Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground CXXIV

[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.

I feel like the last few rounds have been a little tough, even for Iron Chef. To start off the new year with a change of pace, let's look at something a little better. Crack open Dungeonscape and stock up on treats, this time we're cooking with Beast Heart Adept!

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, January 15th, 2023 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 29th, 2023 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)
Iron Chef CXXIII: Defiant (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?651923-Iron-Chef-Optimization-Challenge-in-the-Playground-CXXIII)

[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.

[WhamBamSam]

Hell yeah. I've wanted this one forever. In to compete.

[Paragon]

I'm guessing there is no "anything improving Animal Companion counts as improving Monstrous Companion" in this round ? We need to be more creative ?

[The Viscount]

I'm guessing there is no "anything improving Animal Companion counts as improving Monstrous Companion" in this round ? We need to be more creative ?

As evidenced by monstrous companion not stacking with animal companion, they are two different abilities.

[Paragon]

I would also need some guidelines regarding the
we're producing a meal, not a seven-course banquet for a hundred diners and the fact we're going to have 3 Monstrous Companions for builds that go all the way to level 10.
More precisely, I mean just how in depth are we allowed to customize said Monstrous Companions ?

* Are we going by the "druid’s companion is completely typical for its kind" rule of Animal Companion and then picking up feats and ability score increases as our companions gain HDs ?
* Can we pick the skills and feats from the beginning ?

I'm concerned about the extra time judges will have to spend on Companions.

[Inevitability]

Came up with a hilarious combo that, on second reading, doesn't work. Back to the drawing board...

[The Viscount]

I would also need some guidelines regarding the and the fact we're going to have 3 Monstrous Companions for builds that go all the way to level 10.
More precisely, I mean just how in depth are we allowed to customize said Monstrous Companions ?

* Are we going by the "druid’s companion is completely typical for its kind" rule of Animal Companion and then picking up feats and ability score increases as our companions gain HDs ?
* Can we pick the skills and feats from the beginning ?

I'm concerned about the extra time judges will have to spend on Companions.

If we're continuing the analogy, the monstrous companions are more like side dishes. While they add complexity, it's not to the same degree as cohorts from leadership.
Monstrous Companions begin as completely typical for their kind (the monster entry). If adding the bonus HD from the class feature would give them additional feats, you choose those feats. For skills you do not choose, simply continue investment in the skills the monster already has ranks in.

[Malphegor]

I think I might have an idea for this, as I obsessed over this class two years ago to see how many animal companions someone can get on one build. (it turns out, quite a lot, but if you wanna have gold left to store them in extradimensional time stasis PokeCoffins (don't ask, it is... very stupid.) you're probably best off following animal companion battling rules and only having 6 on your person at any one time).

Will have to hammer something out, even if it's super basic I keep saying to myself 'submit it anyway, if nothing else it creates a quasi-permament record of a build idea of yours and feedback on it that isn't in your massively overloaded and disorganised notes app on your phone'

[ciopo]

How does monster lore function? Is it a bonus to the relevant knowledge, so rolling religion as usual for undeads etc. Or is it a fixed value of BHA level+int? What if there are bonus of this or that sort that would apply to (take your pick of all skill checks/knowledge checks, masterwork tools, whatever else)

I'm going to assume usual druid rules for getting new monstrous companions if they die and/or we want to change them

[Thurbane]

This should be an interesting one. I doubt I'll have the time for an entry, but I am looking forward to the reveal.

[The Viscount]

How does monster lore function? Is it a bonus to the relevant knowledge, so rolling religion as usual for undeads etc. Or is it a fixed value of BHA level+int? What if there are bonus of this or that sort that would apply to (take your pick of all skill checks/knowledge checks, masterwork tools, whatever else)

I'm going to assume usual druid rules for getting new monstrous companions if they die and/or we want to change them

Monster lore is a separate check, since as mentioned you can also roll the relevant knowledge. Since it says it functions "as a Knowledge check" I will say that anything that gives you a bonus to all skill checks, to any/all Knowledge checks, along those lines would help.

Use the druid animal companion rules for replacing your monstrous companions.

[Paragon]

Lastly, Monstrous Empathy says that you can stack class levels granting Wild Empathy and BHA's class levels.

What about abilities that grant bonuses to WE, do they get the same bonuses to ME ?

Thanks for your rulings. My entry is already a mess, I love it

[The Viscount]

Lastly, Monstrous Empathy says that you can stack class levels granting Wild Empathy and BHA's class levels.

What about abilities that grant bonuses to WE, do they get the same bonuses to ME ?

Sure, why not?

[PoeticallyPsyco]

For the first time in like a year, I think I'm down to cook. My idea is probably pretty basic (I'll be surprised if nobody else uses [redacted]), but it's got enough room for flavor that I'm still happy with it.

[loky1109]

I have one idea, but it looks too obvious in my eyes, and I not very much like this class.

If I'll not come with an entry, I'll probably come as a judge.

[Paragon]

Entry sent. Ended up behind much more time consuming than I thought it was but I'm still happy I did it.

[loky1109]

Entry sent. Ended up behind much more time consuming than I thought it was but I'm still happy I did it.
I'm only made bare bones of the build, looking at this now and already afraid about companions selection and advancement. )))

[Paragon]

How's everyone doing ?

[loky1109]

How's everyone doing ?

Still bones. Not so bare, however.

[Inevitability]

First idea came together really well and was then foiled by a technicality, I'm curious if anyone else came up with it and will share it after the reveal.

After that I spent lots of time looking through sourcebooks for synergistic material, and ended up with a handful of barebones builds. It took a little bit of time to figure out which ones had the most merit, but I ended up submitting something.

[Gruftzwerg]

I could need some extra time...
I have the table finished, but need some time for story and snapshot. Sadly my daily schedule is packed and I won't have time until the evening, maybe even tonight I guess...

So I'm begging for an extra day, if that is ok?

[loky1109]

I'm asking about extra time, too.

[The Viscount]

You got it.

[daremetoidareyo]

I too, would appreciate time

[Gruftzwerg]

I manged to find some time to finish my build and sent it in.
I'm curious to see what the others have cooked.

[loky1109]

I'm still cooking. One entry almost made, second not so. I hope it'll be done today.

[Gruftzwerg]

I'm still cooking. One entry almost made, second not so. I hope it'll be done today.

Good luck to you. Hope you get both finished. The more the merrier^^

[Malphegor]

I had an idea but it’s quickly been entirely swallowed up by exploring what happened if most of one feats were devoted to something unrelated to beast heart adept, and now I can’t think of anything else but exploring that so I’m not posting anything despite what I said before- the inspiration train has left the station and has promptly derailed itself and is on a different line now

[loky1109]

Good luck to you. Hope you get both finished. The more the merrier^^

Thank you!
First sent, second in progress.

Upd: and done!

[daremetoidareyo]

See y’all on the HM pedestal

[loky1109]

How do you think how many entries shall we have?

[Inevitability]

How do you think how many entries shall we have?

Put my vote in for 8.

[daremetoidareyo]

How do you think how many entries shall we have?

I’m presuming 5-10

[loky1109]

Put my vote in for 8.

I counted something like nine.

[H_H_F_F]

Good luck, everyone! I'm hoping I'll be able to be more active on the forums again soon...

[The Viscount]

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

[The Viscount]

His solo work really is worth looking into (and not just his performance on Wild Thornberrys).



Flea (the scene)

TN Desert KoboldUA Wilderness Kobold Rogue 10 / Beast Heart Adept 10

"With the aid of this destrachan, I'll soon be... destragone"


Array: 12/17/12/14/9/12
After racial modifiers: 8/19/14/12/7/12
All ability score increases go into dexterity.

Spoken languages are Common and Draconic.

Esanin d'Lerius was going through a very confusing time.

Five minutes ago, they'd met a kobold. A kobold in a dungeon: pretty standard, right? Except this one was riding a winged and three-headed abomination, with some kind of smooth-skinned, hunched, eyeless humanoid... thing following closely behind. The party had drawn weapons, only for the kobold to joyfully greet them, and ask for help in fighting the dungeon's demonic occupants. Which is what they were already doing, so they'd accepted.

Shortly after, the lot of them ran into a pair of mariliths. They'd talked tactics, with the kobold suggesting a straightforward scheme where Esanin and his companions attacked from the front and it would attack from the rear. Pretty basic, except that when questioned how the kobold would get behind enemy lines, it just kind of grinned. Ominous.

The battle started off normal. The little kobold advanced on its chimera, brandishing a knife no bigger than Esanin's hand, while its creepy eyeless pet just... waited. Even more ominous.

Then, just as the two forces clashed, the faceless thing screamed. It was an awful sound, like icicles being fed through a meat grinder, vibrating his skin, his flesh, his bones. His companions and the demons weren't having a much better time, it seemed.

And before his eyes, the kobold jumped off of its mount, skittering forward, trying to outrun the pressure wave and somehow winning. It violated physics. It violated common sense. It violated good taste. But there it was. Within an instant, the kobold had scrambled past the mariliths' coils like they weren't even there, and was stabbing, clawing and biting their exposed rear. One of the mariliths collapsed, but the other was already turning to face its new adversary...

Only for a cloud of dust to engulf them both. The chimera's doing: it had reared up and was now beating two large wings, whipping dirt from the dungeon floor into the air. A burst of fire issued forth from the draconic head, enflaming the dust and singeing the demon, but it was already swinging its six deadly blades, their trajectories inorexably converging on... empty air?

The kobold was gone. Not invisible: the demon's blades scythed through the air where it was a second ago, meeting no resistance. Teleportation? No, Esanin decided: this was different.

The marilith had time for about three seconds of confusion before Lady Vera, the party's paladin, severed its head from its body. Moments later, the kobold emerged from an entirely different part of the cloud, which quickly dissipated as the chimera ceased its maneuver. The little reptile was covered in dirt and ash, and yet it was unharmed, grinning wildly, happily moving to pet the chimera's heads. The eyeless thing stalked over, crouched down, and, to Esanin's confusion and disgust, happily received some ear scritches from the kobold.

Esanin wasn't a bigoted elf: he was open to travelling with all sorts of people, and he truly was not opposed to this kobold joining them. But unless the kobold explained what exactly had happened just now, he was going to try and leverage every gram of veto power he had.


It's not easy being a rogue.

You oh-so-desperately want to full attack and get sneak attack on every hit you score. But sometimes, your enemies aren't standing right next to you (and given that you're a rogue, they probably shouldn't be!)

You could become a barbarian and charge, but charging is really particular about taking the shortest path from point A to point B, even though that path might be through enemies, full of spikes, or simply walled-off. And besides, even if you make it through, you probably won't be standing in a flanking position anyway.

You could become a cleric devoted to travel, but that comes with all sorts of 'religious obligations' and mandates a sizeable charisma stat, maybe even a favored class you don't have! And besides, it's boring: everyone dips cleric nowadays.

You could get a mount! Which is a great idea, until you realize it doesn't share your ranks in tumble and it gets AoOd out from under you.

No, reliable full sneak attacks are reserved for the Psychic Rogues with Hustle, the rogue/monk Sparring Dummy enthusiasts, and the Shadow Pouncers.

...And, of course, the kobold rogue/beast heart adepts, optimizing an obscure substitution level that normally gets dismissed on sight, and proving once and for all that kobold builds do not have to involve the suffix 'wrought'. Let's have a look!



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


1st
KoboldRotD WildernessUA Rogue
+0
+0
+2
+0
Craft (Trapmaking) +4, Disable Device +4, Handle Animal +4, Hide +4, Knowledge (Arcana) +2 (4 CC) Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +4, Search +4, Tumble +4, UMD +4
Animal Affinity
Sneak Attack +1d6, Rapid Retreat, Shrewd Trapfinding +2


2nd
Wilderness Rogue 2
+1
+0
+3
+0
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (5), Disable Device +1 (5), Handle Animal +1 (5), Hide +1 (5), Ride +2, Search +1 (5), Tumble +1 (5), UMD +1 (5)
-
Evasion


3rd
Wilderness Rogue 3
+2
+1
+3
+1
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (6), Disable Device +1 (6), Handle Animal +1 (6), Hide +1 (6), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (3) (2 CC) Search +1 (6), Tumble +1 (6), UMD +1 (6)
Weapon Finesse
Sneak Attack +2d6, Penetrating StrikeDng


4th
Wilderness Rogue 4
+3
+1
+4
+1
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (7), Disable Device +1 (7), Handle Animal +1 (7), Hide +1 (7), Ride +2 (4), Search +1 (7), Tumble +1 (7), UMD +1 (7)
-
Uncanny Dodge


5th
Wilderness Rogue 5
+3
+1
+4
+1
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (8), Disable Device +1 (8), Handle Animal +1 (8), Hide +1 (8), Knowledge (Arcana) +1 (4) (2 CC), Search +1 (8), Tumble +1 (8), UMD +1 (8)
-
Sneak Attack +3d6


6th
Beast Heart Adept 1
+4
+3
+4
+3
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (9), Diplomacy +2, Handle Animal +1 (9), Ride +1 (5)
CravenCoR
Monstrous Companion, Monster Empathy, Monster Handler


7th
Wilderness Rogue 6
+5
+4
+5
+4
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (10), Disable Device +1 (9), Hide +2 (10), Search +1 (9), Tumble +2 (10), UMD +2 (10)
-
-


8th
Wilderness Rogue 7
+6/+1
+4
+5
+4
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (11), Disable Device +1 (10), Handle Animal +2 (11), Hide +1 (11), Search +2 (11), Tumble +1 (11), UMD +1 (11)
-
Sneak Attack +4d6


9th
Wilderness Kobold Rogue 8
+7/+2
+4
+6
+4
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (12), Disable Device +2 (12), Handle Animal +1 (12), Hide +1 (12), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +1 (5), Search +1 (12), Tumble +1 (12), UMD +1 (12)
Underfoot CombatRotW
Evasive Skitter, Shrewd Trapfinding +4


10th
Beast Heart Adept 2
+8/+3
+5
+6
+5
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (13), Diplomacy +2 (4), Handle Animal +1 (13), Ride +1 (6)
-
Monstrous Lore


11th
Beast Heart Adept 3
+9/+4
+5
+7
+5
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (14), Diplomacy +2 (6), Handle Animal +1 (14), Ride +1 (7)
-
Alternative Monstrous Companion


12th
Beast Heart Adept 4
+10/+5
+6
+7
+6
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (15), Diplomacy +2 (8), Handle Animal +1 (15), Ride +1 (8)
Staggering StrikeCAdv
Monstrous Flank


13th
Wilderness Rogue 9
+10/+5
+7
+7
+7
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (16), Disable Device +1 (13), Hide +2 (14), Search +1 (13), Tumble +2 (14), UMD +2 (14)
-
Sneak Attack +5d6


14th
Beast Heart Adept 5
+11/+6/+1
+7
+7
+7
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (17), Diplomacy +1 (9), Handle Animal +2 (17), Ride +1 (9)
-
Extra Monstrous Companion


15th
Beast Heart Adept 6
+12/+7/+2
+8
+8
+8
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (18), Diplomacy +1 (10), Handle Animal +1 (18), Ride +2 (11)
Combat Reflexes
-


16th
Beast Heart Adept 7
+13/+8/+3
+8
+8
+8
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (19), Diplomacy +2 (12), Handle Animal +1 (19), Ride +1 (12)
-
Monstrous Tactics


17th
Wilderness Rogue 10
+14/+9/+4
+8
+9
+8
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (20), Disable Device +1 (14), Hide +3 (17), Search +1 (14), Tumble +3 (17)
-
Special Ability (Opportunist)


18th
Beast Heart Adept 8
+15/+10/+5
+9
+9
+9
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (21), Diplomacy +1 (13), Handle Animal +2 (21), Ride +1 (13)
Cunning EvasionPHB2
-


19th
Beast Heart Adept 9
+16/+11/+6/+1
+9
+10
+9
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (22), Diplomacy +2 (15), Handle Animal +1 (22), Ride +1 (14)
-
Extra Monstrous Companion


20th
Beast Heart Adept 10
+17/+12/+7/+2
+10
+10
+10
Craft (Trapmaking) +1 (23), Diplomacy +2 (17), Handle Animal +1 (23), Ride +1 (15)
-
Monstrous Team-Up



Slot 1 is a Destrachan (effective level 4), who spends 2 skill points on Listen, 2 on Hide, and 2 on Survival. Its extra feat is Danger SenseCAdv, chosen to increase its odds of going first and being able to move us next to some flat-footed opponents.

Slot 2 is a chimera (effective level 2), unchanged from the base stat block except for the Link. Slot 3 is an ankheg (effective level 2), unchanged from the base stat block except for the Link. It knows the attack, heel, stay, and down tricks.

ECL 5
Not all that different from most rogues, aside from a prerequisite feat and slightly odd skill choices. Typically, you'll be doing normal skillmonkey things: disabling devices, activating wands, and tumbling around the battlefield. Once in a blue moon, you'll find yourself in a position for a full attack and bring your kobold heritage to bear in a claw/claw/bite routine that can deliver up to 9d6 points of precision damage (and with 20 dexterity and a size bonus, we'll probably hit quite often). Damage isn't the only thing that being a kobold helps with: to Shrewd Trapfinding and max ranks in Craft(Trapmaking), we're actually better at finding and disabling traps than most rogues. In exchange we're slightly frailer, so I made it a point to prioritize constitution over intelligence while building.

We didn't take the second Kobold Rogue substitution level because it gives you something not quite named Trap Sense, and I didn't want to presume it could still be swapped out for penetrating strike. If your DM greenlights the exchange (which should be balanced, as the replacement ability is an upgrade of Trap Sense in every way for us), you can take the level to trade one point of HP for slightly bigger trapfinding bonuses, which I consider a good exchange.

ECL 10
Here we go, baby: Beast Heart Adept! We also get Craven, uncanny dodge, and more sneak attack, but let's focus on the ingredient here.

Our lowest-level companion is always going to be an ankheg, for a variety of reasons. Its Improved Grab can enable sneak attacks if we're ever unable to flank or have to rely on thrown daggers. We can use its tunnels to get past walls or undermine a battlefield, and any pits in the terrain it creates make for great cover. Moreover, thanks to Underfoot Combatant we can move into its space and use it for cover, giving us a permanent +4 AC just from sticking close to our companion. We can seamlessly turn this defensive boost into a flank: move up to an enemy along our ankheg, move through the enemy so we're flanking with our ankheg, and attack from the other side. If we're really lucky, the ankheg can then hit a bite and start a grapple, allowing us to full attack next turn (which by this point is up to dagger/dagger/claw/bite).

The main trick is only present in limited capacity here, but it's present! When you suspect a dangerous attack coming up, command the ankheg to ready an action to attack you with its acid spit. You're a high-dexterity rogue and can easily make a DC 14 reflex save, at which point Evasive Skitter kicks in and grants you free movement out of the line (and possibly into the ankheg's square for the AC boost, or even into a pit it dug). At worst, this grants you cover versus the attack: at best it moves you entirely out of the enemy's reach. Also, if you position everything right the acid spray should still hit enemies as well.

Monstrous Empathy and Monstrous Lore are not giant parts of this build, but we made sure to give their governing ability scores at least a modest modifier, and we'll be taking all 10 levels of BHA to get the most out of them. Monster Handler has direct synergy with our Ankheg companion and benefits from our maxed-out ranks in the skill.

