Junkyard Wars XXXII: Theurge Without Theurge

[Thurbane]

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

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

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


Necessary: Abjurant Champion (CM p.50)
Necessary: Demonwrecker (EttDP p.168)
Forbidden: Any PrC with it's own casting (i.e. no Ur-Priest, Sublime Chord etc.)





Creation: 32 point-buy is the presumed creation method. You may assume that you will have enough exp to reach ECL 20, and that the occasional bit of crafting, use of spells with exp components, or the like won't prevent you from doing so. However, LA buyoff is an alternate rule which is not in play.
Workshop: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon Magazine is disallowed, and Unearthed Arcana is allowed; but see below. Web-exclusive 3.0 or 3.5 materials by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. If you use web material, please link it. Dragon Magazine Compendium is allowed, as are Oriental Adventures (and its 3.5 updates in Dragon Magazine) and the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. Alternate rule systems from UA such as generic classes, spontaneous divine casters, gestalt and fractional saves and BAB are not allowed, as they create a different playing field.
Leadership is banned: We're creating one thing, not all of the things. If your entry includes a prestige class or ACF that grants Leadership or a Leadership-like ability as a bonus feat, the feat should be ignored and is not eligible to be traded away for another feat or ACF through any means.
Speculation: Please don't post or speculate on possible builds until after the reveal in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines. Speculation and stub posting is to be avoided until the reveal is completed.
Disputes: Any scoring disputes should be sent to the Chair via PM. Valid disputes include RAW misreadings, arithmetic errors, things missed that are present in the entry, and inconsistently applied criteria. Invalid disputes include disagreements on matters of opinion, a judge not catching something not explicitly presented in the entry, and the like. Invalid disputes will be responded to via PM by the Chair, but valid disputes will be posted in-thread for the judge to review. When disputing, please indicate the judge the dispute is intended for and provide a quote of the disputed comment or comments. Note: the Chair may edit or paraphrase any disputes in presenting them to the judges.
Presentation: You will need to present a write-up of your build at at least one of the following points: 5th level, 10th level, 15th, 20th, and a "sweet spot" that you feel is the high point of the build, as well as presenting a fully-fleshed out 20-level build in the table below. Please give a rundown of the build's abilities and playability throughout its life. Builds will be posted anonymously, in order to avoid the potential of bias towards a particular competitor. For this reason, please don't put your name in the build as I'm likely to miss it when reviewing the entries. Also for this reason, PLEASE do not include any material that may or may not offend any potential viewers/judges/competitors OR break forum rules. Any builds which violate forum rules WILL be withheld from posting.
Anonymity: if you are submitting multiple entries, please try not to have entries reference each other, or have other obvious "tells" that they are from the same competitor. If it is essential for your concept that entries are somehow linked, that is fine, but otherwise, please try to limit info that will give away who competitors are.



Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, please use the following table for their entry.
NAME OF ENTRY


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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



Code immediately below (spoiler).

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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.

mattie_p has also kindly made a Google Document that greatly assists with creating and formatting tables: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BG0-5sq4dL9Ooh7-QfXuyHzO4rXSz-CRcj29t6BeUVE/edit?usp=sharing




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


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



Disputes: Any scoring disputes will be posted by the Chairman in-thread after reviewing them privately. Valid disputes include

RAW misreadings,
arithmetic errors,
things missed that are present in the entry,
and inconsistently applied criteria.

Invalid disputes include

disagreements on matters of opinion,
a judge not catching something not explicitly presented in the entry,
and the like.

Invalid disputes will be responded to via PM by the Chair, but valid disputes should be responded to by each individual judge. Judges are obligated to respond to disputes to ensure that everyone gets a fair shake. A judge's scores will only be recognized if they have recognized all disputes. In the absence of any other judges, the entries will be judged by the chairman.



Completion Time:

Contestants will have until 23:59 GMT Monday August 23, 2021 to create their builds and PM them to the chairman (note: you are free to submit builds up until I start posting entries, even if this deadline has passed).
Builds will then be posted simultaneously to avoid copying.
Judges will have until 23:59 GMT Monday September 6, 2021 to judge the builds and submit their scores. Judging deadline is subject to extension as required.
As the precedent has been set from Episode 2, should all prospective judges have posted their rulings in a neat, timely fashion and all disputes have been settled satisfactorily (to either judges, contestants, or the Chairperson), the judging period may end prematurely to give way to a new episode. No reason to keep working on a finished building and avoid moving onto the next one.


Looking for as many contestants and judges as feel like playing! We will award 1st through 3rd places, as well as a shout-out for honorable mention. The honorable mention prize is given to the most daring or unexpected build that doesn't gain a medal. Contestants are invited to vote for honorable mention via PM. Everyone else can vote in-thread. Ready? Set? Get to the junkyard and start building!

On the subject of messaging the chair (me), a few guidelines:
- I am not here to give critiques on your build or guess how the judges might score it!
- For entries, please keep the entry to no more than 2 messages, if at all possible.
- For entries, don't expect me to search through your entry and edit in or out material. Entries should be sent to me complete - if there is a later revision, re-submit the full build. PLEASE DON'T INCLUDE TEXT IN YOUR SUBMISSION YOU WANT ME TO EDIT OUT FOR THE POST - SUBMIT IT TO ME EXACTLY HOW I WILL POST THE FINISHED PRODUCT.
- Please make sure the name of your entry is clearly present in the message.



Junkyard Wars in the Playground I: Shadowdancer + Sneak Attack - Rogue (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?337864)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground II: Healing Spells + Ruby Knight Vindicator - Cleric (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?342896)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground III: Dragons + Theurges - Kobolds (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?347412)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground IV: BoED + Undead Type - Completes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?355278)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground V: Dread Witch + Reaping Mauler - Fighter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?360271)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground VI: Wonderworker + Profession Skill - Factotum (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?369604)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground VII: Metamagic Feats + LA - Metamagic Reducers! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?374504)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground VIII: Pounce+Small Size-Barbarian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?388151)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground IX: Earth Dreamer + Ordained Champion - Cleric (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?395791)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground X: Meldshaping + Natural Attacks - Totemist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?403880)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XI: Magical Darkness + Improved Familiar - Wizard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?409650)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XII: Dragonmark Heirs + Touchstones - Martial Weapons (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?430214)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XIII: Mulhorandi Divine Minion + Monk - Any Other Wildshaping (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?465901)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XIV: Racial Paragon Classes + Spellcasting - Base Classes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?479427)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XV: Ruathar + Stoneblessed - Human (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?497904)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XVI: Trapsmith + Combat Trapsmith - Rogue (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?540521)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XVII: Elemental Warrior + Jaunter - Fighter (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?552569)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XVIII: Argent Savant + Holy Scourge - Wizard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?555404)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XIX: Incarnum Blade + Exotic Weapon Master - Spiked Chain (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?562523-Junkyard-Wars-XIX-IB-EWM-SC)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XX: Xorvintaal Exarch + The Pact-Bound Adept - Sorcerer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?568541-Junkyard-Wars-XX-XE-PBA(a)-S)
Junkyard Wars in the Playground XXI: Rebuke Undead + Teamwork Benefits - [Divine] feats (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?572680-Junkyard-Wars-XXI-Halloween-Round!)
Junkyard Wars XXII: Battle Trickster + Magical Trickster - Uncanny Trickster (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?577512-Junkyard-Wars-XXII-Show-Me-Your-Skillz)
Junkyard Wars XXIII: Spellwarp Sniper + Silver Pyromancer - Energy Substitution (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?581736-Junkyard-Wars-XXIII-Ready-Aim-Fire)
Junkyard Wars XXIV: Vow of Peace + Saint - Divine casting (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?585567-Junkyard-Wars-XXIV-VoPe-S-DC)
Junkyard Wars XXV: Silverwood Arcanist + Share Soulmeld - Soulcaster (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?590622-Junkyard-Wars-XXV-SA-SS-S)
Junkyard Wars XXVI: RSL + ACF - PrCs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?593374-Junkyard-Wars-XXVI-RSL-ACF-PrCs)
Junkyard Wars XXVII: Unholy Scion + Mark - Affiliation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?598151-Junkyard-Wars-XXVII-US-M-A)
Junkyard Wars XXVII: 1MF + CPA&A - T (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?603826-Junkyard-Wars-XXVIII-1MF-CPA-amp-A-T)
Junkyard Wars XXIX: Social Distancing Edition! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?610153-Junkyard-Wars-XXIX-Social-Distancing-Edition!)
Junkyard Wars XXX: Something a Little Spicy (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?631758-Junkyard-Wars-XXX-Something-a-Little-Spicy)
Junkyard Wars XXXI: Giddy-Up! (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?633325)

[Thurbane]

Q&A:

Q1. Are theurge PrCs allowed?
A1. Yes - despite the name of the comp, they are allowed.

Q2. Are adaptations allowed, such as Demonwrecker Arcane or divine/psionic Abjurant Champion?
A2. No, PrCs are to be used "as-is", no adaptations.


Please note: there have been some tweaks to the rules, please take a moment to read through

[Beni-Kujaku]

Why is it called "without theurge"? Any theurge class is still allowed, isn't it?

Also, I didn't know Demonwrecker. Man that's a specialized class.



I'm going to participate in this one.

[Thurbane]

Why is it called "without theurge"? Any theurge class is still allowed, isn't it?

Theurge classes are allowed - sorry if the name is misleading.

Someone suggested this as a comp a little while back.

Without heading too much into speculation, the idea was that the ingredients will require you to have both arcane and divine casting, but each class only advances one or the other.

[loky1109]

How about Demonwrecker Arcane?

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Without heading too much into speculation, the idea was that the ingredients will require you to have both arcane and divine casting, but each class only advances one or the other.

Are adaptations allowed? For example, Divine or Psionic Abjurant Champion in place of Arcane? (Assuming, of course, no "fast caster" PrCs are used.)

[mattie_p]

Thurbane, don't forget to link the google sheet with all the pre-made tables. It's still in my signature. You can add it to the OP for this and future competitions.

[Thurbane]

How about Demonwrecker Arcane?

Are adaptations allowed? For example, Divine or Psionic Abjurant Champion in place of Arcane? (Assuming, of course, no "fast caster" PrCs are used.)

I was going to pre-emptively put this in the FAQ, because I knew it would come up, then forgot to. The answer is a resounding "No".

[Thrice Dead Cat]

I was going to pre-emptively put this in the FAQ, because I knew it would come up, then forgot to. The answer is a resounding "No".

I suspected that would be the answer, but it never hurts to ask!

Next question: I assume any number of early entry tricks are up to the individual judges to weigh on a case by case basis, correct? I don't want to be any more precise than that so as to not tip my hand.

[Thurbane]

I suspected that would be the answer, but it never hurts to ask!

Very true. :smallsmile:


Next question: I assume any number of early entry tricks are up to the individual judges to weigh on a case by case basis, correct? I don't want to be any more precise than that so as to not tip my hand.

That is correct.

Different judges would view, and score, early entry tricks entirely by their own metric.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I didn't expect "Theurge Without Theurge" to have two prestige classes I'd never heard of as entry requirements. But the two classes work together really well! Both are gishy, and they're small enough that you can fit all levels of both into a build and still have room for other things. And while Abjurant Champion doesn't have anything to do with fiend-fighting, the "champion" part sure makes it sound like they do.

My first cheesy ideas turned out to be a bust when I did some basic double-checking, but I might still be able to work something out.

[Beni-Kujaku]

You'd never heard of Abjurant Champion? I believe it's in every gish discussion I've ever read, just due to how good and easy to enter it is

[Glimbur]

I'm poking around at some ideas. There is one my heart is calling me to but I am still shopping around just in case.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Given that both of these are single caster advancement (one arcane, the other divine) PrCs, I feel like all my ideas are going to be dumb ones. I'd be lying if that didn't end up making me even more excited about this round.

[Kuulvheysoon]

I'm hilariously rusty at 3.5E, but the Villainous Competition caught my eye, and I'm slowly sinking back into the black hole that is this edition (been deeply involved in 5E recently).

I've actually got a kinda wacky off the wall idea for this, and a boring idea. The boring idea is easier to pull off, but the wacky idea is jank as all hell and might not work. One way to find out.

Man, I'd forgotten how wacky Demonwrecker was. I'm probably going to place last, but dammit, this is intriguing.

[GreatWyrmGold]

You'd never heard of Abjurant Champion? I believe it's in every gish discussion I've ever read, just due to how good and easy to enter it is
Yeah, I haven't read that many gish discussions. Or charop-ey discussions, period.



Given that both of these are single caster advancement (one arcane, the other divine) PrCs, I feel like all my ideas are going to be dumb ones. I'd be lying if that didn't end up making me even more excited about this round.
So far, all of my ideas have been "dumb" in the sense that they don't work. Especially the one that I came this close to drawing up a table for a build before realizing the base class I was about to do shenanigans with was from Dragon Magazine; that was dumb.
(Does pointing out classes that would be great if they were allowed, but they're 100% not allowed, count as speculation?)

[Kuulvheysoon]

Jank idea does not work. You cannot use the Factotum's Arcane Dilettante to qualify for casting 1st level arcane spells to get into Abjurant Champion.

You can't use any SLAs, in fact. SLAs only qualify you if it's a specific spell (like a haste SLA for Swiftblade) or if the prestige class requires only a caster level. So that idea wouldn't be a legal entry. Ah well, it was a good try.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Yeah, I haven't read that many gish discussions. Or charop-ey discussions, period.

I love me some Abjurant Champion in general, but I feel like that discussion can wait until after submissions close.


So far, all of my ideas have been "dumb" in the sense that they don't work. Especially the one that I came this close to drawing up a table for a build before realizing the base class I was about to do shenanigans with was from Dragon Magazine; that was dumb.
(Does pointing out classes that would be great if they were allowed, but they're 100% not allowed, count as speculation?)

This might be a stupid question, as I haven't checked past Junkyard nor Iron Chef competitions to see if this may have been answered, but are Dragon Magazines banned due to lack of access, questionable RAW issues, concerns over weird interactions, something else, or even all of the above? I know things like Rage Mage eventually found their way into published books or other, official sources, and the question isn't a judgmental one or even really a complaint about how "This super cool feat/ACF/prestige class that would be perfect for this competition is not available. Woe is me." I suspect it's mostly just because it'd be a pain in the butt for the chairman and judges to have to track down material through an extra ~100ish sources and just how damned easy it would be to cite the wrong issue as far as submissions go. Heck, it's probably bad enough having to check through the, what, roughly ~100ish books and modules as-is, right? /tangent

[AvatarVecna]

Zinc Saucier XXXVII: Blast From The Past is ready for chefs.

[Thurbane]

(Does pointing out classes that would be great if they were allowed, but they're 100% not allowed, count as speculation?)

Best rule of thumb is if you think it may be considered speculation, even if you don't think so personally, probably best to refrain.


This might be a stupid question, as I haven't checked past Junkyard nor Iron Chef competitions to see if this may have been answered, but are Dragon Magazines banned due to lack of access, questionable RAW issues, concerns over weird interactions, something else, or even all of the above?

A little of everything, but lack of access would seem to be the primary reason.


Zinc Saucier XXXVII: Blast From The Past is ready for chefs.

...errr, so is this comp.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Okay, so my relatively boring starting point has actually yielded a build I'm pretty pleased with.

[mattie_p]

This might be a stupid question, as I haven't checked past Junkyard nor Iron Chef competitions to see if this may have been answered, but are Dragon Magazines banned due to lack of access, questionable RAW issues, concerns over weird interactions, something else, or even all of the above? I know things like Rage Mage eventually found their way into published books or other, official sources, and the question isn't a judgmental one or even really a complaint about how "This super cool feat/ACF/prestige class that would be perfect for this competition is not available. Woe is me." I suspect it's mostly just because it'd be a pain in the butt for the chairman and judges to have to track down material through an extra ~100ish sources and just how damned easy it would be to cite the wrong issue as far as submissions go. Heck, it's probably bad enough having to check through the, what, roughly ~100ish books and modules as-is, right? /tangent


A little of everything, but lack of access would seem to be the primary reason.

Thurbane's response is very close to mine. I played some 3e during it's active time, but didn't subscribe to Dungeon or Dragon. But I do have an extensive book collection, much of it gathered after 4e came out. I nabbed most of the books at discount 2nd-hand bookstores or eBay or the like. There's still a few that I'm missing and actively seeking (Shadowdale: The Scouring of the LandI/I] arrived yesterday!). Because I got back into the hobby after 3.5 closed I can still collect hardcopy books. The magazines are available at Paizo or resellers, but that's not a direction I generally want to take my collecting at this point.

That said, with more than 100 published books, there is a mind-boggling scope of character options in 3.5. Surely you can find [I]something within the approved sources that would work.

TL,DR; I like the books, I have the books, I don't have the magazines. When I judge, I read the books not pdfs.

[Kuulvheysoon]

A lot of the magazine material also has a (deserved) reputation for not being spectacularly balanced. Which is fair, given how often it released with new material.

I'm honestly surprised that these competitions allow the Dragon Compendium, tbh, but since it expands the options, I try not and complain.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

That said, with more than 100 published books, there is a mind-boggling scope of character options in 3.5. Surely you can find something within the approved sources that would work.

TL,DR; I like the books, I have the books, I don't have the magazines. When I judge, I read the books not pdfs.

That's fair. Most of the time, I can find something that's close enough to whatever was in Dragon or Dungeon. There are a few infamous examples, but nothing that's actually an issue for this competition. I just recently got back to 3.X with the last Junkyard contest, and there's an odd joy in finding things I never knew existed in the hundred so books that are available!

Personally, I'm fine with using PDFs, but that does depend some what on the book. If I need to flip between two different sections in one book, the physical copy wins. If I'm only checking one thing per book and need at least three books, then I find PDFs to be easier to flip between the different sources.

[GreatWyrmGold]

A lot of the magazine material also has a (deserved) reputation for not being spectacularly balanced. Which is fair, given how often it released with new material.
Yeah. Without getting into details, the thing I was searching for and only found in Dragon could (with lenient rules interpretations) be interpreted in a way that would get 9th level spells at 10th level, with just one base class and one prestige class. (Not a combination I planned to use this competition, but still.)

[Thurbane]

Some good interest this time around.

Bit over a week before the official deadline - the unofficial deadline is right up until I start the reveal, all entries up to that point are accepted. :smallsmile:

[GreatWyrmGold]

Oh geez, I need to actually write up my build and submit it.

Scratch that, I just noticed an error that means my build doesn't quite work. I could just shuffle the build a little, but...that would end up being less potent than I was expecting, and I'm already iffy on the build's viability, and also I don't want to redo the table and stuff...

[Glimbur]

My skill points work out! Huzzah! Now to turn the Power dial all the way up... will be tricky. But the build is coming together well enough that I will get it submitted.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

I've got two separate ideas running. I've got the first one in. Now I just need to finish the other one.

I have to say, skills are the worst part of the competition. Allocating all of your points isn't too bad during the course of a game, but doing all 20 levels in one go? Oof.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Have I mentioned how much I hate alignment restrictions? I mean really.

[Thurbane]

I concur that skills are usually the most painful part of an entry. mattie_p's document helps a bit, but it's still pretty laborious.

[mattie_p]

Yeah, I'm still trying to tweak it a little. Right now you can copy down a row from Row 2 to 3 for no change, or drag down from row 2 to 3 for an automatic increase of 1 from the previous row. I'm not 100% happy with it. I can do better if I had some time.

If there's any other constructive feedback I'm open to ideas.

[ciopo]

I've tinkered with a copy of the sheet to make the skills formatted in a "X+Y" , because I like being able to tell at a glance whether a skill was increased at a specific level or not

here is a link to the sheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rZjSKxLlq7ALd9er_j8dQoWoBCQZkjqNlCY6kqlS2JA/edit?usp=sharing

it takes the skill name from the column heading on F2,G2 etc, and for each level except the first, the output is skillname x+y , where x is the sum of ranks previously purchased and y is the ranks increases at that level.

it doesn't play well with crossclass skills, for obvious reasons, and there is a bleh about "0+y" for new skills that didn't have ranks at 1st level, but my motivation to play around with sheets is currently exhausted

[mattie_p]

I'll have to play around with it and see what you changed. My idea was that I would need at least 4 columns per skill, skill name, cc status, new skill points added, and a hidden column for concatenation of everything properly. But I lacked the time so far.....

[Beni-Kujaku]

Just finished and submitted my second build! Pretty happy with how they turned out.

[Thurbane]

Really glad that this round has sparked imaginations and gotten a good array of entries. :smallsmile:

[Kuulvheysoon]

Really glad that this round has sparked imaginations and gotten a good array of entries. :smallsmile:

Oh? Excited to see how we made out numbers-wise.

[mattie_p]

Team Junkyard, the deadline for submission is tomorrow for this competition, so I'm posting here first.

VERSION 2.0 (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BG0-5sq4dL9Ooh7-QfXuyHzO4rXSz-CRcj29t6BeUVE/edit?usp=sharing) is here.

Skill table is completely revamped. You simply enter the skill names at the top of the columns. At each level, select the cross class status and the number of skill points applied at that level. It will give you a single column that you can copy and paste back into the leveling table. It will automatically ignore skills without ranks. It will "remember" ranks assigned previously and keep printing them. But you only need to enter a "Y" or "y" at each level for cc status, and then the number of points assigned at that level. Does the rest for you.

Good luck, Junkyard Warriors.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Team Junkyard, the deadline for submission is tomorrow for this competition, so I'm posting here first.

VERSION 2.0 (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BG0-5sq4dL9Ooh7-QfXuyHzO4rXSz-CRcj29t6BeUVE/edit?usp=sharing) is here.

Skill table is completely revamped. You simply enter the skill names at the top of the columns. At each level, select the cross class status and the number of skill points applied at that level. It will give you a single column that you can copy and paste back into the leveling table. It will automatically ignore skills without ranks. It will "remember" ranks assigned previously and keep printing them. But you only need to enter a "Y" or "y" at each level for cc status, and then the number of points assigned at that level. Does the rest for you.

Good luck, Junkyard Warriors.

That's incredible, thank you very much! A quick thing that may be useful could be to have one column display the sum of the invested points at each level, to reduce the possibility of miscounting. Also, I believe putting the names of the modified skills in bold at each level may increase the readability even more, but I don't know if that's easy to do or if you think it's useful.

[mattie_p]

There's two hidden columns for each skill. One has the cumulative skill ranks (NOT Skill points invested), the other is the concatenated text block for that skill at that level. Adding formatting for changes at that level is doable, but maybe for another day.

Oh. I'm re reading, that's a pretty simple change, I can add that pretty quickly. Gimme a few minutes, taking a computer break.

So there's a new column for skill points invested at that level for quick double checking by the competitor. It will not double check for you if you exceeded the number of points you got.

It already calls out when you invest new ranks in the text block (For example, if you invested 2 ranks cross class in spellcraft at a given level, giving you a cumulative total of 5, the entry would look like:


Spellcraft (+2 CC) 5;

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Thanks again, mattie_p. It's too late for me to use for this round, but I have no doubt the improved spread will come in handy for future competitions!

[Thurbane]

The reveal is nominally in just over 23 hours (assuming I haven't messed up), but due to work hours, may be a bit later than that...

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Just putting the final touches on my entry.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Just putting the final touches on my entry.

Running out of time! I'm excited for the drop so that we can finally talk about how many ideas we Vizzini'd ourselves out of.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Running out of time! I'm excited for the drop so that we can finally talk about how many ideas we Vizzini'd ourselves out of.

Just need to do sources, now. Should be in in 5-10 minutes.

EDIT: And done. I'm sure I missed something, but ah well. Such is the price of procrastination.

[Thurbane]

Time for the reveal. Please refrain from posting until I give the all clear.

Trying to do this while also working, so please be patient.

[Thurbane]

Dawn touched the open dias in the plaza as Sha’re Ziahorus pressed her head against the cool stone. The plaza was a marvel of art; over five hundred years ago artisans had taken semi precious stones and durable ceramics from across the Mulhorandi Empire and brought them to Skuld, the glorious City of Eternity. There, they had laid out a fantastic scene of a hawk circling over the city, with the eye of the raptor being a solid disc of gold a full six inches across.

As she felt the heat of the sun’s rays beat down across her back, she raised her head, silver eyes flashing in the reflection of Her Lord’s Greeting, and Sha’re warmed at the greeting of Horus-Re, Pharaoh of the Gods. She was dressed simply, a simple white linen skirt with a tight breastband across her torso.

“Blessed be us who are warmed by your light, touched by your divine influence. We go to spread your work through the lands as your beneficence spreads amongst the chosen people, the people of your blood, and those who share in the blood of your honoured kin.” She touched her chin, lips and nose before finally settling on the three concentric cerulean arcs that she painted onto her forehead without fail each morning as she woke. “As your chariot rises across the sky, so too does your inspiration lift us.”

She smiled at the glimpse of the sun rising over the City of the Gods, and rose to her feet. She ignored the slave chattel that busied themselves sweeping the area before the city awoke as she walked back to the temple itself, body and soul refreshed by her morning communion with the Lord of the Sun and Sky. She returned to her spartan quarters and reverentially lifted her scepter, her pride and joy. Gifted to her by a senior priest of Horus-Re nearly a decade ago, it granted her the ability to gird herself in the light of the Hawk-Eyed as a physical barrier from dawn until dusk. She knew that she would be needing its power on this day; the church had found a heretic hiding amongst the merchants; a filthy Thayan who had snuck in despite their best efforts to drive them out.

She beseeched Horus for his grace, and she felt the nearly imperceptible weight of her divine protections as they fell upon her. She opened her eyes, and the soft glow of the sun lit her quarters. Girded in the power of her god, she strode out of her chambers and towards the cells in the basement, where the vile prisoners would be denied the gaze of the sun.

Temple slaves prostrated themselves as she passed by, and she greeted the other priests by name as she made her way through the grounds and descended below the earth. Armed with her faith and her blade, she feared nothing mortal, and moved with the full confidence of an Executor of the Claws of Sun and Ankh. She had fought long and hard to earn her place amongst the devoted; having had to prove herself at every turn against the paladins who surrounded her. She may not have shared their direct divine connection to Him, but she knew that He had put his hand upon her despite her abilities lending themselves to the arcane rather than the divine.

She had suffered for years in her early years, undergoing fast after fast as she had prayed in the solarium attached to the temple, desperately seeking the connection that had eluded her, until she had finally come to the epiphany that the glory of Horus wasn’t defined solely by His hand on the shoulder of a chosen few; no, for the gods could inhabit physical forms as easily as they ruled from above. Why could she not reach out to Him in supplication, and offer herself as a weapon to his cause? In that moment, she had felt His approval directly for the first time, and she had nearly glowed in pride and humility. He had approved of her, of her actions and thoughts, and to this day, she’d never experienced a moment that had defined her life and purpose as clearly as she had felt that day.

From then on, she’d become His khopesh, his Holy Blade that drove the demons that the dross of their glorious heritage had summoned back unto the Lower Planes. Thayans, Chessentan mercenary wizards, even the damned Untherites. Where her other brothers and sisters of the Order fell back, she charged forward. When the demons erupted from foul clouds of sulphur, she was there to hold the line, body ablaze in His holy light as celestial lightning crackled along her blade.

She nodded at the guards as she finally arrived in the dungeons, having no need of a torch in the dim corridors as her luminous armor radiated the light of truth and justice. Behind them, chained to the wall was a man covered in arcane tattoos, eyes a glittering amber.

“So they sent you. Good, I was just getting bored.” With a horrible rictus, his face and body split open and revealed the demon that had been hiding within. Fully ten feet tall, it’s horns brushed the ceiling as its long tail flickered in the corner of her vision. While it lacked the typical ranseur of its kind, she instantly knew of the demon, for this was not the first that she had faced and killed.

“Bulezau.” She drew her blade, and light shone from her hand as she drew a half-arc in the air in a quick prayer for the safety of the guards behind her. “The Thayan may have invited you into his body, but know that you are not welcome in the land of the gods, nor shall you be permitted to act under my Lord’s light. Prepare to die, demon.” With her Lord’s name on her lips, she charged at the larger opponent, holy lightning racing down her blade.


Build Overview: LG Silverbrow Human Duskblade 6/Abjurant Champion 5/Archivist 1/Demonwrecker 4/Holy Scourge 4


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


1st
Duskblade 1
+1
+2
+0
+2
Concentration 4, Knowledge (local) 4, Knowledge (religion) 4, Knowledge (the planes) 4, Spellcraft 4
Power Attack, Spell Penetration (human)
Arcane attunement, armoured mage (light)


2nd
Duskblade 2
+2
+3
+0
+3
Concentration 5, Knowledge (local) 5, Knowledge (religion) 5, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Spellcraft 5
Combat CastingB
Bonus feat


3rd
Duskblade 3
+3
+3
+1
+3
Concentration 6, Knowledge (local) 6, Knowledge (religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 6, Spellcraft 6
Knowledge Devotion (the planes)
Arcane channeling


4th
Duskblade 4
+4
+4
+1
+4
Concentration 7, Knowledge (local) 7, Knowledge (religion) 7, Knowledge (the planes) 7, Spellcraft 7
–
Armoured mage (medium)


5th
Duskblade 5
+4
+4
+1
+4
Concentration 8, Knowledge (local) 8, Knowledge (religion) 8, Knowledge (the planes) 8, Spellcraft 8
–
Quick cast 1/day


6th
Duskblade 6
+6/+1
+5
+2
+5
Concentration 9, Knowledge (local) 9, Knowledge (religion) 9, Knowledge (the planes) 9, Spellcraft 9
Southern Magician
Spell power +2


7th
Abjurant Champion 1
+7/+2
+5
+2
+7
Concentration 10, Knowledge (arcana) 3, Knowledge (local) 9, Knowledge (religion) 9, Knowledge (the planes) 9, Spellcraft 10
–
Abjurant armor, extended abjuration


8th
Abjurant Champion 2
+8/+3
+5
+2
+8
Concentration 11, Knowledge (arcana) 6, Knowledge (local) 9, Knowledge (religion) 9, Knowledge (the planes) 9, Spellcraft 11
–
Swift abjuration


9th
Abjurant Champion 3
+9/+4
+6
+3
+8
Concentration 12, Knowledge (arcana) 9, Knowledge (local) 9, Knowledge (religion) 9, Knowledge (the planes) 9, Spellcraft 12
Consecrate Spell
–


10th
Abjurant Champion 4
+10/+5
+6
+3
+9
Concentration 13, Knowledge (arcana) 13, Knowledge (local) 9, Knowledge (religion) 9, Knowledge (the planes) 9, Spellcraft 12
–
Arcane boost


11th
Abjurant Champion 5
+11/+6/+1
+6
+3
+9
Concentration 14, Knowledge (arcana) 14, Knowledge (local) 9, Knowledge (religion) 9, Knowledge (the planes) 10, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
–
Martial arcanist


12th
Archivist 1
+11/+6/+1
+8
+3
+11
Concentration 15, Knowledge (arcana) 14, Knowledge (local) 15, Knowledge (religion) 9, Knowledge (the planes) 10, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
Rapid Metamagic, Scribe ScrollB
Dark knowledge (tactics) 3/day


13th
Demonwrecker 1
+11/+6/+1
+8
+3
+13
Concentration 16, Knowledge (arcana) 16, Knowledge (local) 15, Knowledge (religion) 10, Knowledge (the planes) 11, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
–
Breach spell resistance, demonwreck weapon of good


14th
Demonwrecker 2
+12/+7/+2
+8
+3
+14
Concentration 17, Knowledge (arcana) 17, Knowledge (local) 15, Knowledge (religion) 10, Knowledge (the planes) 14, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
–
Demonwreck weapon of cold iron


15th
Demonwrecker 3
+13/+8/+3
+9
+4
+14
Concentration 18, Knowledge (arcana) 18, Knowledge (local) 15, Knowledge (religion) 10, Knowledge (the planes) 17, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
Practiced Spellcaster (Duskblade)
Demonwreck spell damage


16th
Demonwrecker 4
+14/+9/+4
+9
+4
+15
Concentration 19, Knowledge (arcana) 19, Knowledge (local) 15, Knowledge (religion) 11, Knowledge (the planes) 19, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
–
Demonwreck weapon aura


17th
Holy Scourge 1
+14/+9/+4
+9
+4
+17
Concentration 20, Knowledge (arcana) 20, Knowledge (local) 15, Knowledge (religion) 13, Knowledge (the planes) 20, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
–
Code of conduct, dedicated spellcaster, righteous evocation +1


18th
Holy Scourge 2
+15/+10/+5
+9
+4
+18
Concentration 21, Knowledge (arcana) 21, Knowledge (local) 15, Knowledge (religion) 15, Knowledge (the planes) 21, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
Draconic Aura (Power)
Arcane smite 1/day


19th
Holy Scourge 3
+15/+10/+5
+10
+5
+18
Concentration 22, Knowledge (arcana) 22, Knowledge (local) 15, Knowledge (religion) 17, Knowledge (the planes) 22, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
–
Devoted arcanist


20th
Holy Scourge 4
+16/+11/+6/+1
+10
+5
+19
Concentration 23, Knowledge (arcana) 23, Knowledge (local) 15, Knowledge (religion) 19, Knowledge (the planes) 23, Spellcraft 12, Collector of Stories
–
Arcane smite 2/day




Strength 16+4 via level up
Constitution 15+1 via level up
Dexterity 10
Intelligence 16
Wisdom 10
Charisma 8



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


1st
3
3
-
-
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, shocking grasp


2nd
4
4
-
-
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, magic weapon, shocking grasp


3rd
5
5
-
-
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, magic weapon, resist energy, shocking grasp


4th
6
6
-
-
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, magic weapon, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat


5th
6
6
3
-
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, magic weapon, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- dimension hop


6th
6
7
4
-
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, magic weapon, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- dimension hop, swift fly


7th
6
7
6
-
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- blade of blood, chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- dimension hop, swift fly, touch of idiocy


8th
6
8
7
-
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- blade of blood, chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- dimension hop, see invisibility, swift fly, touch of idiocy


9th
6
8
7
3
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly, touch of idiocy
3- dispelling touch, vampiric touch


10th
6
9
8
4
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly, touch of idiocy
3- dispelling touch, greater magic weapon, vampiric touch


11th
6
9
8
6
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, greater magic weapon, regroup, vampiric touch


12th
6
9
8
6
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, greater magic weapon, regroup, vampiric touch


13th
6
9
8
6
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, greater magic weapon, regroup, vampiric touch


14th
6
9
8
6
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, greater magic weapon, regroup, vampiric touch


15th
6
9
8
6
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, greater magic weapon, regroup, vampiric touch


16th
6
9
8
6
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, greater magic weapon, regroup, vampiric touch


17th
6
9
8
6
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, ray of exhaustion, regroup, vampiric touch


18th
6
9
9
7
-
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, spider climb, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, ray of exhaustion, regroup, vampiric touch


19th
6
10
9
7
2
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, ray of exhaustion, regroup, vampiric touch
4- dimension door, enervation


20th
6
10
9
8
3
-
0-acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1- chill touch, resist energy, shocking grasp, swift expeditious retreat
2- deflect, dimension hop, scorching ray, swift fly
3- dispelling touch, ray of exhaustion, regroup, vampiric touch
4- dimension door, dispel magic, enervation


*The character can learn 5 duskblade cantrips, but there’s only 4 duskblade cantrips in the game, so...




Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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5th
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6th
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7th
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8th
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9th
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10th
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11th
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12th
3
2
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13th
4
3
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14th
4
3
2
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15th
4
4
3
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16th
4
4
3
2
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17th
4
4
3
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18th
4
4
3
2
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19th
4
4
3
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20th
4
4
3
2
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It’s an Archivist, so the spell acquisition works a little differently compared to other divine casters. The Archivist dip happens at ECL 12, so we’re going to assume that any cleric spells that you want, you can get. Spells like mass conviction, magic vestment, protection from X are obvious picks and y’all know the game well enough by now to predict typical (low level scaling) cleric shenanigans. We’ll talk some more specific picks in a later section. What I personally feel is more important to talk about is what non-cleric divine spells we want to grab.

Lion’s charge is a 2nd level Consecrated Harrier/Ranger spell, so we really need to grab that. It’ll give us Pounce 3/day if we use all of our 2nd level slots on it (and why wouldn’t we?)
While lesser restoration is on the cleric list, Paladins actually get it early as a 1st level spell, so we’re going to nab that as well. We’ll get into why later.
Mage armor is available through the Force DomainSpC at 1st level as an alternative armor source
Blinding spittleSpC is a 2nd level druid spell, and although it isn’t as crazy at this level as it is at 3rd level, but no save means no save.
Primal instinctDrM is a 24h buff that’s a +5 (competence) bonus to Initiative for a 2nd level slot. Never hurts to have, even if it faces stiff competition for the slot use.
AnyspellSpC from the Spell Domain lets you get whatever low-level utility spell that you might have been lacking access to somehow for the low price of a 3rd level slot.
CrumbleSpC at 3rd level means that you laugh at any objects in your way (if you weren’t already, considering the level).
Freedom of movement can be snagged from the Nenytar Hunter spell list as a 3rd level spell.
The last spell that I’m going to call out is greater magic weapon as a 3rd level Paladin spell.
I’m consciously not mentioning venomfireSK. I don’t think that I need to say why, but if you want, it’s an option.




The Early Days
You’re a duskblade. You do Duskblade things. You’re not doing much of anything unusual here. The most unusual thing that you’re doing here is nabbing Knowledge Devotion, and even that isn’t too crazy - Duskblade is an Intelligence-based casting class with all knowledge skills on your list. You pick up Spell Penetration for later, since you’ve got a free feat here and it doesn’t have any requirements. Duskblade 2 gives us the required feat to enter our first prestige class, and nabbing resist energy gives us the mandatory abjuration spell.

On the Path
Tier 2 here is where we start to diverge a little from the typical duskblade. We don’t actually have any spells that are affected by abjurant armor (yet!), but we’ve got a plan for that later. Extended abjuration stacks nicely with our only abjuration spell (yes, singular) that currently benefits from it, and it’s a fine spell. You get a bonus Quick cast of dispelling touch technically with Swift abjuration, or just an “oh crap” button for resist energy. Arcane boost is useful as it is for any other spell-lite gish. You don’t have the high level slots to burn, but you’ve got a hell of a lot of low levels spells to burn for a little bit of a boost. Insight bonuses aren’t too bad of a type, so they should stack with a bit of careful item management.

Martial Arcanist is where things get interesting. It does exactly nothing for us right now, but as we begin to take the Demonwrecker levels, this will help us keep our caster level higher than it could be, and we’re trying to be a SR penetrating machine. We also nab deflect here, which normally only gives a ½ CL boost to your AC for a single attack (as an immediate action), but this literally doubles the bonus at this level, from a +5 to a +10 (and later abjurant armor keeps it at a more relevant +15 as opposed to +10 at 20th level).

We also encounter the single biggest hunk of stinky cheese in the build, and the thing that it hinges off of. The much maligned Southern Magician, letting us spontaneously (without taking a full round action!) cast our arcane spells as divine… which literally has zero use for us at this point besides letting us qualify for Demonwrecker. Okay, it also makes our spells harder to counterspell/dispel too, I guess.

We also pick up Consecrate Spell. Trust me, it’ll come in handy later.

The Long Haul
We open Tier 3 with our Archivist dip, completing the holy grail of Knowledge Devotion with Dark Knowledge and the Collector of Stories skill trick. We’re getting some really great usage out of it now, giving us massive bonuses against constructs, dragons, magical beasts, humanoids, undead, outsiders and elementals (since we’ve tried to keep the relevant knowledge skills as high as we could). We also nab Rapid Metamagic, which lets us (finally!) cast our Consecrated Spells. For the cost of 1 slot higher, you can turn half of the spell damage of a channeled spell into delicious untyped damage. This is what we’re going to use to buff mainly shocking grasp as needed. Against demons (specifically demons, unfortunately) Demonwreck spell damage lets us turn ¾ of the spell damage into untyped damage if we consecrate the spell.

This is also where we take up arms (literally) and take the Demonwrecker levels. It provides buffs to not only our weapon, but to our entire party at later levels. We’re getting uncannily good at piercing SR of chaotic or evil outsiders. Practiced Spellcaster (Duskblade) gets our (arcane) CL to match our ECL, which it only accomplishes thanks to the formerly useless Martial Arcanist. So against everything from Slaad to devils to demons, we’re hitting +8 (assuming that we’ve hit them with a melee attack, which we will be constantly trying to do with Arcane channeling) above our ECL to penetrate their SR.

This is also where the second part of Southern Magician kicks in, and this one seems RAW legal. ½ CL per day, we can cast divine spells as arcane (or vice versa), but we’re mostly going to be pulling the divine over to the dark side. The feat states that:

Once per day per two spellcaster levels, you can cast a divine spell as an arcane spell, or vice versa. This enables you to bypass arcane spell failure due to armor, or gain additional benefit from spell that functions differently for a divine caster instead of an arcane caster, such as true seeing or magic weapon.
If you cast a divine spell as an arcane spell, I posit that you’d use your arcane caster level (which leads the Shenanigans in reverse where you could get hilariously low CL’d spells without Ur-Priest, but this build doesn’t try and exploit that, even though there is a tiny window where you could make some cheap scrolls). My reasoning is behind the spell true seeing that they explicitly call out. There’s literally no difference, far as I can tell, between the arcane and divine versions of the spell (except for the spell level). It’s not like identify, which explicitly has an arcane material component, or even the also-mentioned magic weapon, which can have a divine focus as a component. I would say casting spells from your higher (or lower) CL would be an “additional benefit” for a spell that’d function differently for an arcane caster versus a divine caster.

So, of course, we;re going to cast our divine spells based on our Arcane CL, so shield of faith and greater magic weapon and the like use your high arcane CL as opposed to your barely-there divine CL. You can also slightly abuse this with Sanctified spells that you prepare with cleric slots then convert to arcane and use the better CL. I’m honestly not sure if you get to double-dip on CL to determine how often you can use Southern Magician; If you count both divine and arcane separately, you get an extra pair of uses.

This is also where we nab the last part of our use of Abjurant Armor; luminous armor (which we can prepare ourselves in our Archivist slots). Thanks to the ability that we picked up so long ago, the normal variant of the spell is doubled, giving us a solid +10 armor bonus as opposed to +5. But what about the sacrifice cost, you ask? That’s why we picked up the 1st level version of lesser restoration, so we can patch ourselves up if absolutely needed, and it won’t compete for 2nd level slots with lion’s charge. I don’t like to suggest items in this sort of competition, preferring to run them “naked”, so to speak, but a lesser metamagic rod of extend (only 3k) combined with Extended Abjuration means that you can likely run off of a single casting all day (4 hours/CL) instead of having to pay the sacrifice multiple times.

I’ve actually chosen to not take the final level of Demonwrecker. Perfect breach is a very nice ability, but we’re already hitting well above our weight class when it comes to penetrating SR, and it specifies only chaotic evil outsiders, not the more general chaotic or evil outsider of the breach SR feature from 1st level. But we’re going to work on that with the final prestige class that we’re taking.

Into the West
To polish off the build, I went with the Holy Scourge. Is it the most optimal class? No. Goodness no. But it helps to optimize the feel of the competition and this particular build, which is penetrating the SR of evil outsiders with impunity and hitting them hard with melee weapons. It advances our duskblade casting, letting us (finally) grab 4th level spells. Dedicated Spellcaster lets us add a +1 to the CL of [good] spells… which we can make any of our spells, thanks to the Consecrate Spell metamagic feat. Righteous Evocation gives you a little tiny boost of more non-typed damage to your shocking grasp spell. Arcane smite is… well, it’s 3.5E smite. That an idiot wrote, because RAW it’s a Charisma-based ability that counts your number of Paladin levels (it says “as the Paladin ability” with no further clarification). So the only thing that it actually does for you is that twice a day, it lets you add the +1 CL to any offensive spell because it adds the [good] descriptor. Yay?

Draconic Aura (Power) gives us an an aura that lets friendly creatures within 30 feet (coincidentally the same distance as the Demonwrecker weapon aura) have a +1 boost to the CL to cut through SR. Oh no, wait, we’re a silverbrow human. In addition to being less afraid of jumping off of a cliff, it gives us the [dragonblood] subtype, which means that it’s not a +1 bonus, it’s a +4. Devoted Arcanist gives you an extra +4 against evil outsiders, meaning that your roll to overcome SR on those opponents is +36 (assuming that you hit them with your pointy metal stick). Let’s put it this way - Balors have a SR of 28, and Pit Fiends have 32. Your spells literally cannot fail (due to SR) against these two big bad CR20s, so I deem that an acceptable reason to sacrifice Perfect Breach from Demonwrecker.

We’ve “only” got a +28 bonus to overcome SR against non-evil outsiders assuming smackage with ye olde metal stick. Not quite as impressive, but still not bad at all.


Player’s Handbook
Player’s Handbook 2 (Duskblade class & spells)
Book of Exalted Deeds (Consecrate Spell, luminous armor & Sanctified spells)
Complete Champion (Knowledge Devotion)
Spell Compendium (various spell suggestions)
Complete Mage (Abjurant Champion, Holy Scourge & Rapid Metamagic)
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (Demonwrecker)
Dragon Magic (Silverbrow Human & Draconic Aura)
Races of Faerun (Southern Magician)
Complete Scoundrel (Collector of Stories skill trick)
Heroes of Horror (Archivist)

[Thurbane]

An hellbred gallivantes about, he's not being very good at this redemption thing.

Until, at last, by luck or by chance, he finds other hellbreds! His first thought is something along the lines of "how can these loonies call themself paladins? they sing and dance and gallivant just as much as I do? Well, at least they are MY PEOPLE!" And that's how one get roped in fightning the good fight.

Of course, they do in fact do paladin-ey stuff, like invading the demonic planes or something properly heroic to that effect! With the blessing of the Lord of All Songs, we shall go forth and sing!

Demonwrecker makes me think strongly of paladin, so here is a paladin entry. But that "3rd level divine spells" is a bummer, since it means 11 levels of paladin, so I won't be able to fullfill both the necessary ingredients to completion :( I thought and thought, and in the end I decided that within the scope of paladin, demonwrecker is the one that makes most sense to not complete, because for a gish it's the DR bypass that interests us most, and not the spell resistance penetration.

Since I am going paladin, I felt pairing with bard for the arcane side of things made the most sense, because that way it can feel like it's a coherent whole as a concept, instead of two separate advancement path that each do it's own thing.

Given the classes chosen, of course the race I'm going for is one with a charisma bonus, and between lesser aasimar, spirit hellbred and star elf, I ended up going with hellbreds because that felt the ones with the strongest story reason to storm the demonic planes and other properly heroic shenanigans.

NG->LG Hellbred(spirit)FCII, pg.77, Abjurant Champion 5 / Bard 2 / Demonwrecker 2 / Paladin of the Harmonious Order 8 / Mystic Theurge 3
Str 24 (14 +4 item, +2 elation, +4 righteous fury), Dex 16 (12 +4 item, +2 elation), Con 16(14-2 racial +4 item), Int 12, Wis 18 (14 +4 item) , Cha 27 (14 +2 racial +5 level +6 item))
HP 156 (6 + 13d10 + 2d8 + 1d6 +3d4 +60), Lay on Hands pool 64
AC 44 (10 + 4 dex + 10 (luminous armor) + 9 (shield) + 4 (wisdom (monk belt)) + 3 (natural armor) +3 (deflection), +1 haste), Touch 22, flat footed 39
Saves 11 10 19, + 4 resistance, +2 luck, + 8 Divine Grace

Nova Attack (Smite Evil + Smite Evil Outsider): Scimitar(+3) +51 ( BAB 16, +7 str, +4 morale, +2 competence, +1 haste, +3 enhancement, +2 charge, +8 smite evil, +8 snowflake wardance ) for 1d6 +7 str +4 morale +8 (smite evil outsider) +8 (smite evil) +16 (charging smite) +3 enhancement
Full Attack: +41/+41/+36/+31/+26 Scimitar for 1d6 +14 (+ schrodinger smites)

in order of "relative importance"
Wands or scrolls of Shield
Badge of ValorMiC, pg. 207, 1.2k gp
Charisma boosting Item +6, 36k gp
Constitution boosting Item +4, 16k gp
Resistance saves Item +4, 16k gp
Dexterity boosting Item +4, 16k gp
Monk's Belt, 13k gp
Wisdom boosting Item +4, 16k gp
Scimitar +3, 18315 gp
Strenght boosting Item +4, 15k gp
Ring of Protection +3, 18k gp
Natural armor bonus item +3, 18k gp
Anklet of translocationMiC, pg. 71, 1.4k gp

that's about 185k gp, or about a fourth of the expected welath of a 20th level character, so let's add "whatever else" for the remaining, since going in details here is kindaish boring


LevelClassBase Attack BonusFort SaveReflex SaveWill SaveSkillsFeatsFeatures1stBard 1+0+0+2+2Know(Arcana) +4, Know(The Planes) +4, Know(Religion) +4, Perform(Dance) +4, Perform(Sing) +4, Spellcraft +4, Use Magic Device +4Combat Casting, Devil's FavorFCII, pg. 81Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Darkvision 30ft.2nd(Harmonious Knight (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a)) Paladin 1+1+2+2+2Dancing 4+1, UMD 4+1(2)Aura of Good, Inspire Courage, Smite Evil 1/day3rdPaladin 2+2+3+2+2Dancing 5+1, UMD 5+1(2)Devoted PerformerCAdv, pg. 107Divine Grace, Lay on Hands4thPaladin 3+3+3+3+3Dancing 6+1, UMD 6+1(2)Aura of Courage, Divine health5th(PlanarPH, pg. 33) Paladin 4+4+4+3+3The Planes 4+1, UMD 7+1(2)Smite Evil Outsider6thPaladin 5+5+4+3+3Singing 4+1, UMD 8+1(2)Snowflake WardanceFrB, pg. 50Smite evil 2/day, Charging SmitePHBII, pg. 53, Darkvision 60ft.7th(Harmonious Knight) Paladin 6+6/+1+5+4+4Religion 4+1, UMD 9+1(2)Inspire Competence8thPaladin 7+7/+2+5+4+4Religion 5+1, UMD 10+1(2)9thPaladin 8+8/+3+6+4+4Singing 5+1, UMD 11+1(2)Initiate of MililChV, pg. 31Darkvision 120ft.10thBard 2+9/+4+6+5+5Singing 6+6, UMD 12+111thAbjurant Champion 1CM, pg. 50+10/+5+6+5+7Dancing 7+0.5(1), UMD 13+1(2)Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration12thAbjurant Champion 2+11/+6/+1+6+5+8Dancing 7.5+0.5(1), UMD 14+1(2)Melodic CastingCM, pg. 44Swift Abjuration, See in magical darkness13thAbjurant Champion 3+12/+7/+2+7+6+8Dancing 8+0.5(1), UMD 15+1(2)14thAbjurant Champion 4+13/+8/+3+7+6+9Arcana 4+1, UMD 16+1(2)Arcane Boost15thAbjurant Champion 5+14/+9/+4+7+6+9Arcana 5+1, UMD 17+1(2)MindsightLoM, pg. 126Martial Arcanist, Telepathy 100ft.16thMystic Theurge 1+14/+9/+4+7+6+11Dancing 8.5+0.5(1), UMD 18+1(2)17thMystic Theurge 2+15/+10/+5+7+6+12Dancing 9+0.5(1), UMD 19+1(2)18thMystic Theurge 3+15/+10/+5+8+7+12Dancing 9.5+0.5(1), UMD 20+1(2)Spell Penetration19thDemonwrecker 1EttDP, pg. 168+15/+10/+5+8+7+14Dancing 10+0.5(1), UMD 21+1(2)Breach spell resistance, demonwreck weapon of good20thDemonwrecker 2+16/+11/+6/+1+8+7+15Dancing 10.5+0.5(1), UMD 22+1(2)Demonwreck weapon of cold iron
LevelBardic Music Uses per dayPaladin singing Uses per dayAbilitiesNotes1st1-Inspire Courage, Spellbreaker SongCM, pg. 35, Healing HymnCC, pg. 47 Spellbreaker song gives 20% spell failure chance to enemy spellcaster for 3 rounds, sweet! Healing Hymn does the equivalent of augmenting the caster level of all conjuration(healing) spells, more in line with the concept than fascinate2nd11Inspire Courage Harmonious knights have a separate pool of X/day inspire courage uses, and they never scale to more than +1 bonus3rd32- Devoted Performer let us add our paladin levels to the amount of bardic music uses4th43- -5th54- -6th65Snowflake Wardance Adds charisma to attack rolls for (dance ranks) rounds, free action7th76Inspire Competence Harmonious knights Inspire Competence is 1/day8th87- -9th98Hymn of FortificationCC, pg. 47 Hymn of Fortification substitutes the bard inspire competence, and emulates the effect of protection from evil, quite on point with the flavor10-20th108Inspire Greatness We didn't have the required perform ranks to unlock this at 9th level
Notes: slots from high ability scores are included, the numbers in the elipses are with the relevant ability boosting item taken into account
on spells slots, B stands for Bard, and P stands for Paladin, the spell known/prepared are to be considered additive when reading a column.
A reminder that the paladin caster level is equal to half his level, and the bard caster level becomes equal to our BAB from the 15th level onward.
LevelCharisma/WisdomCaster Level (Bard/Paladin)Bard new Spells KnownPaladin Spells prepared0th lvl slots1st lvl slots2nd lvl slots3rd lvl slots4th lvl slots1st16/141/- 0th: Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation, Resistance -2----5th17/141/2 - 1st: Lesser Restoration2B1P---7th17/141/3 - 1st: Faith HealingSpC, pg. 87.2B2P---9th18/141/4 - 1st: Faith Healing -> HarmonyPGtF, pg. 104 2nd: Luminous Armor2B2P1P--10th18(20)/142/4 0th: Detect Magic 1st: Inspirational BoostSpC, pg. 124, Remove Fear -3B1(2)B+2P1P--11th18(20)/143/4 0th: Mending 1st: Comprehend Languages -3B2(3)B+2P1P--12th19(21)/144/4 2nd: ElationBoED, pg. 98, Blur -3B3(4)B+2P1B+1P--13th19(21)/145/4 1st: Identify 2nd: Mirror Image -3B4(5)B+2P2B+1P--14th19(21)/146/4 - -3B4(5)B+2P3B+1P--15th19(21)/1414/4 2nd: Whirling BladeSpC, pg. 238 3rd: Dispel magic, Haste -3B4(5)B+2P3B+1P1B-16th20(24)/1414/4 3rd: Scrying -3B5B+2P4(5)B+1P2(3)B-17th20(24)/1415/5 - 2nd: BenedictionCC, pg. 1163B5B+2P4(5)B+2P3(4)B-18th20(24)/14(16)15/5 3rd: Slow 4th: Freedom of Movement, Spell TheftCS, pg. 104 3rd: Righteous FurySpC, pg. 1773B5B+2P4(5)B+2P3(4)B+0(1)P1B19th20(24)/14(16)15/6 - 3rd: Magic Circle Against Evil3B5B+2P4(5)B+2P3(4)B+1(2)P1B20th21(27)/14(18)16/6 - -3B5B+2P4(5)B+2P3(4)B+1(2)P1(2)B
It bothers me to have combat casting at first level, and not make use of it until 11th level, I'd much rather have melodic casting here, but then we would be delaying either Initiate of Milil or Snowflake wardance down to the 12th level, and ultimely I feel those are more important to have early, for the purpose of martial viability.

Mindsight is a bit of a standout, this used to be Battle BlessingCC, pg. 55, but we don't gain all that much from casting paladin spells as swift, since more or less all of them can be precast and it felt wrong to me to not make full use of the racial telepathy, so here we are.

More or less, the only spell that benefits from the penetration increase is Slow, but on a bard+paladin of Milil chassis, pursuing buffing felt more in tune with the character concept.

Whirlwind Blade is a bit of a combo : since its details define it as doing normal melee attacks, we can smite evil + smite evil outsider with it! so it's a bit of a hordebreaker "secret" weapon

Use magic device is there primarily to get a source of shield (the spell). Abjurant champion doens't really synergize well with bard :(

I've decided to include an item list because let's be honest, we aren't going to play naked. Now, I don't assume to have any of them, I'm merely listing them in order of preference and to make it easier having the proper numbers on the statblocks.

That Harmony is there because it felt wrong to not prepare at least one of the spells granted by Initiate of Milil
This will be fairly sparse, because I think the character is rather self explanatory, buff like a bardlite and smite like a paladin, that's about all that needs to be said really. But anyway

Spotlight 5th level
So, we're here just in time to baloon up in Inspire courage use, maybe find a badge of valor somewhere, and juuust in time to have the smite evil outsider, if there is any running rampant about?

Spotlight 10th level
With snowflake wardance we should be well set in not having problems hitting stuff, and with the second level of bard we're "capstoning" relative to the morale bonus : 1 +1 harmony +1 Inspirational boost +1 badge of valor. Not as bug as a dedicated bard would but, but at least it's not a lonely +1

Spotlight 15th level
Abjurant champion bonuses to luminous armor and Shield from wands/scrolls is all that need to be said.
Also, some yadda yadda about "sensing evil", read consider fluffing mindsight as a replacement of the detect evil we've traded away for Inspire courage

Spotlight 20th level
Minor mention that at least we get the abjuration spells form paladin automatically extended and quickened, too!
Time to invade and/or resist the invasion! No DR for you, Demon!

Objection: Abjurant Champion doesn't work with wands/scrolls!
Answer: I am going to refer to Using Items (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicItemBasics.htm) , the verbage used when definying "Using Items", "Spell Completion" and "Spell Trigger". I feel it falls on the grey area of "ask your GM"

Objection: You can't substitute (bardic) Inspire Competence for Fortification Hymn, you aren't a 3rd level bard!
Answer:I feel this, too, can fall under the grey area of "ask your GM". we are unlocking (bardic) Inspire competence at the 9th level when we obtain Initiate of Milil after all, and we are considered a 9th level bard at that time for the purpose of unlocking bardic music effects, so why wouldn't it also count for elagibility in regard to alternative bardic music effects? I think I have a solid argument here, and the choice of fortification hymn was too much on theme to ignore it.

Musing: I am keeping the paladinic Inspire courage on a separate pool, as it is not an actual bardic music use, but if your GM allows to pool those resource, of course the versatility of having 18 uses to mix and match instead of separate pools would of course be a minor power boost.

Musing: I'm letting Inspirational Boost, Harmony, Badge of Valor be applicable to the paladinic Inspire Courage. they nominate the (su) ability they boost after all, they don't specific that it has to be a bardic Inspire Courage

Musing: the alignment change happens between 1st and 2nd level, per obvious requirements of legality, I must say I'm actually fairly happy to be doing a vanillaish paladin /vanillaish bard multiclass, instead of going paladin of freedom. I hope there won't be an elegance penalty for this alignment change, but I must defend this choice: it's the intended use case of Devoted Performer!

BoED = book of Exalted Deeds
CAdv = Complete Adventurer
CC = Complete Champion
ChV = Champions of Valor
CM = Complete Mage
CS = Complete Scoundrel
EttDP = Expedition to the Demonweb Pits
FCII = Fiendish Codex II
FrB = Frostburn
LoM = lords of madness
MiC = magic Item Compendium
PGtF = player's guide to Faerun
PH = Planar Handbook
PHB II = Player's handbook II
SpC = Spell Compendium

[Thurbane]

Shakira the Sha'iradin

LG Human (Cali****e) Paladin of Helm 2/Sha'ir 4/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5/Demonwrecker 4/Sacred Exorcist 4

Raised along the coasts of the Sea of Fallen Stars, Shakira came to age in the sometimes lawless cities of the Dragon Coast. Although coin seemed to shape law and order around her, the young woman found peace in the strictures of the Vigilant One, Helm.

Like many of her people, a sliver of elemental blood runs through her veins. For Shakira, this power manifested itself in the muddled arcane and divine mights of the Sha'ir - mages whose power comes from deals between various Elemental Lords and Ladies, delegated through the Planes by way of gen familiars.


So, Sha'ir. They're weird, not quite wizards, not quite sorcerers, half prepared, half spontaneous. They're also arcane and divine - at least, they can cast divine spells from a limited list of cleric domains. The class also references in a few spots regarding the DC to draw spells "Divine spells." Is that enough to qualify for Demonwrecker? RAW, likely, as it's hard to cast a divine spell without being a divine spellcaster (even if you still have arcane spell failure).

Their "Spells Known" mechanic also differs. Instead of actually knowing anything, they need to make a Diplomacy check. It starts at DC 20, but we should be able to take 10 on it before shipping our gen familiar off to go grab a given spell off one of the preselected domains or entirety of the Sorcerer/Wizard list. We get bonuses to it for every Sha'ir Level we have and if it's a spell known, but suffer penalty for every level of the spell, if it's a huge penalty if it's unknown divine spell, a smaller penalty for every level adjusted by metamagic, and then a cumulative penalty if we keep trying to get the same spell after failing a previous Diplomacy check to try to grab it in the same day.

After successfully grabbing a spell, it remains "prepared" for one hour for every Sha'ir class level. RAI seems to be that if you don't use that spell before that time limit is up, then it expends the spell slot and the Sha'ir is SOL. RAW is that the spell just stops being prepared. The more favorable ruling for us would be that after that time limit, we could then "refill" those slots with the same or another spell. We top out at Sha'ir 4, so to avoid this potential issue, as many of Shakira's spells will be at least 10 minutes/level or longer in duration. Arcane Strike, Extend Spell, Persistent Spell, and the tried and true DMM (Persistent Spell) all work towards either using our slots without spells or keeping our mojo a-go without running into our 4 hour time limit.

There's also the question as to whether or not Sha'ir can take Sanctified Spells. They prepare spells with metamagics like wizards do, but then they also have a spells known table. The Spells text does say "Once retrieved, a spell remains set in the sha'ir's memory, like a wizard's prepared spell...." I think that's enough to count for us.

We're also tight on skill points, even as a human. Most of our classes don't have Diplomacy as a class skill either. So we're effectively burning our first level and human feats to resolve those issues with Able Learner and Nymph's Kiss so that we can still meet the entry requirements for everything and have a least a little bit left over to actually know about spells we don't have as a spell known. Nymph's Kiss also gives us a small bonus on all Diplomacy checks, so that helps us at every step of the way.

And, in living up to the competiton name, we're a Theurge without being a Theurge. We've got one spellcasting class but have access to both "styles" of spells. Abjurant Champion and Demonwrecker were also both begging for a gish chassis, which is arguably at least a cousin to the Theurge (except instead of spells+spells it's spells+beatsticks).



AbilitiesInitialRaceLevel 4Level 8Level 12Level 16Level 20
Str8+6PB=140
Dex8+6PB=140
Con8+6PB=140
Int8+4PB=120
Wis80
Cha8+10PB=16011111





Level Class BAB Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Vigilant Eye 1 1 2 0 0 Bluff 2, Concentration 4, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Religion) 1, Sense Motive 4 Nymph's Kiss, Able Learner Aura of Good, Expanded Spell List, Know Greatest Enemy, Smite Evil 1/day
2nd Paladin 2 2 3 0 0 Bluff 2, Concentration 5, Diplomacy 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Religion) 3, Sense Motive 5 Divine Grace, Lay on Hands
3rd Sha'ir 1 2 3 0 2 Bluff 5, Concentration 5, Diplomacy 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Religion) 3, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 1 Combat Casting Summon gen familiar
4th Sha'ir 2 3 3 0 3 Bluff 5, Concentration 7, Diplomacy 7, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (Religion) 3, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 1
5th Sha'ir 3 3 4 1 3 Bluff 5, Concentration 8, Diplomacy 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 3, Knowledge (The Planes) 1, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 1 Recognize genie works
6th Sha'ir 4 4 4 1 4 Bluff 5, Concentration 9, Diplomacy 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 3, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 1 Arcane Strike
7th Spellsword 1 5 6 1 6 Bluff 5, Concentration 10, Diplomacy 10, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 3, Knowledge (The Planes) 7, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 1 Ignore Spell Failure 10%
8th Abjurant Champion 1 6 6 1 8 Bluff 5, Concentration 11, Diplomacy 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 3, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 1 Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration
9th Abjurant Champion 2 7 6 1 9 Bluff 5, Concentration 12, Diplomacy 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 1 Spell Penetration Swift Abjuration
10th Abjurant Champion 3 8 7 2 9 Bluff 5, Concentration 13, Diplomacy 13, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 3
11th Abjurant Champion 4 9 7 2 10 Bluff 5, Concentration 14, Diplomacy 14, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 6 Arcane Boost
12th Abjurant Champion 5 10 7 2 10 Bluff 5, Concentration 15, Diplomacy 15, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 9 Extend Spell Martial Arcanist
13th Demonwrecker 1 10 7 2 12 Bluff 5, Concentration 16, Diplomacy 16, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 12 Breach Spell Resistance, Demonwreck Weapon of Good
14th Demonwrecker 2 11 7 2 13 Bluff 5, Concentration 17, Diplomacy 17, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 15 Demonwreck Weapon of Cold Iron
15th Demonwrecker 3 12 8 3 13 Bluff 5, Concentration 18, Diplomacy 18, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 18 Persistent Spell Demonwreck Spell Damage
16th Demonwrecker 4 13 8 3 14 Bluff 5, Concentration 19, Diplomacy 19, Knowledge (Arcana) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 19 Demonwreck Weapon Aura
17th Sacred Exorcist 1 13 8 3 16 Bluff 5, Concentration 20, Diplomacy 20, Knowledge (Arcana) 10, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 20 Exorcism, Turn Undead
18th Sacred Exorcist 2 14 8 3 17 Bluff 5, Concentration 21, Diplomacy 21, Knowledge (Arcana) 12, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 21 Divine Metamagic (Persistent Spell) Detect Evil, Resist Possession
19th Sacred Exorcist 3 15 9 4 17 Bluff 5, Concentration 22, Diplomacy 22, Knowledge (Arcana) 14, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 22 Chosen foe (Evil Outsiders)
20th Sacred Exorcist 4 16 9 4 18 Bluff 5, Concentration 23, Diplomacy 23, Knowledge (Arcana) 16, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 23 Dispel Evil 1/week




LevelClass 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th Extra
3rdSha'ir42 - - - - - - - -
4th Sha'ir 5 3 - - - - - - - -
5th Sha'ir 5 4 1 - - - - - - -
6th Sha'ir 5 4 3 - - - - - - -
7th Sha'ir 5 4 3 1 - - - - - -
8th Sha'ir 5 5 4 3 - - - - - -
9th Sha'ir 5 5 4 3 1 - - - - -
10th Sha'ir 5 5 4 4 3 - - - - -
11th Sha'ir 5 5 5 4 3 1 - - - -
12th Sha'ir 5 5 5 4 4 3 - - - -
13th Sha'ir 5 5 5 5 4 3 1 - - -
14th Sha'ir 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 - - -
15th Sha'ir 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 1 - -
16th Sha'ir 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 - -
17th Sha'ir 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 1 -
18th Sha'ir 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 -
19th Sha'ir 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 1
20th Sha'ir 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3



Level Class 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th extra
3rd Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket - - - - - - - -
4th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket - - - - - - - -
5th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor Mirror Image, Wraithstike - - - - - - -
6th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor Mirror Image, Wraithstike - - - - - - -
7th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor - - - - - - -
8th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor Haste, Bite of the Wererat - - - - - -
9th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing - - - - - -
10th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image - - - - -
11th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune - - - - -
12th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune Overland Flight, Heart of Fire - - - -
13th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm, Blade of Blood Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives, Heart of Air Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon, Dispel Magic Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Heart of Earth Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Indomitability - - - -
14th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm, Blade of Blood Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives, Heart of Air, Alter Self Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon, Dispel Magic Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Heart of Earth Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Indomitability Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance - - -
15th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm, Blade of Blood, Stand Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives, Heart of Air, Alter Self, Rope Trick Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon, Dispel Magic, Evard's Menacing Tentacles Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Heart of Earth, Bite of the Werewolf Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Indomitability, Acid Sheath Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic - - -
16th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm, Blade of Blood, Stand Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives, Heart of Air, Alter Self, Rope Trick Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon, Dispel Magic, Evard's Menacing Tentacles Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Heart of Earth, Bite of the Werewolf Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Indomitability, Acid Sheath Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity - -
17th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm, Blade of Blood, Stand Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives, Heart of Air, Alter Self, Rope Trick, Knock Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon, Dispel Magic, Evard's Menacing Tentacles, Heart of Water Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Heart of Earth, Bite of the Werewolf, Ray Deflection Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Indomitability, Acid Sheath, Wall of Stone Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings - -
18th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm, Blade of Blood, Stand Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives, Heart of Air, Alter Self, Rope Trick, Knock Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon, Dispel Magic, Evard's Menacing Tentacles, Heart of Water Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Heart of Earth, Bite of the Werewolf, Ray Deflection Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Indomitability, Acid Sheath, Wall of Stone Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings Wall of Greater Dispel Magic, Mindblank -
19th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm, Blade of Blood, Stand Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives, Heart of Air, Alter Self, Rope Trick, Knock, Bladeweave Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon, Dispel Magic, Evard's Menacing Tentacles, Heart of Water, Bands of Steel Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Heart of Earth, Bite of the Werewolf, Ray Deflection, Dimension Door Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Indomitability, Acid Sheath, Wall of Stone, Wall of Force Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency, Greater Anticipate Teleport Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings, Force Cage Wall of Greater Dispel Magic, Mindblank, Superior Invisibility -
20th Sha'ir Resistance, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick Nerveskitter, Shield, Familiar Pocket, Mage Armor, Enlarged Person, Charm Person, Alarm, Blade of Blood, Stand Mirror Image, Wraithstike, Luminous Armor, Heroics, Cloud of Knives, Heart of Air, Alter Self, Rope Trick, Knock, Bladeweave Haste, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing, Greater Magic Weapon, Dispel Magic, Evard's Menacing Tentacles, Heart of Water, Bands of Steel Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Heart of Earth, Bite of the Werewolf, Ray Deflection, Dimension Door Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Indomitability, Acid Sheath, Wall of Stone, Wall of Force Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency, Greater Anticipate Teleport Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings, Force Cage Wall of Greater Dispel Magic, Mindblank, Superior Invisibility Time Stop, Miracle


Again, the only difference between a known and unknown Sha'ir spell is how difficult the Diplomacy check is. After a certain point, even unknown divine spells become easy to grab and the only limiting factor is the time spent preparing them. At 1d4+1 round/level, known arcane spells are the fastest to get. Unknown arcane spells take 1d6+1 min./level - long enough that it's not something you'd be able to grab in the middle of an encounter, but short enough to get the right tool out of your Swiss Army Knife in a dungeon. Divine spells always take 1d6+1 hour/level, so they require careful planning. If we know we need to Air Walk the next day, we can send our gen on that goose chase for 1d6+4 hours while we sleep. Similarly, if we want to cast Miracle, we'd have to send our little outsider friend on that journey the night before and hope they plop that knowledge into our head either in the middle of the night or when we wake up.





Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
3rd Air Gen * * 2* * Same as Sha'ir, plus Concentration 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Listen 2, Move Silenty 2, Search 4, Spellcraft 4, Spot 2, Survival 4 Combat Casting (B), Weapon Finesse Air Mastery, Fetch Spells, Darkvision 60 ft, Elemental Endurance, Elemental Travel, Immunity to Electricity, Vulnerability to Acid, Alertness, Improved Evasion, Share Spells, Empathic Link, Natural Armor +1 Adjustment
4th Air Gen * * 2* *
5th Air Gen * * 2* * Deliver Touch Spells, Natural Armor +2 Adjustment
6th Air Gen * * 2* *

*BAB is as Shakira and Saves are whichever is better between Shakira and the Gen's own bonuses. As the Air Gen have a good Ref Save, its minimum Base Reflex Save is +2+mods.



Shakira begins life like most Paladins: protecting the weak, wearing heavy armor, and generally being a bit of a beatstick. As a follower of Helm, she takes the Vigilant Eye substitution level, which trades out detect evil for something like detect the biggest threat (CR). She still needs to be able to see the target(s), but it can be useful in prioritizing opponents.

Levels 3-6 are a low point. She has to sacrifice her armor in order to cast spells, they only remain in her memory for a short period of time, and she lacks the caster levle to make proper use of the longer duration spells. She can still grab a longsword and use it in both hands with a Shield spell, but she'll only have half an hour of it before it expires.

The DC to grab her spells will top out at 20+6+4-3=29 for an unknown, 2nd level divine spell at ECL 5. Her Diplomacy check at this point would be at a 17 (8 ranks + 3 CHA +2 from bluff synergy +2 from sense motive synergy +2 from Nymph's Kiss). This means that the second level Domain spells are up to chance, but that "Taking 10" will be enough to grab any other spell (i.e., 1st level divine spells and up to 2nd level unknown arcane) without issue.

Our gen familiar is with us most of the day, but since it is our only way to prepare spells, it's far from being a combatant. Familiar Pocket is there to keep it safe, but it won't last the entire day quite yet.

Level 5 (and every odd level thereafter, really) is an odd spot. Sha'ir gain new spell levels at odd levels but don't gain spells known of that level until the next even level. This means that at odd levels, we're stuck eating the -6 penalty on grabbing the highest level divine spell or are going without the extra +2 to retrive a known arcane spell. It's a minor problem, but still a problem all the same.


Here's where Shakira begins to grow into your own. Spellsword 1 helps cast in actual armor (although Luminous Armor has been available for a couple of levels now). Abjurant Champion means that our Shield and (Greater) Luminous Armor spells effectively get +4 level enhancement bonus. At 10th level that translates into saving more than 32,000 GP on buying real armor. (Of course, if we want an special qualities, we'd be on the hook to buying a +1 <whatever> leather armor, but that's neither here no there). The other class features means that Shield lasts over 2 hours at a time for the low, low cost of a 2nd level spell slot.

At 10th level, her Diplomacy bonus is going to be around +27 (+13 ranks +4 Sha'ir levels +4 CHA +2 Nymph's Kiss +4 synergy bonuses). A 4th level spell has a base DC of 28 and would go as high as 34 for a domain spell (since we never have bothered to learn any of those). Shakira only has a +4 Spellcraft modifier, so it's still unlikely that she'd know about spells that aren't on her known spell list, sadly. As the DC for higher level spells is less than or equal to our Diplomacy modifier from here on out, we effectively don't even need to bother rolling to grab any spell. It's still reasonable for the DM to request that we roll another skill to see if we know of a given spell, but level 10 is when Shakira also starts dumping skill points into Spellcraft to help bypass that issue.

Arcane Boost does a lot of what Arcane Strike does and more, albeit less per use. Luckily, they can be combined together. As Arcane Strike gives both an attack roll and damage boost on all attacks, it's a little better in those spaces. Still, the differing action costs mean we could burn two spell slots in a single turn for either +X to-hit and +Xd4 damage (Arcane Striking an Xth level slot) and then either another +Y to-hit or +2*Y damage (Arcane Boosting a Y level slot). We can also use the Heroics spell to temporarily gain Power Attack, and then use all three of those wonderful toys together.

We also have the typical gish main stays of Wraithstrike, Heroics, and Haste. With a party, Haste would take priority on what to cast. Heroics is 10min/lvl, so we may or may not have Power Attack in a particular encounter. Still, Shakira has some solid defensive options at this point. Sha'ir 4 means that we could share all of these spells with our gen familiar, but losing said familiar means no longer being a spellcaster. It's something she can do when the fecal matter hits the fan, but does not represent a standard battle plan.


By this point, Shakira is making an effective gish. She never has to worry about grabbing arcane spells and even most of the divine spells available to her. At 15th level, one Extended Shield spell will last six and a half hours. Sure, not the entire day, but long enough. She also has enough slots that it's not too big of a deal to keep the entire Heart of <Element> line up all day (giving what amounts to Full Fortification), has access to free Quicken Dispel Magics (assuming she has one slotted in, of course), and other spells to grant her enhancement bonuses to her stats, extra natural attacks, more natural armor, and combinations thereof. Wraithstrike means targetting Touch AC. Bladeweave means potentially dazing people. Her Spellcraft check is now high enough that she should have an easier time knowing about other spells, so even though the Spells Known Table tops out at 9 max for a particular level, it's effectively going to be "Whatever the Sorcerer/Wizard list" is.

Demonwrecker means she's got no problems overcoming most Chaotic Evil outsiders' DR. Mostly, that'll be some flavor of demon, but it could catch the odd Tiefling or Half-Fiendish Whatever, too. She doesn't have many SR (yes) spells except for Bladeweave, so the bonus on breaching spell resistance is mostly wasted. They're not the best class features, but Demonwrecker means still getting to 9th level spells and that +16 BAB eventually.



Levels 16-20 are more of the same. Level 16 is the first level where she can persist something like wraithstrike. Because of that, I'm going to call level 16 her sweet spot. Sacred Exorcist, DMM, and a minimum of 8 TU attempts before items mean Shakira can persist something a little more potent, like Bite of the Werebear or Bite of the Weretiger. She's also a full flipping caster with access to Miracle by virtue of the Luck Domain. Sure, it takes her gen 9+1d6 hours to prepare it for her, so it's by no means practical to use, but it's there.


Vigilant Eye of Helm - Champions of Valor
Sha'ir - Dragon Compendium
Spellsword, Arcane Strike feat - Complete Warrior
Demonwrecker - Expedition to the Demonweb Pits
Sacred Exorcist, Divine Metamagic (Persistent Spell) - Complete Divine
Nymph's Kiss - Book of Exalted Deeds
Able Learner - Races of Destiny
Persistent Spell - Complete Arcane

<Spells>
(Greater) Luminous Armor - BoED
Caltrops, Launch Item, Sonic Snap, Stick, Nerveskitter, Familiar Pocket, Heroics, Wraithstrike, Bite of the Were<Animal> (rat, tiger, bear), Distracting Ray, Bladeweave, Bands of Steel, Ruin Delver's Fortune, Greater Mirror Image, Indomitability, Acid Sheath, Superior Resitance, Greater Anticipate Teleport, Energy Immunity, Wall of Greater Dispel Magic - Spell Compendium
Blade of Blood, Cloud of Knives, Evard's Menacing Tentacles, Ray of the Python - PHB2
Heart of <Element> (Air, Water, Fire, Earth) - Complete Mage

[Thurbane]

The master have spoken, we wait, we prepare.

There will come the time we shall invade the abyss! As the master command!

AKA: what if we were sworn to the hells? I predict a swat of GoodyMcgoods given the flavor demonwrecker has, especially in hindsight of "Oh look, luminous armor gwueheheh"
But there are three sides in that big conflict of outsiders... so let's make something diabolic! At least, that was the inspiration. Devils related race, devils related stuff, I hope I delivered the feel of it!

LE LesserPGtF, pg. 191 MaeluthFF, pg. 136, Cleric 5 / Demonwrecker 5 / Fiendbinder 4 / Beguiler 1 / Abjurant Champion 5
Str 10, Dex 10 (12 -2 racial), Con 14 (10 + 4 racial), Int 16, Wis 20 (15 +5 level), Cha 14
HP 8 + 4d6 + 10d8 +5d10 + 40 (134)
Languages : Common, Dwarven, Undercommon, Infernal, Abyssal, Celestial

LevelClassBase Attack BonusFort SaveRef SaveWill SaveSkillsFeatsClass Features1stCleric of Mammon 1+0+2+0+2Concentration +1, Diplomacy +4, Knowledge(Arcana) +4, Knowledge(The planes) +4, Spellcraft +3, Truespeak +4Truename trainingToM, pg. 229Diabolic DomainFCII, pg. 100, Divine MagicianCM, pg. 33, Planar BanishmentUA, pg. 672ndCleric 2+1+3+0+3Concentration 1+1, Diplomacy 4+1, Know(Arcana) 4+1, Know(Planes) 4+1, Truespeak 4+13rdCleric 3+2+3+1+3Concentration 2+1, Diplomacy 5+1, Know(Arcana) 5+1, Know(Planes) 5+1, Truespeak 5+1Spell Penetration4thCleric 4+3+4+1+4Concentration 3+1, Diplomacy 6+1, Know(Arcana) 6+1, Know(Planes) 6+1, Truespeak 6+15thCleric 5+3+4+1+4Concentration 4+1, Diplomacy 7+1, Know(Arcana) 7+1, Know(Planes) 7+1, Truespeak 7+16thDemonwreckerEttDP, pg. 168 1+3+4+1+6Concentration 5+1, Know(Arcana) 8+1, Know(Planes) 8+1, Sense Motive +1, Truespeak 8+1Truename ResearchToM, pg. 229Breach spell resistance, Demonwreck weapon of good7thDemonwrecker 2+4+4+1+7Concentration 6+1, Know(Arcana) 9+1, Know(Planes) 9+1, Sense Motive 1+1, Truespeak 9+1Demonwreck weapon of cold iron8thDemonwrecker 3+5+5+2+7Concentration 7+1, Know(Arcana) 10+1, Know(Planes) 10+1, Sense Motive 2+1, Truespeak 10+1Demonwreck spell damage9thDemonwrecker 4+6/+1+5+2+8Concentration 8+1, Know(Arcana) 11+1, Know(Planes) 11+1, Sense Motive 3+1, Truespeak 11+1Brand of nine hell(Mammon)FCII, pg. 81Demonwreck weapon aura10thDemonwrecker 5+6/+1+5+2+8Concentration 9+1, Know(Arcana) 12+1, Know(Planes) 12+1, Sense Motive 4+1, Truespeak 12+1perfect breach11thFiendbinderToM, pg. 222 1+6/+1+5+2+10Diplomacy 8+4, Truespeak 13+1Bind fiend12thFiendbinder 2+7/+2+5+2+11Diplomacy 12+3, Know(Planes) 13+1, Truespeak 14+1Mark of MinaurosFCII, pg. 8413thFiendbinder 3+7/+2+6+3+11Diplomacy 15+1, Know(Arcana) 13+1, Know(Planes) 14+2, Truespeak 15+1Call forth fiend14thFiendbinder 4+8/+3+6+3+12Diplomacy 16+1, Know(Arcana) 14+2, Know(Planes) 16+1, Truespeak 16+115thBeguilerPHBII, pg. 6 1+8/+3+6+3+14Diplomacy 17+1, Know(Arcana) 16+2, Sense motive 5+5, Truespeak 17+1Combat CastingArmored mage, Trapfinding16thAbjurant ChampionCM, pg. 50 1+9/+4+6+3+16Concentration 10+1, Diplomacy 18+1(2), Know(Arcana) 18+1, Truespeak 18+1Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration17thAbjurant Champion 2+10/+5+6+3+17Concentration 11+1, Diplomacy 19+1(2), Know(Arcana) 19+1, Truespeak 19+1Swift Abjuration18thAbjurant Champion 3+11/+6/+1+7+4+17Concentration 12+1, Diplomacy 20+1(2), Know(Arcana) 20+1, Truespeak 20+1Craft Wondrous Item19thAbjurant Champion 4+12/+7/+2+7+4+18Concentration 13+1, Diplomacy 21+1(2), Know(Arcana) 21+1, Truespeak 21+1Arcane Boost20thAbjurant Champion 5+13/+8/+3+6+3+17Concentration 14+1, Diplomacy 22+1(2), Know(Arcana) 22+1, Know(Planes) 17, Sense Motive 10, Spellcraft 3, Truespeak 22+1Martial Arcanist
WhoWhatTruename trainingTruespeak is always a class skills, cross class ranks are considered full ranksDiabolic DomainPower : 1/day add cleric level to a face check. most relevant added spells : planar binding and lesser planar bindingDivine MagicianTrade one domain for one wizard abjuration/divination/necromancy per spell level to the cleric spell listPlanar banishmentLike turn undead but for (good or chaotic) outsidersTruename researchhalves gold cost of researching truenames and +2 to the checkBrand of nine hell(Mammon)Some face bonus/malus against devils, plus mind affecting aura that gives -2 to attack or the shaken conditionMark of Minaurosadditional +2 bonus to attack roll per 10 ft. traveled when charging; When moving the starting square is not considered threatened.finding truenamesIt's a knowledge check with DC 15+CR*2, needs HD/2 successes, takes a week and 1000(so 500 with the feat)gp per check
Bonus slot from high casting stat are included
Numbers between () are taking into account schrodinger Periapt of Wisdom
No Int boosting item in the wishlist
Cantrips aren't listed, they end up being 6+6
Domain slot isn't listed but it'll be listed later in the tactics section on the spells prepared
CL C/B = Caster level for Cleric/Beguiler
The slots notation is Cleric Slots + Beguiler Slots
LevelCL C/BWisdom1st lvl2nd lvl3rdlvl4th lvl5th lvl6th lvl7th lvl1st1/-152------2nd2/-153------3rd3/-1532-----4th4/-1643-----5th5/-16432----6th6/-16443----7th7/-165431---8th8/-175442---9th9/-17(19)5542(3)1--10-11th10/-17(19)5543(4)2--12th11/-18(20)6(7)5542(3)1-13th12/-18(20)6(7)5543(4)2-14th13/-18(22)6(7)6(7)553(4)2(3)115th13/118(22)6(7)+46(7)553(4)2(3)116th13/219(23)6(7)+56(7)553(4)2(3)117th13/319(23)6(7)+66(7)553(4)2(3)118th13/419(23)6(7)+76(7)+4553(4)2(3)119th13/519(23)6(7)+76(7)+5553(4)2(3)120th13/620(26)7+76(7)+55(6)5(5)42(3)1(2)

Level 1-5
Blurb: Welcome Vilespeaker, to mook academy! Where you will learn the right words to invoke our lord and master ( Mammon) wrath upon Demons and surfacers alike, do well and maybe you'll progress to officer rank, yeah?
Setting: Some underground cabal/city/dwelling of Maeluths/Iskandars/Other underdark races, they're mammon cultists! Well, mostly just new warm bodies to throw to the eternal war or something. Think The Shavarath but for the forgotten realms? A Shavarath expy if you will. Or maybe we're in Eberron and it is the Shavarath =), and we live on an Underdark expy
Tactics: We're a straight cleric... do what any low level cleric would do?
I must mention the spells learned with Divine magician; 1st level Shield; 2nd level Insidious InsightRoE, pg. 187; 3rd level DisobedienceCS, pg. 97. Shield for obvious abjurant champion reasons, the others are foreshadowing the binding and the beguiler.

Sample Prepared spells at 5th level, cantrips excluded, Domain spells are Protection from Good, Devil's EyeFCII, pg. 101, Devil's EgoFCII, pg. 101

1st: 1x Bless, 1x Divine Favor, 1x Shield of faith, 1x Shield
2nd: 1x Insidious insight, 1x Lesser restoration, 1x Spiritual weapon
3rd: 1x Mass convictionSpC, pg. 52, 1x Mass resist energySpC, pg. 174



Level 6-10
Blurb: We survived the initiation! it's now time to brandish our secret weapon: let's distort the holy for our own purposes and kill all demons!
Settings: having diabolic allies has interesting applications when you automatically align their weapons as good and cold iron, we win the damage reduction arm race!
Tactics: We're still the equivalent of a straight cleric, with addendum of an interesting aura and bypassing SR, so we shift slighty toward minionmancy and straight blasting. Now that we have lesser planar binding, we may or may not have some devil/demons under our services, depending on how good we're doing on the negotiating. Note that we hit the DC 20 spellcraft check for making a secure magic circle on a 1 (3ranks+3int +2 sinergy +2 masterwork item, take 10). Or simply lesser planar ally in the case of devils.
Divine magician: lesser globe of invulnerability, Field of ResistancePHBII, pg. 113
Domain: HellfireFCII, pg. 101, Lesser planar binding

Sample prepared spells at 10th level:

1st: 1x Bless, 2x Bane, 2x Shield
2nd: 1x Insidious insight, 1x Lesser restoration, 2x Spiritual weapon, 1x DenounceFCII, pg. 100
3rd: 1x Mass conviction, 1x Mass resist energy, 1x Demon dirgeSpC, pg. 63, 1x Axiomatic stormSpC, pg. 22
4th: 1x Lesser globe of invulnerability, 1x RecitationSpC, pg. 170, 1x Mass shield of faithSpC, pg. 188, 1x Summon monster IV
5th: 1x Field of resistance, 1x Flame strike
sidenote: the best "blasting evil outsiders" spells have the good descriptor :(



Level 11-15
Blurb: The in-depth research of devil/demons to subverts begins! Isn't it viscerally satisfying to force demons to fight other demons?
Settings: We take a step back from the warfront, and spend some good time subverting "a legion" of Vrocks
Tactics: We're probably better off waiting for glibness, but if we fancy getting started on getting some permanent minions, we have the tools for it.
Call forth fiend bears mention : Truespeak modifier is 18 rank +3 int +2 masterwork tools +15 divine insight, so we are at a baseline 38, plus 5/10 if you finagle an amulet of the silver tongue from somewhere, or just wait for later when we craft it ourselves. Anyway, we can safely befriend barbed devils, and ice devils are just a fox cunning away from autosuccess, too. So I'm naming Ice Devil as our best pal for the purpose of Call forth fiend.
Other than that, what do you want me to say? we have X vrocks devoted to defending us, and they all bypass good and cold iron DR, to the chagrin of all the demons they will eventually have to fight.
Divine magician:Legend Lore, Spell Turning
Domain: Hellfire StormFCII, pg. 101, Demand (7th level)

Sample prepared spells at 15th level:

1st: 4x Bane, 3x Shield
2nd: 1x Insidious insight, 1x Lesser restoration, 1x Spiritual weapon, 2x Denounce, 2x Divine InsightSpC, pg. 70
3rd: 1x Mass conviction, 1x Mass resist energy, 2x Demon dirge, 1x Axiomatic storm
4th: 1x Lesser globe of invulnerability, 2x Recitation, 2x Mass shield of faith
5th: 1x Field of resistance, 1x Flame strike, 2x Righteous wrath of the faithfulSpC, pg. 177
6th: 1x Greater dispel magic, 1x Forbiddance, 1x Summon monster VI
7th: 1x Spell Turning



level 16-20
Blurb: Preparations complete, INVADE!
Tactics: not much changes really, except the additional beguiler spells, which helps more during the preparation rather than combat, so from a tactical point of view, except for haste and maybe dispel magic, but sadly it's 3rd level for them and so isn't automatically quickened :(. Too bad there isn't a mass version of Shield to spread the juicy abjurant champion bonuses around
We get a 3rd, 4th and 7th slots from the higher wisdom for our cleric, let's say one more Demon dirge, one Divine power and One summon monster VII
We can safely "upgrade" the Call forth fiend from the Ice devil to the Marilith now, if we fancy doing that.
How many Vrocks we have standing around with the last order spoken to them being "defend me" is left ot the imagination. We don't even need divine insight anymore to succeed on the truespeak check, so the limits are only gold and time.


Controversy: Planar banishment says that as an evil character, you will have banish good outsider, what good does that do against demons?
A: the variant description goes on to define that a further option is for cleric of lawful deities to gain banish chaotic outsider. Please note that this ACF was taken because it's on point for the flavor, not because it's particularly mechanically strong, what with it capping at cleric HD.

Controversy: You monster! How dare you take a PrC that makes your weapon good aligned while being an LE cleric of an LE entity!
A: Official Demonwrecker lore "One of the strangest and most thrilling bardic tales known tells of three diverse demonwreckers—a cleric of Pelor, a devil, and an archon—who banded together temporarily for a foray into the Abyss" , If a devil can be a Demonwrecker, I dont' think I got any problem!

Controversy: Brand of nine hells has prerequisite : devil, and you aren't one
A: The feat description says that nondevils can gain this feat by performing outstanding services for one of the archdukes of hell, but not to player character unless DM gives permission, so here we are. I'm asking permission!

Controversy/musing: The Call Forth Fiend is badly edited, because while the intent might be to have the same limitations as the table 3-9, it doesn't esplicitly say so, and therefore "any of the ones mentioned in table 3-9" can well be interpreted as "up to the marilith", regardless of the Fiendbinder level. If we can hit the truespeak DC that is. Meaning it can be a 1/day "summon marilith" or 1/day "summon ice devil" depending if we want to use our enemies against each other or not.

Musing: In hindsight Fiendbinder is kindaish adjacient to leadership :(, but not? there is a bit of the horde potential, but normal stats block are used so it's more along the lines of a minionmancer than leadership, I hope it's okay for the contest

Musing: I tinkered with having the beguiler at level 1 and 11, but in the end it felt nicer to keep the levels tidy, first all the divine stuff, then all the arcane stuff.

Musing: if we do the Savage Species Ritual of Alignment (pg. 148) to gain the good subtype, then we become valid target for luminous armor even if our alignment is LE. we still can't actually prepare that spell, but we are valid target for it. So that is an option with wands. Of course, we'd need a cleric with the good domain and good luck with that given the tiny problem of conflicting morals. But maybe some would go along with it for the greater good of slaying all demons? You're better off begging and cajoling your DM to let Abjurant champion bonuses apply to Mage armor, I feel.

Musing: Researching the truename of things is expensive and takes a long time. But lucky for us we can shortcut it by planar binding -> ask the target their truename. Of course with adeguate spell support to make this possible, Like a Geas for example, which they can't even Spell Resist if they are demons, thanks to demonwrecker capstone

CC = Complete Champion
CM = Complete Mage
CS = Complete Scoundrel
EttDP = Expedition to the Demonweb Pits
FCII = Fiendish Codex II
PGtF = Player Guide to Faerun
PHBII = Player's Handbook II
RoE = Races of Eberron
SpC = Spell Compendium
ToM = Tome of Magic
UA = Unearthed Arcana

[Thurbane]

Khamuel
CG Lesser Aasimar Cloistered Cleric 4/Wu Jen 1/Warlock 1/Demonwrecker 4/Abjurant Champion 2/Eldritch Disciple 8


Kamuel was an angel-blooded child, a blessing granted to pious warriors following Dol Dorn. While the child had many talents, physical strength was not among them. Kamuel wanted to follow in his parents’ footsteps, but was encouraged to serve Dol Dorn in a way which better fit his talents.

He served as a librarian in Dol Dorn’s greatest monastery, but never forgot his dreams of becoming a proper warrior. In his spare time, he sought magical secrets which might help him in that goal. Dorn’s religious volumes were of no help, and arcane tomes from the orient gave him only a handful of useful tricks. Then he came across a series of folk tales—legends of great faerie nobles, some of who would bestow their eldritch gifts on worthy mortals.

After doing all the research he could on the fae, Kamuel prepared for a trip into the deep wilds. He wandered untamed woods and mounts for months on end, his supplies running dry. Half-starved, he was discovered by a satyr named Gebura. Gebura nursed him back to health, talking to him about what drove such a person to such a place.

Gebura introduced Kamuel to his lord, a king of the fae. Kamuel was stunned by his beauty, and agreed to swear fealty and take up the king’s sword against his enemies. That was the last he saw of the king, and Kamuel felt increasingly uneasy about the pact he’d made. One day, he simply broke and ran back to the monastery, throwing himself into literary work. But the eldritch blade the fairy king bestowed upon him haunted him, reminded him of the oath all but broken.

Everything changed when the demonic horde attacked. Dol Dorn’s forces marshalled to hold them off, and Kamuel followed, pulled by his half-smothered childish dream and by the pact within him. He studied methods for fighting demons, found spells that would make his allies more powerful combatants, and eventually gained the confidence to intentionally fight on the front lines with his magical blade. Ultimately, he began to embrace the strange power he had been given, learning more and more ways to use his faerie magic and weave it with Dol Dorn’s gifts.

The war ended, the demons pushed back to their abyssal gate, but the threat was merely blocked, not destroyed. A fortress was created over the gate, and Kamuel was stationed there. He spent his free time training, reading, and writing a folio about his magic and combat style.


Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Cloistered Cleric 1 0 2 0 2 Concentration 4 ranks, Listen 4 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 4 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 4 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks, Spot 4 ranks Extra Turning, Extend SpellB, Martial Weapon Proficiency (longsword)B, Weapon Focus (longsword)B Domains (Knowledge, Planning, War), Lore, Turn Undead
2nd Cloistered Cleric 2 1 3 0 3 Concentration 5 ranks, Listen 5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks, Spot 5 ranks
3rd Wu Jen 1 1 3 0 3 Concentration 5 ranks, Listen 6 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 6 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks, Spot 6 ranks Persistent SpellB, Divine Metamagic (Persistent) Watchful Spirit
4th Warlock 1 1 3 0 5 Concentration 5 ranks, Listen 7 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 7 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks, Spot 7 ranks Eldritch Blast (1d6)
5th Cloistered Cleric 3 2 3 1 5 Concentration 6 ranks, Listen 8 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 7 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 7 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 6 ranks, Spellcraft 6 ranks, Spot 8 ranks
6th Cloistered Cleric 4 3 4 1 6 Concentration 7 ranks, Listen 9 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 7 ranks, Spellcraft 7 ranks, Spot 9 ranks Spell Penetration
7th Cloistered Cleric 5 3 4 1 6 Concentration 8 ranks, Listen 10 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 9 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 9 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 8 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks, Spot 10 ranks
[tr][td] 8th Demonwrecker 1 3 4 1 8 Concentration 8 ranks, Listen 11 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 9 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 10 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 8 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks, Spot 11 ranks Breach Spell Resistance, Demonwreck Weapon of Good
9th Demonwrecker 2 4 4 1 9 Concentration 8 ranks, Listen 12 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 9 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 10 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 9 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks, Spot 12 ranks Demonwreck Weapon of Cold Iron
10th Demonwrecker 3 5 5 2 9 Concentration 8 ranks, Listen 13 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 9 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 11 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 9 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks, Spot 13 ranks Combat Casting Demonwreck Spell Damage
11th Demonwrecker 4 6 5 2 10 Concentration 8 ranks, Listen 14 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 9 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 11 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 10 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks, Spot 14 ranks Demonwreck Weapon Aura
12th Abjurant Champion 1 7 5 2 12 Concentration 8 ranks, Listen 15 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 10 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 11 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 10 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks, Spot 15 ranks Extra Turning Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration
13th Abjurant Champion 2 8 5 2 11 Concentration 8 ranks, Listen 16 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 11 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 11 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 10 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks, Spot 16 ranks Eldritch Blast (2d6), Swift Abjuration
14th Eldritch Disciple 1 8 7 2 13 ? Gift of the Divine Patron (Fearful Glare), turn undead
15th Eldritch Disciple 2 9 8 2 14 ? Greater Spell Penetration Eldritch Blast (3d6)
16th Eldritch Disciple 3 10 8 3 14 ?
17th Eldritch Disciple 4 11 9 3 15 ? Eldritch Blast (4d6), Gift of the Divine Patron (Protective Aura)
18th Eldritch Disciple 5 11 9 3 15 ? Extra Invocation Eldritch Spellweave
19th Eldritch Disciple 6 12 10 4 16 ? Eldritch Blast (5d6)
20th Eldritch Disciple 7 13 10 4 16 ? Gift of the Divine Patron (Wild Frenzy)

Level Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Initial 8 14 14 12 16+2 14+2
4 8 14 14 12 19 16
8 8 14 14 12 20 16
12 8 14 14 12 21 16
16 8 14 14 12 22 16
20 8 14 14 12 23 16

Level 0 (Wu Jen) 1 (Wu Jen) 0 (Cleric) 1 (Cleric) 2 (Cleric) 3 (Cleric) 4 (Cleric) 5 (Cleric) 6 (Cleric) 7 (Cleric) 8 (Cleric) Invocations
1st — — 3 2+1 — — — — — — — —
2nd — — 4 3+1 — — — — — — — —
3rd 3 2 4 3+1 — — — — — — — —
4th 3 2 4 3+1 — — — — — — — 1 (least)
5th 3 2 4 3+1 2+1 — — — — — — 1
6th 3 2 5 4+1 3+1 — — — — — — 1
7th 3 2 5 4+1 3+1 2+1 — — — — — 1
8th 3 2 5 5+1 4+1 3+1 — — — — — 1
9th 3 2 6 6+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 — — — — 1
10th 3 2 6 6+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 — — — — 1
11th 3 2 6 6+1 5+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 — — — 1
12th 3 2 6 6+1 5+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 — — — 2
13th 3 2 6 6+1 5+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 — — — 2
14th 3 2 6 6+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 — — — 3
15th 3 2 6 7+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 3+1 1+1 — — 3
16th 3 2 6 7+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 — — 4 (lesser)
17th 3 2 6 7+1 6+1 6+1 5+1 4+1 3+1 1+1 — 4
18th 3 2 6 7+1 6+1 6+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 2+1 — 5
19th 3 2 6 7+1 6+1 6+1 6+1 5+1 4+1 2+1 1+1 6+1
20th 3 2 6 7+1 6+1 6+1 6+1 5+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 7+1 (greater)


Invocations learned:
[list] 1st: Eldritch glaive
12th: Frightful blast
14th: Dark One’s own luck
16th: Flee the scene
18th: Entropic warding, sudden swarm
19th: Relentless dispelling
20th: Chilling tentacles



For the first few levels, Kamuel is basically an ordinary spellcaster. Play him accordingly, or not at all.

At 4th level, Kamuel finally gets desperate enough to dabble in the occult, and the built...sort of falls into place. Thanks to intense multiclassing, his attack bonus won’t be much to speak of—only +3 at 4th level—but since he’s hitting touch AC it should still be fairly effective, at least against larger brutes.
Using divine metamagic, Kamuel can persist a single cleric buff. Bless supports that flagging attack bonus (and saves), and can be persisted on the entire party at once; even if his damage output isn’t great yet, he can at least support the party.

And after that, it’s back to cleric levels. 5th level brings 2nd-level cleric spells to persist; elation is a party buff like bless, while cloud of knives gives you a free attack every round.
Luminous armor also becomes available at this point, as does lesser restoration. The former isn’t much better than mundane armor, let alone enchanted armor, but it will improve once Abjurant Champion comes online. While Strength isn’t important to this build (Eldritch Glaive can use Dexterity to attack, and doesn’t add any ability scores to damage), regular use of Exalted spells will require the odd restoration.

Worth pointing out at this point that Kamuel has two shields per day. Spend them wisely, casting before fights where you expect to be attacked a lot.


Sadly, most Demonwrecker abilities are only useful on weapons, and an Eldritch Glaive does not seem to qualify as a weapon. Luckily, its damage is already untyped, so it doesn’t need to worry about damage reduction—just spell resistance. And Breach Spell Resistance helps with that, at least against demons. (And if you’re foolish enough to take a Demonwrecker build into a game with no demons to wreck, no amount of charop advice can save you.)
7th level also brings 3rd-level buffs. Prayer is a slightly enhanced version of bless which also penalizes nearby enemies, though that unfortunately only applies to enemies nearby when you cast the spell. Ring of blades inflicts automatic damage on anyone who gets too close (which is inconvenient if you need to cast touch spells on your allies—they should ready move actions to get away from the blades after you cast the spell but before the end of your turn). Mass lesser vigor doesn’t do much for your personal combat abilities, but it’s handy for ensuring nobody else in the party needs to expend resources on healing. He has options.

The build really comes together at 9th level thanks to two spells which cover Kamuel’s biggest liabilities: divine power and lower spell resistance. The former is a well-known buff spell and popular target for persisting, and it’s critical to our build, since by 9th level it’s five points behind on BAB. Aside from boosting Kamuel’s hit rate by 25%, it gives him an iterative attack; given that Eldritch Glaive is a touch attack, and hence likely to pit even with such a large penalty, that’s a significant boost. Oh yeah, and it gives temporary HP and a few spare hit points. Needless to say, this is going to be the persisted spell until Kamuel can persist multiple spells, and possibly the only 4th-level domain spell he prepares.

Lower spell resistance is useful for demons with high spell resistance or non-demons with any spell resistance; one failed save (with a significant penalty), and the spell resistance is out of the way for the rest of the fight. Since Kamuel still only has one warlock level, anything that helps him overcome spell resistance is more than welcome.
Greater luminous armor is also available (albeit a bad Persistent Spell target). However, given the limited

11th level’s Demonwreck Weapon Aura makes Kamuel a potent party buffer against demons. His mere presence allows allies within 30 feet to ignore most demonic damage reduction. Kamuel also unlocks 5th-level spells, though none of those are worth bringing up right now.


