races of the Dragon (RotD), Dragon Magic (DrM), Dragonmarked (DMk), Eberron Campaign Setting (ECS), Tome of Magic (ToM), Tome of Battle (ToB), Magic of Eberron (MoE), Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde (SgoSG)

[Heliomance]

I'm getting the distinct impression of a human pinball


Verelka Thunderfoot

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55c7df6ee4b026fc21f5fea5/t/55dff336e4b05ea7f41ef693/1440740152019/?format=500w

Race: Dragonborn Human
Build Stub: Psion 1/Monk 2/Totemist 1/Monk +5/Totemist +1/Serene Guardian 10
Multiclass Penalty: No
Languages: Common, Draconic, Celestial
Alignment: LG
Ability Scores:


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


Strength
14

6







Dexterity
12

4
10 (Dragonborn)






Constitution
14

6
16 (Dragonborn)






Intelligence
14

6







Wisdom
16

10
17
18
19
20
21


Charisma
8

0









Gashkarr pulled his lips back, showing his teeth. "You can't win, my little meatnuggets. Your cleric is dead, that fleabag wizard is out of spells, and that sorry excuse for a paladin is coughing up blood. And you... little monksie poppet. I'm going to enjoy eating you most of all."

Verelka stood between Gashkarr and the rest of the party, falling into a fighting stance as easily as breathing. "End this madness, Gashkarr. The gate is unstable. If you try to open it, it will rip the the armory apart and bring it down on top of all of us."

Gashkarr held up the amulet around his neck, the eye symbol glowing an angry red. "Too late, poppet... the gate's already open! Slaughtergarde shall rise again!"

A blast of hot air and smoke belched out of the stone archway, and a horrible stench filled the room. An ear-splitting keening followed, and suddenly cut off. Glowing redish shapes danced around the black smoke, and then a massive coal-black shape lurched out of the gate, thick claw-tipped arms swinging wildly.

Rolen, sitting behind Verelka, gasped and tried to crawl away. "Hezrou!" he coughed, flecks of blood dotting his blonde beard. "Too strong! Verelka, Mardan, get out of here!"

Gashkarr cackled, then motioned to the four dretches on the other side of the room. "Finish them off!" he ordered. Before he could finish the command, though, the monk had flashed across the room, fists and feet snapping in a blur too fast to see, then dashing like lightning back to the hezrou to deliver a flurry of kicks. Gashkarr roared in frustration and, hefting his falchion over his head, charged the monk in a blind rage.

She met his charge with a low sweep, four slashing claws, and then a tremendous roundhouse kick that knocked him momentarily senseless. Before he could swing his falchion back around to slash at her, she had dashed back to the hezrou, raked it with her claws, and then popped back out of the hezrou's reach. The toadlike demon screamed and lunged at her, but stopped suddenly short of his goal.

Rolen, still on the ground crawling away from the hezrou, turned back to Verelka. "It can't come through all the way... the gate's not fully open yet! Verelka... get the amulet! You can still close the gate!" And then Verelka was coming at him from the right, from the left, and then suddenly above him. He slashed wildly with his falchion, but she managed to slip under or over or just outside his blade. Claws and elbows and feet hammered into him from every direction. White-hot pain exploded across his face as a claw landed just under his eye, and he suddenly found himself on one knee, stunned from the blow. The amulet... where... tugging at his neck? He reached up and closed his fist around the amulet just as the monk reached in for it, and she managed to grab the cord around his neck.

She pulled, but Gashkarr regained his feat and tightened his grip. He snarled, "Little waifish meatnugget, wants to take my things. Think you're stronger than me?"

Verelka looked him in the eye and shrugged her shoulders. "You're already dead."

It started in Gashkarr's joints, white-hot waves of pain that ripped through his body like a lightning bolt, more agony than he had ever felt, and then a black emptiness engulfed him. From very, very far away, he felt the amulet slipping out of his hand and over his head, and then there was nothing left to feel.





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


1st
Psion 1
+0
+0
+0
+2
Concentration 4, Jump 4, Know:Arcana 4, Profession:Sailor 4, Tumble 4
Sailor's Balance, Linked Power, Hidden Talent (Human)
Bonus Feat, Discipline: Nomad (Psychoportation), Skilled City-Dweller ACF (Ride->Tumble)


2nd
Monk 1
+0
+2
+2
+4
Balance 4(+4), Concentration 5(+1), Jump 5(+1), Know:Arcana 4, Profession:Sailor 4, Tumble 5(+1)
Improved Grapple
Bonus Feat, Flurry of Blows, AC Bonus, Unarmed Strike


3rd
Monk 2
+1
+3
+3
+5
Balance 5(+1), Concentration 6(+1), Diplomacy 2(+2), Jump 6(+1), Know:Arcana 4, Profession:Sailor 4, Sense Motive 1(+1), Tumble 6(+1)
Metapower, Combat Reflexes
Bonus Feat, Evasion


4th
Totemist 1
+1
+5
+5
+5
Balance 5, Concentration 7(+1), Diplomacy 2, Jump 6, Know:Arcana 2(+1)(-3db), Profession:Sailor 4(-4db), Sense Motive 1, Spot 4(+4), Tumble 7(+1)
Improved Grapple -> Dragon Tail, Sailor's Balance -> Psionic Meditation (Dragonborn)
Wild Empathy, Skilled City-Dweller ACF (Ride->Tumble)


5th
Monk 3
+2
+5
+5
+5
Balance 5, Concentration 8(+1), Diplomacy 3(+1), Jump 8(+2), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 2(+1), Spot 4, Tumble 8(+1)

Still Mind, Standing Long Jump ACF (Dungeonscape)


6th
Monk 4
+3
+6
+6
+6
Balance 5, Concentration 9(+1), Diplomacy 4(+2), Jump 9(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 3(+1), Spot 4, Tumble 9(+1)
Open Least Chakra: Hands
Ki Strike (magic), Wall Walker ACF (Dungeonscape)


7th
Monk 5
+3
+6
+6
+6
Balance 5, Concentration 10(+1), Diplomacy 5(+1), Jump 10(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 5(+2), Spot 4, Tumble 10(+1)

Purity of Body


8th
Monk 6
+4
+7
+7
+7
Balance 5, Concentration 11(+1), Diplomacy 7(+2), Jump 11(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 6(+1), Spot 4, Tumble 11(+1)
Improved Trip
Standing High Jump ACF


9th
Monk 7
+5
+7
+7
+7
Balance 5, Concentration 12(+1), Diplomacy 8(+1), Jump 12(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 8(+2), Spot 4, Tumble 12(+1)
Mantis Leap
Wholeness of Body


10th
Totemist 2
+6
+8
+8
+7
Balance 5, Concentration 13(+1), Diplomacy 8, Jump 12, Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 8, Spot 8(+4), Tumble 13(+1)

Totem Chakra Bind


11th
Serene Guardian 1
+7
+10
+10
+7
Balance 5, Concentration 14(+1), Diplomacy 8, Jump 14(+2), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 8, Spot 8, Tumble 14(+1)

Resonance, Painful Release


12th
Serene Guardian 2
+8
+11
+11
+7
Balance 5, Concentration 15(+1), Diplomacy 9(+1), Jump 15(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 8, Spot 8, Tumble 15(+1)
Multiattack
Damaging Release


13th
Serene Guardian 3
+9
+11
+11
+8
Balance 5, Concentration 16(+1), Diplomacy 9, Jump 16(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 9(+1), Spot 8, Tumble 16(+1)

Monk Advancement


14th
Serene Guardian 4
+10
+12
+12
+8
Balance 5, Concentration 17(+1), Diplomacy 10(+1), Jump 17(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 9, Spot 8, Tumble 17(+1)

Staggering Release


15th
Serene Guardian 5
+11
+12
+12
+8
Balance 5, Concentration 18(+1), Diplomacy 10, Jump 18(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 10(+1), Spot 8, Tumble 18(+1)
Shape Soulmeld: Thunderstep Boots
Greater Resonance


16th
Serene Guardian 6
+12
+13
+13
+9
Balance 5, Concentration 19(+1), Diplomacy 11(+1), Jump 19(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 10, Spot 8, Tumble 19(+1)

Traumatic Release


17th
Serene Guardian 7
+13
+13
+13
+9
Balance 5, Concentration 20(+1), Diplomacy 11, Jump 20(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 11(+1), Spot 8, Tumble 20(+1)

Immune to Fear


18th
Serene Guardian 8
+14
+14
+14
+9
Balance 5, Concentration 21(+1), Diplomacy 12(+1), Jump 21(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 11, Spot 8, Tumble 21(+1)
Open Least Chakra: Feet
Confounding Release


19th
Serene Guardian 9
+15
+14
+14
+10
Balance 5, Concentration 22(+1), Diplomacy 12, Jump 22(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 12(+1), Spot 8, Tumble 22(+1)

Unclouded Mind


20th
Serene Guardian 10
+16
+15
+15
+10
Balance 5, Concentration 23(+1), Diplomacy 12, Jump 23(+1), Know:Arcana 2, Sense Motive 12, Spot 9(+1), Tumble 23(+1)

Soul Release






Psion (Seer) Powers


Level
Power Points
Powers Known
Powers


1st
4
4
Energy Ray, Inertial Armor, Synchronicity, Dimension Hop (Hidden Talent)




Verelka get things started with a level of Psion, as this sets the table for a few things she'll need later. For backstory purposes, she was orphaned as a young girl, the only survivor of a shipwreck that washed up near a fishing village. She spent some time as a wharf rat and fishmonger, hence the Sailor's Balance feat, but the emergence of her Hidden Talent brought her to the attention of the Zerthian monks in a nearby Tashalatora monastery. She showed an early aptitude for manifesting and began training as a psion, but the emphasis on intense study and mental exercises did not fit well with her restlessness and youthful exuberance. She found herself drawn to the more physical aspects of training, and began focusing her studies on the martial rather than mental arts.

At low levels, Verelka plays as a "support monk" with a handful of minor psionic tricks (you can add your own joke about "partially-charged dorjes" here if you prefer. Her "signature trick" is using Linked Power with dimension hop and synchronicity, which gives her a readied action on her next turn. Once she gets Metapower, triggering this combo costs 0 PP, so she can dimension hop for free by expending her psionic focus.

At 4th level, Verelka's restlessness and enthusiasm for exploring more distant tribal areas brings her into contact with Totemist meldshapers, and she discovers that these soulmelds that they shape greatly enhance her martial arts training. In these early levels, she uses mostly Wormtail Belt to increase her Natural Armor bonus, Krenshar Mask to help with her Jump checks, and Rageclaws to stay in the fight a little longer. This particular tribe of Totemists revere dragons as their tribal ancestors, and they also introduce her to the Ritual of Rebirth to become a Dragonborn of Bahamut. This has several benefits for her. First, instead of losing her human bonus feat, she loses the Shield Proficiency feat supplied by Totemist. She also loses her bonus skill points from being human, so she takes those off of Profession: Sailor and shaves a few more off of Knowledge: Arcana. She no longer qualifies for the Sailor's Balance feat, so we replace that with Psionic Meditation. This allows her to regain her psionic focus as a move action, and she can now use dimension hop every round for 0 PP if she needs to, using synchronicity to regain her focus on her next turn. This allows her to full attack or use Flurry of Blows every round, so long as she has an opponent within 10'. Dragonborn also allows her to swap one of her existing feats for a dragonblooded feat, so she trades Improved Grapple for Dragon Tail (she can dimension hop out of grapple if need be). This addes a tail attack to her full attack routine. As she is now dragonblooded, she has access to the dragonblooded Totemist soulmelds (Dragon Magic) and can gain two claw attacks by shaping Claws of the Wyrm. By taking the Wings aspect, she now gets a +10 racial bonus on all her Jump checks, and can look forward to getting a fly speed a few levels later.



Verelka returns to her monastic training, now enhanced with Totemist meldshaping. At 5th level, she takes the Standing Jump ACF (Dungeonscape), allowing her to make long jumps without a running start. At 6th level, Open Least Chakra opens up her Hands chakra, which she binds to her Sphinx Claws soulmeld. This gives her Pounce with natural weapons, so she can now charge every round and either get a full attack with her unarmed strikes and natural weapons, or use Flurry of Blows. (Note: the Flurry rules aren't entirely clear if you can add additional non-monk weapon attacks after you've made your Flurry attacks, or if all weapons you use in a Flurry must be monk weapons. Check with your DM if you are allowed to use non-monk weapon attacks on the same turn you Flurry.) After her full attack/Flurry, she can also dimension hop out of melee range for 0 PP every round. Her HD is now high enough for a 30' Fly speed, and we trade the useless Slow Fall ability (she can glide down with her dragon wings if need be) for the slightly-less-useless Wall Walker ACF (Dungeonscape). At 8th level, she gets the Standing High Jump ACF (Dungeonscape), at which point her Jump check bonus is +25 (11 ranks, +10 racial, +4 from Krenshar Mask), allowing her to high-jump at least 6' or long jump up to 25' even if she rolls a '1'.

9th level is where spending all that time as a monk finally pays off. Verelka picks up Mantis Leap, which allows her to turn any "normal Jump check" into a charge attack. From Sword & Fist (bold added for emphasis):



Designate an opponent who is within the maximum distance you can reach with a successful Jump check. Make a normal Jump check; if your check is successful, you can make a normal charge attack against the opponent you designated as part of the same action. If your charge attack is successful, you inflict normal damage, plus your Strength modifier multiplied by 2.


The rules do not define what exactly a "normal Jump check" should be. If we define a "normal" Jump check to just what is listed in the PHB, then there are four different kinds of "normal" jumps: long jump, high jump, hop up, and jumping down. The first kind is easy enough: whenever Verelka uses a move action that includes a horizontal jump as part of her movement, she can turn that action into a charge, and Sphinx Claws gives her a full attack at the end of it. The second kind of jump also works by RAW: if she's standing adjacent to an opponent, he's within the maximum distance she can reach with a Jump check, but all she has to do is make a high-jump in the same square as a move action, and she can execute a charge + full attack. Hop up could also work as something similar to a long jump, if she happens to find an opponent standing on higher ground in a position where hopping up would put her adjacent to him. The last option, "jumping down", is where Verelka's free dimension hop starts to pay off in spades. As a swift action, she can "hop" to a square 10' above her opponent, and use a "normal Jump check" to reduce the falling distance by 10'. She lands next to her opponent with a charge + full attack. She can now execute three full attacks every round: two move actions, and one swift action.

Just before she heads into Serene Guardian, Verelka takes one more level of Totemist to unlock her Totem chakra and bind her Girallon Arms soulmeld there. This gives her four additional claw attacks to add to her full attack routine. At 10th level, her full attack routine has 7 attacks: 2 unarmed strikes, 4 claws, and 1 tail attack. If she gets off all three full attacks, that's 21 attacks per round. If your DM allows secondary natural attacks to be added to Flurry of Blows, she gets 8 attacks per full attack. Oh, what could she possibly do with all those attacks?



Welcome to the Luminous Order, Verelka! Here's a Quarterstaff of the Celestial Host (the only non-exotic two-handed monk weapon), which you can... um... use as a walking stick, maybe. More likely, she has one or both ends capped with adamantine, cold iron, or some other special material that can bypass possible Damage Reductions better than her fists. She can grip the quarterstaff two-handed for x1.5 Str bonus, and can use it in a Flurry of Blows instead of her unarmed strikes if she needs to. She can also hollow out both ends for wand chambers (Dungeonscape) retooled to fit dorjes instead (not strictly RAW but an easy DM handwave). Even if she never attacks with it, she can still carry it around for the +1 AC bonus if nothing else.

Wait, where were we? Something about attacks? Oh yes! Three full attacks, 7 attacks each, could rack up quite a few Resonance points. Ok, well, maybe up to three per round if two of the three opponents are relatively close to each other. Her first Resonance effect is Painful Release... which is kinda underwhelming, but hey, at least it works without a saving throw. Damaging Release looks more promising, but only does 1d6 damage per Resonance point. Verelka's dimension hop pays off here as well, as she can use synchronicity to ready an additional swift action before her next turn. As per the PHB p. 160, "You can ready a standard action, a move action, or a free action." (emphases added). According to the XPH, "You can take a swift action any time you would normally be allowed to take a free action." And since taking a readied action counts as acting on your turn, it doesn't count as an immediate action or use up your swift action on your next turn. Verelka will have to use a move action to regain her psionic focus, but she will still have a move action left to move/jump/charge/pounce. Depending on how many opponents are nearby, she may have to juggle between making full attacks and releasing resonance points, but so long as she still has at least one move action left, she can use Mantis Leap to turn it into a charge + pounce. If she's lucky enough to get two opponents dumb enough to stand next to each other, she can divide her full attack between two opponents and still release resonance points on both of them every other round. At 12th level, she adds Multiattack, so her secondary attacks are hitting much more often.

At level 13, Verelka can add half her Serene Guardian levels to her monk levels for determining her full attack bonus, AC bonus, and her unarmed damage. Other than increasing her unarmed damage to 1d10, this doesn't help her immediately, but will have some benefits later. At level 14, she no longer has an attack penalty on Flurry of Blows. She also gets Staggering Release, which... for some reason doesn't stagger anybody, but she can use it to lockdown opponents who are adjacent each other, preventing them from moving away, and thus ensuring that she can full attack + release resonance twice on subsequent rounds. At 15th level, Verelka gets another unarmed attack (8 for a full attack) and can tag an opponent for 2 resonance points when she lands three or more attacks, which makes her Damaging Release and Staggering Release more potent. She also adds Shape Soulmeld: Thunderstep Boots, adding 1d4 to 3d4 sonic damage to each of her attacks on a charge.



Sweet Spot: At 16th level, Verelka can dish out 24 attacks per round, and rack up to 6 resonance points on three opponents. On subsequent rounds, she can full attack every round (8 attacks) and release resonance points on two opponents every other round. With Traumatic Release, this is 4d6 damage (14 average) every round for one opponent, and possibly another 4d6 on a second opponent every other round. If she waits to release until she's racked up several rounds of resonance points, she can easily trigger bigger chunks of resonance damage in the 12d6 range (42 average). Also at 16th, she has enough Monk + Serene Guardian levels to increase her AC bonus.

At 17th level, Verelka is immune to fear, and at 18th level she gains Confounding Release. Since this confusion effect doesn't allow a save, it's particularly potent against enemy spellcasters or creatures with powerful special attacks. If she can't get enough resonance points on them to do decent damage, she can at least get in quickly to disrupt their action economy. With a little luck, she can "lock down" an opponent with two rounds of confusion, allowing her to quickly rack up more resonance points for a more satisfying "finishing move". She also adds another Open Least Chakra to bind Thunderstep Boots to her Feet chakra, which adds a Fort save vs Stun for 1 round (DC is 13 to 15, depending on invested essentia). The text doesn't specify if this save is made after every attack or after every charge. However, even if the save vs. stun is only once per round, with three separate charges and up to 24 attacks she can hit multiple opponents for multiple saves. At this high level, the save DC all that much to worry, but it's a nice chaser effect to throw on top of a resonance release, and even CR 20's roll a '1' eventually.