ECL 15
With six Beast Heart Adept levels, we have two companions: a chimera and an ankheg. The chimera is great not only as a flying mount, or an easy flanking buddy, but because it gets a cone-shaped breath weapon. A 20 ft. cone centered on us should allow for about ten feet of repositioning after we make our saving throw, which is a lot of instant-speed movement! It's not just useful as an immediate action either: after 10 feet of skittering and a 5 ft. step, many enemies on the battlefield can be full attacked! It's only 1/encounter (with the ankheg helping out once per six hours), but it's still a bit boon for mobility!

The Chimera also gets Hover, which kicks up dust to create mobile concealment for us to move into or even hide in. The feat also helps it remain in a flanking position without being forced to land.

Combat Reflexes is always good on a rogue, giving us even more chances to sneak attack and letting us punish foes that try to move out of a flank. Speaking of which, our sneak attacks now have a solid chance to stagger those they hit, which really helps make melee less dangerous for us: a staggered enemy can't full attack us, and it can't move away without sacrificing the rest of its turn. Only casters endure the condition more or less unscathed, but they tend to have low hit points anyway.

Lastly, we obtain Monstrous Flank, improving our go-to combat strategy, and get another die of sneak attack (we're up to 5d6+15 now!).

ECL 20
At ECL 16, we gain access to a destrachan companion, utterly changing the game.

The destrachan has a sonic (!) AoE, usable at-will (!!), of variable size and shape (!!!) that can be up to 80 feet long. If we position ourselves carefully (and the destrachan is quite intelligent, so it won't struggle to cooperate here), we can essentially get 30 feet of free movement, in a direction of our choosing, per round, in a manner that's also dealing moderate amounts of sonic damage to all creatures on the field.

An illustration: some large-sized enemy is being kept busy by a companion of ours (monster or human), we're 15 feet away, and our destrachan is somewhere behind us. It moves back until it's at least 30 feet away, then readies an action. Right before our initiative comes up, it blasts the area with a cone that extends into the enemy. To leave the area, we move 30 feet, during which we enter the enemy's space without provoking and move all the way to the other side. Our initiative rolls around and we full attack, hitting up to six attacks (4 dagger iteratives, claw, and bite) that all deal sneak attack damage. If we want to disengage, we can 5 ft. step and then use our chimera's breath or ankheg's acid to move even further away.

Also, the Destrachan is a 100 ft. blindsight radar, which is great in itself and has some nice synergy with our chimera's dust cloud as well.

We also obtain a pair of class features that go great with Combat Reflexes. Opportunist triggers only once per turn, and Monstrous Tactics only once per enemy, but as shown we can easily shift position mid-turn to threaten some new foes. Combat Reflexes also stops enemies from simply walking away after we get into position and blow an AoO on Monstrous Tactics: we have 24 base dexterity, so we'll almost always have an attack remaining.

Lastly, Cunning Evasion allows for more control over where we skitter and explicitly allows us to make a Hide check after the movement. Just hop around a corner, into your chimera's Hover cloud, or into an ankheg tunnel, and swiftly disappear from your enemies' radar. You can't Hide behind your companions, but they can carry and drop knee-high pieces of cover for you to run behind (you're a kobold: it's not like you need much to work with). One moment, an enemy mage is targeting you, the next second you're thirty feet away behind hard cover, hidden, his spell fizzled, and he lost a chunk of HP to a sonic blast.

Outside of that, Monstrous Team-Up is simply a nice team boost. Again, we have a flying companion and a burrowing one, so getting our humanoid allies into flanking positions shouldn't be too hard.



A statement about the build's power:

Consider the damage output of an optimized rogue, one who got Craven and dipped Sneak Attack fighter and can make an Opportunist attack per round and doesn't have a -4 racial strength penalty but doesn't have any special movement. 11d6+20 sneak attack is a lot, but as stated earlier most rogues are trapped in the tumble+attack pattern. Thus, this rogue will make only two sneak attacks per round, dealing 22d6+40+2 damage (average of 119).

If we do the same move+attack+AoOs thing, we get at least three attacks thanks to Monstrous Tactics, with the damage boost from Monstrous Flank giving us about the same damage output (15d6+60+6-3 is on average 115), plus the damage from our monsters.

Except we don't have to do the move+attack thing: Evasive Skitter lets us turn our Destrachan's actions into mostly-reliable free movement a huge amount of the time, and moving through an enemy lets us get into flanking position easily. And when that happens, we're making six attacks, followed by two AoOs (I'm assuming here that the ankheg does not hit any attacks, but the chimera hits at least one). That's a total potential damage output of 40d6+160+16-8, or about... 308 points. Not pictured: the damage dealt by our destrachan (4d6 lethal or 6d6 nonlethal, at worst halved) or chimera (5 to 10, depending on which attack hit). We're also boosting our allies' damage by letting them capitalize on the chimera's hit as well.

Actual damage output will be lower because of to-hit, of course. But our to-hit bonus is higher than this Hypothetical Rogue we're comparing ourselves to: we get a bigger bonus from flanking, have two more points of BAB, a size bonus, and probably more dexterity as well.

We're also better off defensively, having more AC thanks to size, NA, and dexterity, being capable of taking cover beneath our pets, dashing behind strategically-placed barriers, and sprouting higher base Fortitude and Will saves (even with our low Wisdom, we'll probably have more Fortitude and more Will).

What about out-of-combat utility? Well, we have access to flying and burrowing pets with elemental attacks, though admittedly we're slightly worse off on the trapfinding front (though the +4 from Shrewd Trapfinding makes up for a large part of the gap!). Also, we have a destrachan that can break every fragile mineral component in the trap on command. Outside of that, we can tame all sorts of beasts, do decent at identifying monsters, and even act as an alright face when needed.


I know there's probs going to be 4 wilderness rogues but i don't think any of them will use the kobold substitution levels, also when considering originality I want to predict not a lot of people will use a destrachan as their main companion? Anyway peace out ty whoever judges.

[The Viscount]

Gold is for chumps.



Liam Greve, The Platinum Beastmaster

https://i.imgur.com/5vKOeJMl.png

NG Dragonborn (Wings aspect) Half-Elf Bard 1 / Warblade 7 / Half-Elf Paragon 1 / Marshall 1 / Beast Heart Adept 10

"Music hath charms to boost a savage beast"

For the third time in as many minutes, the ringmaster glanced over to the entrance of the tent. Where was that blasted lizard-head? These people were getting tired of waiting for the next part of the show to start, and this stalling was only doing so much.

Already, a few of the bolder audience members had begun their heckling. How long before the others stopped slapping them down? How long unt-

There! Movement! A tent flap pushed slightly aside, a familiar face rushing inside. The ringmaster didn't hesitate a second.

"And now, on to the next part of our show, the magnificent LIAM and his... surprise one-man show!"

She rushed off, staring daggers at the dragonborn as she passed him by, and watched the performer advance into the center to raucous applause.

"Thank you! Thank you! I'm happy to announce I have an all-new act for you today! It might seem a bit frightening, but please, remain calm, it's all part of the show!"

Wait, he hadn't told her about anything like this. It sounded concer-

"Now, without further ado, please welcome Gold, Silver, and Bronze!"

An enormous four-armed ape burst through the tent flaps, closely followed by a chimera. A giant eagle closed the ranks, immediately ascending to the higher reaches of the tent, where it began to fly in artful patterns. The ape jumped around eagerly, juggling the strongman's weights like they were toothpicks. The chimera approached Liam, its three heads nuzzling the dragonborn, then leapt back, reared on its hind legs, and unleashed a blast of fire that barely failed to singe the tent sail. The giant eagle emerged from the fireball, no worse for the wear, its talons wreathed in flame, and the crowd went nuts.

It was then that the ringleader realized, to her infinite regret, that 'one-man show' implied nothing about the number of beasts present.

----------------------

From a young age, Liam was a faithful servant of Bahamut, raised by a couple of paladins from the same holy order. Like most dragonborn, he underwent the ritual in adolescence, proud to serve Bahamut in body as well as soul. However, even as he embraced parts of his heritage, he rejected others: his parents' rigid mindset, unswerving zeal, and stubborn attachment to appearances never appealed to him as much as their magic, martial might, and commanding prowess. In early adulthood, he ran away and joined a travelling circus as performer and bodyguard, picking up odd skills here and there, waiting for a calling that truly resonated with him.

He found it in the wild monsters that the circus carted along. These magnificent creatures, so elegant, so misunderstood, such potential forces of righteousness! More and more time did he spend at, or even in, their enclosures (which, given how broadly D&D defines 'dungeon', totally count for the prereq), trying to understand their needs and wants. Until at last, an undeniable bond formed, and the beasts would follow him with no need for chains or cages. They became more than sideshows, then, following him into the ring, earning the adoration of the crowd with their might and tricks, jumping and dancing as fire danced around their claws.

The performances brought in enough money for the performers to retire. Liam refused any part of the proceeds, asking only to become the beasts' new master. Now they roam the land, righting wrongs, mauling evil, and spreading the good word of Bahamut.

Point-buy: 10/12/11/16/8/17
Post-dragonborn: 10/10/13/16/8/17
All level-up increases go into charisma for a final stat of 22.

Spoken languages: Common, Elven, Undercommon, Orc, Giant, Draconic



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


1st
Healing Hymn Half-Elf Bard 1
+0
+0
+2
+2
Balance 4, Craft (Alchemy) 4, Diplomacy 4, Handle Animal 2 {CC}, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Perform (Dance) 4, Tumble 4, Use Magic Device 4
Animal Affinity
Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Healing Hymn, Inspire Courage +1, Soothing Voice


2nd
Warblade 1
+1
+2
+2
+2
Balance +1 (5), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (5), Diplomacy +1 (5), Intimidate 3, Tumble +1 (5)
-
Battle Clarity (Reflex Saves), Weapon Aptitude, Maneuvers


3rd
Half-Elf Paragon 1
+1
+2
+4
+2
Craft (Alchemy) +1 (6), Diplomacy +1 (6), Profession (Entertainer) 3, Perform (Dance) +2 (6)
Snowflake Wardance, Extra MusicB
Bonus Feat, Divided Ancestry, Elven Vision


4th
Warblade 2
+2
+3
+4
+2
Craft (Alchemy) +1 (7) Diplomacy +2 (7), Intimidate +2 (5) Tumble +2 (7)
-
Uncanny Dodge


5th
Marshall 1
+2
+5
+4
+4
Diplomacy +1 (8), Handle Animal +6 (8)
Skill Focus (Diplomacy)B
Minor Aura (Master of Tactics)


6th
Beast Heart Adept 1
+3
+7
+4
+6
Diplomacy +1 (9), Handle Animal +1 (9), Ride +5 (5)
Dragonfire Inspiration
Monstrous Companion, Monster Empathy, Monster Handler


7th
Warblade 3
+4
+7
+5
+7
Diplomacy +1 (10), Intimidate +3 (8) Tumble +3 (10)
-
Battle Ardor (Critical Confirmation)


8th
Beast Heart Adept 2
+5
+8
+5
+8
Craft (Alchemy) +2 (9), Diplomacy +1 (11), Handle Animal +2 (11), Ride +2 (7)
-
Monster Lore


9th
Beast Heart Adept 3
+6/+1
+8
+6
+8
Craft (Alchemy) +2 (11), Diplomacy +1 (12), Handle Animal +1 (12), Ride +3 (10)
Extra Music
Alternative Monstrous Companion (they had some gall listing this one as a class feature)


10th
Warblade 4
+7/+2
+9
+6
+8
Craft (Alchemy) +2 (13), Diplomacy +1 (13), Intimidate +3 (11), Tumble +1 (11)
-
-


11th
Beast Heart Adept 4
+8/+3
+10
+6
+9
Craft (Alchemy) +1 (14), Diplomacy +1 (14), Handle Animal +2 (14), Ride +3 (13)
-
Monstrous Flank


12th
Beast Heart Adept 5
+9/+4
+10
+6
+9
Craft (Alchemy) +1 (15), Diplomacy +1 (15), Handle Animal +1 (15), Knowledge (Arcana) +2 (6), Ride +2 (15)
Song of the White Raven
Extra Monstrous Companion


13th
Warblade 5
+10/+5
+10
+6
+9
Diplomacy +1 (16), Intimidate +3 (14), Tumble +3 (14)
White Raven DefenseB
Bonus Feat


14th
Beast Heart Adept 6
+11/+6/+1
+11
+7
+10
Craft (Alchemy) +2 (17), Diplomacy +1 (17), Handle Animal +2 (17), Ride +2 (17)
-
-


15th
Beast Heart Adept 7
+12/+7/+2
+11
+7
+10
Craft (Alchemy) +1 (18), Diplomacy +1 (18), Handle Animal +1 (18), Knowledge (Arcana) +3 (9), Ride +1 (18)
Words of Creation
Monstrous Tactics


16th
Warblade 6
+13/+8/+3
+12
+8
+11
Diplomacy +1 (19), Intimidate +3 (17), Tumble +3 (17)
-
Improved Uncanny Dodge


17th
Beast Heart Adept 8
+14/+9/+4
+13
+8
+12
Craft (Alchemy) +2 (20), Diplomacy +1 (20), Handle Animal +2 (20), Knowledge (Arcana) +2 (11)
-
-


18th
Beast Heart Adept 9
+15/+10/+5
+13
+9
+12
Craft (Alchemy) +1 (21), Diplomacy +1 (21), Handle Animal +1 (21), Knowledge (Arcana) +4 (15)
Clarion Commander
Extra Monstrous Companion


19th
Warblade 7
+16/+11/+6/+1
+13
+9
+12
Diplomacy +1 (22), Intimidate +3 (20), Tumble +3 (20)
-
Battle Cunning (Damage), Inspire Courage +2


20th
Beast Heart Adept 10
+17/+12/+7/+2
+14
+9
+13
Craft (Alchemy) +2 (23), Diplomacy +1 (23), Handle Animal +2 (23), Knowledge (Arcana) +2 (17)
-
Monstrous Team-Up



The exact order in which companions are acquired and lost is a bit of a mess, but assume that they generally follow the Giant Eagle -> Girallon -> Chimera progression listed here. Blink dogs are an option at early levels, as their teleportation makes them easy to flank with, but this becomes less necessary as the build progresses. The final three companions are:

Gold
Chimera (effective level 6), extra feat is Rapidstrike (Bite), extra skill ranks are 2 in spot, 2 in listen.

Silver
Girallon (effective level 4), extra feat is Improved Natural Attack (Claw), known tricks are Attack (all creatures), Defend, Down, Heel, Perform, Stay, and Work, extra skill ranks are 2 in move silently.

Bronze
Giant Eagle (effective level 2), no change from the base statblock.

Throughout his entire career, Liam has 2 level 0 slots and 4 spells known. These are Detect Magic, Mending, Prestidigitation, and Read Magic.

Warblade 1 (ECL 2, IL 1): Douse the Flames, Leading the Attack, Steel Wind, Punishing Stance.

Warblade 2 (ECL 4, IL 3): Mountain Hammer

Warblade 3 (ECL 7, IL 5): White Raven Tactics

Warblade 4 (ECL 10, IL 7): Tactics of the Wolf

Warblade 5 (ECL 13, IL 9): Iron Heart Surge

Warblade 6 (ECL 16, IL 11): Replace Douse the Flames with Order Forged From Chaos

Warblade 7 (ECL 19, IL 13): Swarming Assault

Typical readied maneuvers are Order Forged From Chaos, Iron Heart Surge, White Raven Tactics, and Swarming Assault.
Liam is usually in the Tactics of the Wolf stance.

Beast Heart Adept is a Charisma-based class. Its secondary ability score, if it could be said to have one, is Intelligence.

This is plainly true. Half the class skills use intelligence or charisma. To optimally use the class features, you need to make Handle Animal checks and Monstrous Empathy checks, with the occasional Monstrous Knowledge check. Sure, you also need to flank and make attacks, but these aren't as intimately tied to a specific ability score as the aforementioned capacities.

Of course, there's a bit of a tension between charisma-primary characters and melee attacks: that's what the Marshall and Bard levels are for. Fortunately, both are great at buffing the many allies that Beast Heart Adept provides you with. Rounding out the build, and shoring up that oh-so-important melee ability, is Warblade. After adding enough Warblade levels to get +2 Inspire Courage with Song of the White Raven, we have one level left, which would be a waste to not spend on the excellent Half-Elf Paragon (we were already using this race for the Bard substitution level, which is more useful on a build that can't really pump Perform). A little reshuffling later, and we have ourselves a build.

ECL 5
A mess of classes that come together very nicely. Our marshall aura adds our impressive +4 charisma modifier to all damage rolls (both ours and allies') when flanking enemies: setting up those flanks is reasonably easy thanks to our ranks in Tumble. With Snowflake Wardance and Extra Music, we can add the same stat to attack rolls five encounters a day, effectively making us a fully charisma-based melee attacker from level 5 on.

With three warblade maneuvers readied, we can easily remain relevant throughout an encounter, and because a good chunk of our damage is external to our own attacks, warblade maneuver recovery is less of a pain than it'd usually be. We have Douse the Flames to further enable flank setup, Steel Wind for horde battles, Mountain Hammer for objects and constructs, and Punishing Stance to deal a bit more damage when needed.

Defensively, our saves are excellent, with Battle Clarity shoring up our weak Reflex by two points (set to increase as we take more warblade levels). We have solid HP, Uncanny Dodge, and medium or heavy armor with a shield for defense, giving us paladin-level defensive capabilities.

Outside of combat, we have a plethora of skills (social, knowledge-related, UMD, and crafting) and can make use of the half-elf bard substitute level to leverage our +15 pre-item Diplomacy modifier into a Calm Emotions save DC. We also drop Fascinate (which is mostly redundant with Soothing Voice) to get Healing Hymn (there's going to be a lot of bodies that need healing in our future: if this saves us a few wands of CLW it'll be worth it). We also have some bard cantrips, which might see use if we're ever unarmored during downtime or want to risk the casting failure chance, but mostly deserve mention for qualifying us for craft (alchemy).

Although we're going to get a flying companion later, the dragonborn wings aspect is still useful for tactical movement and flying over enemies to flank them. If you wish you had darkvision, consider that this build is locked into one-handed melee anyway and can afford to swap out the off-hand shield for a (self-crafted?) sunrod or torch.

ECL 10
We've obtained our first monstrous companion, which at these levels is a girallon or giant eagle (the eagle is really nice with our limited wings, allowing for actual flight without any risk of falling to our deaths). We also grabbed Dragonfire Inspiration, plus a copy of Extra Music to fuel it, meaning we now have 9 bardic music attempts a day: enough to use both Snowflake Wardance and Dragonfire Inspiration in four encounters.

We also grab the infamously good White Raven Tactics alongside Tactics of the Wolf. The latter adds half our initiator level to the damage rolls of us or anyone flanking an enemy with us. Given that we want to flank anyway to get charisma to damage (+4 currently, soon to be +5, more with items), the bonus will feel hardly situational.

At this point our strategy becomes clear: accumulate static bonuses, get in a flanking position, and wail on the trapped enemy from both sides. While a girallon isn't the brightest, it has no trouble getting into melee and full attacking for a total of 5 hits. If we're flanking with it and have Inspire Courage on, that's up to 5d6+35 bonus damage it receives from us, before considering our other allies! Next round, we can drop White Raven Tactics and do it all over again, or make a full attack of our own.