Around these levels is where Kamuel’s build really takes off. I’d say the sweet point is around level 13 or 15? Probably 15—the Fearful Blast/Fearful Glare combo seems handy.
Abjurant Armor is the first notable ability. It makes luminous armor (or its greater version, if you’ve got a 4th-level slot to spare) that much more effective, not to mention shield for the fights it’s available for. Shield provides a substantial boost to AC, but it only lasts about a minute, so you can’t be wasteful with it.

Taking Extra Turning a second time at 12th level lets Kamuel persist a second spell. I’m not sure what would be a good choice—most of the boosts from righteous might, wraithstrike, and other popular buffs don’t really help an eldritch glaive build.
Righteous wrath of the faithful is a group buff that that gives boosts to attack and damage rolls, plus an extra attack at full BAB. Greater vigor is much more boring; it just provides a constant healing, enough to occasionally save bacon in combat and (if persisted) eliminate the need for out-of-combat healing. The former is probably better for most situations, and it’s certainly more exciting, but greater vigor is handy for if you expect to fight a lot of fights in one day.
There are probably higher-level buffs that you could trade out RwotF for at higher levels, but I didn’t find any that struck me as working especially well in this build. Certainly none that could support the entire party!

Kamuel’s invocations finally start advancing again. Frightful blast is a handy little perk to add to Eldritch Glaive; sadly, it doesn’t stack with itself, but with three attacks per round odds are an enemy will fail one of their saves (even with Kamuel’s merely OK Charisma). Dark One’s Own Luck makes Kamuel a bit more resilient to unusual attacks; it will usually be set to boost his Reflex save, but can be set to Will or Fortitude if he knows an upcoming encounter will test those saves.
Flee the Scene isn’t an ideal way to approach an enemy (it’s obviously not designed for that), but if Kamuel starts combat more than a charge or so away from any enemies; he can also bring two or three allies along, if they’re prepared for it.
And, of course, Eldritch Blast’s damage finally starts to increase.

The first level of Eldritch Disciple brings a handy ability: Fearful Glare. As a swift action, you can render a nearby creature shaken. Nothing suggests this doesn’t stack with other sources of fear, so Kamuel can render a target fearful with his Eldritch Glaive, glare to frighten it, and hit the target with an attack of opportunity as it retreats. Unfortunately, Fearful Glate costs a turn attempt and all 14 of Kamuel’s turns are consumed by his two persistent spells; if he can’t get a Charisma-boosting item, nightstick, or something along those lines, he won’t be able to use this tactic without dropping a persistent buff.


At this point, pure spellcasters have 9th-level spells, while Kamuel is getting his 7th’s and 8th’s. Unsurprisingly, entrants to this gimmicky contest is going to be significantly weaker than someone gating in solars.

17th level brings another Gift of the Divine Patron, Protective Aura. A swift action to raise a magic circle against evil could come in handy occasionally—say, to suppress a mind control effect targeting an ally. This would make an excellent argument for trying to find at least a minor Charisma-boosting item or single nightstick.

Eldritch Spellweave, gained at 18th level is a neat ability. Sadly, this build can’t make good use of it; it doesn’t use that many blasting spells in the first place. (Though you could argue that all touch spells potentially involve melee attacks and apply Frightful Blast to a healing spell as a prank.)
Also at 18th level, Kamuel gets the sudden swarm invocation. Quite the opposite of Eldritch Spellweave, this ability seems useless (or at least use-impaired) but is actually pretty handy. It’s an invocation you can cast ahead of time, which causes the next living creature you kill with an eldritch blast (or other invocation) to have a spider swarm burst from their corpse. The swarm can be controlled without any further actions, serving as an action-free source of damage (and occasional debuffs) for basically the rest of the fight.
Entropic Warding is also learned at this level. It serves to make pesky ranged attackers less effective. (Kamuel could just blast them, but his glaive is more effective.)

19th level sees Relentless Dispelling, an invocation which has both utility uses (e.g. disable magical traps long enough to slip through) and combat uses (dispel the other guy’s DMM-persisted buffs). Getting two attempts for each action makes it that much more effective at doing so.

20th level brings a final Gift, Wild Frenzy. I’m not sure a small attack/damage bonus and a few temporary hit points are worth a turn undead attempt (without some item or whatever giving extra), but the same is true of all Gifts, and this one is at least in line with Kamuel’s build strengths.
It also gives Kamuel his first greater invocation, Chilling Tentacles, an effective area control or damage/debuff effect.



Abjurant Champion requires proficiency in at least one martial weapon. The War domain gives Khamuel proficiency in Dol Dorn’s favored weapon, the longsword.
That class also requires the ability to cast at least one first-level abjuration spell. This is shield from the wu jen class. However, you are not required to advance spellcasting in an arcane spellcasting class that lets you cast abjuration spells!


Abjurant Armor obviously boosts the AC of anyone using luminous armor and shield. Extended abjuration helps shields last through unusually long combats, or between unusually close ones, which will occasionally be helpful. More useful is Swift Abjuration, which lets me cast shield at the start of combat without losing any actions.

Demonwrecker was a harder choice. The only abilities in the class that do anything for this weird eldritch glaive divine gish build are Breach Spell Resistance (which lets said glaive do more consistent damage) and Demonwrecker Weapon Aura (which is cool, but requires you to have allies who aren’t prepared to fight demons). Perfect Breach would have been nice, but Kamuel has other tools for handling spell resistance and I wanted to start boosting his invocations ASAP.


First off: Two nightsticks means another persisted spell and change. This kind of nightstick cheese is highly dependent on campaign and DM, so I won’t go into it except to suggest tossing some more full-party buffs. Share the love, yeah?
A cloak of charisma will give you (a couple) additional turn undead attempts (for rounding that change up, powering divine patron gifts, or—in a pinch—turning undead), as well as boost

(Greater) Luminous armor probably isn’t a valid target for magic vestment. But if it is, that increases Kamuel’s AC a fair bit. (And it’s a War domain spell, so it doesn’t take a very important spell.) Sadly, GMV is transmutation, so no amount of cheese or bad rules lawyering will let you add your Abjurant Armor bonus to the enhancement bonus it grants.


Biggest issue: From 6th to 10th level, my eldritch glaive tries to overcome non-demonic spell resistance with a +3 bonus. The Lower Spell Resistance spell will hopefully help here, but you might need allies or a backup weapon if that doesn’t take.

On paper, my multiclassing invokes some serious MAD issues. In practice, though? The wu jen slots are mostly going to be used to cast shield and the occasional utility spell, so Intelligence isn’t an issue. Using Eldritch Glaive makes Strength a non-issue.

Part of me wonders if this build would be better as a plain old cleric/warlock/eldritch disciple (or even favored soul/warlock/eldritch disciple) build. But that’s the nature of this kind of contest, especially when casters are involved—it’s hard to argue with a straightforward race to 9th-level spells.

Finally, I don’t have skills listed past 14th level because Complete Mage doesn’t actually tell you how many skill points Eldritch Disciple gets at each level! Maybe there’s errata for it, but it’s not like skills matter at that point. Unless you’re actually going to take this build to an actual campaign.


Book of Exalted Deeds: Elation, Luminous Armor (& Greater)
Complete Arcane: Extra Invocation, Persistent Spell, Ring of Blades, Warlock, Wu Jen, most invocations
(Why do all three CA base classes start with w?)
Complete Divine: Divine Metamagic
Complete Mage: Ambjurant Champion, Eldritch Disciple, Relentless Dispelling
Draconomicon: Lower Spell Resistance
Dragon Magic: Eldritch Glaive
Drow of the Underdark: Sudden Swarm
Eberron Campaign Setting: Dol Dorn
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits: Demonwrecker
Player’s Guide to Faerun: Planning domain
(Don’t ask me why an Eberron god has a domain from a Faerun book.)
Player’s Handbook 2: Cloud of Knives
Spell Compendium: Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, Vigor spells
Unearthed Arcana: Cloistered Cleric

[Thurbane]

Olabin, Librarian of Cormanthor, Archivist of Labelas Enoreth

CG Fire Elf Archivist 1/Wizard 2/Mystic Theurge 10/Abjurant Champion 5/Demonwrecker 2

I began my career as adventurer under rather uneventful terms. There was no grand quest to save the Cormanthyr or Tel'Quessir. No real call to adventure. I was just a scholarly bureaucrat with vials full of ink, more paper and vellum than any elf my meager age had the right to carry, and a devout need to record as much history as it unfolds - as dictated by the Sage at Sunset. I worked in His temple like many others, gave my prayers at sunrise for the long life the Ruler of All Elves had given us as is tradition among us worshipers of Labelas, and went about my day copying texts and reading up on - given the year, I want to say "The History of Araushnee." It is only know that that name means something entirely else to me. (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Lolth)



AbilitiesInitialRaceLevel 4Level 8Level 12Level 16Level 20
Str 8+6=14 14+0=14
Dex 8+6=14 14+2=16
Con 8+10PB=16 16-2=14
Int 8+10PB=16 16+2=18 1 1 1 1 1
Wis 8 8+0=8
Cha 8 8-2=6





Level Class BAB Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Archivist 1 0 2 0 2 Concentration 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Knowledge (History) 4, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 4 Extend Spell, Scribe Scroll (B) Dark Knowledge (Tactics) 3/day
2nd Wizard 1 0 2 0 4 Concentration 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Religion) 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Knowledge (History) 5, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 5 Improved Initiative Specialist (Transmutation), Ban Enchantment, Necromancy, Combat Wizard, Immediate Magic (Sudden Shift)
3rd Wizard 2 1 2 0 5 Concentration 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (The Planes) 6, Knowledge (History) 6, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 6 Sanctum Spell
4th Mystic Theurge 1 1 2 0 7 Concentration 7, Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 7 (bought cc), Knowledge (History) 6, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 7
5th Mystic Theurge 2 2 2 0 8 Concentration 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8 (bought cc), Knowledge (History) 6, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 8
6th Mystic Theurge 3 2 3 1 8 Concentration 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 9 (bought cc), Knowledge (History) 6, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 9 Knowledge Devotion (The Planes)
7th Mystic Theurge 4 3 3 1 9 Concentration 10, Knowledge (Arcana) 10, Knowledge (Religion) 10, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Knowledge (History) 6.5 (half rank bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 10
8th Mystic Theurge 5 3 3 1 9 Concentration 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 11, Knowledge (Religion) 11, Knowledge (The Planes) 11, Knowledge (History) 7.5 (rank bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 11
9th Mystic Theurge 6 4 4 2 10 Concentration 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 12, Knowledge (Religion) 12, Knowledge (The Planes) 12, Knowledge (History) 8.5 (rank bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 12 Combat Casting
10th Abjurant Champion 1 5 4 2 12 Concentration 13, Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (Religion) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 13, Knowledge (History) 9 (half rank bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 13 Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration
11th Abjurant Champion 2 6 4 2 13 Concentration 14, Knowledge (Arcana) 14, Knowledge (Religion) 14, Knowledge (The Planes) 14, Knowledge (History) 9.5 (half rank bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 14 Swift Abjuration
12th Abjurant Champion 3 7 5 3 13 Concentration 15, Knowledge (Arcana) 15, Knowledge (Religion) 15, Knowledge (The Planes) 15, Knowledge (History) 10 (half rank bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 15 Spell Penetration
13th Abjurant Champion 4 8 5 3 14 Concentration 16, Knowledge (Arcana) 16, Knowledge (Religion) 16, Knowledge (The Planes) 16, Knowledge (History) 10.5 (half rank bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 16 Arcane Boost
14th Abjurant Champion 5 9 5 3 14 Concentration 17, Knowledge (Arcana) 17, Knowledge (Religion) 17, Knowledge (The Planes) 17, Knowledge (History) 11 (half rank bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 17 Martial Arcanist
15th Demonwrecker 1 9 5 3 16 Concentration 18, Knowledge (Arcana) 18, Knowledge (Religion) 18, Knowledge (The Planes) 18, Knowledge (History) 12 (rank bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 18 Echoing Spell Breach Spell Resistance, Demonwreck Weapon of Good
16th Mystic Theurge 7 9 5 3 16 Concentration 19, Knowledge (Arcana) 19, Knowledge (Religion) 19, Knowledge (The Planes) 19, Knowledge (History) 13.5 (1.5 ranks bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 19
17th Mystic Theurge 8 10 5 3 17 Concentration 20, Knowledge (Arcana) 20, Knowledge (Religion) 20, Knowledge (The Planes) 20, Knowledge (History) 16 (1.5 ranks bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 20
18th Mystic Theurge 9 10 6 4 17 Concentration 21, Knowledge (Arcana) 21, Knowledge (Religion) 21, Knowledge (The Planes) 21, Knowledge (History) 17.5 (1.5 ranks bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 21 Practiced Spellcaster (Wizard)
19th Mystic Theurge 10 11 6 4 18 Concentration 22, Knowledge (Arcana) 22, Knowledge (Religion) 22, Knowledge (The Planes) 22, Knowledge (History) 19 (1.5 ranks bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 22
20th Demonwrecker 2 12 6 4 19 Concentration 23, Knowledge (Arcana) 23, Knowledge (Religion) 23, Knowledge (The Planes) 23, Knowledge (History) 20.5 (1.5 ranks bought cc), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Psionics) 4, Spellcraft 23 Demonwreck Weapon of Cold Iron




Level Class 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th extra
1st Archivist 1 3A 2A - - - - - - - -
2nd Wizard 1 3A+3W+1T 2A+1W+1T - - - - - - - -
3rd Wizard 2 3A+4W+1T 2A+2W+1T - - - - - - - -
4th MT 1 (Arc2/Wiz 3) 4A+4W+1T 3A+2W+1T 1W+1T - - - - - - -
5th MT 2 (Arc3/Wiz 4) 4A+4W+1T 3A+3W+1T 2A+2W+1T - - - - - - -
6th MT 3 (Arc4/Wiz 5) 4A+4W+1T 4A+3W+1T 3A+2W+1T 1W+1T - - - - - -
7th MT 4 (Arc5/Wiz 6) 4A+4W+1T 4A+3W+1T 3A+3W+1T 2A+2W+1T - - - - - -
8th MT 5 (Arc6/Wiz 7) 4A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 4A+3W+1T 3A+2W+1T 1W+1T - - - - -
9th MT 6 (Arc7/Wiz 8) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+3W+1T 3A+2W+1T 2A+2W+1T - - - - -
10th AbjCh 1 (Arc7/Wiz9) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+3W+1T 2A+2W+1T 1W+1T - - - -
11th AbjCh 2 (Arc7/Wiz10) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+3W+1T 2A+3W+1T 2W+1T - - - -
12th AbjCh 3 (Arc7/Wiz11) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+4W+1T 2A+3W+1T 2W+1T 1W+1T - - -
13th AbjCh 4 (Arc7/Wiz12) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+4W+1T 2A+3W+1T 3W+1T 2W+1T - - -
14th AbjCh 5 (Arc7/Wiz13) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+4W+1T 2A+4W+1T 3W+1T 2W+1T 1W+1T - -
15th Dem 1 (Arc8/Wiz13) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+4W+1T 3W+1T 2W+1T 1W+1T - -
16th MT 7 (Arc9/Wiz 14) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+4W+1T 2A+3W+1T 3W+1T 2W+1T - -
17th MT 8 (Arc10/Wiz 15) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+4W+1T 3W+1T 2W+1T 1W+1T -
18th MT 9 (Arc11/Wiz 16) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+4W+1T 2A+3W+1T 3W+1T 2W+1T -
19th MT 10 (Arc12/Wiz 17) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+4W+1T 3W+1T 2W+1T 1W+1T
20th Dem 2 (Arc13/Wiz17) 4A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 5A+4W+1T 4A+4W+1T 3A+4W+1T 2A+3W+1T 2W+1T 1W+1T




Level Class 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th extra
1st - - - - - - - - - - -
2nd Wizard 1 All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield - - - - - - - -
3rd Wizard 2 All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope - - - - - - - -
4th MT 1 (Arc2/Wiz 3) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick - - - - - - -
5th MT 2 (Arc3/Wiz 4) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air - - - - - - -
6th MT 3 (Arc4/Wiz 5) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water - - - - - -
7th MT 4 (Arc5/Wiz 6) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing - - - - - -
8th MT 5 (Arc6/Wiz 7) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor - - - - -
9th MT 6 (Arc7/Wiz 8) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth - - - - -
10th AbjCh 1 (Arc7/Wiz9) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight - - - -
11th AbjCh 2 (Arc7/Wiz10) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport - - - -
12th AbjCh 3 (Arc7/Wiz11) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance - - -
13th AbjCh 4 (Arc7/Wiz12) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency - - -
14th AbjCh 5 (Arc7/Wiz13) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity - -
15th - All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings, Force Cage - -
16th MT 7 (Arc9/Wiz 14) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings, Force Cage - -
17th MT 8 (Arc10/Wiz 15) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings, Force Cage Wall of Greater Dispel Magic, Polymorph Any Object -
18th MT 9 (Arc11/Wiz 16) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings, Force Cage Wall of Greater Dispel Magic, Polymorph Any Object, Mindblank, Superior Invisibility, -
19th MT 10 (Arc12/Wiz 17) All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings, Force CageWall of Greater Dispel Magic, Polymorph Any Object, Mindblank, Superior Invisibility, Time Stop, Foresight
20th - All except banned schools Nerveskitter, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Alarm, Stand, Grease, Shield, Magic Weapon, Animate Rope Heroics, Rope Trick, Wraithstrike, Heart of Air Haste, Heart of Water, Bite of the Wererat, Girallon's Blessing Bite of the Werewolf, Greater Luminous Armor, Greater Mirror Image, Heart of Earth Bite of the Wereboar, Overland Flight, Heart of Fire, Teleport Bite of the Weretiger, Superior Resistance, Greater Dispel Magic, Contigency Bite of the Werebear, Energy Immunity, Adamantine Wings, Force Cage Wall of Greater Dispel Magic, Polymorph Any Object, Mindblank, Superior Invisibility,Time Stop, Foresight




Level Class 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th extra
1st Archivist 1 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign - - - - - - - -
2nd - All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign - - - - - - - -
3rd - All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign - - - - - - - -
4th Mystic Theurge 1 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction - - - - - - - -
5th Mystic Theurge 2 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward - - - - - - -
6th Mystic Theurge 3 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward - - - - - - -
7th Mystic Theurge 4 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil - - - - - -
8th Mystic Theurge 5 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor - - - - - -
9th Mystic Theurge 6 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk - - - - -
10th - All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity - - - - -
11th - All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity - - - - -
12th - All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity - - - - -
13th - All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity - - - - -
14th - All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity - - - - -
15th Demonwrecker 1 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity - - - - -
16th Mystic Theurge 7 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity True Seeing, Surge of Fortune - - - -
17th Mystic Theurge 8 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity True Seeing, Surge of Fortune, Righetous Wrath of the Faithful, Revivify - - - -
18th Mystic Theurge 9 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity True Seeing, Surge of Fortune, Righetous Wrath of the Faithful, Revivify Heroes' Feast, Heal - - -
19th Mystic Theurge 10 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity True Seeing, Surge of Fortune, Righetous Wrath of the Faithful, Revivify Heroes' Feast, Heal, Spiritual Guardian, Stone Body, - - -
20th Demonwrecker 2 All Cleric Orisons Lesser Vigor, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Command, Protection from Evil, Faith Healing, Sign, Resurgence, Conviction Lesser Restoration, Body Ward, Divine Insight, Lore of the Gods Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor Divine Power, Air Walk, Panacea, Spell Immunity True Seeing, Surge of Fortune, Righetous Wrath of the Faithful, Revivify Heroes' Feast, Heal, Spiritual Guardian, Stone Body, Fortunate Fate, Holy Transformation - -



This is mentioned for completeness, but quite a few of Olabin's spells could be gained via scrolls from other lists. I figured it would be best to list their original levels and where they could be gained at a lower level:

Recitation is normally 4th, but exists on the Purification Domain at 3rd.
For each of the Bite of the WereX spells (Wererat being Wiz 3, all the way up to Bite of the Werebear at Wiz 7) also exists as a Druid spell one level lower. So Bite of the Wererat is Druid 2 and Bite of the Werebear is Druid 6. Getting these from a Druid would also mean that Obalin has the choice as to whether or not to prepare them as arcane or divine spells.
Lesser Restoration is normally Cleric 2, but Paladins get it at level 1
Similarly, Restoration is a Cleric 4 spell but shows up as a 3rd level Healer spell.
Heal is Cleric 6, but shows up at 5th on the Healer list.
The Heart of Element (Air, Earth, Water, Fire) show up on the Druid list at the same level, even though Olabin has them as wizard spells, too.


There's also the ability to nab various other spells as an archivist. For example, a good number of his spells grant natural attacks. So something like (Greater) Magic Fang from the Druid list would be useful. He could go dumpster diving for more spells off obscure domains, but that's more a showcasing of the Archivist's powers than anything else. Arguably, Olabin could add some of the spells he took as a wizard to his archivist list, much like an Archivist and Artificier working together. Personally, I think that's cheesy to do with every spell he has (and, realistically, that's far too resource intensive), but things like haste that at least show up on a domain list of the same level should be fair game.


Fearing that I had stumbled upon hereasy against the Seladrine, I left my my siblings of the church and drove headfirst into arcane tomes to see what elves of ill-repute may have recorded away from the wisdoms of their Pantheon. Locked in my library, I was soon able to mix my crafts.

Olabin starts off much like any low level spellcaster: his spells don't last long, he doesn't have too many in a given day, but they can change the battlefield. Because he is an elf, he has access proficiency in bows and swords. It's not much, but it'll help him later in his career. His spells are mostly buffs or defensive in nature. Lesser Vigor and Faith Healing help keep him and any of his allies alive. Shield of Faith, Protection from Evil, Conviction, Resurgence, Body ard, and Lesser Restoration all help to not die and protect against ability damage.

He only ever has the three uses of Dark Tactics in a day, and he only ever has access to Tactics, but he has more Knowledge skills than sense (and that's not just because he dumped Wisdom on a divine caster!). This means that for at least three combats in a day, he can make sure of his swift (by using the errata on Nerveskitter to cast it while flatfooted before combat starts), move (Dark Knowledge: Tactics), and standard (spells/bow attack) actions to contribute on the first round of combat.

Sign and Nerveskitter hopefully mean acting first and laying down something like grease or enlarge person to help control the battlefield. Heroics is his way of picking up classics like Power Attack, and Wraithstrike means that he can actually use it without worrying about missing.

The elephant in the room is Sanctum Spell. It kind of acts like a (reverse) Heighten. It's enough to squeeze into Mystic Theurge as soon as the skill ranks are met. While it's not the only Theurge class out there, it's the one that gave its name to the archetype. It's a little hard not to have it, really. It doesn't really do anything else at the moment, but will later.


While I have always had bow and blade by my side, it is only recently that I have delved into the ways of the Bladesingers. What began as idle curiosity down a rabbit hole has led me to caverns of Underdark proportion. The Lady of the Demonwebs appears to have grown more brazen, and I can no longer trust in my mercurial spells alone to stop my wayward cousins.

These middle levels play out much the same as before. Olabin finally has enough BAB to enter Abjurant Champion at 10th level. He has at least one "Bite of the Were" spell at each level up to 5th, so he has plenty of buff spells to grant natural attacks from his transmuter casting. Extended Abjuration means Shield will last most of the day now without actually using the Extend Spell feat. Same for Greater Luminous Armor. Body Ward and Lesser Restoration mean he can pay for the Sacrifice cost. On the Archivist side, he has Dispel Magic, Magic Circle Against Evil, and some party buffs wtih Mass Conviction and Mass Lesser Vigor. Oh, and he has Power Attack so that he can actually whack a doodle in combat like someone who hasn't spent the last 9 levels jumping around between poor BAB classes.

Like most theurges, his problem right now is one of action economy. A decent number of his spells only last for rounds at a time. Extend Spell helps somewhat there, but the choice between casting Divine Power or Bite of the Wereboar is still an issue. The low Wisdom score means that he never gets any bonus spells, so he has only two Divine Powers in a day at most. While it won't help his BAB, Knowledge Devotion at least helps ease the otherwise poor to-hit he has. It's nothing new, but something like Bite of the Werewolf means that whatever bonus he gets from his Knowledge check goes a little farther on that claw/claw/bite (or sword/sword or sword/claw/bite) routine.


Curse those Traitors! Scheming drow are a cliche, but their aggresive raids have become a problem. And here I am in their realm. I can only hope to find some means away from this vile place.

Abjurant Champion is finally online! Swift Abjuration helps with Olabin's action economy. The real benefit, however, kicks in at 12th level, and is the other reason why he has Sanctum Spell. Since Sanctum spells take a hit to their level outside of the Sanctum, he can use his swift actions to cast Sanctum Dispel Magic a level earlier. This means that all of his 3rd level Archivist slots can be spent trying to wear down enemy's defenses without sacrificing his offensive capabilities. Unfortunately, his Archivist caster level is starting to suffer here as it's only CL 7. If he can get a scroll of it added to add to his wizard list, he could also use some of his 3rd level wizard slots on (Sanctum) Dispel Magic at 12th level. Because of this interaction, I'm going to go ahead and call 12th level his sweetspot.

I hate to assume a magic item is a given, but something like a Lesser Metamagic Rod (preferrably, of Quicken) can also go a little farther with Sanctum Spell. It also means that Olabin can cast two buff spells, including Divine Power, on the first round of combat (and saves roughly 40k from the bump in price).

By 15th level, he finally has at least one level in Demonwrecker (and starts gaining some more Archivist action). He picks up Spell Immunity, which can also be Sanctum Swift Abjuration'd since the class feature only cares about spell school, not if it's arcane or not. Demonwreck Weapon's text means that all of his temporary natural attacks can be Good aligned for overcoming DR. Adamantine Wings means he has some natural attacks that don't disappear in a couple of minutes, too, so he can get some more use out of Magic Fang (assuming he can grab a scroll of it, as always).

Finally, he now has Echoing Spell. Yes, it's from Eberron. Yes, Olabin is otherwise from Faerun, but I wanted to do something outside of the usual "Grab 1,001 Nightsticks and just Persist everything." An Echoing Wraithstrike is a 5th level spell, but it comes back after an hour. Wraithstrike is something he wants to cast almost every round, and it doesn't really suffer from the caster level penalty that echoing imposes. If he can get Dispel Magic as an arcane spell, he can also Echo that. The caster level penalty will hurt eventually, but at 15th level, that's still two penalty-free castings of it since its bonus caps at +10 anyhow.

It's a little less practical to Echo Archivist spells - both because Olabin has fewer Archivist spells overall and because his caster level is significantly lower for them. It's an option, just not a particularly good one at this point.


After years of working against the She Spider Supreme and her minions, I have finally found myself back in my beloved Cormanthor. I wish never to tread in the Underdark again. I would be remiss, however, if I did not take to putting my journeys to paper.

Levels 16 on end much like the early ones started: with more Mystic Theurge and a slight detour. Olabin finishes with 17th levels of wizard spellcasting. Practiced Spellcaster helps further offset Echoing Spell's penalties. PAO is ripe for abuse, but mostly it's there because no other 8th level transmutation spell can live up to it. Mostly, it's just there on the list for problem solving. Ending with Demonwrecker 2 means getting some more cleric goodies. Fortunate Fate is effectively a contigent heal to not die. Holy Transformation is another buff spell, and gives sacred bonuses to the stats it affects. Seventh level spells also mean that Echoing Divine Power is on the table. It's less good than Persisting it, but since the BAB bonus is tied to character level instead of caster level, the losses there aren't too big of a deal.

The end result is a weird, almost tristalt-y elf. Yeah, his actual BAB is barely better than Wizard 20, but Divine Power helps with that. The various Bite of the Werespells help save on some stat boosting items and open up some other attack oppurtunities. They give the benefits of several feats, too, depending on the creature. This eventually means that Heroics can be spent on things like Martial Study for various maneuvers instead of Power Attack as both Bite of the Weretiger and Bite of the Werebear give that. Yes, yes, those are in-combat buffs rather than out of combat buffs, but there is overlap there.


Fire Elf - SRD
Archivist - Heroes of Horror
Fighter Feat Wizard - SRD (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#sorcererWizard)
Immediate Magic - PHB 2
Demonwrecker - Expedition to the Demonweb Pits
Abjurant Champion - Complete Mage
Echoing Spell - Secrets of Xen'drik
Sanctum Spell, Practiced Spellcaster - Complete Arcane
Knowledge Devotion - Complete Champion
Mystic Theurge - SRD/DMG
Healer (referenced) - Heroes of Battle
Labelas Enoreth (Deity) - Faiths & Pantheons


(Greater) Luminous Armor - BoED
Nerveskitter, Heroics, Wraithstrike, Bite of the Were<Animal> (rat, wolf, boar, tiger, bear)e, Greater Mirror Image, Superior Resitance, Energy Immunity, Wall of Greater Dispel Magic, Lesser Vigor, Recitation, Mass Conviction, Mass Lesser Vigor, Panacea, Stone Body, Fortunate Fate, Holy Transformation - Spell Compendium
Heart of <Element> (Air, Water, Fire, Earth), Otiluk's Suppressing Field (referenced), Dispelling Screen (referenced), Ray Deflection (referenced) - Complete Mage
Surge of Fortune, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful, Revivify, Spiritual Guardian - Complete Champion
Metamagic Rods (referenced) - Magic Item Compendium
Martial Study - Tome of Battle

[Thurbane]

Timoriel Sapnis


The Good justifies the means.



https://i.imgur.com/gFk2Db1.png

Year 296, Arborea : in one of the many branches of the World-Tree, the young Aasimar Timoriel, 5 years old, plays hide-and-seek with a coure, under the kind supervision of his planetar chaperone. Timoriel jumps around and squeaks with joy everytime he finds the tiny eladrin. Once or twice, he loses sight of the elf-like creature among the branches, but then she casts dancing lights to lead him on the way again, and he goes chasing again, with renewed excitation.

Without warning, a large portal opens behind the planetar. On the other side, the good outsiders can hear the sound of an earth-shattering battle. Lightnings, metal and negative energy clash, sending terrifying waves of energy through the opening. The coure runs away from this inferno, while Timoriel is petrified with awe and fear. The planetar knows that this is a Gate, obviously cast by some powerful caster on the other side, and that if he doesn’t go through it, he will inevitably be compelled to do it magically. So many of his brethren died after going through one of these, but by the look of this, if he has to die, at least he will die fighting evil.

Timoriel can’t understand what happens. The planetar, who looked over him for so long, would just go, like that ? He rushed to try and grab the angel’s hand, but immediately after passing the gate, the planetar took flight to fight impossibly powerful monsters. Timoriel touches for the first time the ground of the Material Plane, and doesn’t have time to realize the gate closing behind him before he is hit by some mental large-scale spell and loses consciousness.

When Timoriel wakes up, the planetar is nowhere to be seen. In his stead, a few weirdly clothed wizards are looking at him. With no way to go back or even to locate his family on Arborea, Timoriel would spend the next 20 years with the sha’irs that adopted him.


Year 316, Material Plane : Timoriel was given the name of Sapnis from Trigon Sapnis, the head of the community, who raised him like his son. Despite his obviously outsider origins, Timoriel Sapnis had known the warmth of fatherly love for 2 decades. Trigon had been, for years, the pillar on which Timoriel could always rest. And now, his corpse laid before Timoriel, lifeless. The work of the sha’ir community with genies had brought the attention of powerful demons. Seeking knowledge and power, they had massacred every member of the brotherhood that stood before them. Then, when nobody could oppose them anymore, they slaughtered each other to be the only one to get to the library. Only when there was only one left, and badly injured by fighting its brothers, did Timoriel jump out of hiding to stab it with a cold iron spear. And now, once again, Timoriel had lost everything, everyone he cared about, because of demons. Demons. Always demons. Even 20 years ago, it was already them. They should not be allowed to sow destruction, pain and misery. Not unpunished. On this day, Timoriel Sapnis swore to devote his life to stopping and killing every demon that would cross his path. If they showed no mercy, then they do not deserve any. If they liked to kill their comrades, the he would make them slaughter each other. Whatever it would take.

Year 416, Infinite Layers of the Abyss : Timoriel Sapnis walks among demon corpses. He doesn’t smile. It’s been decades since he has last smiled after killing a demon. One of them still lives. Coup de Grace. Next one. The creatures around Timoriel rain spell-like ablities on it, then finish it off with cold iron weapons. These creatures… His own personal army. Some of them angels, hired to purge the planes and help the greater good. Dimensional anchor. Others are demons, trapped and enslaved to kill their kin. Summon Elemental Monolith. With time, Timoriel didn’t even distinguish between the two. Thanks to his powers, both fought demons, both wielded cold iron weapons engulfed by energy from Arborea. Contingent Planar Binding, Haste. When he started his hunt, when he wasn’t that well-known, one demon asked for his mercy, invoking the fact that they weren’t that different from each other, after all. Timoriel had killed him with no hesitation. Only more than half a century later did he understand what it meant. Gate.




