Optimization Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground CX [Archive]

The Viscount

2021-03-18, 08:57 PM

Welcome to Optimization Stadium, the field of combat for our storied competition. Here the contestants will be transmuting lead into gold as we showcase the overlooked, underused, weird, wild, and wonky prestige classes.

Appropriate for the month, it's time to get madder than a March hare for a class so bad it doesn't even get a picture. Turn to Complete Warrior and show me your war face, this round we're cooking with Rage Mage!

Welcome, contestants, judges, and guests to Iron Chef. Here in Optimization Colosseum, contestants will endeavor to create an optimized and flavorful character using a specified D&D 3.5 prestige class as a "Secret Ingredient".

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

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

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

Kitchen: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon magazine is disallowed, and Unearthed Arcana is allowed; but see Elegance below. Web-exclusive 3.0 or 3.5 materials by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. Here's a guide to most of what has and hasn't been updated. (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20050110x) Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt or Generic Classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Also, item familiars are forbidden. Please refrain from using Taint unless it's necessary for the Secret Ingredient.
NB: Official Errata and 3.5 updates to 3.0 content are considered valid regardless of whether their sources would otherwise be legal. This includes the 3.5 update of Oriental Adventures given in Dragon Magazine, and the 3.5 updates of Dragonlance Campaign Setting content given in later third party Dragonlance books.

Cooking Time: Contestants will have until 13:59 GMT on Monday April 5th, 2021 to create their builds and PM them to the Chairman, The Viscount. You may submit build by email if it is too large for a single PM. Please put the name of your build in the subject line of your PM. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 13:59 GMT on Sunday, April 18, 2021 to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Code immediately below (spoiler).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list.
Speculation: Please don't post or speculate on possible builds until the "reveal," in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.

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

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

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

Past Competitions

Courtesy of some wonderful volunteers, there is a handy-dandy spreadsheet guide to all previous builds here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oyjVU5JmeCnC8YTMqDArDqE5PszHl0Ysadz630kuTGk/edit?ts=59a4835f#gid=0). PM if you'd like to contribute to the spreadsheet for access.

Iron Chef I: Entropomancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142470)
Iron Chef II: Psibond Agent (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146583)
Iron Chef III: Cancer Mage (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148584)
Iron Chef IV: Stonelord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150595)
Iron Chef V: War Chanter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152543)
Iron Chef VI: Master of Masks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156876)
Iron Chef VII: Green Star Adept (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158633)
Iron Chef VIII: Pyrokineticist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160266)
Iron Chef IX: Animal Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162702)
Iron Chef X: Mythic Exemplar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164381)
Iron Chef XI: Blade Bravo (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166539)
Iron Chef XII: War Mind (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9426386)
Iron Chef XIII: Vigilante (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172233)
Iron Chef XIV: Seeker of the Song (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174434)
Iron Chef XV: Drunken Master (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176049)
Iron Chef XVI: Assassin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178202)
Iron Chef XVII: Ardent Dilettante (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182492)
Iron Chef XVIII: Unseelie Dark Hunter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=186097)
Iron Chef XIX: Dread Pirate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190607)
Iron Chef XX: Incandescent Champion (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10976416)
Iron Chef XXI: Ghostwalker (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198921)
Iron Chef XXII: Dervish (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206576)
Iron Chef XXIII: Divine Crusader (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210071)
Iron Chef XXIV: Tactical Soldier (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214198)
Iron Chef XXV: Scion of Tem-Et-Nu (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217441)
Iron Chef XXVI: Shadowdancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220956)
Iron Chef XXVII: Mindbender (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224008)
Iron Chef XXVIII: Cryokineticist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227304)
Iron Chef XXIX: Consecrated Harrier (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229688)
Iron Chef XXX: Initiate of Pistis Sophia (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233346)
Iron Chef XXXI: Shadow Sentinel (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236908)
Iron Chef XXXII: Temple Raider of Olidammara (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239786)
Iron Chef XXXIII: Drow Judicator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243052)
Iron Chef XXXIV: Dragon Disciple (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246072)
Iron Chef XXXV: Death Delver (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249542)
Iron Chef XXXVI: Acolyte of the Skin (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252923)
Iron Chef XXXVII: Justiciar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13865473)
Iron Chef XXXVIII: Hand of the Winged Master (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255215)
Iron Chef XXXIX: Renegade Mastermaker (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=260333)
Iron Chef XL: Nightsong Infiltrator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=263173)
Iron Chef XLI: Geomancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266709)
Iron Chef XLII: Shadowblade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270196)
Iron Chef XLIII: Bladesinger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274122)
Iron Chef XLIV: Urban Soul (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=279116)
Iron Chef XLV: Talon of Tiamat (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15216595)
Iron Chef XLVI: Cipher Adept (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287314)
Iron Chef XLVII: Cold Iron Warrior (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=291294)
Iron Chef XLVIII: Shadow Sun Ninja (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=297327)
Iron Chef XLIX: Thrall of Orcus (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=302487)
Iron Chef L: Corrupt Avenger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=307823)
Iron Chef LI: Black Flame Zealot (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=312773)
Iron Chef LII: Anointed Knight (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=317934)
Iron Chef LIII: Zerth Cenobite (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=325164)
Iron Chef LIV: Osteomancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=330890)
Iron Chef LV: Mountebank (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?336373-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LV)
Iron Chef LVI: Dwarven Defender (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?342807-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LVI)
Iron Chef LVII: Darkrunner (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?349040-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LVII)
Iron Chef LVIII: Spellsword (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?357412-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LVIII)
Iron Chef LIX: Fleet Runner of Ehlonna (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?364667-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LIX)
Iron Chef LX: Lasher (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?371835-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LX)
Iron Chef LX(II): Acolyte of the Ego (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?372145-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LX)
Iron Chef LXII: Dungeon Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?376810-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXII)
Iron Chef LXIII: Witchborn Binder (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?382632-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXIII)
Iron Chef LXIV: Slime Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?387166-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXIV)
Iron Chef LXV: Thunder Guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?394981-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXV)
Iron Chef LXVI: Dwarven Chanter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?400810-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXVI)
Irogn Chef LXVII: Gnome Giant Slayer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?406613-Irogn-Chef-Optimisatiogn-Challegnge-ign-the-Playgrougnd-LXVII)
Iron Chef LXVIII: Fang of Lolth (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?412530-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXVIII)
Iron Chef LXIX: Shiba Protector (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?420165-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXIX)
Iron Chef LXX: Order of the Bow Initiate (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?425634-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXX)
Iron Chef LXXI: Silver Key (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?431484-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXI)
Iron Chef LXXII: Spellfire Channeler (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?439020-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXII)
Iron Chef LXXIII: Flux Adept (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?448596-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXIII)
Iron Chef LXXIV: Crinti Shadow Marauder (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?458711-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXIV)
Iron Chef LXXV: Thief of Life (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?472831-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXV)
Iron Chef LXXVI: Legacy Champion (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?477153-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXVI)
Iron Chef LXXVII: Great Rift Skyguard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?482249-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXVII)
Iron Chef LXVIII: Risen Martyr (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?487560-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXVIII)
Iron Chef LXXIX: Black Blood Hunter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?492923-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXIX)
Iron Chef LXXX: Master of Many Forms (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?498359-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXX)
Iron Chef LXXXI: Serene Guardian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?502666-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXXI)
Iron Chef LXXXII: Elocator (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?505762-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXXII)
Iron Chef LXXXIII: Winterhaunt of Iboorighu (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?510581-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXXIII)
Iron Chef LXXXIV: Waverider (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?514631-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXXIV)
Iron Chef LXXXV: Astral Dancer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?519296-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXXV)
Iron Chef LXXXVI: Twisted Lord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?525401-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXXVI)
Iron Chef LXXXVII: Shadowsmith (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?528361-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXXVII)
Iron Chef LXXXVIII: Arboreal Guardian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?533367-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXXVIII)
Iron Chef LXXXIX: Thrall of Demogorgon (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?536247-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXXIX)
Iron Chef XC: Bloodstorm Blade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?542380-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XC)
Iron Chef XCI: Fatemaker (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?550203-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XCI)
Iron Chef XCII: Eye of the Xanathar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?556092-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XCII)
Iron Chef XCIII: Hoardstealer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?560330-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XCIII)
Iron Chef XCIV: Doomlord (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?564804-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XCIV)
Iron Chef XCV: Gnomish Artificer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?571065-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XCV)
Iron Chef XCVI: Oozemaster (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?576075-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XCVI)
Iron Chef XCVII: Aerial Avenger (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?579553-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XCVII)
Iron Chef XCVIII: Visionary Seeker (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?583331-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XCVIII)
Iron Chef XCIX: Life Eater (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?589964-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-XCIX)
Iron Chef C: Swiftblade (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?601292-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-C)

Iron Chef CI: Night Mask Deathbringer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?610308-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CI)
Iron Chef CII: Blade Dancer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?613031-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CII)
Iron Chef CIII: Psion Uncarnate (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?614461-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CIII)
Iron Chef CIV: Atavist (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?615697-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CIV)
Iron Chev CV: Primeval (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?618136-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CV)
Iron Chef CVI: Disciple of Mammon (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?620730-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CVI)
Iron Chef CVII: Insidious Corruptor (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?622560-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CVII)
Iron Chef CVIII: Crimson Scourge (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?624099-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CVIII)
Iron Chef CIX: Tattooed Monk (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?626458-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CIX)

The Viscount

2021-03-18, 08:58 PM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One Mistake, One Penalty

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

Non-exhaustive list of examples:

Skills

Allowed:

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

Not allowed:

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

Prereqs

Allowed:

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

Not Allowed:

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

Other general things that are no longer allowed:

Penalizing because someone has chosen to build a tribute to an existing creative work
Deciding that a backstory has not met a fluff prerequisite well enough, or because its method of meeting it is "unrealistic". You may penalize if a fluff prereq is not addressed at all, but not for how well it is addressed.
Please don't base your scores off the scores of another judge.

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

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

All creatures are proficient with any natural weapons they may have or acquire.
Bonus feats that are granted even if you do not meet the prerequisites do not require you to meet the prerequisites in order to use.
Able Learner's benefit applies to the level you take it.
Weapons from soulmelds are considered to be magic weapons.
Unarmed Swordsage grants Improved Unarmed Strike at level 1.
Not finishing Savage Progression is subject to a penalty to Elegance
One dispute per entry. Submit disputes by PM to the Chair.
Ghostwalk ghost is banned
Gold, silver, and bronze are awarded regardless of ties (e.g., 2 silvers does not preclude bronze)
Spelltouched feats are legal and can be taken just like any other feat when you meet the prerequisites and have the feat slot available.

Q: Can I submit more than one entry?
A: You may submit up to two entries into a given competition.

Q: The first paragraph of spell rage is vague. Can you clarify?
A: "This ability only works when the rage mage is in a spell rage." refers to the text for using character level for caster level. You can cast spells with a casting time of 1 full round or shorter during any rage, not just a spell rage.

Q: Do effects that apply when a character is raging also apply if the character is frenzying?
A: Yes

Q: Do effects that apply when a character is raging also apply if the character is in a spell rage?
A: Yes

Q: Does Spell Fury actually quicken the spells, thus decreasing their casting time, and can it be used with spontaneous spells?
A: Yes and yes

Zaq

2021-03-18, 08:58 PM

Oh... oh my. This will be quite the round.

Venger

2021-03-18, 09:06 PM

I knew this time would come eventually. I'm in to cook.

WhamBamSam

2021-03-18, 09:17 PM

I've had stubs for this one in cold storage for a while. Excited to finally dust them off.

AvatarVecna

2021-03-18, 09:28 PM

Will judge, and this time I'll try to actually judge early so I have plenty of time to tell all disputes to take a hike.

RaiKirah

2021-03-18, 09:29 PM

Fantastic!!!!! I've got like 4 stubs for this, now I've got to choose which I want to submit!! This class is so close to being exactly everything I want, but misses by so far :)

H_H_F_F

2021-03-18, 11:12 PM

RAGE MAGE

I'm not sure yet whether I'll cook or judge.

Thurbane

2021-03-18, 11:43 PM

Good old half-casting PrcS lol.

I might try an entry for this one.

NotInventedHere

2021-03-19, 07:29 AM

Hmmmm. Interesting.

The Viscount - quick rules question relating to WotC's absolutely stellar, flawless editing:

Spells per Day: At every even-numbered level gained in the rage mage class, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. In no case, however, does she gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for an increased effective level of spellcasting (but see spell rage, below). If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a rage mage, she must decide to which class she adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

Despite the example character, RAI, and general common practice, the actual text of the +spellcasting feature of the class *doesn't* seem to grant additional spells-known? All the Complete Arcane ones make sure to specify "new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable)". This one just says 'gains new spells per day'. Does that mean the example character is wrong, and a sorceror 6/barbarian 1/rage mage 7 should have 6 4th-level spell slots and 4 5th-level spell slots but no 4th or 5th level spells to cast in them?

The Viscount

2021-03-19, 02:00 PM

Hmmmm. Interesting.

The Viscount - quick rules question relating to WotC's absolutely stellar, flawless editing:

Despite the example character, RAI, and general common practice, the actual text of the +spellcasting feature of the class *doesn't* seem to grant additional spells-known? All the Complete Arcane ones make sure to specify "new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable)". This one just says 'gains new spells per day'. Does that mean the example character is wrong, and a sorceror 6/barbarian 1/rage mage 7 should have 6 4th-level spell slots and 4 5th-level spell slots but no 4th or 5th level spells to cast in them?

The language for classes that advance casting is, as always, an absolute mess, and varies all over the place from class to class. For the purpose of everyone's sanity, I'm not going to look too hard at precise wording. Levels that advance spells per day also advance spells known if applicable.

RaiKirah

2021-03-19, 02:05 PM

Q: The first paragraph of spell rage is vague. Can you clarify?
A: "This ability only works when the rage mage is in a spell rage." refers to the text for using character level for caster level. You can cast spells with a casting time of 1 full round or shorter during any rage, not just a spell rage.

Am I understanding correctly that there is a Chair Ruling that a Rage Mage can cast spells (of 1 full round or shorter) whenever they are raging, whether or not we're using a Spell Rage? The way that the ability SHOULD have been written? Lovely :)

Empyreal Dragon

2021-03-19, 03:48 PM

I will be cooking.

The Viscount

2021-03-19, 05:00 PM

Am I understanding correctly that there is a Chair Ruling that a Rage Mage can cast spells (of 1 full round or shorter) whenever they are raging, whether or not we're using a Spell Rage? The way that the ability SHOULD have been written? Lovely :)

Correct. Thank you for drawing attention to the FAQ. This ingredient is bad enough as it is, I can at least interpret the vagueness in the chef's favor.

Elves

2021-03-19, 05:10 PM

IDK, if the point is to work with bad PRCs seems like the badness should be embraced. "This ability only works when the rage mage is in a spell rage" is pretty clear.

The Viscount

2021-03-19, 06:54 PM

IDK, if the point is to work with bad PRCs seems like the badness should be embraced. "This ability only works when the rage mage is in a spell rage" is pretty clear.

I should clarify: When I can interpret something in a way that opens it up for greater variety of builds, I tend to interpret it that way provided it's not a big stretch. That's why I did what I did with the tattoo list for Tattooed Monk.
" A rage mage can cast spells while in a rage, as long as the spell's casting time is no more than 1 full round. " Seemed pretty clear to me, especially with the second, different ability between this sentence and that one. It's not just capricious generosity on my part. If you want unmitigated disasters, there will be rounds with those.

Zaq

2021-03-19, 07:01 PM

If you want unmitigated disasters, there will be rounds with those.

And have been.

Elves

2021-03-19, 07:19 PM

" A rage mage can cast spells while in a rage, as long as the spell's casting time is no more than 1 full round. " Seemed pretty clear to me, especially with the second, different ability between this sentence and that one.
It's a single class ability. If it were meant to be a separate ability there would be separate feature entries.

This does impact the competition. Rage mage + barb dip provides rages equal to spell rages. If generic rage also uses casting there is more incentive to de-emphasize the rage mage class in your build or to use it as a dip, which as I understand it is not what the competition wants.

The Viscount

2021-03-19, 08:02 PM

The second feature of spell rage, increasing caster level, still applies to spell rage alone, so there's still incentive.
As for characters dipping in, fortunately there's a Use of the Secret Ingredient category to address that very issue.
I'm willing to take the risks inherent. As the guy running the competition, I can assure you it's what I want.

H_H_F_F

2021-03-19, 08:06 PM

As the guy running the competition, I can assure you it's what I want.

Oh no, The Viscount has gone mad with power! The competition is doomed! DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!

The Viscount

2021-03-19, 08:07 PM

Oh no, The Viscount has gone mad with power! The competition is doomed! DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!

I am Pharaoh! I am the morning and the evening star!

nosborm

2021-03-20, 09:56 AM

I'm intrigued and hope to cook! I'll definitely be following along with all the updates again, bravo to everyone last round. I'm sorry I missed out!

H_H_F_F

2021-03-20, 10:26 AM

I've decided to cook this round as well. I've got a couple of enjoyable ideas, though they hardly seem like winners right now. I'll spend some time refining them.

Heavenblade

2021-03-20, 03:25 PM

This prc is positively frightening, but Ill try to cook nonethelss!

H_H_F_F

2021-03-20, 03:59 PM

Damn, I forgot a prerequisite and my entry is collapsing.

Not sure how to address this.

Gruftzwerg

2021-03-21, 02:37 AM

Damn, I forgot a prerequisite and my entry is collapsing.

Not sure how to address this.

I have a similar problem with one of my build ideas/prototypes. It comes short with 1 feat in the early lvls. I would had room on later levels, but that would delay the entire build so far that it becomes impossible to build. Maybe I'll find a magic item to compensate or a flaw. Dunno how it will turn out and if I will finish it..^^
I wish you good luck to solve your problem ;)

edit: on second thought you might have had another problem that I also had. If it is what I'm thinking of, your solution lies in a specific ACF of a specific base class. I think that is all the help you'll get for now ;)

H_H_F_F

2021-03-21, 04:56 AM

edit: on second thought you might have had another problem that I also had. If it is what I'm thinking of, your solution lies in a specific ACF of a specific base class. I think that is all the help you'll get for now ;)

Don't think we're on the same page :smallsmile: Thanks for trying, though!

high speed

2021-03-21, 09:48 PM

can I be semi- committal for cooking?

Gruftzwerg

2021-03-21, 10:20 PM

can I be semi- committal for cooking?

As far as I am aware, you just need to try to submit your entry until the deadline. No need for formal committal as far as I know..^^ Just submit the build when you finish it. You can even ask for some extended time if you should need a bit more time at the intended deadline. Sure, it can be considered polite to let the others know if you gonna make it or not (so that The Viscount knows if he needs to wait or not at the end of the deadline).

H_H_F_F

2021-03-22, 03:28 PM

I've been making progress on both of my possible entries. Might end up submitting both or neither. We'll see.

There were a couple of things I really tried to make work, but couldn't. I'd be curious to see if anyone else managed to pull them off. More realistically, those with the mechanical prowess to make these ideas work just had better ideas.

How is everybody else doing?

The Viscount

2021-03-22, 03:37 PM

As far as I am aware, you just need to try to submit your entry until the deadline. No need for formal committal as far as I know..^^ Just submit the build when you finish it. You can even ask for some extended time if you should need a bit more time at the intended deadline. Sure, it can be considered polite to let the others know if you gonna make it or not (so that The Viscount knows if he needs to wait or not at the end of the deadline).

That's correct, no announcement of intent is necessary, so long as you submit by the deadline.

Gruftzwerg

2021-03-25, 01:24 AM

I have a lil question. Are we supposed to add bonus spells per day into the list and keep track of possible mainstat changes? Or is it assumed that the judge/reader should add/calculate themselves?

Venger

2021-03-25, 02:01 AM

I have a lil question. Are we supposed to add bonus spells per day into the list and keep track of possible mainstat changes? Or is it assumed that the judge/reader should add/calculate themselves?

No, you are not. Just put down how many spells you get from leveling up. Do not take into account how many bonus spells you get for a high ability score; the judge(s) will account for this.

As far as stat increases from level up bonuses, please list those wherever you list your stats.

Best of luck to you. This ingredient is kicking my ass.

AvatarVecna

2021-03-25, 02:05 AM

I have a lil question. Are we supposed to add bonus spells per day into the list and keep track of possible mainstat changes? Or is it assumed that the judge/reader should add/calculate themselves?

Some contestants do it, some don't. If I notice the discrepancy, I'll judge in good faith based on the numbers you would have if it was presented properly, instead of the incomplete numbers listed...and if I don't notice, you could easily bring it up in a dispute. Should that happen, you likely won't face intentional penalty for that presentation issue, unless it resulted in a truly stunning discrepancy between perceived capability and actual capability. I generally don't give penalties or bonuses for bad/good presentation since that's not the builds fault, but sometimes it's very necessary.

Additionally, because I'm an impatient and lazy person by nature, my judging is designed to give builds a fair shake while reducing the chance that I burn out on judging (like I did in the current round of Villainous, where my rubric broke and I didn't have it in me to make a new one), so entries that add to my workload are likely to color my opinion of them in a negative way, compared to those where I didn't have to do such calculations in order to give the build a fair shake. I should really try to be more impartial, but that's just how it shakes out. Sorry.

H_H_F_F

2021-03-25, 02:17 AM

like I did in the current round of Villainous, where my rubric broke and I didn't have it in me to make a new one.

I'd be interested in reading more about that, if you feel like elaborating.

AvatarVecna

2021-03-25, 03:52 AM

I'd be interested in reading more about that, if you feel like elaborating.

Villainous has and has always had a bad habit of being less "monsters" and more "villainous DMPCs". You go looking through the contest history, and 90% of it will look like an entry in any other competition: pure class levels, to the point where the contest being CR based doesn't matter, to the point where even though you have the opportunity to highlight parts of the game normally utterly closed off to PCs, you don't. Most people don't, and I feel this is a problem. This was so prevalent early on that when I ran round 6, I banned all the creature types that tend to pump out adventurers, so that people would be strongly incentivized to use nonstandard or even monstrous origins, stray more towards templates and HD upgrades than class levels, and maybe actually take serious advantage of the contest's focus on CR instead of ECL.

(Which, incidentally, resulted in one applicant attempting to argue that Humans aren't Humanoids so that they could build a straightforward PC build anyway.)

So as time has gone on and judging has become more of a mental investment than I'm generally up to, I've standardized the way I judge builds more or less so that it's less taxing on me. This is mostly because I suck, and if I can't judge even remotely well, I don't really bother. Judging VC the same way I judge IC is only really a problem if there's significant discrepancy in build complexity - in particular, how many class levels they have. You know the standard thing I do in IC where I give a power ranking for each category? Well what if somebody builds a character that is, for instance, CR 20, but nothing else? Well, they can't even compete as a villain at anything but highest levels, so minimum score for the other four? -0.50 in four of them and the high level power gets a fair judgement? But that means they get a minimum power score no matter how powerful their CR 20 form is. That's not even remotely fair. Do I split the five categories over however many CRs they're actually viable at? That same case is now an all-or-nothing, and it's also not fair to ignore that their villain is flat-out useless for 99.99% of campaigns that will never even face a CR 20 creature in any meaningful capacity. Even for less extreme cases, 5 categories across 13 levels isn't as clean, and if an ability that could be low-mid or mid would boost the latter score but not the former for some reason (maybe low-mid is already maxed without it, but mid is suffering without it), then me making a call on which side of that arbitrary line that level falls on is now impacting scores.

If they're all only viable at CR 20, then I can still judge them against each other, but that rarely happens; far more likely is that they're going to be pretty out of sync with each other and I'm going to have to make a hard choice: either I do the easy thing and try to force my square peg rubric into the contest's round hole (almost certainly not fair judgement), do the hard thing and alter my rubric to account for the complex nature of VC (which will probably still end up being an unfair judgement in some capacity), or do the really easy thing and don't judge at all (which is guaranteed to require no additional effort on my part and guaranteed not to screw anybody over). Of course, all of this is only an issue if this isn't one of the 90% of VC builds that's pure class levels - those builds, I can't judge with basically the same rubric as my Iron Chef one. But this particular round was just all over the place, and it's not a good fit for the way I judge things now.

It really sucks, because it essentially means that the kind of builds I follow Villainous Competition for, the ones I wanna encourage and see more of, are also the builds I just can't bring myself to judge. Trying to be fair feels like it's gonna be too hard, and I don't wanna be unfair, so I just don't.

H_H_F_F

2021-03-25, 04:09 AM

Thanks for answering, AV. I get where you're coming from. I think most people like class-heavy entries exactly because it allows them tovbe viable through a wide range of CR, though it can also be done with other means, of course. I have a few ideas for that, actually - if an appropriate round ever comes about.

And yeah, I remmember reading that human/oids discussion. I thought it was very funny.

More to the point, I'm pretty settled on both of my entries. I will for sure submit one, still thinking about the other. It's fine, and it makes decent use of Rage Mage, but I don't know whther it's either powerful or interesting enough to submit. I'm afk right now, so I still need to format everything, and write fluff - I know how I want it to look like, but not much more than that.

Hope everyone else is doing all right. Do we have any other prospective judges?

Gruftzwerg

2021-03-25, 10:33 AM

Hope everyone else is doing all right.

I feel like I'm drowning in build options...
... and I have a hard time to keep an overview^^

Hiro Quester

2021-03-25, 11:53 AM

I have vizinni'd myself out of a build idea that seems fun and funny, and to accent what this SI can do, but seem so... obvious and unoriginal. It probably is.

And there's that other build idea that with a Dragon mag PrC could become awesome.

Question: some dragon mag content has been ruled to be IC-legal (right? I recall a discussion of that last round). How do I tell what is and isn't allowed? I'm not overly hopeful, that this ingredient would be allowed though.

And then there's the audacious build, that does not yet completely seem possible, but I'm hunting (tenaciously, but not optimistically) for PrCs, ACFs and Racial abilities that might help it become possible.

I'm currently trying to convince myself to build the less original idea anyway, and go for optimized even if not particularly original or unexpected. Or see if I can pack the unexpected into feats and spells that synergize well with the class(es) and augment the humor of it at least.

Troacctid

2021-03-25, 12:04 PM

Question: some dragon mag content has been ruled to be IC-legal (right? I recall a discussion of that last round). How do I tell what is and isn't allowed? I'm not overly hopeful, that this ingredient would be allowed though.
It's legal if it:
a. Updates otherwise unupdated 3.0 material, or
b. Is also a web article (AKA issues #360–363), or
c. Was reprinted in Dragon Compendium.

Thurbane

2021-03-25, 04:27 PM

Kind of struggling to find anything interesting to do with this ingredient that I wouldn't do with every other 1/2 caster.

I have some ideas with a modicum of synergy, just have to see if I'm happy with the end result...

H_H_F_F

2021-03-30, 07:00 AM

WhamBamSam

2021-03-30, 09:05 AM

So, I just realized Spell Fury says the rage mage can quicken a spell "without changing the spell's level or casting time". I don't know how I glanced over that so many times.

Can we get a confirmation that this ability does, in fact, change a spell's casting time?

And is this ability subject to the normal limitiations of metamagic and quicken spell? (spontaneous casting interaction, for instance).In context, that refers to the rule about metamagic and spontaneous casters, basically making it so that they can still use the ability. It's saying that a Rage Mage who casts spontaneously could still use Spell Fury without that rule increasing the casting time to 1 round (which would make the spell an invalid target for Quicken). The Quicken itself still changes the casting time to a swift action.

Paragon

2021-03-30, 09:24 AM

Empyreal Dragon

2021-03-30, 01:19 PM

I'm kind of looking forward to this, I finally found my synergy, and it's gonna be NASTY

Edit:as soon as I posted this I realized the feat I need doesn't apply.

The Viscount

2021-03-30, 06:06 PM

In context, that refers to the rule about metamagic and spontaneous casters, basically making it so that they can still use the ability. It's saying that a Rage Mage who casts spontaneously could still use Spell Fury without that rule increasing the casting time to 1 round (which would make the spell an invalid target for Quicken). The Quicken itself still changes the casting time to a swift action.

Sam is correct. This particular quirk of wording pops up from time to time, and I'm inclined to believe it's oversight.

Spell Fury does change the casting time of the spell (making it shorter as per quicken spell) and can be used on spontaneous spells.

H_H_F_F

2021-03-31, 08:18 AM

Hiro Quester

2021-03-31, 04:19 PM

I've been away from home for a while, but I'll write and submit my first entry when I'm home.

My second entry kept changing and morphing in my head into something I really liked, before I realized I forgot about something and it no longer works. Really crushed my motivation for that one... we'll see where we go from here.

I’m in a similar position. my first entry idea is boring. It’s a good synergistic use of the SI, but neither original nor particularly powerful. I’m trying to find a way to at least make it fun to play.

my second idea is weird and cool, but every way I think of to make it work, requires a trick I can’t incorporate (e.g. dragon mag feat, or one that has a qualifier that disables what I want to do). I hope someone figures out something like this, even if it’s not me.

But I hope it’s me. I might have to settle for a less powerful version of that idea.

Empyreal Dragon

2021-04-02, 05:36 AM

Unfortunately I will not be able to cook this time around.

H_H_F_F

2021-04-03, 01:30 PM

And... I just realized the most fun aspect of my main build, which was also at the heart of the fluff, doesn't work and cannot be salvaged. I missed something obvious.

Realized it while in the middle of writing the snapshots, mind you, after finishing everything else up.

Most of the build could still be salvaged, but without said aspect it mainly feels like a boring raw power build with not much to offer, so I think I'll scrap it. Very disappointed.

I'm going to look into submitting my secondary entry. I might ask for a 12-24 hour extension of the deadline, if needed and possible.

Zaq

2021-04-03, 02:53 PM

I'm prolly gonna regret this, but, like, in a fun way.

JUDGING CRITERIA

I’ve seen a lot. I can still be surprised, but you don't necessarily have to pull out something I've literally never seen before.
Instead, I'm looking at things like how obvious your component parts are, whether or not you have a unique twist (not to say gimmick per se, but something that makes you stand out from the next rage mage), and so on.
This category is also where I put a lot of "coherence of concept" focus; if your build is only "original" because it throws together nonsensical components and doesn't come up with a nice cohesive whole, then Originality is going to suffer. Likewise, even if you're using familiar optimization staples but you're making them feel like a smooth and coherent new character, that bodes well for you in Originality.
I'm not going to penalize Originality solely for a build element appearing multiple times in multiple dishes. If I penalize for something that comes up a lot, it's because it was something I expected, not because your fellow chefs thought of it too.

How well do you do what you say you can do?
How much do you rely on favorable circumstances (and how able are you to engineer such circumstances if necessary)? Similarly, how well do you deal with enemies and external forces working to deny you your preferred circumstances?
What kinds of problems is this character capable of solving, and are you able to do anything to "punch above your weight class" in terms of CR-appropriate challenges (which, I will remind everyone, are not limited to combat)?
Are you overly reliant on elaborate preparation (daily spells and so on are fine; needing to amass unusually huge stockpiles of consumables and so on during downtime is bad) or on daily/nova resources?
Have you bottlenecked your actions? Don't tell me how cool you are because of a combo that uses three swift-action abilities when you've got one swift action per round. Similarly, if you're relying on a bunch of short-duration abilities that all take a standard action to turn on, you'd better tell me how you expect to be getting a buff round or else why the payoff is worth the cost. (These are examples rather than specifics.)
How strong are you if you're not in your ideal circumstances or if you've run out of your favorite trick?
While I don't necessarily expect every build to be rock solid at level 1, how long does it take before you "come online" and can really do what you want to be doing?
Is there any dead weight in your build? (Feats that don't really add much, classes that don't make you stronger at your core premise, etc.)
Personal bias: I don't like LA. I don't like losing HD (meaning feats and skill points and all that) and I find that it's often not worth it. Does this mean you can't use it? No, of course not, you can use it if you choose. But be prepared for me to be unfriendly towards it unless you show me that it really lets you do something you couldn't do otherwise.
Nonmagical items, within reason, are fine. I prefer that magic items be left out of the discussion unless you have a way of procuring them yourself (including, but not limited to, crafting) or unless they're really funny.

How much of a headache do I get trying to parse what you're doing? Is your build clever, clunky, too clever by half, or something else?

Things I like (an incomplete list):
Seeing prereqs do double-duty (i.e., taking more than one feat/PrC/etc. that has the same prereqs, since each such game element lessens the relative cost of such prereqs—but ONLY if those game elements are actually worth your time! Don't throw good feats after bad chasing points here!)
Minimal lead time between setup and payoff. Some degree of "this will be great in a few levels" is unavoidable, but the less of it there is in your build, the better. (This is perhaps sometimes more of an ideal to strive for than a goal I expect to be reached.)
Smoothly nabbing prereqs with minimal investment, even if that involves dipping
Clever combos, nifty interactions, interesting tricks. Anything that makes me stop and go "ooh, that's neat!"
Generally, I like seeing that you've wrung every reasonable drop out of your build resources. If a build is so tight and densely constructed that you can't change much of anything without causing something else to fall apart, and you point out to me how this is the case, then I just eat that up. That shows me that you put thought and consideration into every aspect of the dish and that every choice you made matters, and isn't that really what it's all about?

Things I don't like (an incomplete list):
Illegal skill points, missing prereqs, or other illegal elements. And yeah, I'm picky here. Check yo dang skill points.
Alignment-shifting BS without a really good story reason. Yes, in a real game I'd drop 95% of alignment restrictions, but they're actual prereqs.
Extremely heavy reliance on sketchy RAW. Now, I'm an optimization regular here, and I like a good clever "what they meant isn't what they wrote" as much as the next fellow. So I'm not going to say you can't or you shouldn't rely on that. But I am going to say that if you have to strain to get the dysfunctional/preferred reading, if you really have to split hairs to argue that it works the way you want it to instead of the way that most casual players think it does, then I get a little bit unhappy there. (This is absolutely a judgment call which bits of RAW-twisting are "clear" vs "ambiguous" and we're just going to have to be okay with that.)
A game element that totally blindsides me in one way or another. If I were looking at your build one level at a time and didn't know what came next, how often would I say "oh cool, that makes sense" and how often would I say "what the hell is THAT doing here?"
Failure to cite sources (a source list is fine, in-line citations are fine, but don't make me work too hard to figure out where your build elements come from)
If your skills aren't just a simple progression, gimme a token explanation why. I mean, I get it, we're not making single-classed builds over here and skill availability often changes dramatically by level! But gimme a nod to that and just explain why you dumped 8 points in Ride in a single level (obviously because you had a prereq coming up and you'd never had it in-class before, duh) or where that single-rank investment in Use Rope came from or whatever. Doesn't need much. Doesn't need a fluff explanation unless you feel like it. But I want to know why you made the choices you made. Maybe it'll be obvious, but how sure of that are you?

Your job is to convince me that you want to be a rage mage rather than that you have to be a rage mage. That you are a rage mage for a reason other than "because it's the SI."
Ideally, I'd see that this build simply wouldn't work as well and wouldn't feel like the same character if rage mage were replaced with something else. Like, say, a mix of more of your spellcasting entry class and more barbarian (or your rage-granting class).
Naturally, taking more of the SI is better than taking less of the SI. If you don't take all ten levels, it's not impossible to get a good score, but it's really in your best interest to give me a very good reason why you skimped on what is nominally the focus of the build.
Basically, does this character feel like a rage mage? Do you do things that only rage mages (rage magi? Ragi magi? Ragi mage?) can do? Do the levels in rage mage add more than they take away?
It's really best if you show me that you care about what you get at every possible rage mage level, too. Maybe it's impossible to wring a massive benefit out of every crappy class feature and that's fine, but I think we can all appreciate the distinction between "build that uses an early feature of the SI and just sticks in the class because it's expected" and "build that clearly wants to keep coming back to the SI level after level."

Don't make me work hard.
Repeating in all caps: DON'T MAKE ME WORK HARD. Tell me what you're doing! Tell me how this all works and what your choices do for you!
You know everything that you put into this build. You know all the options you discarded before picking what you went with. You know why you decided on X instead of Y. You know what your ultimate vision of the character is. Me? I don't have any of that except what you showed me. And I just got a whole pile of rage mage builds all at once, so it's really incumbent on you to make it clear and easy for me what you're doing and why it's awesome.
Please please please please please please make your skill points easy to read. Give me some kind of clear visual indicator what ranks actually increased at every level. I get very grumpy when I feel like a skill table is unnecessarily user-unfriendly.
Don't leave wildcards in your build. I've judged builds before that have left skill points blank after prereqs are met, that have left feats unselected, and so on. This is, to be blunt, not cool. Picking stuff is your job, not my job. Finish your build. A variants sidebar is fine and cool and normal, but the main dish should be complete as presented. (Now, if you've got free build-level ability to repick major abilities every day--think cleric-style casting, full meldshaping, etc.--then sure, you don't have to lay out every single spell you prepare. But if you want credit for using certain spells or abilities then you'd better tell me about them instead of just assuming that I'll know which ones you favor.)
Fluff is great and I like to see it, but only if it's supported by mechanics. Don't spin yourself as a serious trapfinder without ranks in Search, for example, no matter how cool your master trapfinder fluff is. I generally won't penalize for fluff. I'll generally only grant bonuses if I'm blown away by the fluff.
I don't care about multiclass penalties. At all.
I generally don't care about cross-setting material as long as you're not using the deeply setting-specific stuff across setting lines. Don't claim benefit for being in some Forgotten Realms organization while taking Favored in House for a dragonmarked house and claiming descent from a Ravenloft realm lord.
I don't do this on purpose, but to be honest, I do tend to be a bit of a mean judge. I mean this sincerely: you are awesome just for getting a build in. This is legitimately hard and is a TON of work, and even if I nitpick things to death, I seriously love this whole community and just getting in a dish truly is an achievement.

Note: This isn't a mechanical rubric. I'm not grading on a specific formula. I do my very best to be even-handed across the board, but I try not to be formulaic in my judgments. (No shade towards folks who do use a simple and rigid rubric! That's valid! It's just not my style.)

The Viscount

2021-04-03, 03:11 PM

H_H_F_F

2021-04-03, 04:55 PM

12 hours could certainly be arranged. If you need more time, that can, too.

Thank you, Zaq.

Appreciated.

Also: yay, Zaq is judging! Thank you, Zaq!

Hiro Quester

2021-04-03, 05:32 PM

Appreciated.

Also: yay, Zaq is judging! Thank you, Zaq!

