Junkyard Wars XVII: Elemental Warrior + Jaunter - Fighter

[Thurbane]

Welcome to Junkyard Stadium! It is in this hallowed pile of miscellaneous parts that we will hold a competition of Practical Optimization with three components. The catch? Competitors may not use the third item in their builds!

Goal: Create a build that showcases the selected ingredients while steering clear of the Forbidden Ingredient.

This competition has two Necessary Components and one Forbidden Component. This round's components are...


Necessary: From Planar Handbook... the Elemental Warrior prestige class!
Necessary: From Expedition to the Demonweb Pits... the Jaunter prestige class!
Forbidden: From PHB... the Fighter base class!

It's time to get planar!

Round-Specific FAQ

Contestants:

The rules are as follows:

Creation: 32 point-buy is the presumed creation method. You may assume that you will have enough exp to reach ECL 20, and that the occasional bit of crafting, use of spells with exp components, or the like won't prevent you from doing so. However, LA buyoff is an alternate rule which is not in play.
Workshop: 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 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. If you use web material, please link it. Dragon Magazine Compendium is allowed, as are Oriental Adventures and the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt and fractional saves are not allowed, as they create a different playing field.
Speculation: Please don't post or speculate on possible builds until after the reveal in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.
Disputes: Any scoring disputes should be sent to the Chair via PM. Valid disputes include RAW misreadings, arithmetic errors, things missed that are present in the entry, and inconsistently applied criteria. Invalid disputes include disagreements on matters of opinion, a judge not catching something not explicitly presented in the entry, and the like. Invalid disputes will be responded to via PM by the Chair, but valid disputes will be posted in-thread for the judge to review. When disputing, please indicate the judge the dispute is intended for and provide a quote of the disputed comment or comments. Note: the Chair may edit or paraphrase any disputes in presenting them to the judges.
Leadership is banned: We're creating one thing, not all of the things. 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.
Presentation: You will need to present a write-up of your build at at least one of the following points: 5th level, 10th level, 15th, 20th, and a "sweet spot" that you feel is the high point of the build, as well as presenting a fully-fleshed out 20-level build in the table below. Please give a rundown of the build's abilities and playability throughout its life. 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. Also for this reason, PLEASE do not include any material that may or may not offend any potential viewers/judges/competitors OR break forum rules. Any builds which violate forum rules WILL be withheld from posting.


Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, please 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.

Judges:


Scoring: Each judge is required to provide the criteria by which they are judging the builds. By "criteria," we mean a simple explanation of what the judge is looking for in each of the below categories and what kind of scoring we can expect. If a judge deems a build to be illegal, they may provide a 0 in Elegance but may not refuse to judge any build presented by the Chairman.
The Categories: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, Use of Components.


Originality: Is the build unique? Does it deviate from the obvious? Does it forge its own path, or does it fall back on common, established optimization tricks? Some judges score entries for the quality of their concept & backstory as well, though not all do. Providing at least some backstory is heavily encouraged, as it helps the judges figure out who the entry is. Note that the purpose of this category is not to penalize entries that independently came up with the same idea as another entry, but rather to reward entries that explore underutilized and non-obvious areas of optimization, so, judges, try not to base your judging in this category too heavily on what other builds are doing. Multiple entries using the same element may certainly be evidence that the element is unoriginal, but you shouldn't impose anything like a "-1 for each other build using the same class" penalty.
Power: 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: This category was formerly titled "Build Stability." Here, we're essentially measuring how skillfully you put your build together and how you balanced flavor with power. We're cooking here - if your dish doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter how well-presented it is. Use of flaws is an automatic loss of one point per flaw in this category. Other things that will cause lost points here are excessive multiclassing (meaning any multiclassing that results in an xp penalty), and classes that don't fit the concept - using Cloistered Cleric in a front-line melee fighter, for example, may lose you points. Rule adherence and legality of sources is scored under this category; additionally, reliance on a questionable, controversial, or ambiguous ruling can and should result in a deduction. Neither the number of sources nor their relative obscurity should be penalized--contestants should feel free to use any books they like. Dipping should not be penalized unless it results in a multiclass xp penalty; if the system won't penalize it, neither should judges.
Use of Components: Was the Forbidden Component avoided? Were the Necessary Components showcased, or simply used because they were necessary?



Disputes: Any scoring disputes will be posted by the Chairman in-thread after reviewing them privately. Valid disputes include RAW misreadings, arithmetic errors, things missed that are present in the entry, and inconsistently applied criteria. Invalid disputes include disagreements on matters of opinion, a judge not catching something not explicitly presented in the entry, and the like. Invalid disputes will be responded to via PM by the Chair, but valid disputes should be responded to by each individual judge. Judges are obligated to respond to disputes to ensure that everyone gets a fair shake. A judge's scores will only be recognized if they have recognized all disputes. In the absence of any other judges, the entries will be judged by the chairman.


Completion Time:

Contestants will have until 23:59 PM GMT Sunday March 25th to create their builds and PM them to the chairman.
Builds will then be posted simultaneously to avoid copying.
Judges will have until 23:59 PM GMT Sunday April 1st to judge the builds and submit their scores. Judging deadline is subject to extension as required.
As the precedent has been set from Episode 2, should all prospective judges have posted their rulings in a neat, timely fashion and all disputes have been settled satisfactorily (to either judges, contestants, or the Chairperson), the judging period may end prematurely to give way to a new episode. No reason to keep working on a finished building and avoid moving onto the next one.


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 honorable mention. The honorable mention prize is given to the most daring or unexpected build that doesn't gain a medal. Contestants are invited to vote for honorable mention via PM. Everyone else can vote in-thread. Ready? Steady? Get to the junkyard and start building!

Previous Competitions:

Junkyard Wars in the Playground I: Shadowdancer + Sneak Attack - Rogue (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?337864)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground II: Healing Spells + Ruby Knight Vindicator - Cleric (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?342896)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground III: Dragons + Theurges - Kobolds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?347412)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground IV: BoED + Undead Type - Completes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?355278)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground V: Dread Witch + Reaping Mauler - Fighter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?360271)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground VI: Wonderworker + Profession Skill - Factotum (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?369604)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground VII: Metamagic Feats + LA - Metamagic Reducers! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?374504)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground VIII: Pounce+Small Size-Barbarian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?388151)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground IX: Earth Dreamer + Ordained Champion - Cleric (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?395791)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground X: Meldshaping + Natural Attacks - Totemist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?403880)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XI: Magical Darkness + Improved Familiar - Wizard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?409650)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XII: Dragonmark Heirs + Touchstones - Martial Weapons (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?430214)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XIII: Mulhorandi Divine Minion + Monk - Any Other Wildshaping (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?465901)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XIV: Racial Paragon Classes + Spellcasting - Base Classes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?479427)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XV: Ruathar + Stoneblessed - Human (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?497904)
Trapsmith + Combat Trapsmith - Rogue (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?540521)

[Thurbane]

I figure while we're waiting on judging for the latest Villainous Competition and Iron Chef Appetizer rounds, and awaiting the reveal for the latest Iron Chef, now is as good a time as any to post.

This is my last hurrah at keeping this comp going, so hopefully we'll get enough interest and entries to keep this comp alive.


http://archive.wizards.com/dnd/images/planar_gallery/82520.jpghttp://archive.wizards.com/dnd/images/demonweb_gallery/103913.jpg

[Falontani]

If I can get my hands on the Expedition to the Demonweb Pits then I will try my hand if for nothing else than to keep this competition going, because I dearly enjoy reading these!

[RaiKirah]

I find both of these classes interesting, and like Falontani quite enjoy reading the results of these contests. I will attempt to help keep this on alive! Thanks for hosting Thurbane!

[PrismCat21]

This should be fun. :) I'm in

[Inevitability]

This intrigues me. Let's see if I can get a build in.

[Thurbane]

The good news this round is if you want to take all levels of the two PrCs, you still have eleven spare levels. :smallbiggrin:

[WhamBamSam]

These ingredients really don't appear to play nicely together. I'm happy to see JW back though, and it usually doesn't have too many entries, so I'll try to judge.

[Venger]

someone said "jaunter," so I am summoned.

jeez, elemental warrior. is there one prc in the planar handbook that isn't crap?

thurbane, I wouldn't want to see these become a thing of the past, so I'm down to cook.

[Falontani]

Is there any rule requiring us to take all level in both classes? Or do we just get penalized in the SI department? Or do we not even get penalized?

[Venger]

Is there any rule requiring us to take all level in both classes? Or do we just get penalized in the SI department? Or do we not even get penalized?

no rule that you have to, and no rule that the judges have to penalize you, but in general, your score in use of the secret ingredient will suffer if you don't finish both classes.

[DeTess]

I'm somewhat inspired. let's see if I can turn that inspiration into an actual build.

[Venger]

I have my table all done. That was really fast! Now I have to do the rest.

[Darrin]

I thought I was going to take a break this round and do some judging.

Then I had a stupid idea.

But it only used one of the SIs.

Then I looked at the other SI and had another stupid idea.

The two stupid ideas couldn't possibly fit in the same build.

But then I broke open Excel, plugged in some numbers... and I am somewhat astonished to find that yes, I can get both stupid ideas working in 20 levels.

So... I think I have to build this now?

[Thurbane]

So... I think I have to build this now?

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/53798324/do-it-do-it-now.jpg

[daremetoidareyo]

I too have stupid ideas

[Venger]

finished my entry. that was a blast.

[Thurbane]

Have to say I'm impressed with the entries so far. :smallsmile:

11 days or so to go, so keep the entries coming! http://www.giantitp.com/forums/images/sand/icons/icon_thumbsup.png

[jdizzlean]

I just saw this, i too have a potentially stupid idea. I will work on the mechanics and try to find some time to submit a build :)

[Venger]

I just saw this, i too have a potentially stupid idea. I will work on the mechanics and try to find some time to submit a build :)

best of luck to you. I look forward to seeing what you cook.

[jdizzlean]

that moment when you've been working for hours on your build, and suddenly veer off in what looks like a better idea, only to spend 4ish hours working on that to discover that it can't be done.

time for a break :)

[Venger]

that moment when you've been working for hours on your build, and suddenly veer off in what looks like a better idea, only to spend 4ish hours working on that to discover that it can't be done.

time for a break :)

I know that game. you'll figure it out.

[Thurbane]

3 days or so left...keep those entries coming! :smallbiggrin:

[justiceforall]

I'm not able to participate but just show of support - I'm looking forward to reading the submissions. Jaunter is a super fun class.

[jdizzlean]

done and in!

whew.

[dysprosium]

I really want to find the time to participate in this one way or another.

I've always liked the idea of Junkyard Wars.

[Thurbane]

For anyone who wants to contribute, but can't get a build in, we're always in desperate need of judges.

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/711568887419158528/XJWUMqgX_400x400.jpg

[RaiKirah]

I am still hoping to get a build in. I have two stubs, but almost certainly don't have time to actualize both of them. Hopefully I can get one in though!

[Thurbane]

If anyone is close to done by the time the deadline hits, I'm happy to consider requests for an extension.

[DeTess]

I'm basically done, and have been for well over a week. However, I still need to take time to actually submit the build, which I've been putting off. I should get to that tomorrow though.

[Darrin]

I've got this entry about 95% done, hoping to finish it up later tonight.

[Thurbane]

I'm having some major ISP issues at the moment; either that or my modem/router is dying. I've currently got an intermittent connection and speeds that make dial-up look fast.

Will attempt the reveal in approx. 4 hours, if the technology allows.

[Thurbane]

Good new, it appears it was the modem/router, which I've replaced.

Without any further ado, prepare for the reveal (please don't post until I give the all clear).

[Thurbane]

https://i.imgur.com/i8dOIpj.png
Bouncer of the Otyugh Hole



Jarisa stood in line outside the famed locale. She drew her garish red cloak around herself. Though it would be trivial to put up a few fires outside for those who stood shivering in the snow, it would defeat the purpose. While her fine, Thayan eyes detected no spells in place preventing the surreptitious utterance of some magic to keep her warm, she was sure the act would be frowned upon to say the least.

The line moved slowly forward. She was nearly there. The guard at the door waved at her to move forward.

A lump of people limped out of the only entrance or exit, shielding their eyes from the harsh light of day. They shuffled toward the end of the line, smeared with filth and reeking. A flea from one of their number must have leapt over to her. Jarisa shook her head to rub her pate against the high back of her gorget to scratch it without looking common.

“You ready or what?” the guard asked her, his eyes on a stack of papers in his hand.

“Oh, uh, yes. Sorry I was just— yes, I’m ready, let me in,” Jarisa said, caught off guard, but foundering to regain her air of authority halfway through.

“You know the rules. If you don’t then take a joyful voyage out of here, kid,” he said, his hand extended crudely outward.

Jarisa repressed a sneer. So he recognized the trappings of a Thayan novitiate, but didn’t know to show one proper respect. Like it or not, he was the one with the power here.

She held her bag of gold, pinched between a thumb and finger as though it were a dead rat and dropped it in his lap. Jarisa worked to hold her expression of distaste, as though he were doing her a favor accepting it, and not as though that was nearly the entirety of her savings.

An unseen servant racked up the coins for him to count and he gestured inside with his thumb. He wrote down her name with a quill once she gave it.

“Enjoy,” he said with a pat of her newly-shorn head. She dug her thumbnail into her palm and stepped into the cavern behind the guard’s post.

The second she stepped within, all light from the outside world died. Her slipper tore on a jagged rock with her first step. Her second sent her off a steep ledge.

Before she could protect herself or catch a ledge, she lay crumpled in a heap on the rough earth below her.

“Jergal’s teeth! You could’ve warned me, you lowborn!” she spat at the doorway above.

“Can’t spoil the experience for you. It’s against the rules. You don’t like it, go home,” he shouted back down.

Jarisa staggered to her feet and wiped at her bloody lip with a handkerchief. She groped around in the darkness, and found her hand somewhere it shouldn’t be.

“Hey! I’m just here to make friends, get lost!” someone shouted and slapped Jarisa’s bruised cheek.

She squinted in the darkness and smelled magic. Must be different rules down here.

Jarisa wove a mesh of shadow between her fingers and anointed her brow. The black before her lightened, and she could see the throng of people before her.

The cavern was small and there were far too many people inside. Most stood in the center, jostling against each other. As Jarisa made her way further inside, she heard music coming from a few different places in the crowd.

Quarters were too close in the center for anyone to have room for an instrument, so she gathered the music was magical. Something to help pass the time, doubtless. For her errand to bear fruit, she’d have to stay here a week. It wasn’t the kind of place she’d have much luck studying.

A few low boulders served as makeshift tables. A handsome, delicately featured Mulan beckoned to her as a spot at his boulder opened up.

A woman’s alarm went off and she threw down a handful of brightly colored powder.

“Free at last! Enjoy the hell you have made for yourselves, you degenerates! You filth!” and with that, disappeared.

Jarisa leaned on the boulder by him. Her training detected an unseen servant floating over a couple of glasses.

He took one in his hand and nodded toward her. Jarisa purified it just in case.

“So, how long do you have left in here?” she asked him and sipped.

“About a day if I’ve been keeping track right. It’s hard to sleep in here.” He kneaded at circles under his dark eyes.

“Who’s making refreshments? Doesn’t seem like this place provides many amenities,” Jarisa said.

