Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground CXXIII

[The Viscount]

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

Planescape is a much-acclaimed setting with many interesting feuding factions. Unfortunately, the prestige classes made to represent those factions are bad. So much so that we have done all of the 10 level prestige classes in the book except one. Today we complete the set. Crack open Planar Handbook and get ready to shock your parents, this time we're cooking with Defiant!

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

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

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

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

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

Cooking Time: Contestants will have until 13:59 GMT on Sunday, December 18th, 2022 to create their builds and PM them to the Chairman, The Viscount. You may submit build by email if it is too large for a single PM. Please put the name of your build in the subject line of your PM. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 13:59 GMT on Sunday, January 8th, 2022 to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted.

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

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

Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, I'd like everyone to try to use the following table for their entry. (A fillable, pre-formatted version found here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BG0-5sq4dL9Ooh7-QfXuyHzO4rXSz-CRcj29t6BeUVE/edit#gid=0))NAME OF ENTRY


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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



Code immediately below (spoiler).

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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



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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Code immediately below (spoiler)Spells per Day/Spells Known


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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



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

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

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

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

Past Competitions

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

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

Iron Chef CI: Night Mask Deathbringer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?610308-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CI)
Iron Chef CII: Blade Dancer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?613031-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CII)
Iron Chef CIII: Psion Uncarnate (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?614461-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CIII)
Iron Chef CIV: Atavist (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?615697-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CIV)
Iron Chev CV: Primeval (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?618136-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CV)
Iron Chef CVI: Disciple of Mammon (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?620730-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CVI)
Iron Chef CVII: Insidious Corruptor (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?622560-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CVII)
Iron Chef CVIII: Crimson Scourge (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?624099-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CVIII)
Iron Chef CIX: Tattooed Monk (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?626458-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CIX)
Iron Chef CX: Rage Mage (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?628809-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CX)
Iron Chef CXI: Watch Detective (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?630421-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXI)
Iron Chef CXII: Spinemeld Warrior (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?632291-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXII)
Iron Chef CXIII: Celebrant of Sharess (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?633637-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXIII)
Iron Chef CXIV: Thayan Gladiator (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?635212-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXIV)
Iron Chef CXV: Shining Blade of Heironeous (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?637097-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXV)
Iron Chef CXVI: Peregrine Runner (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?638522-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXVI)
Iron Chef CXVII: Imaskari Vengeance Taker (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?640260-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXVII)
Iron Chef CXVII: Siren (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?641848-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXVIII)
Iron Chef CXIX: Arcane Duelist (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?645786-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXIX)
Iron Chef CXX: Berserk (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?646933-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXX)
Iron Chef CXXI: Dragon Descendant (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?648507-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXXI)
Iron Chef CXXII: Cerebrex (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?650262-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXXII)

[The Viscount]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One Mistake, One Penalty

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

Non-exhaustive list of examples:

Skills

Allowed:

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


Not allowed:

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



Prereqs

Allowed:

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


Not Allowed:

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



Other general things that are no longer allowed:

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


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

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

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

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

Q: What's with the deadlines?
A: I've included extra time due to the holiday season.

[Venger]

I knew this day would come eventually. In to cook.

[daremetoidareyo]

Awwwyissssssss

[Tohron]

Are builds allowed to use the cleric-to-defiant level trade-in outlined in the description of the Defiant PRC?

[The Viscount]

Are builds allowed to use the cleric-to-defiant level trade-in outlined in the description of the Defiant PRC?

Absolutely.

[Inevitability]

A paladin or cleric of a specific god cannot become a defiant until the character renounces all belief and faith in the deity, becoming an ex-cleric or ex-paladin and losing all spells and class features except for armor and shield proficiencies and proficiency with simple weapons.

Apparently a paladin who forswears their god forgets how longswords work?

[Beni-Kujaku]

Apparently a paladin who forswears their god forgets how longswords work?

If you're going that way, it doesn't say "all cleric and paladin" class features, so a cleric/barbarian/War Hulk who becomes defiant suddenly becomes much more calm in their everyday life and remembers how to look around before crossing the road.

[Paragon]

It's been a longtime coming and this ingredient is either veryyyy obvious to me or not at all so to avoid the frustration, I'll be judging this round.

Moving around a lot during the holidays so I'll be on the train with time to spare. Bring it !

[Gruftzwerg]

RAW seems like a mess here...
For the sake of the contest I kindly request some guidance by "The Viscount" on some topics:

1. Losing Weapon & Armor Proficiencies
If you are pure cleric and convert all your levels, you are left with no armor and weapon proficiencies...

By RAW we could try to fall back to:

Anybody but a druid, monk, rogue, or wizard is proficient with all simple weapons.
&

All characters except wizards, sorcerers, and monks automatically have Armor Proficiency (light) as a bonus feat. They need not select it.
While Simple Weapons are still arguable, at least we should still have Armor Proficiency (light)..

But imho this "feels" unsatisfying and wrong..^^
So do we get any global DM fiat by The Viscount here (that we don't forget proficiencies with weapons and armor)?

2. Missing Caster Level for the SLA
Dunno, are there any "default/general" rules for SLA I'm missing here? We don't even know any class connection, since some of the spells have varying spell levels for different classes.. IIRC there is a rule when it comes to finding scrolls, but in this case it ain't a scroll...
So, what are we doing here? (Or did I miss any rules here? help^^)

3. "Divine Interference" includes the Defiant?
While it ain't spelled out, "any" seems to include the defiant too.

[The Viscount]

1. The "special" section of requirements and the "ex-clerics" section both have the following
loses all spells and class features, except for armor and shield proficiencies and proficiency with simple weapons.
This brought to my attention that the clause in "special" is in disagreement with the ex-paladins section. Let's fix that:
An ex-paladin who renounces their deity to enter defiant retains all paladin-derived weapon proficiencies, not just simple.

2. If not specified, the caster level for a class-derived SLA defaults to class level, as with the nondetection effect.

3. That is correct.

[Gruftzwerg]

1. The "special" section of requirements and the "ex-clerics" section both have the following
This brought to my attention that the clause in "special" is in disagreement with the ex-paladins section. Let's fix that:
An ex-paladin who renounces their deity to enter defiant retains all paladin-derived weapon proficiencies, not just simple.



First, thx for the fast reply.

(1.)
Imho that clause sole applies if you are still an "Ex-Cleric". For that, you would need to have at least 10+ cleric level (and I doubt that anyone would take more than 9 cleric levels for this contest). Otherwise you don't have any "Ex-Cleric" levels anymore after entering Defiant.
So I assume we get the same fiat here!? ^^
Because if you sole have Defiant lvls left:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Defiants gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

[The Viscount]

Ah, I'm sorry. I misunderstood the question. If you trade all your cleric levels for defiant, then you must rely on other sources/classes to give weapon and armor proficiencies. I guess now we know why the sample one has a level of fighter.

[loky1109]

I'll maybe judge.

[Gruftzwerg]

Ah, I'm sorry. I misunderstood the question. If you trade all your cleric levels for defiant, then you must rely on other sources/classes to give weapon and armor proficiencies. I guess now we know why the sample one has a level of fighter.

That is sad to hear.

But I still feel kinda inspired by the SI..
..I hope that I'll find some time to cook. ( short on time these days.. :/ )

[holbita]

What would be the interaction with cloistered cleric and skill ranks?

[Inevitability]

What would be the interaction with cloistered cleric and skill ranks?


His skill ranks remain the same (even though his class skill list changes), and future skill points gained are spent using only the character's current class skill lists.

Seems pretty clear: you get the knowledge domains and you get the higher skill ranks / level.

[The Viscount]

A cloistered cleric retains the same skill ranks.

[Gruftzwerg]

How are you all doing? We are almost at the deadline.
I kinda have finished one build (need to reread it and look for errors) and my 2nd build is in write-up. I hope that I get both finished in time, but my time management is as always *@!~§...^^

[The Viscount]

It's time for the dishes! (Please hold off on posting until the all clear.)

[The Viscount]

Breaking off from the Wish for a solo project.



And The Word Became Flesh

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

"From the lowest of insects to the proudest of gods, each being owes its life to a single source."

LE Vivacious Body Hellbred ex-cloistered cleric Defiant 10 / Paladin of Tyranny 3 / Righteous Zealot 2

The Word was mortal once. Whether human, inhuman, male, female, it cannot say. Friends, family, allies, enemies: none of these does it remember. It knows only that it was, by the pretender gods' standards, wicked, and was condemned to hell for this wickedness. It often hopes that its original sin was the worship of one of Hell's deities: a fitting pre-existence, total in its opposition to the Word's current aims.

But then, as it descended through the Astral, its sinful spirit chanced upon the creator of the universe.

The damned soul found a refuge, a place of healing and transformation, and a place of learning. It learned how its savior was called by many names: Gaia, Pleroma, Monad, Sophia, Ragnorra, no name sufficing as a description of this Great Unknown. It learned how, eons ago, the Great Unknown arose from clashing positive and negative energies, how it shaped the world as a place dominated by the former, possessed of both living flesh and immortal spirit. It learned how the Great Unknown sacrificed of itself to birth its first creations: beings now called gods, meant as stewards of creation.

But while the Great Unknown was weakened, the stewards struck. Their creator was bound and, being truly immortal and thus impossible to kill, was cast between the planes to drift there forevermore. Over time, the pretender gods deluded themselves with the belief that it had been them who created the world, and that their true creator was but a mindless beast, effortlessly dispatched at the world's beginning.

But the Word knew now. And, though it was pained to abandon the Divine-Beyond-Words, it understood its new purpose. It returned to the world, a shining, insubstantial thing, a hole in space for life's radiance to emanate through. Where its feet touched the ground, it left bloody marks, drawn from the Unknown's holy body. Where its hands reached out, the Great Unknown reached through them. Where it lingered, germs and fungi bloomed, bloated, and burst, their little souls finding their way through the Word to rejoin their true creator. Its new nature, a passage between worlds, inspired it, allowed it to reach even further beyond, to those dark and shapeless places, to cast-away beings that so desperately sought to experience their creator's works.

Where it could, it showed the powerlessness of priests, healed the sick, and invited all to join its cause and spread its message further. And those who rejected it? Those, it retained compassion for. Had the Word itself not been blind once? Had it not failed to see? Thus, to those few doubters, it extended the greatest blessing of all.

It would send them to meet their maker.

For this contest, I decided to focus on a template I'd been meaning to use for years.

Vivacious is one of those beautiful build elements where relatively little level investment gets you basically a complete character: not only does the template make you incorporeal and flying, it gives you fast healing, gives your party unlimited out-of-combat healing, and lets you passively (!) force undamaged living creatures to make DC 20 fortitude saves or instadie, with very few plausible means of survival.

Why is this a good fit for Defiant? Well, most of Defiant is about surviving divine casters, and turns out we desperately need to do that. We're incorporeal, so martials aren't a huge problem, and we target the weak saving throw of every arcane caster (yes yes except the two 'blades) out there. That leaves divine casters as high-fortitude high-magic roadblocks... so why not take the prestige class devoted to surviving them?

From there, I needed a charisma-boosting race to really exploit the Vivacious/Defiant charisma synergy, and found Spirit Hellbred as an unconventional option that gives us access to some neat Devil-Touched feats. At some point during building, I realized the feats were outweighing the charisma boost (plus, Telepathy was awkwardly redundant with Tongues), so I switched to Body Hellbred for a total of three free feats.

Other feats and classes are mostly dedicated to improving bulk and improving our positive energy (surprisingly tricky: we can't even use Ability Focus so we have to focus on lowering saves), with a bit of a noncombat face focus on the side.

Ability scores:
Array: 8/10/12/12/14/18
Hellbred modifiers: 8/10/14/10/14/18
Vivacious modifiers: -/10/16/10/14/20
Ability boosts: -/10/16/10/15/22 (cha wis cha)

Languages: So apparently hellbred speak Infernal, plus whatever they spoke before their transformation. Common seems like an obvious assumption, and 12 intelligence would've qualified us for at least one bonus language, plus whatever racial ones we previously knew, plus whatever we sank skill points into. Obviously, the more languages the better, but the rules around this are shaky enough that I don't feel comfortable declaring our every pre-transformation skill point was spent on Speak Language.



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


6th
Cloistered Cleric 1 Defiant 1
+0
+2
+0
+2
Concentration 4, Diplomacy 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Spellcraft 4
Ghostly Grasp, Devil's FavorB
Spellcasting, Rebuke Undead, Pact Domain, Trickery Domain Spell Resistance, Self-Healing


7th
CC 2 Defiant 2
+1
+3
+0
+3
Bluff 1, Concentration +1 (5), Diplomacy +1 (5), Intimidate +1 (5), Knowledge (Religion) +1 (5), Spellcraft +1 (5)
-
Divine Resistance


8th
CC 3 Defiant 3
+2
+3
+1
+3
Bluff +1 (2), Concentration +1 (6), Diplomacy +1 (6), Intimidate +1 (6), Knowledge (Religion) +1 (6), Spellcraft +1 (6)
Stench of the Grave
Divine Damage Immunity, Imbue with Ability Bonus


9th
CC 4 Defiant 4
+3
+4
+1
+4
Bluff +1 (3), Concentration +1 (7), Diplomacy +1 (7), Intimidate +1 (7), Knowledge (Religion) +1 (7), Spellcraft +1 (7)
Devil's TongueB
Divine Cancellation


10th
CC 5 Defiant 5
+3
+4
+1
+4
Bluff +1 (4), Concentration +1 (8), Diplomacy +1 (8), Intimidate +1 (8), Knowledge (Religion) +1 (8), Spellcraft +1 (8)
-
Aligned Strike, Tongues 1/day


11th
CC 6 Defiant 6
+4
+5
+2
+5
Concentration +1 (9), Diplomacy +1 (9), Intimidate +1 (9), Perform(Oratory) {CC} +1 (1) Spellcraft +1 (9)
Bind Vestige
Divine Prevention


12th
CC 7 Defiant 7
+5
+5
+2
+5
Concentration +1 (10), Diplomacy +1 (10), Intimidate +1 (10), Perform(Oratory) {CC} +1 (2) Spellcraft +1 (10)
-
Nondetection, 2/day Dismissal


13th
CC 8 Defiant 8
+6
+6
+2
+6
Concentration +1 (11), Diplomacy +1 (11), Intimidate +1 (11), Perform(Oratory) {CC} +1 (3) Spellcraft +1 (11)
-
Divine Retribution


14th
CC 9 Defiant 9
+6
+6
+3
+6
Concentration +1 (12), Diplomacy +1 (12), Intimidate +1 (12), Sense Motive +2 (2), Spellcraft +1 (12)
Improved Bind Vestige
Divine Interference, 3/day Plane Shift


15th
Defiant 10
+7
+7
+3
+7
Intimidate +1 (13), Spellcraft +1 (13)
-
Divine Disavowal


16th
Paladin of Tyranny 1
+8
+9
+3
+7
Sense Motive +2 (4)
-
Aura of Evil, Detect Good, Smite Good


17th
Paladin of Tyranny 2
+9
+10
+3
+7
Diplomacy +2 (14)
Dilate Aura
Divine Grace, Deadly Touch


18th
Paladin of Tyranny 3
+10
+10
+4
+8
Diplomacy +2 (16)
-
Divine Health, Aura of Despair


19th
Righteous Zealot 1
+10
+10
+4
+10
Diplomacy +1 (17), Intimidate +3 (16)
Devil's AuraB
Enthralling Discourse, Righteous Indignation 1/day


20th
Righteous Zealot 2
+11
+10
+4
+11
Intimidate +2 (18), Never Outnumbered
Practiced Binder
Compelling Argument, +1 save against Enchantment



Timing on this whole thing is a little wonky. In mechanical terms, there is no issue, but the implication of the fluff (non-hellbred cleric dies, returns as vivacious hellbred defiant) does not actually work out. I ask judges to remember the highly subjective nature of the backstory, or if need be ignore it entirely. As stated before, the build works out mechanically.

Also, if you insist on specifying a deity for the prior cleric levels, the Dark Six work.

ECL 6
Most heavy lifting at this level is going to be done by the template. You're incorporeal while retaining the ability to interact with physical objects, so you can go ahead and break a lock from the inside, rifle through books after phasing into a room, or walk around wearing the bloated carcasses of your slain opponents (why? you're an insane servant of twisted positive energy made flesh: you need no why!). In a notable moment of poor writing, we are told that Positive Energy Aura can be turned off, but this results in... damage to our nonexistent strength stat.

In combat, just emerging from the floor in a tactical spot should already expose most of any encounter to your aura. Afterwards, snipe priority targets with the positive energy ray to force a second save, and maybe try to demoralize some stuff on your off turns (remember, being shaken lowers saving throws!).

