5th level battle royale.

[Emperor Demonking]

Core only, each 5th level class.

[Hyozo]

The rogue wins initiative and OHKs the wizard using sneak attack with a humanbane (or elfbane, the rogue probably has both) weapon. Batman is down and out before he gets the chance to attack.

Just thought I'd point that out before people start quoting logicninja.

[Jack Zander]

Not in a battle royale. The 9 other characters kill the rogue immediately after.

Also, at level 1 Initiative is largely up to the dice. Unless you are a human fighter with the right three feats. Then it's partially up to the dice.

[OneWinged4ngel]

Auuggh... So many ultimately pointless class battle threads... spamming the entire forum... Whyyyyy?! :smallsigh:

[Kurald Galain]

Depending on who wins intiative - wizard casts fireball, or any class with UMD activates a wand of fireball, which could quite possibly nuke the rest of the characters. Well, nobody specified a starting distance, anyway :smallsmile:

[Shotaro]

Personally I'd vote for the barbarian at that level, go high dex high str to give good DMG and a chance to win initiative Charge the squishiest person available and great cleave as needed. that could potentially take down the Sorc, Wiz, Rogue, Bard, Druid and monk in one go the extra hp given by rage the survivability, anyone left standing will go for me, but the next round attack the cleric as hard as possible and hope he tries to 5ft step out and heal and paint himself as the new big target, then marvel as he gets torn to shreds by the pally and fighter. go for the Fighter then finish with the pally. Luck does play a factor and I am assuming AI rather than people but still I think the good old barbarian has a chance with a good initiative roll

[Alex12]

I asked this in the level 1 battle Royale, but didn't get a good answer, so I'm asking again here: does XPH count as core?

[Shotaro]

Alex: The Core books are PHB, DMG, MM v3.5

[Alex12]

Alex: The Core books are PHB, DMG, MM v3.5

Okay, thanks.

[Guy_Whozevl]

Depends on who wins Initiative. Other variables include wealth (WBL or another system), terrain, and how much cheese is actually allowed. If extreme cheese is allowed, someone can just use Candle of Invocation and Gate in Titans and stuff. It also depends on how close the characters are to each other. The races allowed are also a factor, because someone can just be a Pixie Rogue and SA everything to death using superior Move Silently and Hide.
I would place my bets on an intelligently played Wizard (Stinking Cloud is good control, Phantom Steed for mobility, Hold Person to set up for coup de grace), a Bard (make alliances with Bluff/Diplomacy, Facinate the enemy while your allies kill them off, backstab weakened allies when done with enemies; UMD doesn't hurt either), a Rogue (see Bard, minus Facinate but taking into consideration Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, and SA), or a Druid (animal, although Fleshrakers are disallowed, can still be useful).

The Barbarian doesn't get Leap Attack, Shock Trooper, etc. to really shine, but Rage + Orc can chop down most classes with low HD with just average damage. The problem is that you're too easy to target by everyone else and you can be pinged with ranged attacks without being unable to respond.
A Fighter faces a similar situation, although it lacks the superior Rage in exchange for pointless bonus feats. If you focus on ranged attacking, you might be okay, but without Manyshot, it's pointless.
Paladins get their special mounts at this level (IIRC), and have all their good levels going for them by level 5. The problem is that a code of conduct might interfere with alliances and such in a battle royale. The movement speed on a mount, however, is a plus.
Ranger can also be useful, with the important Hide and Move Silently skills, as well as Favored Enemy. The combat style helps too, but they effectively function as melee classes in a battle royale scenario (ranged combat is not a viable tactic). Their d8 hit die bites here.
Cleric would normally do well at higher levels, but in this situation, the Cleric's abilities are limited with only level 3 spells. Domains might make up for it, but I think the Cleric still has nothing going for him here. You can't DMM persist anything good either.
Monk has MAD and sucks most of the time anyway. Enough said. You can't even make a reliable mage killer at this level.
Sorcerer would also do well at higher levels, but only having second level spells sucks big time here. Not much going for him here.