The class features we receive in these 5 levels are modest but useful. Monster Empathy and Monster Handler really appreciate how we're charisma-primary, being +4 to +6 higher than most beast heart adepts. Battle Ardor appreciates our secondary intelligence focus (and with full BAB for most of our levels, we're going to have a lot of chances to crit), and Monster Lore similarly benefits from a good base stat (as well as our one level in bard).

ECL 15
Song of the White Raven lets us activate Inspire Courage as a swift action while in Tactics of the Wolf, which we weren't ever not going to be anyway. It goes great with Words of Creation, which doubles the bonus from our bardic music (and thus our fire damage dice) and helps a little when crafting alchemical items. 3d4 subdual damage is a small price to pay for an extra 2d6 fire damage to everyone's attacks: you have good armor and can use healing wands, you'll be fine.

Speaking of armor: White Raven Defense gives us +1 AC when adjacent to allies and extends the same benefit to them: with our companions (there's two now!) on the field in addition to 'normal' PCs we will be able to trigger it very reliably. We partially negate the penalties from clustering together because all our companions have Evasion.

Monstrous Flank boosts our flanking strategy, and Monstrous Tactics increases our attacks per round (and thus the number of times our flat damage bonuses apply). We've been kind of glossing over our own damage, but we have +12 BAB, a +5 modifier on our primary attacking stat, and all the same benefits we grant to our allies: rest assured we can make use of Dragonfire Inspiration ourselves too.

Our sole new maneuver is Iron Heart Surge, but it's a very respectable way to no-sell many crushing debuffs. Ask your DM how exactly it works, because this maneuver is a logical pain, but rest assured that even conservative interpretations are still really really good.

ECL 20
We hit two 'capstones' that we were working towards: Warblade 7 gives us Battle Cunning (intelligence to damage while flanking, bringing our secondary stat to bear in melee) and raises our effective bard level to the point where Inspire Courage bumps up to +2 (+4 with Words of Creation; Exalted status seemed attainable for a devout Bahamut-worshipper). Furthermore, Beast Heart Adept 10 gives us Monstrous Team-Up, which lets our allies also benefit from extra flanking bonuses and opportunity attacks (and it might apply to our companions as well? if so, that's even greater). We also get Improved Uncanny Dodge, which is useful because flanking typically opens you up to getting flanked yourself (now it doesn't).

Order Forged From Chaos is great for setting up two melee brutes as a move action. We can begin combat, manually fly into melee, move our two big companions so they're flanking with us, drop a Snowflake Wardance and Inspire Courage, and watch as our companions' turn comes around and they make a total of eleven attacks with an extra +4 to-hit and 4d6+14 to damage across the board (at which point we get to make an opportunity attack with the same bonus). The eagle is mostly a scout and high-speed mount, but it too can get in on the action and make flyby attacks with relatively little risk (if an enemy uses its AoOs to kill it, big deal: you can get a new eagle in a day and don't even have to train it, and that enemy can now be maneuvered around without risk). Also note that the eagle can fly you past enemy lines, at which point you free action dismount, free action fall, tumble to reduce falling damage, and leave you with a set-up flank and a full set of actions left.

Swarming Assault is great fun with the Beast Heart Adept capstone: we hit someone, grant all our allies an attack, monstrous opportunist triggers and gives another round of attacks, with all those hits getting our flanking and dragonfire bonuses. It doesn't bode well for anyone we flank: which unfortunately for them is something we spent considerably resources being good at.

Clarion Commander is a pretty good, multifaceted feat that leverages our heavy social skill investment. Following Up is nice if we ever use a maneuver and find ourselves with a spare move, granting our allies even more attacks. Perpetual Flank is useful in narrow environments, granting flanking bonuses even if we don't occupy a true flanking position (our damage is dependent on flanking, but our to-hit barely is, so we don't really struggle to get the tactic off if we can't flank in the first place). It also works against enemies with All-Around Vision, if I'm reading it correctly (the foe can't be flanked, but you can treat it as flanked), which is otherwise a notable problem for our gameplan.

Again, I want to emphasize that this build is still a normal dragonfire inspiration bard, and all its non-monstrous allies are also getting 4d6 bonus fire damage, with an additional at-least-6 if they're flanking, and another 6 if they're flanking with you specifically (which you should be making really easy to do). Plus you can give them bonus AoOs with Clarion Commander and Monstrous Tactics and whatnot. You're also dealing a lot more damage than most dragonfire inspiration bards can do themselves, typically having charisma to attack and damage, martial maneuvers up to 7th level, and +17 BAB.

Also, if you ever feel like diplomacy... Soothing Voice still works, and forces a Will save with a DC of at least 1d20+32. Once your targets are suitably calmed down, a normal diplomacy check is perfectly capable of turning Hostile foes Friendly, and depending on the available loot perhaps even Helpful. Against magical beasts that don't understand language, Monstrous Empathy has a +18 bonus, and against dim-witted aberrations or animals it still offers +14. Monstrous Lore gives +14 to identify arbitrary monsters, which is enough to be relevant and more than most BHAs will get out of that feature.


Half-Elf Bard Substitution Levels - RoD
-Healing Hymn - CChamp
Marshall - MH
Warblade - ToB
Half-Elf Paragon - UA

Dragonborn - RoD

Extra Music - CAdv
Snowflake Wardance - Frostburn
Dragonfire Inspiration - DM
Words of Creation - BoED
Song of the White Raven, White Raven Defense, Clarion Commander - ToB


Presented with mild apology to William Congreve.

[The Viscount]

He knows more than you might think.


https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/awARZ6R_700bwp.webp

An old man in rich clothes with a sword in simple sheath on his belt stood in front of a group of children.
- Welcome children in Life Home of the Beastkeepers. I'm master Campioni, but you can call me master Pjotr or just master. I see all you are tired from the road. Please, let go to your apartments, settle down and after dinner I invite you on a tour of my menagerie.

NG Human Noble 1/Ranger 1/Human Paragon 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/Legacy Champion 6

Abilities Initial Levels Total
STR 14 14
DEX 10 10
CON 14 14
INT 14 14
WIS 12 12
CHA 15 5 20

ECL Class BAB Fort Reflex Will Skills Feats Class Features Legasy Abilities
1st Noble 1 0 0 2 2 28: {+4} Bluff: 4; {+4} Diplomacy: 4; {+4} Gather Information: 4; {+4} Handle Animal: 4; {+4} Intimidate: 4; {+4} Knowledge (history): 4; {+4} Ride: 4; Animal Affinity (1), Dragontouched (H) Bonus class skill (handle animal), favor +1
2nd Ranger 1 1 2 4 2 9: Bluff: 4; Diplomacy: 4; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 5; Intimidate: 4; {+4} Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 4; {+4} Knowledge (nature): 4; Ride: 4; Track (B) Rival organization (trappers’ gang +2), Track, wild empathy
3rd Human Paragon 1 1 2 4 4 7: Bluff: 4; {+1} Diplomacy: 5; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 6; Intimidate: 4; {+4} Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; {+1} Knowledge (history): 5; Knowledge (nature): 4; Ride: 4; Favored (Naturalist Guild) (3) Adaptive learning (Handle Animal)
4th Human Paragon 2 2 2 4 5 8: {+2} Autohypnosis: 2; {+1} Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 6; Gather Information: 4; {+2} Handle Animal: 8; {+1} Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 5; Knowledge (nature): 4; Ride: 4; {+1} Survival: 1; Primary Contact (B) Bonus feat
5th Beast Heart Adept 1 3 4 4 7 7: Autohypnosis: 2; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 7; Gather Information: 4; Handle Animal: 8; {+1} Heal: 1; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 5; {+2} Knowledge (nature): 6; {+1} Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Ride: 5; {+1} Survival: 2; Least Legacy (Blade of the Last Citadel) (L) Monstrous companion, monster empathy, monster handler Leading the attack (5/day)
6th Beast Heart Adept 2 4 5 4 8 7: Autohypnosis: 2; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 8; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 9; {+1} Heal: 2; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 5; Knowledge (nature): 6; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Ride: 6; {+1} Survival: 3; {+2} Collector of Stories; Draconic Aura (Power) (6) Monster lore +1 longsword, 4 hp loss
7th Beast Heart Adept 3 5 5 5 8 7: Autohypnosis: 2; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 9; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 10; {+1} Heal: 3; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 5; {+2} Knowledge (nature): 8; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Ride: 7; {+1} Survival: 4; Collector of Stories; Alternative monstrous companion
8th Beast Heart Adept 4 6 6 5 9 7: Autohypnosis: 2; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 10; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 11; {+1} Heal: 4; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 5; {+2} Knowledge (nature): 10; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Ride: 8; {+1} Survival: 5; Collector of Stories; Monstrous flank +2 longsword, -1 save penalty
9th Beast Heart Adept 5 7 6 5 9 7: Autohypnosis: 2; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 11; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 12; {+1} Heal: 5; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 5; {+2} Knowledge (nature): 12; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Ride: 9; {+1} Survival: 6; Collector of Stories; Wild Cohort (9) Extra monstrous companion -1 attack penalty, 2 hp loss
10th Beast Heart Adept 6 8 7 6 10 7: Autohypnosis: 2; Bluff: 5; {+2} Diplomacy: 13; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 13; {+1} Heal: 6; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 5; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Ride: 10; {+1} Survival: 7; Collector of Stories; Prayer (1/day)
11th Legacy Champion 1 8 7 6 12 7: {+1} Autohypnosis: 3; Bluff: 5; Diplomacy: 13; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 14; Heal: 6; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; {+3} Knowledge (history): 8; Knowledge (nature): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Ride: 10; {+1} Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; {+1} Survival: 8; Collector of Stories; Lesser Legacy (Blade of the Last Citadel) (L) Reduced ritual cost (lesser), bond of lore +3 longsword
12th Beast Heart Adept 7 9 7 6 12 7: Autohypnosis: 3; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 14; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 15; {+1} Heal: 7; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 8; {+2} Knowledge (nature): 15; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Ride: 11; Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; {+1} Survival: 9; Collector of Stories; Landlord (12) Monstrous tactics Remove fear (3/day), 2 hp loss
13th Beast Heart Adept 8 10 8 6 13 7: Autohypnosis: 3; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 15; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 16; {+1} Heal: 8; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 8; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 16; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+2} Ride: 13; Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; {+1} Survival: 10; Collector of Stories; -2 attack penalty
14th Beast Heart Adept 9 11 8 7 13 7: Autohypnosis: 3; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 16; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 17; {+1} Heal: 9; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 8; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 17; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Ride: 14; Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; {+2} Survival: 12; Collector of Stories; Extra monstrous companion +4 longsword
15th Beast Heart Adept 10 12 9 7 14 7: Autohypnosis: 3; Bluff: 5; {+2} Diplomacy: 18; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 18; {+1} Heal: 10; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 8; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 18; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Ride: 15; Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; {+1} Survival: 13; Collector of Stories; Leadership (15) Monstrous team-up 2 hp loss
16th Legacy Champion 2 13 9 7 15 7: {+1} Autohypnosis: 4; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 19; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 19; Heal: 10; {+1} Intimidate: 6; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 8; Knowledge (nature): 18; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Ride: 15; {+3} Sense Motive: 3; Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; Survival: 13; Collector of Stories; Replace legacy ability (least) Cure critical wounds, +3 longsword, feather falling
17th Legacy Champion 3 14 10 8 15 7: {+1} Autohypnosis: 5; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 20; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 20; Heal: 10; {+1} Intimidate: 7; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 8; Knowledge (nature): 18; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Ride: 15; {+3} Sense Motive: 6; Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; Survival: 13; Collector of Stories; Greater Legacy (Blade of the Last Citadel) (L) Extra legacy ability use (least) +4 defending longsword, leading the attack (6/day)
18th Legacy Champion 4 15 10 8 16 7: {+1} Autohypnosis: 6; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 21; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 21; Heal: 10; {+1} Intimidate: 8; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 8; Knowledge (nature): 18; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Ride: 15; {+3} Sense Motive: 9; Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; Survival: 13; Collector of Stories; Guildmaster (Naturalist Guild) (18), Transfer Legacy (L) Bonus legacy feat Blade barrier, -3 attack penalty
19th Legacy Champion 5 15 10 8 16 7: {+1} Autohypnosis: 7; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 22; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 22; Heal: 10; {+1} Intimidate: 9; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 8; Knowledge (nature): 18; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Ride: 15; {+3} Sense Motive: 12; Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; Survival: 13; Collector of Stories; Replace legacy ability (lesser) Cure critical wounds, least constant companion (elysian thrush), 2 hp loss
20th Legacy Champion 6 16 11 9 17 7: {+1} Autohypnosis: 8; Bluff: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 23; Gather Information: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 23; Heal: 10; {+1} Intimidate: 10; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (history): 8; Knowledge (nature): 18; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Ride: 15; {+3} Sense Motive: 15; Speaking Languages (blink dog): 1; Survival: 13; Collector of Stories; Extra legacy ability use (lesser) Heal, remove fear (4/day), 2 hp loss

H - Human bonus feat, B - class bonus feats, L - legacy feats

- Are you ready? Good. Please, follow me. We are now in my family castle and at the same moment it is the residence of the Beastkeepers guild. Our guild has a goal to protect and peacefully introduce sentient animals into human society. Who wants this. Of course I'm primarily talking about unusual magical animals. But we are glad to help any animal.
- Master, you said who wants to, but I see a cage over there with wolves inside. How is it consistent with each other? - one girl asked.
- How is your name, girl? Brigitte? Good name and good question. Let me show you something. Trip, come here, boy! - master shouted and accompanied it with a short whistle. At the next moment a big white dog appeared out of thin air near him, - Good boy! Trip, say hello to our guests.
Dog looked at visitors, barked with some elusive tones in voice and tilted his head in curiosity.
- You could pet him if you want, he really loves it, - of course children didn’t hesitate to take advantage of this invitation, all but Brigitte. She stood in confusion and spoke incomprehensibly.
- I don’t understand… What?.. How?..
- Trip and his kinfolk are magical creatures, they are called blink dogs and are able to… jump.
- I see, but… cage?
- It’s for puppies. They are not as smart as grown-ups, but very curious. It’s a blessing blink dogs need a developed mind to jump. This place still isn’t forest and there are enough hazards for young explorers here. Even other animals, while generally not aggressive, but some are very big and could just not notice the puppy and accidentally hurt him. That’s why we keep them in the enclosures until they grow. Do you understand, Brigitte? Yes? Very good, - master smiled, - Kids, how do you think, why does Trip have this name? Do you want me to tell you? Trip is the third blink dog who is my companion. Before him was his mother, and father of his mother in the very beginning. It isn't a good story, how I met her.
I was very young, almost as you now, and I had no purpose in life. I was the youngest son and all the inheritance I could count on on the day of my majority were good horse, shoddy sword and fatherly advice: "Mace stronger blows in swing." I settled in the city Daelrun, one and a half dozen miles to the north. First time I didn't know what to do, but I always from the very birth love animals and this my quality gave me an opportunity. Then Beastkeepers were just a small guild consisting of only a couple dozen members and they recruited rookies. They were welcome to all who shared their views and aspirations. That was just me. I gladly accepted the invitation and my life made sense. To be part of something bigger is a great feeling, I tell you. That time we had a feud with a group of poachers from neighboring Cormyr. They invaded our lands and hunted rare beasts. They mostly took them alive to be sold to collectors and circuses. Almost all our time we spend on patrols, searching them, fighting them ourselves or directing border guards. I spent about a year wandering the woods, tracking down trespassers and I was really happy. I became a full member of a Beastkeepers at some point and I… became slightly arrogant. And was punished for it. It was a regular patrol in the territory attached to me, there’s been no sign of poachers for over a month and I found something interesting at the very beginning of my route - an inconspicuous fissure in the spur of Thunder Peaks. It looked like there was a cavern behind it and I decided to spend some time looking at it. A few hours shouldn’t be a problem, but… it wasn’t a few hours. I haven't been taking into account the sharpness of the rocks and before I could even get down to the cave, my rope broke. I was trapped, but I was lucky. It wasn’t just a single cave, but part of the cave system - almost a labyrinth. I’ve been wandering there for almost a dozen days. I found a subterranean lake and could feed myself by fishing. I found that the best bait for cave fish is glowworms. Once, while fishing, I saw something at the bottom, some glint. Now I know it wasn’t a smart move, but then I didn’t even think, I quickly took off my clothes and dived. Well, I wasn’t smart, but as I said I was lucky! There was a skeleton in rusted chain mail and rotted clothing, but glint… What did glint? It was a sword. I’ve seen different swords, but this… this was the best. Was and still is. You could see it with me now. I was a good part, but also was bad. When I found the exit one of the first things I spotted were poachers’ tracks. While I was fishing and searching for a way, they wasted no time. I immediately followed them and made the horrible discovery. There was a blind dogs’ den in my patrol zone and poachers found it. Both adult dogs were killed, fur was skinned and three cubs were taken. This happened less than a day ago. I became very angry. At poachers of course, but mostly at myself. I could have prevented that, but I failed. I won’t tell you how I caught up with poachers, killed them and freed cubs. I was so guilty before them. I took them for myself, they just couldn’t survive on their own. It was funny I became sorta a hero in the guild. I fought our enemy and won. I didn’t share their joys, I had completely different concerns - blink dogs aren’t animals I was familiar with and they were quite different from regular dogs. Puppies already began to jump! Couple feet at first, but it was only a matter of time when they would accidentally run away and get lost. I needed help and our guildmaster introduced me to someone who knew what I should do. Wildcat was very… wild cat, yes. His name is a bullseye. He taught me how to manage wild animals. Nothing magical, just the right state of mind. To manage somebody wild you should become wild yourselves. Honest, decisive and the strongest, ready to prove who you are. This worked. I was able to handle dogs and prepare them for reintroduction into the wild. Lady and Wind left me easily, but Snow didn’t. He didn’t want to leave me and I couldn’t find the strength to drive him away. Snow is Trip’s grandfather. He was my companion for seven years, after him was Flake - Trip’s mother and Trip himself. Snow now lives with his pack in nearby forests, Flake is the matriarch of the castle’s pack. Trip lives in the castle with his family at the moment, too.