“You know enterprising souls. There’s no situation that can’t be turned to one’s advantage,” he said.

A dish of fried, breaded peppers floated by and she snatched one. Her companion tossed a coin onto the plate.

“Oh, uh, thank you…” she trailed off, waiting for him to supply his name.

“Gyram,” he said. “And you are?”

“Jarisa. It means ‘favored by Nybor.’”

“Mm. You want to be zulkir too some day, huh?”

“If I make it out of here. Have to make it through my novitiate training first,” she said.

“Do they make those permanent then?” Gyram offered her a silk handkerchief from somewhere up his sleeve.

The ink on Jarisa’s brow had started to run in the closeness of the cave, heat from hundreds of bodies making the air damp and thick.

“Just trying out a few designs. Seeing what I like before, well you know,” she said.

The motion within the cavern was constant, but still, her eye caught something that wasn’t supposed to be there.

“Hey! He wasn’t in line!” she shouted and pointed at a Halruaan who tried to join the crowd of dancers.

Consequences be damned. She readied a spell to melt his skeleton.

“Excellent choice. Simbul was a family friend. He came over for tea once. Odd fellow. I wouldn’t bother, though. This place takes care of riffraff like that.

Before Jarisa could ask, the Halruaan jerked back as if struck. As he was struggling to catch his balance, another phantom blow knocked him off his feet. He began to conjure a sparkling mist when he disappeared with no magical energy for Jarisa to detect.

“It doesn’t pay to cut in line,” Gyram said. He handed her a card. “When you get out, we might try this again in better surroundings, assuming you aren’t too busy with your studies.”

Jarisa plucked a glass from a nearby tray and flipped a coin onto it.

“We’ll see.”



LN human monk 7/jaunter 4/elemental warrior 3/uncanny trickster 3/dread commando 3



str 14
dex 14
con 15
int 16 increases here
wis 10
cha 8





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


1st
Cobra Strike Carmendine Monk 1
+0
+2
+2
+2
balance 4, diplo 4, ea 4, hide 4, jump 4, ms 4, sm 4, tumble 4
combat reflexes, evasive reflexes
bonus feat (dodge), flurry of blows, unarmed strike


2nd
Cobra Strike Monk 2
+1
+3
+3
+3
balance 1 (5), diplo 1 (5), ea 1 (5), hide 1 (5), jump 1 (5), ms 1 (5), sm 1 (5), tumble 1 (4)

bonus feat (mobility), invisible fist


3rd
Dark Moon Disciple Monk 3
+2
+3
+3
+3
diplo 1 (6), ea 1 (6), hide 1 (6), jump 1 (6), ms 1 (6), sm 1 (6), tumble 1 (6), 1 free
shape soulmeld (phase cloak)
Darkvision


4th
Monk
+3
+4
+4
+4
diplo 1 (7), ea 1 (7), hide 1 (7), jump 1 (7), ms 1 (7), sm 1 (7), tumble 1 (7) 1 free

ki strike (magic), slow fall 20ft


5th
Planar Monk 5
+3
+4
+4
+4
hide 1 (8), k (planes) 5, ms 1 (8)

resistant body (fire resist 5)


6th
Cobra Strike Monk 6
+4
+5
+5
+5
ea 2 (9), ms 2 (9), tumble 2 (9), nimble stand
martial study (foehammer)
bonus feat (spring attack), slow fall 30ft


7th
Dark Moon Disciple Monk 7
+5
+5
+5
+5
hide 3 (10), listen 3, ms 1 (10), tumble 1 (10)

Shadow Blend


8th
Jaunter 1
+5
+5
+7
+5
hide 1 (11), listen 2 (5), ms 1 (11), spot 4, tumble 1 (11)

Travel power, benign transposition


9th
Jaunter 2
+6/+1
+6
+8
+6
hide 1 (12), listen 2 (7), ms 1 (12), spot 2 (6), tumble 1 (12), back on your feet
spectral skirmisher
Baleful transposition, fast movement


10th
Jaunter 3
+7/+2
+6
+8
+6
hide 1 (13), listen 4 (11), ms 1 (13), spot 1 (7), acrobatic backstab

Dimension door, teleport


11th
Jaunter 4
+8/+3
+6
+9
+6
hide 1 (14), listen 1 (12), ms 1 (13), spot 6 (13),

Freedom of movement, plane shift


12th
Elemental Warrior 1
+8/+3
+8
+9
+6
intimidate 5, never outnumbered
open lesser chakra (shoulder)
Elemental affinity (air), learn Auran, electric resist 10


13th
Elemental Warrior 2
+9/+4
+9
+9
+6
intimidate 5 (10), point it out

Elemental manifestation (air)


14th
Elemental Warrior 3
+10/+5
+9
+10
+7
intimidate 5 (15), listen to this (tricks known 6)

elemental weapon


15th
Uncanny Trickster 1
+10/+5
+9
+12
+7
umd 12
martial stance (thicket of blades)
Bonus trick (spot the weak point), favorite trick (spot the weak point)


16th
Uncanny Trickster 2
+11/+6/+1
+9
+13
+7
bluff 6, umd 7 (19)

Bonus trick (twisted charge), favorite trick (acrobatic backstab), Elemental movement fly 20 (perfect)


17th
Uncanny Trickster 3
+12/+7/+2
+10
+13
+8
bluff 11 (17), umd 2 (21)

Bonus trick (social recovery), favorite trick (twisted charge), tricky defense, Elemental burst weapon, elemental strike



18th
Dread Commando 1
+13/+8/+3
+10
+15
+8
hide 3 (17), spot 8 (21)
Robilar’s Gambit
Sudden strike +1d6, team initiative bonus


19th
Dread Commando 2
+14/+9/+4
+10
+16
+8
hide 4 (22), ms 7 (21)

Armored ease 2


20th
Dread Commando 3
+15/+10/+5
+11
+16
+9
hide 1 (23), listen 8 (20), ms 2 (23)

Sudden strike + 2d6





Monk is helping out letting you qualify for everything. Monk has a great number of acfs available, so I’ll go through them one by one and explain what they do for you.

Cobra strike monk gives you dodge and mobility as your bonus feats to lay groundwork for jaunter.

Carmendine monk switches your wis stuff to int instead, cutting down on MADness, plus you can be treated as two levels higher for various monk abilities if you just study your notes for a while.

Invisible fist comes in and takes the place of evasion. Be invisible as often as you like. The phase cloak helps you out with mobility and lets you take any position you need on the battlefield.

Dark moon disciple’s darkvision helps you out when it’s dark, and planar monk shores up your defenses with some resistance to the most common energy type, in addition to providing knowledge (planes)

Decisive strike is up and running, giving you double damage with your unarmed strike. When used, it applies to all attacks made in a round, including the aoos you get via combat reflexes, so it’ll make its presence known, and at level 5, the penalty’s only -1

Your skills are helping you remain stealthy and mobile around the battleground.



Use foehammer to punch through dr, even when flying. Spring attack is up now letting you move, attack, and keep on chooglin’.

Cobra strike’s finished now. You’ve stuck it out long enough to reap its awesome level 6 power. Now you get +2 to your AC when you use your dodge.

Dark moon disciple pitches in once again with its shadow blend ability. In anything less than full daylight, enjoy the benefits of total concealment. This will keep you very difficult to target, even during the rounds in between uses of invisible fist, which give you something useful to do with your swift action.

You’re in jaunter now, and spectral skirmisher is up. This works beautifully with invisible fist and evasive reflexes. When enemies take a swing at you and miss because of miss chance, you can use the aoo they provoke to either whomp them or use evasive reflexes to take a 5 foot step to keep them guessing.

Jaunter lets you teleport friends and foes along with fast movement, teleportation, and dimension door, all while invisible. You’ve got a bunch of skilltricks expanding your versatility as well, so have fun with them.



You’re done with jaunter and now have freedom of movement and plane shift in your repertoire. You are now also in elemental warrior.

Miss chance will help cover you in the very rare circumstances you aren’t protected from either invisibility and/or shadow blend and keep enemies from hitting you. Your elemental weapon makes your attacks hit harder.

Thicket of blades lets you threaten everyone within your reach and when they move, you get an aoo against them, in addition to the aoos you accrue from spectral skirmisher. You can use them to 5 foot step or attack as well.

You’re in uncanny trickster too, getting you a better chassis than elemental warrior and progressing its features along with giving you a better list and more skills points. Enjoy your larger and larger pool of skill tricks.

The phase cloak is also bound to your shoulder now, allowing you to go ethereal whenever you move. Alongside spring attack, you can come from and go pretty much wherever, with your teleportation, stealth, and invisibility powers making you impossible to nail down.



You’re done progressing the goodies of elemental warrior via uncanny trickster, possible due to how short the class is. You can fly with perfect maneuverability now, adding a third dimension to all your extant mobility, dealing extra elemental damage, and knocking down enemies with your elemental strike.

Dread commando gets its day in court and due to its full ba, provides access to robilar’s gambit, makes your armor more comfy, alongside boosts to initiative for all your pals equal to your class level, alongside sudden strike to complement your stealth and invisibility.

Robilar’s gambit is yet another source for your ever-expanding aoo pool, and with your many sources of miss chances, the bonus to attack from enemies won’t be as likely to harm you. You can use them to attack or five foot step in any direction ethereally as normal and be impossible to lay hands on.




srd: monk, cobra strike monk, dodge, mobility, spring attack, combat reflexes
magic of incarnum: shape soulmeld, open lesser chakra
champions of valor: carmendine monk
champions of valor web enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a): dark moon disciple
exemplars of evil: invisible fist
planar handbook: elemental warrior, planar monk
expedition to the demonweb pits: jaunter
heroes of battle: dread commando
phb2: spectral skirmisher, decisive strike
tome of battle: evasive reflexes, martial study, martial stance

[Thurbane]

Del O'Rean, the Waystalker

NE Human Scout 2/Ninja2/scout+1/Ninja+1/Jaunter4/Tellflamar Shadowlord 4/elemental warrior 1/Swordsage 1
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/06/34/b5/0634b52ff14ff0c241ab1863a3b3e1f4.jpg


“Let me tell you about the Waystalker, the Shadow-walker, the man some say is the personal assassin of the elemental princes!” The bard spoke in a tone that appeared to be quiet, conspiratory, but that’s till could be heard throughout the entire hightown establishment. A lot of the patrons where paying attention, even though quite a few pretended otherwise.

“He appears out of nowhere and disappears without a trace, leaving behind only the corpse of his intended victim. Many attempts have been made to trap him, yet no one but his victims and employers have ever laid eyes upon him.” Assured that everyone who wanted to hear him was paying attention now, the Bard launched into his story.

“Let me tell you about his most daring raid yet, in which three men, continents apart, where killed by his blade in a single night!” The bard launched into a tale of intrigue and assassination, and the crowd listened.

***

“Thank you, thank you!” coins of numerous denominations rained into the bard’s offered hat at the end of the night. Some patrons approached him to talk about his stories as the establishment slowly emptied out. The bard talked to all of them, as the personal touch often earned him a couple more coins. The last man to approach him appeared to be like any of the others, but it was his coin that attracted the bard’s attention. It was gold, but the pictures on the coins facing where completely foreign to him.

“I thank you for an entertaining evening, my dear Bard. It can be so hard to find ways to enjoyably spend the wait.” He spoke with a slightly foreign sounding accent that the bard couldn’t place.

“Both your praise and your coin are always welcome here. I assume you’re a merchant from abroad, here to visit our beautiful city?” The bard tried, hoping to maybe get the seed for a new story from this foreigner.

“That’s true, from a certain point of view. I…”the man was interrupted by an odd sound coming from his coat. He reached in and retrieved a strange contraption. It was about the size of the palm of his hand, and seemed to be made from silver and copper. It made a sound like a little bell being rung. The man pressed a button, silencing it, and flipped open the contraptions front face. After a moment he put it away again and faced the bard again.

“Sunset in central Ravnica. I’m afraid I’m going to have to end our conversation here. We will speak again though.”

The bard had never heard of a place called ‘Ravnica’, and didn’t know at all the importance of sunset there. He swallowed his questions though, and bowed towards the stranger. “It’ll be my honor to entertain you once again, and…” As the bard looked up, the man had disappeared.



str 10
dex 18 +3 (level 12, 16 and 20) =21
con 14
int 10 +2 (level 4 and 8) =12
wis 14
cha 8



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


1st
Scout 1
+0
+0
+2
+0
Hide 4, move silently 4, Spot 4, tumble 4, Disable device 4, search 4, listen 4, sense motive 4, Concentration 2, knowledge(The planes) 2
Dodge, Able learner
Skirmish(+1d6), trapfinding


2nd
Scout
+1
+0
+3
+0
Hide 5, move silently 5, Spot 5, tumble 5, Disable device 5, search 5, listen 5, sense motive 5, Concentration 2, knowledge(The planes) 2, knowledge (nature) 1
-
Battle fortitude, uncanny dodge


3rd
Ninja 1
+1
+0
+5
+0
Hide 6, move silently 6, Spot 6, Tumble 5, Disable device 6, search 6, listen 6, sense motive 5, concentration 2, knowledge(The planes) 3, knowledge(Nature) 1
Mobility
Ki Power, sudden strike +1d6, trapfinding


4th
Ninja 2
+2
+0
+6
+0
Hide 7, move silently 7, Spot 7, Tumble 5, Disable device 7, search 7, listen 7, sense motive 5, concentration 3, knowledge(The planes) 3, knowledge(Nature) 1
-
Ghost step (invisible)


5th
Scout 3
+3
+1
+6
+1
Hide 8, move silently 8, Spot 8, Tumble 6, Disable device 8, search 8, listen 8, sense motive 6, concentration 3, knowledge(The planes) 4, knowledge(Nature) 1
-
Fast movement +10ft., Skirmish (+1d6, +1 AC), trackless step


6th
Ninja 3
+4
+2
+6
+2
Hide 9, move silently 9, Spot 9, Tumble 6, Disable device 9, search 9, listen 9, sense motive 6, concentration 4, knowledge(The planes) 4, knowledge(Nature) 1

Spring attack
Sudden strike +2d6, poison use


7th
Jaunter 1
+4
+2
+8
+2
Hide 10, move silently 10, Spot 10, Tumble 6, Disable device 9, search 9, listen 9, sense motive 6, concentration 5, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1
-
Travel power, benign transposition



8th
Jaunter 2
+5
+2
+9
+2
Hide 11, move silently 11, Spot 11, Tumble 6, Disable device 9, search 9, listen 11, sense motive 6, concentration 6, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1
-
Baleful transposition, fast movement


9th
Jaunter 3
+6
+3
+9
+3
Hide 12, move silently 12, Spot 12, Tumble 6, Disable device 9, search 9, listen 12, sense motive 6, concentration 7, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 1
Blind-fight
Dimension door, teleport


10th
Jaunter 4
+7
+3
+10
+3
Hide 13, move silently 13, Spot 13, Tumble 6, Disable device 9, search 9, listen 13, sense motive 6, concentration 8, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
-
Freedom of movement, plane shift


11th
Telflammar shadowlord 1
+7
+3
+12
+3
Hide 14, move silently 14, Spot 14, Tumble 6, Disable device 9, search 9, listen 14, sense motive 6, concentration 10, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
-
Shadowsight, Shadow Jump