Something else to consider at 18th level... ask your DM if Serene Guardian levels count towards qualifying for the Monk's "Greater Flurry" ability. I thought it might, because it could be considered as part of calculating your attack bonus for Flurry of Blows, but a strict RAW reading would more likely conclude that Greater Flurry is a separate ability, and the Monk Advancement text in Serene Guardian doesn't mention it. Still, you might get a handwave from a sympathetic DM here. If so, then you've got yet another unarmed strike to add to your Flurry of Blows.

At 19th level, Unclouded Mind allows Verelka to use her Concentration skill to shore up her Will save, which is her weakest save. Even better, rolling a '1' doesn't auto-fail.

20th level unlocks Soul Release, a death attack with actually a pretty high Fort save DC: 20 + Wis modifier (should be 25ish without magic items for Verelka). She has to rack up at least one resonance point per 2 HD, but against low-level fodder and mid-range mini-bosses this shouldn't be more than a couple rounds of work. Against bigger bosses, four rounds of full attacks at 2 points each gets her up to 16 HD. There may be some debate over whether the more reliable damage from Traumatic Release is more effective than the Fort save vs. death, but at least it's nice to have options. In addition to this "capstone", you've got another iterative attack to add to your full attack routine, and half your Serene Guardian levels count towards an increase in unarmed damage (2d6!) and you finally get a +10' speed bonus.



I spent a lot of time debating whether adding the Thunderstep Boots was worth it, or whether I should have focused on adding more attacks: Snap Kick, Planar Touchstone: Oxyrhynchus (paired with the Invisible Fist ACF), or finishing out with Improved Multiattack. If your DM allows flaws, then by all means move Multiattack or Shape Soulmeld down to 1st level, and add these feats at the later levels.

Your DM may not allow the "jumping down" option to be considered a "normal Jump check" for the purposes of Mantis Leap. There are a few work-arounds for this. First, try changing your Psion discipline to Egoist and then load up on hustle dorjes, using the swift-action movement to make another long jump. Second, try switching to the Cobra Strike Monk 2 (Unearthed Arcana) to pick up Dodge and Mobility, then add the Roofwalker and Roof-Jumper feats from Cityscape (with flaws or by dropping the feats for Thunderstep Boots). Roof-Jumper's "Death From Above" option will let you turn a 20' fall into a charge... which means you'll be short 10' on your dimension hop, so may need to swap in a Wilder dip and/or stick Practiced Manifester + Midnight Augmentation in there somewhere as well. Third, Battlejump (Unapproachable East) does something similar, and doesn't require so many prereq feats, but it's not entirely clear from the text how exactly the feat is supposed to work. Forth, a Warblade dip or a couple Martial Study feats can get you the Sudden Leap maneuver, allowing swift-action movement with a Jump check. However, Sudden Leap might not count as a "normal Jump check", and you probably won't be able to use it every round due to refresh mechanics.

I also spent a lot of time fiddling around with what was the best dip to get the dimension hop/synchronicity combo working. One level of Psion left just enough room for Totemist 2, which got me another four claw attacks. You may prefer to do something similar with Mantled Psychic Warrior 2, Mantled Wilder 2, or some other dip.



Cityscape: Skilled City-Dweller (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a)
Complete Psionic: Linked Power, Metapower, dimension hop, synchronicity
Dragon Magic: Claws of the Wyrm
Expanded Psionics Handbook: Psion, Psionic Meditation
Magic of Incarnum: Totemist, Shape Soulmeld, Open Least Chakra
Monster Manual: Multiattack
Races of the Dragon: Dragonborn of Bahamut, Dragon Tail
Stormwrack: Sailor's Balance
Sword & Fist: Mantis Leap

[Heliomance]

404: Witty banter not found


Zirella Stormfire

http://images.fromupnorth.com/207/52c18d867e56d.jpg

Race: Human
Build Stub: Divine Bard 2/Cloistered Cleric 1/Divine Bard +2/Wu Jen 1/Lyric Thaumaturge 3/Fighter 1/Serene Guardian 10
Multiclass Penalty: No
Languages: Common, Celestial
Alignment: NG
Ability Scores:


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


Strength
10

2







Dexterity
15

8
16

17




Constitution
12

4







Intelligence
12

4







Wisdom
12

10

13





Charisma
16

10



17
18






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


1st
Divine Bard 1
+0
+0
+2
+2
Balance 4, Bluff 4, Concentration 2, Know:Arcana 4, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Perform 4, Spellcraft 4, Tumble 4, UMD 4
Melodic Casting, Extra Music (Human)
Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Countersong, Fascinate, Inspire Courage +1


2nd
Divine Bard 2
+1
+0
+3
+3
Balance 5(+1), Bluff 5(+1), Concentration 2, Know:Arcana 5(+1), Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1(+1), Perform 5(+1), Spellcraft 5(+1), Tumble 5(+1), UMD 5(+1)




3rd
Cloistered Cleric 1
+1
+2
+3
+5
Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 3(+1), Know:Arcana 6(+1), Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 2(+2), Know:Religion 1(+1), Perform 6(+2cc), Spellcraft 6(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 5
Energy Substitution (electricity), Extend Spell, Extra Turning, Knowledge Devotion (Planes)
Turn Undead, Lore, Planning Domain, Undeath Domain


4th
Divine Bard 3
+2
+3
+3
+5
Balance 5, Bluff 6(+1), Concentration 5(+2), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 2, Know:Religion 1, Perform 7(+1), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 7(+2), UMD 7(+2)

Inspire Competence


5th
Divine Bard 4
+3
+3
+4
+6
Balance 5, Bluff 8(+2), Concentration 8(+3), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 2, Know:Religion 1, Perform 8(+1), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 8(+1), UMD 8(+1)




6th
Wu Jen 1
+3
+3
+4
+8
Balance 5, Bluff 8, Concentration 9(+1), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 3(+1), Know:Religion 1, Perform 9(+2cc), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 8, UMD 8
Born of Three Thunders, Sanctum Spell
Watchful Spirit, Bonus Feat


7th
Lyric Thaumaturge 1
+3
+3
+6
+10
Balance 5, Bluff 10(+2), Concentration 10(+1), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 3, Know:Religion 1, Perform 10(+1), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 8, UMD 10(+2)

Bardic Music, Bonus Spell


8th
Lyric Thaumaturge 2
+4
+3
+7
+11
Balance 5, Bluff 11(+1), Concentration 11(+1), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 5(+2), Know:Religion 1, Perform 11(+1), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 8, UMD 11(+1)

Captivating Melody


9th
Lyric Thaumaturge 3
+5
+4
+7
+11
Balance 5, Bluff 12(+1), Concentration 12(+1), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6(+1), Know:Religion 1, Perform 12(+1), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 9(+1), UMD 12(+1)
Persistent Spell
Spell Secret


10th
Fighter 1
+6
+6
+7
+11
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentration 12, Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 12, Spellcraft 6, Tumble 13(+4), UMD 12
Two-Weapon Fighting
Hit-and-Run ACF (Drow of the Underdark), Skilled City-Dweller ACF (Ride->Tumble)


11th
Serene Guardian 1
+7
+8
+9
+11
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 13(+1), Intimidate 2(+2), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 12, Spellcraft 6, Tumble 14(+1), UMD 12

Resonance, Painful Release


12th
Serene Guardian 2
+8
+9
+10
+11
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 14(+1), Intimidate 4(+2), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 12, Spellcraft 6, Tumble 15(+1), UMD 12
Divine Metamagic
Damaging Release


13th
Serene Guardian 3
+9
+9
+10
+12
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 15(+1), Intimidate 6(+2), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 12, Spellcraft 6, Tumble 16(+1), UMD 12
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Bonus Feat


14th
Serene Guardian 4
+10
+10
+11
+12
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 16(+1), Intimidate 8(+2), Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 12, Spellcraft 6, Tumble 17(+1), UMD 12

Staggering Release


15th
Serene Guardian 5
+11
+10
+11
+12
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 18(+2), Intimidate 8, Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 13(+2cc), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 17, UMD 14
Quick Recovery
Greater Resonance


16th
Serene Guardian 6
+12
+11
+12
+13
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 19(+1), Intimidate 8, Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 14(+2cc), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 18(+1), UMD 12

Traumatic Release


17th
Serene Guardian 7
+13
+11
+12
+13
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 20(+1), Intimidate 8, Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 15(+2cc), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 19(+1), UMD 12

Immune to Fear


18th
Serene Guardian 8
+14
+12
+13
+13
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 21(+1), Intimidate 8, Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 16(+2cc), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 20(+1), UMD 12
Doomspeak
Confounding Release


19th
Serene Guardian 9
+15
+14
+14
+10
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 22(+1), Intimidate 8, Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 4, Perform 17(+2cc), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 21(+1), UMD 12

Unclouded Mind


20th
Serene Guardian 10
+16
+15
+15
+10
Balance 5, Bluff 12, Concentrate 23(+1), Intimidate 8, Know:Arcana 6, Know:Dungeon 1, Know:Local 1, Know:Nature 1, Know:Planes 6, Know:Religion 1, Perform 18(+2cc), Spellcraft 6, Tumble 22(+2), UMD 12

Soul Release






Bard Spells per Day


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


1st
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
3
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


3rd
3
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


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


5th
3
3
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


6th
3
3
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


7th
3
5
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


8th
3
5
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


9th
3
5
4
1
-
-
-
-
-
-



Bard Spells Known
0lvl: detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation, read magic, stick (SC), summon instrument
1st: inspirational boost (SC), sound burst, swift invisibility (SC), unseen servant, magic missle (Spell Secret)
2nd: alter self, glitterdust, ice darts (Frostburn), sonic weapon (SC), flame dagger (SC, Spell Secret)
3rd: haste, glibness


Cleric Spells per Day


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


3rd
3
2+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-



Typical Cleric Spells Prepared
0lvl: create water, guidance, mending
1st: blade of blood (PHBII), ice slick (Frostburn), death watch{D}


Wu Jen Spells per Day


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


6th
3
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-



Typical Wu Jen Spells Prepared
0lvl: ghost sound, prestidigitation, ray of frost
1st: elemental burst, fiery eyes




Zirella plays her first five levels as mostly a support bard. Melodic Casting and Extra Music helps qualify her for Lyric Thaumaturge later. At 3rd, she dips into Cloistered Cleric to pick up Extend Spell and Extra Turning, paving the way for Divine Metamagic later. There aren't any deities with both Planning and Undeath, so make up a deity (the God of Abusing Divine Metamagic, for example) or have her worship an ideal. Worshipping a pantheon might also work, although the Planning and Undeath domains are so obscure that they don't appear together in any published pantheons. Energy Substitution doesn't do all that much until ice darts (Frostburn) comes online at 5th level.



A dip into Wu Jen gets Zirella a few more energy spells and brings Born of Three Thunders online. Sanctum Spell allows her to bump up her 1st-level Wu Jen Spells to 2nd level, which qualifies her to enter Lyric Thaumaturge. Lyric Thaumaturge helps advance our bard casting (even though it's divine), and also adds a couple of Sorcerer/Wizard spells to our spell list: magic missile (for a little blasty-damage) and flame dagger (not all that impressive right now, but just wait a bit). She picks up Persistent Spell at 9th level, but unfortunately most of her feats are dead weight at the moment. Mid-range levels are going to be a bit of a slog. Presumably, she spends a good chunk of her time using Bardic Knowledge/Lore to help the Luminous Order track down artifacts from the Battle of Slaughtergarde, tallying up some affiliation points. One more dip into Hit-and-Run Fighter (using ice slick and swift invisibility to render foes flat-footed) gets her +1 BAB and TWF, and she's ready for Serene Guardian.



Zirella joines the Luminous Order and takes a quarterstaff as her Weapon of the Celestial Host. She can hollow out both ends for Wand Chambers (Dungeonscape) and add a couple of wands, such as instant of power (Forge of War) or blade of blood (PHBII). She could also use UMD on a wand of blades of fire, hopefully Energy Substituted to [electricity] (same spell level, so should be the same cost). However, the quarterstaff isn't really the weapon she wants to focus on, because next level...

DIVINE METAMAGIC is finally here! And we've got enough Turn Undeads (10-ish without items) to persist two spells. So let's do that: Zirella starts her day by casting Energy Substituted flame daggers (AKA electricity daggers), adds Born of Three Thunders, and Persists them so they last all day. She's dazed after each spell is cast, but hey, that wears off in a round, and she's got a pair of all-day electricity daggers. When she TWFs with these, all her attacks are touch attacks and every time they hit, the target has to make a Fort save vs. stunned for 1 round and a Ref save vs. knocked prone. If her target is stunned, she gets Dex damage on the next round from Hit-and-Run Fighter. If she's not within melee range, she can blast away with multiple projectiles by casting magic missile or ice darts to rack up Resonance points. Resonance works for both melee and ranged attacks, and there's no range limit so Zirella can get up close with her melee touch attacks or *ping* away at range, then use Damaging Release when she's built up enough resonance points.

13th level gets Zirella another offhand attack with Improved TWF. Staggering Release at 14th level gives her a lockdown option on top of stun/prone. At 15th level, she picks up Quick Recovery to counter the "daze" effect from Born of Three Thunders. If she casts a sonic/electricity spell, Quick Recovery allows her to make a Will save as a move action, and she's got a pretty decent Will save. The DC is a bit difficult to parse, though: "DC 10 + 1/2 HD or caster level of originator of effect + relevant ability modifier, or Cha modifier if there is not an obvious ability linked to the effect" (Lords of Madness p. 181). It's not clear if the "1/2" applies only to HD or to caster level as well, and there's no indication of whether the higher or lower value is preferred. Since Zirella was the caster, there's an argument she can choose the lower value if she wants, so the save DC for any of her Born of Three Thunders spells should be 10 + 3 (1/2 CL) + 3 (Cha bonus) = 16ish, which she passes on a 3+ roll without magic items/buffs (90%). Even assuming the worst calculation, 10 + 7 (1/2 HD or 7 CL) + 3 = 20ish, which she passes on a 7+ roll without magic items/buffs (70%). On her next turn, she still has a standard action available, and can cast a spell (such as magic missile) before going back to TWFing with her electricity daggers.



Sweet Spot: At 16th level, Zirella is at her best in melee: she has five touch attacks with her electricity daggers, every attack forces a Fort save vs. stun and a Ref save vs. knocked prone, and Traumatic Release lets her knock off another 4d6 damage as a swift action.

At 17th level, Zirella can throw down a confusion effect on top of that. At 18th level, she picks up Doomspeak and can put some of those Bardic Musics to use. At 19th level, she gets Unclouded Mind and can throw around Born of Three Thunders with impunity: Quick Recovery gives her a Will save against daze, and if she fails Unclouded Mind lets her make a Concentration check instead, and at this level she can't fail that check. Zirella can continue to blast away with projectile spells so long as she has spell slots/wands/etc. At 20th level, Zirella gets Soul Release as a capstone and all those Bardic Musics really pay off with Doomspeak: after she racks up enough resonance points for Soul Release, she can use Doomspeak as a standard action to force a target to make a DC 34 Will save. If the will save fails, the target is cursed with a -10 penalty on all attacks, saves, and skill checks for one round. After the Doomspeak succeeds, Zirella can activate Soul Release to kill her target outright with what is now a DC 31 Fort save. And she has enough Bardic Music uses to do that 11 times a day.



I had quite a bit of trouble trying to fit all those metamagic feats into this build. There's quite a few I had to leave out, but if your DM allows flaws, you may be able to add some of them back in. Another Extra Turning would have been nice to get another persisted spell. Once you get into Lyric Thaumaturge, Extra Music is kind of a waste... ask your DM if you can retrain it to something else. And while I'm not normally a big fan of Snowflake Wardance (Frostburn), it would be insanely good on this build.

I also fiddled around a bit with Metamagic Song (Races of Stone) and Talfirian Song (Races of Faerun), but couldn't get them to work. It would have been great to be able to use Bardic Music to reduce metamagic costs, but Metamagic Song won't allow you to add a metamagic effect above the spell level you can cast. However, if you can get Heighten Spell in there somewhere with Metamagic Song, you can combine Heighten + Divine Metamagic to increase the effective spell level you can cast up to 9th or whatever, and then you can use Metamagic Song to convert all those Bardic Musics into persisted spells.

Of course, probably the biggest problem with this build is the lack of decent spells to persist. No greater invisbility, no magic vestment, no divine powah!, etc. Obviously, it would be very easy to lop off all those Serene Guardian levels and throw on Sublime Chord/Abjurant Champion/Church Inquisitor. But I really liked the idea of racking on resonance points with all those Born of Three Thunders touch attacks, and I wanted to see what that might look like on a Serene Guardian. Even if the build didn't turn out all that effective, I hope I included some ideas in here that you can use somewhere else.



Cityscape: Skilled City-Dweller ACF (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a)
Champions of Ruin: Doomspeak
Complete Adventurer: Extra Music
Complete Arcane: Wu Jen, Energy Substitution, Born of Three Thunders, Sanctum Spell, Persistent Spell
Complete Champion: Knowledge Devotion
Complete Divine: Divine Metamagic
Complete Mage: Melodic Casting, Lyric Thaumaturge
Drow of the Underdark: Hit-and-Run Fighter ACF
Lords of Madness: Quick Recovery
Unearthed Arcana: Cloistered Cleric

[Heliomance]

404: Witty banter not found


The Blessed Third
LG Human Ranger 2/Monk 2/Warblade 6/Serene Guardian 10

The third incarnation of the saintly monk Tenzin, who teaches of the holy significance of the number 3. Signifying the points of life and death and life again over which the wheel of dharma rolls he sought even to deliver his blows in threes in battle. For upon the third strike his sublime truth would reverberate through his foe and they would be left stricken in body and mind by the revelation.