Seconding that. I like the criteria, too, Zaq. Clear in terms of what you want people to do, especially in terms of what to explain, etc.

I’m not going to get a build submitted. My RL job got too busy this week. I’ll talk about my idea after the builds are submitted, I guess.

Im looking forward to seeing the builds. I hope someone builds, really well, the half-baked idea I was trying to flesh out.

AvatarVecna

2021-04-03, 05:55 PM

The Viscount

2021-04-03, 06:16 PM

https://i.redd.it/u2m7zaly9w121.png

Gruftzwerg

2021-04-04, 01:08 AM

12 hours could certainly be arranged. If you need more time, that can, too.

(Updated the OP to show the 12 hour extension.)

Thank you, Zaq.

I might need those 12 extra hours too. Have been short on time the past days/weeks.. But I hope I'll finish everything today. Tables are set, just need backgrounds and snapshots (and maybe look for remaining errors..^^).

EDIT/UPDATE: I'm working the last parts out. I hope I'm done within the next 1-3 hours. Sorry for the delay and I hope that it is ok..

Final Edit/Update: I'm finished and have sent my entry in. Thx for your patience. :)

H_H_F_F

2021-04-05, 08:56 AM

I'm very nearly done. My table got deleted, so I had to redo it, but I should be done i a bit anyway. Sorry for the delay, guys.

daremetoidareyo

2021-04-05, 09:14 AM

I'm very nearly done. My table got deleted, so I had to redo it, but I should be done i a bit anyway. Sorry for the delay, guys.

Don't worry, i need like 10 more hours to finish mine, so im the problem, not you hhff

Zaq

2021-04-05, 09:33 AM

im the problem

We know, but we love you anyway.

:smallwink:

H_H_F_F

2021-04-05, 09:34 AM

Well, that means I can take a break and get some work done, which is certainly a relief. Thanks for letting me know, Dare.

Submitted!

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:35 PM

Well it looks like work running late lined up pretty well with the time people needed. Now it is time for the reveal! (Please hold off on posting until the all clear).

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:37 PM

Show me your war face!

M.K, The Angriest Magic User
"What do you know ? Fiery temper and arcane power do mix"

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/cb/24/08/cb24081f07ca97adcf52cb2c4bc5b05b.jpg

CN Fire Elf Swordsage1/Elf Combat Wizard4/Wildrunner2/Rage Mage10/Jade Phoenix Mage3

Disclaimer : This build assumes that Primal Scream is an effective rage/frenzy ability for Rage Mage qualification

Race Fire Elf
Level 1 : Aereni Focus : Survival
Level 2 : Two-Weapon Fighting
Level 3 : Endurance
Level 6 : Combat Casting
Level 9 : Shadow Blade
Level 12 : Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Level 15 : Arcane Strike
Level 18 : Martial Study : Dancing Mongoose

Fire Elf : +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Cha, -2 Con
Point Buy level 20 after Racial Adjustments
(Level 4, 8 & 16 to Constitution, 12 & 20 to Dex)
STR 14
DEX 18
CON 16
INT 16
WIS 8
CHA 12

Watchuget
- Flavorwise : My answer to mixing arcane & rage as the SI does, was through fire – fiery power mixed with burning frenzy. Concept matches pretty well with Fire Elf race, the wizard evocation[fire] spells, Desert Wind maneuvers and Jade Phoenix Mage (all The More so that « arcane swordsages » are mentioned in the JPM class description).

- Powerwise : While raging you have full BaB and full CL thanks to the SI. This build aims to make the best of both giving you 5 iteratives, 2 off-hands and one bite. You get 6th level spells with the best spell list in the game. Your elven roots are bringing a lot to the table : Wildrunner prereq, Aereni Focus prereq, Elf Wizard Substitution 1st & 3rd Level.

- Two-Weapon Fighting is interesting because Shadow Blade feat adds Dex to dmg so the more attacks the merrier (and it doesn’t have the 1/2 bonus for off-hand weapons rule that Str does).

- Pouncelike ability. Sudden Leap maneuver is being boosted all through the build by keeping the Jump and Tumble skills maxed out which synergize well with our +10ft from Wildrunner.
As per CustServ (and common sense), the Jump checks aren’t doubled for the Tiger Claw maneuvers even though they Jump from a stand-still. This means (including your 5-foot step) :
- at lvl 1 : min 10ft, max 25ft movement for a swift action (not counting toward your mvt this turn)
- at lvl 20 : min 30ft, max 50ft
If you’re still not satisfied, polymorph can get you a real pounce.

Sweet Spot
Level 9
It opens up 3rd level spells meaning Haste (1 extra attack) and Bite of the Wererat which in turns mean +6 Dex that stack with the +6 granted by Primal Scream (also, bite attack !) and gives us the Weapon Finesse Feat for the duration of the spell meaning Dex to hit and Str + Dex to dmg (Shadow Blade).
Leather armor won’t affect spellcasting anymore and Spell Rage makes M.K’s CL = to his ECL.

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

1st
Swordsage 1
+0
+0
+2
+2
Concentration 4, Hide 4, Jump 4, Knowledge (History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 4), Listen 4, Move Silently 4, Survival 4, Tumble 4
Aereni Focus : Survival
Quick to Act+1, Discipline Focus : Weapon Focus (Shadow Hand)

2nd
Elf Combat Wizard 1
+0
+0
+2
+4
Concentration 5 (+1), Hide 5 (+1), Jump 4, Knowledge (History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5 (+1)), Listen 4, Move Silently 5 (+1), Survival 5 (+1), Tumble 4
Two-Weapon Fighting
Combat Wizard ACF, General Wizardry (Elf Wizard 1st substitution lvl), Summon Familiar, Fighter Bonus Feat

3rd
Elf Combat Wizard 2
+1
+0
+2
+5
Concentration 6 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 6 (+2), Knowledge (History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5 ), Listen 4, Move Silently 5, Survival 6 (+1), Tumble 6 (+1)
Endurance

4th
Elf Combat Wizard 3
+1
+1
+3
+5
Concentration 7 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 7 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 1 (+1), History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 1 (+1) ), Listen 4, Move Silently 5, Survival 7 (+1), Tumble 6
-
Natural Link (Elf Wizard 3rd substitution lvl)

5th
Elf Combat Wizard 4
+2
+1
+3
+6
Concentration 8 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 8 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2 (+1), History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2 (+1) ), Listen 4, Move Silently 5, Survival 8 (+1), Tumble 6

6th
Wildrunner 1
+3
+3
+5
+6
Concentration 9 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 9 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 5 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 9 (+1), Tumble 9 (+3)
Combat Casting
Fast Movement, Trackless Step

7th
Wildrunner 2
+4
+4
+6
+6
Concentration 10 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 10 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 8 (+3), Move Silently 5, Survival 10 (+1), Tumble 10 (+1)
-
Primal Scream, Scent

8th
Rage Mage 1
+4
+6
+6
+6
Concentration 11 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 11 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 9 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 11 (+1), Tumble 11 (+1)
-
Spell Rage 1/d

9th
Rage Mage 2
+5
+7
+6
+6
Concentration 12 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 12 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 12 (+1), Tumble 12 (+1)
Shadow Blade
Overcome Spell Failure

10th
Rage Mage 3
+6
+7
+7
+7
Concentration 13 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 13 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 13 (+1), Tumble 13 (+1)
-
Rage +1/d

11th
Rage Mage 4
+7
+8
+7
+7
Concentration 14 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 14 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 14 (+1), Tumble 14 (+1)
-
-

12th
Rage Mage 5
+7
+8
+7
+7
Concentration 15 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 15 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 15 (+1), Tumble 15 (+1)
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Spell Rage 2/d, Angry Spell +2

13th
Rage Mage 6
+8
+9
+8
+8
Concentration 16 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 16 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 16 (+1), Tumble 16 (+1)
-
-

14th
Rage Mage 7
+9
+9
+8
+8
Concentration 17 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 17 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 17 (+1), Tumble 17 (+1)
-
Spell Fury

15th
Rage Mage 8
+10
+10
+8
+8
Concentration 18 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 18 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 18 (+1), Tumble 18 (+1)
Arcane Strike
Rage +1/d

16th
Rage Mage 9
+10
+10
+9
+9
Concentration 19 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 19 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 19 (+1), Tumble 19 (+1)
-
Tireless Rage

17th
Rage Mage 10
+11
+11
+9
+9
Concentration 20 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 20 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 20 (+1), Tumble 20 (+1)
-
Warrior Cry, Spell Rage 3/d, Angry Spell +4

18th
Jade Phoenix Mage 1
+12
+13
+9
+9
Concentration 21 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 21 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 21 (+1), Tumble 21 (+1)
Martial Study : Dancing Mongoose
Arcane Wrath, Rite of Waking

19th
Jade Phoenix Mage 2
+13
+14
+9
+9
Concentration 22 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 22 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 22 (+1), Tumble 22 (+1)
-
Mystic Phoenix Stance

20th
Jade Phoenix 3
+14
+14
+10
+10
Concentration 23 (+1), Hide 5, Jump 23 (+1), Knowledge (Arcana 2, History 2, Local 1, Nobility 1, Nature 5, Religion 2), Listen 10 (+1), Move Silently 5, Survival 23 (+1), Tumble 23 (+1)
-
-

At Level 20, Bonus from Int (+1 to 1st, 2nd and 3rd) and General Wizardry (+1 to highest)]
Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level
0th
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th

1st
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

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

3rd
4
2+1+1
-
-
-
-
-

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

5th
4
3+1
2+1+1
-
-
-
-

6th
4
3+1
2+1+1
-
-
-
-

7th
4
3+1
2+1+1
-
-
-
-

8th
4
3+1
2+1+1
-
-
-
-

9th
4
3+1
2+1
1+1+1
-
-
-

10th
4
3+1
2+1
1+1+1
-
-
-

11th
4
3+1
3+1
2+1+1
-
-
-

12th
4
3+1
3+1
2+1+1
-
-
-

13th
4
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1
-
-

14th
4
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1
-
-

15th
4
4+1
3+1
3+1
2+1
-
-

16th
4
4+1
3+1
3+1
2+1
-
-

17th
4
4+1
4+1
3+1
2
1+1
-

18th
4
4+1
4+1
3+1
2
1+1
-

19th
4
4+1
4+1
3+1
3
2+1
-

20th
4
4+1
4+1
4+1
3
2
1+1

Disclaimer : « Age » is a concept for the story-telling having no mechanical change on abilities on this build.

M.K belongs to the Fire Elven City of Azra. While his peers have a habit of looking up to « dusty old tomes magic » as he calls it, he would rather seek enlightenment in Nature. He spent his youth honing his surviving skills and training in the ways of battle. Given his race’s frail build, he naturally opts for a skirmishing art of stealthy and decisive strikes rather than brute force.
But as sure as the leopard cannot change its spots, arcane magic found its way in M.K’s life and his ancestral blood led him to studying it with all it’s heart all the while keeping a martial state-of-mind. M.K’s choice of familiar, his lemming Sunny, anchors him in his environment by boosting his perception skills thanks to putting the emphasis on their Natural Link. M.K kept on trying to find a way to reconcile those two parts of himself.

Racial bonuses + Familiar bonuses + Natural Link + Alertness add up to +8 to Spot and Listen skills while the Aereni Focus feat gives us a +3 to Survival ; not too shabby for a wannabe wildling.
Swordsage gives M.K an early edge with powerful maneuvers and compensation from the lack of BaB by Discipline focus.

M.K feels trapped in his progression. The two paths he is trying to merge seem unlikely to ever do so and this fills him with anger. He feels that the city’s social conventions and order are preventing him from breaking through his ordeal and, in order to bypass it, he simply leaves his home to embrace the savageness of the Wild.
Quickly, he picks up many things that his sedentary life was denying him access to, he begins attuning to his newfound environment and develops a new understanding of it. Sunny acts as a guide to unlocking these primal secrets. As M.K faces life and death situations every other day he gets faster, untraceable in the wild and develops an extraordinary sense of smell until he crosses path with his mightiest foe yet : a raging dire wolverine. Being low on arcane power he has to resort to physical prowess and quickly finds himself in over his head. In a heaven-defying scream of unacceptance of his certain death, he copycats (Do puns count toward Elegance ?) his opponent’s frenzied state and gives it a taste of its own medicine. This breakthrough not only made him more powerful but also broke some kind of seal that kept his arcane and wild nature separated : this frenzy was the key to melding his magic and savagery.
M.K’s first step on this newfound path led him to forgo many of his past preoccupations. Through sheer power alone he can defy the boundaries other arcanists are bound to by the law of the world. This domineering demeanor makes up for the lack of study of the arcane arts and even ignores his armor’s encumbrance to a certain extent.

Bite of the Wererat fits M.K thematically and gives us the Weapon Finesse feat for the duration of the spell, making sure he hits things with his high Dex and the Two-Weapon Fighting feat until M.K gets his hands on Feycrafted Shadow weapons. The Rage and Ferocity of Sanguine Rage spells give us a preview of what M.K becomes when unleashing his inner rage.
2 levels of full BaB and 3 levels of 3/4 make M.K sturdier in a fight. His Primal Scream gives +2 Str and +6 Dex and a Bite attack which, combined with Shadow Blade, TWF and Bite of the Wererat (another +6 Dex) grants +11 damage per strike. Haste coming online is no joke coupled with his Fast movement and Scent is the bane of those invisible cowards you can start facing at these levels.
More Primal Scream per day, Spell Rage makes our CL = ECL making buffs last longer and blasts hit harder and wearing leather armor without penalty is a nice free +2 AC.

M.K revels in his rage. He is now right where he has always wanted to be, able to tap in his race primal energy to form a violent kind of magic. While raging, his spellcasting ability doesn’t pale compared to the « dusty old tome » magic users of his race, he can even make his spells deadlier thanks to his anger !
He reaches new realms both in his arcane mastery as well as his weapon wielding technique making him deadlier to those trespassing onto his territory.

More Frenzy, more Spell Rage, Angry Spell and Spell Fury are all coming up online in these levels making M.K’s caster level comparable to a full caster whilst raging. Access to 4th level wizard spells as a 14th level wizard makes its transmutations and abjurations last longer, his evocation deals more damage and his necromancy deadlier.
Being limited to 4th level spells means that any spell M.K knows can potentially be Quickened ; self-buffing has never been easier.
Arcane Strike can give the decisive edge against a particularly tough foe with high saves and hints at the Arcane Wrath that will come later.

Raging is now a second nature to M.K, he doesn’t even tire, whatsmore, he can channel it in a mighty roar to transform himself in an even more formidable foe !
Having mastered his physical rage, he starts to harness the fire of his soul and race in order to continue advancing his technique. He quickly develops an Arcane Wrath, perfecting his previous Arcane strikes, and reaches a Mystic Stance that furthers his arcane prowess and makes him better at defending himself.
This training goes back to his signature fighting style, unleashing his burning inner rage as literal fire to scorch his foes.

Finishing strong
Arcane Wrath gives +4 to hit and Xd10 additional damage if we’re burning through spells, Mystic Phoenix Stance gives +1 CL for a total of 21 during his Spell Rage.
M.K gets access to 6th level spells which include Disintegrate with that sweet +4 Angry Spell, Contingency « When I start raging » sounds adequat and Greater Dispel Magic with a 21 CL is nothing to sneeze at.
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting and the Warrior Cry ability make M.K a full BaB char giving him a total of 8 attacks (5 iterative, 2 TWF, 1 Bite) adding Dex and Str to damage. Is nice!
Finally, 3 levels of JPM give M.K 2 new maneuvers (and one more readied) (cf Spells and Maneuvers) and Martial Study : Dancing Mongoose (since IL is 12th) to get more attacks with your daggers at full BaB.

Cool spells that are castable while Spell Raging :
1st : Blades of Blood, Nerveskitter, Blades of Fire, Burning Hands, Burning Rage
2nd : Wraithstrike, Alter Self, Heroics, Bladeweave, Boiling Blood, Combust, Flame Dagger
3rd : Bite of the Wererat , Rage, Ferocity of Sanguine Rage, Haste, Steeldance
4th : Bite of the Werewolf, Polymorph, Enervation, Fire Orb, Incendiary Surge
5th : Bite of the Wereboar, Channeled Lifetheft, Teleport, Greater Fireburst, Heart of Fire
6th : Bite of the Weretiger, Contingency, AntiMagic Field, Disintegrate

Maneuvers :
Level 1
Stance : Child of Shadow
Maneuvers : Moment of Perfect Mind, Sudden Leap, Shadow Blade Technique, Wolf Fang Strike, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Distracting Ember

Level 18 – 20 :
Jade Phoenix Mage : Zephyr Dance, Leaping Flame

Feycraft Weapons (DMG 2) : Because getting Weapon Finesse would cost a feat (outside of Bite of the Wererat) and we like feat slots. Shadow Discipline weapons include daggers, saïs, shortswords, siaghams. This fits thematically with M.K’s flavor since Wildrunner is the path leading elves to their fey heritage.

Headband of Intellect : more spells, higher DC – physical stat improving items become redundant with Warrior’s Cry or Bite of the X spells enhancement bonuses.

Mantle of Rage (MIC) : rage like a barbarian (+4 Str and Con morale bonuses, better than the Rage spell)

Otyugh Hole (CS) : Magical location that can grant Extend Rage, which we like, especially if it applies to the Spell Rage ability.

* Feycraft weapons : Dex to atk
* Shadow Blade : Dex to dmg
* Primal Scream : unnamed +2 Str, +6 Dex
* Rage : morale +2 Str and Dex
* Haste : 1 more atk at full BaB
* Ferocity of Sanguine Rage : +1/2CL to dmg (Reminder : Spell Rage makes CL = ECL)
* Warrior’s Cry : Enhancement +4 Str, Dex, Con and Nat Armor, +5 Fort and BaB = ECL
* Dancing Mongoose : +2 extra attacks at full BaB

The full-on combo gives 22 Str, 30 Dex and 20 Con and full BaB which translates to 8 attacks at +36/+36(TWF n°1)/+36(Dancing Mongoose n°1)/+36(Dancing Mongoose n°2)/+36 (Haste)/+31/+31(TWF n°2)/+31(Bite)/+25/+20/+15 to hit and +25 to damage for main hand attacks and +12 to off-hand and bite.

* Steeldance + Ferocity of Sanguine Rage spells would add 2 attacks from those flying daggers (if they’re Feycrafted you can use CL+Dex to hit) and deal 1d4 + Int which you may or may not have boosted +10 boost to dmg from FSR

* The Polymorph line : Alter-Self can allow for better mobility (burrow, swim, fly, cimb) as well as Natural Armor or get racial bonus skills to hide, jump and move silently for instance.
Polymorph into Dire Tiger or Lion is a nice boon to your pouncing and grabbing.

- The elephant in the room is the Primal Scream class feature qualifying for « Rage or Frenzy ability » for Rage Mage. WIldrunner gets Fast Movement (like the Barbarian’s), uses the words
a state of feral frenzy and
lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + your Con modifier which make me believe it’s similar enough that it should qualify.
But more importantly, I like elves and they are always the runts of the litter when it comes down to being Big Bad Mad so i’m also doing it for the elves out there that want to just lose it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dcVOmEQzKA).

- UA materials : I’ll stomach the eventual penalties but here are my trains of thoughts :
Combat Wizard just makes more sense to me since a raging character is more likely to have martial skills than doodling on papers.
Fire Elf makes sense thematically as well as mechanically. Other options include wood and savage elves that are stupid (-2 Int) or gray elves that are weak (-2 Str). Mechanically, a gish build is MAD so i’m getting all the help I can from the race.

- Arcane Wrath : +4 to hit, + Xd10 to dmg, by RAW to « a single attack » can mean full attack right ? I feel it’d be OP but if it works it’s the cherry on top.
I like that Arcane Strikes leads to Arcane Wrath but if one spell can’t fuel both then Arcane Strike is redundant and could be replaced by say Extra Rage.

- If feat starved, replacing a level of Jade Phoenix Mage by the 5th level of Combat Wizard ACF grants a Fighter feat. Since our Improved Two-Weapon fighting qualifies as such, it frees a feat slot which can be anything.

Sources :
Player’s Handbook – Feats and spells
Races of the Wild – Wildrunner, Elf Wizard Substitution Levels
Dungeon’s Master Guide II – Feycraft Weapons
Complete Warrior – Rage Mage
Magic Item Compendium – Mantle of Rage
Tome of Battle : Book of the Nine Swords – Swordsage, Jade Phoenix Mage, Maneuvers & Stances, Shadow Blade
Unearthed Arcana - Combat Wizard ACF, Fire Elf race
Frostburn – Lemming Familiar
Player’s Guide to Faerûn – Aereni Focus feat

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:40 PM

Despite all my rage I am still badger, mystic, and sage.

Tummo, Sage of the Shalm
N Middle-Aged Badger Hengeyokai Wizard 6/Blood Magus 4/Rage Mage 10
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/647393639886094337/825115640423120937/direct_uploads_2F6287_2FrzQXZarcarXuuxgPAuQsSw_2Fb adger-focus-balm-aromatherapy-stick_281_29_1024x.png?width=468&height=468

A human youth with frantic, haunted eyes stands at the entrance to a humble warren in the side of a hill, hectoring the old yokai who sits at the entrance with a cup of tea gazing back placidly.

“Tell me!” The child screams. “I need to find the sage! The legends say to seek them here. That they hold the secret to turning fury into power. I have the anger but need power to avenge my village. Please!”

The elder raises an eyebrow as they take a sip. “Very well. Travel through the forests and the plains. Over the hills and under them. Give blood at the stone circles of the Old Faith and take it back from nature’s bounty. Walk these paths by light of day and beneath the moon, in Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring again, just as the Shalm traverses death and rebirth, bloom and rot.”

“What does that even mean?!” The child demands furiously. “Why can’t you just tell me where they are?” But with no other obvious course, they set off on their journey as much in accordance with the instruction as they can manage.

The path stretches out before them twisting and turning for miles and years, until it ultimately leads back to where the village that the child had fled and devoted themselves to avenging. The child is now an adult, tall and strong. They bear the sword across their back comfortably and the once frantic look in their eyes is now hard, though the wrath remains. They walk past the husks of the buildings they once called home, now overtaken with vegetation growing out of the decay and ash. They walk on back to the warren, to find the old yokai sitting in the shape of a badger, though still with their cup of tea.

“You were the sage all along.”

The badger’s head inclines. “And you’ve mastered your rage, at least to some degree. Now you have the power that you sought, or at least enough of it to pursue your purpose in earnest. Shall we be on our way, then?”

“We?”

The yokai winks and a drop of blood drips from the corner of their eye into the soft loam, out of which rise the corpses of various animals and other beasts that turn and begin to shamble down the hill. The badger laps up the last of their tea and unhurriedly walks after them.

Ability Scores:
32 Point-Buy: 8 Str, 11 Dex, 15 Con, 18 Int, 13 Wis, 8 Cha
Adjustments for Middle-Aged Badger Hengeyokai: 7 Str, 10 Dex, 14 Con, 19 Int, 12 Wis, 9 Cha
4th Level Stat Increase: 7 Str, 10 Dex, 14 Con, 20 Int, 12 Wis, 9 Cha
8th Level Stat Increase and Old age modifiers from alternate Bestow Curse: 5 Str, 8 Dex, 12 Con, 22 Int, 13 Wis, 10 Cha
12th Level Stat Increase: 5 Str, 8 Dex, 12 Con, 23 Int, 13 Wis, 10 Cha
16th Level Stat Increase: 5 Str, 8 Dex, 12 Con, 24 Int, 13 Wis, 10 Cha
20th Level Stat Increase: 5 Str, 8 Dex, 12 Con, 25 Int, 13 Wis, 10 Cha

Build Table

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

1st
Wizard 1
+0
+0
+0
+2
Concentration 4, Spellcraft 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 4, Craft (Alchemy) 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 1, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1
Toughness, Improved InitiativeB
Domain Wizard (Abjuration Domain), Wizard of Sun and Moon, Martial Wizard

2nd
Wizard 2
+1
+0
+0
+3
Concentration 5, Spellcraft 5, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 5, Craft (Alchemy) 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Nature) 2, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1
-
-

3rd
Wizard 3
+1
+1
+1
+3
Concentration 6, Spellcraft 6, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 6, Craft (Alchemy) 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 3, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1
Great Fortitude

4th
Wizard 4
+2
+1
+1
+4
Concentration 7, Spellcraft 7, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 7, Craft (Alchemy) 7, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1
-
-

5th
Blood Magus 1
+2
+3
+1
+3
Concentration 8, Spellcraft 8, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 7, Craft (Alchemy) 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1, Heal 4
-
Blood Component, Durable Casting, Stanch

6th
Blood Magus 2
+3
+4
+1
+3
Concentration 9, Spellcraft 9, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 7, Craft (Alchemy) 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1, Heal 5, Bluff 3
Combat Casting
Scarification

7th
Blood Magus 3
+3
+4
+2
+4
Concentration 10, Spellcraft 10, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 7, Craft (Alchemy) 10, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1, Heal 5, Bluff 5, Healing Hands
-
Death Knell

8th
Blood Magus 4
+4
+5
+2
+4
Concentration 11, Spellcraft 11, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 7, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Healing Hands
-
Blood Draught

9th
Rage Mage 1
+4
+7
+2
+4
Concentration 12, Spellcraft 12, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 11, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Healing Hand, Collector of Stories
Surrogate Spellcasting
Spell Rage 1/day

10th
Rage Mage 2
+5
+8
+2
+4
Concentration 13, Spellcraft 13, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 13, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 2cc, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Healing Hand, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy
-
Overcome Spell Failure

11th
Rage Mage 3
+6
+8
+3
+5
Concentration 14, Spellcraft 14, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 14, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 4cc, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3.5cc, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Healing Hand, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy
-
Rage +1 use/day

12th
Rage Mage 4
+7
+9
+3
+5
Concentration 15, Spellcraft 15, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 15, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 5cc, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5cc, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Healing Hands, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy
Arcane Disciple (Balance)
-

13th
Rage Mage 5
+7
+9
+3
+5
Concentration 16, Spellcraft 16, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 16, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Appraise 2cc, Survival 1, Healing Hands, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy
-
Spell Rage 2/day, Angry Spell

14th
Rage Mage 6
+8
+10
+4
+6
Concentration 17, Spellcraft 17, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 17, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Appraise 4cc, Survival 2, Healing Hands, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy
-
-

15th
Rage Mage 7
+9
+10
+4
+6
Concentration 18, Spellcraft 18, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 18, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Appraise 5cc, Survival 3, Healing Hands, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy, Magical Appraisal
Raging Luck
Spell Fury

16th
Rage Mage 8
+10
+11
+4
+6
Concentration 19, Spellcraft 19, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 19, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Appraise 5, Survival 9, Healing Hands, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy, Magical Appraisal
-
Rage +1 use/day

17th
Rage Mage 9
+10
+11
+5
+7
Concentration 20, Spellcraft 20, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 20, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Appraise 5, Survival 15, Healing Hands, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy, Magical Appraisal
-
Tireless Rage

18th
Rage Mage 10
+11
+12
+5
+7
Concentration 21, Spellcraft 21, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 21, Craft (Alchemy) 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Appraise 5, Survival 21, Healing Hands, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy, Magical Appraisal
Action Surge
Warrior Cry, Spell Rage 3/day

19th
Wizard 5
+11
+12
+5
+8
Concentration 22, Spellcraft 22, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 22, Craft (Alchemy) 17, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Appraise 5, Survival 21, Healing Hands, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy, Magical Appraisal
Martial Study (Shadow Stride)B
-

20th
Wizard 6
+12
+13
+6
+9
Concentration 23, Spellcraft 23, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Profession (Miner) 23, Craft (Alchemy) 23, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 1, Heal 5, Bluff 9, Sleight of Hand 5, Appraise 5, Survival 21, Healing Hands, Collector of Stories, False Theurgy, Conceal Spellcasting, Magical Appraisal
-
-

Spells/Day

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

1st
3+1
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

2nd
4+1
2+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

3rd
4+1
2+1
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-

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

5th
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1
-
-
-
-
-

6th
4+1
3+1
3+1
2+1
-
-
-
-
-

7th
4+1
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1
-
-
-
-

8th
4+1
4+1
3+1
3+1
2+1
-
-
-
-

10th
4+1
4+1
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1
-
-
-

12th
4+1
4+1
4+1
3+1
3+1
2+1
-
-
-

14th
4+1
4+1
4+1
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1
-
-

16th
4+1
4+1
4+1
4+1
3+1
3+1
2+1
-
-

18th
4+1
4+1
4+1
4+1
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1
-

19th
4+1
4+1
4+1
4+1
4+1
3+1
3+1
2+1
-

20th
4+1
4+1
4+1
4+1
4+1
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1

*Does not count bonus spells for a high Int score.
Level 5Spells from typical choices for banned schools are going to be important later on, so generalist, and hence Domain Wizard is going to be the way to go for Tummo. Domain Wizard’s bonus slot is more restrictive than that of a typical specialist, but Wizard of Sun and Moon improves versatility by allowing a spell slot at each spell level to be prepared with two different spells, one that can be cast out of it above ground during the day, and the other underground or at night. In fact, the language of Domain Wizard and Wizard of Sun and Moon seems to allow for one side of the Domain slot to be prepared as something other than the domain spell, which is helpful. Moreover, Badger Hengeyokai (which was made LA+0 in the Dragon 318 update) grants a burrow speed in hybrid or animal form (the former being the more relevant for the time being absent the ability to cast in animal form), so Tummo can move, or even take a 5-ft step into or out of the ground in suitable environments to use the side of a Sun and Moon slot that’s more useful in a given situation. Domain Wizard also increases the caster level of spells on the Domain by 1, meaning that Tummo has an arcane caster level of 5 at 4th level, and can enter Blood Magus so long as the fluff req about dying and being returned to life is met somehow.

Feat-wise, Tummo is mostly just paying feat taxes, but there are characters for whom Toughness is less welcome than a 1st level Wizard, and as the Scribe Scroll and Blood Magus’ Scarification ability are redundant, the Martial Wizard ACF trades out the former for a feat off the Fighter Bonus Feat list. Improved Initiative is the classic choice there, to help get off a potentially encounter-winning spell earlier in low-level combat, when Wizards are at their squishiest and most vulnerable, but will also continue to pay dividends with tactics employed later on.

Both Blood Magus and eventually Rage Mage have limited skill lists, especially with a Wizard’s high Int, so skills in these low levels go toward setting Tummo up to qualify for feats later on and set up skill tricks as something to productively put skill points toward in those levels, as well as emphasizing skills that can be progressed in those levels. For Blood Magus levels, Craft (Alchemy) is the clear winner among Craft skills for a caster and for Rage Mage levels Miner stands out as one of the few Professions for which additional rules were printed. It also jives with the burrowing, and since its rules concern clearing out 5-ft cubes of earth, it might work to do something funny in conjunction with Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) – for which Tummo can at least make trained checks with their high Int – especially in early levels.
Level 10Alternate Form grants (Ex) Special Attacks, so Badger Hengeyokai have Rage in animal form, and with one more feat tax and a few more levels to meet the BAB req, Tummo is ready to enter Rage Mage without having lost a single level of casting progression. With the alternate Bestow Curse option from BoVD increasing their age another category, they fully obviate Hengeyokai’s racial Wis penalty and qualify for Surrogate Spellcasting so that they can cast in Badger form. Primarily sticking in Badger form also largely removes the problem of the physical ability score penalties for old age, as they’ll have the stats of a badger instead, for all purposes except Con to HP, which can be made up for with temporary HP from raging, and the usual suite of defenses that a mid-level Wizard will generally prefer to taking hits from level-appropriate enemies anyhow.

Badger rage differs from that of a Barbarian, in that it is triggered by taking damage, which Tummo achieves by way of the point of damage from using Blood Magus’ Blood Component ability. If they don’t want to wait until the second round of combat to start raging and can’t cast spells beforehand, they can cast Nerveskitter with a Blood Component when rolling initiative, bolstering an already respectable modifier and ensuring that their rage will begin at the start of their first turn in one fell swoop. Badger Rage lasts until Tummo or their opponent is dead, and with a Rage Tummo damaging themselves, they should be free to designate whichever ‘opponent’ they please, from the most consequential enemy as insurance that a Spell Rage will last as long as it needs to, to one of their own Animated undead or summons, either to potentially stretch a Spell Rage through multiple encounters or conversely to ensure that a Rage can be voluntarily ended by destroying the minion. How the extra Rages/day from the SI interact with the Rage ability requires some DM adjudication. Most likely, the extra Rages are just added to the already limitless pile of potential daily Badger Rages, but it could be ruled that they add standard Barbarian Rages (which would be helpful as a situational option to trigger as a free action on the fly without needing to take damage in advance).

Blood Magus’ Durable Casting is also liable to come in handy, as Rage Mage’s language regarding the Concentration skill doesn’t actually allow for casting defensively, so when caught in a sticky situation that can’t be somehow escaped from, the only thing to do is cast through the pain.

CL-boosting also starts to really pay off for things besides duration. With the benefit of their 1/day Death Knell alongside Blood Component and the increase to CL for spells on the Abjuration Domain, Tummo can hit the cap on Dispel Magic’s CL check as early as level 7 without items, offering an advantage against enemy casters and spell effects, and other scaling spells will benefit from Blood Magus’ abilities on top of the baseline of caster level=character level set by Spell Rage for the schools to which it applies (which will include most of the spells for which CL ends up being important) as well.
Level 15As a TN worshipper of Obad-Hai, Tummo can get access to spells from the Balance Domain via Arcane Disciple. Among these is Calm Emotions, which offers another mechanism for ending a Rage (if for example a designated enemy is able to escape). Arcane Disciple only grants one casting per day, but extra uses can be stored up as what are effectively Scrolls and Potions via Blood Magus’ Scarification and Blood Draught abilities.

Rage Mage grants Angry Spell to improve save DCs alongside Tummo’s high Int while Raging, an extra Spell Rage per day, and perhaps most interestingly, Spell Fury, which grants a free Quicken on a spell of 4th level or lower in each Rage. With Tummo’s ability to leave and re-enter a state of Rage mid combat – by, for example, blowing up a Raven Zombie that was designated as a Rage’s opponent with an area spell (even just having it fly into an Acid Fog or something) and casting another Blood Component spell to trigger another Rage – they can get just about as many free Quickens as they can spare swift actions. Each Rage also now comes with a free Action Point, courtesy of the Raging Luck feat.

Tummo is now up to 6th level spells, and enjoying full CL in a Spell Rage for relevant schools, with additional potential +1s from Blood Component, Death Knell, and in the case of Abjuration Domain spells (Greater Dispel Magic being the most noteworthy), Domain Wizard.
Level 20Action Surge comes online, giving the ability to spend 2 Action Points for an extra standard action. In addition to the free Action Point in each Rage from Raging Luck, Tummo can easily be pulling in an action point each round with Unfettered Heroism. With their aforementioned ability to end one Rage and start another, this can be a standard action every round in conjunction with a free low-level Quicken (so long as their swift action hasn’t gone to something else) for impressive action economy.

Arcane Disciple provides access to Word of Balance (provided Owl’s Wisdom, an item, or something has increased Tummo’s Wis to the requisite 17). Word spells are always nice with a high CL, and being an Evocation, it works with Spell Rage, along with Blood Component, Death Knell, and any boosts from items, (such as Terran Brandy, which they can craft themselves with no chance of failure between Craft (Alchemy) ranks, high Int, and the Magecraft spell).

Finishing out Rage Mage grants an always welcome third Spell Rage per day, Tireless Rage, and the Warrior Cry capstone. Tireless Rage, like the additional Rage uses, may or may not be noteworthy depending on DM adjudication, as badger Rage, unlike that of a Barbarian, doesn’t say anything about the badger becoming fatigued at the end. But if it is ruled that they do, the ability to avoid that becomes absolutely critical to Tummo’s tactics. Fatigue itself is not the worst thing in the world for a caster, but multiple instances of fatigue stacking to cause exhaustion is catastrophic for anyone, so in order to freely bounce in and out of Rage rather than staying in the second until the encounter’s end, the ability may prove necessary. Tummo will pretty much only be gishing when using Warrior Cry, but CL-boosting, strong action economy, and access to the full spell list of a generalist Wizard offer all the tools needed to use the ability effectively when the situation warrants it.

As the 5th level of Blood Magus loses casting, Tummo finishes off by returning to Wizard. Hitting Martial Wizard 5 at this high level opens up Martial Study (Shadow Jaunt), giving a move action teleport once in each encounter, which is nice to have on a caster whose move actions are more likely to be free to dedicate to movement. Last but not least, they finish off hitting 8th level spells.

Book of Vile Darkness: Alternate Bestow Curse to increase age category, Terran Brandy
Complete Arcane: Blood Magus
Complete Divine: Arcane Disciple, Obad-Hai
Complete Scoundrel: Skill Tricks
Complete Warrior: Rage Mage
Dungeonscape: Wizard of Sun and Moon
Eberron Campaign Setting: Magecraft, Raging Luck
Oriental Adventures/Dragon Magazine 318 Update: Badger Hengeyokai
Races of Eberron: Unfettered Heroism
Races of the Dragon: Profession (Miner) rules
Savage Species: Surrogate Spellcasting
Spell Compendium: Balance Domain, Nerveskitter, Word of Balance
Tome of Battle: Martial Study, Shadow Stride
Underdark: Obad-Hai granting Balance Domain
Everything else is SRD

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:43 PM

I just think they're neat!

One Background: Three Stories

I had one build idea that evolved into three different build ideas that share some similarities. They share the same background but went different paths in their live. As such the background only covers the childhood/teenager life and the class choices are presented in the lvl 1-5 snapshots.

As a child of a Changling merchant there is no place that one could call home. Even the generally more avoided parts of the world like the underdark (e.g. drow, gnome and kobold settlements) or orcish settlements have been part of the journeys in the childhood. This caused a growing interest in special blood related abilities (Racial Emulation). An addictions many Changelings share. It's interesting how the other races express their rage and emotions when it comes to battle. Or how some races can excel in certain aspects of combat and magic. Finally all builds did picked up a liking on spiders from the drow. As such, all of em express this interest in different ways. With these interests a life as merchant seems to boring. Thus our main protagonist leaves his parents safety to approach the wild life of an adventurer.