I'm going to mostly gloss over the cleric levels as they aren't part of the final build: just take good spells while you have them.

ECL 10
Charisma to saves against divine spells and immunity to divine damage are very nice when one of those high-fortitude clerics tries to hit you with Flame Strike. Your relatively low reliance on standard actions comes in nice for using Divine Cancellation: explode some mooks as a free action, make their cleric master useless with your standard! It also makes it easier to apply Aligned Strike: if the encounter surprisingly turns out to include an avoral or archon, you can help the melee guy become relevant again without giving up your positive energy for the turn.

Devil's Tongue is another good use of your standard action: Daze+flatfooted is a powerful effect, and your high charisma helps get it off reliably. Note how well it complements positive energy aura, both in forcing an additional round of saves and in targeting the low-Will martials that neither Defiant nor Vivacious handles amazingly. Tongues can be used to get it working on creatures that don't speak your language.

Occasional +4 enchantment bonuses to stats aren't exactly impressive, but equipment is a bit of a question mark for incorporeal creatures and charisma SADness is real with this build, so I like to think we make use of the ability slightly better than most characters.

Also, note that while you're still a cleric, you can cast Guidance of the Avatar and/or Divine Insight in combination with Naberius' skills to solve a bunch of skillful problems with zero investment required.

ECL 15:
3/day Plane Shift gives us plenty to do while waiting for positive energy ray to recharge, and bind vestige + improved bind vestige grants access to Focalor, who makes you emo and lets you impose another saving throw penalty with Aura of Sadness. Dismissal has a neat use case where you're a native of the positive energy plane, where few campaigns go, giving you an emergency escape button to a place where few can follow.

We don't do anything extraordinary with Divine Prevention (which doesn't mean it's useless, of course), but Nondetection serves to block Detect spells while sneaking through walls. Divine Retribution is great for all the reasons that Divine Cancellation was, and Divine Interference and Divine Disavowal both protect you from magical offensives.

ECL 20:
Lots going on in the last few levels: you get your sizeable charisma to saves, you get another no-save saving throw penalty aura. Painful Touch has a weird niche use where it lets you pre-damage your allies by 1 point before combat so they don't blow up after wandering into your aura (sure, wielding a knife with ghostly grasp works also, but this is more stylish). Dilate Aura lets you double the range of any of your auras (typically the positive energy one, but who knows) to make positioning less precise, and Practiced Binder gives you access to a wide range of abilities, most notably Naberius's silver tongue, which goes great with our second class. Detect Good is mostly irrelevant, but note how Good servants of the divine light up much more than usual.

Righteous Zealot gives us another tool for targeting Will saves, letting us duplicate Enthrall and Suggestion. Its abilities are language-dependent, but Tongues neatly solves that little problem. Depending on what your DM considers to be 'obvious threats', healing people might not even count, which gives you a couple free turns to fish for low save results! You can also add another instance of charisma to saves 1/day, which I suppose is mostly useful against tricky Reflex saves.

Our final build's combat routine looks like this.

-Move: move adjacent to opponent, preferably emerging from the floor.
-Aura of Despair and Aura of Sadness trigger to impose -4 to saving throws and -2 to attack rolls and skill checks against nearby creatures.
-Stench of the Grave activates, forcing a DC 18 fortitude saving throw to avoid being Sickened, which imposes another -2 to attacks, saves, and skill checks.

At this point you can use your standard action to fire a positive energy ray (every 1d4 rounds), use Plane Shift (3/day), activate Devil's Aura (3/day), Devil's Tongue (3/day), buff yourself (3/day), attempt to bounce a divine spell, or activate Enthrall (2/day). Even though you don't have a truly at-will attack option (other than demoralization), in general you should make it through an adventuring day without exhausting all that. If you really want to debuff then a Never Outnumbered demoralization is a solid option: shaken reduces saving throws. Or ready an action to move back into the wall after your aura activates, if that barbarian's Ghost Touch axe looks a little scary!

Finally, your aura pings everything within 10 (or 20) feet, forcing everything with full health (like, y'know, any monster at the start of an encounter) to make a DC 20 fortitude saving throw (with, if you're keeping track, between a -4 to -8 penalty by this point) or die.

Defensively, you have saves of +19/+10/+19, which is more than respectable especially when considering your incorporeal resilience to most things that force reflex saves. You get another +6 against divine magic specifically. Boosting your charisma increases the saves to +21/+12/+21 and the divine bonus to +8. You can also add +6/+8 to one roll a day, or three times per day add +2. Your touch AC is 16 or 18, and nearby enemies take at least -2 on attack rolls, so that +10 BAB wizard who dumped strength is taking a real risk when he tries to Shivering Touch you (and even if he does: your aura doesn't care that your body just froze up).

Against divine spells specifically, you have SR 25. Against negative energy spells or SLAs (like Harm, otherwise a great tool for killing living incorporeals), you have SR 30. Your saves are increased by +6 (or, after the buff, +8) against divine spells. Divine casters must succeed on a DC 25+spell level concentration check to cast near you, which is penalized by focalor's aura and possibly the shaken/sickened conditions.

Out of combat, you're a solid face. In addition to the aforementioned Enthrall and the rider Suggestions, with your enchantment bonus to charisma and Naberius bound you can make a rushed diplomacy check and get a result of 35 (17 ranks, +8 charisma, roll of 10), which can turn hostile creatures friendly. If you can't spare the turn of setup, burn one of your Devil's Favor uses to get a +2 from there. Your intimidate modifier is +24 (which I'm pretty sure benefits from your saving throw penalties, because a penalty on saves is a penalty on saves against fear), again with a possible +2 from charisma boosting and +2 from Devil's Favor.

Looking at the secret ingredient's features one by one:
-Spell Resistance sees solid use in protecting us from high-fortitude divine casters. I'd also like to note that charisma-focused incorporeal undead are an obvious route to take this class, but unlike them we actually benefit from the mind-affecting resistance.
-Divine Resistance, Divine Damage Immunity, Divine Cancellation, etc all help against divine casters as well, with the latter also granting us a good use of our standard action on recharge turns.
-Aligned Strike isn't used for a specific purpose, though we can still make use of it.
-Nondetection is useful when moving through walls (at which point we're inaudible and invisible, so mostly have to worry about magical detection anyway).
-Selfheals are mostly useless.
-The ability boost is good, as we're very charisma-dependent and get a lot of return on a single boost. Our incorporeality makes regular item use hard, so the fact that the bonus is enhancement stings less.
-Tongues works great with our social role and many language-dependent abilities.
-Dismissal is both an offensive and defensive tool thanks to our extraplanar subtype. Even if people somehow follow you to your extraplanar hideaway, you can send them right back.
-Plane Shift is a potent save-or-suck that benefits from our saving throw debuffs.

In addition to the specific uses of specific abilities, we successfully work around the immense passivity of Defiant, its tendency to eat up standard actions, and its struggle to heal out of combat. Many Defiant builds will have to awkwardly work around the loss of proficiencies that many builds incur, but we are incorporeal and thus don't really care.

Also, on a fluff level we emphasize the preachiness of the Athar by taking class levels and skill ranks that make us better at interacting with others, and pick a race that knows like no other how unfair the whims of the gods can be.

Vivacious - PH
Spirit Hellbred - FCII

Cloistered Cleric, Paladin of Tyranny - UA
Righteous Zealot - DCS

Pact Domain - SC

Ghostly Grasp - LM
Devil's Favor, Devil's Tongue, Devil's Aura, Dilate Aura - FCII
Bind Vestige, Improved Bind Vestige, Practiced Binder - ToM
Stench of the Grave - UA

Never Outnumbered - CS

[The Viscount]

Not to be confused with Raziel.



Ka'zi'mir, the Soul Reaper



Backstory:
While being born as a DWK comes with privileges, it also comes with envy and loneliness. Life ain't easy if you are born under the heavy burden to achieve great things as a dragonwrought kobold. As such Ka'zi'mir leaves his tribe in his younger years to seek out others of "his kind" (dragons). On his journey he gets connected to the Church of Tiamat which seems to be more suited as home for a power seeking dragon. But somehow Ka'zi'mir feels stuck in the church's hierarchy. Since everything runs on ranks and tiles (and sometimes even size...), he get belittled all the time and his requests to go on outside missions to climb up the ranks get either denied, postponed or just straight ignored. It took him most of his life (venerable age) until the higher ups finally agreed (that he is now expendable) and did allow him to do outside mission for the church from now on. Finally the time has come for Ka'zi'mir to shine and get acknowledged. Or not??



Race: Venerable Dragonwrought (Arctic (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#arcticKobolds)) - Kobold (web enhancement (https://web.archive.org/web/20190804213826/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a))
DWK Heritage Black Dragon, thus gaining a +2 bonus on hide checks

Type: Dragon

Alignment: n-e > c-e (@lvl-10: when evil ain't evil enough^^)
Starting Religion: Tiamat

STR: 14 (16 base -2 race)
DEX: 16 (14 base +2 race)
CON: 10 (12 base -2 race)
INT: 12 (9 base +3 DWK)
WIS: 15 (14 base -2 race +3 DWK)
CHA: 16 (13 base +3 DWK) * all points from lvling go in here

Knowledge (planes): 4
Knowledge (religion): 8
Knowledge (arcana): 2

Skills: I started with the skill taxes of the build (all 3 Knowledge skills) and even did put some more point into them for the 9 cleric levels, since I didn't wanted to waste points into crossclass skills. After that I did switch to Hide and Listen, since those skills are more of use for this build's later levels imho. As a mostly melee character, having the option to hide, and listen as some form of perception is nice to have.



LVL
Class
BAB
For
Ref
Wil
Skills
Feats
Special


1st
Cleric

Dragonscale Husk (ACF)
[Dragon Magic]

+0
+2
+0
+2
Knowledge (planes): 4
Knowledge (religion): 4
Knowledge (arcana): 4
Dragonwrought
[Races of the Dragon]
Proficiencies:
(Simple Weapons)
(Shields: except Tower Shield)

Rebuke Undead

Domains:
Greed [Spell Compendium]
Tyranny [Spell Compendium]

Dragonscale Husk: +5 armor bonus
[Dragon Magic]

Draconic Rite of Passage: [Races of the Dragon]
Parching Touch 1/day [Sandstorm]


2nd
Cleric
+1
+3
+0
+3
Knowledge (planes): 5
Knowledge (religion): 5
Knowledge (arcana): 5




3rd
Cleric
+2
+3
+1
+3
Knowledge (planes): 6
Knowledge (religion): 6
Knowledge (arcana): 6
Improved Dragon Wings
[Races of the Dragon]
Dragonscale Husk: +6 armor bonus


4th
Cleric
+3
+4
+1
+4
Knowledge (planes): 7
Knowledge (religion): 7
Knowledge (arcana): 7




5th
Cleric
+3
+4
+1
+4
Knowledge (planes): 8
Knowledge (religion): 8
Knowledge (arcana): 8

Dragonscale Husk: Resistance 5


6th
Cleric
+4
+5
+2
+5
Knowledge (planes): 9
Knowledge (religion): 9
Knowledge (arcana): 9
Weapon Focus (Claws)
Dragonscale Husk: +7 armor bonus


7th
Cleric
+5
+5
+2
+5
Knowledge (planes): 10
Knowledge (religion): 10
Knowledge (arcana): 10




8th
Cleric
+6
+6
+2
+6
Knowledge (planes): 11
Knowledge (religion): 11
Knowledge (arcana): 11




9th
Cleric
+6
+6
+3
+6
Knowledge (planes): 12
Knowledge (religion): 12
Knowledge (arcana): 12
Alertness
Dragonscale Husk: +8 armor bonus


10th
Defiant (1-10)
[Planar Handbook]
+7
+7
+3
+7
Listen: 3

Proficiencies:
(Simple Weapons)
(Light Armor)

Spellresistance
Divine Resitance
Divine Damage Immunity
Divine Cancelation
Aligned Strike
Divine Prevention
Nondetection
Divine Retribution
Divine Interference
Divine Disavowal

- Heal for 10 x Cha mod per day

- imbue himself with enhanced strength, health, insight, or force of personality 3/day

- Tongues 1/day

- Dismissal 2/day

- Planeshift 3/day


11th
Soul Eater

+8
+9
+5
+9
Hide: 3

Energy Drain 1


12th
Soul Eater
+9
+10
+6
+10
Hide: 6
Flyby Attack
Soul Strength


13th
Soul Eater
+10
+10
+6
+10
Hide: 9

Soul Blast


14th
Soul Eater
+11
+11
+7
+11
Hide: 12

Soul Enhancement


15th
Soul Eater
+12
+11
+7
+11
Hide: 15
Greater Flyby Attack
[Savage Species]
Soul Endurance


16th
Soul Eater
+13
+12
+8
+12
Hide: 18

Soul Radiance


17th
Soul Eater
+14
+12
+8
+12
Hide: 20
Listen: 4

Energy Drain 2


18th
Soul Eater
+15
+13
+9
+13
Hide: 21
Listen: 6
Blessing of the Godless
[Exemplars of Evil]
Soul Agility


19th
Soul Eater
+16
+13
+9
+13
Hide: 22
Listen: 8

Soul Slave


20th
Soul Eater
+17
+14
+10
+14
Hide: 23
Listen: 10

Soul Power



Spells per Day


[B]Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th+


1st
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
4
2+1
-
-
-
-
-


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


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


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


6th
5
3+1
3+1
2+1
-
-
-


7th
6
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1
-
-


8th
6
4+1
3+1
3+1
2+1
-
-


9th
6
4+1
4+1
3+1
2+1
1+1
-


10th+
---
---
---
---
---
---
---



We start out as a cleric with a white Dragonscale Husk (limits the Dex bonus to +2, but gives a nice armor bonus to AC and resistance to elements at lvl 5, counts as medium armor for movement = 20ft movement speed). This gives him a very high starting AC of 20 (10 + 2 dex + 1 natural + 2 size + 5 dragonscales). Not even Ka'zi'mir knows his true scale color (black). As worshiper of Tiamat he has picked the Greed and Tyranny domains which represent his personal interests.

His early access to Improved Dragonwings...
Dragons automatically qualify for any classes, prestige classes, racial substitution levels, feats, powers, or spells that require the dragonblood subtype.
... gives him some aerial movement, even if it is still limited till he reaches 12HD. While his Dragonscale Husk counts as medium armor, it doesn't have any additional weight. And our ability to fly is only hampered if we have a medium load, thus no unwanted interactions here.

Shivering Touch is a fitting (arctic kobold with a white dragonscale husk) touch spell that can be combined with Ka'zi'mir's claw attack routine. Note that with dive attacks (flying charge) he deals double damage with his claw, including the 3d6 Dex dmg from Shivering Touch. This should solve most fights.

The greed domain also gives access to Knock, which is a handy tool to have.

Compared to the other clerics at the temple, Ka'zi'mir is making really fast progress (since he doesn't have to deal with RHD and +LA like most of the others). This does seem to bother some of the others dragons in the higher positions, but since Ka'zi'mir lack "Sense Motive", he is easily "bluffed" by the others and still doesn't get the acknowledgement he deserves. This further fuels his anger that's been growing the past decades.
If the situation remains, Ka'zi'mir intends to force changes.




On his last mission he was in a party to assassinate a necromancer for the loot he had accumulated (to fill the hoard of the temple..). He found an interesting looking (occult) book which instantly grasped his attention. He did hide it from the other party members since he wanted to study it alone. The books tries to reveal the true origin of the power of the gods. It explains how all of em feed upon the souls of their followers & victims, in one way or another. No matter if good or evil. They all do it. Because it is the strongest source of power known. At the end of the book there is even a ritual which grants the ability to tap into that incredible power source known as "souls" (ritual for Soul Eater).

This blows Ka'zi'mir's mind. Now he knows.. the biggest lie in this existence , the untold lie of the gods. He is once again filled with deep anger. He rejects this whole perverted existence and wants to set and end to it, once and for all. From now on he will forsake the way of the gods and his ultimate goal is to steal their entire power source.
"From now on it's all about ME, ME and ME!"

Ka'zi'mir bursts out into an evil laughter as slowly his white Dragonscale Husk begins to shred, reveling his true scales:
BLACK is BACK!


Suddenly Ka'zi'mir realizes the full extend of his choice to become a Defiant. He lost most of his former powers, but instead gained a bunch of new abilities. This feels a bit awkward at the first moment, but Ka'zi'mir doesn't care anymore. He has set his mind to make the preparations for the ritual.

Ka'zi'mir now needs to rely on general proficiency rules for Light Armor & Simple Weapon.