Ability ScoresPoint Buy: 17 Str, 14 Dex, 14 Con, 10 Int, 13 Wis, 8 Cha
4th level: 17 Str, 15 Dex, 14 Con, 9 Int, 14 Wis, 8 Cha
8th level: 17 Str, 16 Dex, 14 Con, 9 Int, 14 Wis, 8 Cha
12th level: 17 Str, 17 Dex, 14 Con, 9 Int, 14 Wis, 8 Cha
16th level: 18 Str, 17 Dex, 14 Con, 9 Int, 14 Wis, 8 Cha
20th level: 19 Str, 17 Dex, 14 Con, 9 Int, 14 Wis, 8 Cha

Build Table



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


1st
Planar Ranger 1
+1
+2
+2
+0
Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Concentration 4, Jump 4, Tumble 4, Balance 4, Spot 4
TrackB, Dodge, Combat ReflexesH
Wild Empathy (better on celestial/fiendish animals), Rival Organization +2, Skilled City-Dweller (Trade Ride for Tumble)


2nd
Passive Way Decisive Strike Monk 1
+1
+4
+4
+2
Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Concentration 5, Jump 5, Tumble 5, Balance 5, Spot 4
Improved Unarmed StrikeB, Combat ExpertiseB
Unarmed Strike, Decisive Strike, AC Bonus


3rd
Invisible Fist Passive Way Monk 2
+2
+5
+5
+3
Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Concentration 6, Jump 6, Tumble 6, Balance 5, Spot 5
Improved TripB, Knock-Down
Invisible Fist


4th
Ranger 2
+3
+6
+6
+3
Knowledge (The Planes) 7, Concentration 7, Jump 7, Tumble 7, Balance 5, Spot 5
Two-Weapon FightingB
Combat Style


5th
Warblade 1
+4
+8
+6
+3
Knowledge (The Planes) 7.5cc, Concentration 8, Jump 8, Tumble 8, Balance 5, Spot 5
-
Battle Clarity (Reflex Saves), Weapon Aptitude


6th
Warblade 2
+5
+9
+6
+3
Knowledge (The Planes) 8cc, Concentration 9, Jump 9, Tumble 9, Balance 5, Spot 5
Karmic Strike
Uncanny Dodge


7th
Warblade 3
+6
+9
+7
+4
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 10, Jump 9, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 6cc
-
Battle Ardor (Critical Confirmation)


8th
Serene Guardian 1
+7
+11
+9
+4
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 11, Jump 10, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 6
-
Resonance, Painful Release


9th
Serene Guardian 2
+8
+12
+10
+4
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 12, Jump 11, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 6
Snap Kick
Damaging Release


10th
Serene Guardian 3
+9
+12
+10
+5
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 13, Jump 12, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 6
-
Monk Advancement


11th
Serene Guardian 4
+10
+13
+11
+5
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 14, Jump 13, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 6
-
Staggering Release


12th
Serene Guardian 5
+11
+13
+11
+5
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 15, Jump 13, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 7
Planar Touchstone: Oxyrhynicus (Unarmed Strike)
Greater Resonance


13th
Serene Guardian 6
+12
+14
+12
+6
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 16, Jump 13, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 8
-
Traumatic Release


14th
Serene Guardian 7
+13
+14
+12
+6
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 17, Jump 13, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 9
-
Immune to Fear


15th
Serene Guardian 8
+14
+15
+13
+6
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 18, Jump 13, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 10
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Confounding Resonance


16th
Serene Guardian 9
+15
+15
+13
+7
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 19, Jump 13, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 11
-
Unclouded Mind


17th
Serene Guardian 10
+16
+16
+14
+7
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 20, Jump 13, Tumble 10, Balance 5, Spot 12
-
Soul Release


18th
Warblade 4
+17
+17
+15
+7
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 21, Jump 14, Tumble 12, Balance 5, Spot 12
Double Hit
-


19th
Warblade 5
+18
+17
+15
+7
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 22, Jump 15, Tumble 14, Balance 5, Spot 12
Improved InitiativeB
-


20th
Warblade 6
+19
+18
+16
+8
Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Concentration 23, Jump 16, Tumble 16, Balance 5, Spot 12
-
Improved Uncanny Dodge

B denotes a bonus feat.
H denotes the extra feat for being human.
Maneuvers


Level
Initiator Level
Maneuvers Readied
Maneuvers Known
Stances Known


5
3
3
Wolf Fang Strike, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Sudden Leap
Punishing Stance


6
4
3
Wolf Fang Strike, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Sudden Leap, Steel Wind
Punishing Stance


7
5
3
Wolf Fang Strike, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Sudden Leap, Steel Wind, Iron Heart Surge
Punishing Stance


18
11
4
Wolf Fang Strike, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Sudden Leap, Steel Wind, Iron Heart Surge, Pouncing Charge
Punishing Stance, Leaping Dragon Stance


19
12
4
Wolf Fang Strike, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Sudden Leap, Iron Heart Surge, Pouncing Charge, Rapid Counter, Disrupting Blow
Punishing Stance, Leaping Dragon Stance



Level 7Planar Ranger (the UA variant rather than the Planar Handbook ACF) gets us Two-Weapon Fighting and Knowledge (The Planes) as a class skill, which will be important later. Passive Way Monk also nabs us some useful feats and gets us out of the Int requirement for Combat Expertise and Improved Trip. Once we have Improved Trip, we can pick up Knock-Down. Hitting the 10 damage threshold to trigger Knock-Down is a little bit difficult in the early going, so you’ll probably want to wield a two-handed weapon of some sort for the time being (a reach weapon would combo nicely with Combat Reflexes and your unarmed strikes threatening adjacent squares, or a Quarterstaff could be used for Decisive Strikes). Warblade ticks that damage up by an extra d6 with Punishing Stance and picks up a few maneuvers which will be useful later.
Level 12We’ve entered the SI, and can now generate two points of resonance in an opponent by hitting them thrice in a round. Here are some ways that we can do that. Hit with main hand and off-hand (one of which will be an Unarmed Strike) with Wolf Fang Strike, then Snap Kick for a third strike.
Hit with a single attack (including a Decisive Strike or strike maneuver), get an extra attack from Knock-Down+Improved Trip, then get another from Snap Kick.
Render the enemy that you’re attacking flat-footed by way of winning initiative, Invisible Fist (though that costs you your swift action, so you can’t use your resonance abilities), or Sapphire Nightmare Blade, get an extra attack from Snap Kick, then, as you’ve caught an enemy flat-footed and made multiple attacks in the round, get a third attack from Planar Touchstone (Oxyrhynicus).We can also do some things with the resonance once we accumulate it, so those are fun.
Level 20No save confusion is cool, especially as both running away from the ‘caster’ or attacking the caster/nearest creature provoke AoOs thanks to Karmic Strike. Better yet, we pick up Double Hit which helps us to build resonance with those AoOs and can tick up to a third hit for a second point by way of Knock-Down, Snap Kick, or if you can stomach losing the swift action you’d need to actually make use of the resonance in the following round, Rapid Counter. We’ve also got some more high level maneuvers and our weak save replaced by a Concentration check. Fights aren’t going to last the 10 + rounds necessary to charge up the necessary resonance for a Soul Release, but since Resonance never seems to go away until you release it, you might be able to deliver some non-lethal hits to prisoners as an insurance policy or something.

Complete Warrior: Karmic Strike
Cityscape Web Enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a): Skilled City-Dweller
Exemplars of Evil: Invisible Fist
Miniatures Handbook: Double Hit
Planar Handbook: Planar Touchstone
Player’s Handbook II: Decisive Strike
Tome of Battle: Maneuvers, Snap Kick, Warblade
Everything else should be in the SRD. Note that I'm using the UA Planar Ranger rather than the distinct ACF in the Planar Handbook.

[Heliomance]

And that is everything! On your marks, get set, JUDGE!

[Inevitability]

So I took a look at stuff, and it seems we've got a sneaky fey employing Death of a Thousand Cuts (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeathOfAThousandCuts), a disappearing monk, a burning necromancer initiator meldshaper dragon shaman, a guy shooting three arrows per second with his mind, a three-gazes-per-round dragon person, a four-attacks-per-second dragon person, a lightning daggermage, and Rule of Three personified.

This is a good round.

[Venger]

What a wide spread. Only two dishes took prcs other than the SI. I'm not sure if this is unprecedented exactly, but it sure is noteworthy.

Serene guardian is so good, you don't need other prcs.

[Bucky]

My build concept had pretty much nothing to do with anything that actually showed up. Then again, I only had half a build without the expertise to complement it.


The main method of building resonance would have been pounce + rapid reload + rapid shot with a sand blaster, locking down one enemy while racking up resonance and debuffs on anyone near them.

Unfortunately, with Barbarian off limits due to alignment, I couldn't find a way to enter the SI at 7 while picking up Pounce. My backup option of PsyWar looked promising, but that meant I needed to put together a power list and at that point I felt it wasn't worth the effort to enter.

[Venger]

My build concept had pretty much nothing to do with anything that actually showed up. Then again, I only had half a build without the expertise to complement it.


The main method of building resonance would have been pounce + rapid reload + rapid shot with a sand blaster, locking down one enemy while racking up resonance and debuffs on anyone near them.

Unfortunately, with Barbarian off limits due to alignment, I couldn't find a way to enter the SI at 7 while picking up Pounce. My backup option of PsyWar looked promising, but that meant I needed to put together a power list and at that point I felt it wasn't worth the effort to enter.


Interesting idea. A 1 level master of masks dip, assuming you could've wrangled its annoying prereqs somehow, would save a feat on EWP.

Barbarian actually only loses rage if he changes alignment. He keeps everything else, so if you could live with that, you retain pounce.

[remetagross]

Death of a Thousand Cuts (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeathOfAThousandCuts)

I opened the link, saw "tvtropes" appear in the address bar, thought "oh no I want to have a good night's reset today!", succeeded on the Will DC 35 Compulsion effect, and closed the tab before it fully loaded.

[Inevitability]

I opened the link, saw "tvtropes" appear in the address bar, thought "oh no I want to have a good night's reset today!", succeeded on the Will DC 35 Compulsion effect, and closed the tab before it fully loaded.

I regret nothing!

[Sian]

I tried fiddling with a Totemist with Manticore Belt, but never felt it working.

[Troacctid]

So many great builds and all I can think is how dare you make Guru Lahima a firebender.

[Darrin]

I tried fiddling with a Totemist with Manticore Belt, but never felt it working.

That occurred to me as well... one of my early ideas was Factotum 8/Totemist 2/SG 10 loaded up with Font of Inspiration, but I got discouraged when I couldn't nail down if the spikes were considered a thrown weapon attack. And now I can't recall exactly why I wanted them to be thrown (Strongheart Halfling, maybe?). That and even though it can throw out a bunch of attacks, you're still limited to one swift action per turn to release the resonance points, and I wasn't sure if that could be fixed.

[WhamBamSam]

What a wide spread. Only two dishes took prcs other than the SI. I'm not sure if this is unprecedented exactly, but it sure is noteworthy.

Serene guardian is so good, you don't need other prcs.The 6 BAB prereq might have something to do with that. Many of the builds are entering late as is and that makes it potentially a little awkward to find room for PrC levels.

Both of the unsubmitted ideas that I had (which I'll post after the final reveal as both overlap with my submitted build in places) used other PrCs, but both were unable to complete the SI as a result. One makes it to Serene Guardian 8, the other to Serene Guardian 9.

[Bucky]

That and even though it can throw out a bunch of attacks, you're still limited to one swift action per turn to release the resonance points, and I wasn't sure if that could be fixed.

The solution I found to this was simply to stack up more resonance while waiting for the next swift action to come up; you only release it on one enemy per turn, but the effect scales based on how long it's been since you last released it on that enemy.

[Venger]

The 6 BAB prereq might have something to do with that. Many of the builds are entering late as is and that makes it potentially a little awkward to find room for PrC levels.

Both of the unsubmitted ideas that I had (which I'll post after the final reveal as both overlap with my submitted build in places) used other PrCs, but both were unable to complete the SI as a result. One makes it to Serene Guardian 8, the other to Serene Guardian 9.

Yeah, that's probably it. I really hate it when they do that. At least this si gives full BA in return.

[daremetoidareyo]

I promised to judge, but it didn't stop me from developing this stub:
Synad


Level
Class
Feats
Skills
Class Features
Powers
BAB

PP


1
SoulBound Weapon Psychic warrior 1 (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070214a)
exotic weapon proficiency:Fusiri Gama

Deadly Spittle ( Serpent Kingdoms, p. 145)

Weapon focus: Fusiri Gama
12: Concentration 4, knowledge (psionics) 4, Autohypnosis 4, Profession (sewing) 4
Manifesting: 1st level power: Call Weaponry
Bonus feat, Weapon Focus
call weapon
0
str 8, dex 17, con 12, int 13, wis 16 cha 8
3+0


2
SoulBound Weapon Psychic warrior 2

3: Concentration 5, Autohypnosis 5, knowledge (psionics) 5
Manifesting, 1st level power: Extend range (CP), soulbound weapon
extend range
1

4


3
psywarrior 3
Synad Multitask, Enhanced (Complete Psionic, p. 58)
3: Concentration 6, Autohypnosis 6, Knowledge (psionics) 6
Manifesting: 1st level power: Call Item (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040827e)
call item
2

6


4
Hit and run fighter
Point blank shot
3: psicraft 1.5
Hit and Run Tactics (DotU), Bonus Feat

3

6


5
psywarrior 4

3: Concentration 8, knowledge (psionics) 7
Manifesting: 2nd level power: Dissolving Weapon
dissolving weapon
4

8


6
psywarrior 5
Dead eye (dragon compendium), psionic meditation
3: Concentration 9, knowledge (psionics) 8, Psicraft 2
Manifesting 2nd level power: Hustle, Bonus Feat
Hustle
4
weapon of the celestial host (spear spikard) + luminary tabbard
10


7
psywarrior 6

3: Concentration 10, psicraft 3
Manifesting: 2nd level power: Power Weapon (CP)
Prowess
5
Horizon Goggles (far shot feat)
14


8
psywarrior 7

3: Concentration 11, Psicraft 4
Manifesting: 3rd Level Power: Telekinetic Boomerang (CP)
telekinetic boomerang
6
Intelligent item: bluburill, 20kgp grants combat reflexes and expertise. AEG p.139
18


9
Serene Guardian 1
Practiced Manifester (CP p.57)
3: Concentration 12, Autohypnosis 7
Resonance, Painful release

7
cognizance crystal 25 k
18


10
Serene Guardian 2

3: Concentration 13, autohypnosis 8
Damaging release

8
weapon of the celestial host (spear spikard) + luminary tabbard
18


11
Serene Guardian 3
Clever Opportunist ( Drow of the Underdark, p. 47)
3: Concentration 14, autohypnosis 9
Bonus Feat

9
periapt of wisdom, gloves of dexterity, (4k, 16k) 36,000 each
18


12
Serene Guardian 4
Wounding attack (Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 52)
3: Concentration 15, autohypnosis 10
Staggering Release

10

18


13
Serene Guardian 5

3: Concentration 16, autohypnosis 11
Greater Resonance

11

18


14
Serene Guardian 6

3: Concentration 17, autohypnosis 12
traumatic release

12

18


15
Serene Guardian 7
Sense Weakness ( Draconomicon, p. 106)
3: Concentration 18, autohypnosis 13
Immune to Fear

13

18


16
Serene Guardian 8

3: Concentration 19, autohypnosis 14
Confounding Release

14

18


17
Serene Guardian 9

3: Concentration 20, autohypnosis 15
Unclouded release

15

18


18
Serene Guardian 10
Psicrystal affinity (XPH)
3: Concentration 21, autohypnosis 16
Soul Release

16

18


19
metamind (XPH)

5: concentration 22, autohypnosis 20
Free manifesting 1st, 3/day

16

18


20
metamind (XPH)

5: concentration 23, autohypnosis 23, craft (needlework) 1
Manifesting: 3rd level power: Empathic Feedback (CP)
empathic transfer
17

22



Fusiri gama lets you spit 3 per attack. deadly spittle lets you turn a spit attack into a 15' cone. call weapon + telekinetic boomerang allows you to bane your weapon. Synad lets you make the pain. dead eye, wounding attack, and hit and run acf boost damage while sense weakness drops DR

[KrimsonNekros]

I had two ideas going into this one. First was a Monk/Paladin going blackguard, but i couldn't get it to mesh together quite right. Other idea was a Shadowbane inquistor, but do to moving i wasn't able to get that one finished.

[Venger]

I had two ideas going into this one. First was a Monk/Paladin going blackguard, but i couldn't get it to mesh together quite right. Other idea was a Shadowbane inquistor, but do to moving i wasn't able to get that one finished.

Huh. A blackguard does keep all his goodies if he stops being evil. Once more, the evil aligned class is always the way to go.

[Thurbane]

I started tinkering with a Monk (Kung Fu Genius) 2/ Fighter 2/Warblade 6/Serene Guardian 10 - trying to replicate Jack B Quick with some extra attacks from Snap Kick and Whirling Steel Flurry, but I just wasn't happy with the result...

[Darkcouch]

I didn't have time to write up my idea, but I was going to go with a sling wielding Illumian (Naenhoon) Battle Sorc 6/Incantatrix 4/ Serene Guardian 10 using persisted Could of knifes (eventually with Acrane Thesis, extend, fell drain, and wounding) in conjunction with my familiar to get 2 free action attacks (and a wound) per round. He ended up with very few spells known due to the Battle Sorc and Domain Access ACFs, but the plan was to use the illumian ghetto DMM for persist which let me use my daily uses of Incantatrix's Metamagic Effect to Sculpt Kelgore's grave mist onto anyone that I used Staggering Release on. Does that even work? Can you move the spell area after the fact with Metamagic effect?

[One Step Two]

I like what I see in these builds, but between work, home and other commitments I couldn't get mine though in time. I was going to build the following: Anthropomorphic Bat Savage Progression Ghost 3/Dungeon-crasher Fighter 2/Master of the Unseen Hand 5/Serene Guardian 10. Using the Master of the Unseen hand to trip people then bull rush them against the ground using telekinetic full attacks.
For the story I was tossing up between an undead defender of the Serene guardians who guards a sacred tomb, or call him Tragic Slapstick the Ghost.

[remetagross]

Fusiri gama lets you spit 3 per attack.

That two Playgrounders have thought about using this extremely obscure weapon simply amazes me !

[Bucky]

That two Playgrounders have thought about using this extremely obscure weapon simply amazes me !

I considered it as well.

[Zaq]

One idea that I was trying very hard to crowbar into my build was to use a warforged with Shocking Fist and Conductivity (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/spelltouchedFeats.htm#conductivity). The idea is that Conductivity can technically be used with the self-damage from Shocking Fist (you don't take electricity damage, but Conductivity doesn't specify that you have to take electricity damage—it specifies that you have to take damage from an electricity effect, which is exactly what is happening), but the damage that you dish out by means of Conductivity is puny. Still, puny damage is still a ping of damage, and Serene Guardian is one of the only classes in the game that has a mechanic that triggers off of doing pings of damage without that much regard for how big those pings are. I've always liked the fact that Conductivity and Shocking Fist technically work together (I love turning supposed drawbacks into advantages), but the fact that the damage is so negligible prevented me from ever actually using it before now. Obviously, it didn't make it into the final build at all, but I thought it would have been clever.

[Korahir]

Since I'm currently home sick and my head isn't aching and I couldn't finish a dish, I'll try to judge. I dusted off my old score matrix, which wasn't used in quite a while. I already glanced at the builds and have 1 build almost finished judging.



Originality
Originality comes in two forms: the build and the character as presented in your write up. Please keep in mind that expectation is a big part of originality. If I expected certain classes, tricks or characteristics used, this might differ from the expectations of other judges.

5 points:You blew my mind. The presented dish is an original build idea merged with an interesting character concept.
4 points:Either your build or your character concept are original. Either or both are above Iron Chef standards (as perceived by me).
3 points:Your build is known, but you used it in a surprising way OR Your build is well known, the presented character makes up for it by being particularly interesting. Your dish is what I expect when reading an Iron Chef entry.
2 points:Your dish is an interesting build, but not a character OR Your build is a well known stub with something sprinkled over it.
1 point:Your dish is a well known build and is only a build, not a character.