Alingment: C-N
Religion: Kurtulmak

Str: 14
Dex: 12
Con: 16 (last 3 points from lvlUp here:@20= 19) (+5 from Wish= 24)
Int: 12
Wis: 10
Cha: 14 (first 2 points from lvlUp here:@lvl8= 16)

Level
Class
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Skills
Feats
Class Features

1st
Battle Sorcerer
(ACF: Stalwart Sorcerer)
+0
+0
+0
+2
Concentration: 4
Knowledge (Arcane): 4
Spellcraft: 4
Combat Casting
d8 HP
Light Armor
+2HP
Warhammer Proficiency (from BS)
Greatsword Proficiency (from SS)
Weapon Focus Greatsword (from SS)

2nd
Battle Sorcerer
(ACF: Stalwart Sorcerer)
+1
+0
+0
+3
Concentration: 5
Knowledge (Arcane): 5
Spellcraft: 5

d8 HP
+2 HP

3rd
Battle Sorcerer
(ACF: Stalwart Sorcerer)
+2
+1
+1
+3
Concentration: 6
Knowledge (Arcane): 6
Spellcraft: 6
Additional Favored Class (Barbarian)
d8 HP
+2HP

4th
Battle Sorcerer
(ACF: Stalwart Sorcerer)
+3
+1
+1
+4
Concentration: 7
Knowledge (Arcane): 7
Spellcraft: 7

d8 HP
+2 HP

5th
Barbarian
Spiritual Totem:
"Lion Totem"
+4
+3
+1
+4
Listen: 5

Martial Weapon Proficiency (all)
Medium Armor
Shields (except Towershields)
Pounce
Rage 1/day

6th
Rage Mage
+4
+5
+1
+4
Concentration: 8
Knowledge (Arcane): 8
Spellcraft: 8
Obtain Familiar
Spell Rage 1/day

7th
Warshaper
+4
+7
+1
+4
Balance: 3

Morphic Immunities
Morphic Weapons

8th
Warshaper
+5
+8
+1
+4
Balance: 5
Concentration: 9

Morphic Body

9th
Rage Mage
+6
+9
+1
+4
Concentration: 10
Knowledge (Arcane): 9
Spellcraft: 9
Racial Emulation
(Draconic Rite of Passage:
Pocket Familiar 1/day)
Overcome Spell Failure

10th
Rage Mage
+7
+9
+2
+5
Concentration: 11
Knowledge (Arcane): 10
Spellcraft: 10

Rage 2/day

11th
Rage Mage
+8
+10
+2
+5
Concentration: 12
Knowledge (Arcane): 11
Spellcraft: 11

12th
Rage Mage
+8
+11
+2
+5
Concentration: 13
Knowledge (Arcane): 12
Spellcraft: 12
Draconic Reservoir
(Pocket Familiar 3/day)
Spell Rage 2/day

13th
Rage Mage
+9
+11
+3
+6
Concentration: 14
Knowledge (Arcane): 13
Spellcraft: 13

14th
Rage Mage
+10
+12
+3
+6
Concentration: 15
Knowledge (Arcane): 14
Spellcraft: 14

Spell Fury

15th
Battle Sorcerer
ACF: Domain Access
+10
+12
+3
+7
Concentration: 16
Knowledge (Arcane): 15
Spellcraft: 15
Shadowform Familiar
Domain: War

16th
Rage Mage
+11
+13
+3
+7
Concentration: 17
Knowledge (Arcane): 16
Spellcraft: 16

Rage 3/day

17th
Rage Mage
+11
+13
+4
+8
Concentration: 18
Knowledge (Arcane): 17
Spellcraft: 17

Tireless Rage

18th
Rage Mage
+12
+14
+4
+8
Concentration: 19
Knowledge (Arcane): 18
Spellcraft: 18
Bonded Familiar
Warrior Cry
Spell Rage 3/day

19th
Battle Sorcerer
(ACF: Stalwart Sorcerer)
+13
+15
+5
+8
Concentration: 20
Knowledge (Arcane): 19
Spellcraft: 19

d8 HP
+2 HP

20th
Warshaper
+14
+15
+6
+9
Concentration: 23

Morphic Reach

Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
New Spells Known

1st
4/3
2/1
-
-
-
-
-
Detect Magic (0th)
Ghost Sound (0th)
Light (0th)
Enlarge Person (1st)

2nd
5/4
3/1
-
-
-
-
-
Detect Poison (0th)

3rd
5/4
4/1
-
-
-
-
-
-

4th
5/5
5/2
2/1
-
-
-
-
Read Magic (0th)
Lesser Spider Form (1st)
Wings of Cover (2nd)

5th
5/5
5/2
2/1
-
-
-
-
-

6th
5/5
5/2
2/1
-
-
-
-
-

7th
5/5
5/2
2/1
-
-
-
-
-

8th
5/5
5/2
2/1
-
-
-
-
-

9th
5/5
5/3
3/1
-
-
-
-
Blood Wind (1st)

10th
5/5
5/3
3/1
-
-
-
-
-

11th
5/6
5/3
4/2
2/1
-
-
-
Message (0th)
Mirror Image (2nd)
Fly (3rd)

12th*
5/6
5/4
5/2
3/1
-
-
-
Grease (1st)

13th
5/7
5/4
5/2
4/1
2/1
-
-
Mage Hand (0th)
Polymorph (4th)

14th
5/7
5/4
5/2
4/1
2/1
-
-
-

15th**
5/7
5/3
5/2
5/2
3/1
-
-
- Grease (1st)
- Ferocity of Sanguine Rage (3rd)

16th**
5/7
5/3
5/2
5/2
3/1
-
-
-

17th**
5/8
5/3
5/3
5/2
4/1
2/1
-
Mending (0th)
Fearsome Grapple (2nd)
Arcane Fusion (5th)

18th**
5/8
5/3
5/3
5/2
4/1
2/1
-
-

19th**
5/8
5/3
5/3
5/3
5/2
4/1
2/1
Rage (3rd)
Greater Invisibility (4th)
Contingency (6th)

20th**
5/8
5/3
5/3
5/3
5/2
4/1
2/1
-

* @ lvl 12 we have can perform the Greater Draconic Rite of Passage as Kobold to gain +1 Sorcerer casting (which would otherwise a level without progression due to Rage Mage). Further a permanent -1HP penalty is applied.

** Domain Spells (War) per day and known are not included.

As a Stalwart/Battle Sorcerer we start with a pretty high HP of 13. Combine this with a Greatsword and Enlarge Person and we look at the pretty strong lvl 1 combatant.

Lesser Spider Form gives us access to Web as easy to apply battlefield control (ranged touch attack). Since the DC for Escape Artist and Strength check are CON based, we can push em via Rage (Barbarian) and Morphic Body later (Warshaper). It's a fallback option if we somehow want to avoid melee combat or a single strong enemy poses to much of of a thread to our allies.

Wings of Cover is a nice counter to avoid getting hit by enemy attacks or even spells.

Additional Favorite Class enables us to enter Barbarian without any XP penalties. Rage and Pounce are the obvious benefits here.

With entering Rage Mage we can now cast spells while using Rage. This enables us to use Wings of Cover during Rage.

Obtain Familiar (Spider) is handy to share our combat spells. Due to our high HP, the Familiar ain't that squishy. And with access to Enlarge Person + Lesser Spider Form our familiar can become really useful in combat.

Warshaper gives us access to nice Natural Weapons and boosts our STR and CON scores by +4.

With Racial Emulation we can now do the Kobolds Draconic Rite of Passage to gain Pocket Familiar as SLA 1/day. This allows our familiar a quick and reliable escape option if it should somehow be in danger of death (e.g low HP).

Blood Wind is a nice fallback option if we want to avoid melee reach or otherwise can't reach the enemy (e.g. flying enemy).

Draconic Reservoir qualifies us for the Greater Rite of Passage to get another level of sorcerer spellcasting progression.

Mirror Image is a very strong defensive spell combined with Wings of Cover in your sleeve. Almost like a short time "godmode".

Fly doesn't need much explanation. Can be used defensively or offensively.

Polymorph is the Swiss Army Knife of 3.5. Use it when the situation demands it. Also a good combat boost that can be shared with our familiar.

Ferocity of Sanguine Rage is a very nice dmg bost if the situation should demand it. +1/2 clvl damage on all attacks (and thx due to Morphic Weapons we have a lot of them).

Domain Access: "War" enables Divine Power. While we are for now limited to cast it only 1/day we can bypass that later with Arcane Fusion (5th @lvl17) since it is now one of our "Sorcerer spells".

Spell Fury helps with action economy and lets us quicken one spell of up to 4th lvl when we enter a rage. This will mostly be abused for either Enlarge Person, Polymorph or Divine Power in most chases.

Shadowform Familiar lets us summon any familiar we have access to with the incorporeal subtype. Now our Familiar becomes even more reliable as combat buddy.

Bounded Familiar allows us and our familiar to save each other from "HP damage death" once a day. This is our last ace in out sleeve if everything else fails.

Tireless Rage and Warcry are completing the build fine.

Morphic Reach comes late but is still a great cornerstone for this build.

Fearsome Grapple is a nice immediate action spell that gives up to +8 bonus on grapple checks. Be it for defense or offense, these are really great. Since the build can achieve a high STR score with abilities and spell buffs, this can be devastating for many enemies.

Greater Invisibility, even on late levels, is still an autowin against many enemies and even out of combat a good utility tool.

Arcane Fusion helps the build to be more flexible. The most interesting part besides from the action management is that it allows to cast Divine Power more often.

Contingency is king when it comes to action management. Combined with Arcane Fusion we can even have 2 spell effects applied to it.

What else could one ask/wish for? You could set up to 4 buff spells in a single round when combat starts (with another regular Arcane Fusion cast afterwards). If that ain't still enough, you could abuse Spell Fury for another buff spell (up to 4th level) for a total of 5 buff spells. While other gishes either have problems with Action Economy or have to rely on Persistent Spells, this build can now casts anything needed on the fly.

As mentioned, the build can wear either a Twilight Mithral Feycraft Fullplate Armor or a Heavy Mithral Shield together with a Chain Shirt. Just make sure to apply Wilding Glasps to it.

An Amulet of Mighty Fists (with a Wilding Glasp) is needed to enhance all natural weapons the build has access to.

Changeling: Races of Eberron
Battle Sorcerer: SRD
Stalwart Sorcerer: Complete Mage
Additional Favored Class: Unearted Arcana
Barbarian "Spiritual Totem: Lion": Complete Champion
Obtain Familiar: Complete Arcane
Warshaper: Complete Warrior
Draconic Rite of Passage: Races of the Dragon
Draconic Reservoir: web enhancement (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a)
Greater Draconic Rite of Passge: web enhancement
(http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a)Shadowform Familiar: Champiions of Ruin
Bouded Familiar: PHB II

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:44 PM

If you're gonna get into spiders, you might as well get all the way into spiders.

One Background: Three Stories

I had one build idea that evolved into three different build ideas that share some similarities. They share the same background but went different paths in their live. As such the background only covers the childhood/teenager life and the class choices are presented in the lvl 1-5 snapshots.

As a child of a Changling merchant there is no place that one could call home. Even the generally more avoided parts of the world like the underdark (e.g. drow, gnome and kobold settlements) or orcish settlements have been part of the journeys in the childhood. This caused a growing interest in special blood related abilities (Racial Emulation). An addictions many Changelings share. It's interesting how the other races express their rage and emotions when it comes to battle. Or how some races can excel in certain aspects of combat and magic. Finally all builds did picked up a liking on spiders from the drow. As such, all of em express this interest in different ways. With these interests a life as merchant seems to boring. Thus our main protagonist leaves his parents safety to approach the wild life of an adventurer.

Str: 14
Dex: 10
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 18 (@20: 23) (+ possible wishes and items)
Cha: 8

* The build had to rely on a flaw to fit all required feats into the early levels. Otherwise the build couldn't be finished within the 20 lvls.
Recommended flaw "Shaky": -2 to ranged attack rolls.

Level
Class
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Skills
Feats
Features

1st
Half-Orc Druid
Druidic Avenger
Root Walker
+0
+2
+0
+2
Concentration: 4
Handle Animal: 4
Spot: 4
Survival: 4
Racial Emulation
*Skill Focus (Handle Animal)*
d10 HP
Fast Movement
Rage 1/day
Nature Sense
Vermin Empathy
Draconic Rite of Passage: Enlarge Person 1/day (sla)

2nd
Druidic Avenger
Root Walker
+1
+3
+0
+3
Concentration: 5
Handle Animal: 5
Spot: 5
Survival: 5
-
Earth/Stone (?) stride

3rd
Druidic Avenger
+2
+3
+1
+3
Concentration: 6
Handle Animal: 6
Spot: 6
Survival: 6
Combat Casting
Trackless Step

4th
Half-Orc Druid
Druidic Avenger
+3
+4
+1
+4
Concentration: 7
Handle Animal: 7
Spot: 7
Survival: 7
-
d10 HP
Bully Animals

5th
Druidic Avenger
+3
+5
+1
+5
Concentration: 8
Handle Animal: 8
Spot: 8
Survival: 8
-
Wild Shape 1/day

6th
Beastmaster
+4
+7
+3
+5
Handle Animal: 9
Ride: 1
Spot: 9
Survival: 9
Southern Magician
Animal Companion
Wild Empathy

7th
Rage Mage
+4
+9
+3
+5
Concentration: 9
Survival: 10
-
Spell Rage 1/day

8th
Rage Mage
+5
+10
+3
+5
Concentration: 10
Handle Animal: 9.5
-
Overcome Spell Failure

9th
Warshaper
+5
+12
+3
+5
Concentration: 11
Handle Animal: 10
Natural Spell
Morphic Weapons
Morphic Immunities

10th
Warshaper
+6
+13
+3
+5
Concentration: 12
Handle Animal: 10.5
-
Morphic Body

11th
Rage Mage
+7
+13
+4
+6
Concentration: 13
Handle Animal: 11
-
Rage 2/day

12th
Rage Mage
+8
+14
+4
+6
Concentration: 14
Handle Animal: 11.5
Multiattack
-

13th
Rage Mage
+8
+15
+4
+6
Concentration: 15
Handle Animal: 12
-
Spell Rage 2/day

14th
Rage Mage
+9
+15
+5
+7
Concentration: 16
Handle Animal: 12.5
-
-

15th
Half-Elf Paragon
+9
+15
+7
+7
Concentration: 17 (+2 P.)
Handle Animal: 13.5 (+2 P.)
Vermin Trainer
Spider Companion
Bonus Feat
Divided Ancestry
Elven Vision

16th
Rage Mage
+10
+16
+7
+7
Concentration: 18
Handle Animal: 14
-
Spell Fury

17th
Warshaper
+11
+16
+8
+8
Concentration: 19
Handle Animal: 14.5
-
Morphic Reach

18th
Rage Mage
+12
+17
+8
+8
Concentration: 20
Handle Animal: 15
Draconic Reservoir
Rage 3/day
Enlarge Person 3/day

19th
Rage Mage
+12
+17
+9
+9
Concentration: 21
Handle Animal: 15.5
-
Tireless Rage

20th
Rage Mage
+13
+18
+9
+9
Concentration: 22
Handle Animal: 16
-
Spell Rage 3/day
Warcry

Spells per Day
(bonus spells not included)

Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Notable Spells (lvls; source)

1st
3
1
-
-
-
-
Entangle (1st; SRD)
Good Berries (1st; SRD)
Shillelagh (1st; SRD)

2nd
4
2
-
-
-
-
-

3rd
4
2
1
-
-
-
Acorn of Far Travel (2nd; web article (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040710a))
Bite of the Wererat (2nd; Spell Compendium)
Kelpstrand (2nd; Spell Compendium)
Snakes Swiftness, Mass (2nd; Spell Compendium)

4th
5
3
2
-
-
-
-

5th
5
3
2
1
-
-
Entangling Staff (3rd; Spell Compendium)
Magic Fang, Greater (3rd; SRD)
Primal Instinct (3rd; Dragon Magic)
Venomfire (3rd; Serpent Kingdom)

6th
5
3
2
1
-
-
-

7th
5
3
2
1
-
-
-

8th
5
3
3
2
-
-
-

9th
5
3
3
2
-
-
-

10th
5
3
3
2
-
-
-

11th
5
3
3
2
-
-
-

12th
6
4
3
2
1
-
Enhance Wild Shape (4th; Spell Compendium)
Friendly Fire (4th; Exemplars of Evil)
Giant Vermin (4th; SRD)
Last Breath (4th; Spell Compendium)

13th
6
4
3
2
1
-
-

14th
6
4
3
3
2
-
-

15th
6
4
3
3
2
-
-

16th
6
4
3
3
2
-
-

17th
6
4
3
3
2
-
-

18th
6
4
4
3
2
1
Bite of the Weretiger (5th; Spell Compendium)
Druid's Groove (5th; Masters of the Wild)
Heal (5th; Spell Compendium)

19th
6
4
4
3
2
1
-

20th
6
4
4
3
3
2
-

The character was influenced by some half-orc druids on her journey with her parents. She stayed a while with them to pick up their way of life, before she finally seeks out to find her true purpose in life.

With the Half Orc Druid substitution we start with some more HP and later the ability to Bully Animals. While the Wild empathy ability caps at 5 druid lvls we can push the STR modifier very high in this build to compensate for that.

Druidic Avenger gives us Rage 1/day and Fast Movement. Since she does every day the Darconic Rite of the Passage, she can use Enlarge Person 1/day. Either combine these two effects for a big main encounter or use em on different encounters.

Root Walker gives us access to Vermin Empathy which will become more important on the later levels. It further changes Woodland Stride to work on stone/earthen derbies and the like instead of woodland.

Shillelagh and Bite of the Wererat are the most recommended spells for the early level. Entangling Staff ad to our arsenal of combat buffs that can either be stacked with other buffs or be used alone for medicore encounters.

Venomfire will last the duration of an entire Wild Shape for the Fleshraker form we get at lvl 5.

With a Beastmaster dip, we get an animal companion (back, that we traded away with Druidic Avenger). This is also needed to hit the BAB requirement for Rage Mage.
Southern Magician is another build specific requirement to qualify as arcane spellcaster for Rage Mage as Druid.

With Natural Spell we can now make use of Spell Rage within the Wild Shape form.
Morphic Weapons enhance the combat power greatly. Be it in Fleshraker form with Venomfire or in her original form (due to Changelings shape changing ability), having access to 10 tentacles or 12 hydra bite attacks all day long is very strong. Morphic Body increases our STR & CON by 4. Together with Rage we can now increase the Fleshrakers Poison DC (CON based) by up to +4 (Fortitude 14 + 4 = DC 18).

Multiattack helps to hit better with our secondary attack with out bad BAB.

Unless no one else can resurrect dead teammates (Last Breath) most of the time Friendly Fire will be the most usefull spell here. Giant Vermin could be interesting depending on the kind of adventure (inside / outside) and fits the spider addiction of this build. Enhance Wild Shape is another situational spell if you should intent to abuse any EX abilities of wild shape forms.

At 15 with the Half-Elf Paragon dip, we get access to Vermin Trainer and Spider Companion. The former lets you use Handle Animal on vermins, the latter lets you attract Monstrous Spiders as Animal Companion. With these two feats, the base is set to conquer the world with an army of Huge Monstrous Spiders. In downtimes you can release your Animal Companion and than retain it with Handle Animal. A new Monstrous Spider as Animal Companion can be gained after 24h. Rinse and repeat (sure, the training needs time. But if there are any downtimes, this combo will shine).

With multiple spiders, you can now try to (re-)web multiple enemies per turn. Even if their escape and burst DCs ain't that high, having multiple spider ready to reapply it constantly is still a very strong battlefield control.

Spell Fury can quicken a spell of up to 4th lvl. This will come in handy for spells like Friendly Fire (full round duration version) or other important combat spells. Mass Snakes Swiftness is another good option for this. Doing this in the first (or second round if allies need to position themselves) round will make fights a lot easier due to the combined allies damage burst (don't forget the lil spider army if you had time to prepare one). It can also be used for any of the other short term combat buffs.

Morphic Reach increases our reach by 5ft. Combined with Enlarge Person we can have up to 15ft reach (even as Fleshraker if Enlarge Person is cast before using the Wild Shape ability).
Draconic Reservoir lets us use Enlarge Person now 3/day.

Heal and Bite of the Weretiger are pretty much clear when and why to use/prepare em.
Druid Grove can be abused with Acorn of Far Travel. The former lets you store spells in trees and treat em like scrolls. Acorn of Far Travel on the other hand offers:

As long as you carry the acorn (and as long as the acorn is not stored in an extradimensional space like a bag of holding), you are considered to be standing under that oak tree's canopy (and thus within an area of forested terrain).
The main effect is to count as standing under the oak tree where you did got the acorn from. This should allow to see and hear as if you where standing there and thus allow to use the Spell you stored into the oak tree (via Druid Grove). Both spells have a duration of days/casterlevel. As long as there are oak trees on your journey, this combo can be abused for extra prepared spells of up to 1/3 casterlevel (and should therefore be used with a spell rage). If the character has the opportunity to use this combo, she can abuse it for situational spells or extra uses of commonly used spells.

Tireless Rage and Warcry are finisher abilties to complete the build. Nothing game breaking, but adds to some combos (e.g. the CON bonus adds to the DC of the Fleshrakers Poison ability and Rage duration; or the STR boost for Bully Animal).

Since sole interesting items for the build are for enhancing Natural Weapons and Wild Shape.

An Amulet of Might Fists (with a Wilding Clasp) enhances all our Natural Attacks (source: SRD). Since the build can have easily up 3 different types (Claw, bite + tentacle/hydra bite) and even switch to other Natural Attack forms this is the best option here, even if more expensive compared to more common choices here.

Best combined with a Wild Shape Amulet (Magic of Faerun) which increases our effective level for Wild Shape by 4 levels ( = 9h duration, 3/day, large forms). This gives us enough duration to cover the entire day in Wild Shape if desired.

A Mantle of the Beast is final item in line to speed up Wild Shape into a Swift Action for better action economy.

Due to Southern Magician we can use Eternal Wands. As such, a wand of Rage can be handy as backup if we should run out of Rage.

Changeling: Races of Eberron
Druidic Avenger: SRD
Half-Orc Druid: Races of Destiny
Additional Favored Class: Unearted Arcana
Barbarian "Spiritual Totem: Lion": Complete Champion
Warshaper: Complete Warrior
Draconic Rite of Passage: Races of the Dragon
Draconic Reservoir: web enhancement
Greater Draconic Rite of Passge: web enhancement
Root Walker: SRD
Half-Elf Paragon: SRD
Southern Magician: Races of Faerun
Vermin Trainer: Drow of the Underdark
Spider Companion: Drow of the Underdark

Disclaimer: No animals have been bullied while writing this build :smallwink:

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:48 PM

Hell itself trembles before the fury of the righteous man.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/647393639886094337/828612963224911882/face5-2.jpg
Erskine the Redeemed
CG Hellbred Barbarian 7/Suel Arcanamach 3/Rage Mage 10

A righteous fury...

He came back for her.

It was her face that flashed before his eyes as he descended into the darkness of death, her face that burned hotter than the flames of Hell, her face that he held onto when all else was torn from him, flayed away by mocking devils.

By the end he didn’t remember his name. He didn’t remember how he had died. He didn’t remember the crimes that had allowed the devils to lay claim to his soul. He didn’t know whether he had been there for a day or a week or an eternity. There was only the pain, the torment, and her. He remembered her. He would always remember her. She had loved him, briefly, loved him despite his now forgotten crimes, loved him in that fleeting moment of life that seemed so brief, so long ago. Was she even still alive? Would she recognize him? Was she safe? He needed to know. He needed to know.

And so, the Scourging. It had been written into the Pact Primeval and so was sacrosanct, but few ever claimed it, and fewer still survived it. And without her face, shining as a beacon, he would have become lost as Heaven and Hell warred and rent and twisted his body into a cruel mockery of humanity. But her face guided him through it. And when the full terms of the Scourging were revealed to him, the impossible task he would need to complete to redeem himself, to avoid being dragged back to Baator and made to suffer even worse torments for his arrogance, he simply nodded, for she was worth it.

She was always worth it.

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

1st
Barbarian 1
+1
+2
+0
+0
Concentration 2 ranks (cc), intimidate 4 ranks, jump 4 ranks, tumble 2 ranks, spellcraft 2 ranks (cc), literacy (2 ranks)
Righteous Wrath, Devil’s Favorbonus
Climb speed, illiteracy, rage 1/day

2nd
Barbarian 2
+2
+3
+0
+0
Climb 1 rank, concentration 2.5 ranks (+0.5, cc), intimidate 5 ranks (+1), spellcraft 2.5 ranks (+0.5, cc), tumble 3 ranks (+1)

+2 bonus on intimidate checks

3rd
Barbarian 3
+3
+3
+1
+1
Climb 2 ranks (+1), concentration 3 ranks (+0.5, cc), intimidate 6 ranks (+1), spellcraft 3 ranks (+0.5, cc), tumble 4 ranks (+1)
Iron Will, Power Attackbonus
Power Attack

4th
Barbarian 4
+4
+4
+1
+1
Climb 4 ranks (+2), concentration 3.5 ranks (+0.5, cc), intimidate 7 ranks (+1), spellcraft 3.5 ranks (+0.5, cc)
Devil’s Staminabonus
Rage 2/day

5th
Barbarian 5
+5
+4
+1
+1
Climb 6 ranks (+2), concentration 4 ranks (+0.5, cc), intimidate 8 ranks (+1), spellcraft 4 ranks (+0.5, cc)

Improved climb speed

6th
Barbarian 6
+6/+1
+5
+2
+2
Climb 9 ranks (+3), spellcraft 4.5 ranks (+0.5, cc), speak language (Ancient Suloise) 0.5 ranks (cc)
Combat Casting

7th
Barbarian 7
+7/+2
+5
+2
+2
Climb 10 ranks (+1), spellcraft 5 ranks (+0.5, cc), Corner Perch skill trick, speak language (Ancient Suloise) 1 rank (+0.5, cc)

Streetfighter

8th
Suel Arcanamach 1
+7/+2
+5
+4
+4
Bluff 2 ranks, intimidate 9 ranks (+1, cc), spellcraft 6 ranks (+1)

Ignore spell failure chance 5%, tenacious spells

9th
Suel Arcanamach 2
+8/+3
+5
+5
+5
Bluff 4 ranks (+2), intimidate 10 ranks (+1, cc), spellcraft 7 ranks (+1)
Martial Study (cloak of deception)
Dispelling strike 1/day

10th
Suel Arcanamach 3
+9/+4
+6
+5
+5
Bluff 5 ranks (+1), intimidate 11 ranks (+1, cc), spellcraft 9 ranks (+2)

Extended spellstrength

11th
Rage Mage 1
+9/+4
+8
+5
+5
Intimidate 12.5 ranks (+1.5, cc)

Spell rage 1/day

12th
Rage Mage 2
+10/+5
+9
+5
+5
Intimidate 14 ranks (+1.5, cc)
Resounding Blow
Overcome spell failure

13th
Rage Mage 3
+11/+6/+1
+9
+6
+6
Intimidate 15.5 ranks (+1.5, cc)

Rage +1 use/day

14th
Rage Mage 4
+12/+7/+2
+10
+6
+6
Intimidate 17 ranks (+1.5, cc)
Devil’s Aurabonus

15th
Rage Mage 5
+12/+7/+2
+10
+6
+6
Intimidate 18 ranks (+1, cc), spellcraft 10 ranks (+1)
Quell the Profane
Spell rage 2/day

16th
Rage Mage 6
+13/+8/+3
+11
+7
+7
Intimidate 19 ranks (+1, cc), spellcraft 11 ranks (+1)

17th
Rage Mage 7
+14/+9/+4
+11
+7
+7
Intimidate 20 ranks (+1, cc), spellcraft 12 ranks (+1)

Spell fury

18th
Rage Mage 8
+15/+10/+5
+12
+7
+7
Intimidate 21 ranks (+1, cc), spellcraft 13 ranks (+1)
Versatile Spellcaster
Rage +1 use/day

19th
Rage Mage 9
+15/+10/+5
+12
+8
+8
Intimidate 22 ranks (+1, cc), spellcraft 14 ranks (+1)

Tireless rage

20th
Rage Mage 10
+16/+11/+6/+1
+13
+8
+8
Intimidate 23 ranks (+1, cc), spellcraft 15 ranks (+1)

Warrior cry, spell rage 3/day

Ape totem barbarian, streetfighter barbarian, skilled city dweller

32 point buy:
Before racial mods: Str 16/Dex 10/Con 12/Int 14/Wis 8/Cha 16
After racial mods: Str 16/Dex 10/Con 14/Int 12/Wis 8/Cha 16

Raise Charisma at every available opportunity.

Final Skill Layout
Intimidate 23 ranks
Spellcraft 15 ranks
Climb 10 ranks
Bluff 5 ranks
Jump 4 ranks
Tumble 4 ranks
Concentration 4 ranks
Literacy (requires 2 ranks, taken at 1st level)
Speak Language (Ancient Suloise)
Corner Perch skill trick

Spells Known:
1st (4/day) - Protection from evil, nerveskitter, enlarge person, grease
2nd (3/day) - Whirling blade, alter self, wraithstrike
3rd (3/day) - Keen edge, dispel magic, anticipate teleportation
4th (2/day) - Greater mirror image, greater invisibility
5th (0/day)- Greater blink

You will want to focus on a two-handed slashing weapon with the highest crit chance possible. Typically, this will be the falchion, but a greatsword works in a pinch as well. Medium or light armor with as minimal an arcane spell failure chance as possible is also ideal; you reduce any ASF by 5%, so you have some flexibility here. A mithril chain shirt with thistledown padding works fine, or if you’re willing to spend some gold on the twilight armor enhancement, that broadens your options considerably.

In general just focus on increasing your Charisma as much as possible, and do anything you can to expand your castings per day. Wands always help here, as do rings of wizardry. The more times you can cast whirling blade, the happier you will be.

Levels 1 - 5
Barbarian 5

You’re a charismatic barbarian from hell. Barbarian is one of the better classes for the early portions of the game, able to power through most encounters thanks to its oodles of hit points and strong attacks. You’ve got Power Attack and a big sword, so go to town. You’re also decently mobile thanks to a climb speed from your ape totem, plus excellent intimidate checks (boosted both by hellbred and by your totem) and Devil’s Favor to boost a roll as needed. Meanwhile, Righteous Wrath not only lets you maintain a clear mind while raging, it also means the first time you hit an evil enemy during a rage they’re forced to save or become shaken. On the defensive end, in addition to your giant stack of hit points, you can also pick up fast healing 2 once per day via Devil’s Stamina.

Levels 6 - 10
Barbarian 7/Suel Arcanamach 3

Your old life before you were cast into the depths of hell have taught you how to fight dirty, reflected in your streetfighter ACF. This increases the threat range on your weapons on a charge or when your opponent is flat-footed - and unlike other similar effects, this explicitly DOES stack with Improved Critical or the keen enhancement. With a keen falchion, that means you’re critting on a 13 or better. You have a few ways to make your opponents flat-footed: nerveskitter helps you act before your foes in combat, grease can force flat-footed status on anyone without sufficient ranks in balance and cloak of deception allows you to turn invisible as a swift action once per combat. Later, you will have other spells that help trigger this even more frequently.

Speaking of spells, pay special attention to whirling blade. After all, what’s the point of attacking one foe when you can attack everyone in a line? Whirling blade is especially interesting because the attacks are still considered melee attacks, meaning that effects that only trigger on a melee attack still work here, and you can even combine it with damage boosts such as Power Attack or benefit from wraithstrike. Use your climb speed to scale a wall, perch in a corner and fling away. Unfortunately, you can’t use this while raging just yet...

Levels 11 - 15 (Sweet Spot)
Barbarian 7/Suel Arcanamach 3/Rage Mage 5

...but soon you can! Rage mage comes online, allowing you to fling your weapon to your heart’s content even while in the midst of a full-throated rage. And to add on to this, you pick up several new and interesting feats: Resounding Blow, Quell the Profane and Devil’s Aura.

Put it all together, and your whirling blade becomes quite the instrument of death. Now you can throw it in a 60’ line while raging. Any evil enemy struck by it must save for Righteous Wrath or become shaken until you withdraw. On a critical hit (which is happening 40% of the time) they must also save against Resounding Blow or be forced to cower. Ordinarily this would only last a round, but when stacking fear effects, the greatest level of fear lasts for the duration of the effect, meaning now they are cowering until you withdraw. Oh, and they’ll need to save AGAIN against Quell the Profane or take 1d4+1 points of Strength damage. And just to add insult to injury, anyone within 10’ of you needs to save yet again thanks to your Devil’s Aura.

Levels 16 - 20
Barbarian 7/Suel Arcanamach 3/Rage Mage 10

The last five levels of rage mage further emphasize all your abilities. In particular, spell fury gives you a free Quicken every rage. That lets you make two whirling blade attacks in a single round if you have the swift action free, giving you twice as many chances to crit. Your spells improve considerably as well, providing you plenty of defensive and offensive utility. Don’t forget that greater blink doesn’t just provide you with a bevy of defensive buffs - it ALSO lets you count as invisible when you attack, rendering your foes flat-footed. Finally, warrior cry helps make up for your lost BAB - you are already epic ready with +16 BAB, and you don’t care much about iteratives, but the extra 4 points of BAB represent 4 more points you can sink into Power Attack. Finally, Versatile Spellcaster helps you fire off your whirling blades all fight long.

Erskine remembered little of his former life, little beyond her, that angelic face that he knew he loved, knew he must find. And yet flashes of it came to him, now and then. Streets and alleys felt strangely familiar. Certain faces brought the anger rising like bile in his throat, and though he could not recall the reason, he knew he had hated them once.

He could feel it too as he fought - his muscles, rewritten into this strange and hellish form, somehow still retained the memory of a brawler, a thug, a bully. He let his old life take over, then, let it burn hot and hard as he exploded with a righteous anger that sent lesser men scurrying.

And yet he knew that he must find her. And to do that, he must find himself. He knew he would need to temper that strange rage that burbled and boiled deep within his gut, always threatening to be released. He knew he would need to unlock those memories that were locked away except for those moments of fury. If he could just keep his mind from growing red, from shutting off in those battles, if he could focus, perhaps he could find her…

He was not a learned man, in his last life or in this one. But for her he became one. He studied. He visited every great library in the land. He learned from the Libram of Ineffable Damnation, the Book of Keeping and the Codex of Betrayal. He spent weeks with the Grimoire Arcanamacha, learning a dead language in hopes that it might hold the secrets to his lost memories, and months tracking down incomplete and poorly translated copies of the Scrolls of Uncertain Provenance and the Tome of the Stilled Tongue and the Black Scrolls of Ahm.

And yet none of these ancient tomes could help him. And so, he buried himself in his most impossible of tasks: of redeeming himself, of living a life so great, so exalted, so perfect that he would stand redeemed. Only then would his new form fall away. Only then would the doors to his memory

I wanted to do something interesting with Rage Mage, something that made casting spells during a rage an integral part of the character concept rather than just a random add-on. I toyed with several different ideas, but the one I settled on was whirling blade combined with special effects that trigger on melee attacks during a rage. This was something that couldn’t be easily duplicated by a standard barbarian with a buffing buddy or by a standard gish.

Righteous Wrath provided a fun rage-only effect, giving a long-duration shaken effect on any evil foes you strike in melee while raging. To make it even deadlier, I combined it with Resounding Blow, which would escalate that fear effect to cowering on a critical hit. Starting barbarian meant I could go for streetfighter, an ACF I rarely see (likely because it requires 7 levels in barbarian) that represents one of the only ways to increase your crit range that stacks with keen or Improved Critical in all of 3.5.

All in all, you end up with quite a few ways to attack foes. You can go the traditional high-damage route, using wraithstrike and Power Attack to cut down foes without sacrificing accuracy, or you can debuff and destroy enemies, forcing them to save three times on an attack (and each failed save making the subsequent saves even harder), making them cower for the entire encounter and dropping their Strength. You can easily switch between standard melee attacks or attacking in a 60’ line, and all your melee tactics still apply when you do the latter.

SOURCES:

Ape totem barbarian ACF: Unearthed Arcana/SRD
Streetfighter barbarian ACF, skilled city dweller ACF: Cityscape
Suel arcanamach: Complete Arcane
Corner Perch skill trick: Complete Scoundrel
Righteous Wrath, Resounding Blow, Quell the Profane: Book of Exalted Deeds
Hellbred race, Devil’s Favor, Devil’s Stamina, Devil’s Aura: Fiendish Codex II
Martial Study, cloak of deception: Player’s Guide to Faerun
Versatile Spellcaster: Races of the Dragon

All relevant spells can be found in the Spell Compendium.

Rules Compendium page 92 clarifies that if an opponent cannot see you, that creature is flat-footed with respect to you.

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:50 PM

I'm a sucker for some Tam Lin.

The Hunted

The foreigner sat, exhausted, at a small table in the corner of the tavern. His short, hunched figure was wrapped head to toe in a thick, black fabric. Only his eyes, beady and bloodshot, were exposed. He carefully held a cup of ale in his emaciated hands, but did not drink. He needed to think, but thinking was so hard, now. Too much fog in his head. It wasn't always like that. Staring down at the swirling liquid, he dosed off into a familiar dream...

The doors of the court were slammed open, causing surprised shrieks throughout the hall. An elf stepped in, wrapped in the black cloak of the hunters. "We got him, majesty" he shouted. A passionate fire burned in his eyes, victory and desire intertwined. "We caught the deserter."

Behind him, two man dragged a figure in shackles into the room. A man dressed as a knight of Ilmater, tall and handsome, who managed to walk into the hall as if by choice. He could have been very attractive, if not for the vanity in his step, and the cold sneer in his eyes. Strange runes circled like a crown around his head.

A slight wind brushed through the hall, carrying a strange tinge of amusement. As it died down, a sourceless female whisper echoed. All bowed down their heads. "Well done, Erivhir, my champion. Bring forward this... deserter."

The elf signaled, and his men pushed their captive into the center of the court. Forcing him down to his knees. The knight looked up, proud and unrelenting.

The air before the knight shivered for a second, and where before there was not but air appeared an elven woman of terrible beauty. Her skin was as white as snow, her hair and her eyes as dark as ebony, and her lips as red as fresh blood. She moved towards the kneeling knight, her unbelievably long hair floating behind her as if she walked through water. The knight's gaze faltered, and he looked down to the floor as she came to a stand before him.

"Oh my dear, dear hunter. Why have you forsaken me?"

The knight's face contorted, and he spat on the floor. "I have never been yours, witch. You lied to me, misled me! I should have never listened. Ilmater is my god, my only god. I have atoned for my unwitting sins. You may do with me as you wish, but know that die pure. I die calm. I die with pride." He raised his head to look at her, and though he went pale, his eyes remained steady. "I defy you. I die with pride!"