Anybody but a druid, monk, rogue, or wizard is proficient with all simple weapons.

All characters except wizards, sorcerers, and monks automatically have Armor Proficiency (light) as a bonus feat. They need not select it.

Since he lost his Dragonscale Husk ability, for the first time in his life he feels the need to protect his body with some armor. But on the other hand he did gain more mobility (full 30ft base speed now) and Dexterity (full bonus of +3) and thus doesn't wanna wear to heavy armor. The new agility feels kinda nice. As such a (Mithral) Chainshirt is the way to go here on the long run (since the build can get up to +5 Dex modifier later with "Soul Agility").


While losing the ability to cast spells is a big thing, we get a big list of abilities that work against divine stuff. Aligned Strike helps our claws to bypass any alignment based DR. The ability to heal himself for up to 10 x Cha (+4 at lvl 10)= 40hp should keep us easily at full HP most of the time. We also still have Parching Touch 1/day (HD = charges) for some additional dmg.
We can also try to banish our foes into another plane of existence (Plane Shift 3/day). Since CHA is our main stat, we get a decent DC of 21 (10 base + 7th lvl Sor/Wiz spell + 4 CHA mod at lvl 10).
And we can still make use of Parching Touch, which gives us 10 charges by now.
So unless we face an extreme powerful arcane being, we should somehow survive the lvl until we can finally enter Soul Eater.




Finally Ka'zi'mir can tap into the power of souls. His mere touch can drain the power of others (energy drain 1) which once again give him formidable claw attacks.
His physical strength gets boosted by the power of the consumed souls (+4 STR & +4 CON) and he becomes extra resilient to magical attacks of all kinds (high base save + Soul Enhancement).
Once per day he can channel his soul-power into a ranged blast.
Greater Flyby Attack allows us to fly in a straight line and attack a number of enemies up to our DEX modifier (without provoking AoO!). One roll that gets compared to all AC. Each enemy gets full dmg. Perfect to apply negative levels to multiple enemies at once.
And for single targets we can abuse dive attacks to get double dmg. Since negative levels can be affected by crit multipliers, I assume the same is true for dive/charge attack multipliers. Thus 2 negative lvls on a dive when you approach a single target. Note that at lvl 12 Improved Dragon Wings provides it full "Benefit".
Slowly Ka'zi'mir starts to get a feeling for the incredible powers souls can offer.







Energy Drain increases to 2 lvls per hit drained, which is just really nice. Now we drain 2 lvls with Greater Flyby Attack and 4 lvls on a diving charge. Soul Agility increases our DEX by +4 and thus allows for 2 more targets with Greater Flyby Attack.

Soul Radiance allows us to Shapechange into victims that we have fully drained (dead) for 24h. A really strong abusable ability. Combined with Nondetection we can take out most groups or organization with ease. Just switch into you victims and abuse the form to fluke his allies into death. Or later when we have our wight legion (Soul Slave) you can hide between your enemies and provide your wight legion with useful information (you should have some caster wights capable to use some form of telepathy at some point). Really endless options for abuse.

Later Soul Slave also turns each fully drained victim into a Wight under our command:
The sole source for a Wight template I could find was in Dragon #300. Since the ability that turns the victims into Wights is from a legal source (BoVD), I request an exception here. Since "Dragon" is normally not a requirement to be able to judge, I'll give a quick overview of the most important changes here:
- the template can be applied to any corporeal creature except constructs, oozes, and undead
- (racial) HD change into D12
- type change to undead, thus undead immunities
- Special Attack Saves have a DC of 10 +1/2 the wight's HD + the wight's Charisma modifier
- Energy Drain (while this has a Save compared to the Energy Drain from Soul Eater, its still nice and can stack with each other. Adds 1 negative lvl)
- humanoids the Wight leaches to dead also becomes a Wight in 1d4 rounds
- "+2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, and +4 Charisma; Constitution: - "
- ECL = +4 LA
- Advancement: Same as base creature

Wights can quickly snowball into a Wight-Acopolypse since fully draining a humanoid victim produces another one of em within 1d4 rounds (Note that the Soul Eater's ability to create Wights ain't limited to sole humanoids. This restriction is sole for the Wight's ability). While they have (some) free will (due to INT score), at the same time they have to obey their masters first, which can lead to awkward situations. But in the end, the Soul Eater is at the top of the command chain hierarchy, thus controlling all of em. Build up your own army. Ideally you start with mundane enemies, then divine caster, finally look for arcane casters. Turn everything possible into wights. Even on other planes (Plane Shift). Steal the entire power source of all the gods,except those with undead clerics. At least for the first time being until most of the gods are starving to nonexistence due to the lack of access to souls. And since Ka'zi'mir is a living Defiant (not an undead and almost immune to most dive stuff) maybe he will have a chance to challenge the remaining gods after they are weakened enough (maybe add a dozen epic lvls of Defiant before we try that^^). I also wanted to note that if he have enough wights under full control, we could force em to pray to us to mock the gods and maybe even become a deity ourselves^^?


With Blessing of the Godless we now gain access to 3 rituals (each ritual takes 6 minutes). We should have some evil cleric wights by now, those where the deity has no problems that the cleric is an undead now. As such we should have easy access to enough Unholy Water, which is needed for each ritual. With each ritual we can buff up to 5 allies (wights).
The first one is a pool of reserve HP that the ritual group has shared access to. Immediate action heals. Infinite duration until depleeted.
The second ritual gives a +4 morale bonus against Intimidate and Fear effects for 24h.
The last ritual comes with really fitting fluff for the SI:

In a sharp voice, you speak the reversed names of thirteen good deities, denying their existence and imbuing your allies with wards of unbelief.
It provides everybody with a +4 moral bonus against divine spells, which extends our defense against divine stuff even more. And since the wights are undead, there also profit from this. Further the participants get DR 5/- against Smite attack. Finally, if any participant should be affected by a divine spell, all participants in 60 feet reach get a +2 morale bonus to attack and dmg for 1 round. To abuse this, we will search for wight clerics with access to Persistent Spell. They just need to persist a single spell to provide the bonus all day long (best cast before the ritual).
We are now abusing evil undead clerics to steal spell power from their gods, while slowly denying all other gods their followers. Guess who will be the scapegoat(s) here? ^^ This should cause some mistrust and havoc among the gods.

His final ability Soul Power enables him to use all his SLA & SU twice as much each day. This affects all the stuff from Defiant and Soul Eater, and even the Parching Touch ability from being a Kobold. It also provides those abilities with a +2 profane bonus to their DCs which is very nice. While not the strongest capstone ability, imho still a very fitting one for the SI (who has a bunch of SLAs).





Final Notes on the use of the SI in this build:
While Soul Eater doesn't do that much for Defiant, imho the other way it looks much better. Defiant is imho a perfect match for Soul Eater. I mean, you biggest problem as a Soul Eater will be crusades of good clerics and paladins that try to hunt down the root of the wight problem (Ka'zi'mir). And chances are that some might not even be able to find us due to nondetection. As such all the divine protection Defiant offers is just hitting the nail here. With Defiant you can easily overpower clerics and get sooner or later even get yourself evil undead clerics. And with those you can try to beat higher level arcane character to add em to your legion of wights. Imho defier allows to Soul Eater to become an unstoppable force.


END
I hope you all enjoyed this lil silly kobold. My best wishes to all participants in the challenge and a thx to the judges for their work and time.

[The Viscount]

The latest Shovel Knight spinoff.



Skull Knight



Race: Human

Alignment (deity): L-E (The Blood Of Vol) >> C-E

STR: 14
DEX: 10
CON: 12
INT: 8
WIS: 16 (+1 @ lvl 12, 16, 20 = 19 max) (recommended: +6 item +5 wish = 30 max)
CHA: 16 (+1 @ lvl 4 & 8 = 18 max)



Leveling Order:
The first 9 lvls go into Cloistered Cleric. Then we enter Bone Knight before becoming a Defiant.
By entering Bone Knight at lvl 10 before becoming an ex-cleric, we can save the otherwise needed 2nd lvl of Ur-Priest (for the Turn/Rebuke Undead requirement). And since the first lvl of Bone Knight doesn't progress spells, we don't lose any spell progression for Ur-priest.
With this approach we get Death Strike from Bone Knight, the last real ability of the prc (the lvl 10 ability is just a minor upgrade from 50% fortification to 100%) and we get 9th lvl spells from Ur-Priest (requires a WIS of 28 to get a 9th lvl bonus spell; Thus a +6 item, +5 wish is recommended as shown in the statblock to get WIS 30 at lvl 20).

Skills:
This build has lots of skill requirements:
BK: Craft (armorsmithing) 6 ranks , Knowledge (religion) 4 ranks , Ride 6 ranks
UP: Bluff 6 ranks , Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks , Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks , Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks , Spellcraft 8 ranks
De: Knowledge (the planes) 4 ranks , Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks
Due to some being cross class skills(1/2 max ranks), this causes a somewhat awkward investment flow.
Concentration and Ride do become the main skills of this build.

Background Story:
The was a time where we had a real name. A time without this cursed armor. A time where our skin was gently touched by the sun's light. A time where we had dreams...
We envisioned ourself as a powerful warlord and wanted everything, maybe even our own kingdom. As such we embraced they way of the Blood Of Vol and sole cared for getting more powerful.
As such our main character (MC) studies carefully the path that the scriptures of the Blood Of Vol teach. We take a bit longer compared to others (Int:8 & Cloistered Cleric) which cuts down on our time left for physical exercises (Cloistered Cleric).





LVL
Class
BAB
For
Ref
Wil
Skills

*=double points due to cross class skill
Feats
Class Features


1st
Cloistered Cleric > Defiant


(Cloist. Cleric is from Unearthed Arcana)
+0/+0
+2
+0
+2
Craft (armorsmithing): 4
Craft (weaponsmithing): 4
Knowledge (arcane): 4
Knowledge (Religion): 4
Knowledge (the planes): 4
Ride: 2*
Mounted Combat

Mounted Casting
(Human Bonus Feat)
(Miniatures Handbook)
Rebuke Undead

Lore

Domains:
Knowledge (bonus)
Death
Necromancer

Spell Resistance

Heal Defiant lvl x Cha/day


2nd
Cloistered Cleric > Defiant
+1/+1
+3
+0
+3
Craft (armorsmithing): 5
Craft (weaponsmithing): 5
Knowledge (arcane): 5
Knowledge (Religion): 5
Knowledge (the planes): 5
Spellcraft: 1

Divine Resistance


3rd
Cloistered Cleric > Defiant
+1/+2
+3
+1
+3
Craft (armorsmithing): 6
Craft (weaponsmithing): 6
Knowledge (Religion): 6
Ride: 3*
Spellcraft: 2
Extend Spell
Divine Damage Immunity

Imbue himself with +4 to either Str, Con, Wis, or Cha 3/day


4th
Cloistered Cleric > Defiant
+2/+3
+4
+1
+4
Bluff: 2*
Knowledge (Religion): 7
Spellcraft: 3

Divine Cancellation


5th
Cloistered Cleric > Defiant
+2/+3
+4
+1
+4
Bluff: 3*
Knowledge (Religion): 8
Ride: 4*
Spellcraft: 4

Aligned Strike

Tongues 1/day


6th
Cloistered Cleric > Defiant
+3/+4
+5
+2
+5
Bluff: 4*
Spellcraft: 8
Iron Will
Divine Prevention


7th
Cloistered Cleric > Defiant
+3/+5
+5
+2
+5
Bluff: 5*
Ride: 5*
Concentration: 2

Nondetection

Dismissal 2/day


8th
Cloistered Cleric > Defiant
+4/+6
+6
+2
+6
Concentration: 8

Divine Retribution


9th
Cloistered Cleric > Defiant
+4/+6
+6
+3
+6
Bluff: 6*
Concentration: 10
Ride: 6*
Spell Focus (evil)
Divine Interference

Plane Shift 3/day


10th
Bone Knight

(Five Nations)
+4/+6
+8
+3
+6
Ride: 8

Bonecraft Armor

(Paladin Conversion - none)

Rebuke Undead


11th
Defiant
+7
+9
+3
+7
Concentration: 12

Divine Disavowal


12th
Ur-Priest
(Complete Divine)
+8
+9
+3
+9
Concentration: 14
Persistent Spell



13th
Bone Knight
+8
+10
+3
+9
Concentration: 16

Bone March

Summon Skeletal Steed


14th
Bone Knight
+9
+10
+4
+10
Concentration: 17
Ride: 8.5

Master of the White Banner


15th
Bone Knight
+10
+11
+4
+10
Concentration: 18
Ride: 9
Divine Metamagic
(Complete Divine)
Improved Bonecraft Armor


16th
Bone Knight
+11
+11
+4
+10
Concentration: 19
Ride: 9.5

Fill the Ranks 1/day


17th
Bone Knight
+11
+12
+5
+11
Concentration: 20
Ride: 10

Bonecraft Weapon


18th
Bone Knight
+12
+12
+5
+11
Concentration: 21
Ride: 10.5
Ride-by Attack
Improved Bonecraft Armor


19th
Bone Knight
+13
+13
+5
+11
Concentration: 22
Ride: 11

Exoskeleton of Undeath


20th
Bone Knight
+14
+13
+6
+12
Concentration: 23
Craft (armorsmithing): 7

Death Strike 1/day




Spells per Day (red = cloistered cleric / black = ur-priest)


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


1st
3

1+1

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


2nd
4

2+1

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


3rd
4

2+1

1+1

-

-
-
-
-
-
-


4th
5

3+1

2+1

-
-
-
-
-
-
-


5th
5

3+1

2+1

1+1

-

-
-
-
-
-


6th
5

3+1

3+1

2+1

-

-
-
-
-
-


7th
6

4+1

3+1

2+1

1+1

-
-
-
-
-


8th
6

4+1

3+1

3+1

2+1

-

-
-
-
-


9th
6

4+1

4+1

3+1

2+1

1+1

-
-
-
-


10th
6

4+1

4+1

3+1

2+1

1+1

-
-
-
-


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


12th
4
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


13th
5
3
0
-
-
-
-
-
-
-


14th
5
3
1
0
-
-
-
-
-
-


15th
6
3
2
1
0
-
-
-
-
-


16th
6
3
3
2
1
0
-
-
-
-


17th
6
3
3
3
2
1
0
-
-
-


18th
6
4
3
3
3
2
1
0
-
-


19th
6
4
4
3
3
3
2
1
0
-


20th
6
5
4
4
4
4
3
2
1
0



1-5
As cloistered cleric we traded some combat effectiveness for more skills. "Lore" is handy to have and reflects our researches for power. Due to our lack of physical exercises, we prefer to sit on horseback whenever possible (on travel/missions). We are feeling at home when on horseback. Sitting on a cold blooded horse even helps us to calm down when casting spells. The strong cleric spellcasting should easily carry us trough the starting lvls. Extend spell can be still very strong in the early lvls and is needed for Persistent Spell later.6-10
Our MC needs an Iron Will to endure the big egos of some of the higher rank clerics.
Finally we reach a point where the MC finally realizes that he still lacks physical conditioning. So far he sole focused light armor and avoided any heavy options. But he gets appointed to more difficult missions now and feels the need for change. But somehow we can't get used to regular heavy armor. This leads his to research the libary for alterantive options. There he finds instructions to create a bone armor. Once he has finished his new armor and donned it, he feels almost like reborn.

Bone Knight gives access to all armor, shields and martial weapons. Note the slight different phrase the class has regarding armor proficiency:

Bone knights are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor and shields (including tower shields)
Normally it's spelled:

with all types of armor (light, medium, and heavy), and with shields (including tower shields).
By RAW, we could theoretically argue that a Bone Knight could where any armor including exotic, e.g Mountain Plate. If the DM/judge dislikes this kind of cheese, we can fall back to "Heavy Plate" (both in Races of Stone). If the DM/judge is kind enough to extend this even to "all shields" a Rider's Shield would be the optimal choice for the build (again in Races of Stone). If not, just use a regular heavy shield.
Note that the bonecraft armor doesn't need a check to craft. While the ability talks about the same cost and time it takes to make it, it doesn't provide any DCs, nor does it mention a craft roll at all. It doesn't even say "craft" but sole uses of "make" & "produce" in the rule text.