CG Incomplete Savage Progression Aasimar (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a)
Sha’ir 5 Demonwrecker 5 Thaumaturgist 5 Abjurant Champion 5

God: Trithereon (Complete Divine)




Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Sha'ir 1 0 0 0 2 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 4, Spellcraft 4 School Focus (Conjuration) Summon Gen Familiar (Air)
2nd Sha'ir 2 1 0 0 3 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 5, Spellcraft 5, Concentration 1
3rd Sha'ir 3 1 1 1 3 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 6, Spellcraft 5, Concentration 3 Spell Penetration Recognize Genie Works
4th Sha'ir 4 2 1 1 4 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 7, Spellcraft 5, Concentration 5
5th Sha'ir 5 2 1 1 4 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 8, Spellcraft 5, Concentration 5, Knowledge (Religion) 1 (cross-class) " Elemental Protection "
6th Demonwrecker 1 2 1 1 6 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 8, Spellcraft 5, Concentration 5, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Arcane Disciple Breach spell resistance, demonwreck weapon of good
7th Demonwrecker 2 3 1 1 7 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 8, Spellcraft 6, Concentration 7, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Demonwreck weapon of cold iron
8th Thaumaturgist 1 3 1 1 9 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 11, Spellcraft 6, Concentration 7, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Improved Ally
9th Thaumaturgist 2 4 1 1 10 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 12, Spellcraft 6, Concentration 9, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Infernal Bargainer, Augmented Summoning (B)
10th Thaumaturgist 3 4 2 2 10 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 13, Spellcraft 6, Concentration 11, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Extended Summoning
11th Thaumaturgist 4 5 2 2 11 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 14, Spellcraft 6, Concentration 13, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Contingent Conjuration
12th Thaumaturgist 5 5 2 2 11 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 15, Spellcraft 6, Concentration 15, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Combat Casting Planar Cohort
13th Abjurant Champion 1 6 2 2 13 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 16 (cross-class), Spellcraft 6, Concentration 16, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration
14th Abjurant Champion 2 7 2 2 14 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 17 (cross-class), Spellcraft 6, Concentration 17, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Swift Abjuration (1st)
15th Abjurant Champion 3 8 3 3 14 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 18 (cross-class), Spellcraft 6, Concentration 18, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Rashemi Elemental Summoning Swift Abjuration (2nd)
16th Abjurant Champion 4 9 3 3 15 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 19 (cross-class), Spellcraft 6, Concentration 19, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Arcane Boost
17th Abjurant Champion 5 10 3 3 15 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 20 (cross-class), Spellcraft 6, Concentration 20, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Martial Arcanist, Swift Abjuration (3rd)
18th Demonwrecker 3 11 4 4 15 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 21 (cross-class), Spellcraft 6, Concentration 21, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Demon Mastery Demonwreck spell damage
19th Demonwrecker 4 12 4 4 16 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 22 (cross-class), Spellcraft 6, Concentration 22, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Demonwreck weapon aura
20th Demonwrecker 5 12 4 4 16 Knowledge (the planes) 4, Diplomacy 23 (cross-class), Spellcraft 6, Concentration 23, Knowledge (Religion) 4 Perfect breach





Level Class 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1st Sha'ir 1 4 2
2nd Sha'ir 2 5 3
3rd Sha'ir 3 5 3 1
4th Sha'ir 4 5 4 3
5th Sha'ir 5 5 4 3 1
6th Sha'ir 6 5 4 4 3
7th Sha'ir 7 5 5 4 3 1
8th Sha'ir 8 5 5 4 4 3
9th Sha'ir 9 5 5 5 4 3 1
10th Sha'ir 10 5 5 5 4 4 3
11th Sha'ir 11 5 5 5 5 4 3 1
12th Sha'ir 12 5 5 5 5 4 4 3
13th Sha'ir 13 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 1
14th Sha'ir 14 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3
15th Sha'ir 15 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 1
16th Sha'ir 16 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3
17th Sha'ir 17 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 1
18th Sha'ir 18 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 3
19th Sha'ir 19 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4
20th Sha'ir 20 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5


Level Class 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th extra
1st Sha'ir 1 4 4
2nd Sha'ir 2 5 5
3rd Sha'ir 3 5 5 3
4th Sha'ir 4 5 6 5
5th Sha'ir 5 5 6 5 2
6th Sha'ir 6 5 6 6 4
7th Sha'ir 7 5 7 6 4 2
8th Sha'ir 8 5 7 6 6 4
9th Sha'ir 9 5 7 7 6 4 2
10th Sha'ir 10 5 7 7 6 5 4
11th Sha'ir 11 5 7 7 7 5 4 2
12th Sha'ir 12 5 7 7 7 5 5 4
13th Sha'ir 13 5 7 7 7 6 5 4 2
14th Sha'ir 14 5 7 7 7 6 5 5 4
15th Sha'ir 15 5 7 7 7 6 6 5 4 1
16th Sha'ir 16 5 7 7 7 6 6 5 5 3
17th Sha'ir 17 5 7 7 7 6 6 6 5 3 1
18th Sha'ir 18 5 7 7 7 6 6 6 5 4 3
19th Sha'ir 19 5 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 4 4
20th Sha'ir 20 5 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5


Abilities Initial Race / Template Level 4 Level 8 Level 12 Level 16 Level 20
Str 8 5 5 5 5 5 5
Dex 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Con 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
Int 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
Wis 14 14 14 14 15 15 15
Cha 18 20 21 22 22 23 24




At this level, Timoriel doesn't really have much to do with demons and the slaying thereof. He plays mostly as a conjuration wizard, with spells like the orbs of X, and battlefield control like some of the fog spells or web to contribute in battle. His high charisma and School Focus make the save DC of these spells high enough to be pretty consistent. With maxed out diplomacy, there shouldn't be much problem to prepare your spells, even the ones you don't know. The gen familiar provides a bit of utility with fast flying.

After having his brotherhood decimated, Timoriel enters an academy of Demonwreckers, but quickly drops out. He can because the Sha'ir is both an arcane and a divine casting class, allowing Timoriel to use almost any prestige class to increase his level. These few lessons allow him to learn about religion, a domain he surprisingly sorely lacked, but also to sheath his weapons in Good, Cold Iron aura, to Coup de Grace a sleeping or paralyzed demon without caring about DR. But that's the point where the real focus of Timoriel starts to shine. With Arcane Disciple and the summoner domain, you can use both planar binding and planar ally to have access to both sides of the alignment, and with a higher level than normal with Infernal Bargainer (the savage progression aasimar is an outsider). You can get both lv20 animated objects at-will with a Ravid and cleric casting with an artaaglith (we're not even talking about nightmares). With high charisma and maxed out Diplomacy, Timoriel should get favorable deals and control demons pretty consistently. Arcane disciple allows you to prepare Planar Ally as an arcane spell, bypassing the difficulties for the Sha'ir to prepare divine spells. Thaumaturgist, on top of allowing to pay much less when using planar ally, enables the summoning minionmancy for Timoriel, when you don't want to take risks with planar binding or to pay a higher price with planar ally.

After finishing his formation as a thaumaturgist, Timoriel Sapnis gets the second distinctive ability of this build: in-combat Planar Binding. Contingent Conjuration allows you to cast both the Magic Circle against Evil and the Planar Binding in one round. This synergizes very well with Planar Cohort, the capstone of Thaumaturgist. If possible, I would like something like a neraphim with cleric levels as a cohort, or another outsider with cleric casting. This allows to cast dimensional anchor on the demon immediately if Timoriel fails his charisma check, completing the trap and reducing any risk of backlash for using Planar Binding in a fight. Then, during the 10 min/level, the planar cohort has all the time it wants to cast Geas on the helpless demon and force it to follow orders for upcoming fights.
Abjurant Champion helps for two things: first, it improves your own durability with luminous armor and such, and it also allows you to help your now growing outsider army with abjuration spells like dispelling touch (use your gen if you don't want to get close), dissonant chant (having a miss chance on all opponent spells is great for a minionmancer), or simply Protection from X.
The summoning side of minionmancy also improves with Rashemi Elemental Summoning, making Summon Monster a pretty worthwhile spell, even up to high levels.


At this level, Timoriel completes his training as an abjurant champion and comes back to improve as a demonwrecker, and with that perfects his art of fast planar binding. Even without relying on his cohort, he can Swift Abjuration the Magic Circle, then Contingent Conjuration the Planar Binding, without even having to care about the demon's spell resistance due to the Demonwrecker's Perfect Breach, all of that without even using his standard action, which can be used either to buff the newly called demon, to feeblemind it to ensure I success at the Charisma check, or to cast Dimensional Anchor on it on the same turn to ensure that it could never have a chance to escape.
Demon Mastery increases your chances to control demons, and demonwreck weapon aura allows your servants companions to gain the benefit to bypass easily the damage reduction of demons, even for our enslaved demons.



All summon monsters
1: Protection from Evil, Web, Orb of sound, lesser
2: Dissonant Chant, Dispelling Touch, Luminous Armor
3: Haste, Magic Circle against Evil, Stinking cloud, Dispel Magic
4: Lesser Planar Ally, Dimensional Anchor, Air walk, Greater Luminous Armor, Freedom of Movement
5: Lesser Planar Binding, Feeblemind, Teleport
6: Planar Binding, Planar Ally, Antimagic field (called creatures don't wink out), Geas
7: Planeshift, Banishment, Holy Word
8: Greater Planar Binding, Greater Planar Ally, Moment of prescience, Polymorph Any Object
9: Gate, Time stop, Summon Elemental Monolith



-Items to boost charisma checks (Circlet of persuasion, which would also boost Diplomacy checks)
-Items to boost Wisdom (at least +4, so that I can cast Gate) and Charisma (we never have enough Charisma)
-A Philactery of change. Timoriel has low physical stats and lowish intelligence. I plan on PAO into an avoral as soon as possible, but until then not being a chips would be nice.




Arms & Equipments Guide : Phylactery of Change
BoED: (Greater) Luminous Armor
Complete Arcane : Lesser Orb of X
Complete Divine: Arcane Disciple, Summoner Domain, Trithereon
Dragon Compendium : Sha'ir
Fiendish Codex I: Demon Mastery
PHBII: Dispelling touch
Races of Faerun: Infernal Bargainer
Spell Compendium: Summon Monolith, Dissonant Chant
Unapprochable East: Rashemi Elemental Summoning
Web enhancement: Savage Progressions[/URL]

[Thurbane]

Gladius Ogma


Nothing feels better than feeling powerful.



https://i.imgur.com/PNfdwM4.png


Picture on the first page of the newspaper "the Liberator"


Life is beautiful. Today, I saved a village from a mad cleric of Orcus and his army of demons. Everybody cheered, and I even used the cleric’s own undead to help rebuild the town. Last week, the orphanage I’m funding had one of their oldest children adopted by two charming people. Nadia and Rodolph, if memory serves. He’s a nice little guy, that Peter. I hope he gets along in this new environment. I should send him a few letters. Three days before that, I helped the royal guard dismantle a conspiration led by a marilith. The poor Tanar’ri didn’t see it coming when it was burned by my fire and crushed by my mace. Fate always smiles to you when you are helping weaker people. And the stronger you are, the more people you can help, the more fate smiles upon you. There has never been a happier day in my life than the one where I reconciled the church and the arcane academy of the capital, who threatened to start a civil war over some petty concerns.

Indeed, life is beautiful. But it wasn’t always this way. As you know, less than 30 years ago, this blissful country you have before your eyes was a ruined land living under the tyrannical rule of a lichfiend. That’s where I was born. My parents were abducted by dretches and their body and soul were tortured and consumed to create liquid pain that powered the lichfiend’s spells. I grew up as a street urchin, as part of a gang led by a quasit. I stole to live, and he even made us beat a villager to death once. I know, I know, Ogma ? Submitting to a lower demon ? I’m not proud of this part of my life, but I can’t lie about my past actions. One day, one of my comrades – Alys, she was called –, couldn’t find any food. She tried to defend herself against the quasit, but was immediately decapitated by the demon. She could not do any damage that didn’t just heal immediately. This made me realize our situation. We had to fight. But before that, we had to become stronger. The will to change things means nothing if you don’t have the strength to do it.

I wanted to find help from the only ones that could still hear my plea : the gods. But the good gods, the only ones who would do anything to save the kingdom, didn’t accept my… Well, let’s just say, for your readers, that I found power in the heart of man more than in the sight of gods. I started training, meditating, and hoarding equipmentthat I could then use. When I felt ready, I struck. My first good deed was avenging Alys. One by one, I planned the demise of each demon I could put my hands on, until the lichfiend could no longer ignore me… If I had a particular goal beyond the destruction of the lich ? Well, the good of the people, of course ! Most of my time was spent helping other people out, organizing a resistance, establishing a system where townspeople hid small quantities of money and food from the demons, then shared it among them, and establishing myself as the leader and savior of the rebellion. Eventually, I led the charge against the lichfiend. I honored the courage of each and everyone of the brave people that took arms by animating them as skeletons and letting them continue fighting for their home even after death. That day was a great victory for the entire population of the country, and the origin of the national celebration taking place each day at this date.

The rest, as they say, is history. I left the throne to the heir of the previous royal family, only acting as a trusted counselor, while I continued roaming the country and helping as many people as I could, gaining my current – I must say, not undeserved – reputation.


Is that everything you needed to know ? Maybe leave out the details of my parent’s death, it may be a bit graphic and I wouldn’t want the journal of my city to traumatize children with my story. And make sure to make my sigils visible on the picture, so that everybody recognizes me immediately. Now, thank you again for your work of spreading information to the city, your newspaper is essential to everyone’s well-being, but I have to leave for a demon-killing expedition in the first layer of the Abyss. Until next time, I bid you adieu !



LN Naen-Hoon sigil Illumian
Cleric devoted to a cause 5/Dread Necromancer 1/Divine Companion ACF Sorcerer 1/Demonwrecker 5/Mystic Theurge 3/Abjurant Champion 5




Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Cleric 1 0 2 0 2 Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Knowledge (the planes) 4 Extend Spell (B), Travel Devotion (B), Power Attack Turn Undead, Domains : Travel (devotion) and Planning
2nd Cleric 2 1 3 0 3 Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Religion) 5, Knowledge (the planes) 5
3rd Cleric 3 2 3 1 3 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 1 Spell Penetration
4th Cleric 4 3 4 1 4 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 4
5th Cleric 5 3 4 1 4 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 7
6th Demonwrecker 1 3 4 1 6 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 9, Spellcraft 1 Persistent Spell Breach spell resistance, demonwreck weapon of good
7th Demonwrecker 2 4 4 1 7 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 10, Spellcraft 3 Demonwreck weapon of cold iron
8th Demonwrecker 3 5 5 2 7 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 11, Spellcraft 5 Demonwreck spell damage
9th Sorcerer 1 5 5 2 9 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 12, Spellcraft 7 Combat Casting Divine Companion ACF
10th Dread Necromancer 1 5 5 2 11 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 13, Spellcraft 7, Swift Concentration skill trick Charnel touch, rebuke undead, Martial Proficiency (Two-handed Warmace)
11th Abjurant Champion 1 6 5 2 13 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 14, Spellcraft 9 Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration
12th Abjurant Champion 2 7 5 2 14 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 15, Spellcraft 11 Spell Focus (Transmutation) Swift Abjuration (1st)
13th Abjurant Champion 3 8 6 3 14 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 16, Spellcraft 13 Swift Abjuration (2nd)
14th Abjurant Champion 4 9 6 3 15 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 17, Spellcraft 15 Arcane Boost
15th Abjurant Champion 5 10 6 3 15 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 18, Spellcraft 17 Metamagic School Focus (Transmutation) Martial Arcanist, Swift Abjuration (3rd)
16th Mystic Theurge 1 10 6 3 17 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 19, Spellcraft 19
17th Mystic Theurge 2 11 6 3 18 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 20, Spellcraft 20,
18th Mystic Theurge 3 11 7 4 18 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 21, Spellcraft 21 Extra Turning
19th Demonwrecker 4 12 7 4 19 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 9, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 22, Spellcraft 22 Demonwreck weapon aura
20th Demonwrecker 5 12 7 4 19 Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 10, Knowledge (the planes) 5, Concentration 23, Spellcraft 23 Perfect Breach






Abilities Initial Race / Template Level 4 Level 8 Level 12 Level 16 Level 20
Str 14 14 14 14 14 14 14
Dex 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Con 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Int 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
Wis 16 16 16 16 16 16 17
Cha 16 16 17 18 19 20 20



Gladius acts as a standard cleric at this level. He likes to boost himself before going into melee. His sigils, Naen-Hoon, give him the equivalent of divine metamagic, with the exception that it also applies to arcane spells that he might cast. The Planning domain allows him to extend most of his short duration boosts for a strong result in combat. At this point, he wears heavy armor and wields a spear. He uses Power Attack and Bull’s Strength to increase his damage.
Level 5 is also the point where he starts to dabble into necromancy for flanking, protection and to increase his damage output a bit. However, with high charisma and multiple turnings a day, Gladius always likes to control the undead from his enemies as much as creating his own.

Gladius Ogma now diversifies the source of his power. Demonwrecker allows him to kill demons much more effectively with spells and his weapon, and this is improved even further by Divine Power, which grants Gladius another attack per round. But above all, he gets Persistent Spell, along with Dread Necromancer providing another pool of Turning/rebuking to power his Naer-Noon sigil. Most of the time, he persists a ring of blade around him (the blades being cold iron) and a Holy Storm if he have to fight demons (and I don’t have to worry about getting wet), or Critical Strike/Karmic Aura otherwise to greatly increase his damage output when in melee (his undead can provide the flanking for critical strike). His Travel Devotion allows him to arrive there quite quickly too. The divine companion ACF gives Gladius the ability to do something with his low-level spells without wasting actions. He doesn't wear armor anymore and wields a warmace thanks to the dread necromancer dip.

One thing : persistent Wraithstrike. With Shield and Mage Armor improved by Abjurant Champion, you have very good defenses, but with wraithstrike, Gladius Ogma can now Power Attack to the maximum he can almost each round. Metamagic School Focus allows Persistent Divine Power to go under the holy ceiling of 9th level, allowing Gladius Ogma to persist this too. 5 levels of Abjurant Champion means that not only can Gladius use Dispel Magic and other abjurations as a swift action, he can have a caster level equal to his BAB, hence equal to his character level with Divine Power, which in turn means his hour/level boosts like mage armor can last all day, or even 2 days when extended.


Finally, Gladius reaches the pinnacle of his carrier by combining the two parts of his power, arcane and divine. Extra Turning applies to both turning and rebuking which improves its effectiveness a lot, and allows to possibly persist 4 spells, with his sorcerer level giving him access to 4th level wizard spells. For example, Persistent Trollshape, or Polymorph, to improve your damaging capabilities even further. Demonwrecker 4 and 5 improve your capabilities to deal with demons too, by allowing your undead to bypass their DR too.



0: Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Resistance, Ghost Hand, Read Magic, Daze, Mending, Open/Close
1: Shield, Mage Armor, Grease, Critical Strike, Karmic Aura
2: Wraithstrike, Glitterdust, Alter Self, Wings of Cover
3: Haste, Greater Mighty Wallop, Dispel Magic
4: Polymorph, Fire Shield

Notable cleric and exalted spells used :
Divine Power, Create Undead, Shivering Touch, Eagle’s Splendor (to gain more Turnings), Banishment, Holy Word, Planar Ally…
Travel : Fly, Dimension Door





Complete Adventurer : Critical Strike, Wraithstrike
Complete Arcane : Persistent Spell
Complete Champion: Travel Devotion, Divine Companion ACF
Complete Mage : Metamagic School Focus, Karmic Aura
Heroes of Horror : Dread Necromancer
Player’s Handbook II : Trollshape
Races of Destiny : Illumian
Races of the Dragon : Greater Mighty Wallop, Wings of Cover

[Thurbane]

Oliver the Fate-kissed


Oliver was but a simple warmage, serving a nameless king in a minor skirmish. But in his first real campaign, something happened. The rest of his squad was wiped out by a demon ambush summoned by cultists, but he survived. Bearing their bodies back to camp, he was encircled by a bright light and knew that Olladra had selected him. He devoted himself to expanding the magical powers granted by her, until he was adept enough to combine them with his basic warmage training. But the memory of fighting demons stuck with him, and he focused his divine powers into how best to combat them. This included a tour of duty with sacred exorcists. But Oliver found one more surprise in his path: his middling to poor warmage abilities were sufficient to draw attention from a martial group of arcane adepts. They taught him to expand his powers of warding and defense, and on the cusp of becoming myth himself he blends both sides of magic in a style all his own.


14 Str, 10 Dex, 14 Con, 12 Int, 12 Wis, 16 Cha. All stat ups to Cha.
Human.








Level


Class


Base Attack Bonus


Fort Save


Ref Save


Will Save


Skills


Feats


Class Features



1st
Warmage
+0
+0
+0
+2
Concentration +4
Knowledge(Arcana) +4, Spellcraft +4, Knowledge (The Planes) +4
Precocious Apprentice (Scorching Ray), Educated (Eberron Campaign Setting)
Armored Mage (Light), Warmage Edge


2nd
Favored Soul
+0
+2
+2
+4
Knowledge (Religion) +2 (2 ranks), Concentration +1 (5 ranks), Spellcraft +1 (5 ranks), Know(Planes) 4 ranks, Know (Arcana) 4 ranks




3rd
Favored Soul
+1
+3
+3
+5
Knowledge (Religion) +2 (4 ranks), Concentration +1 (6 ranks), Spellcraft +1 (6 ranks) Know(Planes) 4 ranks, Know (Arcana) 4 ranks
Spell Penetration



4th
Favored Soul
+2
+3
+3
+5
Knowledge (Religion) +2 (6 ranks), Concentration +1 (7 ranks), Spellcraft +1 (7 ranks) Know(Planes) 4 ranks, Know (Arcana) 4 ranks

Deity’s Favor ACF (PHB II)


5th
Favored Soul
+3
+4
+4
+6
Know (Arcana) +2 (6 ranks)
Knowledge (Religion) (6 ranks), Concentration +1 (8 ranks), Spellcraft +1 (8 ranks) Know(Planes) 4 ranks




6th
Mystic Theurge
+3
+4
+4
+8
Spellcraft +1 (9 ranks) Concentration +1 (9 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +2 (6 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks
Arcane Disciple (Luck)



7th
Mystic Theurge
+4
+4
+4
+9
Spellcraft +1 (10 ranks) Concentration +1 (10 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +2 (8 ranks)
Know(Arcana) 6 ranks,
Know(Religion) 6 ranks




8th
Demonwrecker 1
+4
+4
+4
+11
Spellcraft +1 (11 ranks) Concentration +1 (11 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +2 (10 ranks)
Know(Arcana) 6 ranks,
Know(Religion) 6 ranks

Breach spell resistance, demonwreck weapon of good


9th
Demonwrecker 2
+5
+4
+4
+12
Spellcraft +1 (12 ranks) Concentration +1 (12 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (11 ranks)
Know(Arcana) 6 ranks
Know(Religion) +1 7 ranks
Combat Caster
Demonwreck weapon of cold iron


10th
Sacred Exorcist 1
+5
+4
+4
+14
Spellcraft +1 (13 ranks) Concentration +1 (10 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +2 (13 ranks) Know (religion) (7 ranks)

Exorcism, Turn Undead


11th
Demonwrecker 3
+6
+5
+5
+14
Spellcraft +1 (14 ranks) Concentration +1 (14 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (14 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (8 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks


Demonwreck spell damage


12th
Demonwrecker 4
+7
+5
+5
+15
Spellcraft +1 (15 ranks) Concentration +1 (15 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (15 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (9 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks

Power Attack
Demonwreck weapon aura


13th
Demonwrecker 5
+7
+5
+5
+15
Spellcraft +1 (16 ranks) Concentration +1 (16 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (16 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (10 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks


Perfect breach


14th
Abjurant Champion 1
+8
+5
+5
+17
Spellcraft +1 (17 ranks) Concentration +1 (17 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (17 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (11 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks


Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration


15th
Abjurant Champion 2
+9
+5
+5
+18
Spellcraft +1 (18 ranks) Concentration +1 (18 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (18 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (12 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks

Divine Might
Swift Abjuration


16th
Abjurant Champion 3
+10
+6
+6
+18
Spellcraft +1 (19 ranks) Concentration +1 (19 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (19 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (13 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks





17th
Abjurant Champion 4
+11
+6
+6
+19
Spellcraft +1 (20 ranks) Concentration +1 (20 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (20 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (14 ranks),Know(Arcana) 6 ranks


Arcane Boost


18th
Abjurant Champion 5
+12
+6
+6
+19
Spellcraft +1 (21 ranks) Concentration +1 (21 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (21 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (15 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks

Arcane Strike
Martial Arcanist


19th
Sacred Exorcist 2
+13
+6
+6
+20
Spellcraft +1 (22 ranks) Concentration +1 (22 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (22 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (16 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks


Detect Evil, Resist Possession


20th
Sacred Exorcist 3
+14
+7
+7
+20
Spellcraft +1 (23 ranks) Concentration +1 (23 ranks) Knowledge (Planes) +1 (23 ranks) Know (religion) +1 (17 ranks), Know(Arcana) 6 ranks

Chosen Foe +1 (Evil Outsider)










Character Level
0th level spells per day
1st level spells per day
2nd level spells per day
3rd level spells per day
4th level spells per day


1 - 5
5
3
1†




6*
6
4
1†




7-13
6
5
1†




14
6
6
3 + 1




15
6
6
4 + 1




16
6
6
5+ 1
3



17
6
6
6 + 1
4



18
6
6
6 + 1
5
3



*Gain Arcane Disciple (Luck) at this level also
†Scorching Ray only, via Precocious Apprentice








Character Level
0th level spells known
1st level spells known
2nd level spells known
3rd level spells known
4th level spells known
5th level spells known
6th level spells known
7th level spells known


2
4
3








3
5
3








4
5
4








5
6
4
3







6
6
4
3







7
7
5
4
3






8
7
5
4
3






9
8
6
5
4
3





10
8
6
5
4
3





11
9
6
6
5
4
3




12
9
6
6
5
4
3




13 - 18
9
6
6
6
5
4
3



19
9
6
6
6
5
4
3



20
9
6
6
6
6
5
4
3





0th: Cure Minor Wounds, Create Water, Detect Magic, Light, Read Magic, Purify Food and Drink, Mending, Guidance, Virtue
1st: Lesser Vigor, Shield of Faith*,Bless, Resurgence (SpC), Protection from Evil, Conviction* (SpC)
2nd: Close Wounds, Spiritual Weapon, Dark Way (SpC), Lesser Restoration, Body Ward* (CC), Soul Ward* (CC)
3rd: Mass Lesser Vigor (SpC), Dispel Magic*, Spikes (SpC), Mass Resurgence (SpC), Knight’s Move (SpC), Mass Resist Energy
4th: Dismissal*, Divine Power, Death Ward, Recitation, Delay Death, Revenance
5th: Revivify, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful (SpC), Plane Shift, True Seeing
6th: Heal, Greater Dispel Magic*, Superior Resistance*, Visage of the Deity (SpC)
7th: Holy Star* (SpC), Ethereal Jaunt, Resurrection





Character Level
0th level spells per day
1st level spells per day
2nd level spells per day
3rd level spells per day
4th level spells per day
5th level spells per day
6th level spells per day
7th level spells per day


2
5
3








3
6
4








4
6
5








5
6
6
3







6
6
6
4







7
6
6
5
3






8
6
6
6
4






9
6
6
6
5
3





10
6
6
6
6
4





11
6
6
6
6
5
3




12
6
6
6
6
6
4




13 - 18
6
6
6
6
6
5
3



19
6
6
6
6
6
6
4



20
6
6
6
6
6
6
5
3






Oliver is a pretty normal favored soul, though a level behind due to his Warmage dip. This does give the ability to (usually) cast a scorching ray 1/day and a few other incidental spells, but mostly he fights like any divine caster, mixing spells with smacking.



Oliver has expanded his ability to fight chaotic and evil outsiders, improving his weapons passively and gaining bonuses against their spell resistance. THis last is not incredibly useful as he avoids spells that give saving throws, and there is significant overlap between the two. But he is still a divine caster with reasonable spells, passable BAB (now with Divine Power), and a little more warmage casting. It would be nice to find a Runestaff of (Greater) Luminous Armor, spontaneous casters cannot learn it for… reasons. A regular staff should work too, you only need it once a day or so the charges should last quite a while.



This is a bit of a rough spot. Oliver now has 2nd level arcane spells, which would be more useful at about 4th level. He has gotten a little more BAB and his abjurations (tagged in favored soul spell list) are better. And he finally got a pay off for gaining turn undead earlier, in Divine Might. At this point Oliver wants to be a self-buffing melee fighter, which is a little more challenging on the action economy because he lacks any way to quicken.



This is as good as it gets. The Abjurant Champion capstone combines with Divine Power to get a full caster level on any Abjuration favored soul spells, which are tagged in the spell list. As importantly, we now have Arcane Strike as well as the Abjurant Champion verison (which is not limited to Arcane spells) to really pour on the damage in melee. Just watch your swift action, between swift abjuration, Arcane Boost, a few swift action spells, and maybe some magic items it can be tough to pick what to do. 7th level divine spells is not 9th level, but it’s not nothing either.




Favored Soul ACF trading Weapon Focus for temp hp is PHB II
Warmage base class and Precocious Apprentice are Complete Arcane
Favored Soul base class, Sacred Exorcist prc, Arcane Disciple feat are Complete Divine
Divine Might feat is web enhancement
Demonwrecker prc is EttDP p.168
Abjurant Champion prc is CM p.50
Arcane Strike feat is Complete Warrior
Educated is Eberron Campaign Setting
Many spells from Spell Compendium
Some spells from Complete Champion

[Thurbane]

Dante
The Demon Slayer
CN->CG Silverbrow Human Crusader 1/ Sha'ir 5/ Demonwrecker 5/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Archmage 2/ Sacred Excorcist 2

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/devilmaycry/images/4/45/SinDTDMC5.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/700?cb=20190319215403



Level 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1st - - - - - - - - - -
2nd 4 3 - - - - - - - -
3rd 5 4 - - - - - - - -
4th 5 4 2 - - - - - - -
5th 5 5 4 - - - - - - -
6th 5 5 4 2 - - - - - -
7th 5 6 5 4 - - - - - -
8th 5 7 5 4 2 - - - - -
9th 5 7 5 5 4 - - - - -
10th 5 7 6 5 4 2 - - - -
11th 5 7 6 5 5 4 - - - -
12th 5 7 6 6 5 4 1 - - -
13th 5 7 6 6 5 5 3 - - -
14th 5 7 6 6 6 5 3 1 - -
15th 5 7 7 6 6 5 5 3 - -
16th 5 7 7 6 6 6 5 3 1 -
17th 5 7 7 6 6 6 5 4 3 -
18th 5 7 7 6 6 6 6 4 3 1
19th 5 7 7 6 6 6 6 4 4 3
20th 5 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 4 4


Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Dragonscale Husk Crusader 1 1 2 0 0 Balance (+4) 4; Concentration (+4) 4; Diplomacy (+4) 4; Knowledge (arcana) (+4 CC) 2; Knowledge (the planes) (+4 CC) 2; Knowledge (religion) (+4) 4; Spellcraft (+4 CC) 2; Combat Casting, Skill Focus (spellcraft) Dragonscale Husk, Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve (5)
2nd Sha'ir 1 1 2 0 2 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 5; Diplomacy (+1) 5; Knowledge (arcana) (+1 CC) 2.5; Knowledge (the planes) (+1) 3; Knowledge (religion) 4; Spellcraft (+1) 3; Summon Gen Familiar
3rd Sha'ir 2 2 2 2 3 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 6; Diplomacy (+1) 6; Knowledge (arcana) 2.5; Knowledge (the planes) (+1) 4; Knowledge (religion) (+1 CC) 4.5; Spellcraft (+1) 4; Spell Penetration
4th Sha'ir 3 2 3 1 3 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 7; Diplomacy (+1) 7; Knowledge (arcana) (+1 CC) 3; Knowledge (the planes) (+1) 5; Knowledge (religion) 4.5; Spellcraft (+1) 5; Recognize Genie Works
5th Sha'ir 4 3 3 1 4 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 8; Diplomacy (+1) 8; Knowledge (arcana) 3; Knowledge (the planes) (+1) 6; Knowledge (religion) (+1 CC) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 6;
6th Sha'ir 5 3 3 1 4 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 9; Diplomacy (+1) 9; Knowledge (arcana) (+1 CC) 3.5; Knowledge (the planes) (+1) 7; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 7; Extend Spell Elemental Protection
7th Demonwrecker 1 3 3 1 6 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 10; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 10; Knowledge (arcana) 3.5; Knowledge (the planes) (+1) 8; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 8; Breach Spell Resistance, Demonwreck Weapon of Good
8th Demonwrecker 2 4 3 1 7 Balance 4; Concentration 10; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 11; Knowledge (arcana) (+1) 4.5; Knowledge (the planes) (+1) 9; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 9; Demonwreck Weapon of Cold Iron
9th Demonwrecker 3 5 4 2 7 Balance 4; Concentration 10; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 12; Knowledge (arcana) (+1) 5.5; Knowledge (the planes) (+1) 10; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 10; Sculpt Spell Demonwreck Spell Damage
10th Demonwrecker 4 6 4 2 8 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 11; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 13; Knowledge (arcana) (+1) 6.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 11; Demonwreck Weapon Aura
11th Abjurant Champion 1 7 4 2 10 Balance 4; Concentration 11; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 14; Knowledge (arcana) (+1) 7.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 12; Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration
12th Abjurant Champion 2 8 4 2 11 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 12; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 15; Knowledge (arcana) (+1) 8.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft 12; Spell Focus (evocation) Swift Abjuration
13th Abjurant Champion 3 9 5 3 11 Balance 4; Concentration 12; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 16; Knowledge (arcana) (+1) 9.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 13;
14th Abjurant Champion 4 10 5 3 12 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 13; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 17; Knowledge (arcana) (+1) 10.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft 13; Arcane Boost
15th Abjurant Champion 5 11 5 3 12 Balance 4; Concentration 13; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 18; Knowledge (arcana) (+1) 11.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 14; Spell Focus (conjuration) Martial Arcanist
16th Archmage 1 11 5 3 14 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 14; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 19; Knowledge (arcana) 11.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 5; Spellcraft (+1) 15; High Arcana (Mastery of Shaping)
17th Archmage 2 11 5 3 15 Balance 4; Concentration 14; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 20; Knowledge (arcana) 11.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) (+1) 6; Spellcraft (+1) 16; High Arcana (Mastery of Counterspelling)
18th Sacred Exorcist 1 11 5 3 17 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 15; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 21; Knowledge (arcana) 11.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 6; Spellcraft (+1) 17; Divine Defiance Exorcism, Turn Undead
19th Sacred Exorcist 2 12 5 3 18 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 16; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 22; Knowledge (arcana) 11.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 6; Spellcraft (+1) 18; Detect evil, Resist Possession
20th Demonwrecker 5 12 5 3 18 Balance 4; Concentration (+1) 17; Diplomacy (+2 CC) 23; Knowledge (arcana) 11.5; Knowledge (the planes) 10; Knowledge (religion) 6; Spellcraft (+1) 19; Perfect Breach


I love the Devil May Cry games, and I love recreating characters using the mechanics of a game system. So when I saw that this competition was about creating a demon-slaying master of magic and swordplay, Dante was the first thing that came to my mind. However, D&D weaponry and sword skills do a poor job of replicating his flashy, elemental, crowd-controlling combat style. ToB makes a solid effort (and this Dante has a little bit of that in there), but really, it's best replicated by spells. And that got me thinking. Why does a gish have to use mundane weaponry? Why not just use their durability and defenses to cast spells from amidst the fray, and Sculpt Spell and Mastery of Shaping to sling AOEs around himself with precision? And so this version of Dante was born, a different style of gish.

Crusader gives us some much needed durability, letting us survive in the fray straight from level 1. The Dragonscale Husk ACF trades heavy armor proficiency we'd never be able to use for some energy resistances and a typeless bonus to AC that doesn't stack with most things... but does stack with everything Dante is using, namely with spells (which are “special attacks”, not “special qualities”, those being distinct technical terms used to define statblocks), with magic items (such as Bracers of Armor), and with shields. (Technically, it also applies to touch AC, but good luck convincing a DM of that one). Conveniently, it also has Diplomacy as a class skill, which is a necessity for...