The beautiful face became filled with sorrow, and the fully black eyes widened. "Oh, how you wound me, my beloved. How could you let the foolish priests poison your mind? You know they stand for nothing you stand for." Her hand went forward and caressed his cheek, her touch as light as a butterfly. "Have I ever asked for your worship? Did I ever attempt to take the place of your god?" She laughed, a laugh that carried enough sadness to shatter a heart. "All I ever asked for is your love, and your loyalty. Nothing more." She slowly went down to her knees to meet the knight face to face. Her hair floated around them, formed a barrier between them and the rest of the court. Within the small black sphere, her eyes filled his vision, encompassing everything. "Don't you love me, my dear hunter?"

Her hand, still on his face, ignited a flame within him. All reason fled, and as her face neared his own, his lips parted in acceptance.

Her touch was flame, but her kiss was a wildfire. Fire in his heart, fire in his soul, fire in his lungs. All consuming, the kiss lasted, and lasted, drawing away his breath. Drawing away his very life. No pleasure was better, no agony was worse.

Save me, Ilmater!

The queen retreated, leaving the knight laying on the floor, blinded with pain, breathing shallow breaths filled with blood. "Bring the poison" he could hear her command.

Forgive me, Broken One, He thought. Death will be a relief.

"Oh no, my dear hunter. Not death. Not yet.

"You dare betray me, and think you'll be allowed to die whole? No.

"I take away your purity, and you will live and die impure. I take away your calm, and you will be ruled by rage and terror. I take away your pride, and you will live and die in shame.

"These I take away, and I shall let you go. You will be hunted, forever hunted. And every time you'll be captured, I'll take away something else. You will die no more than a vermin, traitor - or you will take your own life, and condemn your soul."

He couldn't hear her laugh when they poured the mixture down his throat, could hear nothing but screams...

Screams! He leapt to his feet, spilling the ale all over himself. A child was pointing at him, screaming in horror.

His scarf had slipped, revealing the rotting gray skin beneath. Around him, people were heading for the exits, screaming for the guard. Overwhelmed by the noise, he felt wrath building within him. A need to kill, to destroy. As runes exploded into being around his brow, he let his head back and unleashed an anguished howl.

Guards flooded into the establishment, and saw a giant silver wolf pop into being. Near the screaming wretch. Just as they started to charge, the figure swiftly climbed atop the wolf's back, charged towards the wall with incredible speed -

And vanished.

The Hunted, CG Aeshkrau illumian (Yuan-Ti Broodguard) male.

Str 17, Dex 8, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 8. All increases go to Str.

At level 10: Str 19, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 4.

At level 20: Str 22, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 4.

Stub: Human paragon 1/ Paladin of freedom 6/ Ex- dark hunter 2/ Human paragon +1/ Rage mage 10.

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

1st
Human paragon 1
+0
+0
+0
+2
Hide 4, K. Nature 3, K. The planes 1, Move silently 4, Ride 4, Survival 4
Improved initiative
Adaptive learning (ride)

2nd
Holy warrior paladin of freedom 1
+1
+2
+0
+2
Hide 5 (cc), K. Nature 3, K. The planes 1, Move silently 4, Ride 5,Survival 4
-
Aura of good, detect evil, smiteevil 1/day.

3rd
Paladin 2
+2
+3
+0
+2
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 5 (cc), Ride 6, Survival 4
Serenity
Divine grace, lay on hands

4th
Paladin (noble heart) 3
+3
+3
+1
+3
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 5, Ride 6, Survival 7
Track (b)
Aura of resolve

5th
Paladin 4
+4
+4
+1
+3
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 5.5 (cc), Ride 6, Survival 8(cc)
Mounted combat (b)
Turn undead

6th
Paladin 5
+5
+4
+1
+3
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 7 (cc), Ride 6, Survival 8
Ride by attack
Smite evil 2/day, specialmount.

7th
Paladin (planar) 6
+6
+5
+2
+4
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8 (cc), Ride 7,Survival 8
-
Celestial mount

8th
Unseelie dark hunter 1
+6
+7
+4
+4
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 11, Spot 1, Survival8
-
Low light vision

9th
Dark hunter 2
+7
+8
+5
+4
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 12, Spot 5, Survival8
Spirited charge
Fast mount, fast movement

10th
Human paragon 2/ Broodguard
+8
+8
+5
+5
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 13, Spot 9, Survival 8
Combat casting (b), Alertness (b)
Rage 1/day, poison immunity,Mental resistance

11th
Rage mage 1
+8
+10
+5
+5
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 14, Spot 9, Survival 8
-
Spell rage 1/day

12th
Rage mage 2
+9
+11
+5
+5
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 15, Spot 9, Survival 8
Reckless rage
Overcome spell failure

13th
Rage mage 3
+10
+11
+6
+6
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 16, Spot 9, Survival 8
-
Rage 2/day

14th
Rage mage 4
+11
+12
+6
+6
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 17, Spot 9, Survival 8
-
-

15th
Rage mage 5
+11
+12
+6
+6
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 18, Spot 9, Survival 8
Power attack
Angry spell +2, Spell rage2/day

16th
Rage mage 6
+12
+13
+7
+7
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 19, Spot9, Survival 8
-
-

17th
Rage mage 7
+13
+13
+7
+7
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 20, Spot9, Survival 8
-
Spell fury

18th
Rage mage 8
+14
+14
+7
+7
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 21, Spot9, Survival 8
Destruction devotion
Rage 3/day

19th
Rage mage 9
+14
+14
+8
+8
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 22, Spot9, Survival 8
-
Tireless rage

20th
Rage mage 10
+15
+15
+8
+8
Hide 5, K. Nature 3, K.The planes 1, Move silently 8, Ride 23, Spot9, Survival 8
-
Angry spell +4, warrior cry,spell rage 3/day

Human paragon class skill list: Hide, knowledge (nature, the planes), move silently, ride, survival, spot, profession (sailor, merchant, herder).

Dark hunter spells known (Learned at X character level):

1 - Expeditious retreat (8), Detect magic (8), True strike (9), Spider climb (12)

2 - Invisibility (10), Hold person (10), Detect thoughts (12), Locate object (16)

3 - Dispel magic (14), Hold monster (14), Haste (16), Keen edge (20)

4 - Ethereal jaunt (18), Freedom of movement (18), Dimensional anchor (20).

Spells per Day (Before Str adjustments)

Level
1st
2nd
3rd
4th

8th
0
-
-
-

9th
1
-
-
-

10th
2
0
-
-

12th
3
1
-
-

14th
3
2
0
-

16th
3
3
1
-

18th
3
3
2
0

20th
3
3
3
1

Level 5:

At this point, The Hunted plays as a pretty standard paladin with some flexibility - he can sneak half-decently, and track. While tracking tends to lose utility at later levels, it's pretty good for now. Improved initiative comes in early to ensure a charging lance attack whenever possible, and serenity lets him utilize his paladin abilities despite his low Cha.

Level 10:

Mounted combat has become The Hunted's focus. He has a celestial mount from the paladin level 6 list, which enjoys a permanent +10 feet boost to its speed, and the occasional expeditious retreat. I personally prefer either the dire wolf, the unicorn or the hippogriff, depending on the campaign. He also dabbles in the arcane, with access to hold person, as well as invisibility and expeditious retreat - both spells he can share with his mount.

Unfortunately for him, this is also the level in which he is captured, and gets stripped of his humanity by the Queen of Air and Darkness. He acquires the Yuan-Ti Broodguard template. This template is only usable on humans, which luckily, illumians are. The template makes him a monstrous humanoid, renders him immune to charm and hold spells (and to poison), gives him claws and a bite, and lets him rage as a barbarian once a day.

Level 15:

Half way through rage mage. The Hunted's Aeshkrau illumian word synergizes with the +6 to Str granted to him by rage to make him able to squeeze out more spells while raging. He has access to Hold monster and dispel magic, among other spells. He gets use out of most his other abilities - spell rage synergizes particularly well with dispel magic - But he admittedly gains very little from one of the best rage mage abilities, angry spell. Power attack is sort of late, but with high Str and spirited charge he should have been all right without it up until now, and this is the BaB where it really starts shining without shock trooper, anyway.

Level 20:

Top of the build. Destruction devotion is pretty good even at high levels, and can be fueled by a single use of turn undead - 8 times a day total without any items. It gets more use when full attacking, obviously, especially with warrior's cry and a bite attack.

Quickened ethereal jaunt is a nice touch on top of everything else, when needed, but spell fury is useful on any of his spells, of course. Warrior cry is awesome, and grants more Str to grant more spells. Angry spell is still unfortunately not utilized very well. Still, everything else the class has to offer is useful to this non-traditional arcane caster.

Variant option:

If your DM isn't too strict alignment wise, and would allow you to take a noble heart substitution level without giving up on your casting, you could reshuffle 2 skill points and give up power attack and destruction devotion to instead go for Divine defiance from fiendish codex II. This would be a superior option, if possible - allowing you to counter spells as an immediate action with dispel magic a few times per day. This variant would also enjoy a moderate investment in spellcraft.
Complete Champion: Holy warrior ACF, Destruction devotion feat.

Complete Warrior: Rage Mage PRC.

Champions of Valor: Noble heart substitution level.

Dragon Compendium: Serenity feat.

Planar Handbook: Planar Paladin substitution level.

Races of Destiny: Illumians.

Races of Stone: Reckless rage feat.

Savage Species: Yuan-Ti Broodguard template.

Unearthed Arcana: Paladin of Freedom variant class, Human Paragon class.

Unseelie Dark Hunter (https://web.archive.org/web/20060116191130/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fey/20030315a)

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:52 PM

The rage of man is nothing against the rage of beasts.

https://img.17qq.com/images/ghmmkhswhsy.jpeg
Hunter Snowborn: Master of the Inner Rage

N razorclaw shifter duskblade 5/weretouched master 5/rage mage 10

Horatio milled around in line before the enormous tent adorned with brightly dyed patterns that reminded him of the paints worn by Seren warriors. He’d count himself lucky if he got to hear one of them speak. Talk about a people in touch with their inner rage.

He wiped his brow. The owlbear trapper’s hat was entirely too warm for the weather out here in the desert, but he hadn’t wanted to look like an amateur in front of the other ragers. The elf whose head he’d been staring at the back of for the last half hour had armor seemingly made of naught but skulls: skull pauldrons, skull greaves, skull helmet. Even his gauntlets had each knuckle protected by tiny rat skulls. He had to be careful when he moved. A few brownish pinpricks on his cheeks and neck revealed the times he hadn’t been cautious enough when suddenly turning his head, and the split ends on his silky locks were easily explained when Horatio saw how much hair was caught in the teeth of the goat skull on his left shoulder. It looked like a comb.

“Bet that hurt, eh?” he said good-naturedly and resisted the impulse to tap the fellow on the shoulder. Truthfully, he couldn’t find a single place one might put a hand without getting stuck by something or another.

The elf turned his entire trunk slightly to avoid pricking himself on an antler.

“Yeah, it smarted, but it didn’t make me proper mad, you know?” he said.

“Really? I’d’ve thought that’d do the trick after the third or fourth time.”

“I mean it annoyed me and all, but it didn’t get me mad. Smith said I can’t return this neither.”

Looking at the state of the skulls, Horatio couldn’t exactly argue with that, but wanted to appear sympathetic. With his luck, they’d be broken up into groups and have to do a trust fall or something. It wouldn’t do to get on this fellow’s bad side.

“That’s too bad. Hardly seems fair. Too much of your blood and hair on them?” he asked.

The line moved forward a pace or two and they both advanced without a thought.

“Huh? Oh, no, he told me that really just adds character. It’s like seasoning a grill, that’s a value add, matter of fact. Can’t return it cuz it’s custom. The ratio of all these skulls is fit to my body specifically, y’know?”

Horatio thought of how long it must’ve taken to find enough to ensure he was decent in battle and nodded.

It wasn’t too long before they were at the front of the line. A shifter with the head of an ibex checked their names against a list. The elf looked distinctly uncomfortable, but didn’t want to shift his weight too much as some scabs around his hyena poleyns evidenced.

“He’s ready for you now, just take a seat wherever you want,” the shifter said.

“I’m, uh, I’m sorry. It’s not— I mean, it’s just a normal antelope on my shoulder, you know. I’m not Silver Flame or anything,” the elf stammered.

If the shifter was bothered, he didn’t show it, though Horatio was useless at reading facial expressions on herbivores.

“Please keep the line moving, sir.”

“Right, sorry,” the elf said and hustled in.

Horatio handed in his registration and had his name checked off. The shifter neatly folded his form in quarters and ate it.

“Rice paper,” he said.

“Oh, of course.” Horatio went inside before he could embarrass himself further.

He sat next to the elf in skulls on some low pillows that were surprisingly comfortable given the circumstances.

“That was excruciating,” Horatio said in a way he hoped sounded sympathetic.

“Imagine how it felt to be the one saying those things. It was like I was looking at my own body and just couldn’t do anything about it.”

“But did it make you mad?” Horatio asked.

The elf shook his head sadly. “Mortified still isn’t mad.”

The curtain onstage before them opened up and a proud shifter stepped forward. Though Horatio knew it was rude to ask directly, he squinted to get a better look at what exactly the speaker was. Some kind of tundra animal perhaps? His fur looked too thick for the veldt.

“Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you very much for coming. Before I get started, is anyone in this tent here to become immortal, regress to an earlier stage of life, or become older to unlock the wisdom that comes with age?” He spoke in a deep, clear voice that instantly silenced all idle chatter in the tent and carried through the space without magical amplification. Horatio was immediately both envious and worried he’d been waiting in line for the wrong seminar.

A few hands, claws, and other extremities around the tent shot up from some scholarly looking types and a few dragons either in a traveling hominid shape or who were merely small enough to fit in the tent.

“You are in the wrong tent. You want ‘mastering your age,” not ‘mastering your rage.’ I know it’s confusing and I have spoken to the organizers about changing the name of one of these for next year. Please go into the green rectangle in the back and one of my aides will teleport you. Sorry for the inconvenience.” He pointed to an area outlined in chalk and the attendees sheepishly gathered their things and stepped in, only to disappear and be replaced with a group of people who looked more like they belonged here a moment later.

“Great. Now, you’re here because you can’t get a handle on your rage. Maybe you can’t work yourself up into a lather even when you’ve got a legitimate grievance. That can certainly lead to some problems. Avoiding conflict just leads to further hardship down the line, and not always the kind you can stick with a sharp piece of metal, am I right?”

A few members of the audience gamely laughed.

“If you’re here on a court order because you’re having the opposite problem and are thinking ‘Shoot, this guy can’t help me! I’m here because I can’t stop getting angry!’ then don’t worry, we’re going to go over some strategies that will help you too.”

Some of the attendees who looked like they actually belonged to a proper barbarian tribe, whose armor was piecemeal, having been cobbled together from a dozen kills versus a gleaming new suit that had been purchased from a smith made noises of pleasant surprise.

“There we go, we’re making progress already. You guys, please stick around after we’re done and I’ll sign your form to show to the judge to prove you came here. This question’s for all of you, regardless of why you’re here: if you’re going out into the world seeking your fortune,” the speaker’s head turned and his eye met Horatio’s. He swallowed.

“Or if you’ve got enough treasure to last you the rest of your life or unlife and are trying to make adjustments to get back into civilian life.” A karrnathi zombie toward the front nodded in appreciation.

“I want to change your perception of what rage truly is. What makes you angry? Go ahead shout it out:”

The spotlights roved around and alighted on a member of the crowd, brave enough to speak first.

“Paying taxes to the Paragnostic Assembly!” she shouted.

“People cutting in line!” shouted another.

“Hotheads from the Silver Flame!” shouted a third.

Some parts of the crowd laughed while others gasped. After a moment, the audience was uncomfortably silent. All eyes were on the speaker to gauge his reaction.

He laughed and pointed to the shifter who’d said it: a girl a crocodile head.

“Oh, I hear that! You know what, miss, that’s a perfect example. I know that gets my dander up too.” He pantomimed with his claws and teeth and the majestic fur of his mane rose while he flattened his ears. The crowd laughed a bit more easily.

“But it’s hardly universal, right? You, sir, you’re wearing the symbol of the Silver Flame,” he said and pointed out a man with a tiny goatee who was trying to make his body as small as possible. He was pinned under every spotlight and hisses leaked out of the crowd, reptile shifter, weresnake, and warm-blooded mammal alike.

“I’m just here for continuing education,” he squeaked. “It’s a work thing. I don’t want any trouble.”

The speaker put his hands out flat and slowly lowered them, quieting the crowd down a bit as though taming a beast. “Now, now, everyone. While things would certainly go differently if I saw him alone on the lightning rail, while he’s here, he’s just here to learn. His money’s as gold as anyone else’s. Do you suppose hotheads from the silver flame make him angry, miss?” he addressed the crocodile girl.

“‘pose not,” she seethed.

“Right, exactly. The point I’m driving at is there is no one thing that makes everyone angry.” He beckoned the spotlights back onto himself with a gesture of his claw.

“Let’s have a round of applause for everyone who spoke for being good sports,” he said and calmed the audience by getting them to clap.

“The only thing that’s in control of your rage is you. That’s true whether you can’t get angry or whether you can’t stop.” Before he said another word, a training dummy teleported onto the stage. He entered his bestial form and his teeth and claws grew to terrifying proportions. With a roar that rattled Horatio’s teeth, and the teeth of every skull on the fellow next to him, he swatted the dummy’s head off with his enormous paw and sent it flying into the crowd. The crocodile girl caught it in her jaws and her friends clapped her on the back as she wrestled it into her purse.

The speaker shrugged off this shape and stood on two legs once more before them.

“Now, did that dummy do anything to me? Of course not. But that’s not the important part. I needed to accomplish a task, and the best tool in my toolbox to do that was my rage. I chose to feel angry because it would help me get what I wanted. The same way you can do that, you can hold it back when it’s not going to help you, like when a member of house Deneith is giving you a parking ticket. He might be giving you a hard time, but if what you want is to get out of there in one piece, tearing him into two pieces isn’t gonna do that, right?”

The audience murmured.

“All right, here’s the bad news, the part you were all worried about. We’re gonna break into groups of two and do a little role play, all right? Turn to the person next to you and we’ll get started.”

Horatio stood up and offered his hand to the elf. Even if he got a few rat bites from the gauntlet on his hand, he could be satisfied knowing he would choose not to get mad about it.

raw stats:
str 14
dex 14
con 14
int 16 (increases here)
wis 12
cha 8

after racial mods and ability boosts:
str 14
dex 16
con 14
int 19
wis 12
cha 6

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

1st
duskblade 1
+1
+2
+0
+2
k (nature) 4, sense motive 4, survival 4, tumble 4
apprentice (woodsman)
arcane attunement, armored mage (light)

2nd
duskblade 2
+2
+3
+0
+3
k (nature) 1 (5), sense motive 1 (5), survival 1 (5), tumble 1 (5)
combat casting (bonus)

3rd
duskblade 3
+3
+3
+1
+3
jump 2, survival 1 (6), tumble 1 (6)
improved natural attack (claws), (shifter feats: 1)
New Class Abilities

4th
duskblade 4
+4
+4
+1
+4
jump 2 (4), survival 1 (7), tumble 1 (7)

armored mage (medium)

5th
duskblade 5
+5
+4
+1
+4
jump 2 (6), survival 1 (8), tumble 1 (8)

quick cast 1/day

6th
weretouched master 1
+5
+6
+3
+4
balance 4
great rend (shifter feats: 2)
weretouched 1

7th
weretouched master 2
+6/+1
+7
+4
+4
balance 1 (5), intimidate 3
extra shifter trait (longtooth) (bonus), (shifter feats: 3)
wild empathy

8th
weretouched master 3
+7/+2
+7
+4
+5
intimidate 5 (8)

weretouched 2

9th
weretouched master 4
+8/+3
+8
+5
+5
intimidate 3 (12), never outnumbered
shifter multiattack, shifter savagery (bonus), (shifter feats: 5)
frightful shifting

10th
weretouched master 5
+8/+3
+8
+5
+5
jump 5 (11)

alternate form

11th
rage mage 1
+8/+3
+10
+5
+5
concentration 3, extreme leap

spell rage 1/day

12th
rage mage 2
+9/+4
+11
+5
+5
concentration 3 (6), nimble stand
razorclaw elite (shifter feats: 6)
overcome spell failure

13th
rage mage 3
+10/+5
+11
+6
+6
concentration 3 (9), twisted charge

rage +1 use/day

14th
rage mage 4
+11/+6/+1
+12
+7
+7
concentration 5 (14)

15th
rage mage 5
+11/+6/+1
+12
+7
+7
concentration 4 (18), survival 1 (9)
longtooth elite (shifter feats: 7)
spell rage 2/day

16th
rage mage 6
+12/+7/+2
+13
+8
+8
concentration 1 (19), survival 5 (14)

17th
rage mage 7
+13/+8/+3
+13
+8
+8
concentration 1 (20), survival 5 (19)

spell fury

18th
rage mage 8
+14/+9/+4
+14
+8
+8
concentration 1 (21), profession (orator) 1, survival 2 (21), swift concentration
great bite (shifter feats: 8)
rage +1 use/day

19th
rage mage 9
+14/+9/+4
+14
+9
+9
concentration 1 (22), profession (orator) 4 (5), survival 1 (22)

tireless rage

20th
rage mage 10
+15/+10/+5
+15
+9
+9
concentration 1 (23), profession (orator) 4 (9), survival 1 (23)

warrior cry, spell rage 3/day

Spells per Day

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

1st
3
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

2nd
4
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

3rd
5
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

4th
6
5
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

5th
6
5
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

6th
6
5
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

7th
6
5
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

8th
6
5
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

9th
6
5
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

10th
6
5
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

11th
6
5
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

12th
6
6
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

13th
6
6
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

14th
6
6
5
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

15th
6
6
5
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

16th
6
7
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

17th
6
7
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

18th
6
7
6
2
-
-
-
-
-
-

19th
6
7
6
2
-
-
-
-
-
-

20th
6
8
7
3
-
-
-
-
-
-

You begin play as a fairly standard duskblade. Contrary to conventional wisdom, you do not invest heavily in the power attack line or arcane strike because you are specializing in your shifter natural weapons. For the time being, you have access to razorclaw which grants claws. Apprentice woodsman grants access to survival to enter weretouched master. Duskblade also helpfully grants combat casting as a bonus feat to help enter rage mage. For the time being, plink enemies with shocking grasp and whatnot and beat them up with your cool natural weapons, helpfully juiced by improved natural attack, which is a shifter feat, improving duration of your shifting and later your uses per day.
You have entered and completed weretouched master. It provides many interesting abilities, the most salient of which is the eponymous weretouched. You pick the wolverine, which improves the bite you gain from longtooth (via extra shifter trait granted as a bonus feat weretouched master) by one damage die. It also grants bottomless frenzy that doesn’t leave you winded afterwards, allowing qualification for rage mage. Your stats are greatly augmented during combat when you have your alternate form, frenzy, shifting, shifter savagery (which boosts your damage dice 2 steps for your natural attacks in addition to doubling your threat range,) let you inflict enormous amounts of damage per round and scare everyone nearby with your frightful shifting ability. Since frenzy activates automatically, you also don’t need to worry about rationing its uses.
You’re in the secret ingredient and it’s paying off already. Since you should essentially always be raging in a combat scenario, you can activate spell rage whenever you like. Rage mage also helpfully grants rage for scenarios where you haven’t yet been damaged but want to start building up your buffstack. Since it’s a separate ability from weretouched master’s frenzy, it will apply on top of it when you can activate them both, and it also works to activate shifter savagery. By now, you should be able to shift as often as you need to. You have the elite versions of both of your shifter traits active now, allowing you to attack with both razorclaws at the end of a charge, activating your frightful shifting, and deal con damage with your longtooth bite. Since rage mage provides a spartan skill list, you invest in skill tricks with a bent toward mobility so you can extract maximum benefit during combat when you are raging and/or frenzying.
You are finished with rage mage and can quicken spells and loose a barbaric yawp with your capstone warrior cry ability, further augmenting your prodigious melee abilities. Enjoy superior mobility and unparalleled ability to shift, rage, and do everything in between. Due to the number of shifter feats you have, you should have more than adequate uses of shifting and it should last for longer than the combat each time.

srd: improved natural attack, combat casting
phb2: duskblade
dmg2: apprentice (woodsman)
races of eberron: extra shifter trait, shifter savagery, razorclaw elite, longtooth elite,
eberron campaign setting: shifter, shifter multiattack, weretouched master, great bite, great rend
skilled city dweller (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a)
complete scoundrel: skill tricks

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:56 PM

Wrote this one in a ... frenzy? (I'll see myself out)

The Ultimate Ragus

Look, I’m up against the deadline here, so you’re getting a stream of consciousness sort of entry, as it’s possibly the fastest way to get all of the parts of a build together in time, even with the extension.

I did a lot of noodling with ragemage: from master spellthief to magic mantle ardent to raging luck for 5 or 6 standard actions per round, but...they all seemed so hollow. Like I got somewhere, but it didn’t have the “kiss your fingers like a caricature of an italian chef and say mwah” element.

So I returned to looking at the features of the ragemage class abilities, and I think I saw something. Something only a ragemage can do. And it has the appearance of a limitation...So it’s unlikely that this class “feature” will be exploited by other entrants.

“While in a spell rage, a rage mage becomes reckless and loses her some of her ability to defend herself. She temporarily takes a —2 penalty to Armor Class. She can attempt Concentration checks to avoid having a spell disrupted, but can't use any other Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except for Balance, Escape Artist, Intimidate, and Ride) while in a spell rage.”

A rage mage can’t make charisma or intelligence checks in a spell rage. Something that they only share with other classes that rage...except a rage mage can cast spells while not being able to make these checks, which is something no other rager can do.

So...all we have to do is find intelligence or charisma checks that this character simply can’t take, and therefor cannot succeed at, and find a way to make other people make those same checks and get punished for succeeding.

Sidebar:

ally: A creature friendly to you. In most cases,references to “allies” include yourself.

Sidebar:

Error 404, search not found

So, there’s only one skill that by RAW, punishes you for a great success. Drumroll please!

Knowledge (History)

Lore: A few forgotten fragments of lore hold descriptions of the Killing Frost of Ghulurak and its effects. Learning the details of the Killing Frost requires a DC 40 Knowledge (history) check. Some lore is so precise, though, that it causes the image of Ghulurak to fester in the reader’s mind, and drives her to madness. Any creature that rolls a 50 or higher on an attempt to learn of the Killing Frost is exposed to a description so precise that she must succeed on a DC 25 Will save or fall under the effect of a geas spell that directs the reader to create the statue and complete the ritual that brings the Killing Frost into existence.

So that’s the challenge, precipitate situations where people wonder if they know about the killing frost of Ghulurak, and use that opportunity to zap them with DC 25 will saves, while you remain blissfully immune. And with the ability to cast spells while raging, you just might be able to do it.

We’ll see, because as of this part of my composition, I haven’t chosen all of my skill ranks or my final two feats yet.

So, backstorywise, I’m picturing in my mind someone who is driven to figure out this ghulurak thing, cuz maybe it’s his father or something, and they interrogate the people around them, cast spells to put more knowledge and abilities into them, and this poor Ultimate Ragus, watches as the click of recognition glazes over the eyes of those he’s interrogating as they run off to carve statues to icy armageddon. Like a psychosis that prevents you from getting to your goal whenever you get close to your goal. I doubt that I will be able to write that up adequately, but that’s the backstory, because at this point, I’m definitely choosing a dragonblood humanoid with a bonus feat who also happens to be an afflicted were wolverine, so that we don’t need levels in more than two base classes. So, we’re gonna opt for that bonus feat and choose silverbrow human.

Ability scores
Alright, I’m going to go fill in all of the skills that aren’t knowledge (History), feat or ultimate magus pre-reqs now. And then we will be that much closer to a fully composed entry. Lemme quick do a first draft of point buy stats: Right away, we have to choose 18 in cha or go 17 in cha for the three extra ability score points. Also, how do you parse this?

Physical abilities are increased by the animal form’s ability modifiers when a lycanthrope changes to its hybrid or animal forms

That’s weirder than you remember, right?

So for a wolverine, that’s +2 str, +2 dex and +4 con

https://i.imgur.com/ZEYKb9r.png

Every 4 levels, add 1 to charisma, except level 8, where you need to add +1 to constitution in order to qualify for shape soulmeld.

That’s gonna be an ugly stat array when we get cured of lycanthropy. Whew. Screw it, we can fix that with wealth, and this point buy guarantees 6th level spells and the maximum charisma. Because, despite spellcasting being on the table, it’s difficult to cobble together +40 or more to someone else’s knowledge history check, especially without being an unseelie feytouched half-fey half-dragon marshal or a truenamer.

And the fey stuff really takes away from the entirely complete backstory that I’ve already laid out with articulate language up in the So, backstorywise section above. That fantastic bit of character development, illustrated by dynamic prose and an ability to cultivate an atmosphere that really catches the frustration of a man who really wants to know something but simply CANNOT, is really a thematic hook, ya know? Maybe he knew once, but then got smacked by amnesia. Maybe Some Psion or something prevented him from causing Ghurulagnarok. It doesn’t matter, that is some quality stuff, and the lack of effort to compose it doesn’t in any way hamper how rich a character arc that is to mine.

Remember when I said that thing about doing the skill ranks, I’m going to do them now, as I have finally chosen a final stat array. Alright 36 points at first level, get some face skills in there in case it’s ruled that you need to get your “allies” to be friendly via diplomacy, although, a narrow reading of the glossary heading for ally would lead one to believe that helpful people are not allies. But most DMs are normal and want things to work, so it’s likely that if you're gonna try to make a ragemage that kills by proccing knowledge history checks to send your opponents into some weird icesculpting cult to a dead god, you might want to keep some face skills up and work on getting plot relevant bad guys to be your friend, and pull this trick out here and there. While you’re working up to it though, you’ll need umd, and decipher script makes sense with the whole history thing here. We’re gonna be having perform dance as our bardic music stuff, because that opens up the possibility of choosing snowflake wardance later, if we can accomplish the goal of getting bad guys near +50 on K. history checks.

Eww, ok, I got to the part where you cure lycanthropy and now I have to go back and change those skill ranks.

Wolverine is a sweet lycanthropic form. It gives access to rage, as a prereq for rage mage. I gives 3 animal hit dice, which you can fill with spellcraft at cross class ranks and boom, early ultimate magus entry.

Speaking of prereqs for prestige classes. 2nd level casting is provided by the precocious apprentice feat. And because the wording on bardic sage is that you learn a div spell of every spell level that you can cast, you technically know 2nd level spells so you avoid the pedantic DM worries in that case.

In addition to the normal number of spells known, a bardic sage knows one divination spell of each spell level he is capable of casting.

You can get two 2nd level spells at first level, so long as one is divination school.

Prepared casting is provided by the arcane preparation feat, and bang: Ultimate Magus will double advance bard. Bard has a few wonderful spells that are absolutely vital for what we are trying to do here, including combined talents, Master's touch (PHB2 version), natures beauty, good hope, foxs cunning, eagle's splendor, Nixies grace, and snowsong. By my calculations, these spells, paired with a familiar using expert aid another rules along with your soulspark should be able to get someone elses k. history check somewhere above 42 or 43. We'll check the tally by level later.

Remember that random sidebar about what constitutes an ally. Getting a favorable reading on that is also vital to your success here. You need to be able to include those that you want to interrogate about Ghulurak as allies. And allies are people who are friendly towards you. And it’s difficult to get people to count as friendly towards you if they are hostile to you. So the question that we really have to ask is, can someone be both hostile towards you and due to your approach, they’ll accept your minor aura and draconic auras that boost their intelligence? Between diplomacy and throwing a few charm spells into the list, that’s about all we can do other than straight up asking if your auras can apply to whoever you want.

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

1
Bardic sage 1
0
0
0
2
bluff 4, decipher script 4, diplomacy 4, disguise 4, k. arcana 4, k. history 4, perform (dance) 4, spellcraft 4, umd 4
Arcane Preparation (Complete Arcane p. 73), precocious apprentice,
Spellcasting, Bardic Knowledge, Bardic Music

2
werewolverine 1HD
0
2
2
2
k. history 5, spellcraft 5, climb 1

Rage (Ex), burrow 10, claws, Track

3
werewolverine 2HD
1
3
3
2
k. history 6, spellcraft 6, spot 1
combat casting (3rd)

4
werewolverine 3HD
2
3
3
3
k. history 7, spellcraft 7, listen 1

5
rage mage 1
2
5
3
3
k. history 8, spellcraft 8, diplomacy 5

Spellrage 1/day

6
rage mage 2 (bard 2)
3
6
3
3
k. history 9, diplomacy 6, survival 1
poison spell
Overcome spell failure

7
Rage mage 3
4
6
4
4
k. history 10, diplomacy 7, survival 2

Rage +1 use per day

8
Rage mage 4 (bard 3)
5
7
4
4
k. history 11, diplomacy 8, survival 3

9
Ultimate Magus 1 (Bard4)
5
7
4
6
k. history 12, spellcraft 12
Skill focus diplomacy
arcane spellpower +1

10
Ultimate magus 2 (bard5/6)
6
7
4
7
k. history 13, umd 8

Expanded spell knowledge (1st level or lower)

11
Marshal
6
9
4
9
k. history 14, handle animal 3, perform (dance) 7
Obtain familiar
Minor Aura, bonus feat

-3

cure lycanthropy
4
6
1
8
remove 3 ranks from k. history and spellcraft, and 1 rank from climb, spot, and listen
lose skill focus diplo

9
ultimate magus 3 (bard 7/8)
4
7
2
8
k. history 12, UMD 12,
shape soulmeld (soulspark circlet)
Augmented Casting

10
Ultimate Magus 4 (bard 9)
5
7
2
9
k. history 13, diplomacy 10

Arcane spell power +2, expanded spell knowledge (2nd level or lower)

11
Ultimate Magus 5(Bard (10/11)
5
7
2
9
k. history 14, diplomacy 12
chain spell
Bonus metamagic feat

12
Ultimate magus 6(Bard 12/13)
6
8
3
10
k. history 15, diplomacy 14
Draconic aura
Expanded spell knowledge (3rd level or lower)

13
Ultimate magus 7 (bard 14)
6
8
3
10
k. history 16, UMD 16

Arcane spell power +3

14
Rage Mage 5 (Bard 15)
6
8
3
10
k. history 17, Diplomacy 15, Survival 4

Spell rage 2/day

15
Ultimate Magus 8 (Bard 16/17)
7
8
3
11
k. history 18, UMD 18, Diplomacy 16
snowflake wardance (frostburn)

Expanded spell knowledge (4th level or lower)

16
Rage mage 6(bard 18)
8
9
4
12
k. history 19, Diplomacy 17, survival 5

17
Rage mage 7
9
9
4
12
k. history 20, diplomacy 18, Survival 6

Spell fury

18
Rage Mage 8 (bard 19)
10
10
4
12
k. history 21, diplomacy 19, Survival 7
extra rage

Rage +1 use/day

19
Rage Mage 9
11
11
5
13
k. history 22, diplomacy 20, survival 8

Tireless rage

20
Rage Mage 10 (bard 20)
12
12
5
13
k. history 23, diplomacy 21, survival 9

Warrior cry, spell rage 3/day

Spells per Day

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

1st
2
-
-
-
-
-
-

2nd
2
-
-
-
-
-
-

3rd
2
-
-
-
-
-
-

4th
2
-
-
-
-
-
-

5th
2
-
-
-
-
-
-

6th
3
0
-
-
-
-
-

7th
3
0
-
-
-
-
-

8th
3
1
-
-
-
-
-

9th
3
2
0
-
-
-
-

10th
3
3
2
-
-
-
-

11th
3
3
2
-
-
-
-

9th
3
3
3
1
-
-
-

10th
3
3
3
2
-
-
-

11th
3
3
3
3
1
-
-

12th
3
3
3
3
2
0
-

13th
4
3
3
3
3
1
-

14th
4
3
3
3
3
1
-

15th
4
4
4
3
3
2
0

16th
4
4
4
4
3
3
1

17th
4
4
4
4
3
3
1

18th
4
4
4
4
4
3
2

19th
4
4
4
4
4
3
2

20th
4
4
4
4
4
4
3

Spells Known

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

1st
4
-
-
-
-
-
-

2nd
4
-
-
-
-
-
-

3rd
4
-
-
-
-
-
-

4th
4
-
-
-
-
-
-

5th
4
-
-
-
-
-
-

6th
5
2
-
-
-
-
-

7th
5
2
-
-
-
-
-

8th
6
3
-
-
-
-
-

9th
6
3
2
-
-
-
-

10th
6
4
3
-
-
-
-

11th
6
4
3
-
-
-
-

9th
6
4
4
3
-
-
-

10th
6
4
4
3
-
-
-

11th
6
4
4
4
3
-
-

12th
6
4
4
4
4
2
-

13th
6
4
4
4
4
3
-

14th
6
4
4
4
4
3
-

15th
6
5
4
4
4
4
2

16th
6
5
5
4
4
4
3

17th
6
5
5
4
4
4
3

18th
6
5
5
5
4
4
3

19th
6
5
5
5
4
4
3

20th
6
5
5
5
5
4
4

Spells
0: Detect Magic, Dancing lights, summon instrument, minor disguise (SC), read magic, prestidigitation, ghost sound
1: Combined Talent (complete mage), Extract drug (BOVD p.94), silent image, ray of hope (BOED), improvisation (SC), Summon monster 1
2: Master's touch (PHB2), alter self, eagle's splendor, fox's cunning, sonorous hum (SC), Bonefiddle (Champions of Ruin), Whirling blade (SC)
3: Arcane Sight (added to spell list from bardic sage), good hope (BOED), charm monster, glibness, major image, wounding whispers (SC)
4: Legend Lore, inner beauty (FC1), Sirine's grace (SC), spelltheft (Complete scoundrel), Summmon monster 4, celerity (PHB2)
5: Contact other plane (added to spell list from bardic sage), Dancing blade (PHB2), greater heroism, greater blink, friend to foe (PHB2)
6: True seeing (added to spell list from bardic sage), snowsong(frostburn), nixie's grace(SC), mass fox's cunning, mass charm monster

Level
thing we do
bonus ranks
bonus to int
bonus to caster's cha
bonus to skill check
familiar's skill aiding another
soulspark aiding another
total

1
combined talent, master's touch
1

4 insight

5

2
combined talent, master's touch
1

4 insight

5

3
combined talent, master's touch
1

4 insight

5

4
combined talent, master's touch
1

4 insight

5

5
combined talent, master's touch
1

4 insight

5

6
combined talent, master's touch, extract drug (mushroom vapor)
2
2 alchemical
2 alchemical
4 insight

7

7
combined talent, master's touch, extract drug (mushroom vapor)
2
2 alchemical
2 alchemical
4 insight

7

8
combined talent, master's touch, extract drug (mushroom vapor)
3
2 alchemical
2 alchemical
4 insight

8

9
combined talent, master's touch, extract drug (mushroom vapor), eagle's splendor
4
2 alchemical
2 alchemical, 4 enh
4 insight

9

10
combined talent, master's touch, extract drug (mushroom vapor), fox's cunning, eagle's splendor
6
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 4 enh
4 insight

13

11
Minor aura, Familiar aiding
6
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 4 enh
4 insight, 8 circumstance, 3 aid another
12+8

24

9
goodhope, lesser soulspark
8
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 4 enh,
4 insight, 8 circumstance, 3 familiar aid another, 2 soulspark aid another, 2 morale
12+8
7+8
31

10
goodhope, lesser soulspark
9
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 4 enh,
4 insight, 8 circumstance, 3 familiar aid another, 2 morale
13+10
7+8
32

11
inner beauty
10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 4 enh, 4 sacred
4 insight, 10 circumstance, 3 familiar aid another, 2 soulspark aid another, 2 morale
14+10
7+10
34

12
draconic aura (insight)
10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 4 enh, 4 sacred
4 insight, 10 circumstance, 3 familiar aid another, 3 soulspark aid another, 2 morale, 2 aura,
15+10+2
7+10+2
37

13
greater heroism
10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 4 enh, 4 sacred
4 insight, 10 circumstance, 3 familiar aid another, 3 soulspark aid another, 4 morale, 2 aura,
16+10+2
7+10+2
39

14
aura +1
10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 4 enh, 4 sacred
4 insight, 10 circumstance, 3 familiar aid another, 3 soulspark aid another, 4 morale, 3 aura,
17+10+3
7+10+3
40

15
nixies grace
10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 8 enh, 4 sacred
4 insight, 12 circumstance, 3 familiar aid another, 3 soulspark aid another, 4 morale, 3 aura,
18+12+3
7+12+3
42

16
snowsong
10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 8 enh, 4 sacred, 4 morale
4 insight, 15 circumstance, 4 familiar aid another, 3 soulspark aid another, 4 morale, 3 aura,
19+15+3
7+15+3
46

17

10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 8 enh, 4 sacred, 4 morale
4 insight, 15 circumstance, 4 familiar aid another, 3 soulspark aid another, 4 morale, 3 aura,
20+15+3
7+15+3
46

19

10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 8 enh, 4 sacred, 4 morale
4 insight, 15 circumstance, 4 familiar aid another, 3 soulspark aid another, 4 morale, 3 aura,
21+15+3
7+15+3
46

19

10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 8 enh, 4 sacred, 4 morale
4 insight, 15 circumstance, 4 familiar aid another, 3 soulspark aid another, 4 morale, 3 aura,
22+15+3
7+15+3
46

20
aura increase
10
2 alchemical, 4 enh
2 alchemical, 8 enh, 4 sacred, 4 morale
4 insight, 15 circumstance, 4 familiar aid another, 3 soulspark aid another, 4 morale, 4 aura,
23+15+3
7+15+3
47

The ultimate Ragus needs two more feats and then i think we can email it in. hmmm. How about snowflake wardance and i don’t know, extra rage.