- Later I adopted many various beasts. There were chimera, manticore, wyvern, and several destrachans. Now I have a winter wolf, an elephant and yrthak. Almost nobody between Beastkeepers can handle such unusual creatures while I… I believe I have a gift. Most creatures were with me only for some period of time and were released after, but some part of them lives here now.
- Master, I have a question.
- Yes, Brigitte, what is your question?
- Master, you were talking about many animals, some of them are very big. And such a big castle… It all takes a lot of money. What is your benefit?
- O! An unusual question. Who are your parents? Father is a merchant? I see… Well of course just love for animals is a reason, but you’re right it isn’t enough. All these beasts aren’t just animals, they have unusual abilities. Blink dogs were perfect couriers and almost unsurpassed sniffers. With scent almost as sniffer as bloodhound’s and smart as humans. You could talk with them and they could answer. Yes, their language is too complicated for our ears and mouths, but some are even able to read and could nose into written letters and words. They search for smuggling and missing people. City Watch asks for their help in tracking criminals from time to time. Or let’s take the example of destrachan. He is blind underground predator. Being blind they are looking with their ears. They create noise and listen to reflections. But their noise is not only for looking, they could break stones with it, or tear flash. And they are very accurate in this. Do you need to break one specific stone in the middle of a bunch of rocks? Destrachan could make this. Do you need a precise, accurate cut at the patient's stomach to reach internal bleeding which was found due destrachan’s sound vision? He could make this. Kids, do you know what is renal colic? Very very bad pain. I had it once. Zing, my destrachan, “looked” inside me, made one of his unheard sounds and it's over! The Guild's medic told me after, that colic occurs because of stones inside the kidneys. I don’t know how it appears there, but the result is clear. Our medic is almost praying on Zing. Betty the elephant is very strong, she can lift and carry big amounts of cargo and is irreplaceable at a construction site. Big part of the new castle walls and inside buildings were constructed with her help. Also, I have an elysian thrush, it’s a bird from Elysium. Its song improves all natural healing rate, with it near all wounds heal faster, poisoning and illness pass within a several days. I really believe if we didn’t find a way to use the ability of some unusual magical creature, well… we just weren't looking enough. We could live together with all living creatures to everyone's mutual benefit.
Level Class BHA effective level 1st MC EL 1st MC 2nd MC EL 2nd MC 3rd MC EL 3rd MC WC EL WC
5th Beast Heart Adept 1 1 1 Blink dog
6th Beast Heart Adept 2 2 2 Blink dog
7th Beast Heart Adept 3 3 3 Blink dog (+2 HD, Improved Scent)
8th Beast Heart Adept 4 4 4 Blink dog (+2 HD)
9th Beast Heart Adept 5 5 5 (-4) Chimera 1 Blink dog 9 Wolf (+5 HD, +1 Str, Alertness, Run)
10th Beast Heart Adept 6 6 6 (-4) Chimera 2 Blink dog 10 (-9) Dire wolf
11th Legacy Champion 1 6 6 (-4) Chimera 2 Blink dog 11 (-9) Dire wolf
12th Beast Heart Adept 7 7 7 (-6) Destrachan 3 (-2) Manticore 12 (-9) Dire wolf (+1 HD)
13th Beast Heart Adept 8 8 8 (-6) Destrachan 4 (-2) Manticore 13 (-9) Dire wolf (+1 HD)
14th Beast Heart Adept 9 9 9 (-8) Behir 5 (-4) Wyvern 1 Blink dog 14 (-9) Dire wolf (+1 HD)
15th Beast Heart Adept 10 10 10 (-8) Behir 6 (-4) Wyvern 2 Blink dog 15 (-9) Dire wolf (+3 HD, +1 Str, Mighty Roar)
16th Legacy Champion 2 11 11 (-8) Yrthak (+2 HD) 7 (-6) Destrachan 3 (-2) Winter wolf 16 (-15) Indian Elephant
17th Legacy Champion 3 12 12 (-8) Yrthak (+2 HD) 8 (-6) Destrachan 4 (-2) Winter wolf 17 (-15) Indian Elephant
18th Legacy Champion 4 13 13 (-8) Yrthak (+4 HD, +1 Con, Improved Snatch) 9 (-6) Destrachan (+2 HD, Ability Focus (Destructive harmonics)) 5 (-2) Winter wolf (+2 HD, +1 Dex) 18 (-15) Indian Elephant (+1 HD, +1 Con, Stamp)
19th Legacy Champion 5 14 14 (-8) Yrthak (+4 HD) 10 (-6) Destrachan (+2 HD) 6 (-2) Winter wolf (+2 HD) 19 (-15) Indian Elephant (+1 HD)
20th Legacy Champion 6 15 15 (-8) Yrthak (+6 HD, Diving Charge) 11 (-6) Destrachan (+4 HD, +1 Con, Reverberation (Destructive harmonics)) 7 (-6) Chuul 20 (-15) Indian Elephant (+1 HD)
I want to improve Beast Heart Adept's companions as much as I can. Six levels in the Legacy Champion with the early entry via Primary Contact serve that purpose well.
I want to have legal options for quickly changing my companions. With Landlord and Guildmaster feats I have place where all needed creatures can live and be well handled.
First. Favored and Favored in Guild are the one same feat, aren't they? I don't understand why they are placed in two different books with slightly different names while they do the same things. Plus, lists of guilds in CityScape and DMG II only partially overlapped, but where they overlapped they aligned perfectly.
Well, while I need to get the Primary Contact feat, I thought why not to get a full line up to Guildmaster. Yes, without Leadership it works not so good, but it is very flavorful. Plus, it has double qualification with SI - Animal Affinity feat and Handle Animal skill.
Rite of Repentance is obvious. I failed blink dogs’ family. I want their forgiveness.
Rite of Selfless Defense. While it isn't featured in the story it isn't very hard to imagine it. We are in the Interior Faerûn, where always somebody wants to attack another. Pirates, Cormyr, Wearers of Purple and many others. For a good PC, finding someone to protect isn't a problem.
Rite of Respect. The only issue here is found right rite, which isn't piece of cake with Knowledge (history) DC 31, but doable starting from ECL 11 (8 ranks, +2 Int, +1 LC).
I didn't want to list the entire used stronghold components, but as I see where are absolutely no problems to make Huge castle that has all necessary for guildhall and menagerie with funds provided by the feat.
Just before entry SI. Noble is taken instead of Aristocrat and could be easily changed back. Only losses will be +2 Reflex and favor +1 which could be an alternative way to find guild, but isn't necessary. Dragontouched is an improvement for later taken Draconic Aura.
Three companions: Chimera, Blink dog and Dire wolf. With Draconic Aura (Power), 5/day Leading the attack and Prayer we are a danger for any melee oriented opponent.
Behir, Wyvern, Blink dog and advanced Dire wolf. More numbers of more powerful companions. Plus, I already have a castle inherited after the tragic death of all my brothers and my father in the battle against an evil dragon (or some other tragic event, maybe the same event that is used for the Rite of Selfless Defense). Castle where backup companions could live. And of course Leadership. Yeah, according to the rules of the competition, I have no benefit from this feat, but it still is very flavorful in the whole build with membership in guild and ownership of my own castle. I need at least servants.
More powerful and more varied companions again. Actually nothing very new happens here, it is more like quantitative than qualitative growth. Yrthak is a very cool flying creature, Destrachan with his Destructive harmonics is not just damage dealer, but very flexible and useful companion for non-battle tasks. Chuul is just a very good grappler with his Paralytic Tentacles, plus, he is able to swim.
Well, Transfer Legacy is interesting. With it I could give any of my companions (or guild members) the ability to use Heal, remove fear or prayer for the glory of action economy.
And I got elysian thrush as a constant companion. WoL refers to the 1st-level list of the Summon Monster or Summon Nature’s Ally (for some reason “on pages 287 and 288 of the Monster Manual”), and elysian thrush could replace celestial owl or celestial monkey in this list (Planar Handbook, p. 134).
My character and all his guild are strongly affiliated to animals themselves, and it looks very likely we are affiliated to the church of Silvanus. It's funny, Animal Affiliation titles include "Beast Adept" and "Beast Heart".
Type Name Book Page
Race Human PHB 12
Class Noble Dragonlance Campaign Setting 50
Class Ranger PHB 46
Class Human Paragon Unearthed Arcana 43
Class variant Rival organization Cityscape Web Enhancement Part 1 (https://web.archive.org/web/20201112031718/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a)
Prestige Class Beast Heart Adept Dungeonscape 48
Prestige Class Legacy Champion Weapons of Legacy 19
Feat Animal Affinity PHB 89
Feat Dragontouched Dragon Magic 18
Feat Track PHB 101
Feat Favored/Favored in Guild CityScape/DMG II 61/227
Feat Primary Contact CityScape 61
Feat Least Legacy Weapons of Legacy 14
Feat Draconic Aura Dragon Magic 16
Feat Wild Cohort Random Encounters Wild Life (https://web.archive.org/web/20210217062407/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a)
Feat Lesser Legacy Weapons of Legacy 15
Feat Landlord Stronghold Builder's Guidebook 10
Feat Leadership PHB 97
Feat Greater Legacy Weapons of Legacy 14
Feat Guildmaster DMG II 228
Feat Transfer Legacy Weapons of Legacy 16
Guild Naturalist Guild DMG II 224
Draconic Aura Power PHB II 13
Skill Trick Collector of Stories Complete Scoundrel 85
Weapon of Legacy Blade of the Last Citadel Tome of Battle 145

[The Viscount]

All battles are first won or lost in the mind.



The Beast Brain Adept
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/704885103867723830/1064273578230567023/Screen_Shot_2023-01-15_at_3.01.34_PM.png

Neutral Rilkan
Archivist 8/Beast Heart Adept 2/Bardic Sage 1/Urban Savant 7/Beast Heart Adept 2



Prologue: What if...we used beast heart adept for its most unique class feature: the interrupting knowledge check?

The Battlenerd rode astride the ghosttouch saddle of his dragonhoardn eagle, presenting a full lecture on the ways to kill his enemies by targetting their inherent weaknesses. He seemed to know everything about everything, even stuff in our subconcious, and honestly, that hurt more than the +8d6 damage per attack of his friends.

-Sir Goblin Wainright of the Misfit Brigade

Racial Knowledge: The rilkan race is linked through the power of incarnum to the accumulated knowledge of their entire people. This manifests in two ways. First, all Knowledge checks are treated as trained skill checks for rilkans, regardless of whether they actually have ranks in the skill. Even without formal instruction, a rilkan naturally absorbs learning from the accumulated knowledge of her people.

Second, rilkans gain a competence bonus on all Knowledge checks and bardic knowledge checks. This bonus is +1, but increases by an additional +1 for every two soulmelds currently shaped by the rilkan, since each soulmeld contains a small portion of the collected souls of the rilkan race.

+

Monster Lore (Ex): At 2nd level, you gain uncanny knowledge about all types of living monsters, including their habitats, behavior, abilities, and weaknesses. You can make a special monster lore check to identify monsters or their special abilities or vulnerabilities. The check functions as a Knowledge check, except the monster lore check can identify any living creature. You gain a bonus on this check equal to your beast heart adept level + your Int modifier. You can attempt this check in addition to making the relevant Knowledge check to learn about a creature.
If you have levels in the bard class or the loremaster prestige class, you can add those levels to your beast heart adept levels when determining the bonus on the monster lore check.

+

Bardic Knack: Benefit: When making any skill check, you can use 1/2 your bard level (rounded up) in place of the number of ranks you have in the skill (even if that number is 0).

+
Player’s handbook 5: To make a skill check, roll 1d20 and add your character’s skill modifier for that skill. The skill modifier incorporates the character’s ranks in that skill and the ability modifier for that skill’s key ability, plus any other miscellaneous modifiers that may apply, including racial bonuses and armor check penalties.

+

Player’s Handbook 310: modifier: Any bonus or penalty applying to a die roll. A positive modifier is a bonus, and a negative modifier is a penalty. Modifiers from the same source do not stack, and modifiers with specific descriptors generally do not stack with others of the same type. If more than one modifier of a type is present, only the best bonus or worst penalty in that grouping applies. Bonuses or penalties that do not have descriptors stack with those that do.

_________________________________
Monster lore check functions as a knowledge check, except the monster lore check can identify any living creature. All knowledge checks are treated as trained skill checks for rilkans regardless of whether they actually have ranks in the skill. When making any skill check you can use ½ your bard level (rounded up) in place of the number of ranks that you have in the skill, even if that number is 0. If you have levels in the bard class or the loremaster prestige class, you can add those levels to your beast heart adept levels when determining the bonus on the monster lore check. Skill ranks count as positive modifiers, and a positive modifier is a bonus, therefore, you add your levels in bard to Beast heart adept to determine how many virtual ranks in the skill you have from bardic knack.
In total, your Monster lore check = 1d20 + intelligence + Bard levels + Beast Heart Adept levels +½ (Bard+BHA levels) +1 competence + other modifiers.
At level 20, the monster lore check = 1d20 +5 (levels)+3 virtual ranks)+6 (int score) +1 competence (rilkan) +other modifiers




Abilities

Initial
Race

4th
8th
12th
16th
20th


STR
12
10







DEX
10
12







CON
12
12







INT
18
18
19
20
21
22
23


WIS
9
9







CHA
13
13














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


1st
Lower Class (Cityscape 59) Archivist (Heroes of Horror 82)
0
2
0
2
32: {+4} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; {+2} Knowledge (Local): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Religion): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Arcana): 2; {+2} Knowledge (History): 2; {+4} Handle Animal: 4; {+4} Concentration: 4; {+2} Decipher Script: 2; {+2} Diplomacy: 2; {+4} Search: 4; {+2} Craft (trapmaking): 2;
Dragontouched (Dragon Magic 18), Scribe Scroll
Dark knowledge (tactics) 3/day, Scribe Scroll, spellcasting


2nd
Archivist
1
3
0
3
8: {+1} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 2; {+3} Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 5; {+1} Concentration: 5; {+2} Decipher Script: 4; Diplomacy: 2; Search: 4; Craft (trapmaking): 2;

Lore mastery


3rd
Archivist
1
3
1
3
8: {+1} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 6; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+3} Knowledge (Religion): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 6; {+1} Concentration: 6; {+1} Decipher Script: 5; Diplomacy: 2; Search: 4; Craft (trapmaking): 2;
Animal affinity
Dark knowledge 4/day


4th
Archivist
2
4
1
4
8: {+1} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 7; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 6; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 7; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 7; {+1} Concentration: 7; {+1} Decipher Script: 6; Diplomacy: 2; Search: 4; Craft (trapmaking): 2; {+2} Collector of Stories skill trick;

Still mind


5th
Archivist
2
4
1
4
8: {+1} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 7; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 8; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 8; {+1} Concentration: 8; {+1} Decipher Script: 7; {+1} Diplomacy: 3; {+1} Search: 5; Craft (trapmaking): 2; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Dark knowledge (puissance)


6th
Archivist
3
5
2
5
8: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Religion): 9; Knowledge (Arcana): 8; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 9; {+1} Concentration: 9; {+1} Decipher Script: 8; {+1} Diplomacy: 4; {+1} Search: 6; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 3; Collector of Stories skill trick;
Knowledge Devotion (Complete Champion 60)
Dark knowledge 5/day


7th
Archivist
3
5
2
5
8: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 10; Knowledge (Arcana): 8; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 10; {+1} Concentration: 10; {+2} Decipher Script: 10; {+1} Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Search: 7; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 4; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Lore mastery


8th
Archivist
4
6
2
6
9: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 11; Knowledge (Arcana): 8; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 11; {+1} Concentration: 11; {+1} Decipher Script: 11; {+2} Diplomacy: 7; {+2} Search: 9; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 5; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Dark knowledge (foe)


9th
Beast Heart Adept (Dungeonscape 48)
5
8
2
8
9: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 11; Knowledge (Arcana): 8; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 12; {+1} Concentration: 12; Decipher Script: 11; {+1} Diplomacy: 8; Search: 9; {+2} Craft (trapmaking): 7; {+2} Ride: 2; {+2} Survival: 2; Collector of Stories skill trick;
Favored (Cityscape 61)
Monstrous companion, monster empathy, monster handler


10th
Beast Heart Adept
6
9
2
9
9: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 11; Knowledge (Arcana): 8; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 13; {+1} Concentration: 13; Decipher Script: 11; {+2} Diplomacy: 10; Search: 9; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 8; {+2} Ride: 4; {+2} Survival: 4; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Monster lore


11th
Bardic Knack (PHB2 35) Bardic sage (UA 49)
6
9
2
11
11: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Religion): 13; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 9; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 14; {+1} Concentration: 14; {+1} Decipher Script: 12; {+2} Diplomacy: 12; Search: 9; Craft (trapmaking): 8; Ride: 4; Survival: 4; {+3} Perform: 3; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Bardic Music (reduced), Spellcasting, countersong, fascinate, inspire courage +1


12th
Urban Savant (CityScape 100)
6
9
4
13
11: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 13; {+2} Knowledge (Arcana): 11; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 15; {+1} Concentration: 15; {+1} Decipher Script: 13; {+1} Diplomacy: 13; {+2} Search: 11; {+2} Craft (trapmaking): 10; Ride: 4; Survival: 4; Perform: 3; {+1} UMD: 1; Collector of Stories skill trick;
Dragonfire Inspiration (Dragon Magic 17)
Urban savvy (strengths)


13th
Urban Savant
7
9
5
14
11: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 13; {+2} Knowledge (Arcana): 13; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 16; {+1} Concentration: 16; {+1} Decipher Script: 14; {+1} Diplomacy: 14; {+1} Search: 12; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 11; Ride: 4; Survival: 4; Perform: 3; {+3} UMD: 4; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Urban empathy


14th
Urban Savant
7
10
5
14
11: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 13; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 17; {+1} Concentration: 17; Decipher Script: 14; {+2} Diplomacy: 16; {+2} Search: 14; {+2} Craft (trapmaking): 13; Ride: 4; Survival: 4; Perform: 3; {+3} UMD: 7; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Continuing education +1


15th
Urban Savant
8
10
6
15
11: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 14; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 14; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 18; {+1} Concentration: 18; {+1} Decipher Script: 15; {+2} Diplomacy: 18; {+1} Search: 15; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 14; Ride: 4; Survival: 4; Perform: 3; {+2} UMD: 9; Collector of Stories skill trick;
Draconic Archivist (Heroes of Horror 122)
Urban savvy (weaknesses)


16th
Urban Savant
8
10
6
15
12: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 14; Knowledge (Arcana): 14; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 19; {+1} Concentration: 19; {+1} Decipher Script: 16; {+1} Diplomacy: 19; {+1} Search: 16; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 15; Ride: 4; Survival: 4; Perform: 3; {+6} UMD: 15; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Eyes of the city (low-light vision)


17th
Urban Savant
9
11
7
16
12: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 14; Knowledge (Arcana): 14; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 20; {+1} Concentration: 20; {+1} Decipher Script: 17; {+1} Diplomacy: 20; {+1} Search: 17; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 16; Ride: 4; Survival: 4; Perform: 3; {+2} UMD: 17; {+4} Hide: 4; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Continuing education +2


18th
Urban Savant
9
11
7
16
12: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 15; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 15; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 21; {+1} Concentration: 21; {+1} Decipher Script: 18; {+1} Diplomacy: 21; {+1} Search: 18; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 17; Ride: 4; Survival: 4; Perform: 3; {+2} UMD: 19; {+2} Hide: 6; Collector of Stories skill trick;
Craft Wand
Urban savvy (methods)


19th
Beast Heart Adept
10
11
8
16
10: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 15; Knowledge (Arcana): 15; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 22; {+1} Concentration: 22; Decipher Script: 18; {+1} Diplomacy: 22; Search: 18; {+1} Craft (trapmaking): 18; {+3} Ride: 7; {+3} Survival: 7; Perform: 3; UMD: 19; Hide: 6; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Alternative monstrous companion


20th
Beast Heart Adept
11
12
8
17
10: Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 15; Knowledge (Arcana): 15; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 23; {+1} Concentration: 23; Decipher Script: 18; {+1} Diplomacy: 23; Search: 18; {+4} Craft (trapmaking): 22; {+1} Ride: 8; {+2} Survival: 9; Perform: 3; UMD: 19; Hide: 6; Collector of Stories skill trick;

Monstrous flank



SPELLCASTING:


https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/704885103867723830/1064051244022366208/A.png


Archivist spells: (Wishlist divine spells are blue)
0: All Cleric
1: Unity Wine (PGTE p.79), Cure light Wounds, comprehend languages, Protection from Winged Flyers (Shining South), Spider Hand (Book of Vile Darkness), Ray of Hope (BOED), Command, Wieldskill (Magic of Faerun 134) (must be obtained from a cleric of gond) Fleeting Fortune (Champions of Valor 55)(must be obtained from a cleric of tymora)
2: Divine Insight (Spell Compendium 70), Lore of the Gods (Complete Champion)
3: Primal Instinct (Dragon Magic) (must be purchased from a druid or ranger), Dispel Magic, Cure Serious Wounds
4: Divine Power, Revenance (Spell Compendium 175)

Bard Spells. (*=bonus)
0: *Detect Magic, Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Mending, Mage Hand, Message
1: *Ancient Knowledge (Magic of Eberron 94), Inspirational Boost (Spell Compendium 124), Focusing Chant (Spell Compendium, p. 96) Immediate Assistance (Complete Mage)
2:*Insight of Good Fortune (Player's Handbook II), Swift Ready (Forge of War 117), Reveille (Spell Compendium 175) Dimension Leap (Magic of Eberron 95), Fox’s Cunning
3: Dragonblood Affinity (Dragons of Faerun 114), *Arcane Sight, Gaseous Form, Haste



https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/704885103867723830/1064052214995365969/Screen_Shot_2023-01-14_at_11.03.39_PM.png


SNAPSHOTS

Level 5: Archivist! Tier 1 class: you get the casting of a wizard with the spell list of a cleric. Did you know Archivist had other class features too?! It gets this dark knowledge ability. At level 8, if you have enough knowledge skills you can add 3d6 damage to your attacks against a creature type for an entire minute with a DC 35 knowledge check. We are working towards that because once we get the Monster Lore ability from Beast Heart Adept, we can use it in place of making a traditional knowledge check. Some background knowledge: This archivist must worship a god that has the knowledge domain available in order to get a +10 instead of a +5 from the Lore of the Gods Spell. The feat choices here are all pre-requisites. Animal affinity for BHA and dragontouched so that we can turn inspire courage into inspire d6s of fire damage for our allies later. Bardic sage limits our alignments, and we want the option of our monstrous companion to make prayers to bahamut in order to become dragonborn for some shenanigans later in the build. These shenanigans are predicated on our ability to scribe scrolls, however, so its relevant to feed you that juicy optimization morsel here. Despite a skill check focus aspect of the spell list, the archivist can add other divine spells that he finds to his repertoire, so it is anticipated that these will round out the singular focus.