Sha'ir. Both arcane and divine casters, they bargain for their spells from extraplanar entities with Diplomacy via their "gen familiar". The amount of time this takes depends on whether it's a spell they know intimately, a spell they've just seen before (and identified with Spellcraft), or a divine spell, but it gives them incredible flexibility, since whatever utility spell they need is only a small time away from being at their fingertips, as long as they've seen it before. Don't forget that the gen familiar also gets all the benefits of a regular familiar, including the ability to share spells.

In this bracket, we also pick up Extend Spell and Sculpt Spell. The most interesting use of Sculpt Spell for us is changing the shape of a spell into four 10ft squares, letting us precision strike the area around us or hit clumped up enemies four separate times. Combat Casting will prove its worth, letting us cast without getting interrupted even when surrounded by enemies. Sadly, we don't have the feats to spare for Shielded Casting, but with flaws or such that is well worth picking up.

Into Demonwrecker! A much better chassis for Dante, with full casting progression, better HP, better BAB (to qualify for Abjurant Champion), and even some class skills that we need. And if it's true to lore, demons are the vast majority of what Dante will be casting on, so the ability to breach their spell resistance and latter energy resistances is invaluable.

But how is Dante, at this point nearly a pure spellcaster, benefiting from all those weapon powers? I'm glad you asked. Allow me to introduce the steeldance spell, which puts two daggers into orbit around Dante that attack as a free action using his CL instead of BAB. In addition to being a fantastic representation of his Swordmaster Style, I believe these would benefit from the Demonwreck Weapon class abilities right off the bat. If the DM disagrees, though, surely they'd at least benefit once you reach Demonwreck Weapon Aura. The spell can also be shared with your gen familiar for double the effect (at the cost of no new spells during that fight, but that takes a couple of rounds anyway so this is a better benefit), and its daggers should also benefit from Demonwreck Aura.

Abjurant Champion baby! The gold-standard for gishes, if you can meet the requirements.

At this point, Dante has gone through enough character development to fight for something more than himself, and is now Chaotic Good. This is relevant here, because it gives him access to [Exalted] spells, specifically (greater) luminous armor. Between that, shield, (lesser) deflect, and Abjurant Armor boosting all of them (+6 Dragonscale Husk and still benefiting from his full Dex), Dante's AC will reach the realms of "snookaloopy". Depending on whether you took Martial Stance (which hopefully also works with steeldance) or Iron Guard's Glare back at level 1, you can either take advantage of that by discouraging attacks on allies or healing them/yourself.

(Greater) spell matrix is an underappreciated pair of spells. With one, you can cast 2-3 steeldances on yourself (each of which is duplicated onto your gen familiar, presumably still using your caster level and Cha) as a swift action, move into position, lay down an AOE around you, and attack your enemies with 8-12 daggers at one less than full ‘BAB’ + Cha, each also adding your Cha to attack. I believe that the half on you also benefit from your Demonwrecker class features, letting them bypass demons’ damage reduction, and once you hit the 4th level in the class all of them will. However, this can get even better. The spell matrix spells are Personal, which means you can share them with your gen familiar. Normally, the familiar would have to cast spells from a wand into its matrix in order to take advantage of this, which is still pretty good and worth using, but as an Abjurant Champion, Dante can also pass abjuration touch spells to his gen familiar for its matrix as a swift action while still filling his own matrix with his standard actions. That particular trick only works as a relatively short-term preparation, since leaving to fetch Dante’s spells will end the shared spell, but when you can use it it’s an absolutely devastating manipulation of the action economy.

Arcane Boost is another great, well, boost. The best two uses for Dante will usually be patching up his relatively weak Fort/Ref saves or increasing the damage from each of his steeldance daggers, but they're all handy.

Sadly, Martial Arcanist does nothing for us, but an extra level in Abjurant Champion is still improving Swift Abjuration and Abjurant Armor.

Moving into the endgame, now.

Mastery of Shaping takes our ability to lay down crowd control from in the middle of the fight to the next level. This will also save you some higher-level spell slots since you don't need to use Sculpted Spells as often.

Mastery of Counterspelling is also great, mimicking canon Dante's ability to reflect incoming attacks with a perfectly timed counter. This gets even better next level with Divine Defiance.

And the last level of Demonwrecker. I waffled back and forth on including this one over a 3rd level of Sacred Exorcist or Archmage. Your odds of penetrating spell resistance are already fantastic, so it boils down to how often you're fighting demons specifically. If they're all you fight, as with canon Dante, then reducing your odds of failure to zero is the superior choice, so that's what I took. If you're also fighting a bunch of devils, Sacred Exorcist 3 gives you Chosen Foe (evil outsiders). And another High Arcana is always going to be a strong choice.


Complete Divine -- Sacred Exorcist.
Complete Mage -- Abjurant Champion.
Dragon Compendium -- Sha'ir.
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits -- Demonwrecker.
Fiendish Codex II -- Divine Defiance.
Races of the Dragon -- Silverbrow Human. Dragonscale Husk.
SRD -- Archmage. Combat Casting, Extend Spell, Skill Focus, Spell Focus, Spell Penetration.
Tome of Battle -- Crusader.

[Thurbane]

...and that's it. Nine Ten entries for this comp! Congrats to everyone who got an entry in!

I was working on an entry myself in case the field needed bulking out (obviously not eligible for a placing), which it happily does not. :smallsmile: On the flipside, I hope the number of entries doesn't scare off potential judges.



My idea was a Neraph Sha'ir 4/Demonwrecker 5/Abjurant Champion 5/Knight Phantom 6. Sanctum Spell to qualify early for Demonwrecker, and Neraph to meet the martial weapon reqs for Knight Phantom. Mind Over Body was to compensate for the unimpressive Fort save. I was originally looking at Eldritch Knight for the last 6 levels, but for harder reqs, KP seemed to offer a bit more, including being able to cast in light armor with no ASF. The casting progression relied on a reading that Sha'ir counted as both an arcane spellcaster, and a divine spellcaster. BAB +16, and CL 19 by the end.

The fluff of a Neraph who hates demons, and lives up to the ideals of the Knights Arcane in Eberron was all a bit silly. :smalltongue:



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


1st
Sha'ir 1
0
0
0
2
Bluff 4, Concentration 4, Diplomacy 4
Spell Penetration
Summon gen familiar


2nd
Sha'ir 2
1
0
0
3
Bluff 5, Concentration 5, Diplomacy 5
-
-


3rd
Sha'ir 3
1
1
1
3
Bluff 5, Concentration 6, Diplomacy 6, Sense Motive 1
Sanctum Spell
Recognize genie works


4th
Sha'ir 4
2
1
1
4
Bluff 5, Concentration 7, Diplomacy 7, Sense Motive 2
-
-


5th
Demonwrecker 1
2
1
1
6
Bluff 5, Concentration 8, Diplomacy 7, Sense Motive 4
-
Breach spell resistance, demonwreck weapon of good


6th
Demonwrecker 2
3
1
1
7
Bluff 5, Concentration 9, Diplomacy 7, Sense Motive 6
Combat Casting
Demonwreck weapon of cold iron


7th
Demonwrecker 3
4
2
1
7
Bluff 5, Concentration 10, Diplomacy 7, Sense Motive 8
-
Demonwreck spell damage


8th
Demonwrecker 4
4
2
1
8
Bluff 5, Concentration 11, Diplomacy 7, Sense Motive 10
-
Demonwreck weapon aura


9th
Demonwrecker 5
5
2
2
8
Bluff 5, Concentration 12, Diplomacy 9, Sense Motive 10
Martial Study (tactical strike)
Perfect breach


10th
Abjurant Champion 1
6
2
2
10
Bluff 5, Concentration 12, Diplomacy 9, Ride 3, Sense Motive 10
-
Abjurant armor, extended abjuration


11th
Abjurant Champion 2
7
2
2
11
Bluff 5, Concentration 14, Diplomacy 9, Ride 4, Sense Motive 10
-
Swift abjuration


12th
Abjurant Champion 3
8
3
3
11
Bluff 5, Concentration 15, Diplomacy 11, Ride 4, Sense Motive 10
Still Spell
-


13th
Abjurant Champion 4
9
3
3
12
Bluff 5, Concentration 16, Diplomacy 13, Ride 4, Sense Motive 10
-
Arcane boost


14th
Abjurant Champion 5
10
3
3
12
Bluff 5, Concentration 17, Diplomacy 15, Ride 4, Sense Motive 10
-
Martial arcanist


15th
Knight Phantom 1
11
5
3
12
Bluff 5, Concentration 18, Diplomacy 17, Ride 4, Sense Motive 10
Martial Study (mind over body)
Phantom steed, somatic prowess


16th
Knight Phantom 2
12
6
3
12
Bluff 5, Concentration 19, Diplomacy 19, Ride 4, Sense Motive 10
-
-


17th
Knight Phantom 3
13
6
4
13
Bluff 5, Concentration 20, Diplomacy 20, Ride 5, Sense Motive 10, Spot 1
-
-


18th
Knight Phantom 4
14
7
4
13
Bluff 5, Concentration 21, Diplomacy 21, Ride 5, Sense Motive 10, Spot 2
Quicken Spell
Aspect of the phantom


19th
Knight Phantom 5
15
7
4
13
Bluff 5, Concentration 22, Diplomacy 22, Ride 5, Sense Motive 10, Spot 3
-
-


20th
Knight Phantom 6
16
8
5
14
Bluff 5, Concentration 23, Diplomacy 23, Ride 5, Sense Motive 10, Spot 4
-
-

[loky1109]

Before start reading entries.
Yesterday I came up with idea.
Human with Magical Training and Precocious Apprentice plus Extra Slot and Extra Spell to qualify for Abjurant Champion.
Cleric-5/Demonwrecker-5/Abjurant Champion-5/another Cleric-5.
8-lvl divine spell is good.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Sha'ir was as common as I was afraid it'd be.

It's funny; I was making a second build that involved Extra Spell on Divine Crusader shenanigans, even got so far as to message back and forth a bit with Thurbane, before I realized that the build was breaking the one (special) rule of the competition and neither of us had realized it.

Man, the egg on my face at that moment...

[Thurbane]

It's funny; I was making a second build that involved Extra Spell on Divine Crusader shenanigans, even got so far as to message back and forth a bit with Thurbane, before I realized that the build was breaking the one (special) rule of the competition and neither of us had realized it.

Oh I realized, but it's not my place to offer build advice :smallamused:

[Beni-Kujaku]

Sha'ir was as common as I was afraid it'd be.

It's funny; I was making a second build that involved Extra Spell on Divine Crusader shenanigans, even got so far as to message back and forth a bit with Thurbane, before I realized that the build was breaking the one (special) rule of the competition and neither of us had realized it.

Man, the egg on my face at that moment...

Honestly? 3 is a lot less than I was expecting. I would not have been surprised if half the entries had it in one way or another


Before start reading entries.
Yesterday I came up with idea.
Human with Magical Training and Precocious Apprentice plus Extra Slot and Extra Spell to qualify for Abjurant Champion.
Cleric-5/Demonwrecker-5/Abjurant Champion-5/another Cleric-5.
8-lvl divine spell is good.

It is! But that makes for a kind of forced build‚ and granted‚ Abjurant Champion is so good that even without arcane spellcasting it can still be worth‚ it's still pretty sad to flush down the drain half of its class features.

[ciopo]

This round made me flip my opinion on abjurant champion from "good/excellent" to "meh/average". The one good thing is full bab + full spellcasting progression, but the signature class feature is bluuurg when there are basically only two spells it can be applied to.

[Beni-Kujaku]

This round made me flip my opinion on abjurant champion from "good/excellent" to "meh/average". The one good thing is full bab + full spellcasting progression, but the signature class feature is bluuurg when there are basically only two spells it can be applied to.

The "signature ability" of the AC is not improving shield and mage armor (and luminous armor), it's being able to buff yourself while not losing actions. Being able to cast Conviction to gain +4 to all saves, using your improved caster level, being able to dispel by a swift action, casting explosive runes on an arrow before shooting it, just remove an extraplanar creature from the fight with a khyber trap, just simply Magic circle against anything, whenever you want...

All of that on top of having full bab and full spellcasting, which is next-to-never seen, AND having greatly increased caster level. What else do you want?

[ciopo]

Only 1st and 2nd level spells can be quickened by the class feature.

It's definetively a cool class in the plus territory, don't get me wronf.

But tinkering builds for this round worsened the opinion I have of it, that's all. Mostly because of the very narrow applicability of the armor bonus.

I was trying to get fancy with a druid entry, for the spells that give "natural armor bonus" instead of a ehnancement bonus to natural armor, but I felt I was on too thin grounds for getting abjurant knight applied to that.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Only 1st and 2nd level spells can be quickened by the class feature.

It's definetively a cool class in the plus territory, don't get me wronf.

But tinkering builds for this round worsened the opinion I have of it, that's all. Mostly because of the very narrow applicability of the armor bonus.

I was trying to get fancy with a druid entry, for the spells that give "natural armor bonus" instead of a ehnancement bonus to natural armor, but I felt I was on too thin grounds for getting abjurant knight applied to that.

Hmmmmm.... Nope. Half class level rounded up equals 3 when you're Abjurant Champion 5.

Druid really doesn't have many good Abjurations, and that's a shame. I, too, would have liked to make something like a druid/wiz/Abjurant Champion with Vow of Poverty, but with the absence of good targets and of good synergy, I gave up.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

This round made me flip my opinion on abjurant champion from "good/excellent" to "meh/average". The one good thing is full bab + full spellcasting progression, but the signature class feature is bluuurg when there are basically only two spells it can be applied to.

Yeah, that's a problem with the class. Heck, even the designers thought Mage Armor was an abjuration spell: just look at the sample character's stat block! They even "fixed" it in the errata. :smallsigh:

Still, at least the Luminous Armor line exists. Otherwise, you're begging your DM to let Mage Armor work - something that's beyond the scope of these contests.

The free quicken spells still help, and as Beni-Kujaku mentions, apply up to 3rd level spells natively due to that class feature explicitly rounding up. I know old char op circles made use of that with the Inquisition domain and other, flat bonuses to dispel magic to bypass the usual +10 limitation as a way to get more mileage out of swift action dispel magic.

Plus, it's not limited to just dispel magic. If your Shield spell runs out or one of your other, qualified spells gets dispelled, Abjurant Champion means you're only out a swift action to get it back up.


Hmmmmm.... Nope. Half class level rounded up equals 3 when you're Abjurant Champion 5.

Druid really doesn't have many good Abjurations, and that's a shame. I, too, would have liked to make something like a druid/wiz/Abjurant Champion with Vow of Poverty, but with the absence of good targets and of good synergy, I gave up.

At one point, I was toying around with a Druid and/or Arcane Heirophant build. I just couldn't make all of the pieces fit to my liking however. It doesn't help that the text on AH is a little messy regarding whether or not it grants wildshape. It sounds like it doesn't, but then the sample character has it with less than Druid 5. It was simply a can of worms that I didn't want to open.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Random thoughts on the builds:

Shar're Ziahorus: Damn, she had nothing to do with Shar. Does Ziahorus mean something in egyptian, like "servant of Horus or something"? Knowledge devotion is definitely the way to go for a gish, good thinking. However, I'm not sure the duskblade's armored casting is really necessary, considering mage armor. Also, scourge maiden is pretty redundant, considering most evil creatures with spell resistance are outsiders. Except if you're going to fight a lot of devils, that would probably have been better to take Demonwrecker 5, especially since you don't have that many evocation spells, do you?

Swansong: Damn, that's a lot of paladin levels. Don't think I've ever seen this many in any optimization contest. I like the concept of 2 half-casters making a theurge gish. You really are half-lots of things. Spell completion items are treated as spells, and you can indeed use the Abjurant Champion's ability to improve a scroll of mage armor or shield, but note that an item of a quickened spell still requires a standard action to activate, so swift abjuration doesn't really apply here. The substitution level thing is very interesting. RAW, you definitely can't do that since you're not bard 3, but that leads to weird shenanigans where you could start your carrier with inspire competence, then switch it for Fortification when you get your 3rd level. I don't see very many other uses for it, except using Daring Warrior or Daring Outlaw to get some Dodge bonus from Swashbuckler at low levels, then taking two-weapon fighting and switching the Dodge bonus for Shield of Blades. Replacing Suggestion by Repel Domination at a later level can also be useful, since mind-affecting immunity is much more common at high level than mid-level. Finally, thank you for teaching me the word "gallivant".
Shakira the Sha'iradin: and there we go. First Sha'ir, not the last. This build seems a bit all around the place. I feel like divine metamagic wasn't even that much of a requirement, since you get it so late. Plus, it doesn't affect arcane spells, so no persisted bite of the wererat, and you have very few interesting spells for it. And without DMM, I see little reason for the last 4 levels are sacred exorcist. Same with Spellsword. I understand that it is an easy way to get full BAB on your 5th Sha'ir level, but having a dip in a class with a useless 1st level ability isn't pretty.
Vilespeaker: I absolutely love this one! From the concept of a straight-up evil demonwrecker, to how they use demons to fight one another, to how it's implemented with some truename magic! Really nice thinking. Also, ironically, when treading the Abyss, what will likely give you away is not the fact that a devil has come to invade, but that 8 vrocks are walking in formation around you, since they can't get farther than 10ft without order. Organized tanar'ri is not a common occurence. (Also, "defend me" is not that good of an order. They will do nothing except if you are explicitly attacked, which may well be your demise if some demon just Finger of Death's you. Then you have 8 high-level demons actively trying to prevent your teammates from resurrecting you.) It might be better to always have a succubus with you spamming suggestion on all your other demons to make them obey more "willingly". (Also, demons do not know their own truename, so Planar Binding into "tell me your truename" wouldn't work)
Khamuel: Did... Did that guy just swear fealty to a king of the fae just because he was handsome? I thought he maxed out wisdom! Combining arcane, divine and eldritchery is no small feat, congratulations on that. Of course persistomancer with divine power. That's strong, and using Abjurant Champion to get a little beefier than the standard warlock is good. Not much else to say, except you messed up on your table, you should have one BAB less starting at level 5, but that doesn't affect much. However, I'm not sure swearing fealty then breaking your oath can be considered exalted enough for luminous armor.
Olabin: The lore is nice, what with Lolth as a queen of demons as much as drows, and the build is sweet, if a bit expected. I'm not sure you can Swift Abjuration a Sanctum spell, though. It is on a level 4 slot, after all. That would mean to be able to swift abjuration any metamagicked low-level spell, which is... Dubious, at the very best. But if it works, good find.
Timoriel Sapnis: Aaaaand here we have the counterpart to Vilespeaker! Probably a bit more powerful, with 9th level spells, the ability to get outsiders both good and evil, and to not have to worry too much about the orders of Fiendbinder, but a bit less original and definitely less flavorful (truenames are cool). I like how both characters on the opposite end of alignment can have the same goals, classes and concept, even to the point of having a planar cohort, one summoned by binding, the other with planar ally. Sooo... Do you want to raid the Abyss and recreate the legend that was in Vilespeaker's lore with him? About the build itself, not much to say, it's pretty focused, which may make you a bit weak if your servants are dispelled. You probably should have made it clearer that Arcane Disciple was for the Summoner domain, instead of only putting it in the level recap.
Gladius Ogma: You should have taken levels in Swashbuckler, just for that sweet swagger and grace. Anyway, another persistomancer or almost-persistomancer (do I hear four?, one DMM persist, one Echoing spell, and one Illumian). And I think it's the earliest persisted wraithstrike we've seen today, congratulations! (at this point, I feel like this is the only milestone that matters, with persisted Divine Power). Not that original, but at least it's not the same metamagic reducer. The Dread Necromancer dip is also a bit weird, but it gives you your Turns so yeah. You go to great length to get Metamagic School Focus (Transmutation) to get Persisted Divine Power below level 9 to use Naenhoon, but I don't think that's even needed. "If she chooses to apply the Heighten Spell effect, it costs her one turn attempt per level that she heightens the spell, up to a maximum of 9th level." That's the only mention of a 9th level limit in Naenhoon, so you should be able to Persist Divine Power from level 7 (even though you wouldn't have enough Turns to persist Wraithstrike too, at least without nightsticks).
Oliver the Fate-kissed: I love how the story is just "and then he met his next prestige class!". That's kind of cliche, but I find it hilarious. It seems to me that your character doesn't know if they want to be in melee or not. If you want to use scorching ray and warmage's edge, why are you so melee oriented with divine might, and your various defense divine spells (plus, you know, demonwrecker), and if you want to go melee, why is your BAB so low for so long, and why taking warmage instead of wizard? I feel like a level of wizard and putting some abjurant champion levels earlier would have been probably better. Also, second Sacred exorcist of the day.
Dante: Love that picture. This is just so much "you're doomed" energy. 3rd Sha'ir of the day. 3rd sacred exorcist. I'm sorry, but the Demonwreck weapons have to be wielded by somebody, even with the aura, which the steeldance daggers are not. So RAW, they are not demonwreck. But I believe most DMs would let it pass. Chaotic Good exalted, heh? *looks at the picture* yeah sure why not. Archmage on a build that is already starved for caster levels is a daring choice, and I believed it paid off quite nicely. All in all a pretty simple yet very enjoyable build at first glance.


Summary: 3 "persistomancers" or so, 3 sacred exorcists, 3 sha'irs, 2 demon enslavers, 4 mystic theurges, and one eldritch disciple ("what are you doing here, you're ruinin' the damn photo!")

[Endarire]

Thankee for these interesting builds, not that I would normally use them! (|=^)

[Thurbane]

Thankee for these interesting builds, not that I would normally use them! (|=^)

That's the thing with JYW compared to IC. In IC, you might see some interesting uses for an oddball PrC that would make for a practical, interesting character to play.

JYW tries to shoehorn in some random aspects, while banning something that potentially could make them work better together, so the end result tends to be something that wouldn't generally see play at an actual game.

In that way, they both kind of live up to the TV shows they are named for. :smallbiggrin:

[Glimbur]

The free quicken spells still help, and as Beni-Kujaku mentions, apply up to 3rd level spells natively due to that class feature explicitly rounding up. I know old char op circles made use of that with the Inquisition domain and other, flat bonuses to dispel magic to bypass the usual +10 limitation as a way to get more mileage out of swift action dispel magic.



Any room for Legacy Champion or whatever that other class is to advance features past max level? You usually see it for Hell fire warlock, and it would have been rough in this contest with Demonwrecker too, but maybe in the wild quickening 4th level abjurations would help.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Any room for Legacy Champion or whatever that other class is to advance features past max level? You usually see it for Hell fire warlock, and it would have been rough in this contest with Demonwrecker too, but maybe in the wild quickening 4th level abjurations would help.

At the absolute maximum, you would be able to quicken 7th level spells (Something 5/Abjurant Champion 5/ Legacy Champion 10, for a total of Abjurant Champion 13), but most likely 6th (since I don't think there is a full BAB caster that can go up to 7th level spells, so you'll have to take at least 6 levels before starting Abjurant Champion).

And if you go up to 6, yes, there are some incredible options (a surprising lot, in fact, compared to lower levels). Namely, quickened Antimagic field. Cast your spell as you'd like, then put some antimagic, and prevent your opponent from responding. Simple and efficient. Antilife shell does the same against mundanes, if you somehow get access to it (so, as far as I know, if you're a beguiler, or with some arcane disciple-ing). Other interesting spells include dismissal and banishment ("I don't even have to waste an action on you, fiend!"), greater dispel and break enchantment ("Ah, you mind-controlled my buddy? Sorry, it want away so fast that I didn't even record it."), exalted raiment ("I like greater luminous armor, but a robe is still much classier"), and Overwhelm (touch range, mind-affecting, and a will save, but a swift action save-or-lose that is not limited by type is always incredible) and at a lower level freaking Freedom of Movement, Ice shield to get DR 15/- easily, or Indomitability. If you're able to spam the latter, and you're fighting against a single opponent, you can become nigh invincible for a few rounds and still be able to act. And a few walls and self-buffs the likes of stoneskin.

Abjuration is very far from the best school (and might actually be a contender for the worst if it wasn't for dispel and FoM), but when you have the entire school quickened without a cost, you are doomed to be able to do interesting things.

[pabelfly]

That's the thing with JYW compared to IC. In IC, you might see some interesting uses for an oddball PrC that would make for a practical, interesting character to play.

JYW tries to shoehorn in some random aspects, while banning something that potentially could make them work better together, so the end result tends to be something that wouldn't generally see play at an actual game.

In that way, they both kind of live up to the TV shows they are named for. :smallbiggrin:

I do like the extra layer of challenge that comes from Junkyard though. It does unearth some interesting stuff to use.

[loky1109]

but note that an item of a quickened spell still requires a standard action to activate
No. An item of a quickened spell requires swift action.

Activating a scroll takes the same amount of time as the casting time of the spell stored on the scroll and provokes attacks of opportunity as spellcasting does.

Activating a spell trigger item takes the same amount of time as the casting time of the spell that the item stores, but activating the item doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Any room for Legacy Champion or whatever that other class is to advance features past max level? You usually see it for Hell fire warlock, and it would have been rough in this contest with Demonwrecker too, but maybe in the wild quickening 4th level abjurations would help.

Uncanny Trickster is the other one, but it's only three levels long and gives 2/3 advancement.


At the absolute maximum, you would be able to quicken 7th level spells (Something 5/Abjurant Champion 5/ Legacy Champion 10, for a total of Abjurant Champion 13), but most likely 6th (since I don't think there is a full BAB caster that can go up to 7th level spells, so you'll have to take at least 6 levels before starting Abjurant Champion).

And if you go up to 6, yes, there are some incredible options (a surprising lot, in fact, compared to lower levels). Namely, quickened Antimagic field. Cast your spell as you'd like, then put some antimagic, and prevent your opponent from responding. Simple and efficient. Antilife shell does the same against mundanes, if you somehow get access to it (so, as far as I know, if you're a beguiler, or with some arcane disciple-ing). Other interesting spells include dismissal and banishment ("I don't even have to waste an action on you, fiend!"), greater dispel and break enchantment ("Ah, you mind-controlled my buddy? Sorry, it want away so fast that I didn't even record it."), exalted raiment ("I like greater luminous armor, but a robe is still much classier"), and Overwhelm (touch range, mind-affecting, and a will save, but a swift action save-or-lose that is not limited by type is always incredible) and at a lower level freaking Freedom of Movement, Ice shield to get DR 15/- easily, or Indomitability. If you're able to spam the latter, and you're fighting against a single opponent, you can become nigh invincible for a few rounds and still be able to act. And a few walls and self-buffs the likes of stoneskin.

Abjuration is very far from the best school (and might actually be a contender for the worst if it wasn't for dispel and FoM), but when you have the entire school quickened without a cost, you are doomed to be able to do interesting things.

It would require some Inspire Greatness cheese, but if you could somehow fit in both Legacy Champion 10 and Uncanny Trickster 3, you could get up to 8th level spells (and, assuming the Sanctum Spell trick works, 9th level spells). The problem then becomes qualifying with only Something 5 and still hitting 9th level spells. It would be funny though for swift action Maw of Chaos, however.

Seeing the Archivist made me realize that the above probably isn't necessary. Trapsmith gets thrown around a bit due to having an absurd "discount" on its spells - dispel magic at 1st and greater dispel magic at 3rd. They're arcane and have next to know slots, but it makes me wonder if there may be more there to play with.


I do like the extra layer of challenge that comes from Junkyard though. It does unearth some interesting stuff to use.

Honestly, the extra challenge is probably why I prefer the Junkyard to Iron Chief. I feel like I'm either retreading old ground when I start looking at the IC competitions, but I can honestly say I'd never even heard of Silverwood Outrider when I joined the previous competition. Making it work with minimal bonus feats was also a fun twist!

[Thurbane]

I do like the extra layer of challenge that comes from Junkyard though. It does unearth some interesting stuff to use.

Honestly, the extra challenge is probably why I prefer the Junkyard to Iron Chief. I feel like I'm either retreading old ground when I start looking at the IC competitions, but I can honestly say I'd never even heard of Silverwood Outrider when I joined the previous competition. Making it work with minimal bonus feats was also a fun twist!

Always nice to hear people are enjoying JYW: sometimes running a comp can sometimes feel like a bit of a drain, so hearing things like this always helps. :smallsmile:

And again, I'm super chuffed with the number of entries this round - very pleasantly surprised! :smallbiggrin:

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Uncanny Trickster is the other one, but it's only three levels long and gives 2/3 advancement.

It would require some Inspire Greatness cheese, but if you could somehow fit in both Legacy Champion 10 and Uncanny Trickster 3, you could get up to 8th level spells (and, assuming the Sanctum Spell trick works, 9th level spells). The problem then becomes qualifying with only Something 5 and still hitting 9th level spells. It would be funny though for swift action Maw of Chaos, however.

Better off with Bloodline levels, especially if you rule that they don't add to your ECL (making them essentially LA that you instantly buy off). Never going to be available for a competition, though.


Always nice to hear people are enjoying JYW: sometimes running a comp can sometimes feel like a bit of a drain, so hearing things like this always helps. :smallsmile:

And again, I'm super chuffed with the number of entries this round - very pleasantly surprised! :smallbiggrin:

I find Junkyard Wars tends to encourage the weirder, more interesting entries, too. A combination of the obvious route being banned and Vizzini tends to lead to everyone stretching for those sweet, sweet Originality points. I think they also tend to be easier to loophole than, e.g., an Iron Chef or even Villainous round, which again leads to interesting builds.

[Beni-Kujaku]

No. An item of a quickened spell requires swift action.

Both the SRD and the FAQ seem to disagree.


Activating a spell completion item is a standard action and provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.

Activating a spell trigger item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Activating a magic item is a standard action unless the item description indicates otherwise. However, the casting time of a spell is the time required to activate the same power in an item, regardless of the type of magic item, unless the item description specifically states otherwise.

Activating any magic item is a standard action, unless the item duplicates a spell effect that has a longer casting time or unless the item's description specifies a different casting time. The sections on spell completion and spell trigger items should include the caveat that activating the item takes as long as casting the stored spell would take. Thus, il takes 1 hour to activate a scroll with an identify spell on it. A scroll or a wand with any of the summon monster spells in it takes a full round to activate, just as casting a summon monster spell does.
A command word item rakes a standard action to activate, no matter what the casting lime of the spell it duplicates. In general, command word items don't duplicate spells with long casting rimes.

That last quote may be confusing, but the FAQ sheds light on it. You always use a standard action, but it can take longer to have the spell take effect, so for a longer spell only, the item takes longer to activate.
I know the FAQ is not something to be immediately trusted, but here it really seems to just clarify the SRD text.

I'm never sure what takes precedence, but at least that's what I've based my post on.

[Lilapop]

Spell trigger and spell completion items taking the spell's cast time action to activate was newly introduced by the Rules Compendium. Its not the only rules change in that book that is actually kinda out of scope of "collecting all the existing rules". This particular change has been mostly accepted in CharOp circles, and teeeechnically the RC has precedence over the Player's Handbook for being released later.

The FAQ meanwhile has no place in RAW discussions at all, as it is really just a look into the minds that intended rules to work this way or that, which puts it firmly into RAI territory.

[Thurbane]

Both the SRD and the FAQ seem to disagree.

This was updated in Rules Compendium, so unless you believe RC holds no authority (the "primary source" argument - which to me is quite frankly silly, and voids the entire RC, as well as rule updates in other books), loky1109 has already provided the relevant quotes (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25172878&postcount=73).

[Beni-Kujaku]

This was updated in Rules Compendium, so unless you believe RC holds no authority (the "primary source" argument - which to me is quite frankly silly, and voids the entire RC, as well as rule updates in other books), loky1109 has already provided the relevant quotes (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25172878&postcount=73).

Yep, not gonna pull the pin on that grenade. RC vs PHB has already been discussed enough, and in the end, it will always be "ask your DM/ask the judge".

[Kuulvheysoon]

Honestly, it's probably wisest to assume PHB, but make a mention of the RC as a bonus/optional rule if it benefits you.

[GreatWyrmGold]

My first thought in this contest was to use Dread Necromancer, because I vaguely remembered it counting as both an arcane and divine spellcaster. Researching that assumption lead me to the conclusion that I was wrong; the only thing I found saying otherwise was one index with “Dread Necromancer (- spontaneous arcane+divine) cha [own ALL KNOWN, +wiz/cleric necro]” as an entry. It’s not that surprising; the mystic theurge is in the DMG, and a spellcasting class which counts as both arcane and divine could use that class to advance its spellcasting two levels per level, starting after 3rd level. So that’s caster level 21 at 12th level. Yeesh.

There is one class that gets around that issue by separating its spellcasting into clear arcane and divine segments—the chameleon. If this was a different contest, I might try to argue that the cheese still works—“+1 arcane” and “+1 divine” arguably advance the spellcasting of the entire class, not just one part of the class—but including chameleon and a theurge class and two unrelated prestige classes and high-grade cheese would have just been too much, even if the contest didn’t specifically forbid PrCs with their own spellcasting.

(I also came across Sha’ir, but it looks like that came from Dragon magazine? Boo. Dragon ban aside, a Sha’ir 3/Mystic Theurge 1/Demonwrecker 5/Abjurant Champion 5/Something Else 6 would be a pretty good build for this contest though.)

So unfortunately, I had to stick to normal multiclassing stuff, with separate divine and arcane classes.
My first thought was archivist/duskblade, but duskblades get a line of abilities revolving around spellcasting in armor, and abjurant champion has an ability that makes armor spells better, so that felt...inefficient.

Another build I considered was a neraph archivist/wizard who used alter self to take the form of an advespa, for a natural weapon build. I considered adding factorum so I could add Intelligence to attacks (sometimes), or a level of sacred exorcist for turn undead and DMM shenanigans, but the build just wasn’t...I dunno...it felt off?

I also tried a couple of warlock/favored soul builds. I first thought the Precocious Apprentice feat would let the warlock qualify for Abjurant Champion by casting a single abjuration spell. However, that doesn’t seem to work without very favorable interpretations of the rules, so I abandoned that idea before getting far.
Next, I considered a warlock/favored soul eldritch glaive build, with a level or sorcerer for mage armor, with the dragonblood sorcerer substitution level and Draconic Heritage (Tarterian) for a bit of flavor (fiendish dragonblooded warrior who fights fiends or something) and a boost to mage armor. But that fell apart when I realized mage armor doesn’t benefit from Abjurant Champion’s abilities, which means I needed luminous armor, which requires a spell-preparing class. (Maybe I could have used Arcane Preparation or something, but...)

[Kuulvheysoon]

There is one class that gets around that issue by separating its spellcasting into clear arcane and divine segments—the chameleon. If this was a different contest, I might try to argue that the cheese still works—“+1 arcane” and “+1 divine” arguably advance the spellcasting of the entire class, not just one part of the class—but including chameleon and a theurge class and two unrelated prestige classes and high-grade cheese would have just been too much, even if the contest didn’t specifically forbid PrCs with their own spellcasting.

(I also came across Sha’ir, but it looks like that came from Dragon magazine? Boo. Dragon ban aside, a Sha’ir 3/Mystic Theurge 1/Demonwrecker 5/Abjurant Champion 5/Something Else 6 would be a pretty good build for this contest though.)