Power
I'm judging dishes regarding power asking myself two questions: Are you consistently powerful from level 1-20? What role(s) are you trying to excel at?

5 points:You have more than one trick. You are excellent at what you do from level 1-20.
4 points:You excel at multiple roles but need some time to get there.
3 points:You are a well rounded addition to any party at any level OR You fulfill multiple roles and are more than decent at them OR You have some dead levels before starting to shine.
2 points:You have one trick and you are really good at it.
1 point:You have one trick and are not even good at that one.


Elegance
Is always tricky. Illegal builds are judged as Elegance 1. Flawless builds are a 5. Elegance starts at 3 and increases and decreases happen from there. Here are some clues, what I look for:
What I'd like to see:
Clean builds, where you qualify for everything without using questionable stuff. I won't penalize dips, but a 5/10/5 or similar will probably score higher. A high score means your build flows nicely. Feats, Classes and Class abilities work together. Nothing seems to have been added just to get power or originality. You are welcome at any table.

What I don't like:
If you depend on Wishloops, Shapechange shenanigans, Chaos shuffle, etc. expect heavy deductions. If I can't figure out what some of your tricks are due to a poor write up, expect a deduction. A low score means your build is hard to read or seems to be consisting of different parts glued together or is using questionable mechanics. Certain groups or GMs might refuse to allow you to sit down at their table. The build relies on equipment a lot.


UotSI
Illegal entry means UotSI 1. As Elegance UotSI starts at three. The following questions are considered:
When do you enter the SI?
What use do you make of the SI's class abilities, BAB, saves, skills?
Would another (Prestige) Class be better for your build?
Is the SI the centerpiece of your build?

[The Viscount]

Wow, fast turnaround. Thanks, Korahir!

[Korahir]

Pretty much judged all day long. I am currently at 6 of 8, almost 7 done though I will need to go over everything at least once more. I am a little rusty and proof reading every feat, ACF and preq is a lot in this round.

[Korahir]

Sorry for the double post. I have finished. Don't worry, they weren't done hasty, so far it took me 15 hours. I will be gone over the weekend and I am not sure how often I can look into the forum the next week. So please be patient if my answer to disputes takes a while.

What i want to say beforehand: that was an awesome round to judge. Very diverse, very interesting concepts and a lot of neat ideas.

Notes on judging:

Base Originality is scored right after reading or glancing over the build.
Then i read thoroughly and take notes. These notes I later add into the judging criteria, bigger ones as spoiler tags.
Power is a little tricky this time as Serene guardian is godawful. I tried to use my matrix (see post above) and explain detours from it. Diversity (meaning multiple roles like scouting, fighting, etc.) with this SI is especially awarded.
For Elegance i added to my matrix something along of craftiness. Multiple sources used for an interesting combination i.e.

UotSI
Early entry +0,5
finishing SI +0,5
Resonance used reliably and class features used +0,5
fits thematically i.e.: hunting down evils, monk progression, alignment, skill selection +0,5
Negative modifiers almost only appear when there i no point in taking more levels of the SI in some cases even any at all.



Spirit of all pointy things: 14,25

Originality: 4
jermlaine, wilderness rogue was unexpected. Sniper focussed build thanks to the find of fukimi-bari, which is an awesome find(seriously: how? :D). I expected a lot of multiple shots/volleys per round but not mouth darts.
All in all: a concept not expected by me.
Base score: 4
Adjustements after reading: None that influence Originality.

Power: 2,252,5
You fulfill multiple roles (sneaky, scout, damage) and you are decent at them. Base: 3
The score is explained in detail in the spoiler.

Your main damage trick is vulnerable to DR and denial of sneak attack. DR is a huge problem. -0,75 -0,5
Max damage is: 1+5d6= 18,5 on average on a single dart. That is dangerously close to 15 damage and DR:15 is encountered later on a regular basis. If sneak attack is denied and the opponent has DR, literally no damage can be done. Not even debuffs can be applied. That is very problematic.

Scouting(spot and listen) becomes a minor problem. +-0
spot and listen stop at +13 Wisdom is +3. +16 is alright but nothing outstanding. Early on you keep on par, falls off later. You may have trouble in detecting your sniper targets.

1 Strength is troublesome -0,5

That's a massive problem: You may not be able to carry important things. Your limit is: 25lb to push or drag. 5Lb is a heavy load, 1,5 lb is leight load. Your suggestion of a tower shield is impossible even in form of a mithral tower shield: although armor for tiny creatures is never described, let's assume it is half the weight of small creatures: therefore a tiny mithral tower shield weighs 5,625 lb. (1/8 of a medium one). That is more than your heavy load. That is only a minor point as the suggestion isn't vital at all but encumbrance can be a pain if looked at by the gm. So you need to invest in handy haversacks early, but o boy they weigh 5 lb so 1,25 for a tiny one. Leaving you with 0,25 lb for your main trick: fukimi-bari.
Let's do some math: you can carry 60 (1 weighs 0,025lb) fukimi bari when you carry nothing else and still want to not bear yourself with a medium load. Assuming you want to carry any magic items, this number goes south very very quickly. Tiny robes are very leightweighted but still weigh 0,25lb. for you. That is 10 fukimi bari less. Tiny cloaks weigh 0.5 lb., 20 fukimi bari less. This is where your build gets close to not playable as you have to rely heavily on magic items to pick up your lacking strength but you even have trouble carrying those magic items. So your source of flight and perception eats heavily in encumbrance. The suggested shackles also weigh 0,5 lb. So the problem I want to show you: you will run out of ammunition in the early game and have to carefully plan your magic equipment later.


Hide and move silently is excellent. + 0,5
+8 from tiny +7 DEX right from the start is excellent. Although sniping is -20, your chances are high of staying hidden once you can take 10. Earlier it may be a problem against Wisdom based enemies and monsters with high spot ranks and you never get Hide in plain sight but overall this is the cornerstone of your build and holds up very nicely.

Range and reloading +-0
I am a little sceptical about the range increment of the fukimi-bari combined with a sniper build and the rules for reloading aren't written down. So some GMs may frown on your 3 darts per round every round, but I'm fine with it and I feel most GMs would.


Elegance: 4,25
Base: 3
Charisma miscalculated (racial should be -4 so starts at 4.), which is a very minor thing. -0,25
Very clean build (10/10), all things cited. You qualify for everything. +1
EWP requirement of 1 BAB hurts your build a little but this is more of a power thing and I don't feel another penalty is needed here. +-0
Sly use of rogue ACFs: disruptive attack is okay, death's ruin is obligatory. +-0
Fukimi-bari is an awesome find +0,5

UotSI: 3,5
Base: 3
You enter late but finish the class.+0,5
More levels of sneak attack would help more than full serene guardian progression. -0,5
Resonance can be created reliably and the class features help the build to achieve its goal, either death by a thousand cuts via Damagin or traumatic release more than soul release or debuffing hell( Sickening Strike and Terrifying strike are great with Serene Guardian. Arterial strike is okay, may be excellent in certain situations.). +0,5





Ben Neru of the Crab clan, the Imperceptible Skulk: 14,5

Originality: 3
Monk was expected, Psychic warrior is not really a surprise even though it is used without Tashalatora. Strongheart halfling is an Iron Chaf staple and complements the build. All in all just what i expect of an entry.
Base score: 3
Adjustements after reading: None. I expected a Trip build but you found something else but nothing groundbreaking new.

Power: 3,25
Base: 3 You are a well rounded addition to any party at any level

Weapon finesse +1 BAB preq hurts your build a little. Making those first two levels even harder. Astral vambraces help tanking damage, but your damage output suffers greatly -0,25

Evasive Reflexes and confound the big folk is nice. Shadow blade helps a lot regarding damage. I like the Dexterity SADness later on and I think you can contribute to the game at every level. I see two contributions: Scouting and your combat prowess. The later comes online in later levels, when scouting falls off a little (explained in spoiler). +0,5

Skills: Total is according to my count: hide 23, jump 13, tumble 23, autohypnosis 3, move silently 11, spot 11. This means to me you are very combat focused as your scouting ability is not really outstanding. You can hide well, but spot is neglected after level 9. Your invisibility also only lasts 1 round, so no long term invisibitly scouting. Damage early on may be a problem: small size and negative strength modifier.
So the trade off is: Early levels your damage suffers, late game your scouting suffers. Overall the positive aspects are in sleight favour.


Open lesser chakra requires 15 CON. Not really a problem as with level 18 a CON booster should be available. I am not to sure of gloom razor. Is it really worth it to pick it up over the multiple possible benefits of Astral Construct Menu A? +-0

Elegance: 4,25
Base: 3
Very clean build with a single dip. +1

I listed your monk sub levels, correct me if I am wrong:
1st level is Hin Disciple, 2nd is invisible fist, 3rd is dark moon disciple, 4th regular monk, 5th is planar monk, 6th is regular monk, 7th is dark moon disciple, 8th is regular monk and 9th is invisible fist.
There are minor things regarding picking all these: -0,25

Hin Disciple + Dark Moon Disciple: Dark moon requires patron deity Shar(NE). That's a minor issue especially given the fluff requirements for serene guardian. Also you have to be a member in both organisations, both of which may concern some GMs. Then there's the Hin Disciple fallacy: 6th level bonus feat. Level 1 dictates that you don't get a 6th level bonus feat, but what happens when you never pick up the 6th level as a Hin Disciple? Personally I think: you're a monk have all the feats you want and I also couldn't care less about Shar and mixing organisations, but then again I am not everyone and these things may cause a problem at other tables.


Invisible fist is of course maybe the best thing that ever happend to a monk and I like your craftiness in putting all those monk ACFs together as well as mixing TOB, MOI, Psionics and the other sources into a well crafted build. +0,5

UotSI: 4
Base: 3
You enter late but finish the class. +0,5
Resonance can be created reliably and class features complement the build. +0,5
I think it would be justified to leave the SI after 8 levels in your case as soul release is horrible and you don't benefit at all from unclouded mind. The monk progression of the SI is used. +-0



Guru Lahima: 11,511,75

Originality: 4,5
Dragon Shaman and Incarnate? I like it.
Base score: 4
Adjustements after reading: I expected someone to try auras, didn't think of that combination and then the passive way in the backstory. Suprising. +0,5

Power: 2
Base score: 2 You have one trick and you are good at it, which is tanking damage and punishing melee attacks. Your soulmelds could help you fulfill more roles but you don'T have the skill points to do so.
Your main trick is vulnerable to reach weapons, ranged attacks and fire resistance/immunities. The score is explained in detail in the spoiler. -0,5

Energy aura: avoided by ranged and reach weapons.
Mantle of flame: avoided by ranged and reach weapons.
Holocaust cloak: avoided by ranged and reach weapons.
Winter mask: cold immunity is a problem.
Furious counterstrike says: During your turn, so it doesn't trigger with your auras when you are attacked but it triggers with Damaging and Traumatic Release.
How much weight can you pull if you are not attacked?

Crusader's Indomitable soul is wasted. +/- 0
Burning Brand picked up as a preq for Holocaust cloak. Not to sure if it really works with Winter mask, but doesn't really matter. +/- 0
Out of combat Soulmelds offer some versatility, Skills are pretty much nonexistent. Miniomancy is always a plus, you are limited to 6 HD though. These add up to + 0,5

Elegance: 3 3,25
Base: 3
The build is crafty for using multiple sources of auras and trying to combine them +0,5 but two mistakes were made and I am confused on two parts of the build.

Confusions: +- 0
Wall of blades: why? Attack roll is terrible when you pick it up. I guess you couldn't spare a later feat slot. Is it a preq? I feel like i missed something.
Skills: Why do you pick up ranks in Balance, Heal, Tumble and Intimidate? Did I miss some preqs for the maneuvers?

Mistakes: -0,50,25
Soulsight: concentration 4 ranks is preq. It can be switched with necrocarnum acolyte though which you seem to have missed.
Double chakra needs meldshaper level 9th. You have only 6 levels of Incarnate therefor your meldshaper level is only 6.

UotSI: 2
Base: 3
Here is where your build falls a little short for me: You enter late and finish the SI but my issue is: there is no point for you to take more than a few levels if any at all. The triple aura trick is neat but against a ranged enemy the SI offers you almost nothing (Perfect BAB, good fort and reflex save). One level of Serene Guardian would add a nice debuff option to your aura trick.The 1 bonus damage on damaging and traumatic release of Furious Counterstrike is in no way worth the levels in Serene guardian. Literally everyone that doesn't prefer melee and even worse, everyone that actively avoids attacking you, renders Serene Guardian useless. Other builds can actively try to build up Resonance, you have to rely on stupidity or generosity of the GM to that. -1




Bobo McShootiepants: 13,25

Originality: 2,5
Human is of course always expected. VOP+Kensai+Soulbow not so much. I thought there would be a lot of Splitting Archers. All in all: quite what I expected. Usual build up of soul blade 2 /x 3 / soulbow x / kensai x. Human + the name cause me to deduct 0,5 points. Sorry but is Bobo Mcshootiepants really the best you could come up with?
Base score: 2,5
Adjustements after reading: None.

Power: 3,25
Base score: 4 You fulfill multiple roles (sneaky, scout, damage) and you are excellent at two of them.
Your damage can ramp up quickly with power surge and knowledge devotion and all the other enhancements. Your scouting is excellent (a lot of love for listen via feats). Your stealth is mediocre. These three elevate your base score to 4.

Your Constitution is pretty bad. -0,5
Con 8: I don't quite get why you don't take VOP increases earlier in Con. Of course you can survive but you are not a master of stealth, you are average in that regard. Con 8 might cost you deerly even though your Hit Dice is a d10 until you enter Serene Guardian. Your FORT save is horrible (at level 10: +4).

Wisdom SADness makes me happy although i think shiba protector would have been possible to enter with all the bonus feats and already being human. +-0
Vow of Poverty may hurt you in the long run as it is simply alyways better to be able to choose and purchase items than get fixed boni. -0,25


Elegance: 3
Base score: 3
You qualify for everything and your build follows a well known but very smooth pattern. +0,5

Minor issues:

The Kensai needs a weapon to bond too. Mind arrows are not of permanent nature as they dissolve after firing. So you write:
Three levels of Kensai is enough to add the Splitting ability to your mind arrows.
Generally the consensus is: Kensai works with Soulbow but be mindful of those who argue against that by saying dissolved Mind arrows count as destroyed therefor you need to enchant them again (I know it renders Kensai unusable for Soulbows, but GMs enforcing this are out there). Generally builds don't fall apart if someone rules this, as one could simply purchase a +1 (comp. +x) longbow and add the Splitting ability but you took VoP so any bow you pick up becomes a magic weapon. All in all: SoulBow + Kensai may cause trouble although it is considered RAW legal. So it is not especially elegant.


Intuitive attack: works only with simple weapons not martial weapons: mind blade is a short sword, therefor a martial weapon. -0,25
Gift of Discernment: Is in players guide to faerun and not in BoED. Too my knowledge it is not an exalted feat but is it in any way helpful to your build?? +-0



you are a little vague in your description but you write later:
By 20th level, 5 attacks per round are Splitting into 10 (which might get Planar Touchstoned into 20)
which leads me you believe your attacks double. I strongly disagree:
Base Ability: Choose a weapon with which you are profi
cient. If you can catch an opponent when he is unable to
defend himself effectively from your attack (i.e., fl at-footed)
with your chosen weapon, you can make an additional free
attack at your base attack bonus –5. You can make this
extra attack during any round that you can make multiple
attacks, but only with your chosen weapon type. This
means that if you are of a high enough level to make additional
attacks (you have at least a +6 or higher base attack
bonus), you could make two additional attacks at your base
attack bonus –5.

This means you get one extra attack at -5 BAB. Nothing more.


UotSI: 4,5
Base score: 3
You enter late and finish the SI . +0,5
Serene guardian complements the build but it is not the centerpiece of it. +-0
Thematically you fit right in Serene guardian. Excellent scout, exalted feats en masse. +0,5
Resonance can be created very reliably thanks to Splitting. +0,5



Opsablepsia: 11,75

Originality: 5
Binder into Gaze attacks? I'm intrigued. 8 levels of Binder most of all got my attention.
Base score: 5
Adjustements after reading: None. This build looks like you try actively to go out of the way to be creative. Even picking thematic Stances (Iron Guard's Glare).

Power: 2
Base score: 2 You have one trick and you are really good at it.

You invest a lot to get Gaze attacks. I think it is too much for to little in return. Especially the Binder levels don't add up if in the end all you use is two gaze attacks for 2d6 damage each. All in all the one trick you are really good at is actually pretty bad. -0,5

Balam: Icy Glare: Will save negates. 2d6 cold damage- Cold Resistance/Immunity is an issue. Range: 30 feet.
Geryon: Acidic Glare: Will save negates.2d6 acid damage- Acid Resistance/Immunity is an issue. Range defaults to 30 feet.

gaze attacks only as standard actions: because vestige abilities that don't state their actions default to standard actions. Some DMs have therefor deemed all gaze attacks in TOM Standard actions. I'd say they are free actions, but this may be up for discussions.

Preq for both is easy enough but Will negates is big. Save is 10+4+CHAmodifier+2(irres. Gaze).
Scorching Ray Gaze: 1d6 fire damage on a 10+½ HD+Con+2(irres. Gaze) Fort Save. 30 feet.
Range increases at level 18 to 60 feet for all three.
Big weakness: this is low damage and monsters or characters who simply accept fighting blind or attack from greater range (30 ft. until level 18 than 60 ft.) avoid the gazes. I am pretty sure you lose a game of rocket tag very very quickly and so you have to rely on your entangling breath and flight to keep you away from Hulk Smash Thingies.


Breath weapon: AoE damage and entangling is very nice of course. Especially with Flight as a racial feature. Probelm can be immunities/resisances. +0,5

Iron Guard's Glare: stance is okay but I don't get the synergy with your gaze attacks other than thematically. If someone is really in trouble vs the gaze attacks they would usually close their eyes and/or run away. Why do you want them to attack you? You are in no way capable of withstanding a beatstick. +-0

Duel of the Wills is alright but nothing especially helpful.+-0


Elegance: 3,25
Base score: 3
Your build is very smooth for 19 levels and it is overall very crafty. +1
Your argument for qualifying for elemental grafter is a little dubious. -0,25

If a supernatural ability granted by a vestige mimics the
effect of a spell or shadow magic mystery, the caster level
of that ability is always equal to a binder’s effective binder
level.
The caster level is described as belonging to the ability not the binder. It is equal to the binder's effective binder level. This means to me, binder don't have a caster level, their abilities have. I can see an interpretation the other way though.