11-15
It was on his way back from a mission where he first met the (ur-)priest. He crossed his way when he was setting up for a night camp. With a loud "plop" sound the priest appeared midair in front of him just to fall onto the ground the next moment. Our MC is shocked and a bit curious at the same time. "What the..??" The other person introduces himself as an ur-priest who has "shifted planes" (Plane Shift) to escape an otherwise unescapeable dogma of his home planet/plane. Now we are really curious. The priest explains that in his world (Faerun) the gods have plotted an evil device, a wall, where all the godless get bound to for eternity in the afterlife. They do this to ensure the control over the mortals, so that they get worshiped. As such, they can harness most of the divine power of that world. He further explains that mankind doesn't need the gods to access divine powers. It's just that the gods have become so powerful (by using that divine power) to act as gatekeeper for the divine power source. There is no deeper "divine order" that forces em to do that. They just do it for their personal gains, at the cost of the mortals who worship em. But he heard that at least the "dogma" of the "wall" seems to be a special thing of his world and that other worlds don't have that dogma. Thus he is seeking a new home planet.
Our MC is totally speechless. His total worldview is upside down. Divine Power without the need of gods!? He feels lied to, and abused as f/tool. He gets interested in the wordview of the ur-priest and his teachings. As conclusion he abandons his former life and even his former name. From now on, he shall be know as SKULL KNIGHT, the Defier!

Becoming an Defiant is a heavy change. Losing access to divine spells (temporary) is a big thing. But we feel inspired and energized (now medium BAB and more HP due to bigger hit dice (d6 > d8)), kinda reborn. And we can already access some spell powers (SLA). Most notably Plane Shift, which can also be used offensively.
We can also imbue some of our ability scores with a +4 enhancement bonus temporary, 3 times each day. This is mainly used for STR in melee combat.

The ability to heal himself for "defiant lvls" x "CHA mod" split into any amount over the day is a great survival tool.
A bunch of "anti divine" abilities will ensure that we won't get to much trouble with other clerics that have a problem with our "point of view" (especially our former cleric connections). But Skull Knight doesn't care for the other mislead sheep if they wanna stick to their false beliefs. He only cares for himself and the divine powers that he can obtain without the need for any stupid gods.

Bone March is kinda a 2nd control undead HD pool. At first it sole works with other willing casters that give us their undead. Later we'll get a upgrade for it.
Master of the White Banner makes our undead minions extra resilient against turning attempts when they are nearby. This "completes" the divine protection provided by Divine Interference. Together your undead minions don't need to fear (almost?) any divine magic at all, not just spells.

We also get the ability to summon a skeletal steed. Note that due to becoming a "special mount", the skeleton (heavy war-)horse has now an INT score and thus can freely choose (up to 3) feats and skills (4+INT/lvl) for it. As feats we pick immediatly MartialStudy (Shadow Blade Technique: roll attack twice, use higher for attack and deal cold dmg with the lower roll) to access Martial Stance: Child of the Shadow (20% misschance for 1 round after moving). Finally, we pick again Martial Study to pick up Sudden Leap. With Sudden Leap we have another option to abuse swift actions on our mount (more swift actions: see Imbue with Spellability section).

Finally our Bonecraftarmor improves by granting us immunity to stunning attacks and nonlethal damage.

With Divine Metamagic we can persist a single spell per day at lvl 15. For the start this will be Divine Power (or anything else that might come in hand for the meanwhile).

16-20
Since our mentor is from Faerun, we have an (cheap) excuse to use "Monstrous Regeneration" (5th; Magic of Faerun) and persist it. With the nonlethal immunity from the armor we are basically immune to any damage but acid and fire. And for those two we can switch Energy Immunity back and forth (24h duration, but can't be stacked..).

Fill the Ranks gives us access to Karrnathi Skeletons and Zombies which count against our Bone March control pool.
Our Bonearmor now provides a 50% chance to negate crits and sneak attacks.

We can also now craft Bonecraft Weapons which do extra dmg against living foes (1d6).

Ride-by Attack is rarely seen on caster (gish) builds and guides. I wonder why. Because the mounted combat rules sole require your mount to take the charge "action" (thus spending the full-round action). The rider sole get the AC penalty and if he attacks at the end of the charge, he counts as charging for that attack. Thus, we can combine the mounts charge with a touch spell (standard action) as example. This allows for a safe application without staying in melee range.

At the end, the armor starts to grow into our flesh, becoming a part of us (exoskeleton) which extends our immunities immense: (immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, death effects, fatigue, exhaustion, ability damage to your physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, and death from massive damage). Nothing can stop Skull Knight!
The final ability is a Death Strike ability which is imho a fitting capstone ability.



Imbue with Spell-ability:
With this our skeletal mount can some up to 3 SLA per day: 2 x 1st lvl and 1 x 2nd lvl
I did go sole for swift actions since I want to preserve its full round action for charging.

1st lvl options:
- Lantern Light gives a ranged touch attack for multiple rounds. Since our mounts HD/lvl/BAB is pretty low, this lets our mount do at least some lil dmg against high AC targets.
- Protective Interposition (check with DM/judge it the rider counts as carried stuff that gets teleported too - if not this becomes a non-option)
- Updraft to get to higher positions or to jump/float over obstacles.
- Sanctuary is a nice defensive option if our mount is running out of HP.

2nd lvl option:
- Knight's Move (same as Protective Interposition; pick only if rider also gets teleported as carried stuff) is swift action movement. Another option to get into position for iterative attacks.

Notable Magic Item:
Besides from the regular assumed magic items (weapons, armor, shield, + WIS item/whish scrolls, resistance cloak...) there is sole one item worth mentioning for this build and that is: Horseshoes of Flame. It gives the mount the option to fly and is a very fitting visual upgrade.

Use of the SI
Imho since the SI takes the place of the base class in this build, it fulfills the same purpose that other base classes would have. It enables you to enter another PRC (Bone Knight in this case) and should fit that prc as good as possible. And imho this is the case here. The SI is just what the Ur-priest/Bone Knight needs. Protection from divine spells for himself and his minions. While normally the question is what the other classes can do for the SI, imho here its the opposite: It's about what the SI can do for the other classes. And imho I couldn't have picked any better fitting option than Defier here to serve as base for the Ur-Bone Knight. We deny others to cast divine spells while easily casting divine spells as long as we are on horseback. Our undead army also profits from the anti-divine protection. All in all imho the best pick as quasi base class.

Final Words:
I've accidentally made a Skull Knight (berserk) build. Forgive me for not sticking to the real story with my build's story. But imho the abilities are very fitting for Skull Knight. He is basically immune to almost all dmg, divine spells/stuff, and almost any status effect 3.5 has to offer. The dmg is a bit low, but as cleric with access to stuff like Shivering Touch and other more deadly spells that shouldn't be a problem.

[The Viscount]

Yeah, see?


Fey’do’ra, the Barbed Rebuttal
LN Half-Elf Defiant 10/Legacy Champion 10
https://nicelystrongoak.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/elf-with-no-name.jpg

Ability Scores
Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 14
Stat increases go to Cha

Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Cloistered Cleric 1 0 2 0 2 28: {+4} Concentration: 4; {+2} Gather Information: 2; {+2} Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+4} Knowledge (Local): 4; {+4} Knowledge (The Planes): 4; {+2} Knowledge (Arcana): 2; {+4} Knowledge (Religion): 4; {+2} Knowledge (History): 2; {+4 CC} Swim: 2; Shape Soulmeld (Thereputic Mantle), Incarnum Spellshaping Lore, Turn Undead, City Domain, Incarnum Domain, Knowledge Domain
2nd Cloistered Cleric 2 1 3 0 3 7: {+1} Concentration: 5; Gather Information: 2; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 3; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 5; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 3; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 5; {+1} Knowledge (History): 3; Swim: 2; - -
3rd Cloistered Cleric 3 1 3 1 3 7: Concentration: 5; Gather Information: 2; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 4; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 6; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 6; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (History): 3; Swim: 2; {+2} Collector of Stories; Knowledge Devotion (Local) -
4th Cloistered Cleric 4 2 4 1 4 7: Concentration: 5; Gather Information: 2; {+2} Knowledge (Nature): 6; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 7; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 7; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 7; {+1} Knowledge (History): 4; Swim: 2; Collector of Stories; - -
5th Cloistered Cleric 5 2 4 1 4 7: {+1} Concentration: 6; Gather Information: 2; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 7; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 8; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 8; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 6; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 8; {+1} Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; Collector of Stories; - -
6th Cloistered Cleric 6 3 5 2 5 7: {+1} Concentration: 7; Gather Information: 2; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 8; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 9; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 9; {+2} Knowledge (Arcana): 8; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 9; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; Collector of Stories; Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment: Inquisition) -
7th Cloistered Cleric 7 3 5 2 5 7: {+1} Concentration: 8; Gather Information: 2; {+2} Knowledge (Nature): 10; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 10; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 10; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 9; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 10; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; Collector of Stories; - -
8th Cloistered Cleric 8 4 6 2 6 7: {+1} Concentration: 9; Gather Information: 2; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 11; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 11; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 11; {+2} Knowledge (Arcana): 11; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 11; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; Collector of Stories; Least Legacy (Notched Spear)B -
9th Cloistered Cleric 9 4 6 3 6 7: {+1} Concentration: 10; {+1} Gather Information: 3; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 12; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 12; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; Collector of Stories; Bonus Essentia -
10th Defiant 10 7 7 3 7 3: Concentration: 10; Gather Information: 3; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 13; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; Collector of Stories; - Spell Resistance, Divine Resistance, Divine Damage Immunity, Divine Cancellation, Alligned Strike, Divine Prevention, Nondetection, Divine Retribution, Divine Interference, Divine Disavowal, Healing, Enhancement Bonus, Tongues 1/day, Dismissal 2/day, Plane Shift 3/day
11th Legacy Champion 1 7 7 3 9 5: {+1} Concentration: 11; {+2} Gather Information: 5; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 14; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; {+1} Use Magic Device: 1; Collector of Stories; - Reduced Ritual Cost (Lesser), Bond of Lore
12th Legacy Champion 2 8 7 3 10 5: {+1} Concentration: 12; {+1} Gather Information: 6; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 15; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; {+2} Use Magic Device: 3; Collector of Stories; Planar Touchstone (Monastery of Zerth'Ad'lun) Replace Legacy Ability (Least: Parliament of Fishes for Cure Light Wounds)
13th Legacy Champion 3 9 8 4 10 5: {+1} Concentration: 13; {+1} Gather Information: 7; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 16; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; {+2} Use Magic Device: 5; Collector of Stories; - Extra Legacy Ability Use (Least: Cure Light Wounds)
14th Legacy Champion 4 10 8 4 11 5: {+1} Concentration: 14; {+1} Gather Information: 8; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 17; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; {+2} Use Magic Device: 7; Collector of Stories; Quicken Legacy (Scion of the Sea)B -
15th Legacy Champion 5 10 8 4 11 5: {+1} Concentration: 15; {+1} Gather Information: 9; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 18; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; {+2} Use Magic Device: 9; Collector of Stories; Elven Spell Lore Replace Legacy Ability (Lesser: Breath of the Triton for Cure Moderate Wounds)
16th Legacy Champion 6 11 9 5 12 5: Concentration: 15; {+2} Gather Information: 11; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 19; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; {+2} Use Magic Device: 11; Collector of Stories; - Extra Legacy Ability Use (Lesser: Scion of the Sea)
17th Legacy Champion 7 12 9 5 12 5: Concentration: 15; {+2} Gather Information: 13; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 20; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; {+2} Use Magic Device: 13; Collector of Stories; - Reduced Ritual Cost (Greater)
18th Legacy Champion 8 13 9 5 13 5: Concentration: 15; Gather Information: 13; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 21; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; {+2 CC} Survival: 1; {+2} Use Magic Device: 15; Collector of Stories; Martial Study (Shadow Stride), Quicken Legacy (Cure Moderate Wounds)B -
19th Legacy Champion 9 14 10 6 13 5: Concentration: 15; {+2} Gather Information: 15; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 22; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; Survival: 1; {+2} Use Magic Device: 17; Collector of Stories; - Extra Legacy Ability Use (Greater: Command the Sea Children)
20th Legacy Champion 10 14 10 6 14 5: Concentration: 15; {+2} Gather Information: 17; Knowledge (Nature): 12; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 23; Knowledge (The Planes): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 12; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (History): 5; Swim: 2; Survival: 1; {+2} Use Magic Device: 19; Collector of Stories; - Replace Legacy Ability (Greater: Weapon Enhancement Improvement for Weapon Enhancement (Collision))


I have seen the cities and the peoples of the distant planes and deepest oceans. I have marveled at their grand cathedrals and monasteries and even, once upon a time, offered prayers to their supposed deities.We start out as a Cleric. Therapeutic Mantle and the point of essentia from the Incarnum Domain give a little extra healing at levels where that really matters. Cloistered Cleric’s skill points and knowledges from the Knowledge Domain allow us to cover all bases for creature identification for Knowledge Devotion (which will also keep the knowledge skill for humanoids a class skill after we abandon being a Cleric) and the City Domain adds Gather Information, for a bit of continuity into the Defiant and Legacy Champion skill lists. Half-Elf allows for Aquan as a bonus language and a with few cross-class ranks in swim, we meet the wielder requirements for the Notched Spear without too much difficulty.
Yet one can only read so many variations on the same scripture, modified to the particularities of this or that place or race to conclude that the souls here, as there, as everywhere, look out into the infinite of the Great Unknown, and unable to reckon with it, turn back inward and make gods in their own image.The Notched Spear’s first ritual requires offering a prayer, so we get that done before losing our faith and adopting a strict code of atheism. Trading in 9 levels of Cleric means we get the full suite of extra goodies, including Plane Shift to visit Touchstone sites to charge up higher order abilities and self-healing, which can be stretched to triple its normal value out of combat by healing in increments of 1, due to the 2 point increase in the efficacy of healing effects from Therapeutic Mantle. This is handy as our SR against divine spells will be difficult for enemy and allied spellcasters alike to penetrate. In addition to providing a bit of spellcasting from its Higher Order ability to cast a spell off the domain (though said spell is nowhere referred to as divine) once per day (the ability enhancement power from trading in Cleric levels can help to meet the requisite Wis to cast higher level ones as we go up in levels), the granted power of the Inquisition Domain offers a sizeable boost to Divine Cancellation.
Yet this is no cause for despair. For if these myths and edifices are the work of mere men, then the supposedly divine spark, the capacity for miracles exists within us all to be claimed as birthright with no need for god or destiny.Legacy Champion continues the progression of Defiant’s various level-dependent abilities, including SR, the amount of daily self-healing, and the DC for Divine Interference, all of which basically require this progression to remain relevant. Sadly, being based on regular Dispel Magic instead of the Greater version means that Divine Cancellation doesn’t get any more juice out of increasing its CL, but Elven Spell Lore offers an extra buff to dispel checks on top of the Inquisition Domain power. The Higher Order ability of the Monastery of Zerth’Ad’lun is a great help for counterspelling on the action economy as well, as it allows for a free, non-specified readied action once per day. We also get a bit more non-divine healing by trading in Legacy abilities for Cure Light Wounds and Cure Moderate Wounds a few times each per day. Against enemies where Divine Cancellation isn’t helpful, the readied action can be used to set the Notched Spear against a charging enemy, for which it grants an extra damage boost on top of the normal doubling for a longspear (which works well with flat bonuses like Knowledge Devotion).
To say that our prayers go unanswered is ultimately to say that we make our own future and our own legacy.Martial Study (Shadow Stride) is always a decent choice for an 18th level feat, and here it helps us manage positioning for Divine Interference and the move action activation lines up well with readied action tactics. Trading away the last point of enhancement bonus progression on the Notched Spear leaves it only an effective +5 weapon, allowing for a +2 from the Menu G Weapon Enhancement ability. Collision offers a decent sized flat bonus to double when setting the spear against a charge. Summon Monster IX 4/day, even limited to aquatic creatures, is nothing to sneeze at either.


Complete Champion: Knowledge Devotion
Magic of Incarnum: Incarnum Domain, Shape Soulmeld, Thereputic Mantle
Planar Handbook: Defiant, Planar Touchstone, Touchstone Sites
Races of Destiny: City Domain
Tome of Battle: Martial Study, Shadow Stride
Weapons of Legacy: Legacy Champion, Notched Spear

[The Viscount]

Judges, handing it over to you!

[H_H_F_F]

Congrats to the contestants!

Haven't been active lately (free time is sorely missing, and a lot of my hobbies and goals are getting hit pretty hard)

If I would've submitted something it would be very close to Fedora, so not too bad that I'm out.

[Frostmoon]

Congrats to the contestants as well! :D I had a vague idea of a Defiant 10/Ur-priest 10, so I'm glad to see that Skull Knight follows down that path (and is probably just better at it, too). XD Good luck to all!

[Gruftzwerg]

huh? I was kinda expecting more entries. On the other hand its less work for the judges, and always having 10+ builds is kinda heavy work for them.
I wish everybody "good luck" and at the judges "have fun".