Sha'ir is also in the Dragon Magazine Compendium, which makes it legal for this (and most of these similar) competitions.

In that same book, the Savant explicitly has divine and arcane casting at the same time, though the progression for the divine is really far behind, not getting 3rd level spells until 15th level. even their arcane isn't great, having to wait until 5th level for their first 1st level arcane spell slots.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

(I also came across Sha’ir, but it looks like that came from Dragon magazine? Boo. Dragon ban aside, a Sha’ir 3/Mystic Theurge 1/Demonwrecker 5/Abjurant Champion 5/Something Else 6 would be a pretty good build for this contest though.)


As mentioned above, Sha'ir is also in Dragon Compendium and thus valid for competitions. Using Mystic Theurge to double-progress Sha'ir has actually come up in a competition before. Don't know which one, though; I read about it in a different thread. Got hit with massive Elegance penalties, naturally, but that spinoff thread also came to the conclusion that double-progressing Sha'ir is not necessarily legal due to the line "This essentially means that he adds the level of mystic theurge to the level of whatever other arcane spellcasting class and divine spellcasting class the character has" (also could fall afoul of the 'no stacking bonuses from the same source' rule, I guess).

And hey, I actually managed to find the thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?336729-Sha-ir-Mystic-Theurge-Dispute)!

Sha'ir is, however, fantastic for early qualification for theurge classes, thanks to the Precocious Apprentice (any spell on both their lists, e.g. protection from law) feat, which lets them cast a 2nd level divine spell and a second level arcane spell at 1st level. You still need another two levels to meet the skill req.s, but Sha'ir 1/ Warlock 2 can go straight into Mystic Theurge. Great for adding some versatility and utility to lower-tier classes with only one lost level, one feat, and some skill points.


I also tried a couple of warlock/favored soul builds. I first thought the Precocious Apprentice feat would let the warlock qualify for Abjurant Champion by casting a single abjuration spell. However, that doesn’t seem to work without very favorable interpretations of the rules, so I abandoned that idea before getting far.
Next, I considered a warlock/favored soul eldritch glaive build, with a level or sorcerer for mage armor, with the dragonblood sorcerer substitution level and Draconic Heritage (Tarterian) for a bit of flavor (fiendish dragonblooded warrior who fights fiends or something) and a boost to mage armor. But that fell apart when I realized mage armor doesn’t benefit from Abjurant Champion’s abilities, which means I needed luminous armor, which requires a spell-preparing class. (Maybe I could have used Arcane Preparation or something, but...)

Plus, all of Abjurant Champion's class features specify abjuration spells, so a Warlock is only really benefitting from the chassis. Well, the Favored Soul side is still benefitting, so not so bad actually.

[Thurbane]

A not-quite-dispute in reply to some commentary posted:


To Beni-Kujaku saying that making and breaking an oath wasn't very Exalted: I never actually spelled it out, but the fae was supposed to be aligned with Dol Dorn. There's probably a better way to write Eldritch Disciple fluff, but I didn't think of it.

(And there's only so much high Wisdom can do to help when the save DC on his Unearthly Beauty is set for characters ten levels higher. I am not aware of actual stats for fae royalty, but I can't imagine it would be easy to resist that kind of thing. Alternatively, think of it as a fairy tale sort of thing.)

[Yan Korlat]

Crossposting from IC thread: I could probably find time to judge, but am a complete newbie—my only qualification is that I've read through a whole bunch of past contests. If something's better than nothing, I'm happy to contribute!

[Thurbane]

Crossposting from IC thread: I could probably find time to judge, but am a complete newbie—my only qualification is that I've read through a whole bunch of past contests. If something's better than nothing, I'm happy to contribute!

We'd be more than happy for your judgements. Don't be too intimidated by lack of judging experience, everyone has to start somewhere, and if the contestants disagree with or question anything, they'll let you know through the dispute process. :smallsmile:

[Yan Korlat]

We'd be more than happy for your judgements. Don't be too intimidated by lack of judging experience, everyone has to start somewhere, and if the contestants disagree with or question anything, they'll let you know through the dispute process. :smallsmile:

Thanks! I have no doubt that you will :p. I'll take a crack at them!

[Kuulvheysoon]

Crossposting from IC thread: I could probably find time to judge, but am a complete newbie—my only qualification is that I've read through a whole bunch of past contests. If something's better than nothing, I'm happy to contribute!

Everybody judges for the first time sometime. As long as you evaluate each build by the same metric, you should be fine. Internal consistency is more important than "widely agreed upon benchmarks", imho.

[Yan Korlat]

Everybody judges for the first time sometime. As long as you evaluate each build by the same metric, you should be fine. Internal consistency is more important than "widely agreed upon benchmarks", imho.

Thanks! In that spirit, and in order to make sure I'm not going off in a bizarre direction on judging, here are some draft judging criteria:



Starts at 3 by default, will be adjusted up/down from there
Unusual entry methods, clever (in-flavor) uses of class abilities that I wouldn't expect at first glance, and new synergies will be heavily rewarded here.
Unusual, but appropriate, feats, races, etc. will be somewhat rewarded here.
Overused character optimization tricks that do not merit elegance deductions will merit penalties in this category.
Repetition of base classes will result in moderate penalties here.
Particularly overused or novel fluff will be taken into account, although I expect the numerical contribution to be fairly minimal.




Starts at 3 by default, will be adjusted up/down from there.
In general, I'll reward flexibility, utility, and raw combat power.
I'll attempt to only reward what's written in the entry in terms of power—a few wizard levels will not dramatically boost your power score, unless you explain roughly how you're using them to be powerful. However, a few wizard levels will almost certainly do more for your power score than a few levels of samurai.
This category will be judged without illegal parts of the entry. I'll try not to be punishing here, though—if you don't qualify for a certain set of levels, I won't assume your BAB is 0 for those levels.




Unlike the other categories, this category will start at 4 and be mostly adjusted downwards, with potential bonuses for particularly elegant builds. I've done this because there are fewer ways to merit an elegance bonus than malus, and I wanted to keep scores on the same scale. Further, an empty build is quite elegant in my eyes, so a skew towards the negative is appropriate here.
Illegal components will be heavily penalized here.
Ambiguously legal components will be mildly penalized here—if I'm unsure, expect a small penalty.
Ways of gaining free feats or other "something-for-nothing" trades, especially those that have weight in a traditional campaign but not in these types of competitions, will merit a penalty here as well. These penalties can be mitigated by good justifications for why these components fit with the narrative of your character.
Item-dependence will be penalized here in proportion to how necessary an item is and how rare it is. I'll penalize you less for requiring an Int booster than a specific relic, for instance.
Vow of Poverty will merit a minor elegance penalty as a way to skirt the prior points taken in conjunction.
A particularly clever and unambiguously legal tactic is likely to merit a bonus in this category, as will a particularly clean build.
Extraordinarily poor formatting will result in penalties.
I will not deduct points for multi-classing XP penalties.





Starts at 3 by default, will be adjusted up/down from there.
Taking the full PrCs will be credited.
Faliure to qualify for either PrC will result in substantial, but not total, deductions in this category
I'll reward you for seeking to make use of and highlight even the more obscure features of the class, and further reward you for building around these types of abilities: for instance, I'm likely to smile upon builds built to pierce spell resistance in this competition
As this is JW, taking the prohibited ingredient will also merit extremely substantial deductions.
Further, although it may benefit you in Originality and Power, utilizing loopholes or ambiguous readings to shoehorn the ingredients into doing things either against the spirit of the round or against their own natures is likely to be frowned upon. Penalties to Elegance will be accrued separately, and will not necessarily correlate particularly well: extreme rules abuse to enter early, for instance, would be met with at worst nothing and at best a bonus in this category, despite likely meriting substantial elegance penalties. On the other hand, I will assess penalties for relatively elegant misuse of the ingredients in this category.
If your power seems to drop as a result of taking the PrC (i.e. you would prefer not to take it and are only taking it to meet requirements), expect penalties here.



If anything seems super unconventional/wrong, please let me know! I'm going to trust y'all not to preferentially point out changes I should make that would favor your build, but also won't be making nitpicky changes or changes based on personal taste, partially because of the inconvenient timing at which I'm posting these.

[Yan Korlat]

This is more fun than I thought it would be, and is going fairly quickly! I'm almost done with the meat of the judgement, and then I need to go back over to check for consistency and check skill tables.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

This is more fun than I thought it would be, and is going fairly quickly! I'm almost done with the meat of the judgement, and then I need to go back over to check for consistency and check skill tables.

Glad you're liking it! Always nice to hear a new voice.

[Yan Korlat]

Judgements are ready! This process was mostly a bunch of fun for me, and I managed to find some time to get it done earlier than I thought. I didn't go as in-depth as some judges, but I think I wrote an average of just over 500 words per entry, which hopefully is enough for you to get a sense of my opinions. I'm sure I messed up in a few places. Because of that, if the chair approves, I'm willing to be pretty lenient on dispute rules, and take more subjective disputes than are normally allowed—given my inexperience, I'm happy to justify my thought process.

With that said, let the judgements begin! I modified the power category from my initial criteria—I'm now giving you an ensemble score instead of itemized deductions and bonuses.


Originality (3.25):
[-0.5]: Southern magician early entry is overplayed. I’m not going to penalize you in Elegance for this, because I think it’s fairly unambiguous that it works RAW, but this is a pretty played-out trick.
[+0.25] Knowledge devotion wasn’t obvious from the competition, and you lean fairly heavily into maximizing it, leading to a cool and cohesive character concept.
[+0.25] Duskblade is somewhat unusual, and a good fit with Demonwrecker.
[0] Archivist is fine–fairly obvious choice, but not obvious enough that I’m going to put a substantial penalty here.
[+0.25] Holy Scourge is ...not something I was expecting to see as an optional ingredient in a charop contest.

Power (3):
Overall, I think you’re a solid to low t3. Duskblade is practically the definition of a t3 character, and abjurant champion gives marginal benefits in exchange for losing some of the features of duskblade (e.g. luminous armor over armored mage (light). At higher levels, you gain substantial utility from your archivist level and demonwrecker progression, but also stop progressing your duskblade casting. Holy scourge is crap, but at least it progresses spellcasting, so you still have a gish thing going on. You hit the magical +16 BAB. Knowledge devotion + dark knowledge + collector of stories is really key to your power score here, because otherwise you’d feel pretty bad compared to a single classed traditional duskblade.

In terms of your main shtick (bypassing SR), I agree that you’re really really good at bypassing SR. However, I’m not really terrified of most of your spells. At 20th, your scariest spell seems to be enervation, but while it’s undeniably good, you don’t really have the metamagic or slots to back it up. Shocking grasp adds some more damage, which is again good, but I’m pretty sure that pure duskblade brings more to the table, given that you max at 5d6 damage on one attack since you don’t have the level 13 duskblade feature. You get dimension hop and arcane channeling as a standard action, which mitigates your reliance on melee attacks and associated movement issues.

Elegance (2.8+0.25):
[-0.5]: See dispute: I am correct (and found rules for it), but you're also correct that you de facto do call out Mulan. Justification modified, but score stands.I’m pretty sure a silverbrow human is not, in fact, a Mulan human. Even if there isn’t text explicitly stating this, I don’t love this subtype stacking, and you don’t call out the Mulan requirement anywhere.
[-0.1] I don’t buy your interp of Anyspell—I’m pretty sure you need a domain slot. You don’t mention it anywhere else, so I’m not going to ding you substantially for it.
[-0.5] I’m not sure that I’m willing to grant your reading of the second benefit of Southern magician, because it refers to an “additional benefit from spell that functions differently for a divine caster instead of an arcane caster”. This includes SPELL level, but CASTER level is not the same for all divine/arcane casters, so I don’t think your reading is functional.
[+0.25] Character flows well, and the relentless focus on penetrating SR leads to an elegant and focused concept.
[-0.1] You messed up your BAB column.
EDIT: dispute reminded me about knowledge devotion.[-0.25] I think you messed up your skills at 11th level—Knowledge(planes) is not a class skill for Abjurant Champion

Use of Components (4.15):
[+1] This character feels thematic, centered around the theurgic nature of the competition, and perfectly in flavor with both prestige classes.
[-0.1]: I’d have liked to see the fluff prereq mentioned somewhere for Demonwrecker.
[+0.5]: You actually manage to make good use of all of Demonwrecker’s features, which is impressive.
[-0.5]: You build a character around beating SR and fighting demons, using Demonwrecker as a key ingredient. Demonwrecker has, as its capstone, the ability to beat the SR of demons. You decide to get out of Demonwrecker early, and instead take 4 levels in a different class to ...make you better at piercing the SR of demons?? I get why you chose to do this mechanically, but I have to ding you for it, given your character concept.
[-0.25] Your use of duskblade somewhat detracts from the prestige classes—it’s hard to make use of abjurant champion and duskblade’s armor at the same time, and taking a 6th level just for spell power +2 when you aren’t fully taking a prestige class doesn’t sit well with me.
[+0.5] You take Abjurant Champion to completion.
[-0.5] Despite nominally using all of Abjurant champion’s features, it does not feel like you’re really in it for the features—you literally can’t use the signature feature for several levels after you acquire it, and even once you do, it’s more of an afterthought than a centerpoint of your build. Only the capstone really features in a significant way in your build’s power fantasy.
[+0.5] Really nice integration between Abjurant Champion capstone and Demonwrecker.


Originality (3.75):
[+1]: Bard/Paladin is an unexpected entry that there’s a surprising amount of in-book support for, and I’m impressed that you managed to dig all of it up, including the ACFs.
[+0.25] Hellbred is cool, although I wish you spent more time on how Hellbred and Demonwrecker work together. See notes below for exalted spells.
[-0.5] Mystic Theurge. I recognize that it’s a theurge competition, and as such, it’s not easy to avoid the original theurge. However, it’s still not very original.

Power : (1.75)
Those level 20 numbers are...really not so good (a max total of damage on a full attack of 100 fully buffed and assuming everything hits?), and they include items. You also have no way to pounce, which means if your opponent isn’t conveniently in melee range, you have effectively no combat options. I think you’re actually worse than a straight-classed paladin, especially because you don’t choose to take Battle Blessing—you do slightly better because you can buff with bard songs, but then throw that away by not getting to use any paladin spells as swift actions. I don’t think you really do anything outside of combat.

Haste is a pretty solid buff, though, and Abjurant Champion gives you decent AC. The Whirling Blade trick is sweet for as long as your smites last. Mindsight is pretty cool, but you don’t do much with it.

Elegance (1.9+0.25):
[-0.25] You’re not, strictly speaking, item DEPENDENT, but you report all your numbers with them. You also rely on consumable items to use most of your abjurant champion class features.
[-0.1] Your skills table is quite challenging to read.
[-0.5] You do not qualify for Hymn of Fortification. You try to claim that you count as a 9-th level bard for bardic music effects. You do not. To quote Initiate of Mihil: “for the purpose of determining which kinds of bardic music you can use (but not any other effect related to bardic music)” Eligibility for a swap is most certainly an “other effect related to bardic music” at best, and at worst a requirement tied to being a bard, and not at all related to bardic music.
EDIT: dispute explained that this was not intentional.[-0.25] I’m not sure that swift abjuration doesn’t work how you want it to. You can indeed use it to cast abjuration spells, but activating a spell-completion item always takes a standard action, by the SRD. I know RC disagrees, which is why I’m only assessing a half-penalty here.
[-0.25] I don’t think you can/should be taking luminous armor. “After selecting a devil-touched feat, you can no longer use or select exalted feats.” While exalted spells are not exalted feats, they’re close enough that I’m penalizing you for this.
[-0.25] You’re incorrect that Harmony can apply to Paladin singing—it specifies the “inspire courage function of your bardic music ability.” The same applies to Inspirational Boost.
[-0.5] Unfortunately, substitution levels do not work like you want them to with regard to class skills. You still need to buy perform cross-class for most of your paladin levels, which really screws up your prerequisites.

Use of Components (1.8-0.25):
[-1] Demonwrecker is only taken to two levels, and literally tacked onto the end of your build. You briefly mention the DR bypass, but to be honest, that’s not a particularly compelling justification for why you took Demonwrecker.
[+0.5] You take abjurant champion to completion.
[-0.75] EDIT: dispute convinced me even more that you can't take advantage of swift abjuration.You’re mainly using scrolls to gain benefits from abjurant champion, and can’t really take advantage of the swift abjuration class feature. Your qualification for abjurant champion is legal, but pretty clearly taken only for the purpose of meeting contest requirements. You can actually use Arcane Boost, but never mention it.
[-0.1] There’s no ingredient entry till 11th level. I’m not going to penalize heavily for this, but you take a lot of Paladin levels that seem to be pushing the components out.
[-0.1]: I’d have liked to see the fluff prereq mentioned somewhere for Demonwrecker.


Originality (1.5):
[-1]: Sha’ir is the most obvious entry for this competition, and that’s pretty clear in what builds were submitted.
[+0.25] Paladin before Sha’ir is unusual. I’m not penalizing the paladin levels that are present in other builds, because they fulfill a pretty different role here—you barely use paladin spellcasting.
[-0.5] Divine Metamagic: Persist is the standard optimization trick for a gish.
[-0.25] Sacred exorcist is a pretty predictable way to get turn attempts on a divine caster that can’t turn.

Power (4):
You’re a full-caster with access to miracle. You automatically get top marks on top-end power. A few things that made me bump you down from max marks: first, sha’ir is a weird full caster. Specifically, your unique mechanic of preparing spells means you’re more vulnerable to disruption than most other full casters, and taking a (potentially) substantial amount of time to prepare your spells curtails you pretty significantly under non-optimal conditions. You’re also down 2.5 spell levels for most of your career due to the paladin levels you started with. I understand you’re gishing, but those levels still hurt. Finally, divine metamagic is worse for you then almost anyone else, because it only applies to your divine spells, which hurts, and you get it particularly late. On the other hand, even normal extended wraithstrike is pretty darn compelling as a gish, and that’s only the least of your buffs.

Elegance (3.15):
[-0.5] You can’t DMM:persist bite of the weretiger. You can only DMM:persist divine spells.
[+0.25] Nice use of Spellcraft to make this slightly more playable in a real game!
[-0.5] I don’t believe you meet the prerequisites for arcane strike—I don’t see that you can cast third-level arcane spells at level 6.
[-0.1] I’d have liked to see the fluff req mentioned for Nymph’s kiss.

Use of Components (1.9):
[-0.5] Sha’ir is not, in my mind, a theurge. I’m applying this penalty uniformly to all Sha’ir and similar attempts to use both prestige classes to progress the same spellcasting, because it’s (again, in my opinion) clearly a way to circumvent the theme of the competition. I fully expect this to be unpopular, but c'est la vie.
[-0.1]: I’d have liked to see the fluff prereq mentioned somewhere for Demonwrecker.
[-0.5] You explicitly don’t make a particular attempt to use the Demonwrecker class abilities, using it instead for its chassis. As a full caster, this is pretty disappointing—you do have access to SR: yes spells, you’re just choosing not to use them. You’re basically a Sha’Ir gish that happens to take demonwrecker for a highly situational benefit.
[-0.5] Similarly, you barely mention the abjurant champion class features. As far as I can tell, you’re legitimately a bit action starved, so I’d have loved to see a discussion of swift abjuration. Same goes for caster level and master arcanist. The rest once again feels like you’re using Abjurant Champion to supplement a sha’ir dominant gish.
[+0.5] You take Abjurant Champion to completion.


Originality (4.5):
[+0.5] Being evil is a particular choice for this competition, and it’s paying off for you in this category. Good job on reading the Demonwrecker fluff!
[+0.25] Nice, sensible, unique choice of race.
[-0.25] Cleric is clearly an expected entry into Demonwrecker, but it’s not excessively overrepresented in the competition.
[+0.5] Fiendbinder is an incredibly clever way to leverage Demonwrecker’s fluff, and I didn’t expect a truemaner.
[+0.25] A beguiler dip at level 15 is certainly unique…
[+0.25] ACF heaven (or maybe hell)! You do a great job of finding unique ACFs to support your character theme.

Power (3.75):
This is a hard category for me to rate for you. I don’t think I’m entirely comfortable judging your long-term summons (from Fiendbinder) at their full potential power level (i.e. only limited by amount of gold) because they’re a little too similar to leadership for my comfort. That said, minionmancery is definitely a valid strategy. I think I’m going to judge you as if you had a constrained number of demons, not an effectively arbitrarily large number. I’m not going to grant the planar binding truename trick.

You’re mostly a cleric caster, which means I'm not going to rate you too low here, but you never go past cleric casting level 12. Your demon summoning is cute, but takes forever, making it a little troublesome in a traditional campaign, but having more warm bodies around is never a bad thing for power. You did a good job pumping your skill checks to make it consistently viable, though. I have no clue what you’re doing with your beguiler levels beyond glibness.

Elegance (3.55+0.1):
[-0.25] Nice chutzpah on asking your DM for Brand of the Nine Hells, but this still deserves a penalty.
[-0.25] Having a massive alternate gold sink that you handwave the cost of seems to really skirt the edges of the no items rule.
[-0.25] Demons probably don’t know their own truename, so that trick doesn’t work very well.
[-0.1] Your saving throws go down at 20th level?
EDIT: dispute explained that CWI is for amulet of the silver tongue.[-0.1] Craft wondrous item is not an elegant addition at 18th level when you already have a ritual and a downtime sink of gold, and then never mention the feat.
[+0.5] Nice job taking the concept of binding fiends, and grabbing all the little pieces that makes this feel cohesive and playable. The build flows well.

Use of Components (3.05):
[+0.5]: You take all of Demonwrecker
[+0.5]: You take all of abjurant champion
[-0.75]: You barely mention the abjurant champion class features, and for good reason—because you’re evil, you can’t use the iconic ability of extra AC with anything but Shield. I don’t actually know what you’re doing with your beguiler spells, but I’m pretty sure you’re not taking advantage of the increased CL, and you don’t mention arcane boost. I don’t think you can quicken any spells using abjurant champion?
[-0.5]: You’re not a theurge until 15th level, and then you’re a pretty sketchy theurge, given that you only use beguiler to aid your fiendbinding checks, apparently.
[+0.5] Really nice job with reading Demonwrecker fluff and shaping your character around the class. You are a very well-fluffed demonwrecker.
[0] You don’t really use the dr bypass granted to yourself, and don’t have enough SR: yes spellcasting for the capstone to be great, but you do a pretty good job of using demonwrecker features.
[-0.1] Fiendbinder is skirting the edges of the special rule of the competition.
[-0.1]: I’d have liked to see the fluff prereq mentioned somewhere for Demonwrecker.


Originality (3.25):
[+1] Warlock is a very unusual choice for this competition.
[-0.5] Divine Metamagic: Persist is the standard optimization trick for a gish.
[-0.25] Going into warlock basically just for Eldritch Glaive is a little boring.

Power (4): This is a weird build to rate. You have fine utility and (I think) acceptable damage, but are also a DMM cleric. I’d like to see a numbers breakdown of what Eldritch Glaive actually does, because you have a whole lot of different situational bonuses, and I’m not convinced I’m assessing it right. You’re pretty good at party buffing, but not much else as a cleric. On the other hand, you invest resources into DMM: Persist, so you’re at least better than a fighter, and a persisted RWotF is a neat trick. You do end up with high-level spells, just a bit delayed. Warlock is generally considered t4-ish, and you’re a slightly worse warlock, but you’re a pretty good (but casting starved) buffing cleric, which is way stronger. Your early levels are pretty awful—multiclassing casters kills both your spells and BAB.

Elegance (2.5):
[-0.25] Your abjurant champion qualification, followed by a different advancement, is definitely legal, but probably merits a small elegance penalty.
[-0.25] I also don’t think that breaking an oath is particularly exalted. This isn’t a huge deal, but it makes your use of luminous armor a bit sketchy.
[-0.25] Fill your skill ranks. I don’t know what’s up with your copy of complete mage; it’s right beneath the table for me.
[-0.5] I’m a bit confused on what you’re doing with class skills—I’m pretty sure that neither listen or spot is a class skill for you for Wu Jen or Cloistered Cleric levels, and there are similar issues throughout. It doesn’t seem key to anything, but I think you’re overspending, unless you’re just reporting points invested and not ranks, in which case this elegance penalty is for that.
[-0.25] You messed up your BAB calculation.

Use of Components (1.75):
[-0.75] Abjurant champion is barely used. You’re buffing 1.5 spells (see above, I don’t think you actually qualify for luminous armor), and you’re only spending two build levels. Arcane Boost would have been cool to see combined with Eldritch Glaive.
[-0.5] You care about SR and have taken 4 levels of Demonwrecker. You invest build resources to get better at bypassing SR. Why are you not taking the capstone of Demonwrecker? I get why you like progressing invocations, but for this competition, that’s going to be a penalty from me.
[0] I’m not thrilled by how well you use Demonwrecker class features, but I’m not going to exact additional penalties.


Originality (1.35):
[-1] Mystic Theurge. I recognize that it’s a theurge competition, and as such, you’re right that it’s not easy to avoid the original theurge. However, it’s still not very original, and it’s basically your whole build—you literally do not take non-required ingredients that aren’t mystic theurge or set you up for mystic theurge.
[0] Archivist is fine–fairly obvious choice, but not obvious enough that I’m going to put a substantial penalty here. You’ve already taken your lumps on mystic theurge for taking the simplest arcane/divine combo.
[0] Knowledge devotion wasn’t obvious from the competition. It’s not as central to your character concept as it was to Shar’re’s, so I’m not going to give you bonus originality points for it (those points were mostly for building heavily around it), but not enough builds took it that I think it’s worth a penalty.
[+0.25] Echoing spell isn’t super common.
[-0.5] Sanctum spell early entry trick is not remotely original here.
[-0.5] This build nominally has a few lines of fluff, but it doesn’t really give me a good sense of your character concept. I don’t want to penalize you for short fluff, but without fluff, your character is literally just a theurge, because there’s nothing mechanically inspiring here either.
[+0.1] Lloth theme is clever.

Power (4.5):
You knew you were maxing out power with this build, and I really don’t have much else to say. 17 levels of Wizard casting is really good, and 12 levels of Archivist casting certainly helps with turning that into a gish. You’re a little behind at low levels, but Dark Knowledge is very solid. Echoing Wraithstrike is a simple, but solid, alternative to DMM. I’m pretty sure you’d actually be stronger just casting away as a Wizard 17/Archivist 12 without even bothering with combat, but I get that you’re playing a gish. Abjurant champion lets you make some of your buffs better, which is always nice, and the dispel spamming is fine as well. Good buff choice overall. The cute sanctum spell tricks are pretty sketchy, so I’m not really evaluating them here, but they make you marginally better (see below).

Elegance (3.05):
[-0.5] I’m about 80% sure that your sanctum spell metamagic trick with swift abjuration does not work, but only for a really pedantic reason. Here’s why: Swift Abjuration lets you “cast abjuration spells as a swift action,” but this feature is limited to a specific level. Sanctum spell states that the spell, “if not cast in the sanctum, ... has an effective spell level one level lower than normal.” I think there’s a timing issue, because Sanctum Spell means ESL is determined at time of casting. At that point, you’ve already chosen what action you’re using to cast the spell.
[-0.25] Sanctum spell early-entry is sufficiently inelegant that I'm exacting additional penalties here. This is independent from it being unoriginal.
[-0.1] Cross-setting material. Not a big deal, but merits a minor malus.
[-0.1] Your table formatting is particularly messed up.
[0] I got minorly confused on your skills because you flagged everything CC explicitly except for knowledge (religion), but no penalty.

Use of Components (3.25):
[+0.5] You take abjurant champion to completion.
[-1] Demonwrecker is barely used. You don’t take a Demonwrecker level until quite late, and don’t take your second level until 20. As such, the features you gain from it aren’t particularly potent, but you don’t even really make an effort to use them: as far as I can tell, you don’t cast against spell resistance, which means you’re only in it for Archivist progression and DR bypass.
[+0.5] You’re certainly a theurge.
[+0.25] You do a good job trying to squeeze out everything you can from some abjurant champion features, but neglect others. Overall, though, it feels cohesively integrated into your build.


Originality (2.5):
[-1]: Sha’ir is the most obvious entry for this competition, and that’s pretty clear in what builds were submitted.
[+0.5] This is a very unique take on abjurant champion as a party buffer that also allows you to summon more demons mid-combat when combined with Thaumaturgist.

Power (4.25+0.25):
You’re a full-casting Sha’Ir with extra spells that can summon demons to cast even more, and you don’t give up any caster levels. There really isn’t much to explain here. You’re capable of casting pretty much anything, including miracle. Your spell-prep mechanic is slightly unwieldy, which accounts for some of the “lost” points. EDIT: dispute convinced me I can take your planar cohort into account. This means you get some credit for swift summoning, which is pretty significant to flexibility and power.I have to ignore your planar cohort, because it’s explicitly leadership-like, which is a bit unfortunate for your power, as some of your main combat tactics center on it.

Elegance (2.65):
[-0.5] Planar cohort is explicitly leadership-like and thus must be ignored. Most of this penalty is coming from you assuming that you can use it.
[-0.5] Incomplete savage progression is probably legal, but not elegant by any stretch of the imagination.
[-0.1] Having an alternate gold sink that you handwave the cost of seems to really skirt the edges of the no items rule. This penalty is reduced over Vilespeaker because planar ally is lower-cost in general than Fiendbinder.
[-0.25] Neglecting physical stats because “I plan on PAO into an avoral as soon as possible” is not great for elegance.

Use of Components (3.75):
[-0.5] Sha’ir is not, in my mind, a theurge. I’m applying this penalty uniformly to all Sha’ir and similar attempts to use both prestige classes to progress the same spellcasting, because it’s (again, in my opinion) clearly a way to circumvent the theme of the competition. I fully expect this to be unpopular, but c'est la vie.
[+0.25] Really nice, and unique, use of swift abjuration for in-combat summoning.
[-0.5] You don’t really focus on the Abjurant Champion abilities to the extent that I’d like, so they feel a little jammed in there. Particularly, I don’t see that you know shield, meaning you’re relying entirely on luminous armor (or just taking long diplomacy checks for shield), but I also don’t see a lesser restoration or similar effect (although you can obviously grab one with Sha’ir), which makes this work not quite as well. I also don’t see you mention arcane boost, and you can’t use the abjurant champion capstone.
[+0.5]: You take all of Demonwrecker
[+0.5]: You take all of abjurant champion
[+0.5] You use almost all of Demonwrecker’s abilities, and you use them well. Demonwreck spell damage is the one exception, and not a particularly major one.


Originality (2.5):
[-0.25] Cleric is clearly an expected entry into Demonwrecker, but it’s not excessively overrepresented in the competition.
[-0.5] Mystic Theurge. I recognize that it’s a theurge competition, and as such, it’s not easy to avoid the original theurge. However, it’s still not very original.
[+0.25] I chuckled at your fluff—it’s sensical and fits well with the character, and a slightly different perspective on the life of a hero.
[+0.25] Dread necromancer is a fairly unanticipated and inventive dip!
[-0.25] Travel devotion is a little bit overdone.

Power (3.75):
I think you’re a pretty good gish, but I don’t actually know, because you don’t tell me what you use most of your casting for, or even how much casting you have. I think you cast as a 13th level cleric/9th level sorcerer, which is a fair bit of casting power. You get to persist 2 spells/day (presumably wraithstrike and divine power unless you want to go for polymorph or trollshape), which makes you a substantially better fighter that also gets to abuse power attack pretty well. Your mobility is good because of travel devotion+lots of turn attempts. Your durability doesn’t suck, and your undead shenanigans are pretty cute, but I don’t think they add a ton to the strength of your character overall, although the flanking trick is convenient. I like spamming swift dispel if necessary. I’m assuming the rest of your casting is going into generic gish buffs, particularly abjurations in order to avoid screwing up action economy, and some utility. The divine power trick to max your CL on everything helps you out here.

Elegance (2.65+0.25):
[-0.25] I’m actually going to ding you for cleric of a cause, for two reasons. First, in a real campaign, that decision has narrative weight, whereas here it just lets you choose whatever domains you want. EDIT: dispute reminded me that neutral clerics can get around alignment restrictions.Second, it lets you be “good” to get turn undead without having to deal with any pesky alignment restrictions, which could be hard with dread necromancer.
[-0.25] Two one-level arcane casting dips are a bit awkward for the flow of the character, because it leaves you with three spell progressions going on. I actually don’t know which one is being advanced by abjurant champion, but I’m going to assume sorcerer because you provide high-level sorc spells and not dread necro spells.
[-0.25] I’m pretty sure you can’t actually persist 4 spells using turn/rebuke attempts, because your racial ability is limited to twice a day. This makes some of your efforts to get a ton of turn/rebuke efforts feel a little redundant.
[-0.1] I also don’t think you need MSF: Transmutation to make persistent divine power work off of Naenhoon—the limit to 9th level only applies to heighten in my reading.
[-0.25] Mage armor, due to some poor writing, does not work with abjurant champion.

Use of Components (3.4):
[+0.5] You take abjurant champion to completion.
[+0.5] You take Demonwrecker to completion.
[-0.1] Dread necromancer doesn’t violate the special rule of the competition, but it certainly raised my eyebrows.
[-0.25] You don’t really make great use of abjurant champion’s extra AC, because of the aforementioned issue with mage armor. Shield isn’t bad, but you have limited arcane caster slots for it. Using swift abjurations is OK, but you don’t use them in a particularly concerted manner.
[+0.25] Divine power/Abjurant champion capstone is a nice way to make your buffs better, and you use it and call it out.
[-0.5] You really don’t use Demonwrecker features beyond mentioning that it’s nice to bypass DR. As far as I can tell, you don’t do SR: yes casting, and you don’t mention the level 4 feature (even though you’re using minions with your undead), which makes the last 2 levels feel more like points grabs than meaningful character choices. Again, as a 13th level cleric, you can use these features, you’re just choosing not to.


Originality (1.9)
[-0.5] Mystic Theurge. I recognize that it’s a theurge competition, and as such, it’s not easy to avoid the original theurge. However, it’s still not very original.
[-0.25] Sacred exorcist is a pretty predictable way to get turn attempts on a divine caster that can’t turn.
[+0.25] Favored soul is cool, unusual, and fits well with the flavor of your build.
[-0.1] Your fluff is pretty generic and cliched.
[-0.5] Precocious apprentice early-entry trick is not particularly original.
[0] I would give you originality points for the favored soul ACF, but it seems to be actively counterproductive to your build.