The tucked on swordsage level renders a class feature of the SI useless (unclouded mind). Picking it up earlier in between and dropping maybe even 4 levels of serene guardian would have made more sense (although not entering the SI can also be strongly argued see UotSI). -0,25
Double immunity to fear (binder and SI) isn't well crafted either. -0,25

UotSI: 1,5
Base score: 3
You enter late and finish the SI but my issue is : there is no point for you to take more than a few levels if any at all. -1,5

The class has zero Charisma synergy. Capstone is Wisdombased (and utter garbage), why take it?
Unclouded mind is okay but you can get almost the same thing by picking up Moment of perfect mind which you do at level 20. Reliably building up Resonance with the different gaze attacks works only against melee enemies. BAB is not important to your build. Monk progression or bonus feat isn't either and the Resonance debuffs are in no way worth the class. Wouldn't you profit way more if you pick a class that's focussed on withstanding attacks and buffing your breath weapon or gaze attacks?
Thematically there is also a weakness: All Tanar'ri have resistance 10 to Acid, Fire and Cold. That is quite the problem for a quasi demon hunter (finding roots of evil in a once demon plagued land) with your gaze attacks.



Verelka Thunderfoot: 15,75

Originality: 4
Pretty much IC standard material: dragonborn human is a little more odd than human. I expected monk+totemist, but not so many monk levels. The Psion dip is something new.
Base score: 3
Adjustements after reading: As soon as I saw jump, I looked for sudden leap but you did find something else, I never heard of before. Mantis Leap and boy do you abuse it. +1

Power: 4,5
Base score: 4 Although you are not diverse or fulfill multiple roles, the one trick you pull off is insanely strong.

It takes some time to build up the attack cheese. More precisely 9 levels. Mantis Leap is the whole point of the build. Now I understand the 7 levels of monk. -0,5
Dimension Hop+ Synchronicity: very nice combo which you're able to use in multiple ways. +0,5
Your damage scales insanely later on and your mention things to account for weaknesses like DR +0,5

Elegance: 3,25
Base score: 3
Your build is very well crafted and you offer solutions for a lot of things and although i had to read up a lot i couldn't find glaring holes. +1
Funny enough two builds in a row use the rite of rebirth to retrain a class feat. Retraining Shield proficiency is RAW legal but surely cheesy. Also your argument of using Mantis leap jump after dimension hop is also pretty cheesy but I see the way you do. Still, I smell GM rage. -0,25

There is one mistake : monk cannot be progressed after you picked up another class (PHB p. 42). Same rule as with paladins (most useless rule ever but it is there). So rearranging the monk levels and totemist levels has to be done. -0,5

UotSI: 4
Base score: 3
You enter late and finish the SI. +0,5
You use the monk progression, trigger a lot of resonance very reliably and you benefit of the general chassis. Unclouded mind and Immune to fear are relevant. Staggering release is relevant to slow enemies to 10 ft. +0,5
Traumatic und Damaging release are not so relevant as your overall damage is enough to kill pretty much everyone. Soul release: I don't buy into your enthusiasm, nobody stands 4 rounds next to you. +-0



Zirella Stormfire: 8,5

Originality: 2
Base score: 2
Human and Cloistered Cleric Dip and DMM persist.... Well at least Wu jen and divine bard intrigues me and lyric thaumaturge seems interesting enough. This redeems this build a little. Already wondering why you would pick up Serne Guardian though, especially with bard and the alignment restriction.
Adjustements after reading: None. DMM persisting two daggers is new, still not enough to adjust.

Power: 3,5
Base score: 4
DMM persist thaumathurge means you are very capable in multiple roles and you are set to shine in all of them.

But here are the problems:
Your main trick doesn't work the way you wrote it should. You are still somewhat capable without it although you miss spells that are really worth persisting and you have ten dead levels called Serene guardian. So powerwise you fall behind after level 9. -0,5

Elegance: 2
Base score: 3
A lot of minor mistakes and a very big one.

Minor typo in the point buy: Wisdom 12 is 4 points. +-0
Alignment is illegal to enter Serene guardian (has to be lawful). No penalty here, but in UotSI
You don't qualify for Born of the three Thunders because you only have 1 rank in Knowledge (nature) but need 4 ranks. -0,25

Melodic casting as a preq hurts when a class later has a concentration class feature and you invest ranks in concentration. -0,25

I really, really don't like another DMM persist buffed guy, at least it is used for an interesting spell. Sanctum Spell cheese on top. Fighter dip doesn't help either in Elegance. Is more a personal flavour thing, therefor not a big deal scoring wise. +-0

The Born of the Three Thunders reads: the spell concludes with a mighty....: I always discarded the feat as very hard to use because this means your persistent flame daggers will cause the fort and reflex save after 24 hours. The spell has to end(conclude) to add the effects. Your assumption of: every time they hit, the target has to make a Fort save vs. stunned for 1 round and a Ref save vs. knocked prone is not true. You simply are able to make touch attacks and deal some minor electricity damage. So your main trick - while neat - isn't RAW legal or more precise works very different that you think it does. -0,5


UotSI: 1
You enter late and finish the SI but why you enter at all is the question. You say so yourself that it is pretty much pointless and the usual suspects (sublime chord, abjurant champion) would make more sense. So all in all even if your trick involving Born of the three Thunders would work there is simply no reason to enter Serene Guardian. On top your alignment is illegal for Serene Guardian which means a score of 1 as you fail to qualify for the prestige class.


The blessed third 14,25

Originality: 2,75
Ranger Monk Warblade. Now this is exactly what I expected a lot of. But you are the only Ranger and the only Warblade. Human again. Your name and (very short) backstory give me something unique and interesting. And then there's decisive strike and you got my attention. All in all IC standard.
Base score: 3
Adjustements after reading:
I hoped there would be a little more spice in the build but my initial hype about decisive strike in a round where multiple attacks are key is quenched early. With that and no suprises in the build and human I deduct -0,25

Power: 3,25
Base 3: You are a well rounded addition to any party at any level.
Reliable Damage output as you are in no way forced to knock down enemies. You can use pretty much any combat technique except archery. +0,5
Skills fall off quickly. As soon as you enter Warblade your Spot role suffers and Knowledge (plane) as a niche expertise stops also. Role is combat only. -0,5
Catch up potential with sudden leap and it is hard to move away from you. +0,25
Can you deal 10 damage early? Guess this is why you chose decisive strike? You recommend two handed weapon. hard against DR targets but reliable enough. -+0

Elegance: 3,75
Base: 3
Build is very smooth, nothing remotely dubious or questionable. Qualify for everything. +1
Why does your INT decrease to 9 at level 4? I guess it is a typo. -0,25

Double hit – knock down combination. Worth the feat? Maybe, regarding resonance. Still feel their could be something better out there. +-0
The late improved Initiative feat feels bland but it is a limited list. +-0


UotSI: 4,5
Base: 3
You enter quite early (earliest possible when going monk) and finish the SI. +1
The build makes good use of resonance, max concentration for unclouded mind. +0,5
I couldn't agree more on your perception of the capstone ability, using it on prisoners may be the best idea possible. +-0
For a perfect score I would have liked the skills more polished to Serene Guardian (Either Spot, listen or hide, ms in addition to concentration?). +-0



Edit: adjusted scores after first disputes.

[danielxcutter]

Somewhat out-topic, but have you guys ever used Urban Soul as an ingredient? Cause there are way too many past comps to check every single one(unlike the Villain Comp).

[Korahir]

Somewhat out-topic, but have you guys ever used Urban Soul as an ingredient? Cause there are way too many past comps to check every single one(unlike the Villain Comp).

First post: all ingredients are listed and yes it was used in IC XLIV.

[Bucky]

Verelka Thunderfoot: 16,75

The sum of the individual sections is 15,75?

[Vaz]

First post: all ingredients are listed and yes it was used in IC XLIV.

Ctrl+F is a wonderful tool.

[danielxcutter]

First post: all ingredients are listed and yes it was used in IC XLIV.

Drat. I actually had a good idea for a build that also included Cragtop Archer.

Oh well, at least I could use it for the webcomic I'm making... if I make it that far that is.

Since I've already cluttered up this thread too much, PM me if you're going to talk about it.

[Darrin]

Scores After One Judge


EntryPlaceKorahirTotal

Verelka Thunderfoot (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320029&postcount=97)Gold15.7515.75

Ben Neru of the Crab clan (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319895&postcount=93)Silver14.514.5

The blessed third (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320057&postcount=99)Bronze14.2514.25

The Spirit of All Pointy Things (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319888&postcount=92)Bronze14.2514.25

Bobo McShootiepants (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319980&postcount=95)Fifth13.2513.25

Obsblepsia (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320003&postcount=96)Sixth11.7511.75

Guru Lahima (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319972&postcount=94)Sixth11.7511.5

Zirella Stormfire (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320045&postcount=98)Eighth8.58.5

[Heliomance]

We have a brace of disputes for your delight and delectation.


A few clarifications to clear up your confusion.

Wall of Blades is chosen because there are some attacks it's simply not beneficial to get struck by, such as ranged and reach weapons. Attack bonus isn't great when I have it but it picks up, and most other feats are tied to later levels. Levels in Heal and Intimidate are for mild utility, 5 in Balance is to negate being flatfooted when balancing. Tumble also to try to avoid attacks you don't want (which you can boost with Acrobat Boots). While I don't have the skill points to fulfill many roles, that's what soulmelds are for, there's plenty more I didn't mention because they aren't vital to the core trick.

You have me dead to rights on Soulsight, but I do qualify for Double Chakra using the meldshaper level provided by Shape Soulmeld, half HD. Sorry I didn't explain that.

As for the vulnerabilities of the build:
While cold immunity will negate the offensive effect of winter mask, the point of having winter mask is to have a source of attack for maneuvers to use, so that I can heal myself and others.
The auras indeed only function on adjacent, which is why there are counters built in for this. First, as mentioned the Fellmist Robe imposes a miss chance on any nonadjacent attack. Second, Wall of Blades can be used to deflect these attacks. Third, because full attacks aren't necessary to the build, I can simply move adjacent to the enemy (Tumble away from the AoO), and if necessary use staggering release to keep them from moving away.

As for the point of taking more levels in the SI, it's to have more things to do with resonance. Damage from it is fine, but confusion and reducing speed to 0 are of particular use in combat.


Originality

No disputes.

Power

It is by default assumed that Iron Chef builds will have level-appropriate equipment: this prevents people penalizing martials for not having flight or important immunities while also making the creation of character sheets easier.

In other words: the Spirit can be assumed to have whatever equipment it needs to function properly. If it, for one, chose to buy three +1 Returning Shocking mouth darts (cost: 54000 GP, so affordable from level 11 on), it'd be dealing damage against all creatures except those who are immune to sneak attack and immune to fire and have DR. Further enchantments, such as Shadow Striking and Frost, would ensure even less creatures can't be hurt.

Even if despite all this, the spirit is still unable to hurt a particular foe, it can at least reduce its AC by 5 each round. That's pretty huge if it has any martial allies: a 25% greater chance to hit is a 25% damage boost for all relevant allies.

Encumbrance is similarly solved by assuming magical equipment. Using only three darts mean the Spirit now has a lot of room for other equipment. The tower shield is indeed hard to use at early levels, but at higher ones a +1 Animated tower shield (9315 GP) is easily affordable and gives cover all the same. A Belt of the Wide Earth (8000 GP) doubles carrying capacity, and the Spirit isn't doing anything with its waist slot anyway.

Finally, reloading. The Returning property explicitly points out the thrown weapons can be used again next turn, so the logical thing would be to assume the spirit can quickly pop them back into its mouth.

Elegance

No disputes.

UoSI

I'd argue more sneak attack makes this build better at one thing, against one kind of enemy. Sure, it increases damage, but damage is less useful at higher levels.

Opponents that flee or have fast healing can just shrug off regular sneak attacks, but they have no way of removing resonance. Sure, Death of a Thousand Cuts as Serene Guardian encourages takes longer, but with a hiding build that'll barely be targeted, who cares?

[Korahir]

A few clarifications to clear up your confusion.

Wall of Blades is chosen because there are some attacks it's simply not beneficial to get struck by, such as ranged and reach weapons. Attack bonus isn't great when I have it but it picks up, and most other feats are tied to later levels. Levels in Heal and Intimidate are for mild utility, 5 in Balance is to negate being flatfooted when balancing. Tumble also to try to avoid attacks you don't want (which you can boost with Acrobat Boots). While I don't have the skill points to fulfill many roles, that's what soulmelds are for, there's plenty more I didn't mention because they aren't vital to the core trick.

Skills: Thanks for the clarification. Interesting choices. Yeah soulmelds help you diversify your role, thats why you did get a bonus to power.
Wall of blades: okay, just as I thought then. A little skeptical still about the usefulness but I can see where you come from and would like to see in action.
no adjustment



You have me dead to rights on Soulsight, but I do qualify for Double Chakra using the meldshaper level provided by Shape Soulmeld, half HD. Sorry I didn't explain that.

No need to apologize I should have checked the shape soulmeld feat myself to see what meldshaper level it gives. I assumed it would default to the meldshaper level of Incarnate. Sorry for that mistake.
Elegance: +0,25



As for the vulnerabilities of the build:
While cold immunity will negate the offensive effect of winter mask, the point of having winter mask is to have a source of attack for maneuvers to use, so that I can heal myself and others.
The auras indeed only function on adjacent, which is why there are counters built in for this. First, as mentioned the Fellmist Robe imposes a miss chance on any nonadjacent attack. Second, Wall of Blades can be used to deflect these attacks. Third, because full attacks aren't necessary to the build, I can simply move adjacent to the enemy (Tumble away from the AoO), and if necessary use staggering release to keep them from moving away.

Fellmist Robe and Wall of Blades try to cover a weakness but I think they cannot fully cover the weakness. The tumble move is only half speed and you only have a total of +10 so you need soulmelds to boost that too. I don't think that these things can cover the real problem: simply ignore you at all. +17 BAB and 13 Str at level 20. At low levels the BAB is worse. I don't think your enough of a threat in melee to be focused. Sadly there are no ( or very few) taunt options in DnD.
no adjustment



As for the point of taking more levels in the SI, it's to have more things to do with resonance. Damage from it is fine, but confusion and reducing speed to 0 are of particular use in combat.

Yeah two nice things indeed, but 10 levels in Crusader would do a lot more. Of course the point of this contest is to take horrible classes but in your case the reasoning is pretty weak in my opinion.
no adjustment




Power

It is by default assumed that Iron Chef builds will have level-appropriate equipment: this prevents people penalizing martials for not having flight or important immunities while also making the creation of character sheets easier.

In other words: the Spirit can be assumed to have whatever equipment it needs to function properly. If it, for one, chose to buy three +1 Returning Shocking mouth darts (cost: 54000 GP, so affordable from level 11 on), it'd be dealing damage against all creatures except those who are immune to sneak attack and immune to fire and have DR. Further enchantments, such as Shadow Striking and Frost, would ensure even less creatures can't be hurt.



Encumbrance is similarly solved by assuming magical equipment. Using only three darts mean the Spirit now has a lot of room for other equipment. The tower shield is indeed hard to use at early levels, but at higher ones a +1 Animated tower shield (9315 GP) is easily affordable and gives cover all the same. A Belt of the Wide Earth (8000 GP) doubles carrying capacity, and the Spirit isn't doing anything with its waist slot anyway.

Magic items and encumbrance: I did assume the spirit uses returning mouth darts and of course picks up magic items to counter encumbrance but these all eat into the budget. Do you really want to spend 8000 GP for doubling your carrying capacity? Martials need items to cover weaknesses like flight and immunities as you mentioned. You created more of those weaknesses to be covered, that is where I see problems. Of course your entire build works in the late game and you can spend 9315 GP for a animated tower shield because you have enough GP but early on relying on the right item drops or enough GP to buy the items you need is a problem.
no adjustment



Even if despite all this, the spirit is still unable to hurt a particular foe, it can at least reduce its AC by 5 each round. That's pretty huge if it has any martial allies: a 25% greater chance to hit is a 25% damage boost for all relevant allies.
Finally, reloading. The Returning property explicitly points out the thrown weapons can be used again next turn, so the logical thing would be to assume the spirit can quickly pop them back into its mouth.

Reloading: My remarks about GM frowning regarded non anchanted mouth darts which means your early levels.
Why is -5 AC a 25% greater chance to hit? This is only true for AC 20. Let's just say -5 AC makes it a lot easier to hit a target and 25% is an estimation I can live with. It is a nice addition to cover a weakness. I did write: Not even debuffs can be applied which is wrong regarding disruptive attack. On a second thought i think the 0,75 penalty is too harsh, because of disruptive attack. So:
Power: +0,25




UoSI

I'd argue more sneak attack makes this build better at one thing, against one kind of enemy. Sure, it increases damage, but damage is less useful at higher levels.

Opponents that flee or have fast healing can just shrug off regular sneak attacks, but they have no way of removing resonance. Sure, Death of a Thousand Cuts as Serene Guardian encourages takes longer, but with a hiding build that'll barely be targeted, who cares?

What is your plan vs opponents that automatically succeed the Fort save or are immune to death effects? Both of which is likely for opponents that shrug off your damage. Or do you mean by Death of a thousand cuts literally pinging them to death 1 damage at a time with damaging/traumatic release? This would take a very, very long time. Usually opponents start to change their strategy in that case and above CR 10 they usually have some magic to flee or adjust to unusual threats.
no adjustment


I have adjusted the scores in my post before.

[Darrin]

Are there any other judges? daremetoidareyou said he'd promised to judge, but has been kinda quiet since then.

[daremetoidareyo]

Are there any other judges? daremetoidareyou said he'd promised to judge, but has been kinda quiet since then.

Judged one so far. Prolly won't finish until next Monday.

[The Viscount]

That still puts us on schedule. Woot for 2 judges!

[Inevitability]

A suggestion: how about making Arcane Archer the next ingredient?

[Venger]

A suggestion: how about making Arcane Archer the next ingredient?

I am drawing a real blank for arcane archer.

[Inevitability]

I am drawing a real blank for arcane archer.

Which makes it a perfect ingredient! Think about it: annoying prerequisites that can be fulfilled in various ways, lots of flavorful but weak class features, and a reputation for sub-optimality. What more could Iron Chefs wish for?

[MisterKaws]

Which makes it a perfect ingredient! Think about it: annoying prerequisites that can be fulfilled in various ways, lots of flavorful but weak class features, and a reputation for sub-optimality. What more could Iron Chefs wish for?

You can't quite optimize four 1/day abilities(easily replicated by spells), and neither can you optimize a +5 to attack with a caster build, so I guess it would be kinda hard.

Though, it may just end up being as flavorful as Cipher Adept or Drunken Master.

[Zaq]

Huh. I could have sworn that Arcane Archer had been an ingredient already. Bizarre. Maybe there were some interesting entries in other rounds that used AA?

Anyway, I'm also drawing a blank for AA. All the well-known abuses of Imbue Arrow are, y'know, well-known, and as has been stated, 1/day abilities (particularly ones as weaksauce as AA's abilities) aren't really fertile ground for optimization. I mean, knowing us, I'm sure there'd be some crazy entry that shines despite how incredibly boring AA is, but in general, since every level after 2nd in AA is basically a ridiculous opportunity cost for next to no benefit, I don't feel like it would be a terribly thrilling round.