12th
Telflammar Shadowlord 2
+8
+3
+13
+3
Hide 15, move silently 15, Spot 15, Tumble 6, Disable device 9, search 9, listen 15, sense motive 6, concentration 12, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2

Martial study (cloak of deception)
Shadow blur


13th
Telflammar Shadowlord 3
+9
+4
+13
+4
Hide 16, move silently 16, Spot 16, Tumble 6, Disable device 10, search 10, listen 16, sense motive 6, concentration 12, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
-
Shadow walk


14th
Telflammar Shadowlord 4
+10
+4
+14
+4
Hide 17, move silently 17, Spot 17, Tumble 6, Disable device 11, search 11, listen 17, sense motive 6, concentration 12, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
-
Shadow pounce


15th
Elemental warrior 1
+10
+6
+14
+4
Hide 18, move silently 18, Spot 18, Tumble 6, Disable device 11, search 11, listen 18, sense motive 6, concentration 12, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
weapon finesse
Elemental affinity(air)


16th
Elemental warrior 2
+11
+7
+14
+4
Hide 19, move silently 19, Spot 19, Tumble 6, Disable device 11, search 11, listen 19, sense motive 6, concentration 12, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
-
Elemental manifestation


17th
Elemental warrior 3
+12
+7
+15
+5
Hide 20, move silently 20, Spot 20, Tumble 6, Disable device 11, search 11, listen 20, sense motive 6, concentration 12, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
-
Elemental weapon


18th
Elemental warrior 4
+13
+8
+15
+5
Hide 21, move silently 21, Spot 21, Tumble 6, Disable device 11, search 11, listen 21, sense motive 6, concentration 12, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
Martial stance (Assassin's stance)
Elemental movement


19th
Elemental warrior 5
+13
+8
+15
+5
Hide 22, move silently 22, Spot 22, Tumble 6, Disable device 11, search 11, listen 22, sense motive 6, concentration 12, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
-
Elemental burst weapon, Elemental strike


20th
Swordsage 1
+13
+8
+17
+7
Hide 23, move silently 23, Spot 23, Tumble 8, Disable device 12, search 12, listen 23, sense motive 6, concentration 12, knowledge(The planes) 5, knowledge(Nature) 1, knowledge(Local-Thesk) 2
-
quick to act+1, Disciline focus (shadow hand)(weapon focus)



Level 6: Between the Levels in Ninja and Scout, Del gets a decent amount of mobility and precision damage. 3 uses of ghost step per day means that he can trigger sudden strike reliably when eh absolutely needs it, but 3 uses isn’t enough for all-day use. The mass of skill points available to these classes also means that Del is a decent scout and trapmonkey. It should also be noted that sudden strike from Ninja counts as sneak attack for the purposes of entry in PrC's

Level 10: With the Jaunter’s travel powers added on top of Del’s existing abilities, it’s going to be extremely hard for anyone to stop him from going where he wants to go. Unfortunately, these levels add very little to his offensive power, but as long as your targets are known for their tough defence, and not for their own martial prowess, this shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Level 15(sweet spot): Now we’re talking! Shadow pounce triggers of all abilities with the teleportation tag, which includes most of the jaunter’s powers. The addition of Assassin’s stance means that you can add up to 5d6 per attack (sudden strike+sneak attack+skirmish), and you will get a full attack after teleporting. The cloak of deception power allows you to trigger sneak attack and sudden strike more often without depleting your ki points. Even better though, you get to cast greater invisibility once per day (it’s a 2nd level spell for tellflamar shadowlords). 4 rounds should be enough to end most combats.

In addition to the combat class features, Shadowlord further adds to the travel mechanics available by adding a 1/day casting of Shadow walk.

Level 20: Elemental warrior adds a couple of useful abilities. Elemental weapon increases your damage output and isn’t dependent on the opponent being flat-footed or flanked. Elemental movement gives you a fly speed. It’s slow, but it’s yet another tool for getting into places where Del isn’t supposed to be.

Finally, the level in swordsage gives a lot of extra tools. Shadow Stride is a teleport that takes up a movement action, allowing for two shadow pounces to get changed together in one round. Leaping Flame is a teleport that is made as an immediate action if someone attacks you, which is both a great gap-closer against ranged attackers, and allows you to make a full-round attack off-turn. Dancing Mongoose gives you an extra pair of attacks (provided you’re holding two weapons. No need for two-weapon fighting though). Death mark gives you a bit of AoE damage, and finally hunter’s stance gives you the scent special ability, which is useful during an infiltration to remain aware what exactly is around you.



maneuvers with an R behind them are those typically readied.

Maneuvers
Shadow stride (R)
Dancing mongoose (R)
Wolf fang strike
Death Mark
Fan the flames
Leaping Flame (R)
cloak of deception(feat) (R)

Stances
Hunter's sense
Assassin's Stance(feat)




Complete adventurer: Ninja, Scout
races of destiny: able learner
Tome of battle: class: Swordsage, Feats: martial study, martial stance, shadow blade
Unaproachable east: Telflammar Shadowlord

[Thurbane]

Jonnie B, The Ripster
Chaotic Good Amphibious Anthropomorphic Shark


da dum………da dum………da dum……da dum….da dum…dadum..dadum.dadumdadumdadumDaDumDadumDADUMDAD UMDADUMDADUM!!!!!!


https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/streetsharks/images/8/8b/RipSter.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110918173525

Size: Med
Type: Monsterous Humanoid
Template HD: 2d8
Level Adj: +0
Starting ECL: 2
BAB: +2
Saves: +0/+3/+3
Ability Adjustments: STR: –2 DEX: +6 CON: –2 INT: +0 WIS: +4 CHA: –4
Skill Points: (2 + Int mod) × 5
Class Skills: Listen, Spot, Swim
Natural Armor: +4
Size Modifier: +0
Preffered Class: Rogue
Speed: Land 30, Swim 60
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Special Qualities:

Out of the water, sharks can detect creatures by scent in a 90-foot radius and cannot detect blood in the water unless they are submerged in that water. Sharks can hold their breath out of the water twice as long as humans can hold their breath under the water.
Bite Attack (1d6)
Darkvision 60'


Size: -
Type: Gain Aquatic subtype
Ability Adjustments: DEX -2
Skills: An amphibious creature has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can move through water at its swim speed without making Swim checks. The creature can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. The creature can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
Speed: Gains swim speed 30
Special Qualities: Amphibious - an amphibious creature can breath air and water equally well
LA: +0




Ability
32 Pb
Racial
Template
ECL 1
Inherent
Final


Strength
16
-2
-
14
-
14


Dexterity
12
+6
-2
16
+1 (@20)
17


Constitution
14
-2
-
12
+2 (@4,8)
14


Intelligence
16
-
-
16
+2 (@12,16)
18


Wisdom
8
+4
-
12
-
12


Charisma
10
-4
-
6
-
6







Level
Class
HD
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills: Rank(Spent)
Feats
Class Features


ECL 1/2
Anthropomorphic Shark, Large RHD
2xD8
+2
+0
+3
+3
Balance 2(4cc), Hide 2(4cc), Listen 5, Move Silently 2(4cc), Search 1(2cc), Spot 5, Swim 1
Weapon Finesse
See descriptions of Anthropomorphic Shark race, and Amphibious template


3rd
Savant
d8
+2
+0
+3
+5
Balance 5(3), Hide 4(2), Listen 6(1), Move Silently 4(2), Spot 6(1), Search 1, Swim 1
Expeditious Dodge
Academic Lore, Skill Assistance – Spot (5’), Trapfinding


4th
Savant
d8
+3
+0
+3
+6
Hide 6(2), Knowledge (nature) 2, Knowledge (the planes) 1, Move Silently 6(2), Search 3(2), Spot 7(1), Balance 5, Listen 6, Swim 1
Mobility (B)
Talent Lore (Mobility)


5th
Savant
d8
+4
+1
+4
+6
Hide 8(2), Knowledge (nature) 3(1), Knowledge (the planes) 2(1), Move Silently 8(2), Search 5(2), Spot 8(1), Balance 5, Listen 6, Swim 1
-
Sneak Attack +1d6


6th
Savant
d8
+5
+1
+4
+7
Hide 9(1), Knowledge (nature) 4(1), Knowledge (the planes) 3(1), Listen 7(1), Move Silently 9(1), Spellcraft 3, Spot 9(1), Balance 5, Search 5, Swim 1
Spring Attack
Skill Assistance – Listen (10’)


7th
Savant
d8
+5
+1
+4
+7
Hide 10(1), Knowledge (nature) 5(1), Knowledge (the planes) 4(1), Listen 8(1), Move Silently 10(1), Spellcraft 6(3), Spot 10(1), Balance 5, Search 5, Swim 1
-
Arcane Lore


8th
Jaunter
d8
+5
+1
+6
+7
Hide 11(1), Listen 10(2), Move Silently 11(1), Spellcraft 7(2cc), Spot 11(1), Balance 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (the planes) 4, Search 5, Swim 1
-
Travel Power (JaunterLvl+DEX/day) – Benign Transposition (1 charge)


9th
Jaunter
d8
+6
+2
+7
+8
Hide 12(1), Listen 12(2), Move Silently 12(1), Spellcraft 8(2cc), Spot 12(1), Balance 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (the planes) 4, Search 5, Swim 1
Darkstalker
Travel Power – Baleful Transposition (1 charge), Fast Movement (+10’ land speed)


10th
Jaunter
d8
+7
+2
+7
+8
Hide 13(1), Knowledge (the planes) 5(1), Listen 13(1), Move Silently 13(1), Spellcraft 9(2cc), Spot 13(1), Balance 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Search 5, Swim 1
-
Dimension Door (30’/day/JanterLvl), Travel Power – Teleport (1 charge)


11th
Jaunter
d8
+8
+2
+8
+8
Hide 14(1), Knowledge (the planes) 6(1), Listen 14(1), Move Silently 14(1), Spellcraft 10(2cc), Spot 14(1), Balance 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Search 5, Swim 1
-
Freedom of Movement (2rds/day/JaunterLvl), Travel Power – Plane Shift (2 charges)


12th
Elemental Warrior
d10
+8
+4
+8
+8
Hide 15(2cc), Knowledge (the planes) 7(1), Spot 15(2cc), Balance 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Listen 14, Move Silently 14, Search 5, Spellcraft 10, Swim 1
Craven
Elemental Affinity (Earth): Language (Terran), Resistance 10 (acid)


13th
Elemental Warrior
d10
+9
+5
+8
+8
Hide 16(2cc), Knowledge (the planes) 8(1), Spot 16(2cc), Balance 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Listen 14, Move Silently 14, Search 5, Spellcraft 10, Swim 1
-
Elemental Manifestation (+3 NA, EWarCL/day)


14th
Elemental Warrior
d10
+10
+5
+9
+9
Hide 17(2cc), Knowledge (the planes) 9(1), Spot 17(2cc), Balance 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Listen 14, Move Silently 14, Search 5, Spellcraft 10, Swim 1
-
Elemental Weapon (+2d6 Acid, EWarCL/day)


15th
Elemental Warrior
d10
+11
+6
+9
+9
Hide 18(2cc), Knowledge (the planes) 10(1), Spot 18(2cc), Balance 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Listen 14, Move Silently 14, Search 5, Spellcraft 10, Swim 1
Earth Sense
Elemental Movement (Burrow 30’)


16th
Earth Dreamer
d4
+11
+8
+9
+11
Hide 19(2cc), Knowledge (nature) 6(1), Listen 15(1), Spot 19(2cc), Balance 5, Knowledge (the planes) 10, Move Silently 14, Search 5, Spellcraft 10, Swim 1
-
Earth Friend, +1 Spellcasting (Savant)


17th
Earth Dreamer
d4
+12
+9
+9
+12
Hide 20(2cc), Knowledge (nature) 7(1), Listen 16(1), Spot 20(2cc), Balance 5, Knowledge (the planes) 10, Move Silently 14, Search 5, Spellcraft 10, Swim 1
-
Earth Dream (1/day), +1 Spellcasting (Savant)


18th
Earth Dreamer
d4
+12
+9
+10
+12
Hide 21(2cc), Knowledge (nature) 8(1), Listen 17(1), Spot 21(2cc), Balance 5, Knowledge (the planes) 10, Move Silently 14, Search 5, Spellcraft 10, Swim 1
Bounding Assault
Lesser Tremorsense, +1 Spellcasting (Savant)


19th
Earth Dreamer
d4
+13
+10
+10
+13
Hide 22(2cc), Knowledge (nature) 9(1), Listen 18(1), Spot 22(2cc), Balance 5, Knowledge (the planes) 10, Move Silently 14, Search 5, Spellcraft 10, Swim 1
-
Earth Sight, +1 Spellcasting (Savant)


20th
Earth Dreamer
d4
+13
+10
+10
+13
Hide 23(2cc), Knowledge (nature) 10(1), Listen 19(1), Spot 23(2cc), Balance 5, Knowledge (the planes) 10, Move Silently 14, Search 5, Spellcraft 10, Swim 1
-
Earth Glide, +1 Spellcasting (Savant)




Spells Per Day/Spells Known


ECL
1st
2nd


1st
-
-


2nd
-
-

3rd
-
-

4th
-
-

5th
-
-


6th
-
-


7th
1/2
-


8th
1/2
-


9th
1/2
-


10th
1/2
-


11th
1/2
-


12th
1/2
-


13th
1/2
-


14th
1/2
-


15th
1/2
-


16th
1/4
-


17th
2/6
-


18th
2/8
-


19th
2/8
1/2


20th
2/8
1/4



Spells Known:
Level 1:
@ECL 7: Identify, True Strike
@ECL 16: Disguise Self, Detect Evil
@ECL 17: Detect Undead, Protection from Evil
@ECL 18: Detect Chaos, Protection from Chaos
Level 2:
@ECL 19: Alter Self, Augury
@ECL 20: Locate Object, Whispering Wind