[loky1109]

Table.

Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef Total Place
The Word (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659950&postcount=21) LE Vivacious Body Hellbred ex-Cloistered Cleric Defiant 10/Paladin of Tyranny 3/Righteous Zealot 2
Ka'zi'mir (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659957&postcount=22) NE-CE Arctic Kobold ex-Dragonscale Husk Cleric Defiant 10/Soul Eater 10
Skull Knight (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659959&postcount=23) LE-CE Human ex-Cloistered Cleric Bone Knight 9/Defiant 10/Ur-Priest 1
Fey'do'ra (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659960&postcount=24) LN Half-Elf ex-Cloistered Cleric Defiant 10/Legacy Champion 10

[loky1109]

My judging criteria.
Originality. Start is 3. Most subjective part. I look at races, classes, prestiges, feats and clever tricks. Combo that involves SI may be reviewed in UoSI section.

Before I read all entries I wanna say: "It's ok to enter SI via ex-Cleric-9 replacement. I will not penalized you for this, but give bonuses if somebody avoid this." But I read and... I'm very sad about this. It turned out more frustrating than I expected. I actually doesn't matter because all have the almost same way into Defiant, but I should say: there will be penalties.

Power. Start is 0. I have four parts 1.25 points in each.
"Magic". Including Sp, Su, psi, martial and any specific abilities your entries have. Variety, amount, metas, other options, etc.
Offense. How good are you at making damage? Attack bonuses, damage, attack options, rider effects, etc.
Defense. Your hp, saves, AC and other defense options.
Support. Any "out-​of-combat" things. Being face, scouting, making money, tracking, mobility options etc.

Elegance. Start is 5. I search for any mistakes, inaccuracies, ambiguity and give you a penalty. In rare cases when I find something pretty clever I can add some bonus.
TO RAW is always less than RAI. There is no way you could make me believe in d43 damage dice and similar nonsense.
Cross-​setting materials isn't something harmful if you know when to stop.
Multiclassing isn't sin, either. Multiclass XP penalty - opposite.
I don't like missed opportunities. If you take toughness five times it isn't pretty elegant in my book.
I look at formatting. Your entry should be easy to read. All skills in place, all feats clearly came from (regular, bonus, some free, etc.), there are right full sources, etc.

UoSI. Start is 0.
Do you qualify for SI and don't break the rules after? - +1 if all is ok. If it isn't... Well, if issue could be easily solved maybe 0, maybe something between. If issue is unsolved you just get 1 point in UoSI.
Do you entry SI early? - up to +0.5.
Do you finish SI? - up to +0.5.
Do you use all SI abilities (Spell resistance, Divine resistance, Divine damage immunity, Divine cancellation, Aligned strike, Divine prevention, Nondetection, Divine retribution, Divine interference, Divine disavowal, Fallen Clerics 1+, Fallen Clerics 3+, Fallen Clerics 5+, Fallen Clerics 7+, Fallen Clerics 9+) at all? - up to +0.15 each.
Have you found some interesting combos involving SI abilities? - up to +0.5 each.
It isn't enough just to have, for example, Scent and saying: "It is useful for everybody and for me, too." No, you should have something on top of that, in Scent example it could be Track.
Combo, in turn, is something that you need to come up with. Synergy of Scent and Track isn't a great find, it is written directly in their description.

Do you use SI prerequisites or just take it and forget? - up to +0.25.
Maybe SI makes your entry worse than it could be without SI? - up to -1.

I'll try to start in several days.

[Wildstag]

This is interesting. A one-page Iron Chef thread, with submissions on page 1? That can't happen often... I'm also impressed with the results. Admittedly, I misread the entire PrC's text, but I don't think I could have done better.

[Gruftzwerg]

This is interesting. A one-page Iron Chef thread, with submissions on page 1? That can't happen often... I'm also impressed with the results. Admittedly, I misread the entire PrC's text, but I don't think I could have done better.

It's not just Iron Chef. Imho overall forum activity has dropped immense the past month or two. Dunno if this is still the sideeffect of the "unofficial discord" that some people did advertise here or if there are other reasons.
The low traffic of the past weeks feels alarming to me, but I don't know what to do about it.
I did warn those people that advertised the discord, but I kinda feel like they didn't get what I meant when I said that it's a bad thing to steal traffic from the forum. And now I feel like we are at an all time low of traffic in the 3.5 forum.
I also noticed a drop in Google search. The amount of results where gianttip is not on the first page feels like increasing (I have worked on 4 builds the past 1-2 months with google search). I hate to say it, but I blame those that started to advertise and use the unofficial discord for this.


May I ask what part of the SI your did misread/misunderstand? I'm curious now^^

[Wildstag]

Things

May I ask what part of the SI your did misread/misunderstand? I'm curious now^^

I think of the first bit the same way I think of IRC-forum debates. Eventually, forums held out, and IRC is diminished. There's a homey quality to a forum site.

But mostly I misunderstood the whole "exchange levels" thing, kinda partially because the sample Defiant still keeps 7 levels of cleric. I think I just glossed over that block rather than reading it fully.

P.S. Fun fact, but the Planar Handbook was released after Miniatures Handbook and Complete Divine, but the Defiant's prerequisite text only mentions Clerics and Paladins. I'd probably elect to include Favored Souls in the ex-cleric text.

[Gruftzwerg]

But mostly I misunderstood the whole "exchange levels" thing, kinda partially because the sample Defiant still keeps 7 levels of cleric. I think I just glossed over that block rather than reading it fully.
The sample Defiant didn't exchange any Cleric lvls at all. It has used this option:

Clerics who are not affiliated with a particular deity make good defiants, ...
Since the cleric doesn't worship a god, he can freely join the Defiant without downsides. He keeps his Turn Undead and his Cleric spells. If he would have followed a deity, he would have lost all that and would have become an Ex-Cleric. But that is not that case here.




P.S. Fun fact, but the Planar Handbook was released after Miniatures Handbook and Complete Divine, but the Defiant's prerequisite text only mentions Clerics and Paladins. I'd probably elect to include Favored Souls in the ex-cleric text.
These kind of problems are often in 3.5. Many books have been released overlapping each others production time. See the books that are partially 3.5 but still have some 3.0 issues. They all thrive from the same problem.

Finally, IIRC each supplement book is intended to work by itself with the core books. Intended interaction between multiple supplement books can happen but you shouldn't expect it by default.

3.5 ...messy as always..^^

[Paragon]

And here is my judgement.
I took a pretty close approach to what Loky described as a judging criteria in order to bring a bit of order to chaos.




Voracious template is a great finding. I’d never heard of it +0.5
Backstory matches the fluff and is well written +0.5
Righteous Zealot is a never seen before class (for me) +0.5
Devil Touched feats are a pretty rare occurrence even when people pick Helbred (though I don’t get your switch from Spirit to Body even after your justification) +0.5

Total : 4.5



Incorporeal with a Fly speed and a Constitution score. Yeah that’s pretty strong in my book +1
Aura + ranged touch attack that triggers a flat 20 Fort SoD at will per day is pretty strong. While the Positive Dominant Plane says undeads are hard to comeby there and they probably die from the energy positive exposure as any sane DM would rule it, what about constructs ? They’re just immune to you but +1 still.
Debuff tactics.
OTP Debuff tactics but efficient OTPnonetheless ; Physical attacks are dealt with 50% miss chance most of the time and martials need to have a way to fly to threaten you at all.
Spells have the same miss chance and what’s more, Defiant adds divine specific SR.
Reminds me of Jorah the Hand of Annihilation https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?142470-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-(As-seen-on-BG)/page4 but it's different enough I don't ding it in originality +1
I can see a DM allowing "healing" as a soothing non-threatening atmosphere... up until they blow up so the combination with Enthrall and Fascinate-like abilities is a good find +1
I like your idea of being intangible and still able to interact with objects. It's cleary cheese to unlock a lock that way ; color me a newbie but it's the first time I hear of it and I like it +0.5

Total : 4.5



Liked Hellbred Spirit and I don't get the switch to Body. Ok you get Devil touched feats but Telepathy opens up Mindsight for instance and Tongues is 1h/d anyways. No penalty but this annoys me.
“Timing on this whole thing is a little wonky”. Your words, not mine -1
Where did you put that Stench of the Grave prereq ? Until you show me you did include it somewhere, you get a -0.5
Also, if your party gets sickened in your positive aura and you don’t move, they will probably die.
Paladin of Tyranny is Evil. Vivacious and the way you described you char is Good -0.5
Forcing that Binder abilities onto yours make it a lot of feat investment for a bit of a late game return -0.5 (Also I'm so sad you didn't go straight binder because I feel Leraje's Ricochet ability would have been awesome).

Total : 2.5



I like the “I defy the gods because I answer to a higher power” vibe and the demarcation of Cleric // Defiant painted with Death // Resurrected by the Great Unknown is a good fluff and seems to work RAW +1


SR. You complement it in some way with an Ex one vs Negative Effect. A bit niche so no points.
Divine Res : Boosted Cha + Paladin Grace +0.2
Div Can : 0
Aligned Strike : Negative synergy you can only hit ethereal things now -0.5
Div Prev : +0
Nondetec : +0
Div Ret +0
Div Disav : +0
BONUS : Heal : -0, Tongues +0.2, Dismissal 0.2 to escape is fun, Plane Shift 0.2

Prereqs are met and then left to die +0

You're using Defiant to help another build, I'm expecting the other way round -0.5

Total : 3.3





Classic race (I can smell strong cheese when the appetizer is on the way... that spoils an appetite) -0.5,
Classic cleric into defiant instead of Cloistered. I guess barely counts as original in this round +0.1
Really didn't find the backstory compelling. It's just ""me against the world"" with a shade of grey (white then black) -0.5.
I can't really find anything here except well known power grabs except maybe Blessing of the Godless being a fitting addition +0.5

Total : 2.1



Well this is what you're here for at least.
Top tier PrC, Dwk Kobold cheese with a "i instantly qualify for anything" cherry on top, Greater Flyby Atk, your power grabs give you just that ; power +1

GFB's attacks with Soul Eater's negative levels are really good offensively. Doubled on a dive by RAW silliness ok.
Wight legion + Shapechange is really good as well. Offensively and defensively +2.
Only 2 out of 3 points here because you will not have me believe a 10 in Constitution is enough to dive into melee. More than once I mean.
Also, useless vs anything immune to energy drain (Death Ward) or incorporeal, nothing vs misschance etc.

I got nothing standing out in means of Support.

Total : 3



Well this is where you lose points.

Venerable Dwk Kobold into "Dragon Type to automatically qualify" -0.5 (and believe me I want to hate more but trying to remain as objective as possible)
Wightpocalyspe from Dragon Mag -0.5 (I should double it for it being illegal + being cheese but I won't)
Soul Radiance (self defined as "abusable cheese") -0.5
Shivering Touch (another known cheese abuse) - 0.5
Switching Heritage ? Can you even decide your ancestor changes color post build or something ? -0.5 (can be revised if you quote me that it's meant to work out this way)
Your main stat isn't that great and while we're at it you're completely MAD even with the +3 cheese -0.5

Total : 2.5



"Defiant is imho a perfect match for Soul Eater." This sounds like you optimized an ingredient with the secret ingredient which to me is the opposite of what is asked here. -0.5


SR : Somewhat weak justification that Soul Eater are going to be chased by hordes of good clerics making the Divine Resistance and the likes more useful. I get it but I don't like it +0.1
Divine Res : +0
Div Can : 0
Aligned Strike : +0.2 since your claws are something but I won't buy the 10 Con melee guy.
Div Prev : +0
Nondetec : +0.2 to help your Shapechange ability (again, imo it's supposed to be the other way round but ok)
Div Ret +0
Div Disav : see SR
BONUS : Heal : -0, Tongues +0, Dismissal 0, Plane Shift +0.2
Smart use of Soul Eater's capstone for doubling the SI's ability counts as +0.5

Know Religion sees some use in Blessing of the Godless +0.2

Your SI just makes your build worse than Dwk Cleric into Soul Eater. (I'm not set on a penalty there : it's not a good thing but i'm not sure any build here does)"

Total : 3.4





Bone Knight is from Five Nation and that is obscure enough to deserve a +0.5
Ur-Priest is what seemed obvious to me and I would have built it like this if I didn’t feel it was so unoriginal so I'm guessing you'll get your points in Power.
Backstory is a 7-line joke but some more lore in the snapshots lets you avoid a penalty (and that shifted planes witty comment soothed me from the fact you don't even bothered to name your entry)
I guess Mounted Combat line, even though it’s a prereq, is pretty original for a Defiant +0.5
Washed up DMM and Persist metamagic -0.5

Total : 3



Well 9th level spells here is really strong +1.5
You're reasonable at meleeing as you have Divine Power Persisted (I'm guessing) and otherwise the best BAB here. You can actually deliver that "plane shift offensively" everyone brags they can. Ride By Attack is a good addition and your capstone is a SoL which you already have plenty of via spells +1
Defense wise you complement the defensive abilities of Defiant and have self made good armor as well as nice immunities +1
Support is the Cleric level spells but you only have so many of them (especially after your persist routine). +0.5

Total : 4



Shivering touch cheese to compensate lack of offense ; I penalized one, I have to penalize this one too -0.5
Rank investment is packed but correct, no penalty
Snapshots' 6-10 editing error made me wrack my brains (no penalty but it looks messy)
That "I don't need to craft because it doesn't explicitly says so" is the kind of stuff I throw books at at my tables -0.5

Total : 4



Ur Priest simply makes sense with Defiant, like it's the rest of the PrC lost in another book +0.5
"While normally the question is what the other classes can do for the SI, imho here it's the opposite" well you're the third one this round so in fairness you get -0.5 like the rest (as I feel this competition is about doing the opposite)


SR +0
Divine Res : +0
Div Can : 0
Aligned Strike : +0
Div Prev : +0
Nondetec : +0
Div Ret -0.5 you have anti synergy with your casting and nothing to mitigate it.
Div Disav : +0
BONUS : Heal : -0, Tongues +0, Dismissal 0, Plane Shift +0.2


Prereqs are used for Ur Priest +0.2

You spent a lot of time telling me about a build that happens to have the SI in it but it is seldom showcased how you improved it

Total : 2.4





Half Elf, omg this is original but i'm clenching, hard +0.5
2 lines per 2 lines backstory for a grand total of 8 ? that's -0.5 (and i'm being nice) Come on, with City Domain combined with Underwater fluff : where is my Altantis lore ?!
Legacy Champion +0.5 for originality but you're going to pay for this in Power i'm sure.
Using 2 slots for the same feat isn't what I call original -0.5
Knowledge Devotion/Collector of Stories on a Cloistered Cleric is washed-up as it can be -0.5
Essentia took me off my feet +0.5

Total : 2.5



You spend an awful amount of resources devising ways to heal yourself while your HPs are tanked (-20 out of your average 133.5 meaning it's 15% off your max hp) by your legacies -0.5
Offensively you have a passive "charge me if you dare" but what if they don't ? You want to bring a spear to a magic fight ? You suffer what every martial character suffers in combat and you just have the abilities to heal up once you're out of it. The flat bonuses help you a bit (Knowledge Dev and Collision even though I can't see you reach +10 dmg) and you only end up with 3 attacks as a full round. I'll admit the summoning ability is good, if you remain underwater (which, as is, Fey'Do'Ra can't) +1
Defensively, you boosted almost every ability the SI has to offer so your SR is top notch (33 @20) vs Divine spells but what about the other half of casters ? Arcane just blows you out of the water (pun intended). A niche counterspell ability can save you once a day (and then you have to plane shift again) and a teleport Ex ability make me wanna give you +1
You added some Gather Information to have stuff to do outside of combat and some points in knowledge. Feels a little light but it’s something +0.5

Total : 2



A defiant that needs to undergo rituals dedicated to gods to gain his weapon's abilities then forsakes his faith but keeps the perk ? -0.5
"half elf allows for aquan as a bonus language". So does aquatic elf AND it makes sense to be able to breathe underwater if you're gonna be summoning most of the stuff you can there -0.5
I'm sorry to say but this build feels bland to me. I can't really explain it other than I spent time reading a build, yes, but it feels like an NPC build WoTC used to come up with (well thought out, nice implementation but I see no optimization anywhere (except healing optimization and we all know of that goes...) and well that is the point of this competition -1
The way I'm reading it, Elven Spell Lore doesn't help with Divine Cancelation as it gives +2 to CL for dispel attempts when the ability overrides it with a "CL = 5". Inquisition domain on the other hand work pretty well (no penalty, just nitpicking)
Not liking the "it's from a domain but it doesn't say divine so it's not" argument -0.5

Total : 2.5





SR is boosted +0.2
Divine Res : +0
Div Can : +0.2
Aligned Strike : +0.2 (Spearing is your bread and butter)
Div Prev : +0.2
Nondetec : +0.2
Div Ret -0.2 messes with your Higher Order spells but +0.2 since you make it a headache for divine caster to do anything
Div Disav : see SR
BONUS : Heal : +0.2 from Therapeutic Mantle, Ability boost for spells... meh no +0 Tongues +0, Dismissal 0, Plane Shift +0.2 for recharging Higher Order Abilities.