It'd be fun to homebrew a fix for AA (advancing CL, making the 1/day abilities usable by expending spell slots or something like that, etc.), but that's a totally different beast than running it in Iron Chef.

[KrimsonNekros]

since we're starting this up again I'm tossing out my usual request for DoTU Arachnomancer.

[The Viscount]

I am drawing a real blank for arcane archer.

Try drawing arrows, I hear the class has some useful features with them.

[daremetoidareyo]

25% finished.

In the meantime, Any thoughts on how a flask thrower would do with this class?
Shaped splash seems obvious. Can psywarriors take weapon focus (flask of greater alchemists fire) and make that a soulbound weapon?

[Zaq]

25% finished.

In the meantime, Any thoughts on how a flask thrower would do with this class?
Shaped splash seems obvious. Can psywarriors take weapon focus (flask of greater alchemists fire) and make that a soulbound weapon?

I'm on mobile, so I don't have the link to the Mind's Eye article with Soulbound Weapon available, but doesn't Soulbound Weapon always call the same weapon, thereby making a flask a really bad choice? I'll check the exact wording later, I suppose.

Also, I think you need to be proficient with a weapon to take WF, and while splash weapons explicitly don't have a nonproficiency penalty, that isn't quite the same as being proficient, unless my memory is flawed (which is entirely possible).

[WhamBamSam]

Not being able to take Weapon Focus also means no Master Thrower, which is unfortunate, as Doubletoss or Palm Throw would have been a good way to get an extra attack for resonance without needing to full attack. Shaped Splash does at least get you a second instance of damage on your standard action throw (even if your target is on their own, as the rules define 'adjacent' as sharing a point on the edge of the square, though taking precautions to protect your melee friend and bouncing your second attack off his head for resonance creating splash damage on your actual target is also viable). Maybe Neraph Throw+Shaped Splash+Planar Touchstone (Oxyrhynicus) (similar to one of the Blessed Third's tricks) could jerry rig your way to two points of resonance (EDIT: Nevermind, doesn't work. You need to be proficient with the weapon chosen for Oxyrhynicus and need to actually make an attack with that weapon, so the two attacks from Shaped Splash can't be used to set up a Planar Touchstone attack.), though I suppose just full attacking wouldn't be the end of the world on a thrower build unless there's something you really want to do with your move action.

The Ice Dagger spell is treated as a thrown splash weapon, so between Shaped Splash and (metamagic reduced, natch) Twin Spell you could get some resonance going. Maybe get Fell Drain in there as well for a few negative levels on top of it.

[daremetoidareyo]

Sorry about the delay:

All scores start at 2.5 and I add or subtract points when things please or displease me. Except for the elegance category, which starts at a score of 5 and is deducted points. For a perfect UOSI score you need to be able to create massive amounts of resonance at 20th level. A full attack and a AOO with a gimmick-less weapon can create ~ 4 points of resonance. I image a character surrounded in every square by a medium size humanoid with a pityingly low AC on a flat plane extending in all directions to calculate Maximum resonance output. This means that you must be able to generate at least 5 resonance a round to avoid a penalty for UOSI. My point allocation for resonance is as follows

5-10 resonance: .5 points,
10-15: 0.75 points,
16-20: 1 point,
21+resonance: 1.5 points



Originality

The Spirit of All Pointy Things, (T-SAPT) A patient sniping approach. I like your use of fukimi-bari. I’m glad you didn’t use a normal PC race. Tower shield suggestion is aces. I would have liked to have seen some AOO optimization in there, because it seems like it’s important considering the build limitations. Poison is a good touch, but would the luminous order approve? 2.5 base +.5 race, +.5 weapon gimmick, +.25 overall damaging technique, +.25 for not taking a race with a bonus feat at 1st level. +.25 for hide optimization 4.25


Ben Neru: Small InvisiMonk with combat reflexes. I like your perpetual invisibility by level 6. Your ability to use all of gloom razor is commendable. Strongheart Halfling for more than the bonus feat as a reason. 2.5 base +.75 invisibility on non-caster, +.25 race, + .25 size abuse shenanigans. 3.75


Guru Lahima: Antipodal aura blaster. A passive attacking pin cushion.Dragon Shaman? Bold choice, good sir. Azurin; makes sense. Stone power and crusader initiation. This is among my favorite builds in this competition for originality. It has many moving parts, however, and noobs will be quite challenged to pull off playing this character in combat. 2.5 + 0 race +.25 dragon shaman, +0 for other class choices, + 1.25 for awesome aura gimmick, +.5 for nonviolence fluff. 4.0


Bobo McShootiepants: Soulbow kensai McSplitty Arrows. Human. I like your combination of kensai and soul bow. I even enjoy how you use VOP. Like all VOP builds you ran out of good exalted feats around level 12 or so. I really like your spot optimization as well. 2.5 +.5 going ranged +.25 VOP souknife/bow +.5 spot optimization. 3.75


Opsablepsia: Switch-Hitting Breath Weapon Triple Gazer. I like that you provide in house means of providing your own gaze graft. Dragonborn Silverbrow human. This character metamorphoses at level 6 and plays drastically differently from then on! I like how you used binder to excellent effect for gaze attacks, which you then stack to guarantee high chances that you rack up egregious amounts of resonance. 2.5 + 1.25 clever concept + .5 excellent use of binder +.25 superlative use of dragon born abuse. 4.5


Verelka Thunderfoot: Natural attackomancer Monk& totemist pogo stick striker. Dragonborn again. Human base. I like your jump shenanigans with the monk ACF and mantis leap. I thought of building a totemist too, so good job appealing to my vanity. 2.5 +.5 natural attack abuse, +.5 jump abuse, +.25 weird flavor decisions in the beginning of life. 3.75


Zirella Stormfire: Electro dagger bardinatrix. Human. This build is built around making a low level weapon summoning spell permanent and then using those spell daggers in conjunction with born of three thunders to lay your opponents out. 2.5 + 1.5 for spell casting chassis, + .5 for clever use of born of three thunders. 4.5


The Blessed Third: Martial two handed flurry. Human. This is a very straight forward knockdown build with snap kick, flurry, oxyrhincus, invisible fist to trigger oxyrhincus. 2.5 +.5 initiator + knockdown + invisirhincus combo move +.25 for multiple attack feats. +.25 for double hit + combat reflexes. 3.5





Power(T-SAPT) Savvy rogue in your 18th level feat slot is a terrible choice. I suspect you had build fatigue when you made that decision. The ability to damage undead and constructs is important, so I’m glad you compensated there. See elegance for your weakness against DR X/—. One on one, I think that this is a powerful build. Against multiple opponents, especially powerful ones with access to faerie fire. 2.5, +.5 resonance racking abilities, +.5 for being deadly against unprepared small groups or singletons. 3.5


Ben Neru: Hand chakra into choosing an astral construct menu ability through astral vambraces is great for increasing your utility. How you use invisibility is good cooking. 9 levels of monk really affects your overall power, but I suspect that you were making a delicate quiche and not doritos salad. Like T-SAPT, I think that this build is good against small unprepared groups or a singleton of equivalent level, and you have a weakness to Area Affects. 2.5 + .25 resonance racking abilities +.5 for being deadly against specific groups, +.25 for additional utility near end of build from astral vambraces. 3.5


Guru Lahima: This is pretty powerful build, capable of going toe to toe with equivalent martials and tier 3s and small groups including those that have had a little of preparation. I like how the creation of zombies makes you a target that folks will want to target more. Although passive for the majority of your resonance creation, you can bring the heat in hand to hand. Incarnate brings a lot of versatility and thankfully, you expressed enough in write up of how you plan on using that versatility. I do think that this character will tend to get knocked out pretty often without splitting big groups into smaller more manageable ones. 2.5 + .75 resonance accumulation + .5 built in healing +.25 zombies. 4.0


Bobo McShootiepants: And you totally did on second check. I’m not understanding the the latter half of the builds extra exalted feat choices all that much seeing as how you are layering on onerous role-play issues for scant rewards. You are a ranged attack machine, but like all ranged builds, damage output becomes a problem for HP damage issues. 2.5 + .75 resonance accumulation + .5 for long range optimization +.25 for half-efforted diplomacy skills. 4.0


Opsablepsia This might be the most powerful build to handle many opponents. This build is so powerful that you can’t work with any allies. At least you can turn your gazes off. If, however, your opponents don’t trigger gaze attacks, you have some breath weapons that entangle on round 1 who you can breath weapon again on round 2 for AOE resonance. What you need is a way to deflect the massive amounts of fire your dangerous presence would attract…if your opponents know anything about resonance. 2.5 + 1.25 showstopping resonance generation -.25 for being a liability to allies, +.25 for AOE resonance generating back up plan, +.5 flight at lower levels. 4.25


Verelka Thunderfoot: You are as powerful as any other build with totemist 2 and monk levels, which puts you around tier 3. I really don’t have a lot else to say about the power level, as it seems your routine is pretty straight forward. 2.5 + 1 natural attackomancer with built in pounce. 3.5


Zirella Stormfire: Your first 9 levels seem like a tough thing to deal with. You will obviously need to be a part of a party.But you have bluff and and UMD so utility is the name of your game.This character does not bring a whole lot of heat for the power department. Why didn’t you take energy admixture? Improved TWF wasn’t worth it compared to possibly doubling the amount of resonance you could build with two different damage types? Your spells aren’t wickedly powerful but they are true to your character. I’m not sure that you can 1on 1 defeat someone of your own HD until after the 13th level. 2.5 + .75 for rebuffing abilities after level 13. 3.25


The Blessed Third: This character has a hefty number of attacks at each level and they are geared towards martial combat. High HD and iron heart surge, which you mysteriously eschew late in the game, help keep you alive. You are quite good at retaliation, with karmic strike allowing for double hitting and combat reflexing. No real built in healing, like some other fighty builds. You can take small parties, even prepared ones as well as individuals in combat. 2.5 +.5 for solid offense +.5 solid defense+.5 for knockdown abuse 4.0



EleganceThe Spirit of All Pointy Things, (T-SAPT):
I see some problems here. Fukimi Bari are awesome but besides sneak attack, which only procs on the first hit of the volley.

Volley Type Attacks
Sometimes, you make multiple attacks with the same attack roll, such as when you use the Manyshot feat, or you make multiple attack rolls as part of the same attack, such as with the scorching ray spell. When you do so, only the first attack in the volley can be a sneak attack.
From HERE: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040309a (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040309a%5B)
Which means that any DR at all limits your resonance to a single hit, for which you have to have sneak attack conditions to make happen. Nothing in the build substantially addresses DR.
Considering how you’re plan consists of hanging near the opponent till they die, I appreciate your class features granting some resistance against area damage effects. You noticed that the resonance doesn’t have an expiration and built a creature that can do the whole death of a thousand cuts thing. 5.0, -1 for inability to manage DR, -.5 for Area affects weakness, -.25 for poison use (considered evil and thus must be limited), +.25 for rogue abilities that lend themselves to working on a team. 3.5


Ben Neru: Not a lot of defense against area attacks except for co-occupying an opponent’s square. This build has a lot of competition for swift actions. And unsteady footing (confound the big folk) eats a standard action, not an attack, so the trips mess with your iteratives and you only get the tripping size bonii during that unsteady footing offers during that specialized standard action. What does the crab clan have to do with it? 5.0, -.5 for weakness to areas of effect, 4.5


Guru Lahima: You have to be able to take oodles of damage and you attempt to address it as best you can with some built in healing abilities with the crusader bits to help with that. I really like your aura schtick. Nothing wrong with the build that I can see besides the nature of being your own bait… 5.0 -.25 for need to imperil oneself. In complete adventurer, I believe there is a sense motive alternative skill use ability that you could use to judge how powerful your opponents are, I think you should have invested in that with your skill points. 4.75


Bobo McShootiepants: Kensai + soulbow is a nice little combo. Not sure if it would fly in every table, but I would let it fly at mine. Sense weakness is an excellent find and helps with ranged attacks long time nemesis: DR. You have -1 hp per hit die due to your constitution score for your first 16 levels. You should have a different ability allotment, to address that sooner. There is no guarantee that Bobo as a PC would survive from 7-10th levels. You should have written a little more about your sniping skills, because you decked out your hide and move silently. 5 -..5 for bad constitution score. 4.5


Opsablepsia Well done. You rode binder out for a long while. The only piece I dislike is the swordsage tack-on at the end. You didn’t lose points for it. It just appears to be a blatant power grab and it doesn’t elegantly jive with the rest of what you built. Everything flows together and you qualify for everything. 5


Verelka Thunderfoot Do combat reflexes do anything for you with a 10 dex? I’m glad that you pumped up tumble, because your routine should be taking you into many AOO situations. Further, how are you continuing to advance as a monk after taking your first level of totemist? I appreciate the breakdown for held actions, swift actions, and move actions. 5.0, -2 for the monk/totemist/monk thing, -.5 for dex increasing items reliance for use of combat reflexes…at all. I appreciate the breakdown for held actions, swift actions, and move actions. 2.5


Zirella Stormfire: Worshipping a concept is sometimes frowned upon, but planning and undeath do have a sort of thematic synergy if you think about it for a second; One definitely suggests the other. DMM hi-jinx are typically terrible in these competitions, but I do like that you limited it to a few select spells. Your mid range levels are totally a slog and you’re bringing less to the table than you were in the early levels. Like they mechanically work, but don’t seem like a ton of fun to play as. I appreciate how you really optimized the capstone. You will set many things on fire with this build, so I hope your group doesn’t need to find scrolls. I reckon the only way that you qualify for lyric thaumaturge is by sanctum spelling a wu jen spell? Lucky you that lyric thaumaturge specifies spell casting advancement of the bard class; Masterful stroke! 5.0 -1 for only being fun to play after 12th level. 4.0


The Blessed Third Why decisive strike over flurry? I like your invisifist 2wf+snapkick + oxyrhincus combo. I like your karmic strike, combat reflexes + double hit combo. Knockdown + punishing stance works well. Everything seems to be qualified for. 5.0



UoSI

The Spirit of All Pointy Things, (T-SAPT) Your fluff doesn’t exactly jive with serene guardian, but I don’t think I care about that all that much. No mention was made of the free swag that the luminous order provides. At level 20, I see 10 resonance points a round on a full attack and a AOO…assuming all targets take damage with every attack needle. How you put poison needles in your mouth to spit at your opponent is a weird thing to contemplate. But that can realistically increase your resonance up to 11-12 per round. No special mention of capstone. 2.5 + .75 for 10 or resonance per round, -.25 to lack of mention of swag, +.25 for how important the confusion and stun effects are for this build: you need them to survive, and skillfully you have developed a way to deliver them. 3.0


Ben Neru: No mention was made of the free swag that the luminous order provides. At level 20, I’m seeing like 3 to 4 resonance a round. 4 attacks from BAB and up to 7-11 attacks of opportunity. Also Flurry advancement was optimized as much as possible. So I’m seeing on an optimal round ~ 8-10 resonance points. Monk features optimized. No special mention of capstone. You stuck with monk and really tried to make it work. 2.5 + .5 for less than 10 but more than 5 resonance per round, -.25 to lack of mention of swag, +1 for really committing to monk. 3.75


Guru Lahima: No mention was made of the free swag that the luminous order provides. At level 20, I’m seeing, assuming that you are surrounded on all 8 squares by beings full attacking you with 4 attacks from BAB triggering your 3 auras for two resonance apiece. Plus 4 winter mask iteratives during your attack, which all relies on your tumble skill getting you through AOO’s to strike 2 opponents who haven’t already taken a bunch of aura damage. ~18 resonance per round. 2.5 +1 resonance, +.5 for passive damage, +.25 for saving your swift action, -.25 for not mentioning swag: 4.00

Bobo McShootiepants: No mention was made of the free swag that the luminous order provides. Actually, you have to find a way to demonstrate your tabard if you are acting as a knight of the order, a position of prestige and rank in the organization, all in such a way to satisfy VOP. It’s not impossible with some haggling, but it does stick out. At level 20, you have 5 BAB attacks (splitting), a rapid shot, and planar touchstone adding up to another 5 and one attack of opportunity…bringing you up to 24 damaging instances a round, ~ 16 resonance points per idealized round. 2.5 +1 for 16-20 resonance -.5 for not mentioning swag and having VOP mess with your ability to demonstrate your knighthood within the order, +.25 for being able to be a competent ranged attacker without relying on SA, +.25 to be able to circumvent DR: 3.5


Opsablepsia: Mention was made of the free swag that the luminous order provides. At level 20…whew Three gazes a round hitting everyone with 60.’ Assuming they all have terrible saves, You can hit everyone in 12 squares in every direction. That’s like 720 squares. If you fill all of them…Wait, what are the cover rules in this situation? Can you really see the gaze of someone 12 people ahead of you? Let’s just assume that you can only affect out to 3 squares on a map with a humanoid in every square. Thats 48 folks getting hit with damage 3 times to make 96 resonance points. If every mook in that same range averts their gaze, it’s still 48 resonance points…per round. Plus the breath weapon. But you can fly, so you can avoid the line of site/cover problems and so you can potentially make 720 resonance per round. 2.5 +1.5 massive resonance + .5 for build elements being so safi sana. Your biggest problem is choosing who to affect with your swift actions. You should travel around with a synad squire of legend. 4.5


Verelka Thunderfoot You mentioned the free swag that the luminous order provides. At level 20, assuming a movement rate of 30, and non action jumps need to move you at least 5’ to put you in significantly different attack range, which means that you can, fully cheese enabled, jump 6 times per round as your move action and another 6 jumps as a move action that replaces your standard action: with 8 nat attacks apiece per jump that is a maximum 96 damaging circumstances, plus one attack of opportunity. That is ~ 64 resonance per round. Well done. You advance monk with serene guardian levels. 2.5 + 1.5 resonance generation +.75 for significant investment in monk. 4.75


Zirella Stormfire You mentioned the free swag that the luminous order provides. At level 20, you do 5 attacks per round, plus an attack of opportunity. This leads me to believe that you are capable of dishing out approx 4 resonance a round. Further, if the sonic damage type counts separately, you have more like 8 resonance a round. You optimized the soul release with doomspeak a bit. If you were neutral you could add poison to your blades… The lack of resonance accumulation may be paid for by the amount of knockdown/stunning you do. 2.5, -.5 for not dealing more than 4 resonance per round, +.5 for optimizing the capstone. + .5 for twf gish build using weird parts. 3.0


The Blessed Third No mention was made of the free swag that the luminous order provides. At level 20, I’m see 4 iterative attacks 3 attacks of opportunity with double hit, an offhand attack, a snap kick, and up to 7 planar touchstone attacks. Assuming that you use knockdown and Improved trip on all of them. That’s 36 damaging opportunities for a total of 24 resonance, assuming everything hits. With items that boost dexterity, you get attacks of opportunity on every person who targets you. Your 2 levels of monk advance another 5 with serene guardian. 2.5 +1.5 +.25 monk dip. 4.25

[Venger]

Thanks for the judgings daremetoidareyo. I'm compiling everyone's total score now and will edit it in shortly.

the spirit of all pointy things 14.25
o 4.25
p 3.5
e 3.5
u3

ben neru 15.5
o 3.75
p 3.5
e 4.5
u 3.75

guru lahima 16.75
o 4.0
p 4.0
e 4.75
u 4.0

bobo mcshootiepants 15.5
o 4.0
p 4.5
e 3.5
u 3.5

opsablepsia 18.25
o 4.5
p 4.25
e 5
u 4.5

verelka thunderfoot 14.5
o 3.75
p 3.5
e 2.5
u 4.75

zirella stormfire 15
o 4.5
p 3.5
e 4.0
u 3.0

the blessed third 16.75
o 3.5
p 4.0
e 5.0
u 4.25

[Vaz]

Thanks for the judging daremetoidareyo! Quick question, though, is there any chance it can be added to the more typical standard (i.e Entry 1; Originality, Power, Elegance, UoSI, Entry 2; O, P, E, UoSi, Entry 3, etc)

It makes it quite hard to read in its current delivery. Apologies for being a pain!