CHARNAME is a paragon of sharkliness. Savant is an interesting class in that it gives a little bit of a lot of things. At first level this consists of providing a decent amount of skill points and some utility. Academic Lore allows CHARNAME to fill in as a knowledge bank, getting a free untrained pseudo-Knowledge check to attempt to know anything at all though can only make that check for a specific piece of knowledge once per Savant level. Skill points are spent on CHARNAME’s primary role; scouting. With racial Darkvision and Scent to 90’, CHARNAME is good at finding foes. When within 5’ of allies he can use Skill Assistance to substitute his Spot check for an ally’s. Unlike many characters with miss-matched Class Level and ECL, CHARNAME does not start out his adventuring career too underpowered. The two RHD (Monsterous Humanoid) provide full BAB, d8 HD, and some skill points, leaving CHARNAME in a decent spot for an ECL3 character and can function in combat in addition to scouting. For feats he has Weapon Finesse from the RHD, and picks up Expeditious Dodge as well, which is generally better than regular dodge, and will be strictly better for his eventual attack pattern down the line.
CHARNAME has taken his last level of Savant and picked up even more utility. At second level Talent Lore allows him to pick up Mobility, making him very hard to hit when provoking attacks of opportunity as his naked AC vs AoO is (10+NAT+ED+MOB+DEX = 22). At level 3 (ECL5) CHARNAME gets Sneak Attack +1d6, adding a little damage to his kit and qualifying for feats that require SA (this means Craven later). At ECL 6 CHARNAME has enough BAB thanks to his RHD and picks up Spring Attack, which sets the pattern for his combat technique: move, attack, move. This will be increasingly embellished upon as we get deeper into the build. At 5th level CHARNAME has an epiphany and suddenly finds himself able to access Arcane forces, getting access to a limited number of spells. At this level he gets one spell per day, and knows both True Strike and Identify which will be prepared for adventuring and down-time respectively. CHARNAME continues to invest skill points in scouting, as well as picking up some knowledge skills and a couple of prereqs. CHARNAME is ready to enter the first of thr SIs: Jaunter.
Jaunter is a gem of a four level long class, giving interesting abilities every level. The majority of these are keyed off of ‘Travel Power,’ which allows CHARNAME to use charges to activate various teleportation SLAs. These include Benign Transposition, Baleful Transposition, Teleport, and Plane Shift. Additionally Jaunter gives access to Dimension Door and Freedom of Movement effects as SLA and Su effects respectively from different resource pools. Finally, Jaunter gives an additional 10’ land speed and +1 AC while you have Travel Power charges remaining. If you can’t figure out what to do with all these abilities you aren’t trying hard enough. Additionally during these levels CHARNAME picks up Darkstalker to further improve his scouting capabilities, which are continuing to be the focus for skill points. With Jaunter finished it’s time to move on to the second SI.
Ahh Elemental Warrior! This class is grade A garbage. That said, it has one ability and one alone that redeems it: at 4th level CHARNAME, having devoted himself to the firmament, gains the ability to swim through the ground. That’s right, we’re now a land shark. As an Earth based Elemental Warrior, CHARNAME picks up a 30’ burrow speed at ECL15, and this cements his intended combat style. For regular combat CHARNAME uses Spring Attack and a Burrow speed to swim through the ground, emerge, bite, and dive back into the ground where very few creatures can retaliate. This has the added benefit of giving total concealment each round, automatically qualifying for sneak attacks, which have been bolstered by the pick-up of Craven at ECL 12. Additionally, it is conceivable that CHARNAME could emerge partially, and then use Travel Power – Baleful Transposition, to entomb a foe. More on this later. The rest of the Elemental Warrior’s abilities give small benefits. Elemental Affinity gives resistance 10 to acid, one of the least easily achieved. Elemental Manifestation boosts CHARNAME’s natural armor to 7 when in effect, and Elemental Weapon adds an additional +2d6 damage, which is never a bad thing. The standard action activation and limited uses a day are not great, but the fact that CHARNAME is a decent scout and can basically hide for as long as he likes (being underground) means pre-battle prep actions are not inconceivable. At ECL 15 CHARNAME picks up Earth Sense which further improves his scouting abilities, allowing him to sense any and all creatures touching the ground within 20’, as well as qualifying him for his final five levels.
CHARNAME caps off his build with the vaunted Earth Dreamer, which is qualified for with the Savant arcane spellcasting picked up many levels ago. Like Jaunter, everything this class does is awesome. Full Spellcasting allows CHARNAME to pick up a few more spells, of which the only true stand outs are Alter Self and Augury. Along with Earth Dream at level 2, Augury allows CHARNAME to be pretty decent at figuring things out, and as long as you haven’t asked about it yet, the Savant class ability Academic Lore gives you a third chance to figure out basically anything you want. Lesser Tremorsense makes your combat technique more reliable as you no longer have to wonder where your prey has moved to while you’re submerged in the ground, at least until you pick up Earth Sight the following level. Earth Sight lets you see through stone, so scouting while burrowed is even easier, as is combat. Additionally, let me draw your attention to the text of Baleful Transposition: “A solid object such as the ground, a bridge, or a rope must connect the creatures.” The ground itself is a solid object and this text seems to imply Line of Effect is defined by physical contiguousness, so with LoS from Earth Sight it seems one can cast Baleful Transposition on a creature walking on the ground while you are burrowing beneath them. Since the rules text of burrow speeds explicitly states that it does not leave a path for other creatures to follow, it seems that Baleful Transposition would intermingle the ground and any creature without a burrow speed you target. Not sure what that would do by RAW, but it can’t be good. You can also make this trick work on a flying creature if you use a Lasso (BoED p34) to entangle someone and then burrow underground before casting Baleful Transposition. At ECL 18 CHARNAME picks up Bounding Assault giving a second attack on a Spring Attack, which is only one behind the three on a full attack granted by his pitiful +13 BAB. The capstone of Earth Dreamer is the ability Earth Glide, which allows CHARNAME to burrow through solid rock, making his main schtick available in most places that aren’t the sky.
If Flaws are allowed it is recommended to shuffle feats around to pick up Ability Focus (Travel Power – Baleful Transposition) and Staggering Strike. If focusing on the bite attack, picking up Improved Natural Attack is likely a good idea as well.



Savage Species (SS) – Anthropomorphic Shark, Large (p216)
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits – Jaunter (p172)
Dragon Compendium (DrC) – Savant (p45)
Races of Stone (RoS) – Earth Dreamer (p110), Earth Sense (p138)
Stormwrack (Sw) – Amphibious Creature (p135)
Planar Handbook (PlH) – Elemental Warrior (p65)
Lords of Madness (LoM) – Darkstalker (p179)
Champions of Ruin (CoR) – Craven (p17)
Races of the Wild (RotW) – Expeditious Dodge (p150)
Player’s Handbook 2 (PHBII) – Bounding Assault (p75)

Items not called out are either in the PHB or sub-items of higher level callouts

[Thurbane]

Malik Dragoba

http://static.zerochan.net/Luka.%28Fire.Emblem%29.full.2086817.jpg

Race: Rashemi (Human)
Build Stub: Barbarian 1/Swordsage 5/Jaunter 4/Telflammar Shadowlord 4/Elemental Warrior 5/Swordsage +1
Multiclass Penalty: No.
Languages: Common, Damaran, Rashemi, Undercommon, Auran (14th)
Alignment: NE
Ability Scores:


Ability
Score
(Points)
Increases


Strength
16
(10)
4th/8th/12th/16th/20th


Dexterity
14
(6)



Constitution
14
(6)



Intelligence
14
(6)



Wisdom
12
(4)



Charisma
8
(0)







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


1st
Barbarian 1
+1
+2
+0
+0
Balance 2(4cc), Jump 4, KnowPlanes 2(4cc), Hide 2(4cc), Listen 4, MoveSilent 2(4cc), Tumble 4
Expeditious Dodge, Point-Blank Shot, Blind-Fight
Dragon Totem, Whirling Frenzy ACF, Skilled City-Dweller ACF (Tumble)


2nd
Swordsage 1
+1
+2
+2
+2
Balance 5(+3), Jump 4, KnowPlanes 2, Hide 5(+3), Listen 4, MoveSilent 5(+3), Tumble 4

Quick to Act +1, Discipline Focus (Weapon Focus: Diamond Mind)


3rd
Swordsage 2
+2
+2
+3
+3
Concentration 1(+1), Balance 5, Jump 6(+2), KnowPlanes 3(+2cc), Hide 6(+1), Listen 4, MoveSilent 6(+1), Tumble 6(+2)
Mobility
AC Bonus (Wis +1)


4th
Swordsage 3
+3
+3
+3
+3
Concentration 6(+5), Balance 5, Jump 7(+1), KnowPlanes 3, Hide 7(+1), Listen 4, MoveSilent 7(+1), Tumble 7(+1)




5th
Swordsage 4
+4
+3
+4
+4
Concentration 8(+2), Balance 5, Jump 8(+1), KnowPlanes 4(+2cc), Hide 8(+1), Listen 5(+1), MoveSilent 8(+1), Tumble 8(+1)

Discipline Focus (Insightful Strike)


6th
Swordsage 5
+4
+3
+4
+4
Concentration 9(+1), Balance 5, Jump 9(+1), KnowPlanes 4, Hide 9(+1), Listen 9(+4), MoveSilent 9(+1), Tumble 9(+1)
Spring Attack
Quick to Act +2


7th
Jaunter 1
+4
+3
+6
+4
Concentration 10(+1), Balance 5, Jump 9, KnowPlanes 6(+2), Hide 10(+1), Listen 10(+1), MoveSilent 10(+1), Tumble 10(+1)

Travel Power, Benign Transposition


8th
Jaunter 2
+5
+3
+7
+4
Concentration 11(+1), Balance 5, Jump 9, KnowPlanes 8(+2), Hide 11(+1), Listen 11(+1), MoveSilent 11(+1), Tumble 11(+1)

Baleful Transposition, Fast Movement


9th
Jaunter 3
+6
+4
+7
+5
Concentration 12(+1), Balance 5, Jump 9, KnowPlanes 10(+2), Hide 12(+1), Listen 12(+1), MoveSilent 12(+1), Tumble 12(+1)
Weapon Focus: Javelin
Dimension Door, Teleport


10th
Telflammar Shadowlord 1
+6
+4
+9
+5
Concentration 12, Balance 5, Jump 9, KnowPlanes 10, Hide 13(+1), Listen 12, MoveSilent 13(+1), Tumble 12, UMD 5(+5)

Shadowsight, Shadow Jump


11th
Telflammar Shadowlord 2
+7
+4
+10
+5
Concentration 12, Balance 5, Jump 9, KnowPlanes 10, Hide 14(+1), Listen 12, MoveSilent 14(+1), Tumble 12, UMD 10(+5)

Shadow Blur


12th
Telflammar Shadowlord 3
+8
+5
+10
+6
Concentration 12, Balance 5, Jump 9, KnowPlanes 10, Hide 15(+1), Listen 12, MoveSilent 15(+1), Tumble 12, UMD 15(+5)
Tormtor School
Shadow Walk


13th
Telflammar Shadowlord 4
+9
+5
+11
+6
Concentration 12, Balance 5, Jump 9, KnowPlanes 10, Hide 16(+1), Listen 12, MoveSilent 16(+1), Tumble 16(+4), UMD 16(+1)

Shadow Pounce


14th
Elemental Warrior 1
+9
+7
+11
+6
Concentration 12, Balance 5, Jump 11(+2), KnowPlanes 10, Hide 16, Listen 12, MoveSilent 16, Tumble 17(+1), UMD 17(+2cc)

Elemental Affinity (Air/Electricity)


15th
Elemental Warrior 2
+10
+8
+11
+6
Concentration 12, Balance 5, Jump 13(+2), KnowPlanes 10, Hide 16, Listen 12, MoveSilent 16, Tumble 18(+1), UMD 18(+2cc)
Adaptive Style
Elemental Manifestation


16th
Elemental Warrior 3
+11
+8
+12
+7
Concentration 12, Balance 5, Jump 15(+2), KnowPlanes 10, Hide 16, Listen 12, MoveSilent 16, Tumble 19(+1), UMD 19(+2cc)

Elemental Weapon


17th
Elemental Warrior 4
+12
+9
+12
+7
Concentration 12, Balance 5, Jump 17(+2), KnowPlanes 10, Hide 16, Listen 12, MoveSilent 16, Tumble 20(+1), UMD 20(+2cc)

Elemental Movement


18th
Elemental Warrior 5
+12
+9
+12
+7
Concentration 12, Balance 5, Jump 19(+2), KnowPlanes 10, Hide 16, Listen 12, MoveSilent 16, Tumble 21(+1), UMD 21(+2cc)
Martial Study: Shadow Stride
Elemental Burst Weapon, Elemental Strike


19th
Jaunter 4
+13
+9
+13
+7
Concentration 19(+7), Balance 5, Jump 19, KnowPlanes 10, Hide 16, Listen 12, MoveSilent 16, Tumble 21, UMD 21

Freedom of Movement, Plane Shift


20th
Swordsage 6
+14
+10
+14
+8
Concentration 20(+1), Balance 5, Jump 19, KnowPlanes 10, Hide 20(+4), Listen 12, MoveSilent 20(+4), Tumble 21, UMD 21

Avalanche of Blades, Shadow Blink





Swordsage Maneuvers
Swordsage 1: Burning Blade, Moment of Perfect Mind, Counter Charge, Shadow Blade Technique, Wolf Fang Strike, Sudden Leap, Island of Blades (Stance).
Swordsage 2: Wind Stride, Flame's Blessing (Stance)
Swordsage 3: Shadow Jaunt
Swordsage 4: Cloak of Deception, Emerald Razor Strike (replacing Counter Charge)
Swordsage 5: Insightful Strike, Assassin's Stance
Martial Study: Shadow Stride
Swordsage 6: Avalanche of Blades, Shadow Blink (replacing Wind Stride)

Telflammar Shadowlord Spells


Level
1st
2nd
Typical Spells Prepared
Additional Wizard Spells Known


10th
1
-
1st: shadow spray
1st: blade of blood (PHBII), stand (PHBII)


11th
2
-
1st: invisibility, shadow spray
1st: instant diversion (RotD), benign transposition (Spell Compendium)


12th
2
1
1st: invisibility, shadow spray
2nd: haste
2nd: heroics (Spell Compendium), wraithstrike (Spell Compendium)


13th
3
2
1st: chill touch, darkness, shadow spray
2nd: improved invisibility, haste
2nd: arcane turmoil (Complete Mage), ice darts (Frostburn)





Malik was born into a tribe of mixed Damaran and Rashemi nomads who frequently traveled along the Golden Way between Telflamm and Two Stars. Shortly after coming of age, Malik's tribe was attacked by a Drow raiding party from House Tormtor. Malik's parents were killed and he was taken prisoner. The hot-headed Rashemi youth was groomed as a pit fighter for the slaver pits, but a slave revolt presented him with a chance to escape to Sigil. The slaves were able to escape the Underdark with the aid of the Hopskotch Guild, a loose organization of rogues, vagabonds, and opportunistic criminals that lived off the streets in Sigil. One of the Hopskotch Guildmasters, impressed with Malik's bravery during the slave revolt, agreed to mentor Malik in the sublime art of the Swordsages.

Malik begins play as a Dragon Totem Barbarian, picking up Blind-Fight and the Whirling Frenzy ACF along with Expeditious Dodge and Point-Blank Shot. Although he trains as a Swordsage with Diamond Mind weapons (his preferred discipline), he has acquired several electrum javelins, the calling card of House Tormtor, as a painful reminder of the raid that killed his parents. Sometimes he practices with them, refreshing his memory of the pain and suffering he experienced in the Drow slave pits. Some day, he will pay back House Tormtor for what happened to his parents.

In Malik's early levels, he plays mostly as a typical Swordsage, wielding a katana two-handed and using his maneuvers to outflank and outwit his opponents.



At 7th level, Malik enters Jaunter and returns to his homeland to attempt to find any survivors from his tribe. Settling in Telflamm, he discovers an unlikely ally against the Drow: the Shadowlords are embroiled in an ugly underground turf war with the Drow in the tunnels underneath the city. Using his Swordsage abilities and travel powers, he decides to help out the Shadowlords. As his Jaunter abilities progress, his ability to get his allies out of (and sometimes into) grave danger eventually impresses the Shadowlords. Although not a natural shadow-walker, Malik's sneaking and teleport abilities are deemed equivalently devious, and the Shadowlords welcome him into their ranks as an acolyte. Whenever the Shadowlords capture any drow from House Tormtor, Malik brings out his javelins and the captive is "invited" to fight for his life. If the captive wins, the Shadowlords promise to let him go. If Malik wins, he gains a small measure of vengeance for the loss of his parents. So far, none from House Tormtor have won their freedom, and Malik has found his taste for vengeance unsatiated.