Prereqs are entertained through knowledge and devotion mechanics +0.2

You're the only build that has improved Defiant instead of using defiant to improve some other class. I gave everyone a -0.5 so i'm not giving it to you (meaning you're +0.5 above the rest)

Total : 4.1

[Wildstag]

Since the cleric doesn't worship a god, he can freely join the Defiant without downsides. He keeps his Turn Undead and his Cleric spells. If he would have followed a deity, he would have lost all that and would have become an Ex-Cleric. But that is not that case here.

I was thrown off by the character's seeming lack of a domain, without anything to make up for its absence.

[Gruftzwerg]

I was thrown off by the character's seeming lack of a domain, without anything to make up for its absence.

You felt trap to the "oversimplified statblocks" which got later introduced in 3.5...
If you look up all the Monster Manuals you notice the change in the format.
At the start we had detailed stats and mechanics, later we got oversimplified stuff like attack rolls with total bonuses and feat use (e.g. Power Attack -3). But if want to change something (e.g. the Power Attack) you need to reverse engineer the info provided..

Same here. Have a look at the daily spells:
"Cleric Spells Prepared (6/6/5/5/3)"
They include the bonus spells from high mainstat and the daily domain spells. Thus the domain spells are hidden within the selected daily spells shown. But reverse-engineering the domains.. good luck & have fun with that..^^

I really hate the later statblock format. It is total garbage and misleading.

I suggest to make yourself more aware of these 2 different formats to prevent future misreadings elsewhere.

[loky1109]

My judging incoming!

To all. Enter via trading Cleric-9 priced you -1 point in originality.

Be honest, I didn't expect Vivacious creature. As like Righteous Zealot. DLCS is my blind spot.
Paladin is expected.
Being a Vestige user is a surprise. I like it. Stench of the Dead isn't a frequent guest.

You get full 4 points from me here.
Magic. I ignore the cleric's casting. But you still have something really. Not exactly magic, but racial Su, Vestiges and some stuff from Pal and Zealot. It isn't so much in numbers, but very essential in your entry. +0.75 here.
Offense. Okay. You are cool in killing people. In a strange but effective way. I don't know what you can do against constructs, but all other enemies will have trouble with you (+1).
Defense. You are incorporeal creature with Constitution. On top of that, Cha in saves and fast healing. You aren't invulnerable, but aren't fragile either. +1 here.
Support. You are a good face, very good healer, not a bad scout with your fly and incorporeality. I give you +1.
And +5 LA hurts you in power in general -0.5 points
Total is 3.25 points.
First thing I noticed. Your skills. It's better than I often see. Like from me.
I don't like Evil Hellbred. It is possible - everything is possible, but I see how it can become an issue (-0.25). I understand that backstory has a subjective nature, but the backstory that you give me has problems with your first 14 levels. I can't pass it by, sorry (-0.25).
I want to see exactly where the description of a positive-dominant environment is, it is the main part of your tactics (-0.25).
Total: 4.25 points.
Do you qualify for SI and don't break the rules after? - I have some issues with your Paladin of Tyranny. Yes, I understand you are a paladin of a non personified source of divine magic, but what source exactly? It is important thing with current SI (0.75).
Do you entry SI early? - Oh, no, 15th level isn't early entry (0).
Do you finish SI? - Yes (+0.5).
Have you found some interesting combos involving SI abilities? Do you at least use them?

Spell resistance, Divine disavowal - You use it more than regular corporeal Defiants (+0.1).

Divine resistance - You have good Charisma, but this ability is slightly overshadowed by Paladin's Divine Grace (+0.05).

Divine damage immunity - As you mentioned, it's good for you as like as SR (+0.1).

Divine cancellation, Divine retribution - I don't see some specific synergy here, but you have free standard and could use these abilities freely (+0.05).

Aligned strike - You need this even less than regular regular Defiants (0).

Divine prevention - Nothing special (0).

Nondetection - Yes, it is good for you (+0.15), I'd even say it is a combo (+0.25).

Divine interference - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 1+ - Self-Healing means almost nothing for you (0).

Fallen Clerics 3+ - Well, it could give you something significant with all your Cha-stuff (+0.1).

Fallen Clerics 5+ - You have combo between Tongues and Righteous Zealot (+0.15, +0.25).

Fallen Clerics 7+ - Dismissal is useful (+0.15) and combines with your subtype (+0.25).

Fallen Clerics 9+ - Plane Shift has some synergy with all your save debuffs (+0.1).
Do you use SI prerequisites or just take it and forget? - Just take (0).
Maybe SI makes your entry worse than it could be without SI? - I can't say so (-0).

Total: 2.95
Total: 14.45

Venerable Dragonwrought Kobold, even Arctic. Booooring.
Soul Eater... Well, it is a well known prestige class, but I didn't expect it here.
Your feats... I don't see anything special. I rarely see Dragonscale Husk, but having traded it away means I give you nothing for it.

I think you deserve 2 points here.
Magic. You have some with Rite of Passage and Soul Eater's stuff, but not very much (+0.5). Yes, you have more before becoming Defiant, but I don't want to talk about traded things.
Offense. Okay, you are Soul Eater within all its glory. It's cool (+1).
Defense. Not so good. Only 10 Con means too low hp. Saves are good, while AC is not (+0.5).
Support. You have some knowledge and scouting stuff, you have Shapechange for some usefulness, but all this is fragmentary and/or situational (+0.5).
Your flying and Flyby feats give you benefits in several places. I give you +0.5 points.

Total: 3 points.
You knew it moment become.

Dragons automatically qualify for any classes, prestige classes, racial substitution levels, feats, powers, or spells that require the dragonblood subtype.
I don't buy it. Well, this cheese isn't unsolvable, actually, you just get "free" feat. And I judge it as a free feat -1 point.

Ka'zi'mir now needs to rely on general proficiency rules for Light Armor & Simple Weapon.
There are no "general rules" about this. This is a specific rule about PHB classes only. Even if we take into account DMG or MM - this "rule" breaks down. Plus, trading all cleric's levels you lose cleric's proficiencies (-0.25).

Since negative levels can be affected by crit multipliers, I assume the same is true for dive/charge attack multipliers.
I don't sure about this, but see your point. No penalty here (-0).
I don't like your skill formatting, but you at least have only a few skills (-0).
Alignment change isn't an elegant thing, but it actually is just fluff. No penalty (-0).

WIS: 15 (14 base -2 race +3 DWK)
CHA: 16 (13 base +3 DWK) * all points from leveling go in here
Why not in reverse?
Wis 14 (13 base -2 race +3 DWK)
Cha 17 (14 base +3 DWK) +5 ASI = 22

It looks better to me. Yes, you lose 5th level spells, but you anyway have them during one level only. This is a missed opportunity (-0.25).

About Wights.
I understand your point about Dragon #300, but I have several objections.
First, live by RAW, die by RAW. I agree with H_H_F_F: you shouldn't try to combine TO RAW (dragon qualify) and RAI suggestions in one the one entry.
Second, there is a wight template in the Savage Species.
Third, I don't buy template idea anyway. Dragon #300 released the same month as BoVD, Savage Species released a few months after. At the moment when Soul Eater was coined there was only one wight - from Monster Manual 3.0.
It looks like you rely too much on the wights with class levels that they had in life. You will have no one (-0.5).

Total: 3 points.
Do you qualify for SI and don't break the rules after? - I have bad news for you.

Being a defiant means believing in and practicing a strict policy of nonworship. A true defiant will never do any of the following:
Use a holy symbol or holy water for any purpose. (This includes symbols of any deity or water of any alignment.)

Each rite takes 6 minutes to perform, and requires unholy water and the dung of an evil creature (see below).
Oops.

The last ritual comes with really fitting fluff for the SI:

In a sharp voice, you speak the reversed names of thirteen good deities, denying their existence and imbuing your allies with wards of unbelief.

Being a defiant means believing in and practicing a strict policy of nonworship. A true defiant will never do any of the following:
Use the name of any deity as part of an oath or curse. (The Athar do sometimes use the term "Great Unknown" in this manner.)
Oops again.
I give you +0 here. I give you +0.5 points here. It doesn't completely ruin your entry, you can just don't use this feat, but you clearly missed this limitation.
Do you entry SI early? - 10 level isn't earliest possible entry (+0.25).
Do you finish SI? - Yes (+0.5).
Have you found some interesting combos involving SI abilities? Do you at least use them?

Spell resistance, Divine disavowal - Nothing special (0).

Divine resistance - Nothing special (0).

Divine damage immunity - Nothing special (0).

Divine cancellation, Divine retribution - Nothing special (0).

Aligned strike - Nothing special, but you at least have guaranteed minions to use it besides yourself (+0.05).

Divine prevention - Synergy with your army of wights (+0.15).

Nondetection - Synergy with Shapechange (+0.15).

Divine interference - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 1+ - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 3+ - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 5+ - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 7+ - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 9+ - Well, you have good DC and can combine Plane Shift with Soul Eater's touch attack (+0.15, +0.25).

Your anti-divine abilities, all this cancellation, retribution, interference actually synergy with your wights. I give you +0.15 points out of rubric for this.
Plus, Soul Eater capstone works great with SI, I give you +2 points for it.
Do you use SI prerequisites or just take it and forget? - Just take (0).
Maybe SI makes your entry worse than it could be without SI? - Well, while there is no strong synergy between Soul Eater and SI, SI doesn't make Soul Eater worse (-0).

Total: 4.15
Total: 12.15 points.

Ur-Priest was my very first idea when I heard what SI we have. Second was Blackguard. Bone Knight is very similar to Blackguard. It isn't totally expected, but isn't surprising either.
Human, DMM (Persistent)? Handbook stuff.
Only surprise was Mounted Casting.

I give you 1.5 points here.
Magic. You have 9th level. You have DMM, plus Bone Knight's stuff. Clear full mark (+1.25).
Offense. Yeah, you can, maybe you aren't the very best, but still very good (+1).
Defense. Here you are competent, too. Maybe you need more in reflex (+1.25).
Support. You aren't a scout, nor face, nor know-all. At least you have mobility with your Steed and ur-priest spells give you some versatility (+0.5).
Total: 4 points.
You are some item dependent (-0.25).
I don't like your cross-setting plane shifting story, but:

Other general things that are no longer allowed:

Deciding that a backstory has not met a fluff prerequisite well enough, or because its method of meeting it is "unrealistic".
-0 points.
One more thing about the story. It breaks my Suppression of Disbelief completely. Ur-priest from Faerun just fell out from portal and started with telling his best kept secret to the first stranger cleric? And this cleric is like: "You say Gods aren't Gods and I was fooled all my life. You know, I believe you." Really?
I don't like this very much.


If the DM/judge is kind enough to extend this even to "all shields" a Rider's Shield would be the optimal choice for the build (again in Races of Stone). If not, just use a regular heavy shield.
I don't buy "all shields", but I think you could trade tower shield prof for the Rider's Shield prof.

Alignment change isn't an elegant thing, but it actually is just fluff. No penalty (-0).

Monstrous Regeneration is a touch spell. Some DMs could say it isn't persistable (-0.25).

Total: 4.5 points.
Do you qualify for SI and don't break the rules after? - Do you know why I didn't make my own ur-priest? I wasn't sure if it works. Look, ur-priest casts spells as cleric. What holy symbol does he use? Maybe his rites requires using names of gods? Or maybe it is forbidden for Defiants to use even stolen power of gods. After all they are fanatics. It all is very DM-dependent and it can became an issue (+0.75).
Do you entry SI early? - 11th level isn't early (+0.2).
Do you finish SI? - Yes (+0.5).
Have you found some interesting combos involving SI abilities? Do you at least use them?

Spell resistance, Divine disavowal - You have almost full immunity to damage. This means spells are one of your main vulnerabilities (+0.1).

Divine resistance - +4 to saves is good, especially with damage immunity (+0.05).

Divine damage immunity - Doesn't matter (+0).

Divine cancellation, Divine retribution - Nothing special (0).

Aligned strike - Nothing special, but you at least have guaranteed minions to use it besides yourself (+0.05).

Divine prevention - Synergy with your minions (+0.15).

Nondetection - Nothing special (0).

Divine interference - It isn't for your benefit (+0).

Fallen Clerics 1+ - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 3+ - It's slightly more useful for you (+0.1).

Fallen Clerics 5+ - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 7+ - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 9+ - Nothing special (0).
Do you use SI prerequisites or just take it and forget? - Well, you use Knowledge (religion) for triple qualify and Knowledge (the planes) for double. Plus, you use existed at that time cleric's turn to qualify into Bone Knight. I call this double qualify, too (+0.5).
Maybe SI makes your entry worse than it could be without SI? - Actually yes. Divine Interference and Divine Disavowal interfere with your Ur-Priest casting and with your main spell - Monstrous Regeneration - it has SR: yes, you need 16 on CL check to successfully cast it. And even on 20th level you could fail casting 1st level spell if roll 1 on Concentration, 2 for 2nd level and so on. Isn't good (-1) (-0.5).

Total: 1.9
Total: 11.9 points.

It isn't very innovative to use Legacy Champion, but I didn't expect it. While I had the idea to convert more than 9 levels of cleric into Defiant. It was a cheese idea, but you can see similarities.
Hal-elf... is an underestimated race.
Planar Touchstone isn't new, but taking it two times...
Shape Soulmeld and Martial Study are frequent guests. Elven Spell Lore - opposite.

I give you 2.5 points.
Magic. You have martial maneuver, Soulmeld, Catalogues of Enlightenment's higher-order ability, your Notched Spear, boosts to Divine Cancellation (+0.75).
Offense. You don't look powerhouse in this part. You have free +5 Collision weapon and Knowledge Devotion, but that's all (+0.5).
Defense. I see nothing special here, plus your Notched Spear costs you 20 hp. You have good protection against divine magic, but against arcane, psi or barbarian with the axe you are too weak (+0.5).
Support. You are good at healing. At least in healing yourself. You have move action Ex teleportation and well aquatic summons, but you yourself have no abilities for aquatic environment. You have a not bad variety of skills. I give you+0.75.

Total: 2.5.
With all Cleric levels traded for Defiant you lose all weapon and armor proficiencies, including longspear proficiency (-0.5).
I give you -0.25 penalty for odd Wisdom and Charisma as well as for Ka'zi'mir.
I'm not sure if Legacy Champion should have Gather Information as in-class skill. You don't have class with that "existing class skill" anymore (-0.25).
And that's all I could find.

Total: 4.25 points.
Do you qualify for SI and don't break the rules after? - I don't see any issues here (+1).
Do you entry SI early? - No, only +0.25 points.
Do you finish SI? - Yeah, and even more! I give you a bonus here - +0.9 points.
Have you found some interesting combos involving SI abilities? Do you at least use them?

Spell resistance, Divine disavowal - On the one hand you just have it, but on the other hand you have it as 18th level Defiant (+0.15)

Divine resistance - You just have it (0).

Divine damage immunity - You just have it (0).

Divine cancellation, Divine retribution - You use it (+0.15) and have some boosts for it (+0.3).

Aligned strike - You just have it, your level improvements give you some bonus here, but not very much (+0.1).

Divine prevention - You have it as 18th level (+0.15).

Nondetection - You have it as 18th level, but don't do something useful with it (+0.05).

Divine interference - You have it as 18th level (+0.15) and have some combination with Shadow Stride (+0.15).

Fallen Clerics 1+ - 18th level, yeah. Plus, you have some hp deficit from you spear (+0.15), but about combo with therapeutic mantle I can't agree.

Whenever you are the target of a spell or effect that heals hit point damage, the spell heals additional damage equal to its spell level.
Maybe I missed something, but I see no spell level equivalent in the defiant's healing.

Fallen Clerics 3+ - 18th level means almost twice longer (+0.15).

Fallen Clerics 5+ - Nothing special (0).

Fallen Clerics 7+ - +8 CL is good, but I don't any special use for this Sp (+0.1).