For access to handle animal as a forever class skill, our rilkan is going to come from poverty ala cityscape social class skills rules. We are a rilkan because we have the ability to treat all knowledge checks as trained skill checks. Turning the monster lore ability from BHA into something that we can use the collector of stories skill trick upon…in addition to some other fun oddities.

Level 10 from level 5, we progressed through three more levels of archivist, unlocking the “Foes” sub-ability of dark knowledge. On top of access to 4th level cleric spells, which is nice and clutch, this ability is what we have been waiting for.

It’s time to take beast heart adept. Yes, we get a super cool pegasus to fly around on, sure. But did you see that 2nd level ability?


Monster Lore (Ex): At 2nd level, you gain uncanny knowledge about all types of living monsters, including their habitats, behavior, abilities, and weaknesses. You can make a special monster lore check to identify monsters or their special abilities or vulnerabilities. The check functions as a Knowledge check (PH 78), except the monster lore check can identify any living creature. You gain a bonus on this check equal to your beast heart adept level + your Int modifier. You can attempt this check in addition to making the relevant Knowledge check to learn about a creature.
If you have levels in the bard class or the loremaster prestige class, you can add those levels to your beast heart adept levels when determining the bonus on the monster lore check.
Archivist’s dark knowledge refers back to p.78 of the PHB, and this monster lore ability allows you to use the archivist ability on any living creature. It interrupts the limitation by knowledge type. And seeing as how you use this archivist ability to determine strengths and weaknesses (plus getting real mechanical benefits for it), it is a great combo


]Using dark knowledge requires a Knowledge check of a type appropriate to the creature faced. A Knowledge (arcana) check reveals secrets of magical beasts, Knowledge (dungeoneering) pertains to aberrations, Knowledge (religion) covers undead, and Knowledge (the planes) applies to outsiders and elementals. The DC of the check is 15. Most of the archivist's dark knowledge abilities increase in effectiveness if he succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more. Dark knowledge can only be used once against any given creature.
The archivist's dark knowledge can affect a single creature or all creatures of the same race, depending on the effect used. A target creature must be within 60 feet, and the archivist must be aware of the creature's presence, although he need not have a line of sight to it. The effects of dark knowledge last for 1 minute, unless stated otherwise.
In the paraphrasing of the ability below, replace the italics sentence with “the monster lore check can identify any living creature”

Using a dark knowledge requires a knowledge check of a type appropriate to the creature faced. List of knowledge checks and what creatures they affect. DC is 15.


This removes the limitation on dark knowledge that they sequestered under feats. And all you had to do was take 2 levels of BHA to save yourself from taking archivist of nature and draconic archivist. Actually, if you want this bonus damage against golems, you have to take draconic archivist, as they are not living…unless they have the living construct subtype. This is why i continue dropping skill points into knowledge religion and arcana; to manage the undead and the never alive through dark knowledge and knowledge devotion.

Our monster companion (pegasus or giant eagle) has an intelligence of 10, so they can use aid another to help us make monster lore checks. And it can fly.

Our feat choices are knowledge devotion: which again, jives nicely with monster lore.
Nextly, we take favored, “similar organization to the league of eyes” as a prerequisite for the urban savant class. If it is a mercenary guild, my monstrous companion can join to and when we fight together, we each get a +1 competence bonus to our AC. This organization, being associated with a knowledge based affiliation, will allow us to use monster lore for more benefits.

Knowledge affiliations are detailed on page 36 of Complete Champion.

Complete Champion p.36, Knowledge Domain Affiliation
Rank 1, affiliation Score 4-12: Student: Choose a Knowledge skill in which you have at least 1 rank. Unchangeably and Henceforth Gain a +2 bonus on checks with that skill.
Rank 5 Affiliation Score 30: Scholar: Once per day, negate a single ability of an enemy creature that you’ve discovered using a successful Knowledge check. This effect lasts for 1 minute and is a supernatural ability. The creature can attempt a Fortitude save (DC 10 + your character level + your Int modifier) to negate this effect.

Level 15
Level 11 is our sweet spot. Did you notice how BHA doesn’t care if your bard has bardic knowledge or not as far as making it stack with Monster lore? I did. So, if you skipped reading that prologue spoiler as to what I’m doing, that is now online, so go refresh yourself with the nitty gritty of this RAW that is strangely simpatico. Bardic sage grants extra spells, has some intelligence synergy, and grants a bonus to bardic knowledge checks which you traded away. Ask if it can add to monster lore as a homebrew thingie.

Bard is a good choice for 4 reasons
Urban savant advances arcane casting only
If we are draconic, we can get more d6s added to the pile of d6s our allies will be thrashing about through draconic inspiration, which is very on theme for this build
Bardic knack is a huge loophole that nets us +3 to our monster lore checks and we need to consistently hit DC35
Bard stacks with BHA for monster lore checks

The feat choices supplement inspire courage and dark knowledge, allowing the targetting of constructs.
The bard spell list focuses on inspire courage and skill checks and general utility.
Urban savant offers even more knowledge skill optimization to feed into the monstrous lore with its urban savvy ability. On top of that, it offers knowledge checks as a stand in for diplomacy checks with urban empathy.


Level 20
And now the build finishes up. 3 more levels of urban savant adds to our d6’s of damage against vermin, oozes, humanoids, monstrous humanoids and aberrations. Somewhere in here, the knowledge affiliation should be maxxed out allowing the cancellation of monster abilities 1/day.

The addition of craft wand alleviates our poor number of bard spells and probably archivist spells per day. Beast heart adept adds more numbers to our monster lore checks, which when powered with wieldskill and lore of the gods should allow us to pass our darkknowledge and urban savvy checks without rolling, something that came online earlier through the use of masterwork tools, extra spells to buff knowledge checks, and aid another rules from your monstrous companion.



monstrous Companion
This build has a weak companion, and only 1 of them. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t utility in having it. First off, the flying 1st level companions all have an intelligence of 10. That means that they can aid you in skill checks using the aid another rules.

Furthermore, According to Races of the Dragon page 4: “If a race possesses the dragonblood subtype, it has a strong
affinity to dragons—which means that spells, effects, powers, and abilities that affect or target dragons also affect it. So therefor, it might be beneficial to encourage your companion to become dragonborn. This character is an archivist with the dragontouched feat, I’m sure that he can help in the process.

Then, with judicious use of diplomacy, they can be converted to the worship of Task, the dragon god of greed. With ample gift giving, your monstrous companion can have a hoard. That makes the companion a candidate for this acquired template: The hoarding template.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160816181708/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070307b

Of note, the hoarding dragon gets this ability: Hoard Possession: As a free action, the hoarder can possess its treasure hoard, animating the coins, weapons, gems, and other items into a draconic shape similar to its form in life. Weapons become its claws and bite, coins its body, and gems its eyes. In this form, it can make all of its normal and special attacks. All items absorbed into the body strike as magic weapons. In addition, it can use magic items that are part of its hoard. Once per round, as a free action, it can activate a magic item (including spell-completion items). It automatically succeeds in the use of spell-completion items, without the need for a Use Magic Device check.

As an archivist with scribe scroll and craft wand, this allows your hoarding dragonborn eagle or pegasus to do a portion of the spellcasting buffing for knowledge checks and dragonfire inspiration, as a free action, every round.



Other Modifiers

Bonus
Type
Action Cost


Unity Wine
1
morale
1 minute, up to 8 hours ago


Focusing Chant
1
Circumstance
Swift action


Foxes Cunning
2
enhancement
standard, (free for hoarding dragonborn eagle)


Master work Monster lore tool, Pokedex
2
Circumstance
-


dragonblood affinity
2
untyped
standard, (free for hoarding dragonborn eagle)


Fleeting Fortune
5
luck
immediate, (free for hoarding dragonborn eagle)


Lore of the Gods
10
insight
personal standard


Primal Insinct
5
Competence
Standard, 24 hour duration


Collector of stories
5
Competence
-


Ray of hope
2
Morale
standard, (free for hoarding dragonborn eagle)


Wieldskill
10
Competence
standard, (free for hoarding dragonborn eagle)


Divine Insight
8
Insight
Standard, up to 8 hours ago


Ancient Knowledge
5
Insight
standard, up to 7 hours ago





Level

Int mod

Level Bonus
Virtual Ranks
Check before other modifiers



10
5
2
0
7


11
5
3
2
10


12
5
3
2
10


13
5
3
2
10


14
5
3
2
10


15
5
3
2
10


16
6
3
2
11


17
6
3
2
11


18
6
3
2
11


19
6
4
2
12


20
6
5
3
14

[The Viscount]

I'll never forget him/the leader of the pack.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d4/1c/0f/d41c0f9c14257cc2371e2387a2b171f5.jpg

Abilities Initial Race/Template 4th 8th 12th 16th Total
STR 16 0 1 1 1 1 20
DEX 12 4 16
CON 14 0 14
INT 14 -4 10
WIS 8 2 10
CHA 14 2 16
Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
2nd LA +2 - - - - - - -
3rd Magical Beast 1 1 2 2 0 8: {+4} Hide: 4; {+4} Listen: 4; Animal Affinity (1), Track (B) Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, scare
4th Magical Beast 2 2 3 3 0 2: {+1} Hide: 5; {+1} Listen: 5;
5th Champion of the Wild Trap Expert Ranger 1 3 5 5 0 6: {+6} Handle Animal: 6; Hide: 5; Listen: 5; Skill Focus (Handle Animal) (3) Favored enemy (undead +2), trapfinding, wild empathy
6th Fangshields Ranger 2 4 6 6 0 6: {+1} Handle Animal: 7; Hide: 5; {+4} Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 1; Listen: 5; Multiattack (B) Combat style
7th Ranger 3 5 6 6 1 6: {+1} Handle Animal: 8; Hide: 5; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; {+5} Knowledge (nature): 6; Listen: 5; Endurance
8th Fangshields Ranger 4 6 7 7 1 6: {+1} Handle Animal: 9; Hide: 5; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 6; Listen: 5; {+1} Search: 1; {+4} Survival: 4; Beast Totem (6), Improved Favored Enemy (B) Animal companion
9th Beastmaster 1 7 9 9 1 4: {+1} Handle Animal: 10; Hide: 5; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; {+3} Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; Survival: 4; Animal companion, wild empathy
10th Abolisher 1 7 9 9 3 4: Handle Animal: 10; Hide: 5; {+4} Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; Survival: 4; Animal companion, favored enemy (aberrations +2), wild shape +1/day
11th Beast Heart Adept 1 8 11 9 5 4: {+2} Handle Animal: 12; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+2} Survival: 6; Totem Companion (9) Monstrous companion, monster empathy, monster handler
12th Beast Heart Adept 2 9 12 9 6 4: {+1} Diplomacy: 1; {+1} Handle Animal: 13; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+2} Survival: 8; Monster lore
13th Beast Heart Adept 3 10 12 10 6 4: {+1} Diplomacy: 2; {+1} Handle Animal: 14; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+2} Survival: 10; Alternative monstrous companion
14th Beast Heart Adept 4 11 13 10 7 4: {+1} Diplomacy: 3; {+1} Handle Animal: 15; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+2} Survival: 12; Natural Bond (12) Monstrous flank
15th Beast Heart Adept 5 12 13 10 7 4: {+1} Diplomacy: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 16; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+2} Survival: 14; Extra monstrous companion
16th Beast Heart Adept 6 13 14 11 8 4: {+1} Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Handle Animal: 17; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+2} Survival: 16;
17th Beast Heart Adept 7 14 14 11 8 4: {+1} Diplomacy: 6; {+1} Handle Animal: 18; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+2} Survival: 18; Combat Reflexes (15) Monstrous tactics
18th Beast Heart Adept 8 15 15 11 9 4: {+2} Diplomacy: 8; {+1} Handle Animal: 19; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+1} Survival: 19;
19th Beast Heart Adept 9 16 15 12 9 4: {+2} Diplomacy: 10; {+1} Handle Animal: 20; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+1} Survival: 20; Extra monstrous companion
20th Beast Heart Adept 10 17 16 12 10 4: {+2} Diplomacy: 12; {+1} Handle Animal: 21; Hide: 5; Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (nature): 9; Listen: 5; Search: 1; {+1} Survival: 21; Vexing Flanker (18) Monstrous team-up


Hit Dice: 4d10
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+2 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+5
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d8+1)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d8+1) and 2 claws +3 melee (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Scare
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 11, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +4, Jump +12, Listen +3, Move Silently +6
Feats: Multiattack, TrackB, Improved Natural Attack (Bite)

Hit Dice: 8d10+24
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 19 (+2 Dex, +7 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+11
Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d8+3)
Full Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d8+3) and 2 claws +9 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Scare
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +3
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +4, Jump +18, Listen +3, Move Silently +6
Feats: Multiattack, TrackB, Improved Natural Attack (Bite), Power Attack

Hit Dice: 12d10+60
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 23 (+2 Dex, +11 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 21
Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+17
Attack: Bite +17 melee (1d8+5)
Full Attack: Bite +17 melee (1d8+5) and 2 claws +15 melee (1d4+2)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Scare
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +13, Ref +10, Will +5
Abilities: Str 21, Dex 14, Con 20, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +4, Jump +24, Listen +3, Move Silently +6
Feats: Multiattack, TrackB, Improved Natural Attack (Bite), Power Attack, Leap Attack, Power Lunge

Hit Dice: 4d10
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+2 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+5
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+1) and 2 claws +5 melee (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Scare
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 11, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +6, Jump +10, Listen +3, Move Silently +6
Feats: Multiattack, TrackB, Improved Multiattack

Hit Dice: 8d10+24
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 19 (+2 Dex, +7 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+11
Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d8+3)
Full Attack: Bite +11 melee (1d8+3+1d4) and 2 claws +11 melee (1d4+1+1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Scare
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +3
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +8, Jump +12, Listen +3, Move Silently +8
Feats: Multiattack, TrackB, Improved Multiattack, Dirty Fighting

Hit Dice: 4d10+4
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+2 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+5
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+1d4) and 2 claws +3 melee (1d4+1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Scare
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 11, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +6, Jump +9, Listen +3, Move Silently +6
Feats: Multiattack, TrackB, Dirty Fighting

Hit Dice: 4d10+4
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 17 (+2 Dex, +5 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+4
Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d6+1) and 2 claws +2 melee (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Scare
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +2
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +4, Jump +10, Listen +5, Move Silently +6
Feats: Multiattack, TrackB, Improved Scent

Hit Dice: 6d10+12
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 19 (+2 Dex, +7 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+7
Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d6+1) and 5 claws +0 melee (1d4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Scare
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +3
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 13
Skills: Hide +4, Jump +10, Listen +7, Move Silently +6
Feats: Multiattack, TrackB, Improved Scent, Uncanny Scent

Day 9. Today I observed a lone krenshar. It was a female adult. It's unusual, krenshars normally aren't found in the steppe.
Day 12. I note the unusual behavior of the earlier mentioned krenshar female. It looks like she somehow lures rodents from their burrows. She made some odd movements and vocalized uncommonly. And shrews and groundhogs just came out into krenshar's claws. It's interesting that she didn't kill all the rodents, some of them she played with. Not like a cat plays with a mouse before killing it, but more like I play with my cat. I even see how she gave one of them a bunch of grains. She took it earlier in one of the devastated burrow holes.
I should give her nickname for further mentions, let it be Hotshot.
Day 13. Today Hotshot met two human zombies (where did they come from?) and instead of fleeing she attacked undead. Her attack was very successful - both zombies were destroyed with first two or three strikes. Such a powerful beast!
Day 21. I observed today how Hotshot had some sort of conversation with a group of several creatures - two giant eagles and one giant owl flying together. It's not a secret these creatures are sentient, but how were they able to communicate? They don't share any common language.
Day 35. Hotshot met undead again. This time it was seven zombies of varying degrees of preservation. One of them even had some armor and a sword. Hotshot didn't flee this time, either, and defeated the undead even more easily than in the previous encounter. Only the armored one caused her some trouble. Looks like she is becoming more experienced.
Day 35, addition. That "zombie" with armor and sword. It wasn't a zombie, it was a death knight! Weak and injured, but it still was a dangerous enemy. But Hotshot dealt with it very quickly and doesn't care about its fear aura.
Day 49. Today Hotshot found traces of a cluster of gricks. She followed them and went out to a hole in the ground. She entered this hole.
Day 52. Hotshot still didn't return from the hole.
Day 55. Still not coming back. I'm worried.
Day 59. She came back! Alive, whole and healthy, but with a new scar on the right side.
Day 61. Hotshot met two another krenshars. Both males. Hotshot and newcomers looked at each other.
Day 62. Looks like they decided to pack together. I called males Bully and Sniff. First is really big for a krenshar, with very long fangs and luxuriant mane. Second has a more regular size and habit to sniff around all the time.
Day 93. Hotshot and her pack relocated to the north into a wooded area. I think Hotshot is pregnant. I couldn't find out Bully or Sniff is the father.
Day 175. Hotshot gave birth to one cub. Both mother and child look healthy. I called cup Fog for his colorations more gray than usual.
Day 200. Still don't know who is father. Both males care for the cub equally.
Day 300. Today Fog's first solo hunt took place. The rest of the pack watched from a distance.
Day 326. Pack had been attacked by howler wasps. Bully and Sniff were severely poisoned, but the attack was repelled.
Day 327. Hotshot scouted and studied howler wasps nest. Pack started migrating in search of another place.
Day 400. Hotshot and her pack are living now in the new lair in the steppe. Fog grows and now he has size around three quarters of adult krenshar.
Day 700. Pack changed locations a few times during this years. Sometimes reasons were an undesirable neighborhood with dangers which krenshars couldn't manage. Once was no identifiable reason. Fog is fully adult now.
Day 750. There is replenishment in the pack. Fog found bride. Young beautiful female krenshar. It was a surprise. I thought he should separate and form their own family. I called newbie Candy.
Day 1002. Pack returned to their old place. Which one where they encountered howler wasps. First thing that they did was an elimination of wasps nest. It didn't look like an easy task, but they managed it without any troubles. Each wasp was attacked by at least two krenshars at once. Distracted and dispersed wasps weren't able to protect their nest and even queen became an easy prey.