So im gonna type nonstop for 5 more whole minutes then send this in.

once you lose rage from were-wolverine, you self qualify for the ragemage class due to having spellrage be a rage, which means that your rage +1 class feature applies to your rages.

poison spell paired with BOVD's mushroom vapor, available from the extract drug spell, can be used via champion of ruin's rulings that drugs are indeed poisons, and thus when you cast a spell on the person who you want to get the ghurulak curse, you get them a little high while you're doing it.

the hardest levels are the 6th-11th area, but the spellcasting soon compensates. even if youre not doing the schtick, you're doing something helpful with the rest of your spells.

Your familiar and soulspark are there to use your or their ranks in k. history to aid the person who you spend turns buffing, and due to the expert aid another rules in rule compendium, that number increases as your aura increases.

Theres a number of spells that turn your foes into allies through subterfuge or enchantment.

Schmelegance Ragus

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 09:57 PM

Special Bonus Entry, don't judge this one.

One Background: Three Stories

I had one build idea that evolved into three different build ideas that share some similarities. They share the same background but went different paths in their live. As such the background only covers the childhood/teenager life and the class choices are presented in the lvl 1-5 snapshots.

As a child of a Changling merchant there is no place that one could call home. Even the generally more avoided parts of the world like the underdark (e.g. drow, gnome and kobold settlements) or orcish settlements have been part of the journeys in the childhood. This caused a growing interest in special blood related abilities (Racial Emulation). An addictions many Changelings share. It's interesting how the other races express their rage and emotions when it comes to battle. Or how some races can excel in certain aspects of combat and magic. Finally all builds did picked up a liking on spiders from the drow. As such, all of em express this interest in different ways. With these interests a life as merchant seems to boring. Thus our main protagonist leaves his parents safety to approach the wild life of an adventurer.

Str: 14
Dex: 12
Con: 16 (@20: 21) (+5 from Wish = 26)
Int: 14
Wis: 10
Cha: 12

Level
Class
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Skills
Feats
Features

1st
Warlock
+0
+0
+0
+2
Concentration: 4
Spellcraft: 4
Tumble: 2 (+4)
UMD: 4
Racial Emulation
Light Armor Proficiency
Eldritch Blast 1d6
Summon Swarm
Draconic Rite of Passage: Identify 1/day (sla)

2nd
Battle Sorcerer (variant)
Stalwart Sorcerer (ACF)
+0
+0
+0
+4
Concentration: 5
Spellcraft: 5
UMD: 5 (+2)
-
d8 HP
+2 HP
Warhammer Proficiency
Greatsword Proficiency

3rd
Battle Sorcerer (variant)
Stalwart Sorcerer (ACF)
+1
+0
+0
+5
Concentration: 6
Spellcraft: 6
UMD: 6 (+2)
Draconic Reservoir
(Identify 3/day)
d8 HP
+2 HP

4th
Warlock
+2
+0
+0
+6
Concentration: 7
Spellcraft: 7
Tumble: 2.5
UMD: 7
-
Detect Magic
Spiderwalk

5th
Warlock
+3
+1
+1
+6
Concentration: 8
Spellcraft: 8
Tumble: 3
UMD: 8
-
Damage Reduction 1/cold iron
Eldritch Blast 2d6

6th
Battle Sorcerer (variant)
Stalwart Sorcerer (ACF)
+4
+2
+2
+6
Concentration: 9
Spellcraft: 9
UMD: 9 (+2)
Additional Favored Class (Barbarian)
d8 HP
+2 HP

7th
Warlock
+5
+2
+2
+7
Concentration: 10
Spellcraft: 10
Tumble: 3.5
UMD: 10
-
Deceive Item
See the Unseen

8th
Barbarian
"Spiritual Totem: Lion"
+6
+4
+2
+7
Concentration: 11 (+2)
UMD: 11 (+2)
Tumble: 5.5 (+2)
-
Pounce
Rage 1/day

9th
Warshaper
+6
+6
+2
+7
Balance: 1
Concentration: 12
UMD: 12 (+2)
Combat Casting
Morphic Weapons
Morphic Immunities

10th
Warshaper
+7
+7
+2
+7
Balance: 2
Concentration: 13
UMD: 13 (+2)
-
Morphic Body

11th
Rage Mage
+7
+9
+2
+7
Concentration: 14
UMD: 14 (+2)
Tumble: 6
-
Spell Rage 1/day

12th
Rage Mage
+8
+10
+2
+7
Concentration: 15
UMD: 15 (+2)
Tumble: 6.5
Obtain Familiar
Overcome Spell Failure
Eldritch Blast 3d6

13th
Rage Mage
+9
+10
+3
+8
Concentration: 16
UMD: 16 (+2)
Tumble: 7
-
Rage 2/day

14th
Rage Mage
+10
+11
+3
+8
Concentration: 17
UMD: 17 (+2)
Tumbe: 7.5
-
Spider-Shape

15th
Rage Mage
+10
+12
+3
+8
Concentration: 18
UMD: 18 (+2)
Tumble: 8
Improved Familiar
Spell Rage 2/day

16th
Rage Mage
+11
+12
+4
+9
Concentration: 19
UMD: 19 (+2)
Tumble: 8.5
-
Eldritch Blast 4d6

17th
Rage Mage
+12
+13
+4
+9
Concentration: 20
UMD: 20 (+2)
Tumble: 9
-
Spell Fury

18th
Rage Mage
+13
+14
+4
+9
Concentration: 21
UMD: 21 (+2)
Tumble: 9.5
Shadowform Familiar
Rage 3/day
Fell Flight
-Spiderwalk
Entrophic Warding

19th
Rage Mage
+13
+14
+5
+10
Concentration: 22
UMD: 22 (+2)
Tumble: 9.5
-
Tireless Rage

20th
Rage Mage
+14
+15
+5
+10
Concentration: 23
UMD: 23 (+2)
Tumble: 10
-
Spell Rage 3/day
Warcry

Spells per Day/Spells Known
(bonus spells not included)

Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
Spells Known

1st
-
-
-
-

2nd
4/3
2/1
-
Detect Poison (0th)
Mage Hand (0th)
Read Magic (0th)
Enlarge Person (1st)

3rd
5/4
3/1
-
Message (0th)

4th
5/4
3/1
-
-

5th
5/4
3/1
-
-

6th
5/4
4/1
-
-

*6th+*
5/5
5/2
2/1
Ghost Sound (0th)
Reduce Person (1st)
Mirror Image(2nd)

* +1 Sorcerer casting from Greater Draconic Rite of Passage

We start as simple warlock with the Summon Swarm invocation. Note that due to being a SLA it is invoked as standard action (compared to regular full round action). This increases the power of the ability immense on the early levels. The swarm does dmg at the end of your turn = within the same round as they are summoned. The enemies need to make their saves during turn. Since the (warlocks invocation) duration is only "Concentration", you can easily dismiss em at the start of your next turn and just recast it. This way you can replace em each round if desired to have full control over em and avoid any possibility for friendly fire.

The Battle/Stalwart Sorcerer level greatly increase our HP and give us access to Enlarge Person if we should be forced into melee combat in the early levels.

Detect Magic at-will and Identify as SLA 1/day (standard action + avoiding the material costs!) will make sure that you don't miss out on any magic items that you come across. Profit from em immediately with your teammates.

Spiderwalk is a nice defensive tool in combat and very handy out of combat. The 24h duration just makes it perfect (action economy).

At 6th level we take our last level as Stalwart/Battle Sorcerer and are now ready to perform the Greater Draconic Rite of Passage. This gives us an extra level of sorcerer spellcasting. Which gives us access to 2nd lvl sorcerer spells to qualify for Rage Mage. Mirror Image is another defensive option that now becomes available.

See the Unseen gives us darkvision and lets us see invisible creatures (which also helps later to see the invisible Quasit familiar on later levels).

Additional Favorite Class lets us dip Barbarian without having to deal with XP penalties. With this we have the last remaining ingredient for Rage Mage. But before that, we take 2 lvls in Warshaper for the Morphic Weapons (10 Tentacles or 12 Hydra Bites) and the Morphic Body abilities.

Now we can enter Rage Mage and profit from its Spell Rage ability. Despite having it entered with Sorcerer, we will use it to progress warlock invocations.

Overcome Spell Failure lets us ignore 10% arcane spell failure chance while wearing light or medium armor. The build can abuse this in one of two ways. Either go for a Twilight Mitral Feycraft Fullplate Armor or use a heavy Mitral Shield in combination with a light armor (e.g. Chain Shirt).

Obtain Familar is just there to get a Quasit as an Improved Familiar. He can be invisible all day long and use wands with your UMD ranks to buff you. This saves you the action costs for buffing up and if you want, the Quasit can buff something every turn. This gives us access to things like Divine Power and other nice combat buffs all the times we want em.

Spider Shape turns us into a Monstrous Spider (up to hours/clvl). First up to medium/large size and later with Spell Rage up to Gargantuan size. Combined with a Enlarge Person beforehand, we can reach up to a Colossal sized (Gargantuan Monstrous Spider). Note that the Web DC is CON based and thus scales with all the CON boosts of this build (+4 rage, +4 morphic body, +4 Warcry) which can increase the DC from +2 up to +6. This will ensure that most enemies won't be able to break any of the two DCs (Blance/Strength). Beware that the Fiendish template scales with our HD (polymorph subschool rules) and thus gives faster higher results (DR, SR). Further, the warshaper abilities work with Spider Shape, since they target form changing abilities and thus are more specific exceptions compared to the general polymorph subschool rules.
Due to having it at will, we can produce endless webs, be it to attack enemies directly or to lay traps with em. Be creative and bait your enemies into your prepared webs.

With Spell Fury we have a much better action economy if we want to start the combat buffed. We can now Rage as free action, Enlarge Person as swift action and finally use Spider Shape as standard action (leaving the move action). Full buffed and transformed after a single round.

Fell Flight comes a bit late, but as ranged character it is not to late. It creates another defense against melee type enemies (combined with web). The 24h duration is nice for action economy and further gives the spider forms access to flight. With this, we can now exchange Spiderwalk to Entrophic Warding which gives us a 20% misschance against ranged attacks.

Shadowform Familiar lets us "summon" (!) a incorporeal version of our familiar. This makes the invisible Quasit even safer and handier. Now most enemies will have a hard time stopping him from applying buff spells or emergency heals to your entire party.

Tireless Rage and Warcry complete the build. The latter further adds to the CON based saves of the spider shapes.

First we can recommend the already mentioned Armor (Twilight Mithral Feycraft Fullplate) or Shield option (Chain Shirt + Mithral Heavy Shield) this build has. On later levels you should add Wilding Glasp to the armor to profit from it while in Spider Shape form.

An Amulet of Mighty Fist is recommended due to the different types of Natural Weapons this build has access too. Again, get a Wilding Glasp on later levels for it.

Finally the build will abuse wands out-of or pre-combat. With UMD and Deceive Item we can reliably use wands early on. Later when we have our invisible Quasit Familiar, he can buff us while we can keep fighting. Collect an arsenal of situational wands (e.g. Knock, Detect Doors..) and daily buffs (e.g. Primal XXX line) and short term buffs (e.g. Divine Power..)

Changeling: Races of Eberron
Warlock: Complete Arcane
Battle Sorcerer: SRD
Stalwart Sorcerer: Complete Mage
Additional Favored Class: Unearted Arcana
Barbarian "Spiritual Totem: Lion": Complete Champion
Obtain Familiar: Complete Arcane
Warshaper: Complete Warrior
Spider Shape: Drow of the Underdark
Draconic Rite of Passage: Races of the Dragon
Draconic Reservoir: web enhancement
Greater Draconic Rite of Passge: web enhancement
Improved Familiar (Quasit): Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Shadowform Familiar: Champiions of Ruin

The Viscount

2021-04-05, 10:00 PM

And that's our entries for this round! Judges, do your thing!

Thurbane

2021-04-05, 10:30 PM

Yeah, my stub was pretty boring, working around the PrC instead of using it: Barbarian 1/Duskblade 4/Knight of the Weave 3/RM 10/Knight of the Weave +2 or similar.

Congrats to all the entrants.

ThanatosZero

2021-04-06, 03:02 AM

May the best dish win.

Since all offical entries are now in I wanted to show two builds for which I had only the interrest to build, instead of writing whole stories.

The Sublime Savage Skald

Savage Bard 4/Barbarian 1/Rage Mage 4/Savage Bard +1 (5)/Sublime Chord 2/Rage Mage +6 (10)/Abjurant Champion 2

[Savage Bard 5, Barbarian 1, Rage Mage 10, Sublime Chord 2, Abjurant Champion 2]

14 BAB (15 with Fractional BAB), CL 14, 7/10 Sublime Chord Spellcasting (8th level spell access)

Or...!

Savage Bard 4/Barbarian 1/Rage Mage 6/Sublime Chord 1/Rage Mage +4 (10)/Abjurant Champion 4

[Savage Bard 4, Barbarian 1, Rage Mage 10, Sublime Chord 1, Abjurant Champion 4]

15 BAB (16 with Fractional BAB), CL 14, 7/10 Sublime Chord Spellcasting (8th level spell access)

The Rage Rapping Arcane Knight (Requires Able Learner and Mentor feats)

Battledancer 1/Barbarian 2/Paladin of Freedom 2/Knight of the Weave 3/Rage Mage 4/Warrior Skald 1/Sublime Chord 1/Rage Mage +6 (10)

[Barbarian 2, Battledancer 1, Paladin of Freedom 2, Knight of the Weave 3, Rage Mage 10, Warrior Skald 1, Sublime Chord 1]

BAB 15 (16 with Fractional BAB), CL 9 (17 with 2x Practiced Spellcaster), 5/10 Knight of the Weave Spellcasting and 4/10 Sublime Chord Spellcasting (6th level spell access)

H_H_F_F

2021-04-06, 03:03 AM

Why do I even try...

More seriously, very cool entries! Congrats to anyone who entered!

Paragon

2021-04-06, 03:08 AM

So many things that I thought about doing and gave up on were done beautifully here.
Thanks for broadening my horizons !

Beni-Kujaku

2021-04-06, 04:42 AM

I really like the blood magus/hengeyokai combo. That's good thinking!

Also, the ultimate ragus is hilarious. "By the way, I know we're supposed to be fighting to the death right now, but have you heard of our lord and savior Ghulurak" "Ooh, now that you say it, thanks for reminding me, I have to go destroy the universe! So yeah, be killing you next time, 'kay?"
Not sure if it could be called optimized, but that is one of the best character ideas I've seen in a long time.

Empyreal Dragon

2021-04-06, 08:00 AM

I couldn't quite pull it together, but I had built a dish around hellfire warlock and snow caster. Unfortunately I couldn't quite make it work

H_H_F_F

2021-04-06, 08:47 AM

Khatoblepas

2021-04-06, 09:07 AM

I tried to put together a Mountain Rager Duskblade who channeled spells to multiple targets with Mighty Swing, but I kept running out of levels to do it in a fun way, and an Undead Barbarian who channeled the Necrotic Cyst spells, but I couldn't do that one without Taint.

All of these builds are really fun, I love the Ultimate Ragus' audacity. Being cured of lycanthropy to get more levels and self qualify, that's genius.

Korahir

2021-04-06, 09:08 AM

Sadly I couldn't come up with something I liked enough to submit.

I worked on several things but I wanted to make kinslayer work so badly and it just didn't pan out at all. I started furiously working around this stub:
Lesser Drow Ranger 3/xxxxx/Kinslayer 1/Nar Demonbinder 1/Rage Mage 10.
For that to work I would have needed so many feats: Endurance, Diehard, Unspeakable Vow, Vow of Vengeance, Iron Will, Spell Focus (Conjuration) (2 flaws and otyugh hole for Iron Will is not something I want to do in this contest). Getting Earth Sense, Heighten Spell and Earth Spell to jump from 2nd level spells to 4th level spells and enter Nar Demonbinder to do a divine to arcane casting switch without southern magician was also an issue and than I had to find a way to add a single summon monster spell to my spell list (summoning domain was a possible solution). With all thoe unsolved issues piling up, I threw in the towel at some point but maybe I continue trying to figure this mess out.

Since my other ideas are similar to entries or use the same tricks, I don't want to discuss them until judgment is done. As always I have learned a lot from the other entries and how they worked with issues I had.

WhamBamSam

2021-04-06, 09:42 AM

I'll talk about my main options at more detail after the reveal, but I will mention I thought about trying to make a half-drow kinslayer work, before realizing that dedicating to an Elder Evil doesn't give access to vile feats outside the Elder Evils list.I don't think that's the case. Seems like the table is supposed to just be the list of Vile feats, but ends up being non-exhaustive due to bad editing or incomplete knowledge or whatever. You sometimes see references to "a bonus feat from the list of Fighter Bonus Feats in the Player's Handbook" or something in the same way.

H_H_F_F

2021-04-06, 10:30 AM

I don't think that's the case. Seems like the table is supposed to just be the list of Vile feats, but ends up being non-exhaustive due to bad editing or incomplete knowledge or whatever. You sometimes see references to "a bonus feat from the list of Fighter Bonus Feats in the Player's Handbook" or something in the same way.

Maybe, but that seemed to be the RAW to me and that's the common interpretation I've seen when looking through the forums, so it seemed cheap to go ahead anyway and hope for mercy.

I agree a reasonable DM would probably let that fly, if they're allowing EE bonus feats to begin with.

Hiro Quester

2021-04-06, 11:19 AM

Cool entries. I was looking to build a bard-barian, just because Rage Mage seems ideal for that combination. But I could not find anything particularly original to do with that. If Battle Howler of Grummsh was legal (and not Dragon Mag) it would be a fine base for a Bard-Barian Rage Mage. Oh well.
Edit: ThantosZero's "Sublime Savage Skald" seems very similar to what I had in mind. But that would probably be way cooler.

My main focus was this:

When she casts a spell of the abjuration, conjuration, evocation, necromancy, or transmutation school while in a rage, the rage mage uses her character level as her caster level

Tenser's Transformation (from RM 10) also makes your BAB equal character level.

So even though you have limited spell casting progressions and BAB, you can have 20 CL and 20 BAB while in a spellrage. That seemed worth investing in.

So my idea was to focus on spells for which a high caster level grants power, even if you don't have terribly high level spells. Longer duration and more powerful, harder to dispel, buffs, long-duration summoning, more blasty blast spells, etc.

The other trick I noticed was that Spellrage does not only apply to the spells from the arcane casting class. So one could have an arcane and a divine casting class, and cast spells from either list while raging.

EDIT: also Druid’s natural spell enables all spells to be cast in wildshape, not just Druid spells.

So, Druidic Avenger, which normally can't concentrate or cast spells while raging. Rage Mage would solve that limitation.

You could start with a level of sorcerer from the White Dragonspawn template (also +2 con and dex, +7 NA, and a fly speed). That also gives a cool backstory.

Druidic Avenger 6 with White Dragonspawn template would qualify for Rage Mage, and would also fit with the Dragonspawn beginning (you are out for revenge). But a level of Sorcerer might be less inelegant than a template. Take Dragon Wildshape, perhaps (but that requires 19 Wis).

I considered trying Southern Magician to qualify for Rage Mage, but Rage Mage still would not progress druid casting (only an actual arcane casting class), so I thought it's better to have an actual arcane class (sorcerer) that could be progressed by RM.

So Druid 6 (with Sorcerer 1 casting), progressing to Sorcerer 6 by Rage Mage. Finishing off with a few levels of Arcane Heirophant to continue progressing druid and sorcerer casting, wildshape.

But the Druidic Avenger loses the animal companion, so the Arcane Heirophant's Companion Familiar ability would be wasted. and the main point of Druid would be to get Large animal wild shapes (tiger, for pounce) and dragon wildshapes. But that requires the extra wildshape from Arcane Heirophane early, delaying the SI.

Wildshape is also the solution to being somewhat MAD, and needing high Con, str, wis and cha. So access to high-con and high str wild shapes, and Bite of the WereTiger spell, all require delaying the SI until 11th level.

It all became a cool idea that was hard to execute, and my job got busy and I ran out of steam for developing this.

Zaq

2021-04-06, 11:36 AM

Eight (and a half) builds, eh? I've got my work cut out for me, it seems. Can't wait until I have a chance to dive into judging in earnest!

Hiro Quester

2021-04-06, 03:20 PM

So even though you have limited spell casting progressions and BAB, you can have 20 CL and 20 BAB while in a spellrage. That seemed worth investing in.

The ability to have CL=Character level (eventually CL20) while only having access to lower-level(ish) spells seems really potent.

So: longer durations of all CL dependent duration spells, more difficult to dispel buffs, and bigger effect buffs (whose strength depends on CL; e.g. Barkskin, GMW, etc.), and more blasty evocations (disintegrate like a 20th level caster, while only having 6th level spells!), more effective Greater Dispel Magic, etc.

I'm curious. I really did not get time to think this through. What particular spells would it be especially beneficial to learn with this ability?

Do any of the builds above make special use of this? I don't see many. (It's very possible I didn't notice in my cursory read so far, though.)

daremetoidareyo

2021-04-06, 07:58 PM

Other ideas that I had to get rage that didn’t make the cut.

The gut worm symbiont.

White dragon lineage gives a rage similar to that of a barbarian.

The telepath power ‘mental rage’ puts you in a mental rage

Zaq

2021-04-06, 09:32 PM

One build done. I know there's a couple nights this week when I'm going to be very busy, but I'll try to not take forever. (We'll see if my resolve holds in, like, the face of the new Monster Hunter and stuff.)

Gruftzwerg

2021-04-06, 10:17 PM

The ability to have CL=Character level (eventually CL20) while only having access to lower-level(ish) spells seems really potent.

So: longer durations of all CL dependent duration spells, more difficult to dispel buffs, and bigger effect buffs (whose strength depends on CL; e.g. Barkskin, GMW, etc.), and more blasty evocations (disintegrate like a 20th level caster, while only having 6th level spells!), more effective Greater Dispel Magic, etc.

I'm curious. I really did not get time to think this through. What particular spells would it be especially beneficial to learn with this ability?

Do any of the builds above make special use of this? I don't see many. (It's very possible I didn't notice in my cursory read so far, though.)

I think that while most builds don't point it out, that some of theirs spells have nice casterlevel scaling (e.g. h/clvl duration or variables depending on clvl). I mean, if everybody would mention that with every spell the build has access to, some of the builds would need pages of references. People tent to spotlight the most important stuff and assume that the reader will figure out the remaining stuff (or at least hopes it^^).

I don't want to go more into detail due to competition fairness but I have spotted a few builds that have some nice combos around the maximized caster lvl of spell rage. Take your time for reviewing the build again maybe ;)

ThanatosZero

2021-04-07, 06:48 AM

Hiro Quester

2021-04-07, 12:10 PM

I updated the build.

That's a good change, IMHO. You don't need Sublime Chord 2's bardic music that gives a boost (up to +4) to CL, since Rage gives you CL =character level. Two more levels of Abjurant Champion give more useful benefits (especially getting to 15 BAB).

H_H_F_F

2021-04-09, 06:01 AM

The great OMG Ponies once made a spreadsheet for the contest's history. After he ceased posting, Wolfem took on the responsibility and kept the spreadsheet up for a while. Though I am not as tech savvy as the aforementioned gentlemen, I decided to copy and update the sheet.

Here it is (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oyjVU5JmeCnC8YTMqDArDqE5PszHl0Ysadz630kuTGk/edit?usp=sharing), for anyone interested. I hope everything works on your side as intended.

Edit: I should mention it is currently updated up to last round, I'll update this round after the reveal.

Paragon

2021-04-09, 07:54 AM

The great OMG Ponies once made a spreadsheet for the contest's history. After he ceased posting, Wolfem took on the responsibility and kept the spreadsheet up for a while. Though I am not as tech savvy as the aforementioned gentlemen, I decided to copy and update the sheet.

Here it is (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/184dycp7VmNW1cz-lGWr0E-3EBAI3vchCJWeISzD125A/edit?usp=sharing), for anyone interested. I hope everything works on your side as intended.

Edit: I should mention it is currently updated up to last round, I'll update this round after the reveal.

Thank you very much for this !

H_H_F_F

2021-04-09, 12:18 PM

Thank you very much for this !

You're welcome :smile: As I said, others have done most of the work.

Zaq

2021-04-10, 02:49 AM

Four builds done with progress on a fifth. (edit: miscounted)

I doubt I’ll make too much more progress this weekend, though.

Venger

2021-04-10, 02:59 AM

Thanks for the update

OMG PONIES

2021-04-10, 06:12 AM

The great OMG Ponies once made a spreadsheet for the contest's history. After he ceased posting, Wolfem took on the responsibility and kept the spreadsheet up for a while. Though I am not as tech savvy as the aforementioned gentlemen, I decided to copy and update the sheet.

Here it is (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/184dycp7VmNW1cz-lGWr0E-3EBAI3vchCJWeISzD125A/edit?usp=sharing), for anyone interested. I hope everything works on your side as intended.

Edit: I should mention it is currently updated up to last round, I'll update this round after the reveal.

Which foolish mortal dareth summon me, rousing me from millennia of slumber?

Seriously though, I'm flattered to see that others found value in keeping the scoring document going!

H_H_F_F

2021-04-10, 08:50 AM

Four builds done with progress on a fifth.

I doubt I’ll make too much more progress this weekend, though.

Thanks for the update, Zaq!

Which foolish mortal dareth summon me, rousing me from millennia of slumber?

Seriously though, I'm flattered to see that others found value in keeping the scoring document going!

Apologies, eldritch one. And thank you.

All changes updated to the Official ICO Spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oyjVU5JmeCnC8YTMqDArDqE5PszHl0Ysadz630kuTGk/edit?usp=sharing), also found in the OP. May my duplicate be forgotten in the abyss from which it came.

Empyreal Dragon

2021-04-12, 09:30 AM

That awkward moment when you dropped out and FINALLY find the precedent that would let your build work

Gruftzwerg

2021-04-12, 09:40 AM

That awkward moment when you dropped out and FINALLY find the precedent that would let your build work

I'm curious what your build was and what problem caused you to drop out?

Empyreal Dragon

2021-04-12, 01:26 PM

The general idea was mounted combat. But I'm gonna hold onto the build in case I can use the crux of it for a different ingredient one of these days

Gruftzwerg

2021-04-12, 02:38 PM

The general idea was mounted combat. But I'm gonna hold onto the build in case I can use the crux of it for a different ingredient one of these days

Damn Teaser without a release date ..
Lets hope the day will come soon. ;)

Empyreal Dragon

2021-04-13, 03:21 AM

We've had four ingredients I could use the idea for already, it's only a Matter of time

daremetoidareyo

2021-04-13, 03:43 PM

We've had four ingredients I could use the idea for already, it's only a Matter of time

My experience was thinking like this is the round immediately preceding the round where I feel it’s right, someone does that trick

The Viscount

2021-04-13, 08:00 PM

Speaking of rounds, I'm looking over ingredients for the next round. What do people like most from the following:

A debt repaid
A painful restriction
An old reference

Thurbane

2021-04-13, 08:05 PM

Speaking of rounds, I'm looking over ingredients for the next round. What do people like most from the following:

A debt repaid
A painful restriction
An old reference

Debt repaid sounds like an interesting hook.

Zaq

2021-04-13, 08:38 PM

Six done, two to go. Probably no significant progress tomorrow, but I will probably make more progress later in the week? Probably, anyway.

Speaking of rounds, I'm looking over ingredients for the next round. What do people like most from the following:

A debt repaid
A painful restriction
An old reference

You magnificent bastard, those are all terrifyingly fascinating prospects.

A debt repaid is definitely the most poetic-sounding, but I'm also very intrigued by an old reference.

Venger

2021-04-13, 08:41 PM

Gotta go with debt repaid

daremetoidareyo

2021-04-13, 09:03 PM

Speaking of rounds, I'm looking over ingredients for the next round. What do people like most from the following:

A debt repaid
A painful restriction
An old reference

Whichever one is shining blade

Venger

2021-04-13, 09:21 PM

Whichever one isn't shining blade.

Gruftzwerg

2021-04-13, 09:29 PM

Speaking of rounds, I'm looking over ingredients for the next round. What do people like most from the following:

A debt repaid
A painful restriction
An old reference

Somehow this sounds like an old dirty trick. Whatever we a gonna pick, we'll gonna end with the same SI at the end...

So, what does fit all 3 categories here?^^

Whichever one is shining blade
Hmm. does Shining Blade fit all 3 topics?^^

Elves

2021-04-13, 10:45 PM

Shining Blade looks hilarious. That one I would have to jump in on. Like how the hell do you center a build on that?

The Viscount

2021-04-13, 10:49 PM

Somehow this sounds like an old dirty trick. Whatever we a gonna pick, we'll gonna end with the same SI at the end...

So, what does fit all 3 categories here?^^

Hmm. does Shining Blade fit all 3 topics?^^

I promise, these are 3 different classes, none of which is Shining Blade. Its time will come.

AvatarVecna

2021-04-13, 11:58 PM

A painful restriction. Suffer.

Thurbane

2021-04-14, 12:57 AM

Shining Blade looks hilarious. That one I would have to jump in on. Like how the hell do you center a build on that?

If anyone can, I'd be very impressed.

I mean, you could build around it, like any other half casting PrC, but the entry reqs mean you're going to be ECL 8 before your first level.

And the class features themselves are hot garbage: add a small handful of special weapon properties to a weapon a limited number of times per day.

H_H_F_F

2021-04-14, 02:44 AM

No way in hell I'm building for shining blade, but I'm sure someone could find something unique to do.

A painful resteiction gets my vote.

Gruftzwerg

2021-04-14, 02:59 AM

No way in hell I'm building for shining blade, but I'm sure someone could find something unique to do.

A painful resteiction gets my vote.

hm.. that would imply that restricting sole you to build Shining Blade in the next round would be painful for you I guess?^^

Beni-Kujaku

2021-04-14, 03:21 AM

This will be my first build, so having a bit of direction may be easier to me. I will vote for a painful restriction as well.

ThanatosZero

2021-04-14, 04:47 AM

If it is Shining Blade of Heironeous, I have this quick build.

Illumian pb 32

Str: 14
Dex: 12
Con: 14
Int: 14
Wis: 15 -> 20
Cha: 10

Cleric 6/Prestige Paladin 3/Cleric +1 (7)/Shining Blade of Heironeous 10

1. Improved Sigil Krau
3. Practiced Spellcaster Cleric
4. +1 Wisdom
6. Mounted Combat
8. +1 Wisdom
9. Serenity
10. Cleric 7th level ACF: Pool of Healing CC p.48
12. Feat, +1 Wisdom
15. Feat
16. +1 Wisdom
18. Feat
20. +1 Wisdom

BAB 18, CL 20 (14 +2 Improved Sigil Krau +4 Practiced Spellcaster) and 14/20 Cleric Spellcasting (7th level spell access).

Also, this made me curious, if we ever had a homebrew rework on that PrC. And indeed we have.
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?290819-%28Actually-second-ever%29-Shining-Blade-of-Heironeous-rework-%28ToB%29-PrC-PEACH

WhamBamSam

2021-04-14, 08:17 AM

I'm locked and loaded for Shining Blade, but even if Viscount hadn't foreclosed the possibility, I kinda suspect none of them progress casting (though Scar Enforcer might be the best fit I can think of for painful restriction, so who knows?).

I'll go with an old reference, because it's currently trailing and being an old IC head at this point, I'll probably understand it.

Piggy Knowles

2021-04-14, 08:23 AM

Under the "the plainest-sounding item on the menu is often secretly the best" rule, I'm going to vote for an old reference.

Korahir

2021-04-14, 09:13 AM

+1 for old reference.

Paragon

2021-04-14, 10:20 AM

+1 for old reference as well

Zaq

2021-04-14, 07:18 PM

I found time for one more build before the busy part of my evening. Seven done. One remains. Hoping to finish Thursday or Friday if all goes according to plan.

Zaq

2021-04-15, 08:31 PM

THE TIME HAS COME.

THE HOUR OF JUDGMENT IS AT HAND.

Part 1 here. Part 2 incoming.

M.K.! Monkey Kong! M.K.! Monkey Kong is here!

(I will not apologize because I'm not sorry. Also because that was going through my head the whole time. Also also my brain was pronouncing it like "mawnkey," not "muhnkey." You know, to rhyme with "Donkey." Just FYI. Clearly it's important that you know how kooky your judge is.)

Originality:
• Solid theme. All the core elements in your build make thematic sense with one another, and I like to see that.
• Maybe I should have expected JPM, but to be honest it didn't really occur to me. I think I always confuse JPM with master of nine and assume that it's got worse prereqs than it actually does, but either way, it's a good fit that I didn't quite expect.
• Score: 4.25 Honestly, I just like the fact that you've made a nice consistent flow thematically. The character's component parts mostly feel cohesive from a flavor perspective, and I like to see that. I wasn't totally blown away by putting things to clever and especially unexpected use, but I still like what I see.

Power:
• You've got a good mix of swift-action buff spells to make your brights brighter.
• Not a fan of the majority of the standard-action short-duration buff spells before you can quicken them with spell fury, though. Haste is something of an exception, but I think if your combats aren't lasting quite a long time, you'd often get more net damage out of an extra full attack (sans buffs) than spending a turn buffing up first. This is a common gish problem and you do eventually use the SI to somewhat overcome it, but it's a bit more of a bottleneck than I ideally like to see early on.

○ That said, since spells aren't unlimited, maybe it's best to spread them out a little bit even if it means you don't burn as brightly on round 1…
○ And, of course, you do eventually get spell fury, which helps a lot.
• I'm willing to buy that you've got reasonable damage output. Swordsage does a lot of heavy lifting in the early game (and that's fine), you make a good argument about Shadow Blade, and you've got solid spells geared for making yourself hurt more. Okay. I dig. It would have been nice if you could have snagged Shadow Blade earlier, but I understand that prereqs basically made that impossible.
• Score: 4.0 Good wizardry, good gishing, no real dead spots where you totally stall out progression-wise. A higher score would have come from you laying out how you prevent getting caught with your pants down (unbuffed or out of the right prepped spells or out of rages or whatever), especially in the mid-level range, but I still am willing to believe that this character pulls their weight in terms of problem-solving.