At 12th level, Malik picks up Tormtor School, having studied the tactics and fighting style of his sword enemies. Ostensibly, Tormtor School allows pilumaphores to mix melee attacks and thrown weapon attacks with javelins into the same attack routine. However, the "Benefits" section of the feat concludes with this sentence: "You take no penalty when making a melee attack with a javelin." If we interpret this sentence in a broad literal sense by Rules As Written (RAW), then *any* penalty on a melee attack made with a javelin could be ignored. That means TWF penalties, Power Attack, Combat Expertise, etc. So after 12th level, Malik trades in his katana for dual-wielding a pair of javelins. As per the PHB page 160, "treat a bolas, javelin, net, or sling as a one-handed weapon." While wielding a pair of one-handed weapons would normally incur severe attack penalties, Tormtor School allows Malik to ignore them. Using this gimmick, there are two "combos" that we're going to highlight with this build. The first happens next level, and the second comes along a little later as a capstone.

*** SWEET SPOT *** At 13th level, Malik gains the signature Shadowlord ability: Shadow Pounce. This allows Malik to unload a full attack of full-on javelin stabbiness whenever he uses a teleport effect. He has several methods to trigger this ability. First, he can use the Shadow Jaunt maneuver as a Swordsage. Second, he can use his Shadow Jump ability as a Shadowlord, up to 8 times per day. And third, he can use spells or spell-trigger items with the [teleport] descriptor. According to page 36 of Unapproachable East, "The shadowlord prepares and
casts spells just as a wizard does." This means that shadowlords have a spellbook, and can follow the rules for learning new spells and adding spells to their spellbook just as a wizard does. There are several low-level [teleport] spells that could be added to Malik's spellbook this way, notably benign transposition (Spell Compendium) and stand (PHBII). The latter can be cast as an immediate action, allowing Malik to full attack twice in a round: Shadow Jaunt/Jump as a standard action and stand as a swift/immediate action. If your DM rules that Shadowlords cannot add wizard spells to your spellbook this way, well then... UMD is a thing, and Shadowlords have it as a class skill. Add some wand chambers to your javelins.



After mastering Shadow Pounce, Malik enters Elemental Warrior for... reasons. Or rather, after growing bored of stabbing drow slavers or threatening Theskian merchants to cough up their protection money, Malik decides to return to Sigil and explore all the different planes of existence, which leads him into experimenting with adding elemental energy to his javelin attacks. Or perhaps the search for surviving members of his tribe revealed that some of his relatives survived the slave revolt and were adopted by a family of air genasi. As Malik reconnects with his surviving relatives, he studies how the air genasi mix their elemental abilities with their fighting styles. In any case, Malik enters Elemental Warrior and selects air as his Elemental Affinity. At 15th level, Malik picks up Elemental Manifestation (20% miss chance against ranged attacks) and Adaptive Style, allowing him to refresh his maneuvers more easily. If Malik has stand prepared or available via wand, he can refresh his maneuvers as a full action and still execute a full attack by casting/triggering stand as an immediate action. At 16th level, Malik gains Elemental Weapon, which was largely the whole reason to go into Elemental Warrior: the best way to get the most mileage out of that 2d6 electricity damage is to make as many full attacks as possible. The electricity damage lasts 10 rounds, which should be long enough for most fights, and he can use it 3/day, enough to get through most encounters during the day. At 16th level, Malik gets four melee javelin attacks (three iterative, one offhand) on a full attack, and two full attacks per turn (standard and immediate action), so about 8 attacks per round with 2d6 electricity damage per attack, or 16d6 extra damage (average +56 damage) if every attack hits... and since every attack is at his full BAB, that should be happening somewhat often. At 17th level, Malik gets Elemental Movement and a perfect 20' fly speed... which would be awesome if he had learned Shi'Quos School, since he could always attack from a higher elevation and force a Ref save vs. prone, but I couldn't quite fit it into the build. At 18th level, Malik takes Martial Study to pick up Shadow Stride, which completes the Shadow Pounce Trifecta: he can now teleport as a standard action, move action, and immediate action. (If you would prefer Shi'Quos School, take that here instead.) At 19th level, Malik finishes off Jaunter, adding some additional utility by picking up Freedom of Movement and plane shift.

*** CAPSTONE *** At 20th level, Malik returns to Swordsage. His Initiator Level is 13, which is just high enough to pick up two interesting maneuvers. The first is Shadow Blink, which gives him an additional method to teleport as a swift action, and thus he no longer needs to rely on wands or spells to activate Shadow Pounce. The second is Avalanche of Blades, which allows him to make a melee attack against an opponent, and if it succeeds, keep attacking that opponent with a cumulative -4 attack penalty until either the opponent is into negative HPs or Malik misses an attack. Remember Tormtor School? Yeah, Malik's going to use it to ignore the cumulative attack penalty and keep attacking until there isn't enough of his opponent left to poke with a javelin. With Elemental Weaponry active, every attack that hits does +2d6 electricty damage with a chance to crit for an additional burst of +4d6 electricty damage. If Malik is able to cast wraithstrike as either a spell or via a wand, then all of those javelin stabs are touch attacks at full BAB. This gives Malik two signature "Finishing Moves": he can teleport in with three full attacks with the Shadow Jaunt/Stride/Blink Trifecta, or he can use a full-round action to launch Avalanche of Blades. If he has Shadow Blink or a stand spell available, he can do both: teleport in with a swift/immediate action to launch a full attack via Shadow Pounce, and if his opponent is still standing he can use his full-round action to unleash Avalanche of Blades.



If the DM rules that you can't use Tormtor School that way, and you only ignore the penalty for attacking with a javelin as an improvised weapon, then go home, ballgame's over. You might be able to salvage this build as a typical TWF Shadow-Pouncer, replacing Point-Blank Shot/Weapon Focus/Tormtor School with TWF/Improved TWF/Greater TWF, but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

I used Dragon Totem Barbarian to pick up Blind-Fight, but Fighter with the Hit-and-Run ACF (Drow of the Underdark) would likely be a better fit. Removing a level of Jaunter or Elemental Warrior would allow another level of Fighter, or Feat Rogue 2 for two fighter bonus feats and Evasion. Cobra Strike Monk 2 would also be a good way to pick up Dodge and Mobility quickly, maybe along with the Invisible Fist ACF for some additional sneak attacks.

If your DM allows flaws, there are a bunch of feats I had to leave out of the build: Quick Draw, Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Improved Combat Expertise, Darkstalker, Craven, and of course the already mentioned Shi'Quos School. I also left out the TWF feats with the reasoning that more full attacks with no penalties was better than a second or third offhand attack. If your DM has a high tolerance for cheese, consider adding the Aptitude property to your javelins and using Shadow Blade to get your Dex bonus on damage. An early version of this build started with 16 Dexterity, but then I figured a positive Wisdom bonus on a Swordsage wasn't really a bad thing to have.



Cityscape Web Enhancement: Skilled City Dweller (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a)
Drow of the Underdark: Tormtor School
Races of the Wild: Expeditious Dodge
Tome of Battle: Swordsage, Adaptive Style, Martial Study, Avalanche of Blades
Unapproachable East: Telflammar Shadowlord
Unearthed Arcana: Dragon Totem Barbarian, Whirling Frenzy ACF

[Thurbane]

Stubness
NG Racoon Dog Hengeyokai Marshal 4, Mineral Warrior 1, Crusader 1, Warshaper 2, Crusader +1, Jaunter 4, (Earthen) Elemental Warrior 5, Warshaper +2
https://img00.deviantart.net/137b/i/2015/115/7/e/dog_warrior_and_line_art_by_themushman-d4mgrmi.jpg

Race/Pt buy

Hengeyokai -2 WIS
hybrid form: +2 STR, +4 survival when tracking w/ scent (also lowlight,speak w/)
human form: speed 30
animal form: lowlight vision, (Su) can communicate w/ dogs, speed 30

HP: 12d8+7d10+120

32pt buy:
STR: 14
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 12 (-2 racial for 10)
CHA: 15

Min Warrior @lvl 5:
STR 16
DEX 14
CON 18
INT 8
WIS 8
CHA 13

Warshaper @lvl 7:
STR 20
DEX 14
CON 22
INT 8
WIS 8
CHA 13

STR +2 in hybrid form
STR +2 in Stonefoot stance

All points into CHA

Fluff

Titanous spent his youth as a curiosity on a traveling menagerie, something the denizens of whatever plane they happened to be on would pay a few coppers to see. It wasn’t a great job, but it was better than nothing. After a year or two, he tired of the constant jeering and the stick poking and ran off to live his life elsewhere.

Titanous settled in the Rocky Hills, a mountainous region, far away from anything resembling civilization. After a time, he met some others and they formed a loose knit community who simply wished to be left alone. He began to see the benefit of working together, so he began to train for the day when they may have to fight together as well. He learned how to bolster his strength, and to make his allies hardier against attack.

Then, his fears came true, and an attack did finally come. He and the others fought them off, but only just barely. Limping into the wood, he came upon a hut he’d never seen before. Collapsing onto the doorstep, he had time to bang on the door before losing consciousness. Days later, he came to and felt stronger and heartier then he ever had before. His skin felt tougher as well. There was the briefest glimpse of an aged face, and a whisper on the wind of thanks, for his defense of the mountain. A wish for a better future, and of an unspoken reward granted.

Next to his pack, a detailed manual about something called “The Way”. He pored over it relentlessly, practicing the stances and maneuvers within until he could replicate what they purported to do. His time living in the wild also granted him new abilities. He again grew stronger, tougher. Titanous could now burrow through the earth, surprising his enemies from behind, or retreat if the situation called for it.

He began to apply some of the knowledge from his youthful travels, and his abilities grew again. He could now bounce around the battlefield, showing up and attacking where his enemies least expected it. He further embraced the earth and began to channel its power both offensively and defensively. He learned to channel the fury of the Mountain into one devastating attack.

The Gift had not been wasted.


Build



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


1st
Marshall 1
+0
+2
+0
+2
Knowledge Planes 4, Diplomacy 4, Spot 4, Sense Motive 4
Skill Focus Diplomacy (b), Dodge
Minor Aura (Motivate STR)


2nd
Marshall 2
+1
+3
+0
+3
Know Planes 5, Diplo 5, Spot 5, Sense 5
-
Major Aura (+1) Resilient Troops


3rd
Marshall 3
+2
+3
+1
+3
Know Planes 6, Diplo 6, Sense 6, Sense 6
Mobility
-


4th
Marshall 4
+3
+4
+1
+4
Know Planes 7, Diplo 7, Spot 7, Sense 7
-
Grant Move Action 1/day, Minor Aura (Motivate CON)


5th
Mineral Warrior Template
+3
+4
+1
+4
-
-
Burrow, NA+3, Earth Strike 1/day, Darkvision, DR 8/Adamantine, Stat Changes


6th
Crusader 1
+4
+6
+1
+4
Balance 2, Diplomacy 8
Spring Attack
Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve, Manuevers, Stance


7th
Warshaper 1
+4
+8
+1
+4
Balance 3
-
Morphic Weapons, Morphic Immunity


8th
Warshaper 2
+5
+9
+2
+5
Balance 4
Feats
Morphic Body


9th
Crusader 2
+6
+10
+2
+5
Balance 5, Diplo 10
Combat Intuition
Indomitable Soul, Stances +1


10th
Jaunter 1
+6
+10
+4
+5
Balance 6, Know Planes 8, Spot 8
-
Travel Power, Benign Transportation


11th
Jaunter 2
+7
+11
+5
+6
Balance 7, Know Planes 9, Spot 9
-
Baleful Transposition, Fast Movement


12th
Jaunter 3
+8
+11
+5
+6
Balance 8, Know Planes 10, Spot 10
Battlefield Inspiration
Dimension Door, Teleport


13th
Jaunter 4
+9
+11
+6
+6
Balance 9, Know Planes 11, Spot 11
-
Freedom of Movement, Plane Shift


14th
Elemental Warrior 1
+9
+13
+6
+6
Know Planes 12
-
Elemental Affinity (Earth)


15th
E. Warrior 2
+10
+14
+6
+6
Know Planes 13
Elusive Target
Elemental Manifestation


16th
E. Warrior 3
+11
+14
+7
+7
Know Planes 14
-
Elemental Weapon


17th
E. Warrior 4
+12
+15
+7
+7
Know Planes 15
-
Elemental Movement


18th
E. Warrior 5
+12
+15
+7
+7
Know Planes 16
Bounding Assault
Elemental Burst Weapon, Elemental Strike


19th
Warshaper 3
+13
+15
+7
+7
Balance 10
-
Morphic Reach


20th
Warshaper 4
+14
+16
+7
+7
Balance 11
-
Morphic Healing


Class breakdown:

1-4 Marshall: 2 minor auras, adding CHA to STR or CON depending on the situation. 1 Major aura, granting +1 to all saves for us and our allies. Grant an extra immediate move action to all allies w/in 30ft 1/day.

5 Mineral Warrior: Start our run down the rabbit hole of earthy things. Gain a burrow speed, massive DR, buffs to STR/CON, minor hits to CHA/INT/WIS. Earth Strike 1/day CON to attack, and 1/HD to dmg.

6 & 9 Crusader: Manuevers and stances, relying as heavily as possible on Stone Dragon. Emphasis on aiding our allies by granting bonuses, or penalizing our opponents.

7-8, 19-20 Warshaper: That stat bonus. Extra attacks through morphic weapons, crit/stunning immunity, improved reach, and some minor regen.

10-13 Jaunter: Jaunter lvl + DEX uses of Travel Power. Can also use scrolls/items that duplicate (benign transposition, baleful transposition, teleport, plane shift). Fast Movement 10, which also bumps burrow an additional 5ft. Dimension Door for a total of 120ft/day, up to 12 10ft jumps. Freedom of Movement 8 rounds/day.

14-18 Elemental Warrior: Gain Terran language. Resistance 10 Acid. 5/day for 1 min, gain an additional +3 NA. 5/day for 1 min, add 2d6 acid damage to any melee weapon (including any you grow from warshaper..) at 5th lvl, crits create a total of 6d6 for x2 crit weapons, 8d6 for x3, 10d6 for x4. Gain a faster Burrow speed, now up to 30ft. 1/day melee touch attack, DC 15+CON, deal 10d6 bludgeoning and push back 10ft as if bull rushed, fort save negates push back.

Let’s say the sweet spot is lvl 16, when elemental Weapon synergizes with Warshaper, and all our movement effects from Jaunter come together.