My goal was to make via SI some unified pack of creatures. I thought it wasn't possible, but I was very glad when I found out that krenshar has non-cohort LA. I became even more happy when I found the Totem Companion feat. With it I can make a pack of five members.

Notes about pack are more like a naturalist's notes about some wild animals, but I draw your attention to the fact that krenshars actually are intelligent beings. This means they could use magical items if Hotshot is a PC.

Also, not mentioned in the notes is wild shape from the Abolisher class. It opens for Hotshot varies animal forms. She could swim, burrow, fly or become a monkey to manipulate some complex object.


Type Name Book Page
Race Krenshar Monster Manual 163
Class Ranger Players Handbook 16
Prestige Class Beastmaster Complete Adventurer 26
Prestige Class Abolisher Lords of Madness - The Book of Aberrations 182
Prestige Class Beast Heart Adept Dungeonscape 48
Class variant Champion of the Wild Complete Champion 50
Class variant Trap Expert Dungeonscape 12
Class variant Fangshields Ranger Champions of Valor 41
Feat Animal Affinity Players Handbook 89
Feat Track Players Handbook 101
Feat Skill Focus Players Handbook 100
Feat Multiattack Monster Manual 304
Feat Beast Totem Eberron Campaign Setting 51
Feat Improved Favored Enemy Complete Warrior 101
Feat Totem Companion Eberron Campaign Setting 61
Feat Natural Bond Complete Adventurer 111
Feat Combat Reflexes Players Handbook 92
Feat Vexing Flanker Players Handbook 2 85
Feat Improved Natural Attack Monster Manual 304
Feat Power Attack Players Handbook 98
Feat Leap Attack Complete Adventurer 110
Feat Power Lunge Sword and Fist 8
Feat Improved Multiattack Monster Manual 304
Feat Dirty Fighting Sword and Fist 6
Feat Improved Scent Savage Species 36
Feat Uncanny Scent Savage Species 40

[The Viscount]

It's a bird... it's a horse?



Sir Griffith
the Hippogriff Tamer


As son of a knight, Sir Griffith's earliest memories are to ride on horses with his father. While he enjoyed this time very much when his father could spare some time for him, he always felt riding just ordinary horses ain't enough. Maybe it's due to the name he was given by his mother that he never met (due to her dying shortly after birth) that his biggest dream is to ride a giant Hippogriff. He always dreams how me manages to fiend and befriend with Hippogriff and to fly through the skies... Maybe even train em into combat mounts?
"yeah.. that would be awesome" he thinks...



Race: Silverbrow Human
I did go for a Silverbrow Human due to the Extra Feat and the Feather Fall SLA (1/day +1 per 5 HD) they get. The latter is nice to have for riding a flying mount (if we somehow should fall from our mount).
Note that Feather Fall was changed by the Spell Compendium into an Immediate Action.
(Sp.Com. page 4; Immediate Action: ... "Casting feather fall is an immediate action (instead of a free action, as stated in the spell description in the Player’s Handbook), since the spell can be cast at any time.")

STR: 16 (mainstat for lvlUp and gear)
DEX: 14
CON: 14
INT: 14
WIS: 10
CHA: 10
STR is the mainstat of the build and gets the most focus. DEX (Combat Reflexes), CON (HP) and INT (warblade abilities) are secondary stats that also can improve the build in some minor aspects.

Alignment: (any - no restrictions)

Skills: Handle Animal gets maxed for obvious reasons. Ride also gets maxed since we want to mount one of our monstrous companions and defend it with Mounted Combat (feat). Finally, Tumble is the last maxed skill to avoid AoO, which accompanies the high mobility of this build very well. It is further a backup strategy for falling of our mount, if we already used up Feather Fall (or are in an AMF).
Knowledge arcana & dungeoneering are kept at a relatively high lvl.


Build:
Warblade 9 / Fighter 1 / Beast Heart Adept 10



The Fighter dip was mainly for getting Handle Animal as class skill, since otherwise the SI would be delayed to much. And the early extra feat did come in handy early game power (Spirited Charge at lvl 2).
Otherwise, the build is pretty much straight forward and enters the SI at the earliest possible level of 6.
After finishing the SI without breaks, we take our final levels back in Warbalde again to improve our "Maneuvers Known".




LVL
Class
BAB
For
Ref
Wil
Skills

*=double cost

Feats

Class Features


1st
Warblade (1)

(Tome of Battle)
+1
+2
+0
+0
Diplomacy: 4
Handle Animal: 2*
Knowledge (arcana): 2*
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 2*
Ride: 2*
Tumble: 4
Mounted Combat

Ride-by Attack (Human Bonus Feat)
Battle Clarity
(Reflex saves)

Weapon Aptitude


2nd
Fighter

Exotic Shield Proficiency variant:
"Rider's Shield"
(Races of Stone)
+2
+4
+0
+0
Handle Animal: 5 (+3)
Ride: 3
Spirited Charge
Bonus Feat


3rd
Warblade (2)
+3
+5
+0
+0
Handle Animal: 6* (+2)
Knowledge (arcana): 3* (+2)
Knowledge: (dungeoneering): 3* (+2)
Animal Affinity
Uncanny Dodge


4th
Warblade (3)
+4
+5
+1
+1
Handle Animal: 7* (+2)
Knowledge (arcana): 3.5*
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3.5*
Tumble: 4 (+2)

Battle Ardor
(critical confirmation)


5th
Warblade (4)
+5
+6
+1
+1
Handle Animal: 8* (+2)
Knowledge (arcana): 4*
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 4*
Tumble: 6 (+2)




6th
Beast Heart Adept (1)
+6
+8
+1
+3
Handle Animal: 9
Ride: 8 (+5)
Draconic Aura: Vigor

(Dragon Magic)
Monstrous Companion

Monster Empathy

Monster Handler


7th
Beast Heart Adept (2)
+7
+9
+1
+4
Handle Animal: 10
Knowledge (arcana): 6 (+2)
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 6 (+2)
Ride: 9

Monster Lore


8th
Beast Heart Adept (3)
+8
+9
+2
+4
Handle Animal: 11
Knowledge (arcane): 8 (+2)
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 8 (+2)
Ride: 10

Alternative Monstrous Companion


9th
Beast Heart Adept (4)
+9
+10
+2
+5
Handle Animal: 12
Knowledge (arcane): 10 (+2)
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 10 (+2)
Ride: 11
Wild Cohort (https://web.archive.org/web/20210217062407/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a):
Fleshraker (MM III)
Monstrous Flank


10th
Beast Heart Adept (5)
+10
+10
+2
+5
Handle Animal: 13
Knowledge (arcane): 12 (+2)
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 12 (+2)
Ride: 12

Extra Monstrous Companion


11th
Beast Heart Adept (6)
+11
+11
+3
+6
Handle Animal: 14
Knowledge (arcane): 14 (+2)
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 14 (+2)
Ride: 13




12th
Beast Heart Adept (7)
+12
+11
+3
+6
Diplomacy: 5
Handle Animal: 15
Knowledge (arcane): 15
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 15
Ride: 15 (+2)
Power Attack
Monstrous Tactics


13th
Beast Heart Adept (8)
+13
+12
+3
+7
Diplomacy: 7 (+2)
Handle Animal: 16
Knowledge (arcane): 16
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 16
Ride: 16




14th
Beast Heart Adept (9)
+14
+12
+4
+7
Diplomacy: 9 (+2)
Handle Animal: 17
Knowledge (arcane): 17
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 17
Ride: 17

Extra Monstrous Companion


15th
Beast Heart Adept (10)
+15
+13
+4
+8
Diplomacy: 11 (+2)
Handle Animal: 18
Knowledge (arcane): 18
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 18
Ride: 18
Imp. Bullrush
Monstrous Team-Up


16th
Warblade (5)
+16
+13
+4
+8
Handle Animal: 19 (+2)
Ride: 19 (+2)
Tumble: 10 (+4)
Combat Reflexes
Bonus Feat


17th
Warblade (6)
+17
+14
+5
+9
Handle Animal: 20 (+2)
Ride: 20 (+2)
Tumble: 14 (+4)

Improved Uncanny Dodge


18th
Warblade (7)
+18
+14
+5
+9
Handle Animal: 21 (+2)
Ride: 21* (+2)
Tumble: 18 (+4)
Shock Trooper

(Complete Warrior)
Battle Cunning (damage)


19th
Warblade (8)
+19
+15
+5
+9
Handle Animal: 22 (+2)
Ride: 22* (+2)
Tumble: 22 (+4)




20th
Warblade (9)
+20
+15
+6
+10
Diplomacy: 14 (+3)
Handle Animal: 23 (+2)
Ride: 23* (+2)
Tumble: 23
Improved Initiative
Bonus Feat



Maneuvers Known - Maneuvers Readied - Stances - Initiator Level


Level
M. K.
M.R.
St.
I.L.
Details: (M)aneuver & (S)tances

Maneuver exchanged: #### > ####


1st
3
3
1
1
Stone Bones (M; Stone 1st)
Leading the Attack (M; White 1st)
Leading the Charge (S; White 1st)
Steel Wind (M; Iron 1st);


2nd
3
3
1
1



3rd
4
3
1
2
Douse the Flames (M; White 1st)


4th
5
3
1
3
Battle Leader's Charge (M; White 2nd)


5th
5
4
2
4
Bolstering Voice (S; White 1st); Douse the Flames > Wall of Blades (M; Iron 2nd)


6th
5
4
2
5



7th
5
4
2
5



8th
5
4
2
6



9th
5
4
2
6



10th
5
4
2
7



11th
5
4
2
7



12th
5
4
2
8



13th
5
4
2
8



14th
5
4
2
9



15th
5
4
2
9



16th
6
4
2
10
Mithral Tornado (M; Iron 4th)


17th
6
4
2
11
Stone Bones (M; Stone 1st) > Order Forged from Chaos (M; White 6th)


18th
7
4
2
12
War Leader's Charge (M; White 6th)


19th
7
4
2
13
Battle Leader's Charge > Clarion Call (M; White 7th)


20th
8
4
2
14
Swarming Assault (M; White 7th)





Companions & Cohort:
Our first Hippogriff provides extra flanking damage (12 HD /2 /2 = +3 dmg), while our Fleshraker allows for easier flank-positioning. The fleshraker uses his Cloak of Deception (Gr. Invisibility until end of turn) to pounce into a good position (to provide flanking to as many enemies as possible).


LVL
"Hip"
1st Hippogriff
"Pog"
2nd Hippogriff
(-4 BHA)
"Riff"
3rd Hippogriff
(-8 BHA)
"Monty"
Fleshraker
(-6 druid)


6th
Link
-
-
-


7th

-
-
-


8th
+2 HD/STR/CON/NA
Evasion
Martial Study: "Leading the Attack"
-
-
-


9th

-
-
+1 HD/NA
Evasion


10th
+4 HD/STR/CON/NA
Devotion
Link
-



11th


-



12th
+6 HD/STR/CON/NA
Martial Stance: "Tactics of the Wolf"
+2 HD/STR/CON/NA
Evasion
Improved Flight
-
+3 HD/NA; +1 STR
Martial Study: "Cloak of Deception"


13th


-



14th
+8 HD/STR/CON/NA
Improved Flight
+4 HD/STR/CON/NA
Devotion
Link



15th



+5 HD/NA; +2 STR
Martial Stance: "Island of Blades"


16th






17th






18th



+7 HD/NA; +3 STR


19th






20th






(Source for Martial Study/Stance: Tome of Battle)



Since the build is focusing much on a mounted charge, I would like to point out the specifics here:

If your mount charges, you also take the AC penalty associated with a charge. If you make an attack at the end of the charge, you receive the bonus gained from the charge. When charging on horseback, you deal double damage with a lance (see Charge).
The rule sole requires your mount to charge (and therefore spent the Full-Round-Action). The rider just benefits as if he is charging (and gets the AC penalty as if charging). He is still free to spend his actions (Full Round Action or Standard Action + Movement Action). This allows the use of most maneuvers when making a mounted charge, which is a really strong option imho (examples see further below).



_____________________________

Sir Griffith's first duty is ideally to either find/buy/train a warhorse to make use of his Mounted Combat and Spirited Charge feats if possible. Together with a lance, this will provide high dmg (x3) while charging early in the game.

As a variant rule, fighters can exchange their Tower Shield Proficiency for Exotic Shield. We pick "Rider's Shield" to provide also our mount with a shield bonus.


We can combine our mount's charge with our maneuvers as described in the rules section. This allows Griffith to make 2 attacks at the end of his mount's charge with "Steel Wind".
The "Leading the Charge" stance provides all allies (including ourself) with extra dmg on a charge (+1 per Initiator Level; up to +15).
"Leading the Attack" is another good option to use on a mount's charge, since it allows our allies to hit that specific foe easier (+4 to hit). This will come in handy especially at the later levels since our "companions & cohort" don't have full BAB (while Griffith has full BAB and thus can help the others to hit high AC targets easier).
Stone Bones gives 5DR/- for a single round, which helps if we should somehow get stuck between enemies (and expect many attacks to hit us; e.g. many ranged attackers focusing Griffith).
"Battle Leader's Charge" gives Griffith a flat +10 dmg on a charge. Combined with Spirited Charge, +4 from STR and a lance we are looking at +42 dmg, which should one-shot most enemies at this level.
"Ride-by Attack" allows to reposition for a possible charge next turn.
Thx due to his maneuver, even without a mount, Sir Griffith is a force to be renown with for this current level. Either high single target charge dmg or 2 attacks on a charge can quickly turn the tides of combat within the first 2 rounds.

"Bolstering Voice" is our 2nd stance that is more for niche uses (+2 Will saves, +4 vs Fear). But it fits the supportish nature of this build imho.
"Wall of Blades" while also nice on the early levels, is mainly as panic-button for Shock Trooper at the later levels.

"In one of Griffth's adventures, he got separated by his party while being in a big dungeon. He was stuck over a week alone in the dungeon before he could find the path back to the surface."
This was a life changing experience for Griffith. He is happy to be still alive. This made him aware of his dream to become a Hippogriff rider. Since death can always be around the next corner, it's best to follow your dreams as soon as possible. Otherwise an unexpected death could easily shatter that dream for eternity. As such he thinks that the time has come to find a Hippogriff to ride.



If we shouldn't have a mount by now, now we have finally a Hippogriff (see "Hip") as mount. Note that the Hippogriff has 4HD and is huge and not large as normal for its kind:

Except for the hippogriff and the krenshar, which are larger than normal, the monster is typical of its kind.
While a normal hippogriff would gain size at 7HD, this seems to be a specific exception, since it is called out that its size is not typical for its kind.
This results in the following changes according to "Improving Monsters (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/improvingMonsters.htm#tableChangestoStatisticsbySi ze)": +8 STR; -2 DEX; +4 CON; +3 NA; -1 Attack; changed size/reach
Also note that the Hippogriff can make a diving charge attack for x2 damage.

"Draconic Aura: Vigor" provides all nearby allies with effectively fast-healing +1 up to half of max. HP (scales up to +4 at lvl 20).

On one of our traveling journeys we find a wounded Fleshraker that seems to been abounded by his pack. Due to our good "Monster Empathy" it allows Griffith to take care of his wound and later "handle" him well enough that he accepts Griffith as new pack leader ("Wild Cohort") and the Hippogriffs (and the adventuring party) as his new pack.
This provides Griffith with a grounded companion with extreme good offensive abilities (Pounce; Poison; Imp Grab..) that can follow him everywhere where the Hippogriff don't fit in..

We start to build up our knowledge about "Monster Lore". Together with Knowledge arcana & dungeoneering there is a good chance that we know something about the monsters we encounter.

"Monstrous Flank" provides Griffith with additional +2 to attack and +2 to dmg when flanking with his Hippogriffs.

As second monstrous companion we again pick a Hippogriff (see "Pog").



"Hip" learns the "Tactics of the Wolf" stance, which provides allies who flank with him with extra dmg (up to +3 @ mount lvl 12 = character lvl 14).This has a good synergy with the SI's Monstrous Flank ability.
"Monty" adds to this by providing the "Island of Blades" stance that allows for easier positioning to flank enemies.
"Riff" is our last Hippogriff in line that doesn't improve that much. But he still makes himself useful just by benefiting from the stuff that the others provide him with.

With "Monstrous Team-Up" we get the SI's capstone ability which increases the combat support aspect of this build. This will create many opportunities to get extra attacks via AoO for your entire party (including our monsters). Maybe even enough to finish combat in a single round.


"Combat Reflexes" provides Griffith with additional AoO which can be used to fuel Monstrous Tactics.

"Battle Cunning" further increases Griffith's flanking damage by his INT bonus.

As if our dmg wasn't already high (x4 from: diving charge + lance + Spirited Charge), with Shock Trooper it starts to skyrocket (up to +20 before the x4 charge multiplier)
The maneuver "War Leader's Charge" can add another +35dmg.
Combined with our +15 from the "Leading the Charge" stance we are looking at a flat +70 before the x4 multiplier (= +280dmg). If we wield the lance 2h it raises up to +90 dmg (x4 = +360dmg). And this doesn't include the high STR bonus that's also multiplied.

Alternatively we can use "Mithral Tornado" on a mounted charge to attack everything in reach.

Since many maneuver "strikes" are a standard action (e.g. Mithral Tornado; Steel Wind..), we can use the movement action for "Order Forged from Chaos". OFfC gives your allies a free movement action to reposition. This can also be used to approach enemies faster at the start of the battle than they would expect by normal. Or for an quick escape.

When Griffith drops an enemy, he can activate "Clarion Call" which provides all his allies with a free attack or movement action. This further improves the mobility and burst dmg options the build has.