Elegance:
• That… isn't a pun though? Wolverines aren't cats? Maybe I'm missing something. Doesn't affect you either way, but that's kinda confusing.
• I'm okay with primal scream counting as rage, since it does indeed use the term "frenzy." Bold of you to pick a race with penalties to CHA (thereby letting you use the feature that the SI keys off of less often) and to CON (thereby making it last a shorter time), but I understand the urge to stick to a theme even in the face of unfortunate racial stats.
• Your skills are overspent at your wizard levels. Elven Generalist only adds Search; fighter bonus feat wiz doesn't add anything. Overspent by 2 at 2nd, 3 at 3rd, 1 at 4th, 1 at 5th…
• And you also seem to have made some creative assumptions about what's in class for wildrunner, too. You overspent by 4 points at 6th.
• Honestly I'm gonna stop looking at your skill points now. We're not even out of E6 yet and you're more than 10 points over with no signs of slowing down. I'ma mark this down as "skills wildly illegal" and call it a day.
• On the one hand, wildrunner does let you get a rage-equivalent more than 1/day for a two-level investment, which is better than barbarian on the surface. That said, you had to effectively blow two feats to get in (Endurance and Aereni Focus), and you'd have better return on investment (in terms of rages/day) by just spending one level in barbarian and taking Extra Rage twice, since that would at least only cost you one level (and fewer skill points) while netting 5 rages vs your 4 primal screams. Sure, barb rage doesn't do EXACTLY what primal scream does, but my point is that you didn't actually really save any time or effort by going this route, which is what would have made your Elegance pop instead of basically being a wash with the obvious—and therefore baseline point of comparison—entry. (If you'd pumped the hell out of CHA or gotten Survival without a feat, this would have gone better for you.)
• I somewhat question the wisdom of spending a feat on Arcane Strike when you're about to get arcane wrath as a class feature, but I suppose being able to arbitrarily burn slots for damage is still useful at 15th and doesn't want to wait until 18th. Okay. No penalty, but no bonus either.
• Score: 1.75 Making me abandon hope of seeing legal skill points is a fast track to Penaltytown, and the fact that wildrunner ended up being nearly a wash for barbarian rather than a way to achieve more with less just failed to boost you any further. No other special, clever, or unusual synergy in evidence.

UoSI:
• I feel like rage mage has two primary defining features: the ability to cast while raging, and spell fury. You get plenty of use out of spell fury, but primal scream doesn't actually prevent casting in the first place, so you've kind of cleverly sidestepped the biggest benefit of the first six levels of the SI, which is a little disappointing.
• It's not clear to me if you're assuming that RM 3/8 are increasing primal scream usage or granting barbarian-style rage (I'd accept a reasoned argument for either tbh), but I guess you do gain a benefit either way. I just wish I knew whether it was increasing your nova capacity (since primal scream and normal rage stack) or prolonging your use of your standard bag of tricks.
• You definitely have set yourself up to take advantage of your rage-like game elements, which is important. Shadow Blade is a clever way to make primal scream deliver two bonuses to damage, and you pointed out some good spells that can benefit from spell rage.
• You make fine use of spell fury. You've got enough rages per day to use it in many encounters, and you benefit from the action economy.
• Score: 3.75 You feel ragey and magey, but the fact that you don't actually need the ability to cast in a rage is preventing you from getting as high as you possibly could.

Final Thoughts:
• I like that you've got a lot of free actions that do good things for you.
• I do think this is a pretty solid take on the archetype, but I think you could potentially have eked more out of wildrunner by using CHA-based casting and having a reason to get a ton of screams per day from your basic investment. Still, honestly, I like this build and I think it's solid.
• Total: 13.75

Originality:
• I expected someone to try to bring in badgers, though I admit I didn't expect blood magus as part of it.
• Honestly though, once we get past blood magus, there isn't too terribly much spice here? Most of your feats and build choices are fairly generic or else are just prereq taxes. You've got the core concept of "badger into rage mage" but that's kind of it.
• Score: 3.0 I was set to give 2.75, but then I remembered your "go underground for Sun/Moon" trick that I've never seen before, and I like that.

Power:
• I wish I knew just a LITTLE more about your preferred spells. The spells you mention in your writeup are perfectly useful, but none of them are especially defining or encounter-ending (aside from maybe a well-aimed word of balance, which is 1/day at best and requires items). So… what's your preferred tactic? I don't know and that's not great.
• Sooooo here's the thing. I feel like you spend a lot of time getting rage for rage mage, which is going to benefit you in UoSI, but until 15th (when Raging Luck and spell fury come online), I have been given no understanding of WHY you want to rage.

○ If you're doing melee, you didn't explain it (also, what, +4 STR from rage puts you at a whopping 12 STR in badger form? I'll give you a medal but you've gotta arm-wrestle me for it). If you're not doing melee, what exactly ARE you doing? Just… standard wizardry? Then… why the rage? Why not just, you know, wizard?
○ Standard wizardry is great and all, but "spending a ton of build resources to retain standard wizardry in a completely optional status where you didn't explain the benefit prior to level 15" is… not very powerful.
• Your late game is nice. Spell fury is very strong with the ability to get multiple rages per encounter. I'm not convinced that you'll be constantly popping into and out of rage (minions are expendable, but they ain't infinite, and you're going to need a lot of downtime to have enough slots to animate enough ravens to burn one with the frequency you imply in your high-level paragraph), but I'm willing to accept that you've got a couple quickened spells per encounter, which is nice.
• Score: 3.0 So you know how we sometimes say "a wizard who lights all their feats on fire is still a wizard"? That's… what this feels like, honestly. You're a wizard who lit all their feats on fire. And accordingly, you're still a wizard, but you're still clearly held back as a result. You'd have scored higher with some more commentary on how you specifically use wizardry to perform cool things; yes, it's an article of faith on the boards that wizards are crazy strong, but I still need some kind of preferred tactics or SOMETHING to show me that you know how to wield phenomenal cosmic powah effectively when 75% of your build has you with basically "spells and nothing else."

Elegance:
• Mid-build curse-induced aging? Really, mate? Sigh.

○ I get it. You've got a need for INT and WIS on a chassis that has some mental stat penalties. But man. I just do not love that.
• Hybrid badger 5-footing underground to trigger a Moon-side spell (Hello! And… Goodbye!) is hilarious.
• I LOVE blood component dealing damage and triggering rage. That's awesome.
• Does a hengeyokai actually stay in animal form indefinitely? It says "as polymorph other," and… oh. Huh. Just looked up the 3.0 SRD. I guess polymorph other was indeed permanent, which kind of blows my mind a little bit.

○ Screw it, I'm leaving the digression in, even if it didn't go anywhere. Yolo.
• Your logic for it makes sense, but it's a little weird to see martial wizard used without the feats taken being prereqs for anything. I'm not penalizing for this or anything. It's just weird.
• Score: 2.5 Honestly, needing to rely on that obnoxious crutch of getting cursed with old age in the middle of your build just to meet a prereq is a major hit here. I feel like you really didn't need 18 INT and you could have avoided all of this by shuffling your point-buy. I mentioned your clever tricks (which did move you back up) but I truly don't love what had to take place at level 8.

UoSI:
• The majority of your build is oriented towards getting a wizard into a rage at will, which is quite appropriate for a rage mage.
• Once you're raging, though, I still don't have a clear picture of what you're doing with it or why you care.
• Top-notch use of spell fury, which is arguably RM's strongest feature. It's mostly limited by how many rages you've got, and well, you've proven that you've got a ton of them and that you can enter them when you choose, so hats off there.
• Unfortunately I'm not feeling too much love for the class features other than the ability to cast while raging and spell fury. Mostly because it feels like your rage doesn't do anything until spell fury comes online.

○ I also really didn't get a picture of what your spell rages are good for. I think you mentioned… two? Arguably three? Spells that are affected. And they didn’t seem to be more than support pieces half-alluded to in passing.
• Good job pointing out how blood magus supports rage mage.
• Score: 3.5 You were buoyed up by the clever synergy between blood magus and rage mage and especially by the excellent use of spell fury, but the fact that your rages seemed to be a goal rather than a tool dragged you down somewhat.

Final Thoughts:
• Sweet they/them pronouns! I see you. Cool.
• Honestly my problem with this one is that you spent forever trying to rage and you didn't spend any time telling me why raging is a worthwhile endeavor.
• "I can cast while angry!" "Okay, cool, why do you want to be angry?" "I dunno, but I'm good at making it happen!" "Cool, I just remembered somewhere I've gotta be…"

○ You're like a teenager: angry for no reason.
• This is a gish-focused PrC. You proved that you can make it functional without gishing, but I don't think you proved that you can make it good without gishing.
• Total: 12.0

Originality:
• Changeling warshaper? Tired. You didn't do anything special with it.
• I see a lot of old tricks without any real harmony or any real reason for them.
• I don't see any new tricks here to be honest, and I'm not getting a solid concept out of this character. The pieces don't fit nicely together, so they don't add to a harmonious original idea. Why a changeling? What's up with the spiders? Where did rage mage come in? None of it dovetails.

○ I suppose, to be fair, I don't recall seeing changeling used to be a fake kobold specifically to get the (Greater) Draconic Rite of Passage. Though that would be more impressive if, you know, you weren't already a sorcerer with access to sorcerer spells.
• Score: 2.0 It's not ENTIRELY hackneyed, but I don't see this hanging together, and there's some real worn-out elements to it (changeling warshaper, Racial Emulation abuse, bashing together ACFs to make a sorcerer with wilder-like spells known) that don't have anything fresh to make them feel interesting again.

Power:
• I actually don't think your spell table is correct. Domain sorcerer ACF doesn't just give you spells known for free. It charges you for it. "From now on, you know one less sorcerer spell than you can cast at each subsequent level." So it's pre-selecting your spells known for you from the domain, not giving you the domain spells in addition to your spells known. And you can only cast the domain spell once per day per spell. So that means that for every level after taking the ACF where you know one spell of a given level, that spell is only the domain spell, and it can only be cast once per day. This is kind of the opposite of awesome. It's a major unforced error, and it absolutely wrecks your high-level casting.

○ You don't even have Arcane Strike or a similar way to burn off the slots! Yikes, my friend. Yikes.
○ Also you have fewer of your 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, and 6ths (known) than your table indicates. They're replaced by the domain spells.

§ So, like, when you get divine power you unlearn polymorph (and one of your 2nds and one of your 3rds).
• Anyway, I guess you're a gish? Maybe? I'm assuming that because this is a gish class. Honestly though I think your high point might be the 1-4 bracket. You kind of peak and then don't really get a hell of a lot better for a long time. Enlarge person with a greatsword is fine at the very first levels but it's not exactly world-wrecking at, say, ECL 6, even with the occasional "nope!" from wings of cover.
• What natural weapons are you making with warshaper? What makes them more interesting than your greatsword? There could conceivably be reasons why they're interesting, but you chose not to share those reasons, and I'm not going to invent them.

○ You say "and thx to Morphic Weapons we have a lot of [attacks]." How many? That class feature is infamously ill-defined with regard to limitations. Are you going TO and just making unlimited tentacles? Just two claws? Somewhere in the middle? Where in the middle? I don't know what you think you're capable of!
• Honestly about the only thing I see that this build can do that a goliath barbarian with the Mountain Rage ACF couldn't match is wings of cover, at least for quite a long time. Which is a decent trick but it's not gonna carry you all the way.

○ Yes, you eventually get a little more utility, but not so much more that I'm actually impressed with it at any point.
• I would have ideally liked to have seen a hair more attention paid to defense. You've got HP, but your AC is poor (and enlarge makes it worse, as does charging/pouncing and as does raging), you've only got two or maybe three castings per day of wings of cover for a good chunk of your career, and you're allegedly making yourself a high-value in-your-face target. Mirror image is solid defense (when you spend an action on it) but it's kind of late.
• Score: 1.5 You do have a little bit of magic and the occasional problem-solving trick, but honestly at most levels I think you're way behind a pure barbarian in power, to say nothing of a pure sorcerer. And yeah, it's very much not a good thing for a gish to compare unfavorably to its martial side, let alone its magical side.

Elegance:
• Your build is hard to read. I don't like the lack of numbering on the class levels, and it only became unambiguous that you're a changeling when I saw Racial Emulation.
• Nine levels between investment (Obtain Familiar) and payoff (Shadowform Familiar) is uuuugly. You will note that Shadowform Familiar explicitly says that it doesn't transform an extant familiar. You have to have the ability to summon a new one. So what, you're gonna dismiss it and lose a bunch of XP and have to wait a year? Or you're gonna have a feat that gives you no benefit for nine levels? (Does it take more or less than a year in-universe for you to progress nine levels?) I hate either of those options.

○ Note that this also means that your investment in Draconic Reservoir is potentially useless for several levels (if you're choosing to wait to summon the familiar).
• I do not like the combination of familiar pocket and Shadowform Familiar. Is an extradimensional space within 30 ft per CL of you? I mean, maybe, but the fact that you even have to have that discussion with your GM is extremely not elegant.

○ (Also maybe not. Extradimensional spaces are weird and they aren't really on this plane. Maybe it depends on whether it's sealed or not? Ugh. I hate that you're making me even think about this. Inelegant six ways from Sunday no matter what the answer is.)
• You… can't take War as your domain. Kurtulmak doesn't offer it. "If you worship a specific deity, the domain must be one to which your deity grants access." And you said, explicitly, that your worship Kurtulmak, who doesn't offer the War domain. So that’s straight up illegal.
• Using Racial Emulation on multiple feats with different racial prereqs is dicey, since by RAW you cannot select or use a feat without its prereq (see PHB pg 87). So you’re arguably losing Draconic Reservoir when you’re a krinth and losing Shadowform Familiar when you’re a kobold (and losing both when you’re neither).

○ And it’s one thing when the feats in question aren’t aimed at the same part of the game, but these are clearly both trying to affect your familiar simultaneously, which is no bueno.
• Warshaper kind of comes out of nowhere? Like, it's not actively terrible or anything, but it doesn't have any particular special synergy with the rest of the build.
• Your source list is incomplete. Where are your spells from? (I found most of them but not all.) Where's the option to take a spider as a familiar from?
• Score: 1.0 I see nothing I like and much that I dislike.

UoSI:
• You do have some raging, though not terribly much of it. 1/day before ECL 10, 2/day from 10-15, and a whopping 3/day at 16+? That's… not zero, but it's not much. You're going to spend an awful lot of your day being out of angry.
• The majority of your spells seem to be the kind of things you'd cast on round 1 of combat before wading into melee (and therefore you could plausibly just buff first, rage second, and not need to cast while angry), but wings of cover is a notable and bright exception, which is good.
• I kind of feel like you did too good a job picking swift-action spells. Once we account for the fact that you have fewer spells known than advertised (because of the way domain sorcerer works), you have remarkably few spells that are in the 1-4 range that are standard actions or full-round actions, other than your (1/day) War domain spells. I guess I've seen worse than a swift enlarge person, but is that actually the best option at the level it comes online? I remind you that "becomes Large with good action economy while raging" is literally available to a goliath barbarian at ECL 3.

○ Maybe ferocity of sanguine rage, I guess? Unless you lost it and kept fly once we apply the domain sorcerer rules. I don't know which you did.
○ I guess polymorph is usable at EXACTLY ECL 14, but you lose it to divine power (which is great and all, but only 1/day) at ECL 15 and couldn't gain it back until ECL 19 at the earliest.
○ Enlarge person isn't a legal target for spell fury, by the way. Spell fury references Quicken Spell. Quicken Spell says "A spell whose casting time is more than 1 full-round action cannot be quickened." Enlarge person has a casting time of 1 round. 1 round is greater than 1 full-round action (a spell cast as a full-round action takes effect on your turn; a spell with a 1 round casting time takes effect at the start of your next turn. Contrast with a spell with a standard action casting time but with metamagic applied by a spontaneous caster.

§ For that matter, you can only cast while raging if you're casting a spell with a casting time of no more than 1 full-round action. So you can't even use enlarge person while raging.
• You do have a few spells that get better with the increased CL from spell rage, though I'm not sure I see any that get better from the DC increase from angry spell. Maybe flame strike 1/day? That's 1/day at ECL 17+, so I'm not really impressed there.
• Score: 2.0 I do see you trying to make a raging gish. Your spells make thematic sense for that. I just don't feel like you actually made it work and I don't feel like you really took the best possible advantage of what rage mage has to offer.

Final Thoughts:
• I like the fact that you referred not once but twice to "wilding glasps." That's a really fun word to say! Glasp glasp glasp. I may just start calling them that now.
• I hated being as harsh as I was here. I kept looking for nice things to say and I kept realizing that something was always standing in the way of me giving you credit.
• I, too, have definitely felt many times that I start with one idea, that idea mushrooms into several, and then I can't fit all of them in the same build. Unfortunately, I wonder if maybe you ended up spreading too thin in this case.
• Total: 6.5

Originality:
• I see what you're going for, and I didn't expect it. (The reason I didn't expect it is because it's illegal, but we're covering that in Power rather than Originality.)
• The theme holds together okay. Angry druid makes a certain degree of sense, considering that druidic avenger combines rage and casting in a single package out of the box.
• I haven't seen the argument before that you can release an animal companion and still keep it around with Handle Animal.

○ To be fair, I hate that argument, but this is Originality rather than Elegance, and it's definitely a new argument.
• As I mentioned in your sorcerer build, warshaper doesn't dovetail smoothly with the rest of the build for me. It's not necessarily mechanically weak, but it doesn't fit together in an obvious way either from a flavor standpoint or from a natural mechanical standpoint, so it feels out of place and doesn't make the character coherent.
• Score: 4.5 Your core theme is coherent even if warshaper and beastmaster are a little bit separate from "angry druid," and you definitely presented plenty of things I didn't expect. Mostly because they're illegal and/or janky, but hey, new is new, and I'd be lying if I said I saw it coming. I probably would have given you a perfect Originality score if it weren't for warshaper and beastmaster feeling out of place.

Power:
• My friend, that is not how Southern Magician works. Letting you cast a divine spell as arcane and using that to qualify as "able to cast 2nd level arcane spells"? Fine. A little cheesy, but fine. That is legal. However, it does NOT turn druid into an arcane spellcasting class and does NOT allow you to advance druid casting with rage mage.

○ Your casting stops at, like, ECL 5. So I'm going to judge your build accordingly in Power and, per our One Mistake, One Penalty rule, I'll allow your other categories to stand as though this nonfunctional setup is functional.
• You've got the casting of a 5th level druid, which isn't nothing but it isn't that impressive long-term. Decent early game (worse than a vanilla druid, but you're still a freaking druid), but it stalls out and it stalls out hard as soon as you step off that path.
• Natural Spell seems like a big investment when you've only got one wild shape per day and you can only turn into a Medium or Small animal of up to 5 HD. That's… not exactly powerhouse stuff. Fleshraker's a fine form (esp with venomfire) but it's still a bit disappointing to see the progression just stop like that.
• You don't get a Huge spider with Spider Companion unless you've got effective druid level 10 or higher, and in my opinion, effective druid level 4 (from beastmaster 1) is less than effective druid level 10.

○ Wait, just did the math, can confirm, 4 < 10.
○ (Beastmaster states "If a beastmaster already has an animal companion from another class, her beastmaster class levels stack with class levels from all other classes that grant an animal companion." But you don't have an animal companion from another class, and you don't have any other classes that grant an animal companion, because you traded that away. You can't have your cake and eat it too.)

§ Even if you were right and your druid levels stacked with beastmaster levels, 5 + 1 + 3 = 9, and 9 is usually less than 10. But even that isn't what's on display.
• I don't see why spending a feat on two extra daily uses of a 1st-level SLA is a power move at 18th. Especially since it's a SLA and therefore you can't quicken it with spell fury (though to be fair, enlarge person can't be quickened anyway; see my commentary in your sorcerer build) so it really means that you're spending an entire round buffing before you get messy.

○ Note that if we accept your argument that you cast enlarge person first and use wild shape second, this means that you're spending two rounds (one entire round casting time and then one standard action to morph) before making a single attack. I suppose you can use a move action on the second round to command a Handle Animal (not companion) pet. Oh, but since you can only enter wild shape 1/day, getting enlarge person more times per day isn't really compatible with an argument that you're in WS anyway, given that the order of operations is important in this case. (And that's even accepting the argument that enlarge person effect isn't overwritten by wild shape setting you to a creature of a defined size, but I'm letting that go.)
• Multiattack is a good choice, though it's not really enough to make up for everything else here.
• Score: 1.0 With rage mage not advancing casting (because, you know, that's what the rules say), you've got 1 level that gives a new ability and 9 levels that are basically a worse barbarian with lower HD and lower BAB. That's not awesome. Your other tricks don't do enough to buoy you back up, even if your early game is strong. You fare poorly in light of my first question in Power ("how well do you do what you say you can do?") and this is basically where we end up. I don't like when I feel that a build overpromises and underdelivers.

Elegance:
• Half-orc druid is incompatible with root walker at 4th. They both trade out resist nature's lure. (Also, bully animal affects wild empathy, which you traded for vermin empathy, but that's close enough that I'd allow it in a real game except for the incompatibility of trading the same feature twice.)

○ I understand that you were trying to get use out of the wild empathy offered by beastmaster, but you outsmarted yourself by trying to loop in half-orc druid.
• As mentioned, you took a flaw, which is just going to lower the baseline per the rules of the contest.
• You don't have the ranks in K: Religion needed to take Vermin Trainer, making two of your feats illegal.
• You called out acorn of far travel as a favorite spell. You argued that the acorn lets you see and hear as though you were in the tree's space, and my friend, I absolutely hate that. The acorn does not cause you to exist in two places at once. A fireball that hits the area of the oak tree does not also hit the character holding the acorn. You can't take a five-foot step from your position in the dungeon to a space adjacent to the oak tree. It just doesn't work that way and you will not convince me otherwise.

○ Spell rage absolutely will not help you cast an acorn (1 minute casting time) and druid's grove (10 minute casting time or longer) at higher CL. Your CON ain't that high. So that clever combo (specifically your instructions to use this with spell rage) isn't as good as you're advertising.

§ Also ALSO there's the fact that you can only cast while raging if the casting time is no more than 1 full round. Ugh. This isn't going well.
• On the one hand, using half-elf paragon to get a prereq and the feat you actually care about at the same level is cool. On the other hand, I have no idea why you felt the need to spend two feats and a level on getting spiders instead of animals? They're… not really noticeably better. And it interrupts your progression with no particularly obvious reason other than "it was the first level with an open feat slot."

○ It's a pretty clear example of a level blindsiding me out of nowhere. What the hell is THAT doing there? (I know NOW what it's doing, but you can't act like it didn't come out of nowhere on a first read.)
○ I really wish you'd called out that half-drow would let you get everything you get at 15th level without having to assume that you can take one form for the purposes of the level and take a separate form for the purposes of the bonus feat granted by the level that required that you be a specific form, but at least half-drow DOES exist.
• I'm not super fond of the argument that a dismissed animal companion sticks around long enough to be trained with Handle Animal. If you were claiming that the animal retained the benefits of advancement I'd come down on you really hard, but as it stands, you're not doing that, so at least this isn't THAT much worse than just arguing that you'd be able to find training subjects through some other method. (Debating where the animals come from doesn't change the good or bad aspects of Handle Animal that much, I suppose.) As it stands, though, I'd personally frown on it in a real game unless you were already in an environment where the animals being called are native. (My argument, as a GM, would be that you're using a special ability to entice the animal to come bond with you. When that bond is released, the animal isn't going to want to choose to stick around, HA or no.)

○ I'm not saying it doesn't work, necessarily. I'm saying it triggers my "GM says no" reflex, and that's inelegant.
○ Also, do remember that giving a command to an animal that isn't your animal companion takes a move action. This doesn't automatically mean it's a bad idea, but it's also not "free action economy breakage in exchange for skill points and downtime."
• Score: 1.0 Between the flaw, the illegal feats, the illegal doubling of ACFs, and everything else mentioned, I don't see anything that picks this up off the floor.

UoSI:
• So in the spirit of One Mistake, One Penalty, I'm going to act for the purposes of non-Power scores like rage mage advances druid casting. And in that regard, okay, angry druid does make a degree of sense. As mentioned, druid avenger is slightly dysfunctional as written in the first place because you can't normally cast while raging, so rage mage's ability to combine the two abilities is quite natural on a druidic avenger if we assume that the two classes are compatible in the first place.
• I don't think your argument about Handle Animal plays well with a rage mage, since you can't make HA checks (including giving commands to your pets) while raging, and therefore you've spent at least one feat (or if we accept your argument about using released companions to build an army, several feats) and a lot of skill points on something that conflicts with the nominal point of the SI.
• You point out a couple spells that are improved by the increased CL of spell rage (especially kelpstrand, venomfire, and greater magic fang.
• However, I'm not sure if you're using many that benefit from the increased save DCs of angry spell. You didn't point any such spells out, at least. Seems like a waste, since druids have plenty of spells that rely on saves, but as I clearly stated in my criteria, I'm not going to do the work for you of finding cool things your character can do.
• I really would have liked to have seen more rages per day. ECL 11 before you get your second daily rage? That's a lot of non-angry encounters. Doesn't feel very rage magey when that happens.
• You make reasonable use of spell fury. You don't go above and beyond, but you do indeed get some use from it.
• Score: 2.0 You're trying and at least you've got some gish to you, and I like to see that you're trying. But I feel like there's a lot in this build that is separate from rage mage (warshaper and beastmaster aren't bad but don't mix intuitively with rage mage, so they detract from what I'd prefer to be the focus), you put a lot of effort into a trick that is fundamentally incompatible with raging, and you're not actually angry that often overall.

Final Thoughts:
• This build makes a lot of very, very bold claims. And you know what? I respect going big. Thinking big and reaching for the stars? That's a great path to be on.
• But the problem, of course, is that nearly nothing here works the way you think it does. It falls apart upon scrutiny. And unfortunately, by the time I got done wading through the actual rules to see what you were truly capable of, there wasn't a whole lot left.
• Total: 8.5

Zaq

2021-04-15, 08:36 PM

FOUR HAVE BEEN JUDGED ALREADY. FOUR MORE WILL FIND THAT THEIR TIME FOR JUDGMENT IS NOW.

Originality:
• The character feels cohesive and makes sense as a whole. Maybe gotta file the serial numbers off of Suel archanamach, but I have zero problem doing that.
• I'm not surprised by Righteous Wrath. It makes perfect sense here. You use it well, but it's not exactly a hard find.

○ I will admit that I didn't foresee anyone leaning into crits, and you've done a decent job combining barbarian elements (streetfighter) and magical elements (ways of going invisible, keen edge) and then ways of capitalizing when the dice go your way. I can give some credit there.

○ Going hellbred for a late-game Devil's Aura is somewhat new. That's clever and I don't often see hellbred taken specifically for the late-game feat.
• Score: 4.0 There's some decent leaning into uncommon feats and tricks here, and the whole thing is pretty smooth.

Power:
• So here's the big thing. When you're on, you're really on! I love what you're bringing to the table with Righteous Wrath, whirling blade, and so on.

○ However, I question your staying power. In particular, it's hard to call whirling blade a mainstay of the build when you have, like, 3/day INCLUDING bonus spells before ECL 16, you know?
○ This is the double-edged sword of using unique-casting PrCs alongside a half-casting SI. You leave less on the table by dropping 5 CL when the class only goes up to 10 in the first place, but they usually don't give many spells per day at all, and you're slowing down even that much progression. So they work best as accent pieces rather than as mainstays.

§ Also, 2 rages / day until ECL 13 isn't the worst staying power (with regard to rage) that I've seen this round, but there's still pretty clearly going to be several encounters per day for most of your career where you're not raging. I wish we could see a little more, whether through feats or rearranged class levels or whatever. (This may have conflicted with other desired elements of the build, but it's still a noticeable limitation in practice.)
§ Now, you're not saying that whirling blade is the only way you can function, of course. You still work okay when just making a basic attack. But we must be aware of the limitations.
• That said, once again, when your tricks work then they seem to work beautifully. I'm absolutely willing to believe that you're a true force when you've got everything on. It's just that that isn't something I expect to be true in every encounter or on every round.

○ I see your suggestion about items that will increase your spells per day. Good suggestion. I like it and that does make me recognize that you acknowledge that you'd want to put resources into expanding your staying power.
• I dig the fear-stacking between Righteous Wrath, Devil's Aura, and Resounding Blow. When that works, it's brutal.
• Power Attack is weirdly rare this round! Look around you—have you ever seen so many barbarian-like people without PA?! Madness, I say! But at least you've got an at-will way to increase damage, risky though it is.
• It feels weird to say this, but I feel like Quell the Profane is a waste. Even at its max, is 5 STR damage (which requires a crit AND a save) actually interesting when you've already got them cowering? Honestly I'd have liked to have seen something like Improved Critical (more crits = more cowering, and this saves your spell slots for keen edge) or Intimidating Rage (more shaken with chill action economy) or even Extra Rage or something. It's not an awful feat on your chassis, but it feels like filler rather than an actual power move. I get the whole "insult to injury, my crits are VERY BAD FOR YOU" feel, but I just don't think it's worth the slot.
• You have Combat Casting (prereq), but only 4 ranks in Concentration itself. That's not a ton, even with high CON while raging. I hope you don't need to roll that too often.
• Not a whole lot of out-of-combat utility. I guess alter self (which eats a precious, precious 2nd level slot and therefore competes with whirling blade) is a little more than the average barbarian has, but honestly not much more (and your skills, overall, I think are noticeably worse than a standard barbarian).
• Score: 3.75 I like this overall. I think you're great when you work, and I'm willing to believe that you have more good turns than bad turns. However, I do think that you're going to be running out of juice a noticeable amount, and I feel like you're just a little behind peak op when looking at your late-game feats.

Elegance:
• Learning a language by spending two half-ranks over the course of two levels feels weird. It's legal and I'm not penalizing for it, but it feels off to me. (Despite it being ever so slightly more realistic than picking up a whole language in one go.) This is a me problem, not a you problem.
• You pack a lot into barbarian, so that's cool. I've definitely used Ape Totem myself a few times because yeah, sometimes an extra early feat (especially one that's a common prereq) really is just as valuable as pounce.
• Nice overlapping prereq (Combat Casting) for SA/RM. Surprisingly rare this round despite Combat Casting being a common obnoxious feat tax for vaguely gish-oriented stuff.
• I can't get too mad about relying on the RC's semi-retcon of "can't see = flat-footed" because I've done literally that as a core component of a build, so I laugh in recognition.
• Small penalty, but your spells known aren't legal. Grease is not abjuration, divination, illusion, or transmutation.

○ I get that you were trying to have an easy way to force flat-footedness and that's great, but it's not actually legal.
• Next time, please include a spell table. It's one thing to condense it like you did when you've got, like, three levels of casting or whatever, but I really wanted the ability to not have to go back to Complete Arcane and also do math to figure out how long it took you to get a reasonable number of spells per day at any given level.

○ It's quite relevant to know that, for example, when it comes to 2nd level spells you get 0/day at ECL 9, 1/day at ECL 10, 2/day at 11-15, and you only hit 3/day at 16th. Seeing the progression is arguably more important than seeing the end result, and I feel a little bit like you were trying to hide the progression from me.
• I did what I said I wasn't gonna do and I was able to come up with an explanation for most everything you've got skill-wise, even the semi-random stuff like Bluff 5 (obviously digging out a +2 for Intimidate, right?), but I do wish you'd explained just a hair more.

○ Of course when the SI has one of the most pathetic skill lists in the game there's gonna be some leeway…
• Score: 4.0 Nothing made me sit up and go "wow, I wish I'd thought of that," and I did dock you a little bit for taking an illegal spell and for obscuring your spell progression, but other than that I honestly like what I see.

UoSI:
• You're ragey and you're magey, so that's an excellent start.
• I wish there were more use you got out of spell rage. With the possible exception of dispel magic, the majority of your spells where CL is highly relevant are spells that you generally won't cast after turning on your very limited rages. And I'm not seeing really much of anything that benefits from the save DC increase, so that's a waste.

○ This really feels like a missed opportunity to get SA spells up at a much higher CL than usual, since a rage mage whose casting comes from a base class doesn't actually have a CL advantage over a pure caster, but a Suel archanamach really doesn't usually have much CL to speak of. This would have been really highlighting the SI. Pity.

§ MAYBE keen edge once you can Quicken it? Maybe?
• Most of your spells are decent gishy choices, though the fact that enlarge person can't be cast in a rage (it's got a casting time of more than one full-round action) is something that I doubt you took into consideration when making your choices.
• I'm not sure how impressed I am with whirling blade being your stated target for Quicken. It's definitely a spike of damage and that's valuable, but as a go-to? You don't really have enough 2nd level slots to burn them that fast, so I would think that getting up a solid buff and still being able to have more or less a full turn would be more valuable there.
• Score: 2.75 You nail the flavor, but a hard look at the evidence shows me that you don't REALLY need that many levels in RM after you get the ability to cast while raging (or at least, you don't wring as much benefit out of each subsequent level as I'd really hoped to have seen). Still, you're clearly an angry gish and you've built around that, so that matters.

Final Thoughts:
• This build is really well-constructed as a whole. I've got quibbles, but honestly I think it's smoother than anything I would have come up with this round. Well done.
• Total: 14.5

Originality:
• I won't say that unseelie dark hunter is new to me. Hell, I entered the round where it was the SI. But I will say that it kinda feels like a shameless originality grab; it comes out of nowhere and doesn't feel natural.

○ Now, I get that it's the only arcane class that casts off of WIS and therefore isn't completely screwed by eating a -4 to INT and to CHA from taking broodguard as a way of getting rage without spending a class level. I see what you're doing. But I still feel like it's not a smooth and cohesive character.
• I will admit that I've never seen broodguard used before. Might be too clever by half, but I will admit that I didn't see it coming.
• Paladin as a base class is pretty outside of what's expected. The only reason I'm going to reward that rather than call it a shameless grab is because your fluff gave me a slightly plausible reason to merge the two, so you made the right choice writing that story.
• Score: 3.75 You brought in some unexpected stuff, and I will give credit where it's due for bringing broodguard to my attention. However, I really feel like unseelie dark hunter was brought in out of a desire for nonconventional entry rather than because it makes sense on its own merits (and yes, even though I understand the WIS-based casting thing, the only reason THAT'S relevant is because of a desire for nonconventional entry giving you a -4 to INT and CHA), so I can't go too high here.

Power:
• Rage doesn't give you extra spell slots even with aeshkrau. Spell slots come back when you meditate to regain them, which takes 15 minutes and isn't a thing while raging. (I used to think that literally this exact trick worked, but it turns out I was wrong all those years ago.)

○ Theoretically, if you had some kind of spell-slot-recovery ability that explicitly gave back spell slots as its intended effect, then yes, using it while raging could let you generate more spell slots than you had at the start of the day. But that's not what's on display here, I'm afraid.
• I understand that you wanted to get into rage mage using highly unconventional methods, and you know what, I'm okay saying that you succeeded there. Those methods are nothing if not unconventional. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that they actually do much for you. Your spells are, frankly, unimpressive. You get them very late, you get very few per day, and they're mostly not going to let you solve too many new problems by the time they come online.
• Where's your defense coming from? I guess you probably wear heavy armor early on, but after the transformation? Per Savage Species, "broodguards do not wear armor," you've got (at that point) 10 DEX, rage imposes penalties on AC, and while your CON isn't bad it's certainly not good enough to make me think that you can just face-tank all day. Oh, and then you take Reckless Rage to make your AC even lower. I don't think you've got enough juice to just be a glass cannon who instakills anything threatening.
• I feel like your early game is painful. You've got no meaningful offense to speak of until, like, level 9 or so? I'm not impressed. This ain't exactly an "A-game paladin." Not even close.

○ Serenity is a reasonably good choice, but I kind of wish you'd moved it later in the build. +3 to all saves isn't the worst use for a feat, and I suppose LoH isn't entirely forgettable early on, but smites never impress me unless you go all the way into optimizing them and TU doesn't matter at all on you until you get something to trade it for (at ECL 18). The benefit you get prior to ECL 18 is nearly entirely defensive and the biggest benefit is passive. It's just, like, why, you know?
○ The mount is probably your strongest ability until, like, spell fury, so I guess that's something, but it doesn't scale, so it's not really something you can coast on forever.

§ Also, I do not like Schroedinger's Mount. Pick the darn class feature. I might have given marginally more credit for it if I knew what it was rather than a list of three possible options.
• Spirited Charge is pretty decent offense, though I do indeed wish that you'd gotten Power Attack online much earlier. It feels like a setup for some kind of trick, but it doesn't really get any better after you take it for quite a long time (you don't have many other increases to your offense other than a very use-limited rage for like six levels right at the heart of when the build really ought to be online).

○ Also, though I recognize the feat starvation here, I feel like you missed a great opportunity to take Mounted Fury. So it goes. Always an opportunity cost to everything.
• You've got very few rages per day until very high level; almost all your tricks are things that you've got only a small number of uses of and will run out of quickly (smites, rages, spells, etc.). I feel like there's going to be a lot of rounds per adventuring day where you don't have too many active abilities to speak of, and I'm not thrilled with that.
• Once you get into the SI, you at least slowly gain some rages per day (and spell fury is good, though you don't do anything especially out of the ordinary with it), but I feel like your spells are too weak for general-purpose problem solving, so the ability to cast them while raging isn't especially helpful to you.
• You know what? I can't put this off any longer. It's very nice, but what does it DO?

○ You're more defined by what you aren't than by what you are. And I'm sorry, but that's not very helpful here.
• Score: 1.5 You take for-bleeding-ever to get ANY meaningful offense, your defense falls completely away almost immediately thereafter, and you don't ever really make up that early deficit.

Elegance:
• I like that you managed to get the majority of your prereq feats as bonus feats. We can quibble about whether the opportunity cost of taking the classes that give said feats as bonus feats was worthwhile, but I do at least like seeing you knock out obnoxious prereqs like that.
• I confess that I'm not in love with a CG paladin of freedom being devoted to Ilmater (who is, of course, LG) and gaining a mechanical benefit from such devotion.

○ Yeah, paladins don't HAVE to have a deity, and paladins don't have the same one-step-away rule as clerics do (mostly because WotC never contemplated the possibility of non-LG paladins), but it rubs me the wrong way. Especially on such a fluff-heavy class as paladin. (I mean, let's be honest, it's not like paladin is actually doing you too much good other than that.)

§ I get why you did it. You needed to be CG because you can't enter the SI while being Lawful. You needed to devote yourself to Ilmater to enter the Noble Heart sub level and get Track for free (and get a few more non-cross-class points in Survival, the need for which was dogging your early, skill-starved levels), which you needed to enter unseelie dark hunter, which you wanted because you decided you'd prioritize Originality and avoid obvious entries. All of it flows from the starting premises. Don't think I don't see that. But that doesn't mean I like it, at least where it comes to the alignment thing.
• I'm of two minds about broodguard.

○ On the one hand, it's a way to get rage without class levels or LA, and that's actually pretty interesting as a way of knocking out prereqs.

§ On the other hand, dang does it have some downsides, and considering that you saved potential HD by taking this instead of, like, a level in barbarian, you still didn't actually do anything with the potential slack you gained (you didn't enter the SI early, you didn't eke out one last level in a powerful class that would set you up for success… so why did you do it?)