Fallen Clerics 9+ - Plane Shift has no CL dependent effects (0), but you have combo between it and your Planar Touchstones (+0.5)
Do you use SI prerequisites or just take it and forget? - Well, you slightly raised knowledges and have Knowledge Devotion (+0.15).
Maybe SI makes your entry worse than it could be without SI? - No, it doesn't interfere with your over abilities (-0).

Total: 4.4 points.
Total: 13.65 points.

And the table.
Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef Paragon Loky1109 Total Place
The Word (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659950&postcount=21) LE Vivacious Body Hellbred ex-Cloistered Cleric Defiant 10/Paladin of Tyranny 3/Righteous Zealot 2 14.80 14.45 29.25 1st
Ka'zi'mir (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659957&postcount=22) NE-CE Arctic Kobold ex-Dragonscale Husk Cleric Defiant 10/Soul Eater 10 11.00 11.65 22.65 4th
Skull Knight (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659959&postcount=23) LE-CE Human ex-Cloistered Cleric Bone Knight 9/Defiant 10/Ur-Priest 1 13.40 11.90 25.30 2nd
Fey'do'ra (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659960&postcount=24) LN Half-Elf ex-Cloistered Cleric Defiant 10/Legacy Champion 10 11.10 13.65 24.75 3rd

[The Viscount]

Thank you to our judges for their speedy responses!

A few disputes:


Thanks a ton for judging, Paragon!


Where did you put that Stench of the Grave prereq ? Until you show me you did include it somewhere, you get a -0.5


Spelltouched feats are legal and can be taken just like any other feat when you meet the prerequisites and have the feat slot available.

Stench of the Dead should be legal to take, and I always took this line in the OP to mean that there's no need to personally secure access to the spell. You can just assume I got targeted with the spell at some point during the early levels, right? Or if really necessary I can just pay a cleric to cast it, or use Substitute Domain to get Envy and cast it from that (if I worship, like, the dark six then all 3 domains are in my pantheon).


Paladin of Tyranny is Evil. Vivacious and the way you described you char is Good -0.5


Vivacious just plain isn't Good. The positive energy plane has no alignment traits, the template does not affect alignment, and the sample creature is TN. Positive Energy and Good have a complicated relationship in D&D, but at best I'm just an evil person who occasionally does good, in the exact same boat as an evil cleric who casts lots of healing spells.

As for the way I described the character... I really feel like I went for an evil vibe? We're a hole in space dripping with rotting flesh, serving an Elder Evil and indiscriminately exploding all priests that won't submit to our ideology. What else do you want from me on the Evil front, eat a baby?

(and more separately: if a character needs to be LE mechanically, just assume they're LE? I don't like to be punished for including a backstory when the judge decides that it does not fit the one alignment I could mechanically be)


A few things I wanted to point out:

1)

Classic race (I can smell strong cheese when the appetizer is on the way... that spoils an appetite) -0.5
&

Venerable Dwk Kobold into "Dragon Type to automatically qualify" -0.5
Imho this is double-penalizing the same thing "DWK cheese". So I kindly request to "pick you poison" here.


2)

Only 2 out of 3 points here because you will not have me believe a 10 in Constitution is enough to dive into melee. More than once I mean.
lvl 1-9 we have cleric spells to heal up between fights if necessary. After lvl 10 we have a healingpool of 40+ HP (Defiant lvl x CHA mod) as mentioned. That's the equivalent of of CON 18 (+4) @ lvl 10.
At lvl 16 without any items/wish, sole with Ability Score increase from lvl, the healing increases up to 50 HP. This is an effectively +3 CON modifier at that lvl.
And since item and wish boosts to your mainstat are very common, you can expect a healing pool of up to 110 HP (CHA 32 = +11 X 10 defiant lvl)
All that with D8 HD (from all classes) is imho more than enough to justify this as melee build.

3)

Also, useless vs anything immune to energy drain (Death Ward) or incorporeal, nothing vs misschance etc.
Most non-casters lack those things without the help of either party members of magic items. The Defiant ain't a caster, so to "expect" those thing is imho to much. I get that those thing would give extra points tho. But relying on party/items for that shouldn't be penalized for this SI imho.




4)

I got nothing standing out in means of Support.
First let me mention that Defiant itself has a protective aura from divine stuff. And I did give that an "use" in the build by having undead minions that normally fear divine stuff.
Further there is "Blessing of the Godless" which offers 3 rituals to buff/support your allies/minions.
And while we are at minions, those are kinda supportive by default (flanking, carrying your party's stuff, expendable meatshields.. whatsoever).


5)

Shivering Touch (another known cheese abuse) - 0.5
I get the hate and that you want to cut some points here. But really -0.5 for an ability that the build sole has temporary access to over the course of 5 lvls (lvl 5-9)?
Ain't that a but to much? I mean 75% of the build doesn't have it. And it ain't even the late level (for some high level cheese).


6)

Switching Heritage ? Can you even decide your ancestor changes color post build or something ? -0.5 (can be revised if you quote me that it's meant to work out this way)
I didn't switch my "Heritage", which provides the DWK with "black" scales. But he is/was covered by his "white" scales provided by his "Dragonscale Husk" ability. The Dragonscale Husk ability lets you chose your color and is not related to your heritage.
To be honest, I was hoping for some extra points here for weaving in some nice RP gimmicks. I know "white" dragons are also "evil" in 3.5. But still imho the change form white to black represents effectively the change from a believer to a nonbeliever. The white scale provide more protection, while also limiting him in his freedom (medium armor slowing him down, reducing his max DEX). The black scales are the rotten leftovers from the former divine protection (sole +1 NA left), but they offer more freedom in exchange (no armor).

7)

"Defiant is imho a perfect match for Soul Eater." This sounds like you optimized an ingredient with the secret ingredient which to me is the opposite of what is asked here. -0.5
I have to kindly ask what is asked here? I don't see anything in Viscount's description that would oppose my point of view here. Furthermore imho "using the SI" to enhance the other parts of the build is literary what I just did.
Contrary you (and others too) do expect the opposite. How to "use the other classes for the SI".
Imho you are requesting the exact opposite of what is literary asked here for. But aside from that, I would also like to ask if all this should be relevant at all??
Shouldn't the main purpose be to show nice interactions & synergy between the SI and the rest of the build? I really don't see it justified to exclude either part. I mean for which benefit? Ain't the aim of the contest build diversity?
So why limit the "use of the SI" to a sole one sided view, when we can have it all?
If you wanna stick to your decision it's fine. But I think a change of mind would be nice for "everybody's sake" (I'm also including the other builds into this request).

_____________

Overall I'm happy with the judging. Thx for your effort and time.


Hi and thanks for the fast judging. I have some lil disputes and a few side notes here:


and that shifted planes witty comment soothed me from the fact you don't even bothered to name your entry

The build did had a name at some point..^^
But then I realized the similarity to Skull Knight from Berserk. And since his backstory ain't revealed yet (only wild speculations) I did come up with this as a (imho) "elegant" solution, that he not only did abandoned his former believes he was given, but also the name he was given. He has now earned his name/title as the Skull Knight.
I didn't think it would bother people so much that his original name isn't mentioned for reasons. I'm sorry..



That "I don't need to craft because it doesn't explicitly says so" is the kind of stuff I throw books at at my tables -0.5

While I get you feelings imho this seems to be intended. Even the sample Bone Knight didn't bother to raise any one of the two craft skills beyond 6(weapon) & 7(armor) ranks while having:

+2 bonecraft full plate
DC for Full-Plate = 10 + 8 AC = DC 18
Masterwork = a 2nd roll with DC 20

+1 bonecraft greatsword
DC for greatsword = DC 15
DC for masterwork = DC 20

masterwork bonecraft heavy crossbow with 20 bolts
Crossbow DC 15
DC for masterwork = DC 20

Taking 10 solves some of the rolls but not all. No matter how you see it, the Bone Knight will get his items (maybe with 2 or 3 attempts). I get that you don't wanna give points for the cheese here. But I don't see the reason for cutting points, since the build can live without the cheese and is not relying on it. It's not that that the build would have gained any "power" points due to it I suppose.


SR +0
Divine Res : +0
Div Can : 0
Aligned Strike : +0
Div Prev : +0
Nondetec : +0
Div Ret -0.5 you have anti synergy with your casting and nothing to mitigate it.
Div Disav : +0
BONUS : Heal : -0, Tongues +0, Dismissal 0, Plane Shift +0.2

The build "uses the SI" to create a monopole on divine magic for itself. Most of the SI abilities are used to accomplish this and thus "of use" imho.
Divine Prevention and Divine Disavowal both also help to secure our undead minions from divine stuff. Nondetection is always needed as mastermind behind undead minions, since Clerics and Paladins often use divination to solve their problems.

And I don't get what you are pointing to with what you said about Divine Retribution? The ability works as normal in this build. I don't see any Anti-synergy here with my casting.?
Or did you mean Divine Disavowal which requires a concentration check to cast divine spells? If you meant that, I specifically did pick Mounted Casting for that purpose. Mounted Casting affects "all Concentration Checks for Casting Spells while Mounted", not sole those because of "riding while casting".

You gain a +10 bonus on Concentration checks to cast spells while mounted

The concentration check DC is:
DC = 15 + defiant lvl + spell level
DC = 25 + spell level

The Ur-Priest's 1st lvl spells kick in at character level 12 = 15 ranks in Concentration

Concentration roll while mounted at lvl 12:
15 ranks + 10 for being mounted + D20 (min 1) = minimum 26

The same 26 that is needed to cast the 1st lvl spell. Each subsequent level invests another point into Concentration to successfully cast even on a rolled natural 1.
The build can always cast all spells it has access to at any given level, as long as Skull Knight can rest his butt on his mount.^^



You spent a lot of time telling me about a build that happens to have the SI in it but it is seldom showcased how you improved it

Imho the category is named "Use of the SI" and not "Improvement of the SI". I doN't get why some judges have such a (sorry to say it) narrow minded and far streched interpretation of this? I really don't get the reasoning behind this. I don't see these "unmentioned" restrictions as justified and would ask you to reconsider you point.
If you want to stick to that, that's fine too. Your subjective criteria interpretation.


______________

Thank you for taking your time to judge the competition. And to everybody who cares (I not so much, since I'm not a christian):

Have a nice Christmas <3



Thanks for taking the time to judge Paragon and Loky. I just have a few disputes.

For Paragon:


Using 2 slots for the same feat isn't what I call original -0.5Does this refer to Planar Touchstone? Because Catalogues of Enlightenment and Monastery of Zerth'Ad'lun are very different feats that happen to have overlapping prerequisites and conditions for use which Defiant is pretty good about facilitating. I'm not sure I understand what's unoriginal about taking both of them.


The way I'm reading it, Elven Spell Lore doesn't help with Divine Cancelation as it gives +2 to CL for dispel attempts when the ability overrides it with a "CL = 5". Inquisition domain on the other hand work pretty well (no penalty, just nitpicking)Divine Cancellation says the following...

Divine Cancellation (Ex): At 4th level, a defiant learns how to counterspell divine spells without casting a spell. The defiant must ready an action to counterspell (as normal), but need not identify the spell with Spellcraft. Treat this ability as if the defiant were using dispel magic to counter the spell, at a caster level of 5 + the defiant's class level. A defiant can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1 + his Charisma bonus (minimum 1).So the ability acts as if using Dispel Magic at a certain caster level to counter the spell. The relevant pieces of language for counterspelling with dispel magic are...

Counterspell: When dispel magic is used in this way, the spell targets a spellcaster and is cast as a counterspell (page 170). Unlike a true counterspell, however, dispel magic may not work; you must make a dispel check to counter the other spellcaster's spell.
a dispel check (1d20 + your caster level, maximum +10)
So when using Divine Cancellation you're making a dispel check based on the CL given by the ability, as if using Dispel Magic and Elven Spell Lore says you get +2 to dispel checks with Dispel Magic. I don't understand why you'd think it wouldn't work.

It seems like there wasn't a penalty here, so I don't know if it matters, but I did want to clarify that.


Not liking the "it's from a domain but it doesn't say divine so it's not" argument -0.5For whatever it's worth, it's much more convenient, and more potentially broken, in almost every case for the Catalogues spells to be divine. This is a narrow edge case where the converse, which I do believe the RAW supports over a claim that the spells are divine, happens to be beneficial.

For Loky:


I'm not sure if Legacy Champion should have Gather Information as in-class skill. You don't have class with that "existing class skill" anymore (-0.25).Gather Information is listed as a class skill for Legacy Champions before the addition of existing class skills.

[loky1109]

Gather Information is listed as a class skill for Legacy Champions before the addition of existing class skills.
What a stupid mistake! Remove penalty.


Or did you mean Divine Disavowal which requires a concentration check to cast divine spells? If you meant that, I specifically did pick Mounted Casting for that purpose. Mounted Casting affects "all Concentration Checks for Casting Spells while Mounted", not sole those because of "riding while casting".
This, actually, wasn't dispute for me, but I have the same judgement about Divine Interference (not Disavowal, it gives you SR).
I missed Mounted Casting, yes, it solves half of your problems. I remove half of penalty in the "Maybe SI makes your entry worse than it could be without SI?" section. Now it is -0.5 points.

[Paragon]

Spelltouched feats are legal and can be taken just like any other feat when you meet the prerequisites and have the feat slot available.
Stench of the Dead should be legal to take, and I always took this line in the OP to mean that there's no need to personally secure access to the spell. You can just assume I got targeted with the spell at some point during the early levels, right? Or if really necessary I can just pay a cleric to cast it, or use Substitute Domain to get Envy and cast it from that (if I worship, like, the dark six then all 3 domains are in my pantheon).

That's not how it works. You don't tell the judge to do the job you didn't do with a "comeonnnnn", no change


Vivacious just plain isn't Good. The positive energy plane has no alignment traits, the template does not affect alignment, and the sample creature is TN. Positive Energy and Good have a complicated relationship in D&D, but at best I'm just an evil person who occasionally does good, in the exact same boat as an evil cleric who casts lots of healing spells.

As for the way I described the character... I really feel like I went for an evil vibe? We're a hole in space dripping with rotting flesh, serving an Elder Evil and indiscriminately exploding all priests that won't submit to our ideology. What else do you want from me on the Evil front, eat a baby?

(and more separately: if a character needs to be LE mechanically, just assume they're LE? I don't like to be punished for including a backstory when the judge decides that it does not fit the one alignment I could mechanically be)

I admit to having decided Positive Energy meant Good while it doesn't seem to be that clear cut. My point stems in part from the fact "A hellbred must prove his worth to the lords of good" and, well, you're not even trying. Switch penality to -0.25

Penalty for "used A build to Support SI" instead of "Use SI to support A build" removed

New score 15.55





1)Classic race (I can smell strong cheese when the appetizer is on the way... that spoils an appetite) -0.5
&
Venerable Dwk Kobold into "Dragon Type to automatically qualify" -0.5
Imho this is double-penalizing the same thing "DWK cheese". So I kindly request to "pick you poison" here.
And I kindly decline. DWK to abuse Venerable to get +3 everyone is one ding, using the Dragon type to automatically qualify is another.


2) lvl 1-9 we have cleric spells to heal up between fights if necessary. After lvl 10 we have a healingpool of 40+ HP (Defiant lvl x CHA mod) as mentioned. That's the equivalent of of CON 18 (+4) @ lvl 10.
At lvl 16 without any items/wish, sole with Ability Score increase from lvl, the healing increases up to 50 HP. This is an effectively +3 CON modifier at that lvl.
And since item and wish boosts to your mainstat are very common, you can expect a healing pool of up to 110 HP (CHA 32 = +11 X 10 defiant lvl)
All that with D8 HD (from all classes) is imho more than enough to justify this as melee build.
The levels of Cleric don't count in the build since you traded them. Healing isn't the same as being able to survive a blow. It's too little too late. If you can't stand being hit and have to waste std actions to heal up, you're just going to die. Slower than if you lacked healing, but die anyways. (19x4.5+8 is 98 hp at ECL20. A simple 14 in Con adds 40hps which is 45% more max HP).


Also, useless vs anything immune to energy drain (Death Ward) or incorporeal, nothing vs misschance etc.
Most non-casters lack those things without the help of either party members of magic items. The Defiant ain't a caster, so to "expect" those thing is imho to much. I get that those thing would give extra points tho. But relying on party/items for that shouldn't be penalized for this SI imho.
I agree that incorporeal and miss chance are hard to overcome when you aren't a magic user. But my point about having a 4th level spells invalidating your build stands.