If there should be anything that wouldn't die from Griffith's other attacks immediately (or his damage is debuffed/ain't effective), Swarming Assault gives all nearby allies a free attack on his target.



Since this is an Ubercharger build to some degree, the typical stuff is here to be expected. Which mean we need a "+5 valorous Lance" and ideally "+5 valorous Necklaces of Natural Attacks" for our companions. This will take most of the WBL together with the commonly expected magic stuff (+mainstat; saves;..). In exchange Griffith's charge multiplier (+ dive + Spirited Charge + lance) increases up to x5 and the Hippogriffs get x3 while making a diving charge.

"Pectoral of Maneuverability" can improve the Hippogriffs ability to fly to "perfect". Thus nice to have, but not mandatory.

We are looking at a very ferocious pack that runs like a highly optimized machine. The amount of combat synergy and support they provide is very high and should end most fights within the first round or two. You can also provide your teammates with mounts if you want. Carrying big loads of loot is also a minor problem. All in all a very well rounded "mundane" character imho.
I hope you all enjoyed the build and wish everybody good luck for the contest.

END

[The Viscount]

I saw it and thought of Soda Popinski, and now it's all I can think of. I'm sorry.


Lost and Alone in the Dungeon, Two Cowardly Adventurers Find Many Friendly Magical Beasts and Each Other
Broke: Tome of Battle is too anime.
Woke: Dungeonscape is too anime.

Builds are to be judged separately, but are presented together due to overlapping elements.

*Scene is deep underground. A halfling wanders alone through dank tunnels*
Otto: Those a-holes… I can’t believe they just left me behind.
*A drop of water drips from the ceiling*
Otto: Then again, I don’t have any clue the way out, so they might not even be able to find me if they wanted to.
*Otto moves further through the tunnels*
Otto: How long have I been here? A week? Two? Hard to even tell when I haven’t seen the sun the entire time.
*The passage Otto is trudging through widens out to a large ominous double door with a sun on it*
Otto: Careful what you wish for. *Gulps and looks around* Well, I suppose there’s no other way.
*With some effort, Otto pushes the door open. Stepping into the chamber within, he sees the darkened outline of a canine that towers over him. Its eyes glow menacingly and it begins to move towards him. Otto assumes a quavering fighting stance with his open palm out in front of him*
Otto: …Nice doggy… Oh no… I’m dead!
*Close up on Otto’s face screwed up in terrified preparation for his imminent demise. Suddenly there’s a licking sound. Confused, Otto opens his eyes to see a much friendlier and fluffier dog than it had seemed licking his palm*
Otto: …Nice doggy? *Reaches up to pet it only for his hand to pass directly through its head* …Huh? *He tries again and this time is able to ruffle an ear* A blink dog? *Addressing the creature more directly* Can you help me? I’m lost and don’t know the way out of this place.
*The blink dog barks happily in the affirmative and leads Otto further into the room*
***
*Cut to Rose, similarly alone and slipping through a different door with a moon on it and sneaking into the chamber beyond*
Rose: Tch... I never would have taken this job if I’d known this dungeon would be like this. I mean come on! Does this really look like somewhere you should be sending a rogue into without backup?
*Rose continues to carefully sneak onward, coming to a fork where her passageway and another meet and another passage opens in another direction. From her hiding place, she observes Otto nervously following the blink dog down the other passage. Upon reaching the fork, they turn to take the new passage, not noticing Rose*
Rose: Someone else is down here? What if they’re a threat? And they had some sort of monster with them too… Maybe I should just try to go down the way they came? Would that be safer?
*Rose is interrupted by a tap from behind*
Rose: Eaaaahhhhh!
*Turning, Rose sees another blink dog sitting calmly on its haunches behind her with its head cocked at her. It yips playfully at her and pants happily, before again nudging her with its snout*
Rose: You want me to go down that way?
*Blink dog nods*
Rose: This isn’t a trick?
*Blink dog shakes its head*
Rose: *sigh* Alright, I guess…
*Before she can fully make up her mind the blink dog grabs her by the scruff of her collar and drags her along the passage, seeming blissfully deaf to her protestations*
***
*Cut to Otto standing bemused on the symbol of a sun on the floor of a circular chamber. On the other side of the chamber is a similar moon symbol with conspicuously nothing on it. Otto turns to the blink dog that had been guiding him*
Otto: Umm… Excuse me… Is something supposed to happen?
*The blink dog only barks at him encouragingly. Otto sighs and his shoulders slump, but just then the other blink dog saunters in, dragging Rose by the scruff of her collar*
Rose: Okay, okay I get it! I’ll come along! You don’t have to…
*The blink dog deposits her at the outside of the circle and lets out an excited bark. Rose looks up embarrassed and confused at Otto, who stares back in similar bemusement*
Otto: A girl? *A beat passes* Umm… Are you lost down here too? *Another beat* Uh… I think they want you to stand on that moon over there.
*Otto gestures toward the moon symbol on the floor. Suspicious, Rose looks to the blink dog that brought her in. It whines and gestures encouragingly and she slowly steps onto the spot. When she does so, the circle lights up with magic, illuminating both Otto and Rose and casting them in favorable light as they look upon one another’s faces. Their hearts can be heard beating. Is it horniness for connection to one another after their long weeks of loneliness, or perhaps some strange new magic or art of which they had been heretofore unaware – a connection to the world’s magical beasts that they had never dreamt possible? Above them, the ceiling opens to reveal a sky with both setting sun and rising moon further illuminating the chamber with their pale light. Giant eagles alight beside each of them, and gripping tightly to their necks, Otto and Rose are lifted up from the dungeon and back toward the outside world. Opening theme plays*

Otto Solinski
LG Strongheart Halfling Martial Wilderness Rogue 2/Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Fighter 1/Invisible Fist Decisive Strike Monk 2/Swordsage 2/Beast Heart Adept 7/Legacy Champion 6
Ability Scores
10 Str, 20 Dex, 12 Con, 10 Int, 14 Wis, 8 Cha

Build Table
LevelClassBase Attack BonusFort SaveReflex SaveWill SaveSkillsFeatsClass Features1stRogue 1002032: {+4} Balance: 4; {+4} Handle Animal: 4; {+4} Jump: 4; {+4} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; {+4 CC} Knowledge (Arcana): 2; {+4 CC} Knowledge (History): 2; {+4} Ride: 4; {+4} Tumble: 4;Animal Affinity, Two-Weapon Fighting, Mounted CombatBPoison Use, Martial Rogue, Wilderness Rogue2ndFighter 112202: Balance: 4; {+1} Handle Animal: 5; Jump: 4; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 2; Knowledge (History): 2; {+1} Ride: 5; Tumble: 4;-Hit-and-Run Tactics, Sneak Attack Fighter, Sneak Attack 1d63rdMonk 114 424: {+1} Balance: 5; Handle Animal: 5; Jump: 4; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; {+2} Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 2; Ride: 5; {+1} Tumble: 5;Craven, Improved Unarmed StrikeB, Weapon FinesseBDecisive Strike, Unarmed Strike, AC Bonus, Sleeping Tiger Monk4thMonk 225534: Balance: 5; {+4 CC} Handle Animal: 7; Jump: 4; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 2; Ride: 5; Tumble: 5;Combat ReflexesBInvisible Fist
5thSwordsage 125756: Balance: 5; {+2 CC} Handle Animal: 8; Jump: 4; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+3} Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 6; Tumble: 5; -Quick to Act +1, Discipline Focus (Weapon Focus: Shadow Hand)6thBeast Heart Adept 137774: Balance: 5; Handle Animal: 8; {+1} Jump: 5; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+3} Ride: 9; Tumble: 5;Shadow BladeMonstrous Companion, Monster Empathy, Monster Handler
7thBeast Heart Adept 24 8784: Balance: 5; Handle Animal: 8; {+3} Jump: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 10; Tumble: 5; -Monster Lore8thBeast Heart Adept 358884: Balance: 5; Handle Animal: 8; {+3} Jump: 11; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 11; Tumble: 5;-Alternative Monstrous Companion9thBeast Heart Adept 4 69894: Balance: 5; {+2} Handle Animal: 10; {+1} Jump: 12; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 12; Tumble: 5; Improved Two-Weapon FightingMonstrous Flank10thBeast Heart Adept 579894: Balance: 5; {+2} Handle Animal: 12; {+1} Jump: 13; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 13; Tumble: 5;-Extra Monstrous Companion11thBeast Heart Adept 68109104: Balance: 5; {+2} Handle Animal: 14; {+1} Jump: 14; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 14; Tumble: 5;--12th Beast Heart Adept 79109104: Balance: 5; Handle Animal: 14; {+1} Jump: 15; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 15; Tumble: 5; {+2} Collector of Stories;Double Hit, Least Legacy (Sunsword)BMonstrous Tactics13thLegacy Champion 19109124: Balance: 5; {+2} Handle Animal: 16; {+1} Jump: 16; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 16; Tumble: 5; Collector of Stories;Lesser Legacy (Sunsword)BReduced Ritual Cost (Lesser), Bond of Lore14thLegacy Champion 210109134: Balance: 5; {+1} Handle Animal: 17; {+1} Jump: 17; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 17; Tumble: 5; {+1} Listen: 1; Collector of Stories; -Replace Legacy Ability (Least: Fires of Day for Invisibility), +1 Level of Beast Heart Adept15thLegacy Champion 3111110134: Balance: 5; {+1} Handle Animal: 18; {+1} Jump: 18; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 18; Tumble: 5; {+1} Listen: 2; Collector of Stories;Snap KickExtra Legacy Ability Use (Least: Invisibility), +1 Level of Beast Heart Adept, Extra Monstrous Companion16th Swordsage 2121111146: Balance: 5; Handle Animal: 18; {+1} Jump: 19; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 19; Tumble: 5; {+4} Listen: 6; Collector of Stories;-AC Bonus17thLegacy Champion 4131111154: Balance: 5; {+2} Handle Animal: 20; {+1} Jump: 20; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 20; Tumble: 5; Listen: 6; Collector of Stories;Quicken Legacy (Invisibility)B +1 Level of Beast Heart Adept, Monstrous Team-Up18thRogue 2141112158: Balance: 5; {+1} Handle Animal: 21; {+1} Jump: 21; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 21; Tumble: 5; {+5} Listen: 11; Collector of Stories; Ride-By Attack, Spirited ChargeBMartial Rogue, Evasion19thLegacy Champion 5141112154: Balance: 5; {+1} Handle Animal: 22; {+1} Jump: 22; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 22; Tumble: 5; {+1} Listen: 12; Collector of Stories;-Replace Legacy Ability (Lesser: Improved Fires of Day for +1 Enhancement [Morphing]), +1 Level of Beast Heart Adept20th Legacy Champion 6151213164: Balance: 5; {+1} Handle Animal: 23; {+1} Jump: 23; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Knowledge (History): 5; {+1} Ride: 23; Tumble: 5; {+1} Listen: 13; Collector of Stories;-Extra Legacy Ability Use (Lesser: Death Ward), +1 Level of Swordsage

Maneuvers
LevelInitiator LevelManeuvers KnownManeuvers ReadiedStances Known5th3 Claw at the Moon, Sudden Leap, Shadow Jaunt, Child of Shadow, Mountain Hammer, Stone Bones 4Island of Blades16th9Claw at the Moon, Sudden Leap, Shadow Jaunt, Child of Shadow, Mountain Hammer, Stone Bones, Rapid Counter4Island of Blades, Assassin's Stance20th12Claw at the Moon, Sudden Leap, Shadow Jaunt, Child of Shadow, Mountain Hammer, Stone Bones, Rapid Counter, Shadow Stride5Island of Blades, Assassin's Stance

Monstrous Companions
Otto’s first Monstrous Companion will be serving as his primary mount throughout his career. Feats do more to make the Companion effective than the monster’s abilities themselves, so he’ll want to stick to the base creatures, and so reliable access to flight without items makes the Giant Eagle or Pegasus the preferrable choice for most of his career unless he’s continuing to spend a lot of time in dungeons after the week required to qualify for the SI (the Giant Eagle is better prior to Evasion from Monstrous Companion progression coming online and when progression grants enough HD to advance it to Huge, while Pegasus’ higher fly speed and Con, and Detect Good and Evil SLAs make it a reasonable alternative in between these points). Feats from additional HD from BHA progression can essentially be shuffled freely by calling a new companion, so the preferred setup changes depending on how many are available. With only one feat, Travel Devotion is a simple, relatively easy way to help reposition in one encounter per day. With two feats, Shape Soulmeld (Sphinx Claws) – note that Shape Soulmeld is available to a Monstrous Companion Giant Eagle with it’s 6 HD feat as the Con increase from Monstrous Companion progression will get its Int to 14 – and Open Least Chakra (Hands) give the ability to Pounce. With three feats, the companion can take the line of Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, and Cometary Collision, allowing it to ready an action to intercept a charging enemy with a charge of its own, which has very favorable interactions with Otto’s abilities that will be further expounded upon in the level breakdown. As the full attack routine becomes less valuable on the Cometary Colission build, Warg, and at the very highest levels with the extra progression from Legacy Champion, Winter Wolf, become the preferable creature for their trip attack, which can help to provoke extra AoOs for Otto.

The Extra Monstrous Companions are almost entirely concerned with triggering Monstrous Tactics. They may serve as mounts for repositioning tactics, but as the Small-sized Otto can ride medium creatures and does not rely on, for example, an Extra Companion Blink Dog not teleporting out from under him, this is not a meaningful consideration. For a companion with no extra feats, the Giant Eagle’s native Flyby Attack and numbers make it the most reliable, and native evasion helps keep it alive. With one additional stage of progression, the Giant Eagle can take Shape Soulmeld (Lightning Gauntlets), giving it a touch attack with which to reliably trigger Monstrous Tactics, and which can be delivered on a Flyby Attack. With enough progression to have two feats to work with, he can get a Giant Eagle or Blink Dog (Blink Dog is better in dungeons, against enemies whose AoOs are dangerous, and so on, while the Giant Eagle is bigger with better numbers) with Martial Study (Moment of the Perfect Mind) and Martial Study (Emerald Razor), for effectively 3 good saves and the ability to make a touch attack once per encounter with the boosted Str from Monstrous Companion and damage bonus from Monstrous Flank behind it.

Monstrous Companions being so easy to change also has downtime implications. Pegasi, with their SLAs, meet the prerequisites for many crafting feats and can craft alchemical items, and their capacity to do so can be bolstered by other feats which offer limited access to spells, skill bonuses, or the like. Any Beast Heart Adept can benefit from this, but it’s worth noting for things like Greater Truedeath Crystals to keep Craven functional against Undead, and reliable Bloodspike (Tempo) access to open up fast mount and dismount tricks in Otto’s action economy at high levels. The Pegasus spending XP on crafting shouldn’t be an issue (it could conceivably lose a RHD, but it’s being switched for a different Monstrous Companion before adventuring anyway), but if the DM doesn’t like that, mechanisms for cheesing crafting XP costs like Transference from the PHB II web enhancement can be employed easily enough. Another downtime option is a Wyvern, which can be milked for its venom (the Handle Animal skill may or may not be necessary as the Wyvern is intelligent, and the Wyvern or another Monstrous Companion may have to invest skill ranks into Craft Poisonmaking to refine the venom).

Monstrous Companion Snapshots
Level 10: 8 HD Giant Eagle or Pegasus with Travel Devotion and generic Giant Eagle.
Level 12: 10 HD Giant Eagle with Shape Soulmeld (Sphinx Claws) and Open Least Chakra (Hands) and 6 HD Giant Eagle or Pegasus with Shape Soulmeld (Lightning Gauntlets)
Level 15: 12 HD Worg with Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, and Cometary Collision, 6 HD Giant Eagle or Pegasus with Shape Soulmeld (Lightning Gauntlets), and generic Giant Eagle.
Level 19: 14 HD Winter Wolf with Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, and Cometary Collision, 10 HD Giant Eagle or Blink Dog with Martial Study (Moment of the Perfect Mind) and Martial Study (Emerald Razor), and Giant Eagle or Pegasus with Shape Soulmeld (Lightning Gauntlets).

Things are a little dippy in the early going, as is often the case for martials. When dipping both Fighter for feats and Rogue for Sneak Attack anyway, it’s usually better to actually be doing the inverse with Sneak Attack Fighter and Martial Rogue, as having the second bonus feat level (which Otto will be taking later on) be Rogue 2 is better than having it be Fighter 2. Poison Use is an easy trade for Trapfinding, which Otto doesn’t have enough free skill points to support, especially as he may eventually have reliable access to it from milking monsters. Hit-and-Run Tactics gets a bit more value out of the Fighter level and helps to leverage Otto’s high Dex. Monk provides Weapon Finesse through the Sleeping Tiger variant before returning to the standard Monk bonus feat options for Combat Reflexes as well as granting Invisible Fist – good for getting enemies flat-footed for Hit-and-Run Tactics – and Decisive Strike, which will be the centerpiece of the build. The damage increases from both Hit-and-Run Tactics and Craven are flat bonuses, so they get multiplied by Decisive Strike. Swordsage provides some good utility maneuvers and in particular another swift action invisibility ability in Child of Shadow to set up Hit-and-Run Tactics, swift movement in Sudden Leap to position for Decisive Strikes, and the Island of Blades stance which will be very important in the coming levels as Otto enters the SI.
Having a mount which is intelligent enough to move where it’s supposed to without the rider needing to spend actions is one of the easiest ways to set up a Decisive Strike, and as both mount and rider, who share all squares they occupy, will be adjacent to whatever enemy they’re attacking, they count as flanking with Island of Blades ensuring the bonuses from both Craven and Monstrous Flank. Monstrous Flank offers another flat damage bonus which is multiplied by Decisive Strike. With Shadow Blade now online as well, Otto can hit for 2d4+1d6+4*Dex+24 (60 on average without items) on a Decisive Strike, which will also apply to AoOs made in the same round. Jump and Ride ranks are also kept maxed, allowing for some repositioning shenanigans from fast mounting and dismounting (can only be done before making a Decisive Strike as there must theoretically be a move action available even though Otto will at this point succeed in the check on a 1) and Sudden Leap.
Monstrous Tactics is now online, meaning that when a Monstrous Companion hits an enemy (either his primary mount or the Extra Monstrous Companion that is now online and has enough progression to take Shape Soulmeld (Lightning Gauntlets) to make touch attacks and easily trigger the ability) Otto gets an AoO against said enemy with the benefit of his damage doubling from Decisive Strike. Because Monstrous Tactics can only net one AoO per round per enemy, repositioning with fast mounting and dismounting, Sudden Leap, and his mount Flyby Attacking become more important to getting full value. Decisive Strike value is also improved with extra attacks from Double Hit AoOs and Snap Kick. Note that while the initial Decisive Strike must be made with a monk weapon, subsequent attacks with non-monk weapons, such as the Sunsword to which Otto is now bonded, gain the benefit as well. The Sunsword can be wielded as if it were a short sword, so it counts as light and a Shadow Hand weapon for the purposes of Weapon Finesse, Discipline Focus, and Shadow Blade.
Legacy Champion extends Beast Heart Adept progression one level further than it could ordinarily go, granting an extra tier of progression to all three Monstrous Companions. This is particularly important for the final Monstrous Companion, which is much more useful with enough extra HD to take a free feat so that it can serve as a vector for Monstrous Tactics via touch attacks. Otto’s primary companion switches to a Cometary Collision setup just as Otto picks up Spirited Charge and via Legacy Champion applies the Morphing enhancement to his Sunsword, allowing it to turn into a lance while still being wielded as if it were a short sword. Put together, this means that after Otto has made a Decisive Strike and perhaps an AoO Double Hit from one of his Extra Monstrous Companions triggering Monstrous Tactics against one enemy, his mount can make a charge to cut off a charging enemy with a readied action, trigger Monstrous Tactics in doing so, and give Otto a Double Hit AoO with all the benefits of charging. Otto can also simply have his mount charge normally and get an extra doubling on his initial Decisive Strike from Spirited Charge. If he can get an extra move action, such as from a Bloodspike (Tempo), he can go even further, charging in on one companion then fast dismounting and fast mounting or Shadow Striding into the saddle of another before it makes its own charge. Rapid Counter offers an extra immediate action attack on top of the regular Double Hit on an AoO provocation. Legacy Champion also offers a few uses/day of Invisibility as a swift action to reinforce Otto’s existing abilities to that effect and an extra use/day of the Sunsword’s Death Ward, which is a nice thing to have. The Sunsword also has a few niche anti-undead abilities and a sizeable enhancement bonus, plus Keen. Turning it into a lance does diminish its threat range, but on a build with so many flat bonuses to multiply, Keen is still nice to have.
Planar Touchstone (Oxyrhynchus) would be great for Otto, as he easily makes multiple attacks per round, emphasizes getting enemies flat-footed for Hit-and-Run Tactics anyway, and gets double damage on the extra hit thanks to Decisive Strike. There sadly isn’t room for it with all the other feats that take priority, but in a game where flaws are allowed, it’s a great one to get to fit in.