□ "Look, I made my pack 5% lighter! That'll really help on this hiking trip!" "Wow, nice! Wait, what are you doing?" "I'm filling that extra space I opened up with rocks." "Are the rocks important or useful in any way?" "Nope."
• Human paragon makes sense as a way of expanding rage mage's pathetic skill list and getting a bonus feat when needed, though I kind of wish that, if you were going to wait eight levels before taking the bonus feat, it would feel more clever/elegant if it weren't a feat that you could have qualified for at level 1. Holding a bonus feat "in reserve" until you get the prereqs out of the way is a trick I like to see. (Though at least this way it wasn't taking up space forever before you actually took rage mage, so I get that there's some give and take there.)
• Score: 3.0 There's a bit of goodness here, but there's enough questionable stuff that it feels right to basically call it a wash.

UoSI:
• You attempted to use aeshkrau to give yourself extra spells while raging. I took off points in Power because that doesn't actually work, but I can give points here in UoSI because you were trying. (One Mistake, One Penalty, after all.)
• Unfortunately, I really don't see the benefit of casting the majority of your spells while raging. They aren't generally especially amazing gish buffs, and very few of the ones that benefit significantly from increased CL are typical combat choices (so are you burning your limited rages out of combat or are you not really using the feature? Neither is great).

○ It is a darn shame that dispel magic—which you specifically call out as one of your better candidates—is significantly behind the curve at ECL 14 even with max CL, since it caps at the +10 dispel bonus. You're already at a 20% disadvantage relative to an equal-level caster (getting worse every level); while spell rage keeps it from being hot garbage, it's still an awfully risky use of an action when the heat is on.
○ Your 4th level spells are decent, but they're REALLY late. Like, REALLY late.
• I don't really think that Reckless Rage is a net positive for you, but at least you seem to be aiming for staying in-theme?
• As you mentioned, angry spell gets left behind.

○ Why did you even take the hold spells when your DC kind of sucks and they can't even show off the SI's tricks?

§ Okay, I know why, because unseelie dark hunter's class list is pretty bad. But anyway, here we are.
• The loss of armor (from broodguard) means that overcome spell failure isn't useful.
• You don't have any unusually good choices for spell fury, but you at least have haste and true strike, and you know what, there's worse stuff out there than getting one of those as a swift action a couple times a day.
• Score: 2.75 That aeshkrau trick, even though it doesn't work, showed me you put thought into casting while raging, and that matters. I feel like there's just too many of the SI's features left alone (and/or simply underutilized) to really reward you, but that trick gave you a lot of points back.

Final Thoughts:
• My second Iron Chef build ever was an aeshkrau illumian unseelie dark hunter with a rage ability and a focus on mounted combat. Weird, right? Like, that feels really weird. But kinda cool.

○ omg that was more than ten years ago holy crap I am so old
• Your fluff/story was pretty clever. That does feel like a very fey punishment, even if there's probably not a ton of overlap between the fey and the yuan-ti (but hey, fluff is mutable).
• I feel like this build is a case study in avoiding obvious entry to the SI. When a chef finds something off the wall that really approaches the SI and its abilities in a unique way, that tends to be memorable and cool! But unfortunately, I feel like this was designed just to enter the class in an unconventional manner rather than a cool synergistic build that happens to be different from what WotC expected/intended.
• Total: 11.0

Originality:
• Weretouched master as your source of rage is pretty clever. I like that.
• The concept holds together without any baffling swerves, which is good. The core is clearly "duskblade who leans into shifter heritage," and rage mage is a surprisingly appropriate way to bring those two together.
• While there's not too much in the way of bringing really new shifter tricks to the table, it's been a long time since I've seen anyone commit to the bit as much as you do re: shifting, so honestly that's cool.
• Score: 4.5 Clean, a little off the beaten path, and logical overall. I'm in.

Power:
• The smallest note: You left two skill points on the table because the Apprentice feat gives you two extra skill points at 1st level to spend on your new class skills.

○ "Here's two skill points, kid. Go buy yaself somethin' nice."
• Weretouched II applies while shifting, not just all the time. So you do gain more uses per day as you gain more shifter feats, but it does have a limit per day.

○ That said, you've got a decent number per day (by the time you enter the SI) compared to some other chefs on display this round, so this isn't the biggest problem out there. Just pointing out some possible limitations.
• I feel like it takes a good while before your natural weapons become sufficiently dangerous to justify using them instead of, like, the traditional greatsword, but duskblade provides a reasonably solid foundation (see UoSI for where I'm docking points for your lack of info; in Power I'm just assuming non-specific good choices. One Mistake, One Penalty) before you get all the goodies from weretouched master online.

○ Weretouched master itself is a little bit of a slow spot in the build. I can tell you're building up at that point, but the interim levels are a little painful. And since 6-10th is, admitting my personal bias here, my personal favorite level range, that's a little frustrating to see, but I understand why you did it.
• Natural attacks, which really want a full attack routine, aren't a perfectly harmonious choice with duskblade, which mostly makes standard action channeled attacks (absent the level 13 feature). While you didn't lay it out in much detail, I feel like most of the time you'll be better off with a channeled spell than with a full attack, which means that your resources spent on getting and improving multiple attacks kind of go to waste.

○ Yeah, it's good to have options, but if one option is clearly better than the other option in the majority of cases, there's a functional limit to how much effort you want to spend on pumping up the lesser option.
• From a pure Power (not UoSI) perspective, I feel like taking duskblade 6 and 7 would have made more sense at the end than rage mage 9 and 10. You'd get better casting advancement and you'd get +16 BAB at the end. A minor quibble, but it seems like a missed opportunity.

○ I repeat, this is solely from the perspective of Power rather than UoSI or even Elegance. Not saying that it was the wrong overall choice to finish the SI. But I am saying that it's a slightly less Power-boosting choice than returning to your roots.
• Score: 3.75 I think this is a good start, but I think there's some rough edges that probably sound more effective on the surface than they turn out to be at the end of the day.

Elegance:
• I like duskblade as an entry class, since it gets basically everything but rage for your prereqs in one nice neat package.

○ Logical that the arcane gish-in-a-can base class would be a natural fit for a gish-themed PrC, no?
• I was all set to give you grief for assuming that Apprentice keeps Survival in-class past level 5, but then I realized that for some unholy reason the devs decided that rage mage gets Survival as one of its four known skills. Which is just confusing, but hey, you're legal, even if it's baffling!

○ To be clear, the above bullet point isn't your problem.
○ I guess they were like "eh, we need a barbarian-themed skill or something… Survival, great, done, time to go drink."
• Overall, there's nothing really especially elegant nor inelegant on display here. It's clean, so I don't really have to penalize anywhere, but it also doesn't go out of its way to be clever, so I don't have much chance to reward you.
• Score: 3.25 Duskblade is a nice efficient entry to rage mage, but from there this is all pretty basic from an Elegance perspective. Completely adequate, but not especially memorable or impressive. (It's fine. Bs get degrees.)

UoSI:
• I know of exactly one spell you know (shocking grasp) because that’s the only one you mentioned. I have no idea what your other spells known are. To be honest, this makes it very hard to judge what your magic (which one would think would be a nontrivial chunk of your ability to contribute) actually is like. As I laid out in my criteria, I'm not going to go out of my way to assume good things on your behalf if they're left out of the build, I'm afraid.

○ Which means you've got the rage part but I don't see much of the mage part. And that's kind of a problem.
• It's a little ironic that your story was about learning to turn on your rage when you need it, but you technically can't do that. You have to have your initiative come up, turn on shifting, and then take damage, meaning that you usually won't be raging on your first turn and it might even take longer, depending on how things go.

○ Really wish you had a nice way of self-damaging with a low action cost.

§ Like, say, blade of blood. Which I have no idea whether you took, because I don't know what spells you have other than shocking grasp. But you never mentioned it, so I shouldn't assume you have it.
○ You do call out the separately granted rage, which is legit, though I don't like how late it comes and I don't like how few you get.

§ Plus, if you're making the argument that it stacks with the ragelike effect from weretouched 2, then that incentivizes you to ration it rather than to slam it on immediately… but that's unavoidable with stupid daily limits, I guess.
• A swift action shocking grasp after you get hit in an encounter isn't awful, but I wish I knew that you had some more powerful spells to quicken with spell fury.
• You already maxed out on CL for shocking grasp before entering rage mage, so the spell rage boost to CL doesn't do anything, and since shocking grasp has no save, you don't get a benefit from angry spell.
• Score: 1.5 As I mentioned, you bring the rage, but I'm desperately missing the mage.

Final Thoughts:
• Best in show for the fiction. Love it. (I assume your character is the presenter, right? It was a fun read either way.)
• "Great Bite" is a silly name for a feat and I've never looked at it before.

○ More shifter feat weirdness: why'd they retcon Improved Natural Attack to be a shifter feat but then they made a whole separate Shifter Multiattack instead of just retconning Multiattack the way they did INA? I should know better than to expect consistency, but still, weird.
• Anyway, I feel like this is a solid build that just completely forgot to pack its metaphorical bags by not including the magic you're actually using.
• Total: 13.0

Originality:
• I swear I've seen you someone (because I definitely have no idea who would do this) use weaponized knowledge of Ghulurak as the core conceit before.
• That said, I can't say that I expected ultimate magus. Or bardic sage. Or *gestures wildly around*.

○ And since most of it all seems to be necessary to fit with your bizarre premise, I don't think you threw in anything just to be wacky. You start from a ridiculous point, but everything you do is in single-minded pursuit of that wacky goal. You commit to the bit.
• Score: 4.75 I feel like I can't give a perfect score when I've seen aggressive evangelical Ghulurism before and this goes to about the same place, but you're definitely a single-minded character that doesn't follow the expected methods, and I may as well acknowledge that.

Power:
• We're doing this? Okay, fine, we're doing this.
• 20th level bard casting. Impressive, Star Fox. Ridiculous what you did to get there, but okay, cool, this is Power and not Elegance.

○ Since you've directly augmented your casting with hardcore cheese, I think we can call you a "fromage."
• I admire your dedication to cobbling together every single possible nickel-and-dime bonus to an enemally's Knowledge check.

○ The goal is stupid, but you perform beautifully in pursuit of your stupid goal, and I salute that.
• Against all odds, you packed enough utility into your spell list that even if you never actually do the Ghurulak thing, you aren't completely dead weight.

○ You definitely have some build elements that would be unnecessary for a character who's not doing the Ghurulak thing and that therefore sandbag your general-purpose utility a bit, but if I were to pretend to play this straight, it's more functional than it really ought to be.

§ Something to be said for cheesy fast advancement of casting, I guess.
§ Your skills are definitely lacking compared to a plain bard, but as you've shown, you're bizarrely good at bootstrapping up skills when the chips are down. Go figure.

□ I'd still rather have a plain bard as a skillmonkey/face, but you're way better at it than a plain barbarian. Weirdly so.
• Snowflake Wardance is out of place since it implies that you do melee or something? But you also have one use of bardic music. So.
• Score: 2.75 This is… weirdly not as bad as it should be? It's not aiming to be serious, but it has to take enough decent stuff in pursuit of its nonsensical goal that you could hand the character to someone who isn't trying to make someone else summon Ghurulak in a rage and they'd be able to, like, contribute. You're not supposed to work, but you almost do. (Though you're fortunate that One Mistake, One Penalty means that I'm not penalizing in Power for your dual-advancement argument, which I don't think flies.)

Elegance:
• You don't qualify for Chain Spell. (Requires that you have another metamagic feat, and weirdly enough, neither Poison Spell nor Arcane Preparation are metamagic. Wild, right?)
• For that matter, for the exact same reason, you don't qualify for ultimate magus.

○ Why yes, I'm trying to actually judge this as though it were serious.

§ Trying.
• I actually really like what you did with marshal and its weird relationship with Skill Focus. Using it as a way to bootstrap into a feat that you don't lose when you lose your lycanthrope HD is actually clever.
• Likewise, choosing bardic sage specifically because it gains extra spells known and bootstraps its way into "spells" is darkly comedic to me.
• I don't buy the argument that Arcane Preparation makes bard a valid target for dual-advancement. It's not a prepared arcane class. You have the ability to prepare bard spells, but that does not change the nature of the class.
• Afflicted and cured lycanthropy. C'mon.

○ Surely you don't expect me to say more than that.
• Score: 1.25 A mire of nonsense with the occasional genuinely clever twist. (Plus I figure that you were gunning for 1.0 in Elegance, so going just above 1.0 is either handing you victory or spitefully snatching it away, and I don't care which it is, since either's funny to me right now. It's not unjustified, though. That marshal trick is legit clever, at least if we make the absurd assumption that we're messing around with lycanthropy anyway.)

UoSI:
• Regardless of the rage/spell rage/whatever self-qualifying or not, you don't qualify to take rage mage at ECL 5. The prereq is +4 BAB; you have +2 at the time of entry.

○ There's no way to reconcile this with the rest of the build without making major sacrifices, so I'm just gonna drop a Failure To Qualify here and move on to judging the rest of the build.
• Score: 1.0 Failure to qualify.

Final Thoughts:
• I feel like presenting this build is just violence.

○ But, as folks who are wiser than me observed, great art should make the powerful uncomfortable. Keep doing your thing, bro.
• I'm such a sucker for the "narrating-myself-as-I-write-this" style of build, so if you're aiming to put a smile on my face with the tone, you succeeded.
• I was all set to make a joke referring to the assembled builds as the "ragi mage," since if ever a class called for inappropriate and inaccurate internal pluralization, it's this one. Nice job beating me to the punch!
• How the HELL are you the only chef to take Extra Rage this round?! What the hell were your other chefs doing?!
Total: 9.75

H_H_F_F

2021-04-15, 08:49 PM

Thank you so much for judging, Zaq! No disputes from me.

Edit:
I swear I've seen you someone (because I definitely have no idea who would do this)

Lol. I always want to say stuff like this, but I'm constantly worried it'd get frowned upon.

daremetoidareyo

2021-04-15, 09:55 PM

No disputes here

Troacctid

2021-04-15, 10:20 PM

No disputes here either. I like the bullet point format.

Paragon

2021-04-16, 03:46 AM

The depth of the analysis required to be a judge is astounding to me...

Zaq

2021-04-16, 08:29 AM

The depth of the analysis required to be a judge is astounding to me...

Thank you! I don’t know if I’d call it required per se. I’m a little bit extra. That said, this is what happens when I attempt to judge the way I’d like to be judged, you know?

H_H_F_F

2021-04-16, 09:27 AM

The depth of the analysis required to be a judge is astounding to me...

My first time participating in this competition was as a judge. My system mastery was even lower than it is now, but I like to think I did a fine job. Anyone can judge, if they're willing to put in the time and attention.

That being said, Zaq did go very deep, and did an excellent job IMO.

The Viscount

2021-04-16, 08:09 PM

Thank you, Zaq. A couple disputes for you.

Thanks for judging Zaq. I have, what is ultimately just a few disputes, but they seem to apply over a few categories.

Honestly though, once we get past blood magus, there isn't too terribly much spice here? Most of your feats and build choices are fairly generic or else are just prereq taxes. You've got the core concept of "badger into rage mage" but that's kind of it.I thought that Arcane Disciple for Calm Emotions to have a backup plan to end a potentially indefinite badger Rage, and Blood Magus offering a way to store up consumables for more uses in a day if necessary was cute and that it gave a fun little spin to the fluff, but there were indeed a decent number of taxes that needed paying.

I wish I knew just a LITTLE more about your preferred spells. The spells you mention in your writeup are perfectly useful, but none of them are especially defining or encounter-ending (aside from maybe a well-aimed word of balance, which is 1/day at best and requires items). So… what's your preferred tactic? I don't know and that's not great.I mention, albeit maybe more in passing than I should have and leaning too hard on the tactics being more or less Standard Wiz Biz, using SoL spells with Angry Spell and using Spell Rage and other CL buffs for Dispels as well as Word of Balance. CL-boosting is also nice for Animate Dead, which is a spell I mention, and plenty of other spells that I didn't, but are still present on the Wizard list.

Also, I mention that Word of Balance requires *either* items or a casting of Owl's Wisdom, the latter being something that Tummo can achieve on their own.

Sooooo here's the thing. I feel like you spend a lot of time getting rage for rage mage, which is going to benefit you in UoSI, but until 15th (when Raging Luck and spell fury come online), I have been given no understanding of WHY you want to rage.

○ If you're doing melee, you didn't explain it (also, what, +4 STR from rage puts you at a whopping 12 STR in badger form? I'll give you a medal but you've gotta arm-wrestle me for it). If you're not doing melee, what exactly ARE you doing? Just… standard wizardry? Then… why the rage? Why not just, you know, wizard?
○ Standard wizardry is great and all, but "spending a ton of build resources to retain standard wizardry in a completely optional status where you didn't explain the benefit prior to level 15" is… not very powerful. Prior to repeatedly bouncing in and out of Rage becoming desirable, the potentially arbitrary duration of a badger's Rage allows for maintaining a state of Spell Rage at the levels where uses are limited, though that's really just keeping CL up and not achieving anything that more casting progression wouldn't have at that point. Rage also provides some temporary HP, which more than make up for Con lost to aging.

Your late game is nice. Spell fury is very strong with the ability to get multiple rages per encounter. I'm not convinced that you'll be constantly popping into and out of rage (minions are expendable, but they ain't infinite, and you're going to need a lot of downtime to have enough slots to animate enough ravens to burn one with the frequency you imply in your high-level paragraph), but I'm willing to accept that you've got a couple quickened spells per encounter, which is nice.A zombie raven is 1/2 of a hit dice. A full adventuring day's worth runs *maybe* 150gp worth of black onyx and around a 30th of Tummo's control cap when accounting for CL-boosters, assuming no opportunity (a low-level summon or enemy mook or what have you) to use anything else as a disposable object of rage, and a need to absolutely churn out spells in every encounter.

• Mid-build curse-induced aging? Really, mate? Sigh.

○ I get it. You've got a need for INT and WIS on a chassis that has some mental stat penalties.
• Score: 2.5 Honestly, needing to rely on that obnoxious crutch of getting cursed with old age in the middle of your build just to meet a prereq is a major hit here. I feel like you really didn't need 18 INT and you could have avoided all of this by shuffling your point-buy. I mentioned your clever tricks (which did move you back up) but I truly don't love what had to take place at level 8.Level 7 is the earliest that Tummo can cast Bestow Curse themselves, and 8 is the earliest point after that that it would actually impact their Int modifier, and hence be worth applying. I considered an Int 17 point-buy, but it seemed largely worse for no reason other than perhaps Elegance, and higher Int meant more spells to funnel into action economy shenanigans and higher base DCs for Angry Spell to build off of.

• Unfortunately I'm not feeling too much love for the class features other than the ability to cast while raging and spell fury. Mostly because it feels like your rage doesn't do anything until spell fury comes online.

○ I also really didn't get a picture of what your spell rages are good for. I think you mentioned… two? Arguably three? Spells that are affected. And they didn’t seem to be more than support pieces half-alluded to in passing.On top of Dispels, and Word of Balance, I mention Animate Dead, which is CL dependent, (also Unfettered Heroism, which is technically rounds/level duration, but that's not all that likely to matter) along with other CL-boosters that stack with Spell Rage for any other things off the full Wizard list that might be relevant on a given day.

While I don't mention any particular SoL/SoD spells, I do mention Angry Spell alongside high Int to boost save DCs, and Tummo has access to whichever such spell might strike ones fancy.

Hey Zaq, it's Monkey Kong :smallbiggrin: (Actually M.K is a char from Into the Badlands and is the Rage Mage inspiration for me)

First off I went brain dead on the pun : Wolverine = Logan = Serval and Serval is a kind of cat so I assumed Wolverine was one as well without bothering to look it up... I learned smtg so thanks.

On the mess that are my skills points.
I did a bad job at it, no dispute here, but the mistakes I see aren't the ones you point out...
So since this is an opportunity to learn something I'll state what's I've seen and how it's different from what you picked up in the hopes you can enlighten me as to what I am counting wrong.

Level 2 is ok imho : (6+3)x4 frpm Swordsage + 2+3 from Wizard = 41 points.
Level 3 is my first oupsi : I went from Tumble 4 to Tumble 6 with a +1 ...
Then it's all good (except that that one extra point is in every level) until level 10
Level 10 : My Listen is supposed to have a +1 compared to level 9 and I didn't update it...
Since that wasn't stupid enough, I continued doing it until the end of the build :
Listen skill stays at 10 while I spend a +1 to it every single turn.

So for a total of 11 points I forgot to add points to my listen
from level 2 to 3 I added a free point to Tumble for no reason but bad math
Meaning I end up having -10 points than what the build should have by level 20. I have 125 when I should have :
(6+3)x4 + (4+3)x2 from Wildrunner + (2+3)*17 from JPM, Rage Mage & Wizard = 135 points.

So the mistake is mine but I don't understand how you find me having overspent so many points at early levels.
Nor what I added wrong with Wildrunner.
Could you please explain it to me ?

Zaq

2021-04-16, 09:07 PM

@ Mawnkey Kong:

Awright, so you've got +3 INT, yeah? Level 1 is fine. You should then have five skill points to spend at level 2. Conc, K: Nature, and Survival each cost 1 point, totaling 3. You then spend two points to get Hide up by one (cross-class), totaling five, and two points to get MS up one (cross-class), totaling seven.

You basically keep making similar mistakes. Cross-class skills cost more, even if you've previously had them in-class and therefore the cap is higher! At level 3, you spend extra points on cross-class Jump and Tumble. At levels 4 and 5, you spend just one extra point (per level) on cross-class Jump. At level 6, you spend extra points on Concentration and Tumble, neither of which are in-class for wildrunner.

That's the part where I stopped looking, but I'd be willing to bet that you've got more errors every time you spend cross-class points for the rest of the build.

@ Tummo:

Re: Originality, I feel that I've already explained myself as much as I can and that I can't go too much further into what is probably the most subjective category. Your build was reasonably clever but it didn't make me sit up and take notice at how new it was.

Re: tactics, let's see.

In the level 5 bracket, you mention zero spells, explicitly or implicitly.
In the 10 bracket, you mention... dispel magic, and I guess the Abjuration Domain spells. (Which, I suppose, it's fair to imply that you'd be using in the 5 bracket as well. Those spells are fine but not defining.) You also refer obliquely to animate dead and to some kind of summon spell, each of which is mostly referred to in the context of popping an expendable minion. Which is a fine tactic and you got credit for it, but it's not actually answering the question of how you contribute.
In the 15 bracket, you mention calm emotions (usable once per day and only really good to self-target, which is just removing a self-imposed limiting condition and not actually making you more powerful than someone who didn't impose that condition), greater dispel magic (fine I guess), acid fog (look, a solid spell, holy crap!), and generic "save DCs."
At 20, you refer to unfettered heroism (for which you got credit), word of balance (1/day), and owl's wisdom. I have some concerns with owl's wisdom being used to cast word of balance. See, PHB 56 says that a wizard needs a certain amount of INT "to learn, prepare, or cast" a spell. Complete Divine 79 modifies this and says that you must have WIS of 10 + spell level in order to "prepare or cast" a domain spell. Prepare or cast. Not just cast. So you've gotta have WIS bumped up when prepping your spells and not just when casting. Owl's wisdom lasts 1 min / CL. So you have to prep OW, cast it, prep word of balance, then cast word of balance right away or else prep and cast OW a second time before you want to cast word of balance, and my friend, I do not buy that this is always going to go smoothly for you. (Oh right, you also mention magecraft, a level 1 spell, in your level 20 bracket. Not a power move.)

I'm not going to read all the best spells into that. That is, indeed, just "Standard Wiz Biz" at best, which I believe is explicitly what I gave you credit for. You didn't even mention anything SoL. There's an oblique reference to "save DCs" and that's literally it.

Re: animate dead, I'm less concerned with the onyx and more with the fourth level spell slot that you're spending every time you pop a minion in exchange for an extra quickened spell. I do not like assuming that you've got arbitrarily large amounts of downtime to use to slowly build up your reserves that you're then going to burn through quickly at a rate of 1/round (or more if there happens to be, I dunno, literally any damaging AoE from the enemy). Can you build up some? Yes, absolutely you can. Is it reasonable to assume that you'll build up a modest inventory and chew through it? Of course it is, and I gave you credit for that. But I do not find it believable that you'd have enough minions to just be CONSTANTLY popping into and out of rage with the frequency you imply.

Re: the benefit of rage, you literally made my point for me by pointing out that CL with spell rage = CL without levels spent doing rage mage stuff, so cool, glad we agree. Saying that the HP, which is explicitly not the defined game term "temporary HP" but rather HP that comes off the bottom of your stack and therefore can kill you if you were actually relying on it and you stopped raging, is good for making up CON lost to aging raises the question of why you needed to lose CON to aging (to get enough WIS to get Surrogate Spellcasting, which you only need because you're doing the badger-rage thing in the first place), so again, that actually does not put you ahead and, in fact, arguably puts you behind.

Re: curse-aging, no. I just don't like it. This is literally the min-maxing we optimizers get mocked for, my friend. You will not convince me of its elegance.

No change.

H_H_F_F

2021-04-17, 04:16 AM

Are we anticipating any more judgements this round?

AvatarVecna

2021-04-17, 05:17 AM

Are we anticipating any more judgements this round?

I'm probably gonna get something much less impressive banged out this weekend.

ThanatosZero

2021-04-17, 06:07 AM

If I enter next time, I will team up with someone to cover the story side of things for my builds.

H_H_F_F

2021-04-17, 07:08 AM

If I enter next time, I will team up with someone to cover the story side of things for my builds.

That's an interesting idea. Were co-op entries ever discussed before? Are they legal?

The Viscount

2021-04-17, 12:01 PM

That's an interesting idea. Were co-op entries ever discussed before? Are they legal?

I know Venger and PiggyKnowles collaborated on a build, I believe it was for VC. I don't know that anybody has done it in Iron Chef before.

In terms of legality, co-op entries are legal. They count towards the overall entry limit for both chefs.
That is to say, If chef A makes a build on their own, chef B makes a build on their own, and chef A and B make a build together, I will count this as 2 entries for chef A and 2 entries for chef B, so neither one could submit an additional build, if that makes sense.

AvatarVecna

2021-04-18, 04:24 PM

For power category, my sample build that will serve as the "basic Rage Mage" against which things will compare is a lowmid-op-ish Barbarian 2/Wizard 3/Rage Mage 10/Barbarian +3/Wizard +2 - ends up 5/5/10, expected entry, no real frills or interesting side-gimmicks. That's the +0.00 mark. Additionally since this is a theurge round, two base classes instead of one doesn't get a penalty, and if you can pull off Rage Mage with just a single base class, extra quarter-point.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.50: Fire Elf
+0.25: Swordsage
-0.50: Wizard
+0.50: Wildrunner
+0.50: Jade Phoenix Mage
+0.00: Feat Choices
+0.25: Skill Choices
-0.25: Overall Concept

Classes that aren't Barbarian (or equivalents) or arcane casters will generally be getting more love this round, just because of how strict the entry is for this theurge. I'll also say that, as soon as I saw the ingredient, my immediate thought was "oh, so there will be at least one Necropolitan Fire Elf Wizard entry, okay...well, maybe Fire Elf Beguiler instead but yeah". Well...you weren't a necropolitan, at least. Additionally, while non-Barbarian/arcane classes will generally be getting more points here, I did expect more than a couple builds to dip ToB for juicy maneuvers...although I wasn't expecting a ToB-theurge, even if in retrospect, maybe I should have.

As far as characterization goes, while I can see what you're going for with this format, I just generally don't like it. Fluff is minimal, and half of it is highlighted as the justification for particular mechanical effects. It honest-to-god reads like Mad Libs: the mechanics are the pre-written text, and there's all these blank spots you've filled in in-between in order to create an "actual story" instead of a pile of mechanics. I can fully admit that, questionable interpretations notwithstanding, it's a very intricate and beautiful mechanical build you've created, like taking a single piece for a thousand weird puzzles and making them fit together into a perfect circle. But the picture they make...is less impressive than how well the pieces fit together.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.50: Low Level Power
+0.25: Low-Mid Level Power
+0.50: Mid Level Power
+0.25: Mid-High Level Power
+0.50: High Level Power

The swordsage dip on a caster build leaves you about as strong in the low levels as I could reasonably expect, given this round. Once we get into Wildrunner/Rage Mage, your casting is about on par with the basic build, but you do have IL progression on top of that, and some solid feat choices, so you're making up that loss a bit. The build finishes out with JPM, another nice theurge class that boosts your maneuvers and spells a bit more. Again, a beautiful and intricate mechanical puzzle - could have a bit more casting instead of as much ToB, but still far and away outperforming general expectations.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: No templates
+0.50: Two base classes
-0.25: Two non-SI PrCs
-0.25: One 2-level dip
-0.50: One 1-level dip
+0.25: No multiclass penalties
-0.50: One (IMO) minor qualification issue
+0.25: List Of Sources

Aereni Focus is Eberron-specific material so getting it approved for most games is gonna be weird, and given how the build works it's gonna be pretty vital, but I generally only take off points for setting-specific material if you've got material specific to multiple settings in the same build, and idk if Frostburn is Faerun-specific but I'm pretty sure it would be easily applicable to most any cold part of any setting. Speaking Of Aereni Focus, you've got it mis-sourced: it's from Players Guide To Eberron. Your list is mostly on the level, so I'm not gonna take off points for that.

...alright, so. Last round, I got onto somebody's case for having a rage-trading ACF that gave a rage-like ability, because they wanted to use it after turning Lawful. "It's technically not rage so I should still be able to use it" was met with "it's effectively rage, though". So on the one hand, Primal Scream is not Rage, objectively speaking. It's not even an ACF alternative to rage. It's just a vaguely rage-ish ability that has "frenzy" somewhere in the fluff. That's it. On the other hand...it's effectively a rage ability. I'd let it fly at my table, a couple stickler DMs I know aren't too uncomfortable allowing it, so you get a minor penalty. It's a bit bigger than my standard penalty for minor qualification issues, partly because I know I'm biased (martials deserve nice things), and partially because it's a qualification issue relating to the SI, so it's gets a bit more weight than the usual qualification issues.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.25: Started SI late
+0.25: Finished SI
+1.25: 7/8 SI features used

You're making solid use of just about every feature. Primal Scream has better synergy with your fighting style than standard rage, and doesn't even fatigue you, so spamming your two rage types won't be as big of an issue. You're getting standard use out of most features, but still definitely getting use. The one feature I don't see you getting as much use out of is Tireless Rage - partially because it's coming online a bit later than usual due to delayed entry, but more because Primal Scream doesn't actually make you fatigued. Still, it's a minor point at most.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.00: Badger Hengoyokai
-0.50: Wizard
+0.50: Blood Magus
+0.25: Feat Choices
+0.25: Skill Choices
-0.25: Overall Concept

Some interesting choices, but the story wasn't very much at all. I'm not really getting anything of their characterization or story beyond "wizened sage" and "died once", and even the latter is less a part of the short blurb as much as inferred from mechanical prerequisites. Additionally, since I didn't really know where else to put this:

If there's something I'm not really fond of with this build, it's that I have no idea what your actual casting looks like. A few example buffs, no blasting or necromancy taking advantage of the CL shenanigans, no real tricks or combos pinging off your spell access - plenty off your class features and your feats and even your skills in a few places. But overall, for what I suspect is one of the strongest mages in the competition (if not the strongest), I have surprisingly little idea about how much your magic is actually contributing to things. I guess Animate Dead is implied by the backstory?

And ultimately, you've got 8th lvl casting in a round where that's basically the max I could expect from someone. You're two spell levels ahead of the last build judged, and three spell levels ahead of my example build - it'd feel disingenuous on my part to discount your power just because you didn't spell out in detail exactly how you're going to kick everybody's butts. So I've stuck it here, because if there was absolutely no backstory for a wizard whatsoever, my next attempt to figure out their personality would be to look at the spells they've chosen to learn and see if I can make a character out of that particular part of the build. And there's nothing for me there either; it wouldn't even give me all that much to go off of, but at least it'd give me something.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.50: Low Level Power
+0.50: Low-Mid Level Power
+0.50: Mid Level Power
+0.50: Mid-High Level Power
+0.50: High Level Power

There's little here to justify dings to your score for the most part. Age penalties offset by shapeshifting, top-notch casting where the only way to get more would be to abandon the SI, action economy shenanigans, unlimited-use rage that you can start and end more or less at your own discretion...it's a super-solid build, more or less as expected for an optimization contest. In particular, kudos for pulling off Pathfinder-style Rage-Cycling, complete with a 1/rage power that triggers when the rage starts.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: No templates
+0.75: One base class
+0.00: One non-SI PrC
+0.25: No dips
+0.25: No multiclass penalties
+0.25: Qualifies for everything
+0.25: List Of Sources
-0.75: The age shenanigans
-0.50: Cross setting/action points

I said I'd give bonuses if it could be done, and you did it: you get your rage without having to be a theurge build, so you get the extra quarter-point. It's not a lot, but Elegance tends to already be something that's straightforward to max out with me, so it's something. You've dotted your i's and crossed your t's for the most part, there's not anything really wrong except maybe a bit of dependence on items and spellcasting services (including the lvl 5 raise dead that isn't explicitly in your backstory but is effectively there). There's two real issues I'd expect with this build if it were playing at tables I've experienced:

1) Starting off Middle-Aged is a small issue; I could see it flying at some tables and not at others, at least offline. Having a curse cast on you that (instead of giving -6 to a single attribute) gives -2 to 3 attributes and +1 to 3 attributes, would catch even more flak than if you'd just started Old. It's also at least partially a mechanical issue with your build: as a Permanent duration spell, Bestow Curse used in this way can be dispelled. Finally, you're using at-will shapechanging to get around the drawbacks of advanced age. None of this is a mechanical failing on your part, or even something I personally would have a huge problem with in my games, but IME this is going to create friction at the table.

2) Hengoyokai are specific to OA and FR settings, action points are specific to Eberron. Mind you, neither is mechanically required to be only in the settings they're in, their fluff isn't that tied to the setting. But I will say that offline (and even online, frequently enough to be worth mentioning), I've had DMs fight tooth and nail to keep Action Points from leaking into non-Eberron settings. Ultimately, I think getting Yokai into Eberron wouldn't be too terrible a sell, while the reverse would probably be a bigger deal, but with the level of cheese that action points are being put towards, I feel it's pushing it further than just a minor argument, even if the final mechanical effect is really cool.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.25: Starts SI late
+0.25: Finishes SI
+0.00: 4/8 SI features used

Spellcasting progression is your bread and butter - but then, I'll be extremely surprised if anybody ends up not building around the casting. Badger rage is unlimited in use, starts and ends when you want it to, doesn't limit what actions you can take, and doesn't leave you fatigued after use. Functionally speaking, this means that Spell Rage is doing nothing for you except a slight CL boost, Extra Rage is doing nothing for you, and Tireless Rage is doing nothing for you. You never make mention of armor, and shapeshifting would at best meld it with your animal/hybrid form so I can't really give you points for Overcome Spell Failure.

Spell Fury gets a nice highlight as part of your action economy stuff, but I'm unclear on what you're really getting out of Angry Spell or Warrior Cry for that same "I don't know what your combat actually looks like beyond lots of actions" thing. Still, I'm not gonna be a stickler - you've got plenty of spells you could have for buffing or blasting, I'm sure you've got some way to use those abilities well enough.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: Changeling
-0.25: Sorcerer
-0.50: Lion Totem Barbarian
-0.50: Warshaper
+0.25: Feat Choices
+0.00: Skill Choices
-0.50: Overall concept

"Oh wow, this childhood was so inspiring that three separate builds grew out of it? I can't wait to read this backstory!"

As a child of a Changling merchant there is no place that one could call home. Even the generally more avoided parts of the world like the underdark (e.g. drow, gnome and kobold settlements) or orcish settlements have been part of the journeys in the childhood. This caused a growing interest in special blood related abilities (Racial Emulation). An addictions many Changelings share. It's interesting how the other races express their rage and emotions when it comes to battle. Or how some races can excel in certain aspects of combat and magic. Finally all builds did picked up a liking on spiders from the drow. As such, all of em express this interest in different ways. With these interests a life as merchant seems to boring. Thus our main protagonist leaves his parents safety to approach the wild life of an adventurer.

...oh. I see. You didn't have a backstory so good that it could lead the character to three different build progressions. You had three builds so similar that you could create one basic tiny backstory and call it a done deal. Like...did I just miss it? Am I blind, or is this really it? Do you seriously not even have a name?!

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.50: Low Level Power
+0.50: Low-Mid Level Power
+0.50: Mid Level Power
+0.25: Mid-High Level Power
+0.25: High Level Power

Low level, full sorcerer casting with solid martial prowess. Low-Mid, you get Pounce and Warshaper cheese. Mid level sees Draconic Rite Of Passage stuff come online, for solid spell progression. Your spell progression starts falling behind a bit more in the back half of the build, but you've got familiar shenanigans coming into play all over the place, with the gishing starting to fall behind in its utility (although it's never bad). Full marks, albeit a bit less deserved than the previous build.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: No templates
+0.50: Two base classes
+0.00: One non-SI PrC
-0.50: One 1-level dip
+0.25: No multiclassing penalties
+0.25: Qualifies for everything
+0.25: List Of Sources

A fairly straightforward build, only bogged down by a basically-necessary dip and then the Warshaper levels that are doing a lot of heavy lifting.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: Starts SI on time
+0.25: Finishes SI
+1.25: 7/8 SI features used

Spell Rage, Extra Rage, and Tireless Rage are doing their jobs this time. Spell Fury gets some attention as usual, and Warrior Cry is just one more way to pull off full BAB with some buffs. But Overcome Spell Failure is being left at the wayside again unless you leave behind Light Armor, and I'm not sure that tradeoff would really be worth it, and you don't even mention Angry Spell (presumably because you're not much of a blaster or debuffer).

EDIT: Build makes specific and good use of Overcome Spell Failure.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: Changeling
+0.00: Druid
+0.25: Beastmaster
-0.50: Warshaper
+0.50: Half-Elf Paragon
+0.25: Feat Choices
+0.00: Skill Choices
+0.00: Overall Concept

I've already said my piece about the background.

I will say that you've made a number of interesting choices here, looking forward to seeing how they all tie together. I'm particularly glad to see that it's not basically the same build with a slightly different coat of paint, as I had feared it would be. And while it has legality issues, I kinda wish Rage Mage could be applied to divine spellcasting classes, because Druidic Avenger just screams "Rage Mage" - so much so that I'm giving you a pass on concept here a bit.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.50: Low Level Power
+0.50: Low-Mid Level Power
+0.50: Mid Level Power
+0.25: Mid-High Level Power
-0.25: High Level Power

...