[daremetoidareyo]

Thanks for the judging daremetoidareyo! Quick question, though, is there any chance it can be added to the more typical standard (i.e Entry 1; Originality, Power, Elegance, UoSI, Entry 2; O, P, E, UoSi, Entry 3, etc)

It makes it quite hard to read in its current delivery. Apologies for being a pain!

If I have some time later, sure. I switched to judging by category so that I didn't get fatigued and give entry #8 less consideration than entry one. That, plus running late left little time for edits or proof reading

[Darrin]

Scores After Two Judges




EntryPlaceKorahirdaremetoidareyouTotal

Verelka Thunderfoot (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320029&postcount=97)Gold15.7515.531.25


The blessed third (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320057&postcount=99)Silver14.2516.7531

Ben Neru of the Crab clan (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319895&postcount=93)Bronze14.51630.5

Opsablepsia (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320003&postcount=96)Fourth11.7518.2530

Bobo McShootiepants (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319980&postcount=95)Fifth13.2515.528.75

The Spirit of All Pointy Things (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319888&postcount=92)Fifth14.2514.528.75

Guru Lahima (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319972&postcount=94)Seventh11.7516.7528.5

Zirella Stormfire (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320045&postcount=98)Eighth8.51523.5

[Heliomance]

And with everything to play for, it's time for last minute score adjustments!


Thank you for your judging. It was very thorough. I did have a few small things I wanted to explain:

elegance:
you mentioned not having much defense against area attacks. co-occupying an enemy's square is the primary defense, yes, since few opponents are adequately equipped to carpet bomb themselves without consequence (or provoking aoos from ben, which as you noted elsewhere, are an important part of general combat strategy) and bombing your own team isn't exactly something universally practiced.

that said, ben has other tricks up his sleeve. as mentioned in playtips, invisible fist allows him to use blink an unlimited number of times per day, providing defense against aoes alongside many other things.

elsewhere you commented that 9 is a lot of monk (and boy do I agree) but blink is the main reason ben stayed in it as long as he did. he has much more protection from aoes than a normal character

this is in addition to spectral skirmisher and evasive reflexes working together to let ben move out of the way even when it's not his turn. even when your enemy gives up on trying to find you and starts going for broke, between all these things there's still a solid chance you'll be able to get away anyway.

uotsi:
aside from iron chef generally frowning on specific mentions of gear, I didn't think mentioning resources all dishes had equal access to would do anything to help my build stand out. I appreciate your kudos for sticking to monk. this is probably the only time it's an asset to a potential build.

crab clan:
you did ask what it had to do with it, so I'll explain, even if it amounts to a complicated in-joke/pun.

I didn't try to pull any mechanical benefit from the OA rules or anything like that. I usually like to give my dishes a title or some kind, and since ben is hard to nail down and find, I went with "the imperceptible skulk," which has a good ring to it since it sounds like the incredible hulk.

hulk's alter ego is bruce banner, and bruce banner is an anagram for "ben neru crab,"
the SI is martial arts influenced, so I thought that might be a fun setting/concept for my story, so I mentioned one of the oa clans, one of which happens to be crab, thus, ben neru of the crab clan.


Originality:

Poison is only evil (ignoring how bad the alignment rules are there) if it causes ability damage. The Spirit can easily brew up some Drow Poison and cover his darts in it, and it's no more evil than brewing particularly stout ale.

Can you explain how AOO's are supposedly important? To me, it doesn't seem like a slightly higher chance to get resonance outweighs the dangers of giving away your position (melee attacks are far easier to pin down, after all).

Power:

I guess I just liked the idea of taking 12 on important checks, sue me. No further comment.

Elegance:

Ow. Did not see that coming.

However, a +1d6 shocking enhancement on three of the darts (dirt cheap) already takes care of most DR. I only didn't mention it because builds don't have to list equipment: that doesn't mean they lack it.

As you saw, the poisons the Spirit uses aren't exactly evil.

UoSI:

Well, not all poison is contact. Injury poison, such as Drow Poison, is safe to keep in your mouth unless the Spirit has open wounds inside.




Elegance
Do combat reflexes do anything for you with a 10 dex?


Yeah, I noticed that late in the build when I put in Dragonborn, Dex dropped to 10. I should have traded Combat Reflexes for Dragon Tail instead of Improved Grapple. At the time (it was late) I thought it would give me +1 AoO even if my Dex was 10, but when I went back to reread it, there's no "minimum of 1" mentioned in the text. However, it does do something at 10 Dex: I can make my single AoO even when flat-footed.



Further, how are you continuing to advance as a monk after taking your first level of totemist?


That was definitely an oversight on my part. I completely forgot about the "can't continue as a monk" rule. However...



5.0, -2 for the monk/totemist/monk thing,


I'm not disputing that there should be a penalty, but that was egregious enough to warrant two full negative points? For a rule hardly anybody remembers or bothers to enforce?



UoSI
At level 20, assuming a movement rate of 30, and non action jumps need to move you at least 5’ to put you in significantly different attack range, which means that you can, fully cheese enabled, jump 6 times per round as your move action and another 6 jumps as a move action that replaces your standard action: with 8 nat attacks apiece per jump that is a maximum 96 damaging circumstances, plus one attack of opportunity. That is ~ 64 resonance per round.


So, by your calculations, you're saying I could get 12 full attacks a round, with 96 possible attacks... base damage + Str is either 2d6+2 or 1d4+1, so average damage is 6ish + 7.5 sonic (Thunderstep Boots) + save vs. stun... even if only 50% hit, average damage is in the 600ish range (which sorta makes resonance a moot point). I understand your UoSI score, but all that only warrants a 3.5 in Power?




Power
Why didn’t you take energy admixture? Improved TWF wasn’t worth it compared to possibly doubling the amount of resonance you could build with two different damage types?


I'm not sure I understand your point about Energy Admixture. How does doubling the damage also double the amount of resonance? I'm already doing sonic + electricity damage, doing more sonic + electricity damage doesn't add any more resonance points as far as I know. As for Improved TWF... yeah, that was more for style than effectiveness. The image I had in my head involved stabbing things with two electricity daggers, and that's what I was building towards. (I was trying to get a persisted cloud of knives in there as well, but that wound up on the cutting room floor. Also, it took me awhile to notice it wasn't a bard spell.)



UoSI
I reckon the only way that you qualify for lyric thaumaturge is by sanctum spelling a wu jen spell?


Yes. I knew Lyric Thaumaturge and Divine Metamagic would work with a Divine Bard, but it still required 2nd level arcane spells. My first attempt at the build used Duskblade 1 with Versatile Spellcaster, but there just weren't enough feat slots to get it to work without using flaws. I tried reworking with Wizard or Sorcerer but couldn't find an ACF that gave me another metamagic feat. When I stumbled onto the Wu Jen's bonus feat and switched to Sanctum Spell, the build started to work, or worked well enough I felt compelled to try and finish it.

[The Viscount]

Thanks for judging, daremetoidareyou, much appreciated!

Since we're pretty well on schedule, shall we set the disputes to end on next tuesday for the next comp to begin, or earlier if everyone's done?

I personally have no disputes.

[Darrin]

EleganceThe Spirit of All Pointy Things, (T-SAPT):
I see some problems here. Fukimi Bari are awesome but besides sneak attack, which only procs on the first hit of the volley.


Your link has some extra characters added to it. Try:

http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040309a

Pointy Things didn't address this specifically, but since it's a more general rules issue, I thought I could chime in...

Rules of the Game are usually not considered official rules or errata, or rather, the common practice in this forum is they aren't always given the same weight as RAW. And these "Volley" rules have only really existed as either FAQ entries or Sage/custserv answers from mostly the 3.0 era. The Rules Compendium (pg. 42) updated how precision damage works with multiple attacks:



A form of attack that enables an attacker to make multiple attacks during an action other than a full-round action, such as the Manyshot feat (standard action) or a quickened scorching ray (swift action), allows precision damage to be applied only to the first attack in the group.


So if we go by the Rules Compendium (and I realize that not everyone does), Pointy Things should be getting sneak attack damage on all his fukimi-bari attacks so long as he's using a full attack action.

However, even if that's the RAW we're using here, there are some issues with this. Namely:



You can fire up to three mouth darts per attack (all at the same target).


Three mouth darts per attack does not mean three attacks, at least for the purposes of sneak attack. Since the three mouth darts count as a single attack, precision damage would only apply once for each three-dart attack.

For the purposes of resonance, I'm not sure if the three mouth darts count as three separate damage events. I'm inclined to say "Yes", because otherwise why bother saying you can shoot three mouth darts for 1 damage each if it's mechanically the same as getting hit with a single 3-point mouth dart? Also, if the mouth darts were made of different materials (adamantine, cold iron, etc.), then they'd be treated as separate damage events.

The other issue is Sniping.



Sniping: If you’ve already successfully hidden at least 10 feet from your target, you can make one ranged attack, then take a move action to hide again.


If Pointy Things wants to use the sniping rules, then generally that means he's attacking as a standard action and then hiding as a move action. As per the Rules Compendium, this isn't a full attack so he only gets sneak attack damage on the first mouth dart.

Should still work fine to build up resonance, though.

As far as hiding goes, he could also opt *not* to use the sniping rules and use a full attack instead, making a Hide check with a -20 penalty after every attack. Pointy Thing's skill ranks + size bonus + skill mastery makes this doable against most opponents that haven't invested a lot of ranks in Spot. He wouldn't get sneak attack damage on every dart, but could get it on each 3-dart burst.

[daremetoidareyo]

Three mouth darts per attack does not mean three attacks, at least for the purposes of sneak attack. Since the three mouth darts count as a single attack, precision damage would only apply once for each three-dart attack.

For the purposes of resonance, I'm not sure if the three mouth darts count as three separate damage events. I'm inclined to say "Yes", because otherwise why bother saying you can shoot three mouth darts for 1 damage each if it's mechanically the same as getting hit with a single 3-point mouth dart? Also, if the mouth darts were made of different materials (adamantine, cold iron, etc.), then they'd be treated as separate damage events.


He wouldn't get sneak attack damage on every dart, but could get it on each 3-dart burst.

This is the interpretation that I was governing myself under.

[daremetoidareyo]

Thanks for judging, daremetoidareyou, much appreciated!

Since we're pretty well on schedule, shall we set the disputes to end on next tuesday for the next comp to begin, or earlier if everyone's done?

I personally have no disputes.

I'm going to try to address disputes tonight. But any window works with me. Please try to be patient as the still new 5 month old baby has made scheduling life hectic and I have yet to adapt

--------
I'm trying a new approach to judging, because looking at it adversarially just made me and the entrants frustrated. I do a single read through and then take notes. I then judge each category with more thorough readings of the builds, rather than each entire build separately. This allows me to better compartmentalize build problems or characters that I don't like. Then I treat disputes as a type of proofreading.

--------
BEN NERU
Thank you for your judging. It was very thorough. I did have a few small things I wanted to explain:


elegance:
you mentioned not having much defense against area attacks. co-occupying an enemy's square is the primary defense, yes, since few opponents are adequately equipped to carpet bomb themselves without consequence (or provoking aoos from ben, which as you noted elsewhere, are an important part of general combat strategy) and bombing your own team isn't exactly something universally practiced.

that said, ben has other tricks up his sleeve. as mentioned in playtips, invisible fist allows him to use blink an unlimited number of times per day, providing defense against aoes alongside many other things.

elsewhere you commented that 9 is a lot of monk (and boy do I agree) but blink is the main reason ben stayed in it as long as he did. he has much more protection from aoes than a normal character

this is in addition to spectral skirmisher and evasive reflexes working together to let ben move out of the way even when it's not his turn. even when your enemy gives up on trying to find you and starts going for broke, between all these things there's still a solid chance you'll be able to get away anyway.

1. You're right about blinks. They weren't in my mental RAM when I was evaluating the weakness to area effects.
There are a ton of bad guys who will bomb their own team; Particularly undead and demons and casters with golems, but the point is moot, because of the blink thing. You have a 5 in elegance. 9 levels of monk only affects your power score negatively but has a positive uptick in your Use of Special ingredient.


uotsi:
aside from iron chef generally frowning on specific mentions of gear, I didn't think mentioning resources all dishes had equal access to would do anything to help my build stand out. I appreciate your kudos for sticking to monk. this is probably the only time it's an asset to a potential build.

crab clan:
you did ask what it had to do with it, so I'll explain, even if it amounts to a complicated in-joke/pun.

I didn't try to pull any mechanical benefit from the OA rules or anything like that. I usually like to give my dishes a title or some kind, and since ben is hard to nail down and find, I went with "the imperceptible skulk," which has a good ring to it since it sounds like the incredible hulk.

hulk's alter ego is bruce banner, and bruce banner is an anagram for "ben neru crab,"
the SI is martial arts influenced, so I thought that might be a fun setting/concept for my story, so I mentioned one of the oa clans, one of which happens to be crab, thus, ben neru of the crab clan.

Aight. I wasn't sure if I just wasn't seeing something.

--------

T-SAPT

Originality:

Poison is only evil (ignoring how bad the alignment rules are there) if it causes ability damage. The Spirit can easily brew up some Drow Poison and cover his darts in it, and it's no more evil than brewing particularly stout ale.

Can you explain how AOO's are supposedly important? To me, it doesn't seem like a slightly higher chance to get resonance outweighs the dangers of giving away your position (melee attacks are far easier to pin down, after all).

I didn't pull points for poison use from this category. AOO are important in that you have a chance to drum up 2 resonance per AOO, and with all of the hiding optimization, it seemed like you could skirmish like a beast, using up AOOs on opponents as your combat turn came around next in order to limit them targetting you. T-SAPT approach to combat makes for a delicate alchemy between risk vs. length of time in combat. It strikes me (three times!) that more resonance in more enemies allows for more confusion and stunning which AOOs would enrich your ability to isolate a single nemesis for massive attackage.



Power:

I guess I just liked the idea of taking 12 on important checks, sue me. No further comment.

I guess that was a rude way of saying that there are stronger options available to this build. This is an example of what I mean by lack of proofreading. I even have like half a sentence in there that makes no sense. Sorry about that.



Elegance:

Ow. Did not see that coming.

However, a +1d6 shocking enhancement on three of the darts (dirt cheap) already takes care of most DR. I only didn't mention it because builds don't have to list equipment: that doesn't mean they lack it.

As you saw, the poisons the Spirit uses aren't exactly evil.

This is the only part of the judgment that penalizes poison use. Do you have a source on only ability damage poisons being evil? If it's in any part of the rules, you can totally get that .25 back.


UoSI:

Well, not all poison is contact. Injury poison, such as Drow Poison, is safe to keep in your mouth unless the Spirit has open wounds inside.

I was just thinking out loud. It's funny to think of a guy loading a bunch of needles into his mouth and then taking a swig of poison to coat them. I liked your build, although that might be vanity on my part seeing as how I immediately thought of fukimi bari when I read this SI.

------

I'll address the rest next opportunity...

[daremetoidareyo]

Verelka Thunderfoot


Elegance
Do combat reflexes do anything for you with a 10 dex?
Yeah, I noticed that late in the build when I put in Dragonborn, Dex dropped to 10. I should have traded Combat Reflexes for Dragon Tail instead of Improved Grapple. At the time (it was late) I thought it would give me +1 AoO even if my Dex was 10, but when I went back to reread it, there's no "minimum of 1" mentioned in the text. However, it does do something at 10 Dex: I can make my single AoO even when flat-footed.
Further, how are you continuing to advance as a monk after taking your first level of totemist?
That was definitely an oversight on my part. I completely forgot about the "can't continue as a monk" rule. However...

5.0, -2 for the monk/totemist/monk thing,
I'm not disputing that there should be a penalty, but that was egregious enough to warrant two full negative points? For a rule hardly anybody remembers or bothers to enforce?

I know that it's an easy fix for the build, but as written, it remains illegal. It has not been my experience that hardly anyone enforces that rule on monks. I've seen more leeway with paladins than I have with monks. I only penalized in the elegance category so there was no spill over into other categories from this. However, if you're unhappy and you don't feel that elegance penalty is sufficient, we can always go with a 3 point penalty.

Haha. Just kidding. I'm willing to change that penalty by a little bit, seeing as how it can be fixed without signficantly changing the build at all. Your new elegance score is 3.


UoSI
So, by your calculations, you're saying I could get 12 full attacks a round, with 96 possible attacks... base damage + Str is either 2d6+2 or 1d4+1, so average damage is 6ish + 7.5 sonic (Thunderstep Boots) + save vs. stun... even if only 50% hit, average damage is in the 600ish range (which sorta makes resonance a moot point). I understand your UoSI score, but all that only warrants a 3.5 in Power?

Assuming that you are fighting terrible mooks, yes you can do a lot of damage. But, in cross comparison against the other power categories you are correct to point out that 12 charges per turn is a bunch. Although, you must have a very forgiving DM to allow your movement to include 6 jump checks to move 5 feet apiece, and then a replacement of your standard action with another 6 jump checks to move 5 feat Add another .5 to your power score to bring it in line with the other monsters. The thing is, if you are optimizing your damage to be so flipping high, it gives you little incentive to stay in serene guardian: you don't need resonance, you need knockdown and improved trip.




-----------



Zirella Stormfire


Power
Why didn’t you take energy admixture? Improved TWF wasn’t worth it compared to possibly doubling the amount of resonance you could build with two different damage types?

I'm not sure I understand your point about Energy Admixture. How does doubling the damage also double the amount of resonance? I'm already doing sonic + electricity damage, doing more sonic + electricity damage doesn't add any more resonance points as far as I know. As for Improved TWF... yeah, that was more for style than effectiveness. The image I had in my head involved stabbing things with two electricity daggers, and that's what I was building towards. (I was trying to get a persisted cloud of knives in there as well, but that wound up on the cutting room floor. Also, it took me awhile to notice it wasn't a bard spell.)