Manuevers/Stances/Feats

Maneuvers: any 5: Devoted Spirit 57, Stone Dragon 81, White Raven 90
Charging Minotaur (1) 81, Foehammer (2) 59, Shield Block (2) 60, Vanguard Strike (1) 62, plus 1 other

Stances: any 2:
Stonefoot Stance (1) 85: gain +2 STR. +2 AC against anything larger than you
Iron Guard’s Glare (1) 59: any opponent you threaten takes a -4 penalty to attack your allies

Feats:
1- Dodge – PHB 93
3- Mobility – PHB 98
6- Spring Attack – PHB 101
9-Combat Intuition – Comp Adv 106
12- Battlefield Inspiration – Mini 25
15- Elusive Target – Comp Warr 110
18- Bounding Assault – PHB2 75


Sources:

Complete Adventurer - 106
Complete Warrior – 89
Expedition to Demonweb Pits – 172
Miniatures Handbook – 11
Planar Handbook – 65
Player’s Handbook – 93, 98, 101
Player’s Handbook 2 - 75
Oriental Adventures – 10
Tome of Battle – 9, 11, 60, 62, 81, 85
Underdark – 97

[Thurbane]

Zip The Tricky Half-Mage


Chaotic Good Changeling
Focused specialist-combat wizard-of the sun and moon-Changeling Wizard 2/Battle Dancer 1/Scout 5/jaunter 4/wayfarer Guide 3/Elemental warrior 5


http://www.porjati.ru/uploads/posts/2015-12/thumbs/1450108686_1-24.jpeg


”Zip was such a gracious tout. We had a need to negotiate with some djinn in the City of Brass and he...errr...SHE? got us there quickly. They even helped us navigate a tricky combat with some angry fire harpies. A++ service. “
--Pelonius Sharkhatter, Paladin of the Pearl Kingdom


”Yeah, I traded some spellbooks and a slave I stole from a tiefling for a ride to Ysgard. I ain’t proud of it, but sometimes a goblin tires of losing the war to the peach faced intolerant devils. You can only watch so many kits die before you want out. Zip din’t ask questions, just haggled for “ownership” of the silly tongued peach.” If I had to rate its service, it gets 5 star. It didn’t kill me and gave me what I wanted in exchange for some scuzz I din’t care about.
--Bozzo Nozgurt, Goblin Redshirt ambush lieutenant of the Scraped Bone clan.


Zip was a great student until they were kicked from the mentorship. Athletic too. But, ya got ta show up if you want to learn. Zip only ever worked on the stuff that they liked, so they were outright terrible, with a capital TEAR at defense magic and evocation...and come to think about it, i never saw them once deal with necromancy. Anyways, Zip was a real force to be reckoned with when it came to illusions and transformations. I never had a better student by that measurement. Even for a changeling, who excel at that sort of thing by birthright, Zip was a phenom transillusionist.
-Maester Spooch, recently ousted doppleganger wizard viseer of House Brelani


”Zip said that some “Jaunters” offered them a chance to train in teleportation as some part of planar traveling slave-freeing freedom force. Zip packed up and left the academy a few hours later. I wonder what they’re up to….”
*Scrys in crystal ball*
“Apparently, they’re camped in the abyss, taking forever to prepare his spells for the day, and his clientelle is getting antsy...errrrr...I think I hear what are described as the screaming rains approaching from not a far distance“
*looks deeper*
*Brow furrows*
“He just marooned the poor devils. Zip just left a bunch of Hamatula’s in the middle of the Abyss with screaming rains a few measurements away. If they survive...”
*ponders a bit*
“Zip hasn’t changed at all.”
-Gilgun Marlbrap, Guild Diviner of the paragnostic satellite campus, Zip’s former Classmate


Base abilities
Str: 13
Dex: 14
Con: 13
Int: 14
Wis: 13
Cha: 13

Level up ability score bonus attribution
4th: cha +1
8th: int +1
12th: Str +1
16th: con +1
20th: wis +1



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


1
focused specialist (Complete mage p.34) combat wizard (UA p.59) of the sun and moon (Dungeonscape p.14) changeling sublevel (ROE p.123)
0
0
0
2
Knowledge (planes) 4, Truespeak 4, Disguise 4, decipher script 4, k. arcana 4 k. geography 4
Dodge(b), Truename training (Tome of Magic, p. 229)
Focused specialist Changeling Wizard. Ban Abjuration, Necromancy, Enchantment and Evocation. Can prepare 3 (5?) extra spells per spell level. Lose Scribe Scroll. Gain fighter bonus feats. Wizard of the Sun and moon, lose familiar. Spells. Ban abjuration, necromancy, enchantment, evocation


2
battle dancer (Dragon compendium p.26)
1
0
2
2
truespeak 5, tumble 5
Improved Unarmed Strike (b)
AC Bonus, Unarmed Strike,


3
scout (complete adventurer p.10)
1
0
4
2
K. arcana 6, truespeak 6, tumble 6, k. geography 6, disable device 2
Mobility
Skirmish, Trapfinding


4
scout
2
0
5
2
k. arcana 7, truespeak 7, tumble 7, k. geography 7, disable device 7

Battle Fortitude +1, uncanny dodge. +1 charisma


5
scout
3
1
5
3
k. arcana 8, truespeak 8, tumble 8, k. geography 8, disable device 8, decipher script 5, survival 2

Fast movement +10ft, skirmish (+1d6, +1AC), trackless step


6
scout
4
1
6
3
k. arcana 9, truespeak 9, tumble 9, k. geography 9, disable device 9, decipher script 6, survival 4
Spring attack (b), Midnight Dodge (Magic of Incarnum, p. 39)
Bonus Feat


7
jaunter (Exp. DWP p.173)
4
1
8
3
K. arcana 10, truespeak 10, Tumble 10, k. planes 5, speak language 1

Travel power, benign transposition


8
jaunter
5
1
9
3
k. geography 10, truespeak 11, tumble 11, survival 6, balance 1

Baleful transposition, fast movement, +1 int


9
jaunter
6
2
9
4
Truespeak 12, tumble 12, listen 2, decipher script 7
Combat Expertise, Word Given Form (ToM p.218)
Dimension door, teleport


10
wayfarer guide (complete arcane p.65)
6
2
9
6
spellcraft 4

Enhanced capacity, improved range, +1 level of existing spellcasting class


11
wayfarer guide
7
2
9
7
k. planes 9

Extra teleportation, +1 str


12
wayfarer guide 3
7
3
10
7
decipher script 11
Arcane Manipulation (Lost Empires of Faerun, p. 6)
Enhanced accuracy, +1 level of existing spellcasting class


13
jaunter 4
8
3
11
7
tumble 15, move silently 3

Freedom of movement, plane shift


14
scout 5
8
3
11
7
, disable device 17, tumble 16

Evasion, skirmish (+2d6, +1AC)


15
elemental warrior 1 (planar handbook p.65)
8
5
11
7
handle animal 4
Improved Skirmish (Complete Scoundrel, p. 78)
Elemental affinity (Air)


16
elemental warrior 2
9
5
11
7
decipher script 13

Elemental Manifestation


17
elemental warrior 3
10
6
12
8
handle animal 8

Elemental Weapon


18
elemental warrior 4
11
6
12
8
disable device 19
Arcane Strike (Complete Warrior, p. 96)
Elemental Movement


19
elemental warrior 5
12
7
12
8
tumble 20

Elemental burst weapon, elemental strike


20
wizard 2
13
7
12
9
disguise 8





Spells


Level
0th
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th


1st
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


2nd
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


3rd
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


4th
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


5th
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


6th
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


7th
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


8th
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


9th
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


10th
2+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


11th
3+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
-


12th
3+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
-
0+1+2 (or 4)


13th
3+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
0+1+2 (or 4)


14th
3+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
0+1+2 (or 4)


15th
3+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
0+1+2 (or 4)


16th
3+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
0+1+2 (or 4)


17th
3+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
0+1+2 (or 4)


18th
3+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
0+1+2 (or 4)


19th
3+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
0+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
0+1+2 (or 4)


20th
3+1+2 (or 4)
2+1+2 (or 4)
1+1+2 (or 4)
-
-
0+1+2 (or 4)



Spells:
0th: All 0 level divination, conjuration, transmutation and illusion spells. Favorites: Caltrops, detect magic, launch item, Servant’s Guise (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20021007a)
1st: Blockade (Complete Scoundrel p.95) color spray, fist of stone (Spell Compendium, p. 94), silent image, master’s touch (carry a harpoon),
2nd: Alter Self, Crystalline Memories (Complete Mage), minor image, mirror move (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/archive.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20000901a) or heroics,
5th: Shadow evocation, draconic polymorph

Zip is a tricky half mage. They have access to only half of all wizard spells after banning abjuration, enchantment, necromancy, and evocation at first level. In return, Zip is considered specialized in both illusion and transmutation as per their changeling wizard sublevel. Another school is banned to become a focused specialist in their specialty school. This subtracts a single spell slot from each level, but allows Zip to prepare 2 more spells of their specialty school, in addition to the bonus spell from being a specialist. It’s up to the DM if Zip can prepare 4 extra spells (2 illusion + 2 transmutation spells). This is going to get weird, so just keep this floating in mind. Jaunter grants a teleport SLA. Wayfarer Guide can be entered via the ability to cast teleport, and following the rules for SLAs and magic prestige classes, it seems entirely valid to enter wayfarer guide with only a single level in wizard and 3 levels in jaunter. This grants a 5th level spell slot that can only be used for teleport. But since you got a new spell slot, you have to get rid of it to prepare either 2 (or 4!) spells of your specialized schools of magic. Awesome!

It gets weirder from here. Zip is also a wizard of the Sun and moon. So, when preparing spells, zip can set aside one spell slot to be a sun/moon slot and prepare two spells in it; one that can only be used in the sun or outside, and another that can only be used underground or at night. This allows you to have an extra spell per level to fuel the arcane strike feat. Read it, and read the sun and moon ability. If you use your moon spell to arcane strike, you can still cast your sun spell.

I’m not done yet. Zip is a TRICKY half-mage. He takes arcane manipulation, which allows for the breaking down of a higher level spell slot into lower level spell slots. But whew, does it get complicated. If you break down one of your (3 or 5!) fifth level spell slots, you can gain spell slots in 3rd or 4th level spells, which a focused specialist replaces with 2 (or 4!) extra spells. Read focused specialist again:


You lose one spell slot from each level of wizard spells you can cast. If you later gain the ability to cast higher level wizard spells, you lose one spell slot from each new level of spells you can cast. You must also choose another prohibited school of magic, which can't be divination. Benefit: You can prepare two additional spells of your specialty school per spell level each day. These extra spells are in addition to those normally granted to a specialist wizard.

So, Zip needs to voraciously transcribe spells into his spell books. Because he has access up to 5th level. Heroics, ability enhancers, alter self, etc are great second level spells to pick up. You can give yourself exotic weapon proficiencies and harpoon enemies to balefully translocate with. You have shadow evocation as a fifth level spell to help with blasting, kinda, your caster level is like 4 by 12 Hit dice. Draconic might is a good fifth level spell to pick up, as is any spell with shadow in its name. Dream is a wierd spell to pair with teleportation and planeshift. You can teleport into someone's dreamscape...

Zip has another trick. Word given form. He can declare two dodge targets each round from midnight dodge and dodge. So any two combatants facing Zip have to treat him as having total concealment. Declaring a dodge is a free action, but it’s weird and you’ll probably need to hammer out an agreement with your DM how it works. You get this martial arts style for free for wasting feat slots on combat expertise and truename training.

Zip becomes an air elemental warrior and adds a perfect maneuverability flight speed, some weapon damage, and a 10d6 damage capstone.

The 1st level spell masters touch pairs nicely with a harpoon (or a melee weapon that allows you to control stuff through a rope) a flight speed, and baleful transposition SLA that allows you to use it on opponents to which you are attached by a rope. So they can drop for an extra 3d6 falling damage...In addition to the 4d6 skirmish damage from scout levels. Alternatively, you can use heroics or mirror move to gain an exotic weapon proficiency and another fighter bonus feat. Wayfarer guide helps your teleportation abilities a smidge. if you arcane manipulation some fourth level slots, consider shadow conjuration paired with extract drug. Fail your disbelieve save, do the drug, then have a buddy remind you that the drugs were fake to shake off the unwanted side effects. Huff shadow liquid agony for an a.c. bonus from battle dancer of you know a fight or diplomatic encounter is coming. Luhix is another good one for +1 to all stats for an hour or two. if you shadow conjure mordant vapor, and shadow evoke sonorous hum, you can cast major image to broadcast your acid trip to everyone around you. That's gotta do something...

Use your sun and moon levels to prepare divination and conjuration spells, seeing as how you can use the slot to prepare specialist school spells only. Zip can satisfy that requirement by using the slot to prepare an illusion or transmutation spell as a sun spell, and use the moon slot to prepare a divination or conjuration spell.

Level 12: the highpoint
Word given form is in play, so you have total concealment against two people in any given encounter. You have 3-5 5th level spell slots which you can break down into 3-5 fourth and third level spells slots. Your skirmish and tumble skill and spring attackyness allow you do quite a bit of damage in combination with fist of stone, or any of your other transmutation buffs. You can tactically teleport allies and enemies around the field. You have sun and moon spell slots so you can make broad contingency plans for your spell preparation.

[Thurbane]

...and I believe that's it.

Please PM me if I've missed any, ot if there are any copy/paste errors.

[Falontani]

I wasn't able to quite finish mine yet, I had a lot of it finished, if the judges would like to give feedback it would be appreciated but definitely not necessary, as it is in no way a part of the competition nor complete





Level

Class

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Skills

Feats

Class Features


1st

Artificer

+0

+0

+0

+2

Skills

Extraordinary Artisan

Artificer Knowledge, Artisan Bonus, Disable Trap, Item Creation, Scribe Scroll, Craft Reserve 20



2nd

Artificer

+1

+0

+0

+3

Skills

Feats

Brew Potion, Craft Reserve 40



3rd

Artificer

+2

+1

+1

+3

Skills

Practiced Spellcaster: Artificer

Craft Wondrous Items, Craft Reserve 60



4th

Artificer

+3

+1

+1

+4

Skills

Magical Artisan: Extraordinary Artisan

Craft Homunculus, Craft Reserve 80



5th

Half Elf Paragon

+3

+1

+3

+4

Skills

Elemental Grafter

Divided Ancestry, Elven Vision



6th

Human Paragon

+3

+1

+3

+6


Least Dragonmark of Storm

Adaptive Learning



7th

Human Paragon

+4

+1

+3

+7


Lesser Dragonmark of Storm: Wind’s Favor




8th

Windwright Captain

+4

+1

+5

+9


Feats

Dragonmark Control, Master Pilot, Shipboard Fighter



9th

Windwright Captain

+5

+1

+6

+10


Dodge

Acquire Ship, Uncanny Dodge



10th

Windwright Captain

+6

+2

+6

+10

Skills

Feats

Rebuke Elementals



11th

Elemental Scion of Zilargo

+6

+4

+6

+10

Skills

Feats

Elemental Graft Affinity, Elemental Spellcasting



12th

Elemental Scion of Zilargo

+7

+5

+6

+10

Skills

Mobility

Graft Awareness



13th

Elemental Warrior

+7

+7

+6

+10

Skills

Feats

Elemental Affinity



14th

Elemental Warrior

+8

+8

+6

+10

Skills

Feats

Elemental Manifestation



15th

Elemental Warrior

+9

+8

+7

+11

Skills

Spring Attack

Elemental Weapon



16th

Jaunter

+9

+8

+9

+11

Skills

Feats

Travel Power, Benign Transposition



17th

Elemental Warrior

+10

+9

+9

+11

Skills

Feats

Elemental Movement



18th

Elemental Warrior

+10

+9

+9

+11

Skills

Elemental Smite

Elemental Burst Weapon, Elemental Strike



19th

Elemental Scion of Zilargo

+11

+9

+10

+12

Skills

Feats

Grafted Health



20th

Elemental Scion of Zilargo

+12

+10

+10

+12

Skills

Feats

Grow Elemental (Large)

[WhamBamSam]

I've done a preliminary reading through all the entries. I'm trying to get an entry in for the appetizer competition, but I'll start my judging proper this weekend.