On the one hand, at level 9 you've got Venomfire, leaping pounce, and Morphic Weapons to turn you into a living blender. that cannot be denied. Before that point, you're effectively a barbarian-druid gish, no theurging required. After that point, though...you're losing out, and for one very important reason: spellcasting progression. Let's acknowledge that, even if this build works the way you think it does, this is casting at CL 10 at lvl 20 outside of a Spell Rage. It's just...not great, it's objectively on-par with the casting of my example build except its got ubercharging as well (and it's druid list instead of wizard list, so that's important I think). We're going to acknowledge that, and we're going to push it to the side because, as it happens, this build does not work how you think it does.

Southern Magician lets you, a handful of times per day, cast your divine spells as Arcane instead, and this is sufficient to qualify you for the Rage Mage prestige class: you can, in fact, cast multiple arcane spells per day of at least 2nd level. That fact is undeniable, it's just objectively how the feat works, no argument there. However...

Spells per Day: At every even-numbered level gained in the rage mage class, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. In no case, however, does she gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for an increased effective level of spellcasting (but see spell rage, below). If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a rage mage, she must decide to which class she adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

...being able to cast a small selection of your spells as arcane instead of divine does not make Druid an arcane spellcasting class, so it cannot be advanced by Rage Mage's spellcasting progression. With how this build shakes out, that means you hit CL 5 at lvl 5, and then it just never improves beyond that point. You've still got enough going for you, especially in the early parts of the build, to get a pretty solid score, but ubercharging and 3rd lvl spells just isn't that cool compared to 5th+ lvl spells. Losing 4th and 5th spells loses out on some of the cool high-level tricks you were considering, and while I'm not sure those work the way you thought they work either, you can't access those spells anyway so it barely matters.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: No templates
+0.75: One base class
-0.75: Three non-SI PrCs
-1.00: Two 1-level dips
+0.25: No multiclass penalties
-1.00: Qualification issues
+0.25: List Of Sources
-0.25: Racial Emulation
-1.00: Flaw

Firstly, racial emulation: having one race you're emulating for the purpose of permanent mechanics is gonna get a lil side-eye, but I was fine giving that leeway in the last build (even if that mechanic was kobold dragon shenanigans), but here we've got four separate emulations baked into the mechanical build. I'm not saying it's illegal or wouldn't ever be allowed, but I foresee at least a minor argument about it.

Secondly, you lack the skill ranks for Vermin Trainer, which you'd need for Spider Companion. You never get those ranks. Since this is two feats you never qualify for, that's a half-point each.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.25: Starts SI late
+0.25: Finishes SI
+0.50: 5/8 SI features used

When I said I'd be surprised if somebody didn't use the spellcasting progression, I didn't think the universe would take that as a challenge. Overcome Spell Failure is useless on this build, AFAICT, especially given you'll usually not even be wearing armor anyway. Once again, Angry Spell is nowhere to be seen, even in the table. Did you just miss that it's a thing?

The other abilities get a proper highlight, so that's nice. It's not exactly doing a great job of highlighting the class, though: you're an ubercharger with some nice low-level casting, but losing the more serious spells sucks out a good bit of the benefit of Spell Rage and Spell Fury (particularly since you don't have that many rages anyway).

EDIT: Build makes better use of Spell Rage's CL buff than I initially gave it credit for, even as I took the max-CL Venomfire into account in the power section.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.50: Hellbred
-0.25: Barbarian
+0.25: Suel Arcanamach
+0.50: Feat choices
+0.25: Skill choices
+0.75: Overall concept

Blessed be, he has characterization! And a weird build! It's interesting to see a build that seems to be more focused on the Rage than the Mage, and I love how it actually ties in with his fluff. We'll see how he shapes up mechanically, though...full marks so far.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.50: Low Level Power
+0.25: Low-Mid Level Power
+0.25: Mid Level Power
-0.25: Mid-High Level Power
-0.50: High Level Power

At low levels, you're a freakin barbarian, and nobody can take that away from you. Come low-mid, you're starting to fall behind the casters (even the basic build), and you're casting just never has quite enough synergy to really get much oomph out of things like I was expecting. Like...

1) Your little trick with Whirling Blade can't be used too often, so you're still stuck wandering into melee most of the time. It's got serious competition for slots, and even if you wanna use higher-level slots for it, that's got stiff competition in the form if higher-level spells. It's also just generally not great because it's a line attack, the worst kind of AoE. Yeah it's theoretically better than full attacking if you can get 3-5 guys in a line, but when is that going to happen? Is that gonna happen regularly enough to build around?

2) One thing I was excited to see when I saw the abilities was what buffs you were gonna have going all the time. SA makes up for low CL by giving you free extend on self-buffs. RM makes up for low CL by giving you full CL when spell-raging. With the right low-level buff spells, you can be that much better off in every fight - not by a ton, but by a bit. And instead...nerveskitter lasts for a single roll. Wraithstrike lasts for a single round...well, now it lasts for two rounds. That's better, but it's still not great. Enlarge Person will already last a full encounter even at awful CL. I guess Alter Self could get a stupid long duration, that's kinda nice. But you don't exactly highlight Alter Self shenanigans the way previous round did.

3) This isn't really something that's your fault, but I'm one of those people who's very unimpressed by critfishing, to the point that I think it shouldn't be so dang hard to stack stuff like this.

Overall, you've made a solid barbarian who can cast some decent spells, even in combat, so you won't be terrible. But if it was a choice between playing this and the basic build stub at the top of this post, I'd probably go with the latter for power reasons, especially if we're playing the later levels.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: No templates
+0.75: One base class
+0.00: One non-SI PrC
+0.25: No dips
+0.25: No multiclassing penalties
+0.25: Qualifies for everything
+0.25: List Of Sources

This build is slick as hell. Full marks.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.25: Starts SI late
+0.25: Finishes SI
+1.25: 7/8 SI features used

Spell Rage, Extra Rage, and Tireless Rage let you keep the anger train going. Spell Progression isn't doing great things for SA, but it's doing something (which I can't say for everybody). Overcome Spell Failure has synergy with Ignore Spell Failure Chance, and you'll definitely be wearing armor. Spell Fury has good use getting you a quickened buff or an extra Whirling Blade for a nova round sometimes. I don't see you getting much use out of Angry Spell - or even mentioning it. Did people just flat-out miss this is also a blaster gish, not just a buffer gish?

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: Illumian
+0.50: Yuan-ti Broodguard
+0.50: Human Paragon
+0.50: Paladin
+0.50: Dark Hunter
+0.00: Feat choices
+0.00: Skill choices
+0.50: Overall concept

Well, it's an extremely weird build, and it certainly feels like a lot of the weird choices are building into the weird story, so I'm willing to give it a pass there. The story is neat, even if it's a bit of a bad fit for a Rage Mage IMO.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.25: Low Level Power
-0.25: Low-Mid Level Power
+0.00: Mid Level Power
+0.00: Mid-High Level Power
+0.00: High Level Power

Ultimately this build takes forever to do anything, and never really gets around to doing anything impressive. Spirited Charge kicking in at 9th lvl is finally getting your damage output to where it should've been at lvl 3 on any other mounted paladin build. You're finally getting a tiny bit of spellcasting, just in time to qualify for the SI, and you're in the same boat with rages, but there's not really all that much of it. It'd be kinda cool if rage Str bonus could give you bonus slots, but I'm pretty sure temporary bonuses don't count for that, as a rule.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.00: One template
+0.75: One base class
-0.25: Two non-SI PrCs
-0.50: Two 2-level dips
+0.25: No multiclassing penalties
+0.25: Qualifies for everything
+0.25: List Of Sources

Nothing too complicated in this judgement. Nothing really controversial to address, just the usual penalties with me.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.25: Enters SI late
+0.25: Finishes SI
-0.50: 3/8 SI features used
-0.25: Weird fluff

While I do like the story you've put together, it's a bit counterintuitive: you're playing a Rage Mage for whom Raging and Maging are both corruptions of the character - corruptions you desperately want to be rid of. It's some interesting pathos, but when your submission's logical goal would be to seek out higher powers capable of removing the SI from them...well. It says something about how good a Rage Mage you are. Mechanically speaking...

You are a character for whom Raging and Maging is of little interest, and it shows in the mechanics. Your casting is never anything to write home about (I'd rather have the Druid 5 casting for the whole career, rather than Dark Hunter 8 casting by 20th lvl...and that's the next worst caster in the competition). You don't really ever get much benefit out of most of the casting-related features except for Spell Fury (which is really hard to have be useless). You don't get frequent enough rages to really spam them even with the extra rages the class gives you, and neither are the rages you do get giving you enough benefit to make up for that infrequency. Warrior Cry is decent enough but it's making up for a problem the SI made for you without you using the SI to make up for it before the literal end of the game. You could've skipped all the casting and just gone Paladin/Barbarian and been way better off on the fighting side of things, and your casting wouldn't have even suffered that badly. You have the Dex for heavy armor and the ASF reduction for light, maybe - you could pull off something heavier without, but it'd be expensive and specific equipment.

You tried to rage and mage, but half-assed both and got this mediocre paladin pie.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: Razorclaw Shifter
+0.25: Duskblade
+0.25: Weretouched Master
+0.50: Feat choices
+0.00: Skill choices
+0.25: Overall concept

This is not only a weird direction to take Rage Mage in, but honestly a weird direction to take Duskblade in, by your own admission. The fluff that's there is nice, but it's not really giving a ton of direct characterization. Still, the bit that's there is an interesting look at handling rage.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.25: Low Level Power
+0.00: Low-Mid Level Power
+0.25: Mid Level Power
+0.25: Mid-High Level Power
+0.25: High Level Power

You're not really a full caster, nor are you a proper low-level beatstick or initiator. You're a gish at the level gish is at its worst. But that's okay because it doesn't take you long to start really accruing a nice pile of shifter feats to fuel your schtick. By the time you master your shifting and enter the SI, your casting has advanced enough to get some sweet tricks, and your combat prowess is rock-solid all on its own. Unfortunately I can't give you a ton of credit in this category, at least not as much as I'd like: I can't really find a list of spells from you, so I only know the kind of tricks you might maybe be pulling, rather than the ones you're actually pulling, and I'd rather not encourage people to make a spell list for these comps that reads "all the good wizard spells lol".

(You watch, somebody will do something like that next round just to spite me. :smalltongue:)

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.25: No templates
+0.75: One base class
+0.00: One non-SI PrC
+0.25: No dips
+0.25: No multiclassing penalties
+0.25: Qualifies for everything
+0.25: List Of Sources

A slick build that handles everything smoothly. Full marks.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.25: Starts SI late
+0.25: Finishes SI
+1.00: 6/8 SI features used
+0.25: Nice fluff

More than a couple builds have had a "problem" where a couple features just don't give them much benefit because something else they've got is already doing the job way better. In your case, that's Overcome Spell Failure (which is basically useless) and Tireless Rage (which is of limited use, but of no particular use to you in comparison to other rage mages). Other than that, the various casting and raging mechanics are serving you well. I like how you work around the lackluster skill list of the SI with skill tricks. Going this deep on shifter stuff and tying that in with your rage mechanics means you've got frenzy and natural attacks for days.

And while the story didn't particularly impress me overall, Rage Mage is a very thematic way of merging the animal ferocity of shifting with the duskblade's already-martially-inclined brand of arcane magic. So, quarter-point for that.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.50: Silverbrow Human
+0.00: Bard
+0.50: Were-wolverine
+0.50: Marshal
+0.00: Ultimate Magus
+0.25: Feat choices
+0.25: Skill choices
+1.00: I can't even

You have no story. None whatsoever. And still you're getting a pass because this is so insanely dumb it loops back around to being brilliant.

+3.00: Starting Position
-0.50: Low Level Power
-0.25: Low-Mid Level Power
-0.25: Mid Level Power
-0.25: Mid-High Level Power
+0.50: High Level Power

I discussed this in the druid build as well, but I'll clarify here: Arcane Preparation does not make Bard a prepared spellcasting class, and even if it did, no table would allow you to dual-progress the same class like this.

Even if we're ignoring that (and I'm not), I'm really struggling on how to judge this build for this category. On the one hand, the entire build is set up to make a very particular trick available as early as 9th level, even if that trick doesn't really get reliable until 14th (and even then, those levels are based on the assumed Bard 20 casting). Outside of that trick, though? You're a pile of casting and rage with no real synergy. You've got a nice bit of utility, but your BAB is garbage, you don't have bardic music, you don't have the spells known to be a blaster or debuffer...what do you even do in combat, besides asking people if they've heard the good word of Ghurulak? You've got the skills and spells to be useful outside it, even if you "only" have Bard 15 casting, but that's not gonna carry a fight.

Ultimately, I don't think this build (even if it functions as advertised) is really worth playing at any level before about 15th, when your trick can be properly abused. Until the, you're kinda just a worse bard.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.00: One template
+0.50: Two base classes
+0.00: One non-SI PrC
-1.00: Two 1-level dips
+0.25: No multiclassing penalties
-1.00: 2 Qualification issues (never met)
-0.25: No list of sources
-1.00: Ultimate Magus
-0.50: Lycan prereq shuffle

You know what you did.

Ultimate Magus doesn't work that way, even if it maybe could it would never be allowed to work that way. Shuffling out the template once the class can qualify for itself is gonna start at argument at most tables I've physically sat down at. You never qualify for Chain Spell, and thus you never qualify for Ultimate Magus. But you knew that stuff, at least the first two. You knew this was a pile of stinky cheese with a singular goal in mind. You sacrificed this category hard.

+3.00: Starting Position
+0.50: Starts SI early, sort of
+0.25: Finishes SI
-1.00: 2/8 SI features used

You're here for two things and two things only: Spell Rage, and spellcasting progression. Everything else is meager icing on your cthulhu cake. I cannot deny that Rage Mage is integral to your trick working, but similarly you cannot deny that if you were pulling this trick elsewhere, it'd be a 1-level dip before you head into a class that gives better casting progression. You're not building around anything else here.

I vote Ultimate Ragus for Honorable Mention.

AvatarVecna

2021-04-18, 04:32 PM

Build
Zaq
AV
Total
Place

M.K.
13.75
15.25
29.00
3rd

Tummo
12.00
15.00
27.00
4th

RS Sorcerer
6.50
15.50
22.00
6th

RS Druid
8.50
12.75
21.25
7th

Erskine
14.50
17.50
32.00
1st

The Hunted
11.00
13.50
24.50
5th

Hunter Snowborn
13.00
17.25
30.25
2nd

Ultimate Ragus
9.75
10.50
20.25
8th

H_H_F_F

2021-04-18, 04:38 PM

AvatarVecna

2021-04-18, 04:42 PM

Thanks (as always) for judging, AvatarVecna! No disputes from me.

I don't know if it'd impact anything, but your sample build as presented would fail to qualify - it doesn't meet the BaB prerequisite. You'd need to shift one level to before the SI. Shouldn't really change anything, so I usually wouldn't bother pointing it out - but I know how precise your methods are, so I thought I'd let you know just in case.

Not super-precise so shouldn't be an issue. Particularly since it's a kinda low-op build that most people outperformed pretty easily. it's weird cuz I remember trying to account for the BAB prereq.

The Viscount

2021-04-18, 04:57 PM

Thank you for judging AvatarVecna!

Chefs, I'll give a few days for disputes before we move to the next round.

WhamBamSam

2021-04-18, 05:02 PM

No disputes from me. I'm not sure anyone really stands to gain from disputing at this point, since the first 5 places are now each separated from the next by at least 2 points. We could probably wrap this one up unless someone has a really major disagreement. EDIT: I guess there's only a 1.25 point disparity between 2nd and 3rd, but that's still basically insurmountable.

The Viscount

2021-04-18, 05:18 PM

Just the same I'd like to give the chefs an opportunity to say their piece on principle.

Paragon

2021-04-18, 05:34 PM

No dispute over here either.

Thank you judges !

H_H_F_F

2021-04-18, 06:19 PM

Just the same I'd like to give the chefs an opportunity to say their piece on principle.

Makes sense.

daremetoidareyo

2021-04-18, 07:41 PM

No disputes here.

I had another build that was contemplating a bit:

Beloved of valerian 6

With mounted fury.

Beloved of valerian gets a celestial charger, which is basically a unicorn cleric. Mounted fury would allow the sharing of the spell rage, so that unicorn got to boost its caster level up to its HD

The Viscount

2021-04-19, 07:53 PM

Reveal in 48 hours.

Thurbane

2021-04-19, 09:22 PM

You know what? I've thought of a goofy, and possibly interesting, build for Shining Blade of Crappiness, so when we eventually get it, I have an entry in mind.

Macabaret

2021-04-21, 10:50 AM

[off topic tangent]
Hi, all. It's been awhile since I've been around these forums (errr... fora?). Thurbane dragged me back with a PM (aka casting "Summon Monster"), but my reply was met with ye ol' 'stored private message quota exceeded' error. Seeing a post by the aforementioned here, I thought I'd poke my head in with a quick response. I hope you don't mind.

Thurbane: The short answer to the question you asked is... yes, I am okay with it. You should definitely do it!
[/off topic tangent]

I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.
Enjoy!

Thurbane

2021-04-21, 04:36 PM

The Viscount

2021-04-21, 10:07 PM

One more dispute for the judges.

First let me apologize to the judges for the messy entries this time. The 3 build ideas and my unexpected limited time the past weeks did contribute partially to this and thus I'll try to avoid similar scenarios in the future.

Originality:
I did go for Changeling due to Warshaper, to have access to the abilities outside of (polymorph) spells. Warshaper is a fitting prc for gishes that don't aim for the regular BAB 16+ and 9th lvl spells. Further due to the Rage requirement of the SI, pounce builds where to be expected. Imho a bunch of secondary attacks (tentacles or Hydra Bites/heads) at -5 BAB are better than the 4th iterative at -15 for hitting BAB 16+.
Finally Changeling enables to get access to the Greater Rite of Passage and thus helps the build to hit another spell-level. Which is imho very handy on a 1/2 spellprogression SI.

Power:

To gain this benefit, you do not learn a new 1st-level sorcerer spell and a new 2nd-level sorcerer spell at 5th level. From now on, you know one less sorcerer spell that you can cast at each subsequent level (not counting the domain spells from this alternative class feature).
The second sentence is referring the first sentence and subsequent (character / spell progression) levels. Not to higher spell levels gained. It doesn't create a second tax, it just explains what happens to the first on later levels. Thus you only pay the 1st and 2nd lvl spell tax and not for all spell levels.

Arcane Strike is imho a weak option for a 1/2 prc (SI) due to having way less unused spellslots per day as a build that might hit 9th lvl spells. I don't see any value to burn off spellslots with this SI.

Warshapers is supposed to use either Tentacles (to better hide them under e.g. a robe) or Hydra "Bites" (for max power). The former gives 10 natural attacks and the latter up to 12. Sorry that the info went missing. I wanted to avoid repeating the same stuff in all 3 build, but somehow that did went wrong in the info order on my side. I apologize.

A lil rule explanation how the Morphic Weapon ability works: It doesn't allows to stack itself. The ability gives you the permission to change em every turn if you want.
As mentioned under Elegance, a bunch secondary attacks at -5 are better then hitting the BAB 16+ benchmark.

Finally, I dunno if you did considered the defensive capabilities of Enlarge Person. The extended reach will carry you a long way against melee type enemies. Whether the enemy has reach or not. It is lessening/delaying attacks the character will receive. Together with Wings of Cover and Mirror Image they have a good synergy.
Unless you throw a bunch of ranged enemies early on, the build should have an easy time with the early level. And any other melee focused build shares the same problem here.

Elegance:

Shadowform Familiar is really an ugly ability. I have to admit that. And the restriction to only work on new summons is really annoying. But since the ability comes late you can prepare for it. It also depends to the leveling speed of the campaign. I haven't seen any rushed campaigns from 1-20 that where lesser than a year. Most of my high lvl campaign experience involves downtimes and sometimes even time skips. The build needs to figure this out while playing. By lvl 6 you should have an impression if this is a "non-stop campaign to 20" or not (which results in either picking early on or delaying the familiar summon to later levels). Finally there is the chance that your familiar just dies by misfortune (or luck depending on your point of view here^^), which is more likely as for your normal non-combat familiar.

Regarding Kurtulmak and the War domain I have to admit that I googled that and it seems I have gotten wrong results here. It seems that "War" was only a portfolio of him in 3.5 and later seems to have become one of this domains.. It would have been a good fit for the Kobold theme of this build, but yeah. Wrong War deity picked here, I'm sorry.

Racial Emulation and the abilities the build accesses with it all work fluent here. Shadowform Familiar is only needed to summon the familiar and not to sustain it (that is still your normal familiar class feature that does that. Same for Improved Familiar, both feats are only needed to summon a new familiar of that type). As such, the character only needs to be a Krinth when summoning the Familiar.

The Spider familiar should have been the "Hairy Spider" from Monsters of Faerun (p80). It's mentioned as option for Drow Sorcerers/Wizards. Sorry for the wrong name and missing source.

Sorry for the missing spell sources (outside of the PHB):
Lesser Spider Form (1st) - Drow of the Underdark
Wings of Cover (2nd) - Races of Dragon
Blood Wind (1st) - Spell Compendium
Ferocity of Sanguine Rage (3rd) - Dragon Magic
Fearsome Grapple (2nd) - Spell Compendium
Arcane Fusion (5th) - Complete Mage

UoSI:

Angry Spell can be used temporary with Grease (both get at lvl 12) till we loose the spell (at 15). Finally it can be abused with Rage (spell) against enemy casters.

Originality:

Warshaper is here for the same reason as mentioned above for the Sorcerer build.

Power:

Arcane Spellcasting Class is an undefined term in 3.5 as far as I am aware. Southern Magician enables my Druid class to cast arcane spells. As such it qualifies as arcane spellcasting class for spell progression too. I don't see this any more stretching as the part to qualify for the PRC.

Natural Spell is even without any magic items (for extra shapes and more duration; see items section) important. Wild Shape still has a 5h duration out of the box. Which means, even with a single 5h use it is high likely to be still up for the remaining encounters of the day (unless you need to dismiss the form early on for reasons).

And while we are at Wild Shape, note that the additional NAs (either Tentacles or Hydra Bites/heads again here) also profit from the Fleshrakes poison and thus Venomfire. Since the Fleshraker form can't make use of iterative attacks (despite having pounce), this is the best way to abuse Venomfire.

Enlarge Person is even on later levels still a power move (as you call it^^). The leaping pounce attack of a Large Fleshraker is much more devastating. Having 2 additional uses per day to cover more encounters is even on later levels important. The extra reach, size modifier and weapon size dmg is a very strong buff. And don't forget that with the large size a medium-sized teammate can temporary use you as mount for extra cheese in combat.

Elegance:

I substituted the 4th lvl of Root Walker into the Half-Orc level on purpose and this is a legal move. As such the build lacks the 4th lvl of Root Walker intentionally.

The flaw is imho the lesser evil compared to XP penalties for multiclassing and only applies if the DM enforces em. Lesser evil, but still not elegant I know..^^

And yeah I missed the ranks in K:Religion. I had it on my notes, but it seems I forgot it while being in a hurry. I apologize and take the full responsibility here.

Regarding your release Familiar thought. Imho the familiar doesn't vanish/pop away. As such there should be time to use "Bully Animal" and "Handle Animal" to convince it to stay. Also note that the former familiar should still have memory fragments (due its new INT score) of his former master, it doesn't get brainwashed on release. While cheesy, I don't see any reasons why it shouldn't work.

UoSI:

The initial Handle Animal Command to "Attack" enemies or better to "Guard" the druid/party can be given in the buffing round. As such imho not so problematic, especially if one should be able to see an upcoming battle (e.g. due to distant enemies approaching you).

As said in the items section, the build can use Eternal Wands as Southern Magican. The Rage wand is mentioned especially. Note that the spell mentions that it works as the Rage ability (except the mentioned differences). As such, Rage Mages abilities should apply here too. Not the most elegant solution, but this is not the Elegance category here^^

Final Words:
Thx for taking your time to judge and your effort. And sorry again for the messy entries. I'll try to avoid multiple hurried builds in the future.

Originality:

The backstory is indeed a bit short. It's a byproduct of the limited time issue and I'm are of it. I'm sorry.

But I don't consider a name as part of dish unless it really is fitting somehow. Imho names for dishes (even in real life) aren't set in stone and are not really part of the dish itself. I'm sorry to fail your expectations here ;)

Power/Elegance: - no dispute here -

UoSI:

The use of "Overcome Spell failure" is mentioned in the items section:
"..the build can wear either a Twilight Mithral Feycraft Fullplate Armor or a Heavy Mithral Shield together with a Chain Shirt." Imho due to the shield option the build can flexibly use the ability depending on available items.

As said to Zac, Angry Spell can be used for the temporary available Grease spell or for offensive Rage spell uses against spellcasters.

Originality:
While it seems you didn't penalize it, have a look at my Southern Magician argument directed at Zac if you like ;)

Power:
Regarding the lost spellprogression (outside of Southern Magican), we are talking about a 1/2 spellprogression SI here. Imho a prc that doesn't have spells as main focus. And my additional prc choices reflect that. Warshaper is a heavy gish falvored prc that fits that focus perfectly.

Regarding Southern Magician, as said see me response to Zac.

Arcane Spellcasting Class is an undefined term in 3.5 as far as I am aware. Southern Magician enables my Druid class to cast arcane spells. As such it qualifies as arcane spellcasting class for spell progression too. I don't see this any more stretching as the part to qualify for the PRC.

Elegance:

Yeah I missed the ranks in K:Religion and take responsibility for that. A byproduct of my bad time management with these entries..

The Racial abilities the build relies on are carefully selected to avoid dysfunctions (at least imho).

Substitution Levels aren't lost when you stop qualifying for em. You need to only qualify for em when you take em. Otherwise effects like Polymorph any Object would also create problems and I am not convinced of this. You would need to show a rule like in the chase of feats that says what you assume here. I'm not aware of such a rule.

Vermin Trainer is only needed for the training Phase. Once the spider is trained it shouldn't be an issue to disqualify for the feat. The spider is still trained for the commands.

Which leaves (a medium sized :smallbiggrin: ) Kobold as for to get the SLAs each morning. Once you get your SLA/day at that morning, you don't need to sustain Kobold anymore, since that is not part of the SLA you have now (1x) for the next 24h available.

UoSI:

Spell Rage is nice for Venomfire (clvl x d6 dmg & hours per clvl duration). Magic Fang also profits from it. Goodberry (days per clvl duration) is a nice way to dump both Spell Rage and 1st lvl spells on downtimes.

Spell Fury will be used for the buff spells. Since Venomfire profits from Spell Rage it is advised to use it on the first SR use each day. Same goes for Greater Magic Fang for the increased duration (hours per caster level). Other possible combinations are with Friendly Fire, Entangle, Mass Snakes Swiftness or for a Shillelagh&Entangling Staff combo (quicken one, cast the other normal).
As mentioned in my response to Zac, the build can use Eternal Wands of the Rage spell for additional Rage uses. No need to waste feats on that imho.

I missed Angry Spell in the write up process somehow. Entangle is the sole spell mentioned in the build that would work fine.

Final Words:

Also big thx to you for your patience and time to judge the contest.

Zaq

2021-04-21, 10:27 PM

To be entirely honest, I'm in full antibody production mode from my second vax earlier today, meaning that I'm a bit low on energy and patience. I considered responding to each point one at a time, but it ended up seeming curt and unfriendly, which I don't want to do. In the interest of keeping this friendly and not just being irritated at you for several hundred more words, I'm gonna keep this brief and generic. (To be clear: you aren't being irritating. I'm being irritable. It's a me problem, not a you problem.)

I will say that I see everything that you're saying, but to be honest, none of it changes my mind about anything I said previously. I read it and considered it, but it did not sway me. I'll stop now so as to not let my headache win and not make it nasty at you, since you don't deserve that. But the headache isn't changing my decision about the score; it's just making it so that I can't explain myself with the level of civility you deserve.

No change in score.

AvatarVecna

2021-04-22, 01:12 AM

I consider disputes an opportunity to get a bit more lengthy about my thoughts on this vs that, so I'll go into detail.

The backstory is indeed a bit short. It's a byproduct of the limited time issue and I'm are of it. I'm sorry.

But I don't consider a name as part of dish unless it really is fitting somehow. Imho names for dishes (even in real life) aren't set in stone and are not really part of the dish itself. I'm sorry to fail your expectations here ;)

The name this is less inherently a problem on its own and more indicative of the larger problem being penalized. I will now discuss the two things mentioned from Villainous that were relevant to my thinking during this scoring:

1) Rival Round

A couple rounds back in Villainous Competition, we had a strange round where each competitor had to make two builds - one hero, and one villain. These characters were intended to be built as rivals to each other, and one requirement was that they would be relatively similar for the first few levels, before branching apart. It was an interesting way to showcase how multiple interesting builds can blossom from the same base seeds, and how in-universe story elements can influence character advancement. It came to mind because these builds seem to have a similar premise, at least in how the backstory is presented, but it doesn't deliver on that interesting premise. It doesn't explore how one character might've walked three very different paths, it's just cookie-cutter background that cares so little about the actual character that it doesn't delve into any story for why they made this choice vs that choice in any of the builds.

It addresses why the builds have a few similarities, but it doesn't explain why they became different. It cares so little for the characterization, that it honestly looks like they have placeholder names that were given to them by the chairperson to keep track of which was which during build reveals, rather than something intentionally included by the chef. Yes, names are rarely mechanically integral to the build, but they're one personal touch among many showing that the chef thought about their dish as a person rather than just a build, and those personal touches are utterly lacking throughout all three. Generally, the only time I see builds with less backstory than this is when they are very blatantly an exercise in mechanical audacity (Ultimate Ragus being the obvious example this round).

2) What would get a 0?

I recently discussed in villainous the kinds of things that make the difference between a 0 and a 1 for me, how bad a build has to be in a particular category:

The most cookie-cutter builds and the most bland backstories would earn a 1 in Originality from me; for a 0, you'd have to cross over into the realm of plagiarism.

I will be frank: what saved you from a 0 in this category this round is that the "plagiarized" material couldn't have possibly been stolen from somebody else, it was clearly the work of one person. That being said, if these builds had been presented in different rounds, the ones that showed up later would've probably received a 0 for plagiarism, because it wouldn't be possible for me to know if the backstory (such as it is) wasn't literally stolen or not. And if, in the next few rounds, we end up seeing some kind of Raging Spider Wizard or something, somehow, that build is probably going to receive a 0 as well.

The use of "Overcome Spell failure" is mentioned in the items section:

"..the build can wear either a Twilight Mithral Feycraft Fullplate Armor or a Heavy Mithral Shield together with a Chain Shirt." Imho due to the shield option the build can flexibly use the ability depending on available items.

That is fair, and clearly some thought has been put into making sure to explore how useful it would be to your build.

As said to Zac, Angry Spell can be used for the temporary available Grease spell or for offensive Rage spell uses against spellcasters.

For me, there is a difference between "is useless to the build" and "is integrated into the build". When I mark somebody down for not making using of an SI feature, it's very rarely because it's useless to them. A number of builds this round got penalized for not making use of Tireless Rage, even though every Rage Mage 8 in existence will get slightly better from it because it takes away one downside of the Spell Rage ability. It's the fact that every Rage Mage 8 would get that basic use out of it that made me look for something more from people to see if they were actually using that particular ability or if it was just kinda there. For you, Angry Spell is just kinda there. You aren't a blaster, you're not a debuffer, you just happen to have two spells that are semi-useful in a debuffing capacity that are capable of provoking saves, but you're not building around that ability by any stretch of the imagination.

This is a problem a lot of builds had: it's a gish round, and most people built self-buffers instead of blasters or debuffers, and that generally means leaving Angry Spell on the table. To the point that I'm pretty sure 4 of the 9 builds didn't even have it in the class features column of their build table.

UotSI +0.25

While it seems you didn't penalize it, have a look at my Southern Magician argument directed at Zac if you like ;)

As I cannot figure out what exactly you're disputing in my Originality, nor why your Southern Magician argument would be counterarguing anything I said in Originality, I can't really respond to this dispute. Clarify what you're disputing and I'll consider a score change, but for now I'm moving on.

Regarding the lost spellprogression (outside of Southern Magican), we are talking about a 1/2 spellprogression SI here. Imho a prc that doesn't have spells as main focus. And my additional prc choices reflect that. Warshaper is a heavy gish falvored prc that fits that focus perfectly.

5/10 spellcasting progression, Spell Rage, Overcome Spell Failure, Angry Spell, and Spell Fury. 5 of the 8 class features are directly, inherently about spellcasting. It is a spellcasting PrC - one for gishes rather than full caster types, but a spellcasting PrC nonetheless. Not making good use of the various spellcasting features is a UotSI crime, though, not a Power crime. No, your power crime is being a weak caster in a caster round. A very basic Rage Mage build like the one I described at the start of my judgement pulls off 5th lvl spells and CL 10 when not in a spell rage. There are builds in this round that reach 8th lvl spells and CL 15 (and one that purported to reach CL 20).

Casting as a druid 5 is a great deal more useful to your rage build than most things a rage build ever gets. But make no mistake: you're not getting anywhere near as much out of your casting as even most hypothetical rage mage builds would get; even a basic WotC Rage Mage build that doesn't give a crap about casting would generally reach CL 8 just as a matter of qualifying in the first place and then taking all 10 levels. Now, Druid 5 casting gets access to a good enough list that it's not the worst casting present in this contest, but it is definitely second-worst IMO.

Arcane Spellcasting Class is an undefined term in 3.5 as far as I am aware. Southern Magician enables my Druid class to cast arcane spells. As such it qualifies as arcane spellcasting class for spell progression too. I don't see this any more stretching as the part to qualify for the PRC.

1) Southern Magician changes the spell, not the class. As such, while the PrC prereqs ("Able to cast 2nd-level arcane spells") is objectively met, because that's just what the SM feat does in a very straightforward manner, it does not change what druid is, and that is a prepared divine spellcasting class.

2) The lack of a technical definition does not change the qualia of the statement. The fact that I cannot offer up a comprehensive definition of sandwich that would satisfy the internet's desire for a firm definition of things does not change the fact that I know what is and isn't a sandwich, and does not mean you can come to me and say "technically, there's no rule that says cereal isn't a sandwich". The fact that there is no definition carved into a stone tablet by God designating that cereal isn't a sandwich does not change the fact that you will never ever find somebody who agrees with your argument that cereal should count.

Generally, when a take is controversial, I ignore it in the power section and bash it in the elegance section, but when a take feels like something that is basically universally unacceptable, I ignore it in the power section as well. Refuge In Audacity will only get you so far.

(If you'd like a comparison of what might've made this reading acceptable in my eyes, consider the subtle difference between the following:

Thus, when a new hospitaler level is gained (except for 1st, 5th, and 9th levels), the character gains new divine spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had gained a level in the a divine spellcasting class to which she belonged before adding the prestige class level.
When a new sacred fist level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in whatever spellcasting class in which he could cast divine spells before he added the prestige class.

The former is about Divine Spellcasting Class, while the latter is "whatever spellcasting class" you could cast divine spells with. If you made a wizard with southern magician for a Sacred Fist round, I would have no trouble scoring your Power as gaining that advancement - I'd probably make a note in the Elegance section that some DMs might take issue with that reading, but it's a good deal more defensible than what you put forward this round. And tbh I think you're well aware of that.

Yeah I missed the ranks in K:Religion and take responsibility for that. A byproduct of my bad time management with these entries..

The Racial abilities the build relies on are carefully selected to avoid dysfunctions (at least imho).

Substitution Levels aren't lost when you stop qualifying for em. You need to only qualify for em when you take em. Otherwise effects like Polymorph any Object would also create problems and I am not convinced of this. You would need to show a rule like in the chase of feats that says what you assume here. I'm not aware of such a rule.

Vermin Trainer is only needed for the training Phase. Once the spider is trained it shouldn't be an issue to disqualify for the feat. The spider is still trained for the commands.

Which leaves (a medium sized ) Kobold as for to get the SLAs each morning. Once you get your SLA/day at that morning, you don't need to sustain Kobold anymore, since that is not part of the SLA you have now (1x) for the next 24h available.

With me, Elegance isn't merely about what is RAW legal or not, it's also about RAI. To be more general, it's about parts of the character that are going to potentially cause arguments at the table instead of playing, things that make a DM less likely to consider accepting your character if they see it in the pile of submissions for a pbp game. And at least in my experience, absolutely every flavor of "I only had to qualify for it when I took it, I don't need to keep the qualifications anymore" is an automatic argument. Temporary spell effects like Polymorph don't change what you actually are - even PAO is permanent duration, not instantaneous, so it can be dispelled. But an effect that lets you temporarily count as a kobold...I'm willing to accept that you always count as a changeling-kobold, provided that you don't use Racial Emulation for anything else.

I gave RS Sorcerer props for that. But RS Druid leans too heavily on it, and at both my tables and many of the physical tables I've played at, using this ability in this manner would start an argument, get banned, and maybe get you kicked from the table depending on how insistent you were. I can begrudgingly acknowledge that it's not technically illegal to abandon prereqs the second after you take the thing you needed them for (at least, not illegal most of the time), but it will never not get an Elegance penalty from me.

Spell Rage is nice for Venomfire (clvl x d6 dmg & hours per clvl duration). Magic Fang also profits from it. Goodberry (days per clvl duration) is a nice way to dump both Spell Rage and 1st lvl spells on downtimes.

Spell Fury will be used for the buff spells. Since Venomfire profits from Spell Rage it is advised to use it on the first SR use each day. Same goes for Greater Magic Fang for the increased duration (hours per caster level). Other possible combinations are with Friendly Fire, Entangle, Mass Snakes Swiftness or for a Shillelagh&Entangling Staff combo (quicken one, cast the other normal).
As mentioned in my response to Zac, the build can use Eternal Wands of the Rage spell for additional Rage uses. No need to waste feats on that imho.

I missed Angry Spell in the write up process somehow. Entangle is the sole spell mentioned in the build that would work fine.

I've already spoken about how penalties in this area aren't for the ability being useless, but for not really being integrated into the build. If the Spell Progression, Overcome Spell Failure, and Angry Spell class features were removed from this class, your build would not perform all that differently from how it does now, that is just a fact. The CL benefits of Spell Rage are a fair point, as you do have some nice low-level buffs that get a good highlight. You were already getting credit for Spell Fury, though.

UotSI +0.50