Power (2):
This is another weird build to judge. You’re a 14th level divine caster, which ought to count for something, but it doesn’t seem like you’re really trying to make use of that. I’m not sure while you’re explicitly staying away from DC casting—while you’re not quite optimal, you’re not that far either, and you’re putting ASIs into CHA rather than STR. In melee, you’re not particularly optimized. With 14 BAB, you don’t get the magical extra attack (divine power helps a lot with this, but without any metamagic, it’s tough to rely on). You’re stuck at 14 Str, which is going to kill your to-hit at higher levels, and means you can’t really leverage power attack. I don’t know what weapon you’re using, because you’re stuck with simple weapons only. You have lots of buffs, but most are defensive/situational, and as you said, your action economy is particularly troublesome. I also don’t understand what the warmage is about—are you planning to wear light armor? If so, why are you taking luminous armor?

Elegance (2.25-1):
EDIT: dispute around OMOP changed score distribution, penalty now scaled to importance. [-2.5] You do not qualify for abjurant champion. Abjurant champion requires a martial weapon proficiency, which none of your classes, nor your race grants. Favored soul would for most deities, but you worship Ollandra, whose favored weapon is a sickle.
[-0.25] Warmage really doesn’t fit the theme of this build—it’s intended to augment blasting, which you do none of, and wear armor, which I don’t think you do.

Use of Components (1+2):
EDIT: dispute around OMOP caused penalty to be removed.[-2] You do not qualify for abjurant champion. (see above)
[-0.5] Even if you did qualify, you cannot do anything without items with the signature feature of Abjurant Champion, because you don’t take shield or luminous armor. You use the other features, but not in a particularly concerted way. I also don’t know what you’re doing with the capstone—you’re right that it’s full CL, but why does that matter?
[+0.5] You take abjurant champion to completion.
[+0.5] You take Demonwrecker to completion.
[-0.5] You don’t make a particular attempt to use the Demonwrecker class abilities—you briefly mention the DR and SR bypass, but don’t seem to rely or focus on either. As a full caster, this is pretty disappointing—you do have access to SR: yes spells, you’re just choosing not to use them. You don’t even mention the capstone or your aura in your writeup.


Originality (4.0):
[+0.25] Dragonscale husk is a neat ACF that I think goes underused, and you use it to really good effect here.
[+0.25] A Crusader! That’s an interesting base for a theurge.
[-1]: Sha’ir is the most obvious entry for this competition, and that’s pretty clear in what builds were submitted.
[+1] Building almost entirely around the steeldance spell for combat is really inventive, and it’s too bad that I don’t think it works like you want it to.
[+0.5] I was not expecting any archmages, but it fits thematically and makes sense!
[+0.25] Divine defiance/mastery of counterspelling is a unique and clever combo.
[-0.25] Sacred exorcist is a pretty predictable way to get turn attempts on a divine caster that can’t turn.

Power (4.25):
You’re a basically-full caster (1 level down) with a bunch of specific tricks built towards gishing. Some of those tricks are pretty neat, although they don’t work with the Demonwrecker abilities like you want them to. The use of the gen familiar for double longswords is pretty effective, although you’re very vulnerable to AoEs, and losing your gen familiar would be quite bad for you. This lack of consistency, and the fact that I have no clue what you’re doing with most of your spell slots are what’s hurting you a bit here, as well as the long time it takes for you to grab a miracle, etc. You’re quite tanky, which is good, because you’re engaging regularly in melee. You avoid being utterly terrible at low levels, which is definitely a problem Sha’ir have, by dipping crusader early, although it makes you a little less powerful in the midlevels. Abjurant champion is used to good effect with dragonscale husk for even more ac.

Elegance (1):
[-1.5] You don’t meet the spellcraft requirement to qualify for archmage—it requires 15 ranks, and you only obtain 15 ranks the level after you try to take archmage 1.
[-0.5] I have no clue what spells you know/are using. This normally would be less of an issue for Sha’ir, but it’s actually really important, because archmage qualification requires 5th level spells known in 5 different schools.
[-0.25] Steeldance does not work the way you want it to, unfortunately, as both Demonwrecker abilities require the weapons to be wielded.
[+0.25] This is a fun, cohesive build, and everything feels like it has a place—particularly, I’m impressed by you fitting divine defiance/mastery of counterspelling in to the end of the build.
[-1] I have no clue what your ability scores are, and therefore, no way to evaluate whether anything you’re doing with skills is legal, or for that matter, whether you can cast any spells at all.

Use of Components (3.4):
[-0.5] Sha’ir is not, in my mind, a theurge. I’m applying this penalty uniformly to all Sha’ir and similar attempts to use both prestige classes to progress the same spellcasting, because it’s (again, in my opinion) clearly a way to circumvent the theme of the competition. I fully expect this to be unpopular, but c'est la vie.
[+0.5] You take abjurant champion to completion.
[+0.5] You take Demonwrecker to completion.
[+0.5] Really nice job of using almost all of the abjurant champion features. You make good use of the swift abjuration, AC bonus, extended abjuration, and have plenty of spell slots for arcane boost. Particular kudos on the swift abjuration/spell matrix trick.
[-0.5] Unfortunately, you’re not able to use most of Demonwrecker’s abilities to the fullest. Steeldance doesn’t actually work, and even if it did, relying on 1 spell for most of your class abilities is pretty sketchy. I’m not sure, but I don’t think you do much SR: yes casting.
[-0.1]: I’d have liked to see the fluff prereq mentioned somewhere for Demonwrecker.

I'm sure there will be disputes, but feel free to let me know about general judging feedback as well in the thread below—I want to get better at this! Given that nobody else has volunteered to judge, I'm guessing that my scores will govern, but we'll see how it goes.

[Thurbane]

Let the disputes commence:


Thank you very much for judging! Hope you liked to read the builds!

I have a few points I'd like to clarify for Timoriel.

About Planar Cohort‚ and the Leadershipness of it: I knew it might be a problem‚ and asked Thurbane about it‚ who said "probably okay‚ but see the judge"‚ so I'll see the judge. I believe the problem with Leadership is the fact that it allows you to build whatever other character you'd like‚ not the added set of actions (to quote Iron Chef: "We cook a dish‚ not the whole dinner"). And Planar Cohort doesn't give you this possibility‚ since the outsider is sent by the gods‚ and you can't choose it specifically (hence my vague wording of " I'd like anything with cleric casting"). In the end‚ this is little more than a free Planar Ally‚ and I could do the same with just Allying some angel (although more expensive‚ of course‚ even though I did what I could to reduce the cost with Diplomacy) .

About not having Restoration as a spell known : Knowing a divine spell isn't really good for a Sha'ir. All it does is reducing the Diplomacy check‚ and Timoriel already succeeds automatically on his checks for Lesser Restoration since even lowish levels. I didn't feel the need to take the slot of a spell known for it.

About the money sink: your point stands‚ although with both Thaumaturgist to reduce Ally cost and Binding which doesn't have a cost by itself (plus cohort‚ if you allow it)‚ I feel I did everything I could to reduce it‚ to the point Timoriel could function pretty handily without spending a penny on good outsiders.

About incomplete savage progression: I feel like it's more than "probably" legal‚ it is explicitly stated that you are not required to complete a progression. Still not that elegant‚ of course‚ but just in case some of that penalty was about the legality of it :p

About physical stats : We're not really a front fighter. We have outsiders for that‚ which is why‚ even way before being an avoral‚ we can function perfectly. Also the reason why I felt Shield was superfluous.

Thank you again for judging and for reading these rantings!


Thank you qwerty for your reading!

I just wanted to note that being devoted to a cause only allows Gladius to choose his domains (who fit his character pretty well‚ I'd say‚ with planning because he is very calculating and travel because he likes to travel to expand his reputation‚ but that's besodes the point) but nothing more. Any Neutral cleric with a neutral deity could both Turn Undead and Animate Dead.

Apart from that‚ no disputes. Very good judging all around.

[Yan Korlat]

Gladius: That's fair, I forgot about that exception to the turn/rebuke rules. I'll reduce that penalty to 0.25.

Timoriel:

Cohort-wise, I'm not convinced that "asking for something with cleric levels" is actually something you can do by the RAW of the planar ally spell, and it's explicitly DM-dependent. You're right that you're not building a whole second character in the same way, but you still try to use that feature to get specific character abilities. I'm going to let your elegance score stand (because of the DM-dependent bits with planar ally and cleric casting, and the fact that getting a second creature with cleric levels is a bit close to the rules), but bump your power score by 0.25, as you've convinced me that I can take your cohort into account. In my mind, that's worth the bump, because it makes you into a quite effective caster with added minionmancery shenanigans.
Restoration—you're right that this isn't a big deal for a Sha'ir. It was more an offhand comment on my part than a substantive part of my scoring—note that I penalized several other builds 0.75 for failing to use abjurant champion class features, and I would have done that for you as well if I thought you had no way of grabbing restoration. Score stands.
You did a good job minimizing the money-sink aspect, which is why I only dinged you for 0.1 on it (same amount as I took away for raised eyebrows or fluff penalties). Whether you could function is less important than whether you're using it as a substitute for items. Score stands.
The savage progression comment was bad phrasing on my part. The penalty is entirely for elegance. Score stands.
I know you're not a frontliner on the one hand. On the other hand, everyone cares about con, dex helps for initiative and AC and a STR score of 5 is low enough that you might actually notice it, so it's not like you're completely apathetic. More importantly, however, relying on PAO just doesn't sit well with me here, as it's another one of those things that's more awkward in a real campaign than in charop. Score stands.

[Thurbane]

Some more disputes:


I seem to have gotten double penalized for not qualifying for Abjurant Champion, both in Elegance and Use of Secret Ingredient. Other than that, it's legit. Embarrassing not to qualify, but that's on me.


Thanks for judging, Helloqwerty!

Mulan human is a regional distinction, not a subtype. Silverblood humans are explicitly Humanoids with the human and dragonblood subtypes. The Mulan people are located in two main areas of Faerun: Halruaa (where the origin of the feat lies, given its placement in Shining South (which I apparently misattributed in my Sources to Races of Faerun, bizarrely enough)) and the Unapproachable East, specifically Mulhorand, Unther and Thay. Shar’re is Mulhorandi (I’ll admit, I absolutely could have been more explicit here, but the fluff placed her squarely in Skuld, which is the Mulhorandi Empire's capital city, and her surname of Ziahorus literally signifies that she’s got the blood of an avatar of Horus swimming somewhere in her veins), and thus absolutely a Mulan human. It’s about ancestry, not subtype. (Side note: Shar’re is a reference to Stargate SG-1; that’s the name of Daniel Jackson’s wife, who was descended from Ancient Egyptians kidnapped from their homeworld. It felt… appropriate).

Knowledge Devotion lets you pick a Knowledge skill to always count as a class skill for you - I indicated in the table that I picked (the planes) as my chosen Knowledge skill.

Demonwrecker 5 lets you beat the SR of all demons automatically, yes. But that’s only explicitly for demons. I chose to use Holy Scourge instead because it applies against all evil outsiders: demons, devils, yugoloths, and every other outsider with the [evil] tag, like death slaadi. Taking the last level of Demonwrecker also makes me lose a point of BAB (another reason why I took the 6th level of Duskblade), and I chose to value better overall Evil Outsider combat to specifically chaotic evil outsider, given how high Shar’re’s SR-overcoming ability already was (thanks to Martial Arcanist granting her an effective +4 bonus). Thayans and Untherites are more likely to summon devils instead of demons (given that Tiamat is LE), so I felt like that justified my choice of very high generalization over specific ignorance of a smaller subset.


Hello Helloqwerty, thank you for judging!

I'm going to bulletpoint

On Power:

pounce: is a bit at the antithesis of smite
battle blessing: intentionally avoided, of the prepared stuff, the abjuration are already automatically quickened/extended, that only leaves the haste basically, but with mindsight, we will (almost) always allowed to precast it without issue, since we no-sell being ambushed and we always know if there is anything not mindless behind that closed door etc


but yeah, I wasn't expecting big points on a fluff character

On elegance:

abjurant champion features and scrolls/wands: to be clear, I was referring to the bonus 5 AC when casting shield from a wand/shield, not to the automatic quick/extend, those didn't cross my mind at all, I should have been clearer, sorry.
devil-touched feat : to split the hair, we're not selecting it at all, we can't not take a racially granted fixed feat :( Surely the heavens that bestow the exalted spells aren't going to be prejudicated against us poor hellbreds that are trying very hard at redemption?
perform ranks: perform is a class skill for knight of harmonious order, as stated in page 2 of the web article listed on level 2 "A Harmonious Knight adds Perform to the standard paladin’s list of class skills."
Item dependency : I listed a wishlist for convenience, if you want to ignore it and substitute with what you think a 20th level character would have instead, no problem to me :)



On Uotsi:
late entry and only 2 levels of demonwrecker : not much I could help with that with a paladin entry, since we woulnd't get 3rd level until 11 levels of paladin casting :(
I disagree on the "only using abjurant champion from items", the paladin spells prepared that are abjurant do benefit from it!, as said on elegance, my musing was only in relation to the AC bonus to shield form wands/scrolls



Hello Helloqwerty, thank you for judging!

[-0.25] Having a massive alternate gold sink that you handwave the cost of seems to really skirt the edges of the no items rule.
there is no "no items rule", it's left ot the judge discretion, and I didn't say something to the effect of "I have exactly Y Vrocks because thats wha't X gold affords me" precisely to avoid "item reliance"
[-0.1] Craft wondrous item is not an elegant addition at 18th level when you already have a ritual and a downtime sink of gold, and then never mention the feat.
it's indirectly mentioned in passing on the level 11-15 section, the sole purpose of the feat is making it 100% guaranteed, barred DM fiat banning it, that we can obtain an amulet of the silver tongue
[-0.75]: You barely mention the abjurant champion class features, and for good reason—because you’re evil, you can’t use the iconic ability of extra AC with anything but Shield.
I must make some token protest here, it's not really my fault there is "one" spell that abjurant armor applies to. (and I offer a legal but inelegant way to get access to the other one, too!)
Other than that, a lot of the sampled spells prepared with the cleric levels are abjuration, and get the automatic extend/quicken, I suppose I should have called it out
[0] You don’t really use the dr bypass granted to yourself, and don’t have enough SR: yes spellcasting for the capstone to be great, but you do a pretty good job of using demonwrecker features.
Yeah, it's the 4th level feature that does the big carrying here
[-0.1] Fiendbinder is skirting the edges of the special rule of the competition.
I realized it too and mention it, but by then I had written down pretty much everything except the musings and a bit of polishing, I didn't want to throw away the entry

[Kazudo]

It's insane that this competition is still going and it's been cool to dive through it. Keep up the good work, Thurbane!

[Yan Korlat]

Ok, I'm working on that batch of disputes.

Things will take a bit longer for Shar're, because that's a incredibly specific set of fluff references that I need to crosscheck.

Thurbane, could I get your opinion on Oliver's dispute? I couldn't find OMOP in the JW rule set, so used the Iron Chef version as a guide, which I'm ~80% sure allows low scores in elegance and UoSI for failure to qualify for a required component, but if that's wrong, please let me know. I wouldn't expect your overall score to change a lot, because I didn't scale the elegance penalty to the fact that this is a required component, but I'd like to edit points if I'm wrong.


I'm going to bulletpoint

On Power:

pounce: is a bit at the antithesis of smite
battle blessing: intentionally avoided, of the prepared stuff, the abjuration are already automatically quickened/extended, that only leaves the haste basically, but with mindsight, we will (almost) always allowed to precast it without issue, since we no-sell being ambushed and we always know if there is anything not mindless behind that closed door etc



but yeah, I wasn't expecting big points on a fluff character

On elegance:

abjurant champion features and scrolls/wands: to be clear, I was referring to the bonus 5 AC when casting shield from a wand/shield, not to the automatic quick/extend, those didn't cross my mind at all, I should have been clearer, sorry.
devil-touched feat : to split the hair, we're not selecting it at all, we can't not take a racially granted fixed feat :( Surely the heavens that bestow the exalted spells aren't going to be prejudicated against us poor hellbreds that are trying very hard at redemption?
perform ranks: perform is a class skill for knight of harmonious order, as stated in page 2 of the web article listed on level 2 "A Harmonious Knight adds Perform to the standard paladin’s list of class skills."
Item dependency : I listed a wishlist for convenience, if you want to ignore it and substitute with what you think a 20th level character would have instead, no problem to me :)

On Uotsi:
late entry and only 2 levels of demonwrecker : not much I could help with that with a paladin entry, since we woulnd't get 3rd level until 11 levels of paladin casting :(
I disagree on the "only using abjurant champion from items", the paladin spells prepared that are abjurant do benefit from it!, as said on elegance, my musing was only in relation to the AC bonus to shield form wands/scrolls

I was working under the assumption that smite evil could be used as a part of a full attack. I now realize that's contested (clearly RAI but probably not RAW). I don't really want to knock more points off your power score, but that's really not good for your power—a SINGLE ATTACK being your main gameplan for not that much damage is not a great way to be martially viable. I'm aware that battle blessing was intentionally avoided. However, I think on both these counts you slightly misunderstood my comments—I'm not saying that your build would be 1:1 better if you included these features, I'm saying that the way you can even sort of remain relevant at high levels as a melee character, particularly a paladin, is generally by using battle blessing and pounce (or other ways to get mobile full attacks). Without those things, and without any particularly compelling alternative (ubercharger, diamond nightmare blade), I'm just not impressed by your power. Score stands.


Devil-Touched: Sorry, but no dice—exalted characters are not known for their tolerance of fiends of any sort. Score stands.
Skills: Unfortunately, that's not how class skills for ACFs work. RoD, 156:
When a substitution level changes the base class’s Hit Die or class skill list, the change applies only to the specific substitution class level, not to any other class levels. I'm aware of primary source arguments that would mean that this only applies to RoD substitution levels, so if you have a citation from the web article or other more-primary sources that contradicts this, I'd change my ruling here. Barring that, score stands for now.
Items: I don't really want to recalculate all your everything, and your wish-list being substantially more detailed than other entries makes it hard for me to judge you on level ground. Minor elegance penalties seem merited. Score stands.
Abjurant champion: This is going to sound really snarky, so I'm sorry, but thank you for the clarification on the thought process. Penalty removed from elegance. However, now you really don't use abjurant champion. Penalty to Use of Component increased to 0.75.


It was your choice to go paladin, and that has costs and benefits. One of the costs is that if it keeps you from using the necessary component, you won't do well in that category. If I were to enter a pure crusader, and not take any component levels, I won't do well in UoC. I recognize that it's not perfectly analogous, but hopefully it clarifies my thought process. Score stands.

Maybe I'm going crazy, but I only see magic circle against evil and benediction as legal quickenable spells? Benediction can't be cast on yourself, which limits its use, but more importantly, two generic paladin spells are not super convincing as a justification for why you're using abjuration champion well. Freedom of Movement can't be swift abjuration'd, dispel magic is cool but also super generic and you don't mention it—it's all just not quite enough for me. You also don't explain this in your writeup, which makes me very hesitant to grant you points. Score stands.


[-0.25] Having a massive alternate gold sink that you handwave the cost of seems to really skirt the edges of the no items rule.
there is no "no items rule", it's left ot the judge discretion, and I didn't say something to the effect of "I have exactly Y Vrocks because thats wha't X gold affords me" precisely to avoid "item reliance" This is a fair point. On the other hand, I'm the judge, and it's my discretion that by comparing a build that's using WBL to a build that isn't, you deserve some elegance penalty. You did a good job minimizing this penalty—if you had said "I put all my WBL into Vrocks," you'd have been looking at a bigger penalty. However, summoning (aka buying power via gold) is a key combat tactic, making you ""item""-dependent to some extent. Score stands.
[-0.1] Craft wondrous item is not an elegant addition at 18th level when you already have a ritual and a downtime sink of gold, and then never mention the feat.
it's indirectly mentioned in passing on the level 11-15 section, the sole purpose of the feat is making it 100% guaranteed, barred DM fiat banning it, that we can obtain an amulet of the silver tongue That one's on me for not putting 2 and 2 together. Penalty removed.
[-0.75]: You barely mention the abjurant champion class features, and for good reason—because you’re evil, you can’t use the iconic ability of extra AC with anything but Shield.
I must make some token protest here, it's not really my fault there is "one" spell that abjurant armor applies to. (and I offer a legal but inelegant way to get access to the other one, too!) I suppose that's fair, but the reason you got an originality bonus for being evil is because of this terribly written feature. You also just don't use most of the features, which is most of the penalty here. Score stands.
Other than that, a lot of the sampled spells prepared with the cleric levels are abjuration, and get the automatic extend/quicken, I suppose I should have called it out
[0] You don’t really use the dr bypass granted to yourself, and don’t have enough SR: yes spellcasting for the capstone to be great, but you do a pretty good job of using demonwrecker features.
Yeah, it's the 4th level feature that does the big carrying here. Yep, that's why I didn't give you any additional penalties/bonuses beyond taking things to full. Score stands.
[-0.1] Fiendbinder is skirting the edges of the special rule of the competition.
I realized it too and mention it, but by then I had written down pretty much everything except the musings and a bit of polishing, I didn't want to throw away the entry I actually meant the forbidden component, not leadership—I saw your musings. Anyway, I clearly agree with your choice not to throw away the entry!

[Yan Korlat]

Taking a crack at this one.


Thanks for judging, Helloqwerty!

Mulan human is a regional distinction, not a subtype. Silverblood humans are explicitly Humanoids with the human and dragonblood subtypes. The Mulan people are located in two main areas of Faerun: Halruaa (where the origin of the feat lies, given its placement in Shining South (which I apparently misattributed in my Sources to Races of Faerun, bizarrely enough)) and the Unapproachable East, specifically Mulhorand, Unther and Thay. Shar’re is Mulhorandi (I’ll admit, I absolutely could have been more explicit here, but the fluff placed her squarely in Skuld, which is the Mulhorandi Empire's capital city, and her surname of Ziahorus literally signifies that she’s got the blood of an avatar of Horus swimming somewhere in her veins), and thus absolutely a Mulan human. It’s about ancestry, not subtype. (Side note: Shar’re is a reference to Stargate SG-1; that’s the name of Daniel Jackson’s wife, who was descended from Ancient Egyptians kidnapped from their homeworld. It felt… appropriate).See below, this gets long.

Knowledge Devotion lets you pick a Knowledge skill to always count as a class skill for you - I indicated in the table that I picked (the planes) as my chosen Knowledge skill. Oops, I somehow missed that. Penalty removed.

Demonwrecker 5 lets you beat the SR of all demons automatically, yes. But that’s only explicitly for demons. I chose to use Holy Scourge instead because it applies against all evil outsiders: demons, devils, yugoloths, and every other outsider with the [evil] tag, like death slaadi. Taking the last level of Demonwrecker also makes me lose a point of BAB (another reason why I took the 6th level of Duskblade), and I chose to value better overall Evil Outsider combat to specifically chaotic evil outsider, given how high Shar’re’s SR-overcoming ability already was (thanks to Martial Arcanist granting her an effective +4 bonus). Thayans and Untherites are more likely to summon devils instead of demons (given that Tiamat is LE), so I felt like that justified my choice of very high generalization over specific ignorance of a smaller subset. I understand mechanically why you're doing this, but in my opinion, you still deserve a bit of a penalty for optimizing your character around beating the SR of evil outsiders and then not taking the part of the necessary component that lets you perfectly beat the SR of some evil outsiders. I'd be tempted to give you a reduction for your lore justification, but that wasn't in your original entry, and it's still not super compelling. It also raises some more questions about why a high priest who expects to mostly deal with devils is taking demonwrecker. Score stands.

Mulan human:

This is an impressive depth of fluff you went through, and admittedly, I didn't bother to check your fluff in the original entry for whether it had any mechanical implications (though I did read and enjoy it!). Unfortunately, there are still a few issues, and by far the biggest headache of them all stems from what you identified as a source mistake. It's actually not a source mistake. Southern Magician comes from Races of Faerun, as do the rules for Ethnicity, Subrace, and Race (we're going to get into these later...). It also explicitly calls out that 7 ethnic varieties of humans exist (page 80), including Mulan humans, and gives the entry for Mulan humans. The Shining South then includes some of the same ethnic lore, and specifies further minor ethnicities, which I think we can safely ignore (I am not interpreting the Shining South material as retconning the ethnicity presented in RoF out of existence, given the brief mention of e.g. Halruuhan humans in RoF). RoF does not place Mulan humans in Halruaa, but all of your fluff does indeed place Shar're as a Mulan human of Mulhorandi. Mulhorand is also part of the Shining South, however, according to The Shining South's intro. This part is good for you, although I'd have really liked you to say some of it explicitly for those of us who aren't intimately familiar with nuances of the FRCS. I also can't find a source on the Ziahorus thing—is that just because Horus is in her name?

Now comes the not-so-good part. RoF has rules for what races, subtypes, and ethnicities mean, and I'm pretty sure that contrary to Silverbrow Human fluff, which absolutely does go in your direction, they bar a Mulan Silverbrow Human. Specifically, "In game terms, a subrace is, for all intents and purposes, a race of its own." (RoF 4). After providing this definition, the book clarifies that ethnicities must be monoracial, which bars different subraces of the same ethnic group. Now, Dragon Magic explicitly calls out silverbrow human as a subrace (6), meaning that for all intents and purposes, "silverbrow human" is a different race of humans than "human," meaning that unless Mulan humans are all silverbrow (which runs contrary to all descriptions and fluff), silverbrow humans cannot be Mulan humans under the RoF rule that "An ethnic group is a group of people of the same race"

This is a huge mess. I think I'm going to reduce your "not a mulan human" penalty to 0.25 for not explicitly spelling that out (and thereby technically leaving uncertainty about a non-Mulan Mulhorandi), but give an additional 0.25 penalty for the apparent (but counterintuitive) rules violation on a Mulan Silverbrow Human. Therefore, net score tentatively stands.

[Thurbane]

It's insane that this competition is still going and it's been cool to dive through it. Keep up the good work, Thurbane!

Thank you very much, always glad to hear people are enjoying it. :smallsmile:


Thurbane, could I get your opinion on Oliver's dispute? I couldn't find OMOP in the JW rule set, so used the Iron Chef version as a guide, which I'm ~80% sure allows low scores in elegance and UoSI for failure to qualify for a required component, but if that's wrong, please let me know. I wouldn't expect your overall score to change a lot, because I didn't scale the elegance penalty to the fact that this is a required component, but I'd like to edit points if I'm wrong.

I don't know that it is specifically spelled out, but my "gut feel" (as well as when I've judged comps in the past) is that penalizing someone for the same thing in multiple categories is discouraged.

If it were me judging, Id probably just ping Elegance.

I'm not going to say I think you should or should not amend your judging, but that's my 2 coppers on the topic.

[Yan Korlat]

That's fair, and thanks for the insight—OMOP in the Iron Chef formulation isn't super clear, because it says that a minimum in UoSI is justified to FtQ, but doesn't clarify if that's on top of an elegance penalty, other than separately saying that FtQ can merit a 0 in elegance. This comp does have multiple necessary components, and is different in a few other ways, so let's do this. Penalty removed in UoSI. Elegance penalty scaled up to 2.5 to reflect the importance of this qualification req, as is explicitly allowed under OMOP. (not 0, as this is a fairly minor failure to qualify, and there are two necessary components.) Net score +1.

[Thurbane]

Entry
Description
First judge score
Total Score


Shar're Ziahorus (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171675&postcount=47)
LG Silverbrow Human Duskblade 6/Abjurant Champion 5/Archivist 1/Demonwrecker 4/Holy Scourge 4
13.45
13.45


Swansong (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171677&postcount=48)
LG Hellbred(spirit) Abjurant Champion 5/Bard 2/Demonwrecker 2/Paladin of the Harmonious Order 8/Mystic Theurge 3
9.2
9.2


Shakira Sha'iradin (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171682&postcount=49)
LG Human (Cali****e) Paladin 2/Sha'ir 4/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5/Demonwrecker 4/Sacred Exorcist 4
10.55
10.55


Vilespeaker (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171683&postcount=50)
LE Lesser Maeluth Cleric 5/Demonwrecker 5/Fiendbinder 4/Beguiler 1 /Abjurant Champion 5
14.95
14.95


Khamuel (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171685&postcount=51)
CG Lesser Aasimar Cloistered Cleric 4/Wu Jen 1/Warlock 1/Demonwrecker 4/Abjurant Champion 2/Eldritch Disciple 8
11.5
11.5


Olabin the Active Archivist (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171686&postcount=52)
CG Fire Elf Archivist 1/Wizard 2/Mystic Theurge 10/Abjurant Champion 5/Demonwrecker 2
12.15
12.15


Timoriel Sapnis (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171688&postcount=53)
CG Incomplete Savage Progression Aasimar Sha’ir 5/Demonwrecker 5/Thaumaturgist 5/Abjurant Champion 5
13.4
13.4


Gladius Ogma (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171691&postcount=54)
LN Naen-Hoon Illumian Cleric 5/Dread Necromancer 1/Divine Companion ACF Sorcerer 1/Demonwrecker 5/Mystic Theurge 3/Abjurant Champion 5
12.55
12.55


Oliver the Fate-kissed (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171694&postcount=55)
Human? NG? Warmage 1/Favored Soul 4/Mystic Theurge 2/Demonwrekcer 5/Sacred Exorcist 3/Abjurant Champion 5
8.15
8.15


Dante the Demon Slayer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171697&postcount=56)
CN>CG Silverbrow Human Crusader 1/Sha'ir 5/Demonwrecker 5/Abjurant Champion 5/Archmage 2/Sacred Excorcist 2
12.65
12.65



The forum changed the racial description on Shakira, not me LOL

[Yan Korlat]

Is that all the disputes, Thurbane?

That's funny—so far, the disputes have not effected the rank order, despite the extremely tight contest for second between Timoriel and Shar're.

[Thurbane]

Is that all the disputes, Thurbane?

That's funny—so far, the disputes have not effected the rank order, despite the extremely tight contest for second between Timoriel and Shar're.

That's all for now.

I might leave it a couple of days before the reveal, in case anyone else wants to judge, or for any late disputes.

Next comp I have in mind is either going to be very popular, or very unpopular, I think. :smallbiggrin:

[Yan Korlat]

Sounds good to me! That's a bit ominous, though...

[Beni-Kujaku]

The forum changed the racial description on Shakira, not me LOL

If you "Reply with quote" on the Shakira entry, you can see that the chef had the same problem, and had to italicize the name of the subrace in two parts ^^

[Thurbane]

OK, doesn't look like there's any more disputes, or any further judging to come, so here's the final reveal:



Entry
Competitor
Description
First judge score
Total Score


Vilespeaker (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171683&postcount=50)
ciopo
LE Lesser Maeluth Cleric 5/Demonwrecker 5/Fiendbinder 4/Beguiler 1 /Abjurant Champion 5
14.95
14.95


Shar're Ziahorus (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171675&postcount=47)
Kuulvheysoon
LG Silverbrow Human Duskblade 6/Abjurant Champion 5/Archivist 1/Demonwrecker 4/Holy Scourge 4
13.45
13.45


Timoriel Sapnis (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171688&postcount=53)
Beni-Kujaku
CG Incomplete Savage Progression Aasimar Sha’ir 5/Demonwrecker 5/Thaumaturgist 5/Abjurant Champion 5
13.4
13.4


Dante the Demon Slayer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171697&postcount=56)
PoeticallyPsyco
CN>CG Silverbrow Human Crusader 1/Sha'ir 5/Demonwrecker 5/Abjurant Champion 5/Archmage 2/Sacred Excorcist 2
12.65
12.65


Gladius Ogma (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171691&postcount=54)
Beni-Kujaku
LN Naen-Hoon Illumian Cleric 5/Dread Necromancer 1/Divine Companion ACF Sorcerer 1/Demonwrecker 5/Mystic Theurge 3/Abjurant Champion 5
12.55
12.55


Olabin the Active Archivist (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171686&postcount=52)
Thrice Dead Cat
CG Fire Elf Archivist 1/Wizard 2/Mystic Theurge 10/Abjurant Champion 5/Demonwrecker 2
12.15
12.15


Khamuel (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171685&postcount=51)
GreatWyrmGold
CG Lesser Aasimar Cloistered Cleric 4/Wu Jen 1/Warlock 1/Demonwrecker 4/Abjurant Champion 2/Eldritch Disciple 8
11.5
11.5


Shakira Sha'iradin (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171682&postcount=49)
Thrice Dead Cat
LG Human (Cali****e) Paladin 2/Sha'ir 4/Spellsword 1/Abjurant Champion 5/Demonwrecker 4/Sacred Exorcist 4
10.55
10.55


Swansong (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171677&postcount=48)
ciopo
LG Hellbred(spirit) Abjurant Champion 5/Bard 2/Demonwrecker 2/Paladin of the Harmonious Order 8/Mystic Theurge 3
9.2
9.2


Oliver the Fate-kissed (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25171694&postcount=55)
Glimbur
Human? NG? Warmage 1/Favored Soul 4/Mystic Theurge 2/Demonwrekcer 5/Sacred Exorcist 3/Abjurant Champion 5
8.15
8.15



Congrats to ciopo, Kuulvheysoon and Beni-Kujaku, as well as all of the other entrants!

Just want to say again, I was extremely pleased and impressed the quantity and quality of entries this round.

Many thanks to Helloqwerty for judging - without judging, the forum comps fizzle and die off.

I'll have the new comp up later today, or maybe early tomorrow - I'm thinking it might be a bit of a divisie/challenging one, but fingers crossed it sparks some interest...

[Yan Korlat]

Nice job, everyone! I hope nobody's too upset by my judging :).

[PoeticallyPsyco]

I was considering a dispute, but honestly all my complaints were directly or indirectly my own fault for failing to properly explain myself (or in the case of ability scores, somehow completely forgetting to copy them over and putting my spell slots where they belonged). *head->desk*

The big thing I missed is that once Dante can cast the spell matrix line, his first round buff routine is reduced to a swift action. Combined with Swift Abjuration for later rounds, and he has his move and more importantly standard actions free for the whole combat to lay down damaging and crowd control spells around him. That's where Demonwrecker's bypassing SR and 50% untyped damage come in. With Sculpt Spell, he's potentially taking advantage of that four times per opponent each turn (if I've understood right, you can use the 'four 10ft squares' shape to hit the same 10ft square 4 times; if not, he's still at almost no risk of being unable to cast because allies are in the way).

Eh. I'll do it right next time.

Thanks for judging! These comps live and die on getting judges; 'preciate the work you do.

[Glimbur]

Nice job, everyone! I hope nobody's too upset by my judging :).

Thank you for judging!

I had hoped for a better score but failing to qualify is a big deal. And the power did deserve to be pretty low. I had like 80% of an entry here and did not do the final scrounging and polishing to make it better. Not top score better, but better. Second time I have done that, so I suspect this is some PEBKAC.

[Kuulvheysoon]

How dare you award me silver? I totally deserved gold, you monster.

But seriously, thanks for judging. It's not an easy job, but someone's got to do it if these are to run at all.

[Yan Korlat]

Glad I could be helpful and somewhat satisfying!

[Thurbane]

New round is up: Junkyard Wars XXXIII: LotD + AF - Necropolitan (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?636185)