These two posts leave some grey room: 1 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21276764&postcount=41) and 2 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21276892&postcount=42). You are rolling a separate set of dice for a second energy type that occurs concurrently to your original attack. It's different than the sonic being mixed in with the lightning: an entirely similar set of dice are added to the damage in equal proportion to the amount of dice from the original energy type. By my metrics, what you'de lose in elegance (Especially considering that your using DMM cheese) you would make up for in UOSI and power. Rulezlawyerz for life!



UoSI ELEGANCE
I reckon the only way that you qualify for lyric thaumaturge is by sanctum spelling a wu jen spell?

Yes. I knew Lyric Thaumaturge and Divine Metamagic would work with a Divine Bard, but it still required 2nd level arcane spells. My first attempt at the build used Duskblade 1 with Versatile Spellcaster, but there just weren't enough feat slots to get it to work without using flaws. I tried reworking with Wizard or Sorcerer but couldn't find an ACF that gave me another metamagic feat. When I stumbled onto the Wu Jen's bonus feat and switched to Sanctum Spell, the build started to work, or worked well enough I felt compelled to try and finish it.

You didn't lose points for this. I thought it was crafty. It may have even silently buoyed your elegance score.

[Heliomance]

A response to the poison query:


BoED, page 34.


Poison and disease are generally the tools of evil monsters and characters, implements of corruption and destruction. If snakes
and vermin are associated with evil, as they are in many cultures,
it is usually because of their venom that they are viewed in
such a negative light despite their neutral alignment. Using
poison that deals ability damage is an evil act because it causes
undue suffering in the process of incapacitating or killing an
opponent.

Nothing is said about non-ability damaging poisons here.

In fact, if we're going by 'undue suffering', one might very well take this to mean that using a mild poison to knock someone out is less Evil than removing their limbs one by one.

[daremetoidareyo]

Add .25 to spirit's elegance score.

[Darrin]

Add .25 to spirit's elegance score.

Table updated. I think that takes care of all the ties. One tie left.

[Heliomance]

Table updated. I think that takes care of all the ties.
You have Bobo and the Spirit both listed at 28.75, but have ranked them not a tie

[daremetoidareyo]

I know the dispute time isn't over, but can I suggest an honorable mention?

[The Viscount]

I certainly don't see why not.

My HM goes to Opsablepsia.

[Venger]

yeah you're allowed to do hm whenever you want.

I'll suggest guru lahima for hm

[Thurbane]

My HM goes to The Spirit of All Pointy Things

[daremetoidareyo]

I certainly don't see why not.

My HM goes to Opsablepsia.

Me too! ObsablepsiA is fine handiwork

[WhamBamSam]

I'll vote Opsablepsia as well. Binder gaze attacks are kinda awkwardly written to the point where I'm never quite comfortable relying on them to be passive, but I admire the idea all the same. Assuming it does work, the build can actually save a feat on Elemental Grafter by using Astaroth's floating crafting feat, and get all three gazes from Binder 8 class features alone, so that's pretty cool.

[Inevitability]

My HM goes to Guru Lahima.

[remetagross]

That would be the Spirit of All Pointy Things to me!

[Inevitability]

So right now, we've got 3 votes for Opsablesia Obsabla O-person, 2 for Lahima, and 2 for the Spirit.

[Korahir]

My vote also goes to Opsablepsia.

[Darrin]

My vote for HM goes to Opsablepsia. I'd never seen someone optimize gaze attacks before.

I updated the table, but someone should check my math. Any other disputes? I think we're ready for the reveal.

[Venger]

My vote for HM goes to Opsablepsia. I'd never seen someone optimize gaze attacks before.

I updated the table, but someone should check my math. Any other disputes? I think we're ready for the reveal.

Your math looks good from where I'm standing. I think so too. Can't wait to see what's next.

[OMG PONIES]

Hey y'all! I've been out of the loop for a while; any big things I've missed? And I'm guessing it would still be good for me to update the spreadsheet?

[Venger]

Hey y'all! I've been out of the loop for a while; any big things I've missed? And I'm guessing it would still be good for me to update the spreadsheet?

Nice to see you again. We're winding down here and looking forward to another great round. I'm sure that would be much appreciated.

[The Viscount]

Hey y'all! I've been out of the loop for a while; any big things I've missed? And I'm guessing it would still be good for me to update the spreadsheet?

Welcome back, Ponies.

Business as usual. Lamentations at difficult ingredients, impressive originality, various people getting married and/or having kids.

[Darrin]

Hey y'all! I've been out of the loop for a while; any big things I've missed? And I'm guessing it would still be good for me to update the spreadsheet?

Can you post a link to the spreadsheet?

[Heliomance]

That seems to be a good place to wrap it up - and I suspect some of you could do with the distraction of a new round.

Scores After Two Judges




EntryPlaceChefKorahirdaremetoidareyouTotal

Verelka Thunderfoot (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320029&postcount=97)GoldDarrin15.7515.531.25


The blessed third (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320057&postcount=99)SilverWhamBamSam14.2516.7531

Ben Neru of the Crab clan (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319895&postcount=93)BronzeVenger14.51630.5

Opsablepsia (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320003&postcount=96)FourthZaq11.7518.2530

Bobo McShootiepants (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319980&postcount=95)FifthMacabaret13.2515.528.75

The Spirit of All Pointy Things (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319888&postcount=92)FifthDire_Stirge14.2514.528.75

Guru Lahima (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21319972&postcount=94)SeventhThe Viscount11.7516.7528.5

Zirella Stormfire (link) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21320045&postcount=98)EighthDarrin8.51523.5



Congratulations to Darrin, WhamBamSam, and Venger for placing! Honourable Mention goes to Zaq's Opsablepsia! How do you pronounce that, anyway, and how did you come up with it?

[Zaq]

Whoa, hey, I almost forgot that this was a thing. Let's just say that I've walked about 25,000 to 32,000 steps every day for the last three days, and I am definitely one of those few who needs a distraction.

Opsablepsia (http://www.encyclo.co.uk/meaning-of-opsablepsia) is a word I encountered many years ago while playing Balderdash. It means "the inability to look someone in the eye." (That particular late-night game of Balderdash had gotten pretty slap-happy by that point, so someone in my group of friends came up with a rather more colorfully obscene fake definition, but that's the REAL definition.) It doesn't appear in too many dictionaries (even my copy of the OED, which is admittedly not exactly new, doesn't have it), but most of the instances of it I can find online seem to agree with the definition, so that's good enough for our purposes.

Somewhere between learning the word and now, I decided to build a character based on that word—basically, I wanted to see how many different gaze attacks I could shove onto one character without using a monstrous race. There are actually several more that I didn't use, but that's mostly because I needed to respect the fact that the Secret Ingredient exists. (I also really wanted to include some of the feats from Serpent Kingdoms that make gaze attacks better, but I didn't want to cross setting lines.) I never got a chance to actually play that character, primarily because most gaze attacks come online relatively late (and by the time I dreamed up this character, my group had mostly shifted to E6), but I kept it squirreled away in my memory banks.

Then we got this ingredient—an ingredient that rewards doing multiple pings of damage of any size to as many enemies as possible (ideally with a minimal action cost). As noted, my gaze attacks don't do much damage, but for once, that isn't really the problem. Once I realized that I could actually bring Opsablepsia to the table, I knew that I absolutely had to take that chance no matter what it took, which is why I pulled that ill-advised all-nighter.

I will freely admit that the character as presented isn't really great. I had a hell of a time figuring out what to actually do with my actions. I ended up kind of boxing myself into a corner—practically everything from my pre-SI life went into getting the gaze attacks online, so I had my bases covered as far as setting up resonance, but I didn't have anything to actually DO with my turns. As I hinted at a while back, I had originally intended to be a warforged with Shocking Fist and Conductivity, but there just wasn't a way to make it flow together at the early levels (plus, the way my feats were set up had me needing to take Conductivity at 3rd level, and I didn't want to have to argue with a judge about whether the character could have survived failing a saving throw against Lightning Bolt or Call Lightning by 3rd level), so I had to scrap that. The DFA level actually came in an attempt to combine Draconic Knowledge with Knowledge Devotion to get a bonus to arbitrary damage rolls (of which I have quite a few), but then I realized that Pact Augmentations provided basically as big a bonus (of the same type!) as KD would provide, so that wasn't really useful. But then it occurred to me that Entangling Exhalation is a genuinely useful way of throwing around debuffs even at mid-high levels, and the fact that it did continuous damage (and therefore more pings to trigger resonance) sold me on it.

I'll be honest, the Dragonborn of Bahamut thing was so janky that I nearly had to scrap that section of the character and start over (and if it weren't the wee hours of the night of the deadline, I probably would have). The breath weapon from Dragonborn is a halfway decent thing to do with at least one or two standard actions per encounter, and it scales without any real investment, so I counted that as a win (especially since I was already doing Entangling Exhalation). The problem was that I found out that it made me lose my dragonmark and therefore BoS (which was useful for getting the damage floor up high enough to guarantee a ping even on a successful save), throwing my feats into total disarray. I guess it worked out okay.

I didn't love taking that Swordsage level at 20, but I was in a bind overall, since I had run out of Secret Ingredient, and advancing a single level in either of my existing base classes would have done nothing at all to help me. (Binder 9 is an odd-numbered level, so it wouldn't help the numbers at all, and Slippery Mind isn't that interesting; DFA 2 gives a breath effect, but I didn't want to emphasize relying on the weaksauce DFA breath weapon at level 20, so that seemed like a bad idea.) I took the Elegance lumps and learned a lesson, though I still maintain that it was one of the only classes I could take that would have an even slightly measurable effect on my performance at ECL 20.

As far as "opsablepsia" is pronounced? Your guess is as good as mine, since none of the sources I can find for it actually include a pronunciation guide. I say it like "opp-sah-BLEPP-see-uh," but I don't actually have a good source to use to confirm that.

Anyway, while this wasn't one of my characters where I was explicitly aiming for HM as my goal, considering how ugly the building process got in the middle, I'm certainly not going to complain about taking another HM trophy. Even though I got frustrated at the end, I still really liked this ingredient. How did everyone else feel about building for it?

[The Viscount]

Once I saw the build centered on gazes, I immediately thought "man I wish I thought of that!"

As for my build experience, making a build based on retributive damage auras, it was an idea that sprang to me on first read-through when I saw the vagueness of the wording and decided I didn't want to make a build with a lot of attacks. As is evident by the lack of power it was a concept build that I deemed enjoyably bad from the very beginning, but decided to follow through. I was shooting for HM with this one, but I really should have put some more oomph behind it. This ingredient was exactly the kind of difficult, frustrating, horrible ingredient that brings out the optimizing best in people, as evidenced by this round populated by the heavy hitters. Very very fun.

Congrats to all the winners, and on to the next!

[Venger]

As far as "opsablepsia" is pronounced? Your guess is as good as mine, since none of the sources I can find for it actually include a pronunciation guide. I say it like "opp-sah-BLEPP-see-uh," but I don't actually have a good source to use to confirm that.

Anyway, while this wasn't one of my characters where I was explicitly aiming for HM as my goal, considering how ugly the building process got in the middle, I'm certainly not going to complain about taking another HM trophy. Even though I got frustrated at the end, I still really liked this ingredient. How did everyone else feel about building for it?

going by the roots, that'd be the right way to pronounce it. online dictionaries seem to back you up.

building for this ingredient was strange, since usually doing a lot of attacks in a round as a goal in and of itself isn't a worthwhile goal.

since it was, and it offered monk synergy, I absolutely had to use this chance to perform the build in my head that made use of every worthwhile monk ACF, since I knew it was unlikely I'd have the opportunity a second time.

flurry of misses and snap kick give extra attacks, and being invisible all the time and confound the big folk/underfoot combat give more chances to sponge up resonance, so that's what I'd cooked with a mind towards.

I had more fun than I thought I would with this ingredient. it was a good pick.

[Darrin]

Once I saw the build centered on gazes, I immediately thought "man I wish I thought of that!"


I had the same thought.



As for my build experience, making a build based on retributive damage auras, it was an idea that sprang to me on first read-through when I saw the vagueness of the wording and decided I didn't want to make a build with a lot of attacks. As is evident by the lack of power it was a concept build that I deemed enjoyably bad from the very beginning, but decided to follow through. I was shooting for HM with this one, but I really should have put some more oomph behind it.


I struggled with giving my HM to Guru Lahima instead. It was also an extremely clever idea that I hadn't seen before.

Zirella was my first idea, based on a Lyric Thaumaturge/Born of Three Thunders build I'd fiddled around with some time ago. The original problem was it took too many darned feats, so much so that it needed flaws and Dark Chaos tomfoolery to make it work. Switching to Divine Bard and Divine Metamagic kinda fixed some problems, but it still needed flaws to work. So I abandoned it and tried another idea.

Verelka started out with the Monk Progression thing, as I figured it would count towards getting Greater Flurry, and I figured if I was going to take at least 6 monk levels, I might as well get Mantis Leap while I'm at it and abuse that for two full attacks per round. The Chair shot down my Greater Flurry idea, so I figured, let's see what happens with Mantis Leap... most of the build came directly from my T'chub-t-chub (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18981080&postcount=23) build from Jormengand's Slam Dunk contest (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?402795-Ridiculous-Character-Concepts-2-Slam-Dunk!) with my Swift Hopper (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20696457&postcount=9) idea sorta shoehorned in there for the swift-action jump, but it took me a long while to figure out how to fit Psionic Meditation in early enough to be useful. Mantis Leap was locked at 9th, and Open Least Chakra had to be at 6th to get Pounce working, otherwise Pounce would be at 12th and then Psionic Mediation would be at 15th. Dragonborn was originally there just to get an extra tail attack, but I tracked down an older idea of using the "no longer qualify" clause to replace existing feats, and that let me get Psionic Meditation at 4th. My original idea was to use Mounted Combat, but 1 rank in Ride seemed kinda silly on a monk chassis. Almost got the mechanics done, but went camping for the weekend and was running out of time with the deadline and no backstory. Then I got stuck in a meeting at work and figured out how to fix Zirella... and I still ran out of time and had to beg for an extension.

Extension got extended, so I finished Verelka and for some reason decided to pull a semi-allnighter to finish Zirella. Switching Duskblade to Wu Jen fixed the problem I was having with feats, but the rest of it was rushed... I was dimly aware of some alignment thingy, and I thought it was just "any good" rather than "any lawful". I got the build to do what I wanted it to do (TWF with electricity touch attacks), but it does come off a bit half-cooked. So there was an alignment problem (which I honestly didn't notice at 2:00 am), and the whole "when does the Born of Three Thunders spell end?" thing, which I just sorta hoped the judges wouldn't look too closely at. Zirella's back half is kinda weak... and Sublime Chord doesn't entirely fix it because DMM doesn't work with arcane spells. Sublime Chord 1/Geomancer 9 gets more interesting spells to blast with, but I did look at Sublime Chord/Fochlucan Lyrist. Can't quite figure out how to get Evasion in there without flaws, though. I may have to revisit the whole BTT Blaster thing later.

Congratulations to everyone, contestants and judges! There were some really great ideas in this round.

[WhamBamSam]

Good round all.

I didn't bother posting it as a dispute, because I couldn't see any points coming out of it, but daremetodareyo did show curiosity as to why I took Decisive Strike over Flurry. Simply put, I didn't really see much point in running up the number of attacks per round, so long as I could make the three necessary to build the maximum amount of resonance in a given target. Since Snap Kick, Oxyrhynicus, and Knock-Down+Improved Trip got me there easily even on a Decisive Strike, and I expected a fair number of AoOs, I felt Decisive Strike was the stronger choice. I didn't really see much point in going out of my way to build up resonance in multiple opponents, when D&D fights don't generally go for very long and you can only release it in one target per round anyhow.

Speaking of, I said that I'd post my unsubmitted ideas after the final reveal.

Human Cloistered Cleric 2/Crusader 3/Ruby Knight Vindicator 2/Serene Guardian 8/RKV +5
1. Cloistered Cleric 1 - Weapon Finesse, Two-Weapon Fighting, Knowledge Devotion
2. Cloistered Cleric 2
3. Crusader 1 - Combat Reflexes
4. Crusader 2
5. Crusader 3
6. Ruby Knight Vindicator 1 - Improved Unarmed Strike
7. RKV 2
8. Serene Guardian 1
9. Serene Guardian 2 - Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
10.Serene Guardian 3 - Double Hit
11. Serene Guardian 4
12. Serene Guardian 5 - Snap Kick
13. Serene Guardian 6
14. Serene Guardian 7
15. Serene Guardian 8 - Robilar's Gambit
16. RKV 3
17. RKV 4
18. RKV 5 - Open (perhaps Extra Turning, EWP (Kusari Gama), or taking a cue from Opsablepsia, Elemental Grafter)
19. RKV 6
20. RKV 7

I also considered Paladin 4/Crusader 1/RKV 1/Serene Guardian 8/RKV +6, but it doesn't really have any advantage beyond shuffling feats around in a slightly favorable way. RKV gives more swift actions with which to use resonance abilities. Even by the RAW that requires you to burn your standard action for a second swift it works pretty well doing damage with various Cleric spells and off turn attacks (AoOs with Robilar's Gambit,Thicket of Blades, and Double Hit, Shield Counter, and Snap Kick for good measure) to build resonance. I actually ended up liking it better than my actual submission, but didn't have time to finish it up.

My other idea overlapped with the Blessed Third on the other, non-AoO end.

Half-Orc Paragon 3/Fighter 2/Warblade 1/Frostrager 5/Serene Guardian 9
1. Half-Orc Paragon 1 - Power Attack
2. Half-Orc Paragon 2
3. Half-Orc Paragon 3 - Combat Expertise
4. Fighter 1 - Improved Trip
5. Fighter 2 - Improved Unarmed Strike
6. Warblade 1 - Frozen Berserker
7. Frostrager 1
8. Frostrager 2
9. Frostrager 3 - Knock-Down
10. Frostrager 4
11. Frostrager 5
12. Serene Guardian 1 - Snap Kick
13. Serene Guardian 2
14. Serene Guardian 3 - Hammer Fist
15. Serene Guardian 4 - Planar Touchstone (Oxyrhynicus) or Extra Rage
16. Serene Guardian 5
17. Serene Guardian 6
18. Serene Guardian 7 - Extra Rage
19. Serene Guardian 8
20. Serene Guardian 9

Between Snap Kick and Frozen Berserker's One-Two Punch, the build can always make three attacks even on regular standard action attacks, and even before Knock-Down+Improved Trip or Oxyrhynicus. Oxyrhynicus would have been awkward to keep consistently functional, as the build wouldn't have so many ways to flat-foot people (Sapphire Nightmare Blade and not much else).

[Korahir]

Great builds, perfect ingredient. I hope I did the builds justice, I had a blast judging them. Congrats to everyone!

[OMG PONIES]

Can you post a link to the spreadsheet?

Link to the spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oyjVU5JmeCnC8YTMqDArDqE5PszHl0Ysadz630kuTGk/edit?usp=sharing)

I am somewhat behind ATM. Anyone interested in helping to fill in a few ingredients would be helpful.