[Falontani]

I'm going to start judging here and see if I can finish it by the end of Sunday; if any of the competitors would like to judge the one that I posted at the end it will help me by giving me good examples on how to judge!

[Thurbane]

Thank you both for the offer! :smallsmile:

[Falontani]

I will start by saying that an Elemental Warrior + Jaunter combo is at its core, fairly unique. However since that is what this competition is I’m going to overlook that here and base it off the remainder of your classes(3) and your backstory(2).
In your backstory you constantly are saying that you will be using magic; however this build possesses no magic of the sort. I see no correlation between the Thayans and your build nor your build and the Otyugh Hole. So as a whole I will dock you 1 point from your backstory as it was an enjoyable read and was definitely there, however I believe that your backstory entry would have worked much better on any number of different characters.
Onto your classes: I’m going to be honest that I had never considered swapping out nearly the entirety of your monk levels for alternate monk classes and alternate class features. It nets you a very good theme as a studious martial artist that pursues knowledge of the planes. And it sets you up exceedingly well for your Secret Ingredients! Uncanny Trickster is a superb way of advancing your Elemental Warrior levels while still not making the whole thing garbage. It’s a thematic boon. Finally Dread Commando, other than the fact that it obviously complements your build it’s flavor comes way out of left field. Honestly I can’t see a single in character reason to grab this and your backstory doesn’t defend it either. So it’s purpose is entirely for power, which is great for the Power category, very poor for the Originality.
I am going to have to grade your classes as a 3. You taught me something about the monk class that I didn’t know before, something very useful and kept it exceedingly thematic with the secret ingredients. Which nets you a +1 over my baseline, however Dread Commando is going to net you a -1, keeping you at 3.

Alright time to grade! You aren’t going to get hit very often unless the creature has a way to ignore concealment. And with total concealment you won’t often be targeted with spells that aren’t area spells. You do have a glaring weakness with that however,
Shadow Blend (Su): In any conditions other than full daylight, a 7th-level Dark Moon Disciple can disappear into the shadows, gaining total concealment. Artificial light does not negate this ability, though a daylight spell does.
This benefit replaces the wholeness of body class feature that the standard monk gains at 7th level. Bright lights scare you almost as much as a Shadow.
Next problem I see is that nearly the entirety of your abilities are devoted to triggering more attacks of opportunity. But at level 20 and a base Dexterity of 14 you have a 24 at the highest. And that is with generous helpings of dexterity stuff (dex +6 and a Tome of Dexterity +4) In most campaigns it will look more like a +4 dex item and a +1 dexterity tome. Bringing you to 9. It doesn’t matter if creatures provoke when they attack you, when they move, and when they miss you due to your awesome concealment your only ever able to take 4 attacks of opportunity. And lets say that ¾ of your attacks of opportunity are actual attacks while the last 1 is a movement. That doesn’t change the fact that most of your abilities are lined up to let you take advantage of the AoO system while you dont have the dexterity to do exactly that.
So sheer combat is not your focus. You very well fit the skill monkey role. Your stealth skills are exceedingly high, and one of the awesome combinations of Robilar’s Gambit + Evasive Reflexes is that if any enemy does close to attack you you’ll just take a step away when they actually attempt to do so. And since you have full concealment they technically can’t see you without some other form of sight (like scent/tremorsense/blindsense/blindsight/mindsight) meaning they’ll most likely spend all their attacks attacking an empty square. So you have fit the scout role to a T. In solo play you won’t kill anything at level, but unless it has one of the above abilities or the ability to throw Daylight on you they wont be killing you either.
With all this said: I’m giving you a -1 penalty for the dexterity portion, and a -.5 for your stealthiness having several glaring oversights. Otherwise your mobility saves your keister.


Alright so I will be grading Elegance based on legality mostly.
Monk Cobra fist meets all of its prerequisites for it’s abilities, and you are indeed lawful. You give no mention in your backstory of Shar or some other deity of relevance so I will give you a -.5

The Monks of the Dark Moon are sorcerer-monks who have dedicated their bodies, minds, and souls to Shar, the Lady of Loss. Because they deal with shadows and the Shadow Weave, they have developed special powers to take advantage of their connection to Shar.
You meet all the prerequisites of Jaunter, however nowhere in your backstory do you mention going to other planes of existence. Which would be a major thing to do by level 8. I could see going to the Plane of Shadow because Shar is your deity, but you never called that out either. So I can definitely see handwaiving this requirement however I’m giving you a -.5 for this as well.
Special: Candidate must have visited two or more planes other than his home plane.
Next up we have Elemental Warrior. By this time you definitely have Plane shift so going to the Elemental Plane of Air is quite simple for you. You do indeed meet all other prerequisites for this class so your fine here.
Uncanny Trickster was not listed in your sources so I had to check both Complete Adventurer and Complete Scoundrel (as I always forget which one has which) which was a minor inconvenience, going to ding you with a -.1 penalty. It’s minor, but still there, and I hope by dinging you it will make future competitions have us pay more attention (and yes I have been at fault for this before!) You easily meet the prerequisites so I won’t be docking you on it.
Finally we have Dread Commando which you easily meet the prerequisites for.
Not going to list all your skill tricks and feats, but you meet those prerequisites too.



Right off the bat I’m going to ding you for not taking all the levels in both secret ingredients. You however do get all of the class features of both, so instead of a -1 I’m only giving you a -.5. You do use all the mobility of the Jaunter class and enhance it with more mobility from the Elemental Warrior Class. And you very much meet the theme of both classes, although a little more elemental stuff in your any of your spoilers would have helped. -.25 on theme.



I will start by saying that an Elemental Warrior + Jaunter combo is at its core, fairly unique. However since that is what this competition is I’m going to overlook that here and base it off the remainder of your classes(3) and your backstory(2).
I love your backstory, bardic tales is the way to draw people in to a story, I rather wish that I could have read the whole story though. It was an excellent introduction to your character.
To the classes! Your classes are all very thematic and fit well with each other. Telflemmar Shadowlord works very well with Jaunter.

Alright time to grade! Right off the bat you are using two 3/4th BAB classes and taking only 2 levels in each. This means that your BAB at low levels is in very poor shape, with no ranged feats and nothing in your Build Description, your suffering up to a -20% to hit at this level. It’s going to hurt. With that said, your skill points are through the roof, and you very excellently fit the scout/rogue archetype. So I’ll not penalize you for not being able to hit creatures at level very well. With a good flanking buddy and surprise on your side you should be able to dispatch most foes.
You keep up your skill points throughout your levels meaning you’ll always be able to handle the scouting business through mundane means, although without Darkstalker there will be times that all the mundane skills in the world will fail.
Finally level 15 is indeed your sweet spot. Finally gaining access to your Weapon Finesse and pounce you combat abilities have finally come to fruition. I can just imagine the look on the frontline that has been dealing all the melee damage up until this point as you pounce and trounce an enemy before he can charge it.
With all this said: I’m giving you a -.5 penalty for the to hit portion, and a -.5 for your stealthiness having several glaring oversights.

Alright so I will be grading Elegance based on legality mostly.
With such an early entry into Jaunter it seems highly unlikely you have visited multiple planes of existence by this point. You did state that your character is “the assassin for the elemental princes” but this seems to have happened at the point that you could already teleport/plane shift.
Special: Candidate must have visited two or more planes other than his home plane.Next up we have Elemental Warrior. By this time you definitely have Plane shift so going to the Elemental Plane of Air is quite simple for you. You do indeed meet all other prerequisites for this class so your fine here.
Telflemmar Shadowlord was stupidly easy for you to enter.
You meet all prerequisites for feats.
You took all the levels of the secret ingredients, so I won’t penalize you there. The build has a heavy emphasis on Telflammar Shadowlord, which isn’t bad in it’s own, but very clearly overshadows your Secret Ingredients. With that said Jaunter very much assists with Telflammar Shadowlord. I don’t see much reason at all that Elemental Warrior is even in this build other than a slight lore piece at the beginning. All in all I think I’ll give you a -.5 for not making them stand in the forefront of the build, and a -.25 for hardly utilizing Elemental Warrior.

I will start by saying that an Elemental Warrior + Jaunter combo is at its core, fairly unique. However since that is what this competition is I’m going to overlook that here and base it off the remainder of your classes(3) and your backstory(2).
Savant is very unique, as it is hardly ever used as a base class in my experience. I REALLY want to dock you for playing as a Large Amphibious Anthropomorphic Shark. But I won’t because the reason I would dock you as I dislike that entire section of Savage Species. Poor taste in my campaigns. That said! You do very well actually capitalizing and making it work. Earth Dreamer was a logical choice after your secret ingredients. Not going to dock you on your class selection at all.
Your backstory is… nonexistent. Why is there an amphibious anthro shark? Why is it so comfortable on land? When did it travel to the Plane of Earth? Let alone multiple other planes? And in your Build Write Ups you listed your character as CHARNAME every single time. Unfortunately I will have to dock you the full 2 points for backstory. I did snicker at the picture however.
Alright time to grade! Right off the bat you start off strong with a pair of full bab HD, and a good dex with weapon finesse. You shouldn’t be having problems hitting at the low levels, and your specializing in scouting. You even took Darkstalker. Your skills are an absolute mess due to your first pair of levels not helping, but you do what you can and it pays off by the end. By the end your damage is terrible, even if your trick works (which is largely going to be DM dependant as I believe by RAW it works by RAI it shouldn’t) that is a single SoL a few times a day, which is pitiful at these levels. But your mobility, scouting, and tactics makes it difficult for others to best you unless they are prepared.
All in all I’m giving you a 3.5 for good stealth and scouting along with the great mobility these classes grant to you.
Alright so I will be grading Elegance based on legality mostly.
With such an early entry into Jaunter it seems highly unlikely you have visited multiple planes of existence by this point. -.5.
Special: Candidate must have visited two or more planes other than his home plane.Next up we have Elemental Warrior. By this time you definitely have Plane shift so going to the Elemental Plane of Earth is quite simple for you. You do indeed meet all other prerequisites for this class so your fine here.
You do not meet the prerequisites of Earth Sense which means you do not qualify for Earth Dreamer. Going to hit you with a massive penalty of -1.
Long story short: You have used both secret ingredients superbly without overshadowing them with either base class or prestige class. You merge them well and make them the primary focus of the build. You make them interact in ways that others won’t be able to as effectively. And Earth Dreamer (qualified or not) only assists in your abilities. I am going to give you a solid 5 in this category!

I will start by saying that an Elemental Warrior + Jaunter combo is at its core, fairly unique. However since that is what this competition is I’m going to overlook that here and base it off the remainder of your classes(3) and your backstory(2).
Your backstory was mixed in with your tactics and was a very pleasant read, if you like drow doing what drow do to all surface races. I particularly enjoy your trip to Sigil. 2 points.
All your classes mesh well with one another except barbarian, which is a strange entry (in lore terms) for your build. But your backstory lore makes up for the fact that you are a swordsage barbarian even though those classes shouldn’t really be mixing all that often. 3 points.
Alright time to grade! 90% of the power of your build comes from a single ruling so we’ll get that out of the way first.
TORMTOR SCHOOL [STYLE]
You have learned House Tormtor’s fighting technique from its weapon masters.
Prerequisite: Point Blank Shot, Weapon Focus (javelin), base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: If you deal damage on a melee attack with a javelin, you can then throw that javelin at any other target within 30 feet as a swift action (using your highest base ranged attack bonus).
You take no penalty when making a melee attack with a javelin.
You gain a +1 bonus on damage rolls with javelins.
Honestly. I am at a loss on this one. As a DM I know how I would rule it. But as a Judge I will go strictly by RAW. I will give it to you. With a HUGE cheese rating.
Your getting 3 main hand attacks per pounce with up to 3 pounces/round. You’ve pumped your str giving you an optimistic ~32 str with an amazing gear loadout. So that is 12 main hand attacks with a +26 damage modifier. 3 Offhand attacks with a +20 damage modifier. Each of them are dealing an additional 2d6 electric damage, and another 2d6 sneak attack damage. Javelins deal a d6 so on average you’ll get 3.5 damage from it. So an average round for you doing 3 pounces looks to deal roughly 634 damage with a pair of mundane javelins. And you have your ace in the hole which deals enough damage to devastate anything (without enough DR to protect entirely against your attack) to kill them, unless you roll a 1. That is impressive for a melee combatant. All with nearly 0 miss chance from AC. However, other than your mobility you have no backup to your attacks.
The entire build is a one trick pony. With ALL of that said, it all relies heavily on a single ability ruling as you have stated. You have made an amazing powerhouse with what I personally saw as very poor tools. I’m giving you a 5* in the power department. However if someone points out a solid ruling backed up by RAW against Tormtor School working as stated then your score in the Power department will rule down to a 2.
Alright so I will be grading Elegance based on legality mostly.
You meet the prerequisite of every class you have entered, including the fluff requirements requiring you to travel to other planes. In your backstory you have traveled to Sigil and the Elemental Plane of Air, and gave reasons for doing so. You meet all prerequisites of your feats. The only thing I’m going to penalize you on is that you rely on Assassin’s Stance to enter into Telflammar Shadowlord, meaning that if you enter into another stance you lose the benefits of Telflammar Shadowlord until you spend a swift action to enter back into your stance. -.25
You took all the levels of the secret ingredients, so I won’t penalize you there. The build has a heavy emphasis on Telflammar Shadowlord, which isn’t bad in it’s own, but very clearly overshadows your Secret Ingredients. With that said Jaunter very much assists with Telflammar Shadowlord. I don’t see much reason at all that Elemental Warrior is even in this build other than a slight lore piece at the beginning. All in all I think I’ll give you a -.5 for not making them stand in the forefront of the build, and a -.25 for hardly utilizing Elemental Warrior.


I will start by saying that an Elemental Warrior + Jaunter combo is at its core, fairly unique. However since that is what this competition is I’m going to overlook that here and base it off the remainder of your classes(3) and your backstory(2).
You have a fairly straight forward backstory which does well to indicate why you fight, how you’ve been to the other planes of existence, and a little bit about your character.
Your classes are good compliments to each other, albeit I have no idea where Warshaper came from. It seems odd flavor wise. A unique taste. Going to give you a -1 for it as it doesn’t seem to fit.
Alright time to grade! You have some great abilities from crusader and warshaper, and warshaper synergizes well with elemental warrior’s acid damage. Otherwise, I honestly wish I knew more about how your character fought. I don’t even know what sort of weapons you use other than the natural kind. Since you have Bounding Assault I’m going to base your power on you coming up from underground, smacking them twice, and then retreating back underground. You have a good defense with the ground protecting you, DR 8/adamantine, and some decent natural armor. You seem to be a frontline but don’t really tell me how it works at all. I am going to give you a 2, however when you dispute if you give me a large amount of information on how your Dish is supposed to fight I am willing to bump that up.
Alright so I will be grading Elegance based on legality mostly. You have travelled to the planes in your backstory and meet the prerequisites for your prestige classes. You meet all prerequisites for feats. Simple 5
You rely heavily on Elemental Warrior, and it is very much thematic, however I do not see the appeal of Jaunter in your build. It allows you to move around more easily, however. I am giving you a -.5 for not utilizing Jaunter to it’s fullest capacity.



Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Okay. I think I got the gist of…. Wait you do what with that how?!? Okay let me just reread everything. How does this work by RAW? Somehow, that is the answer, somehow this all works by RAW. And now I have a headache. I am glad I left Zip the Tricky Half-Mage until last. For anyone that wasn’t able to follow this let me break it down for you. Let me tell you Zip, you made me break my agreement with myself.
I'm going to start judging here and see if I can finish it by the end of Sunday; if any of the competitors would like to judge the one that I posted at the end it will help me by giving me good examples on how to judge! I was supposed to be done by now, but it is monday and its because I have read through everything on your build 3 times just to understand it all. You are a taxi. You take people from place to place when you feel like it. You earn what you can, and you don’t like fighting. You use several poorly worded abilities to lose 1 spell slot per level, to gain 4 of them per level. And then you use abilities that allow you to “gain” a spell slot of a higher level than your usual max which is then sacrificed out for an additional 4 spell slots of that level. You can then sacrifice any one of them to gain an additional 4 of a lower level. All you needed to make the trifecta perfect was that one ability that allowed you to sacrifice 2 lower level spell slots to gain a single higher level one. Now without getting into a huge RAW argument that has had several threads that have devolved into pandemonium you can either learn and “know” spells of a higher level than you can normally cast allowing you to cast some cool shenanigans, or you can prepare a massive amount of additional lower level spells in higher level spell slots. Yes you know your getting a 5 in the originality department for pulling this stunt.
With all your tricks you aren’t all that impressive as a powerhouse. You have a huge amount of abilities to exploit when you wish to use them. You fight with a harpoon and teleport around. You have the variance of a ninth level wizard with unusual amounts of spell slots. However none of your abilities are something to right home to about EXCEPT you are playing with an ability that gives you TOTAL concealment vs two targets of your choice. That means that you are effectively invisible to two targets without using any illusions or clouds. No version of sight can penetrate this effect and there is no save against this effect. I checked. Even the Gods themselves can not penetrate your concealment every time. There are a few small abilities that allow you to ignore all forms of concealment for a swing but other than those there is nothing. And those abilities are by far only available to classed characters. That is a massive defense boon. Your dish is very defensive and it knows it. I’m giving you a 4.
I have searched and searched, your abilities are foolproof. However your backstory didn’t tell me how you gained access to the planes. So I will give you the same -.5 as I’ve given the others.
Special: Candidate must have visited two or more planes other than his home plane.Next up we have Elemental Warrior. By this time you definitely have Plane shift so going to the Elemental Plane of Air is quite simple for you.
Your secret ingredients indeed take the focus of the build (other than your tricks) and your other classes only increase the degree to which you focus on them. A resounding 5.

I am done. A half hour late for me, but I have finished! Anyways I look forward to some disputes, tomorrow.

[Thurbane]

Thank you kindly Falontani for the judging.

Here are the first disputes:


Thanks for a very thorough judging, Falontani. Fantastic job for your first time.

I hope I can shed some light on a few things in my build:

Originality: You seem to be under the impression that Jarisa is the bouncer of the Otyugh Hole. She is not. The bouncer of the Otyugh hole, the invisible force who ejects the Halruaan is the character. Jarisa is a peripheral narrator like Dr. Watson or Nick Carraway, because that seemed like a more exciting way to show off the bouncer's deal than shining the spotlight on him directly.

Dread Commando synergizes with your chosen combat style and allows jaunter's taxes to pull double duty. It's a pretty bare bones class as far as fluff goes, but working as a bouncer in a hip happening nightspot makes sense: it lets you liaise with your lackeys and make sure everyone's where they're supposed to be. In any case, I'm the only dread commando, so I don't really understand a full point deduction.

I wouldn't call full daylight or a daylight spell negating my shadow blend a glaring weakness. My invisible fist and other tricks still work normally, so I'm hardly vulnerable, and obviously, I will endeavor not to spend any time in daylight, like, for example, hanging out in the Otyugh hole all the time.

Of course my ability scores are low, because we must use a point buy, and mentioning any gear to boost your abilities is verboten. That said, as you mention, of course I would buy stuff to boost my dex. Under these limitations, it is not possible for any character to more effectively utilize their dex, so this shortcoming is inevitable.

Elegance: There was no non-intrusive way to mention "oh by the way I revere shar and have been on vacation to the planes" in the backstory without disrupting the narrative flow. Since they are handwaved fluff requirements with no mechanical requirements, as you said, there is no particular reason to believe they haven't been taken care of.




Thanks Falontani for judging!

I have no disputes; everything you said was fair and correct. I did want to apologize for the non-existent background and lack of find/replace - I ran out of time but still wanted to submit my build. Didn't have time for a last check as well, which probably accounts for the miss on Earth Sense too. In any case, thank you for your efforts!

[Falontani]

Originality: You seem to be under the impression that Jarisa is the bouncer of the Otyugh Hole. She is not. The bouncer of the Otyugh hole, the invisible force who ejects the Halruaan is the character. Jarisa is a peripheral narrator like Dr. Watson or Nick Carraway, because that seemed like a more exciting way to show off the bouncer's deal than shining the spotlight on him directly.

Dread Commando synergizes with your chosen combat style and allows jaunter's taxes to pull double duty. It's a pretty bare bones class as far as fluff goes, but working as a bouncer in a hip happening nightspot makes sense: it lets you liaise with your lackeys and make sure everyone's where they're supposed to be. In any case, I'm the only dread commando, so I don't really understand a full point deduction.

I wouldn't call full daylight or a daylight spell negating my shadow blend a glaring weakness. My invisible fist and other tricks still work normally, so I'm hardly vulnerable, and obviously, I will endeavor not to spend any time in daylight, like, for example, hanging out in the Otyugh hole all the time.

Of course my ability scores are low, because we must use a point buy, and mentioning any gear to boost your abilities is verboten. That said, as you mention, of course I would buy stuff to boost my dex. Under these limitations, it is not possible for any character to more effectively utilize their dex, so this shortcoming is inevitable.

Elegance: There was no non-intrusive way to mention "oh by the way I revere shar and have been on vacation to the planes" in the backstory without disrupting the narrative flow. Since they are handwaved fluff requirements with no mechanical requirements, as you said, there is no particular reason to believe they haven't been taken care of.

Your story makes far more sense (as does your name) now. I am going to reward you an additional half a point (.5)
Dread Commando's Lore
Dread commandos are the elite scouts and strike force of a well-trained mercenary band. They combine stealth with protection, quickly moving through the battlefield even while heavily armored, and they are deadly when they catch an opponent unawares. Dread commandos are called upon when a mission requires an excursion deep into enemy territory and conflict is inevitable. It just doesn't quite fit the theme I seem to be getting from your dish. I will say that you are unique in that you are the only Dread Commando. I will give you another .25 points, raising your score by .75

It is a big weakness with a fairly low level spell to use, and many spells replicate the daylight spell in later levels. However my saying glaring weakness was more of a play on words than how large of a weakness it constituted. No additional points.

As for Elegance I awarded everyone points based on the traveling to other planes the same way, and didn't discount just you. It would be unfair for me to award you points and not award everyone points for the same issue, while putting those that did mention it at a disadvantage. No change

Mr Bouncer of the Otyugh Hole is now at a 15.4

[Thurbane]

While we're awaiting further disputes and the final reveal, does anyone have requests or suggestions for future competition ingredients?

[RaiKirah]

Not sure quite where i'm going with this, but are there common feat chains that could be built around denying part of? Like maybe requiring Divine Metamagic but banning Persistent Spell and/or Cleric?

Or bad ACFs that could be required? Such as Berserker Strength (PHBII 33) Barbarian or Aspect of the Dragon (DrM11) Druid.

Soulknife without Soulbow could be interesting as well.

Anyways, just some thoughts

[daremetoidareyo]

While we're awaiting further disputes and the final reveal, does anyone have requests or suggestions for future competition ingredients?

Any two prestige classes with the word disciple in their name?

[Falontani]

Something from sandstorm, stormwrack, and Frostburn?

[remetagross]

Or a pair of classes that both obviously ask for a Monk entry :)

[Nifft]

Not sure quite where i'm going with this, but are there common feat chains that could be built around denying part of? Like maybe requiring Divine Metamagic but banning Persistent Spell and/or Cleric?

Best use of a family of feats might be a neat idea.

[Draconic]
[Aberrant]
[Psionic]
(etc.)

[DeTess]

Best use of a family of feats might be a neat idea.

[Draconic]
[Aberrant]
[Psionic]
(etc.)

This would certainly be interesting, though builds around this might be more suitable for the E6 format. The current competition has an entry (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22958985&postcount=54) making use of abyssal feats, while I submitted a build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22886263&postcount=54) to the previous one running draconic feats.

Maybe a competition build around [Draconic] feats, but you can't use sorcerer or Dragonfire adept.

[Nifft]

This would certainly be interesting, though builds around this might be more suitable for the E6 format. The current competition has an entry (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22958985&postcount=54) making use of abyssal feats, while I submitted a build (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22886263&postcount=54) to the previous one running draconic feats.

Maybe a competition build around [Draconic] feats, but you can't use sorcerer or Dragonfire adept.

IMHO the Sorcerer class is bad enough that optimizing it using a bunch of sub-standard (yet highly thematic) feats might be a cool thing.

The obvious competition ingredient for a no-Sorcerer [Draconic] build would be a Cleric using Initiate of Io from Dragon Magic -- potentially a Spontaneous Cleric if you want to benefit from feats that operate on spell-slots and/or spells-known.

We already know Clerics start out stronger than Sorcerers, so a prohibition against Sorcerers may not have the intended effect.

[DeTess]

IMHO the Sorcerer class is bad enough that optimizing it using a bunch of sub-standard (yet highly thematic) feats might be a cool thing.

The obvious competition ingredient for a no-Sorcerer [Draconic] build would be a Cleric using Initiate of Io from Dragon Magic -- potentially a Spontaneous Cleric if you want to benefit from feats that operate on spell-slots and/or spells-known.

We already know Clerics start out stronger than Sorcerers, so a prohibition against Sorcerers may not have the intended effect.

You might be right. A lot of Draconic feats are built with sorcerer in mind (even requiring levels in sorcerer), but I didn't give this suggestion much thought beyond 'what class is obviously making use of draconic feats?'

[Thurbane]

At the moment I'm leaning towards 2 partial casting classes, but I haven't made a final decision yet.

I would definitely be interested in two "Disciple" classes, but so far I've only found 1 that is 5 levels long.

I'll hold the reveal in this comp for another 24 hours or so in case there's any new disputes...

[Nifft]

At the moment I'm leaning towards 2 partial casting classes, but I haven't made a final decision yet.

I would definitely be interested in two "Disciple" classes, but so far I've only found 1 that is 5 levels long.

I'll hold the reveal in this comp for another 24 hours or so in case there's any new disputes...

How about: one PrC must advance the casting of another PrC?

Some people seem to have had fun with the Trapsmith 1 -> Master of Masks 10 thing a month or two back.

There are enough half-caster PrCs that you could also do something like Blackguard 5 / Dragonslayer 10 and get all 10 levels of Blackguard casting. That particular combo is probably a bad idea, but the idea of making a half-caster PrC into something non-sucky might be fun.

[Darrin]

I'll hold the reveal in this comp for another 24 hours or so in case there's any new disputes...

I believe WhamBamSam is still judging, so... maybe wait until he chimes in?

[Thurbane]

I believe WhamBamSam is still judging, so... maybe wait until he chimes in?

Oops; definitely. Thanks for the heads up.

[WhamBamSam]

I believe WhamBamSam is still judging, so... maybe wait until he chimes in?Unfortunately that probably won't be happening. I've been buried in real life grading since Friday, and I'm travelling this weekend. I also tend to be something of a slow judge, so it's probably best to just call this one.

[Thurbane]

Time for the final reveal:



Entry
Competitor
Final Score


Malik Dragoba
Darrin
19


Zip the Tricky Half-Mage
daremetoidareyo
18.5


Del O’Rean, the Waystalker
Randuir
17.75


Titanous
jdizzlean
15.5


Bouncer of the Otyugh Hole
Venger
15.4


Jonnie B, The Ripster
RaiKirah
15



Congrats to all competitors, especially Darrin, daremetoidareyo and Randuir.

Very happy with the turnout for this round! Your entries, and judging, keep the comp alive.

The new round will be posted soon(ish).

[jdizzlean]

RL got in the way of the requested dispute on my end, no worries. good round all :)

[Darrin]

My initial idea with Malik was cobbled together from previous builds. The original seed was the Viscount's Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21775399&postcount=86) from the Waverider round of IC, which I think is the first IC build that uses the "takes no penalties" loophole. In that round, daremetoidareyo mentioned trying to fit in Tormtor School, and towards the end of that thread I mentioned combining Tormtor + Avalanche of Blades (and then promptly forgot about it for 7 months, because Bloodsnake'sCha had to remind me that I wrote about the Tormtor trick in my own frickin' handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?279079-3-5-The-TWF-OffHandbook/page4)). But I did remember that you could replace Waverider 8's Superior Underwater Archery with a single level of Exotic Weapon Master, which I used for a build in daremetoidareyo's Optimize this Weapon: Etherblade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21858147&postcount=17) thread. When Bloodstorm Blade came up as an Iron Chef ingredient, I used that as the framework for Knuckles Klankplate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=22675127&postcount=40). Took the Silver there... probably would have gotten Gold if I had remembered to take WEAPON FOCUS, a prereq for Exotic Weapon Master. So, bit of a faceplant there... I had the space to fit it in, just brainfarted it even after checking all my prereqs several times. I didn't try Tormtor with Knuckles because I got "Rocket Punch!" stuck in my head and there was no shaking it loose.

So my original stupid idea was how do I maximize the number of attacks for Elemental Weapon? That's when Tormtor + Avalanche of Blades shook loose in my head. Would the Initiator Level be high enough if I took all 9 levels of both SIs? Spreadsheet said yes, but one stupid trick didn't feel like enough to go from stub to build... and Jaunter was being used as just filler. I tried looking for synergy between Jaunter and Elemental Warrior, but there wasn't any... Elemental Warrior can get you to the elemental planes to help qualify for Jaunter, but the BAB requirement on Elemental Warrior meant that Jaunter would probably have to be taken first. While I'm looking at Jaunter, I notice it's only 4 levels long. Didn't I suggest pairing this up with a 6-level PrC at some point? Yes, there is a 6-level PrC that matches up almost perfectly with it: Telflammar Shadowlord. And I get seriously peeved that this round wasn't "Jaunter + Teflammar Shadowlord - Rogue". Wait a minute. Shadow Pounce would work really well with Elemental Weapon. Can I get Shadow Pounce *AND* Avalanche of Blades into the same build? Spreadsheet wankery says... YES. WTF? I now have two stupid tricks... I guess I'm not judging this round.

So I've spent this entire round waiting for somebody to say, "Hasn't he used this 'no penalty' trick enough already? We've seen it! Try something else!"

My Honorable Mention goes to Jonnie B., because a burrowing anthropomorphic shark is ten metric buttloads of awesomesauce.

Still a little teensie-weensie peeved... how could you *not* pair Jaunter with Telflammer Shadowlord?

[Falontani]

Big ol Snip
I guess your lucky I haven't had the chance to read all the old ICs yet. Otherwise your score might have been lower ^_- however good look into your idea

[Kazudo]

Sorry for some light thread necromancy but THIS IS STILL GOING?! WOW.