4) First let me mention that Defiant itself has a protective aura from divine stuff. And I did give that an "use" in the build by having undead minions that normally fear divine stuff.
Further there is "Blessing of the Godless" which offers 3 rituals to buff/support your allies/minions.
And while we are at minions, those are kinda supportive by default (flanking, carrying your party's stuff, expendable meatshields.. whatsoever).
I guess minions (even illegal ones) grant you "support". add 0.25



5) I get the hate and that you want to cut some points here. But really -0.5 for an ability that the build sole has temporary access to over the course of 5 lvls (lvl 5-9)?
Ain't that a but to much? I mean 75% of the build doesn't have it. And it ain't even the late level (for some high level cheese).
I'm rating what you showcased. You figured it was important enough to mention it, I figure I need to rate it. I penalized Skull Knight for this as well.


6) I didn't switch my "Heritage", which provides the DWK with "black" scales. But he is/was covered by his "white" scales provided by his "Dragonscale Husk" ability. The Dragonscale Husk ability lets you chose your color and is not related to your heritage.
To be honest, I was hoping for some extra points here for weaving in some nice RP gimmicks. I know "white" dragons are also "evil" in 3.5. But still imho the change form white to black represents effectively the change from a believer to a nonbeliever. The white scale provide more protection, while also limiting him in his freedom (medium armor slowing him down, reducing his max DEX). The black scales are the rotten leftovers from the former divine protection (sole +1 NA left), but they offer more freedom in exchange (no armor).
I... didn't understand that at all. Even after you explain it, it feels like a stretch ; your own scales don't change color, the husk that looks like a medium armor you grow onto you has a different color from your scales. This is not the same thing to me. But I get your point, I'm removing the penalty


7) I have to kindly ask what is asked here? I don't see anything in Viscount's description that would oppose my point of view here. Furthermore imho "using the SI" to enhance the other parts of the build is literary what I just did.
Contrary you (and others too) do expect the opposite. How to "use the other classes for the SI".
Imho you are requesting the exact opposite of what is literary asked here for. But aside from that, I would also like to ask if all this should be relevant at all??
Shouldn't the main purpose be to show nice interactions & synergy between the SI and the rest of the build? I really don't see it justified to exclude either part. I mean for which benefit? Ain't the aim of the contest build diversity?
So why limit the "use of the SI" to a sole one sided view, when we can have it all?
If you wanna stick to your decision it's fine. But I think a change of mind would be nice for "everybody's sake" (I'm also including the other builds into this request).
I'm guessing you ought to be right. I remember feeling stiffled when Troacctid judged the Shining Blade round and did that to me and I figured that's what this was about. I'll rectify it.

New Score : 12.25





While I get you feelings imho this seems to be intended. Even the sample Bone Knight didn't bother to raise any one of the two craft skills beyond 6(weapon) & 7(armor) ranks while having:

+2 bonecraft full plate
DC for Full-Plate = 10 + 8 AC = DC 18
Masterwork = a 2nd roll with DC 20

+1 bonecraft greatsword
DC for greatsword = DC 15
DC for masterwork = DC 20

masterwork bonecraft heavy crossbow with 20 bolts
Crossbow DC 15
DC for masterwork = DC 20

Taking 10 solves some of the rolls but not all. No matter how you see it, the Bone Knight will get his items (maybe with 2 or 3 attempts). I get that you don't wanna give points for the cheese here. But I don't see the reason for cutting points, since the build can live without the cheese and is not relying on it. It's not that that the build would have gained any "power" points due to it I suppose.
The build can live without it yes, if you're willing to take the bet it can work most of the time. The issue I have is you brought it up, that's all. I'm judging what I'm reading and if you'd said nothing, there would have been no penalty. I agree -0.5 is maybe a bit much, so -0.25 it is


The build "uses the SI" to create a monopole on divine magic for itself. Most of the SI abilities are used to accomplish this and thus "of use" imho.
Divine Prevention and Divine Disavowal both also help to secure our undead minions from divine stuff. Nondetection is always needed as mastermind behind undead minions, since Clerics and Paladins often use divination to solve their problems.

And I don't get what you are pointing to with what you said about Divine Retribution? The ability works as normal in this build. I don't see any Anti-synergy here with my casting.?
Or did you mean Divine Disavowal which requires a concentration check to cast divine spells? If you meant that, I specifically did pick Mounted Casting for that purpose. Mounted Casting affects "all Concentration Checks for Casting Spells while Mounted", not sole those because of "riding while casting".
Quote Originally Posted by Mounted Casting
You gain a +10 bonus on Concentration checks to cast spells while mounted
The concentration check DC is:
DC = 15 + defiant lvl + spell level
DC = 25 + spell level

The Ur-Priest's 1st lvl spells kick in at character level 12 = 15 ranks in Concentration

Concentration roll while mounted at lvl 12:
15 ranks + 10 for being mounted + D20 (min 1) = minimum 26

The same 26 that is needed to cast the 1st lvl spell. Each subsequent level invests another point into Concentration to successfully cast even on a rolled natural 1.
The build can always cast all spells it has access to at any given level, as long as Skull Knight can rest his butt on his mount.^^

Fair enough, I didn't do the maths. Thanks for explaining it to me. 0.25 Penalty removed for the ability to cast in your own disturbance field (it's not elegant at all, but it's functional) and another -0.25 removed since you do make a point about getting all that divine magic for yourself.



You spent a lot of time telling me about a build that happens to have the SI in it but it is seldom showcased how you improved it
Imho the category is named "Use of the SI" and not "Improvement of the SI". I doN't get why some judges have such a (sorry to say it) narrow minded and far streched interpretation of this? I really don't get the reasoning behind this. I don't see these "unmentioned" restrictions as justified and would ask you to reconsider you point.
If you want to stick to that, that's fine too. Your subjective criteria interpretation.

As I said to Ka'zi'mir, I'm changing that (meaning +0.5 to you and the other 3)

______________

Thank you for taking your time to judge the competition. And to everybody who cares (I not so much, since I'm not a christian):
Have a nice Christmas <3

New score : 14.65




Does this refer to Planar Touchstone? Because Catalogues of Enlightenment and Monastery of Zerth'Ad'lun are very different feats that happen to have overlapping prerequisites and conditions for use which Defiant is pretty good about facilitating. I'm not sure I understand what's unoriginal about taking both of them.
It's one feat with 2 variations. You are free to switch the plane it's attuned to anytime you want so picking the feat a second time feels redundant to me. No change.


The way I'm reading it, Elven Spell Lore doesn't help with Divine Cancelation as it gives +2 to CL for dispel attempts when the ability overrides it with a "CL = 5". Inquisition domain on the other hand work pretty well (no penalty, just nitpicking)
[...]
It seems like there wasn't a penalty here, so I don't know if it matters, but I did want to clarify that.

There is indeed no penalty and I get your point but you flew past mine. You're saying order of operations is "defiant ability" then "Elven Spell Lore", I'm enclined to think it's more "defiant ability overrides the usual dispel magic ways to set your CL at 5, that's it". But I'm not enforcing this so, no penalty anyways.


For whatever it's worth, it's much more convenient, and more potentially broken, in almost every case for the Catalogues spells to be divine. This is a narrow edge case where the converse, which I do believe the RAW supports over a claim that the spells are divine, happens to be beneficial.
While that feels true, it's not changing my mind that it's meant to be divine.

You keep your +0.5 for having made Defiant shine where the other used it to make some other build better. They have no penalty anymore but you keep your bonus.

No change in score

[loky1109]

Updated table.

Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef Paragon Loky1109 Total Place
The Word (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659950&postcount=21) LE Vivacious Body Hellbred ex-Cloistered Cleric Defiant 10/Paladin of Tyranny 3/Righteous Zealot 2 15.55 14.45 30.00 1st
Ka'zi'mir (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659957&postcount=22) NE-CE Arctic Kobold ex-Dragonscale Husk Cleric Defiant 10/Soul Eater 10 12.25 12.15 24.40 4th
Skull Knight (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659959&postcount=23) LE-CE Human ex-Cloistered Cleric Bone Knight 9/Defiant 10/Ur-Priest 1 14.65 11.90 26.55 2nd
Fey'do'ra (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659960&postcount=24) LN Half-Elf ex-Cloistered Cleric Defiant 10/Legacy Champion 10 11.10 13.65 24.75 3rd

[The Viscount]

And one more.

@ loky1109

Just a few thoughts:



Why not in reverse?
Wis 14 (13 base -2 race +3 DWK)
Cha 17 (14 base +3 DWK) +5 ASI = 22
Because I like to plan ahead. And this includes WBL when I do pick my base stats.
I assume that most characters will invest into their mainstat a +5 bonus from wish and a +6 from item, unless it's a low magic campaign. Thus, CHA 17 would be pointless with the +5 from lvlUP and +11 from WBL. With a total bonus of +16 you would end up on CHA 33. A base CHA of 16 leads to a final value of 32.
And as you also have guessed it, I did wanted to have the 5th lvl spells, even if sole for the 9th lvl of the build.
This lead me to my choice here.



Being a defiant means believing in and practicing a strict policy of nonworship. A true defiant will never do any of the following:
Use a holy symbol or holy water for any purpose. (This includes symbols of any deity or water of any alignment.)
I have to admit that I did noticed this and that it did give me a headache for days researching 3.5 rules about "aligned water" and philosophizing about Unholy Water which in 3.5 technically is still kinda holy, just assigned to an evil religion/belief...

Long story short.. I did run out of time for cooking but stumbled upon this:
The sample build is a cleric/defiant who didn't exchanged any cleric levels and still has access to his spellcasting ability. Thus he doesn't worship a deity. At the same time he has prepared a bunch of spells (e.g. Bless) which require a Divine Focus = Holy Symbol to cast...

I hope you see where I'm getting at. The rule is poorly written and should imho only affect stuff connected to a "deity" and not those things created by divine casters who don't follow a deity. Otherwise their own Example Character becomes dysfunctional.

Since I did like the fluff of the ability so much (and I did run out of time), I decided to leave it in, send the build in, and call it a day..^^ I'm sorry, but this messy "restrictions" did really give me a headache.. I hope that you can see where I coming from and that you ain't so strict about em.




Use the name of any deity as part of an oath or curse. (The Athar do sometimes use the term "Great Unknown" in this manner.)
Here I vote for 100% not guilty ^^

1. Technically I don't speak out their names by using the revers pronunciation.
2. It's not an oath nor a curse, I'm "mocking the gods".
3. It's not forbidden to speak out the name of any god. Just no oath or curse "quotes involving the name of gods".

No matter how I look at this, I feel 100% not guilty.

[loky1109]

Hello, Ka'zi'mir! Let's talk.


Because I like to plan ahead. And this includes WBL when I do pick my base stats.
I assume that most characters will invest into their mainstat a +5 bonus from wish and a +6 from item, unless it's a low magic campaign. Thus, CHA 17 would be pointless with the +5 from lvlUP and +11 from WBL. With a total bonus of +16 you would end up on CHA 33. A base CHA of 16 leads to a final value of 32.
And as you also have guessed it, I did wanted to have the 5th lvl spells, even if sole for the 9th lvl of the build.
This lead me to my choice here.
You said your point was you are item dependent, I understand you correctly, don't I?

If so I maybe give you your +0.25 points here, but also give you -0.25 for item depended.

Plus... Well, let's say all is as you talk.

You have:

WIS: 15
CHA: 16 +5 (ASI) +5 (tomes) = 26
or

Wis 14 +1 (tome) = 15
Cha 17 +5 ASI +4 (tomes) = 26

Same stats for the same money. Or even for less money if you want Wis 15 not so much.
Only valuable point is having access to the 5th level spell during 1 level, but you really could afford +2 Wis item.

Penalty stays.

About holy water and reversed names.
I see your points, but it still is a problem. Holy symbols could be not devoted to any god and such symbols could be used by defiants without violation their rules, but about water clearly said "water of any alignment" in contrast to symbols "symbols of any deity". See? Cleric of non deity could use his non-deity holy symbol, but can't use any "alignment water".

About names... Well, I take the point "2. It's not an oath nor a curse, I'm "mocking the gods". Remove -0.5 points penalty here. It wasn't penalty, it was ungived bonus, so I give you +0.5 points.

Table and judging post are updated.

[Paragon]

Is it time for the reveal of both the cooks and new SI ? :)

[The Viscount]

You make a good point that we have already had scores in from our judges (which we are all very appreciative of, thank you judges!) and had some disputes. Given that it has been the holidays, I'll say that we have 48 hours to wrap up any lingering issues, then we can ring out the old year with the reveal.

The question now arises of in what way to ring it out.
Get by with a little help from my friends
Tarzan Boy
Eye of the Tiger

[Paragon]

It'll be Eye of the Tiger for me, I'm hoping some kind of Bardic/Tiger shapeshifting class hidden somewhere :)

[Wildstag]

I'm intrigued by Tarzan Boy, but then again I've only contributed with barbarians and barbarian-adjacent characters so far...

[loky1109]

Tarzan Boy for me.

[Frostmoon]

Eye of the Tiger!!! Gimme da kitties!!!!! >:3

[Inevitability]

Get by with a little help from my friends seems interesting.

[Venger]

Tarzan boy sounds fun.

[Paragon]

Got anymore of that
Tarzan Boy ?

[Inevitability]

Are there any further issues before the reveal?

[The Viscount]

Nope, just held up forever at work.

Now the reveal!

Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef Paragon Loky1109 Total Place
The Word (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659950&postcount=21) LE Vivacious Body Hellbred ex-Cloistered Cleric Defiant 10/Paladin of Tyranny 3/Righteous Zealot 2 Inevitability 15.55 14.45 30.00 1st
Ka'zi'mir (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659957&postcount=22) NE-CE Arctic Kobold ex-Dragonscale Husk Cleric Defiant 10/Soul Eater 10 Gruftzwerg 12.25 12.15 24.40 4th
Skull Knight (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659959&postcount=23) LE-CE Human ex-Cloistered Cleric Bone Knight 9/Defiant 10/Ur-Priest 1 Gruftzwerg 14.65 11.90 26.55 2nd
Fey'do'ra (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25659960&postcount=24) LN Half-Elf ex-Cloistered Cleric Defiant 10/Legacy Champion 10 WhamBamSam 11.10 13.65 24.75 3rd

Congratulations to our chefs!
Next round up shortly.

[Gruftzwerg]

Congratulations to Inevitable!

I did enjoy this round more than I did expect it at the beginning.

But there are two thing I wanted to bring up. One build specific and one more general thoughts about the competition.

1. I feel 1 dispute ain't always enough
While I can see that this rule tries to minimize the workload for the judges and tries to fasten the process, I would like to ask if it needs to be that strict? I mean, when it comes to cooking and judging, nobody seems to have a problem if we take (or better said: the Viscount gives) Extra Time. So I don't get why we need to be so strict upon the 1 dispute rule.
Miscommunication can easily happen when talking about rules. And sometimes the judge ain't precise enough where he is seeing the problem (happened to me in another contest..), which makes it near impossible for the cook to address it.
As such, I would like to ask everybody what your thoughts are on this topic? Would you welcome a less strict application of the "1 dispute"-rule?

2. Skull Knight's Clvl to bypass his own SR
I have to admit that I missed to address this on the mainbuild and discovered the cheese afterwards. Imho we can cheese out enough Clvl thx due to the Ur-Priest's specific caster lvl progression:

To determine the caster level of an ur-priest, add the character's ur-priest levels to one-half of his levels in other spellcasting classes. (Any levels gained in the cleric class by an ex-cleric don't count.)

1. We have a single lvl of Ur-Prist which provides us with a single Clvl
2. Bone Knight provides Ur-Priest with 8 lvls of progression, pushing our Clvl to 9.
3. Bone Knight is "another spellcasting class than Ur-Priest", thus we can add half of the 9 lvls to our caster lvl. We now have 13 Clvl
4. "Spellcasting Class" is undefined in 3.5. We have specific SLA rules that tell us: "In all other ways, a spell-like ability functions just like a spell:". This should mean that Defiant should qualify as "spellcasting class" to determine the Ur-Priest's Clvl. This adds another 5 clvl to maximum total of 18Clvl at lvl 20.

We have to beat 25 SR with up to 18 Clvl by default (without any buffs and gear).
We need to roll a natural 7 to pass. Sole 1-6 are fails, which is effectively a 30% chance to fail (or 70% chance to success). With some magic gear to increase Clvl (e.g. Iron Stone) we can further increase the chance of success.
We could get up to 100% chance via Consumptive Field, but that has also the SR tag. But it could be worth to force it with multiple CF cast attempts at the beginning of the day. Kill some "chicken" and then persist Monstrous Regeneration (with 100% chance to penetrate our own SR).

Cheesy I know, but imho it should work^^.

I really enjoyed this round. Thx at all participants (cooks, judges, the chairman..).