Decisive Strike Monks technically don’t qualify for Unorthodox Flurry, but I suspect most DMs would allow it, and short sword is a valid choice which would allow for Decisive Striking with the Sunsword lance. Otto makes do with regular unarmed strike Decisive Strikes, but this is another good pickup for a game with flaws and a permissive DM.

If the DM vetoes this, Knowledge Devotion is a nice little flat bonus to damage for Decisive Strike and Spirited Charge to multiply, and with Monstrous Lore and Collector of Stories is decently reliable across most creature types.

Obviously, being able to choose all of the Monstrous Companions’ feats instead of just those from Monstrous Companion advancement is beneficial, allowing for various feat chains to be applied with less Beast Heart Adept progression and to be expanded on further. Shock Trooper is a basically free increase in damage output for the Cometary Collision setup, especially when Mounted Combat can serve as an AC replacer anyway, just as one example.

*The cries of Otto and Rose’s companions are drowned out by the bloodcurdling howls of the slavering pack of werewolves. Rose’s larger eagle flies across the battlefield, slashing into several of them. Rose moves so quickly as to disappear from the animation budget view, appearing behind one of the larger werewolves just as her chimera is pouncing upon it from the other direction and cutting the lycanthrope down in a lightning-quick series of rapier strikes before vanishing in another sudden movement. Otto drives his fist into the gut of another werewolf, which staggers back a step only to be caught from behind by a shocking hoof from his Pegasus, which catches it off guard to create the opening for Otto’s fatal blow. The winter wolf rushes to intercept another enemy rushing to attack Rose’s chimera, biting deep into the werewolf’s leg. Otto drives his glittering lance into his foe’s chest then delivering a backhand to the creature’s face to wrest his weapon free. Rose briefly flits into view once more and she and Otto exchange a glance and exhilarated smiles*

Rose Aluna
CG Strongheart Halfling Martial Wilderness Rogue 2/Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Fighter 1/Marshal 1/Crusader 1/Beast Heart Adept 10/Shadowdancer 1/Crusader +1/Uncanny Trickster 3

Ability Scores
10 Str, 20 Dex, 10 Con, 12 Int, 8 Wis, 14 Cha
All increases go to Dex.

Build Table
LevelClassBase Attack BonusFort SaveReflex SaveWill SaveSkillsFeatsClass Features1stRogue 1002036: {+4} Balance: 4; {+4} Diplomacy: 4; {+4} Handle Animal: 4; {+4} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 4; {+4} Hide: 4; {+4} Move Silently: 4; {+4} Perform (Dance): 4; {+4} Ride: 4; {+4} Tumble: 4;Darkstalker, Expeditious Dodge, MobilityBPoison Use, Martial Rogue, Wilderness Rogue2ndRogue 210309: {+1} Balance: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Handle Animal: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; {+1} Hide: 5; {+1} Move Silently: 5; {+1} Perform (Dance): 5; {+1} Ride: 5; {+1} Tumble: 5;Weapon FinesseBEvasion, Martial Rogue3rdFighter 122303: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Handle Animal: 6; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; {+1 CC} Hide: 5.5; Move Silently: 5; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 5; {+1} Tumble: 6;Animal AffinityHit-and-Run Tactics, Sneak Attack Fighter, Sneak Attack +1d6, Skilled City-Dweller (Ride for Tumble)4th Marshal 124325: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Handle Animal: 7; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; {+4} Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Hide: 5.5; Move Silently: 5; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 5; Tumble: 6;Skill Focus (Diplomacy)BMinor Aura (Motivate Dexterity), Skilled City-Dweller (Ride for Tumble)5thCrusader 136325: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; {+2 CC} Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+1 CC} Hide: 6; Move Silently: 5; Perform (Dance): 5; {+2} Ride: 7; Tumble: 6;-Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 56thBeast Heart Adept 148345: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Hide: 6; Move Silently: 5; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+3} Tumble: 9; {+2} Collector of Stories;CravenMonstrous Companion, Monster Empathy, Monster Handler, Skilled City-Dweller (Ride for Tumble)7thBeast Heart Adept 259355: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+4 CC} Hide: 8; Move Silently: 5; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 10; Collector of Stories; -Monster Lore8thBeast Heart Adept 3610455: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Hide: 8; {+2 CC} Move Silently: 6; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 11; {+2} Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories;-Alternative Monstrous Companion9thBeast Heart Adept 4711465: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2 CC} Hide: 9; {+2 CC} Move Silently: 7; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 12; Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories;Combat ReflexesMonstrous Flank10thBeast Heart Adept 5811465: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2 CC} Hide: 10; {+2 CC} Move Silently: 8; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 13; Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories;-Extra Monstrous Companion11thBeast Heart Adept 6912575: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2 CC} Hide: 11; Move Silently: 8; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 14; {+2} Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories; --12thBeast Heart Adept 710125 75: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2 CC} Hide: 12; Move Silently: 8; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 15; {+2} Nimble Stand, Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories; Evasive ReflexesMonstrous Tactics13thBeast Heart Adept 8 1113585: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2 CC} Hide: 13; {+2 CC} Move Silently: 9; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 16; Nimble Stand, Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories;--14thBeast Heart Adept 912136 85: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2 CC} Hide: 14; {+2 CC} Move Silently: 10; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 17; Nimble Stand, Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories;-Extra Monstrous Companion15thBeast Heart Adept 101314695: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2 CC} Hide: 15; {+2 CC} Move Silently: 11; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 18; Nimble Stand, Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories;Robillar's GambitMonstrous Team-Up16thShadowdancer 11314897: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+4} Hide: 19; {+2} Move Silently: 13; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 7; {+1} Tumble: 19; Nimble Stand, Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories;-Hide in Plain Sight17thCrusader 21415895: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; Hide: 19; Move Silently: 13; Perform (Dance): 5; {+5} Ride: 12; Tumble: 19; Nimble Stand, Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories;-Indomitable Soul18thUncanny Trickster 114151099: Balance: 5; Diplomacy: 5; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2} Hide: 21; {+5} Move Silently: 18; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 12; {+2} Tumble: 21; {+2} Back on Your FeetB, Nimble Stand, Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories; Supernatural InstinctsFavorite Trick (Acrobatic Backstab)19thUncanny Trickster 215151199: Balance: 5; {+3} Diplomacy: 8; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+1} Hide: 22; {+4} Move Silently: 22; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 12; {+1} Tumble: 22; {+2} Dismount AttackB, Back on Your Feet, Nimble Stand, Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories; -Favorite Trick (Shrouded Dance), +1 Level of Beast Heart Adept 20thUncanny Trickster 3161611109: Balance: 5; {+6} Diplomacy: 14; Handle Animal: 8; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 5; Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+1} Hide: 23; {+1} Move Silently: 23; Perform (Dance): 5; Ride: 12; {+1} Tumble: 23; {+2} Tumbling CrawlB, Dismount Attack, Back on Your Feet, Nimble Stand, Acrobatic Backstab, Shrouded Dance, Collector of Stories; -Favorite Trick (Nimble Stand), Tricky Defense, +1 Level of Crusader

Maneuvers
LevelInitiator LevelManeuvers KnownManeuvers Readied Stances Known5th3Douse the Flames, Shield Block, Crusader’s Strike, Tactical Strike, Mountain Hammer5 (2)Martial Spirit17th9Douse the Flames, Shield Block, Crusader’s Strike, Tactical Strike, Mountain Hammer5 (2)Martial Spirit, Press the Advantage20th12Douse the Flames, Shield Block, Crusader’s Strike, Tactical Strike, Mountain Hammer, Defensive Rebuke5 (2)Martial Spirit, Press the Advantage

Monstrous Companions
Rose does not use her Monstrous Companions as mounts except for extra free movement by fast mounting and dismounting, which due to her small size, is something that she can do with any of the available choices. Her Monstrous Companions are primarily concerned with triggering Monstrous Tactics and in the case of her primary one, being a competent combatant in its own right. As with Otto, the ease of ability to acquire a new Monstrous Companion means that she can be flexible with her companion choices based on how many freely chosen feats are available to them and what abilities she herself has at a given level. Prior to getting Monstrous Tactics at level 12, a Giant Eagle or Pegasus (once Monstrous Companion progression is providing Evasion) is probably the optimal choice, with Martial Study (Mountain Hammer) to deliver on Flyby Attacks when it has a free feat available. The ability to freely choose two additional feats comes online at the same time as Monstrous Tactics and Evasive Reflexes do and because using Monstrous Tactics AoOs for movement with Evasive Reflexes does not require that Rose actually threaten the enemy being made to provoke the AoO by being hit, her Monstrous Companions diverge somewhat from Otto’s in feat choices and tactics. A Giant Eagle with Great Flyby Attack can potentially hit three different enemies for three 5-ft steps. Whether a Giant Eagle with only one free feat should spend it on Shape Soulmeld (Lightning Gauntlets) or Great Flyby Attack depends on how its numbers line up at the level in question (ie, at level 12, when Rose’s second Monstrous Companion has 3 effective levels of progression for a free feat, Great Flyby Attack is probably getting more value against level appropriate challenges, but by the time the third Monstrous Companion gets enough progression for a free feat from extended Beast Heart Adept progression at level 19, a 6 HD Giant Eagle is going to need to target touch AC to hit anything, making Shape Soulmeld the better choice). Travel Devotion is a good stock choice for the second feat of the primary Monstrous Companion, as positioning the straight line of Great Flyby Attack can be a tricky proposition, but once Monstrous Team-Up is online, Martial Study (Distracting Ember) is a great way for the Monstrous Companion to get the benefit of Monstrous Flank, even if Rose herself is not in the immediate vicinity to flank with. Of course, Monstrous Tactics does only grant a single AoO per round against a given target, even if multiple Monstrous Companions hit that target, and there are only going to be so many enemies in a given encounter, so flooding the zone with Great Flyby Attackers can have diminishing returns, but that’s just as well as the extended progression of Beast Heart Adept from Uncanny Trickster would mean leaving progression on the table for a Giant Eagle, so choosing one of the Alternative Monstrous Companions is desirable, and while none of the available options are as good at using Great Flyby Attack as the Giant Eagle, there are a few interesting options. The Dragonne comes with in-built Pounce and Combat Reflexes, and can use its one available feat on Evasive Reflexes, which, with Monstrous Team-Up, allows it to do a poor-man’s imitation of Rose’s off-turn movement tricks to line up charges, set up Monstrous Flanks, and help avoid friendly fire on Roars, while a Chimera at this level has the feats to take Shape Soulmeld (Sphinx Claws) and Open Least Chakra (Hands) for an impressive Pouncing beatstick.

Like Otto, Rose can benefit from switching Monstrous Companions to crafter Pegasi and milkable Wyverns during downtime for more reliable and cheaper access to poison and certain magic items, particularly things like Greater Truedeath Crystals that keep Craven working against enemies that would normally be immune to Sneak Attacks.

Monstrous Companion Snapshots
Level 10: 8 HD Giant Eagle or Pegasus with Martial Study (Mountain Hammer) and generic Giant Eagle.
Level 12: 10 HD Giant Eagle with Great Flyby Attack and Travel Devotion and 6 HD Giant Eagle with Great Flyby Attack.
Level 14: 12 HD Giant Eagle with Martial Study (Distracting Ember), Great Flyby Attack, and Travel Devotion, 6 HD Giant Eagle with Great Flyby Attack or Shape Soulmeld (Lightning Gauntlets), and generic Giant Eagle.
Level 19: 13 HD Dragonne with Evasive Reflexes or 15 HD Chimera with Shape Soulmeld (Sphinx Claws) and Open Least Chakra (Hands), 10 HD Giant Eagle with Martial Study (Distracting Ember) and Great Flyby Attack, and 6 HD Giant Eagle or Pegasus with Shape Soulmeld (Lightning Gauntlets).
Like Otto, Rose opens things up with a cocktail of dips including Martial Rogue with Poison Use, Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Fighter and an initiator class to lay the groundwork for the SI and snag some things that will be important later. Marshal may seem an odd choice, but it’ll do more later on, and even in the immediate term provides a party-wide +2 to initiative as well as a buff to Rose’s most important skills. Rose fights with a rapier and a 0 ACP shield, which she can use to help protect allies with Shield Block while still retaining her bonuses to Hide and Tumble.
Beast Heart Adept provides Rose with a pair of good flanking buddies to help set up Sneak Attacks. Craven offers a sizeable damage boost, and Rose gets her second iterative and possibly some extra attacks out of Combat Reflexes, but the real excitement is in the levels to come.
Monstrous Tactics is one of those AoO abilities that don’t actually stipulate that the character has to be threatening the creature that is provoking the AoO. There’s not much for most characters to do with an AoO if they can’t reach the target for a melee attack, but with Evasive Reflexes, Rose has something else she can do with that AoO instead, specifically make a 5-ft step. The free movement aspect will become more exciting in a number of ways in the last few levels, but already is a pretty reliable (especially with Monstrous Companions chosen specifically to facilitate it) way to move and full attack, which is a valuable thing for a melee character. Using Monstrous Tactics for movement in this way can make Rose a less reliable flanking buddy for her Monstrous Companions, but Monstrous Team-Up helps out there by allowing them to gain Monstrous Flank bonuses from other allies, including each other and the elemental from Distracting Ember, and even potentially to get Monstrous Tactics AoOs from one another’s attacks. Robillar’s Gambit also allows Rose to move with Evasive Reflexes if she’s attacked, possibly moving her safely out of reach.
Hiding is a non-action taken as a part of movement, so with Hide in Plain Sight from a Shadowdancer dip, Rose can Hide with every 5-ft step, and hence every Monstrous Tactics AoO put towards Evasive Reflexes (as well as a fast mount or dismount). Rose also returns to Crusader for a level to snag Press the Advantage allowing her to double up her 5-ft steps and is at the level where her Tumble mod is likely good enough (23 ranks + 7 Dex + 2 Motivate Dexterity = 32 at level 20 before items) to trivialize the DC 40 check to turn a given 5-ft step into a 10-ft step, meaning that Monstrous Tactics AoOs can be converted into 20 ft of free movement plus the ability to Hide in Plain Sight – which in turn facilitates the bonus damage from Craven and Hit-and-Run tactics. Rose also picks up Supernatural Instincts, which she can use to trigger more Evasive Reflexes movement off her Monstrous Companions using Supernatural Abilities when she’s near to them (including Supernatural maneuvers like Distracting Ember and Soulmelds). Uncanny Trickster gives her the extra level of Beast Heart Adept progression to bump all of her Monstrous Companions up a tier in the progression, which as with Otto’s is decent for all of them but especially necessary to make the last one capable of reliably triggering Monstrous Tactics. A 12th level of progression does nothing however, so she instead progresses Crusader with the last level of Uncanny Trickster and nabs Defensive Rebuke, which, like Monstrous Tactics, can grant AoOs without needing to actually threaten the provoking creature, allowing Rose extra free movement when enemies attempt to attack her allies, including her Monstrous Companions.
If flaws are available and especially if Monstrous Companion feats can all be chosen freely, Cunning Evasion opens up some interesting possibilities. With 11 levels of Beast Heart Adept progression, Rose can have a Chimera with 15 HD. If all its feats can be freely chosen, this is enough to take Flyby Attack, Flyby Breath, Strafing Breath, Lingering Breath, and Clinging Breath, allowing the Chimera to leave a trail of breath across the battlefield, which Rose can step into to generate extra 5-ft steps with Cunning Evasion throughout the fight as is useful.

*Evil magics well up around Strahd. Rose’s chimera pounces on him, but is held up in the air by the sinister aura and thrown aside, only managing for its draconic head to reach out and snap at the baron’s wrist as he makes the dismissive gesture*
Strahd: Do not presume that a few beasts running wild are enough to overturn my order.
*Rose appears under Strahds outstretched arm and thrusts with her rapier, piercing skin, but as she moves to deliver a second stroke, he seems to turn to smoke and float away a few feet out of reach. A giant eagle nips at him and a Pegasus stomps him with a shocking hoof as he rematerializes, but he shrugs these off with a flourish of his cape. Otto charges in on the back of his wolf, punching Strahd in the jaw and attempting to drive his Sunsword-lance through the baron’s heart as his wolf and blink dog strive to create openings, but only succeeding in striking a less definitive blow to the vampire’s side and a kick with a leg slipped free of his stirrup*
Otto: The sun is rising on a new day, Strahd!
* Strahd’s hand grasps Otto’s throat, draining the life from the hero*
Strahd: It will take more than you to cut through my night! You…
*Strahd is cut off as the blade of Rose’s rapier pierces through his throat from behind. He snarls, momentarily slackening his grip on Otto, who delivers a strike to the elbow to break the grip and drives his lance into the baron’s chest. Otto and Rose scream their battle cries as he drives his thrust deeper into Strahd’s heart and she pulls her blade across Strahd’s throat. Strahd howls in pain and seems to dissolve into smoke, but is reconstituted in his nearby coffin. The baron’s malevolent eyes begin to reopen immediately*
Strahd: You fools! I am the ancient! I am the land! You would presume to destroy me with such as this?
*He moves as if beginning to rise from the coffin, but Rose appears over him, pressing a stake into his heart*
Rose: No you don’t! This time it’s over!
*The stake struggles to pierce Strahd, and he continues to rise out of the coffin, baring his fangs at Rose. She looks shocked and frightful at her inability to penetrate the dead flesh, but Otto appears next to her, clasping his hands onto the stake around hers*
Otto: I’m with you! We can do this!
*They push together but still cannot quite pierce the vampire’s heart. Strahd continues to push upward, raising his arms as if to grasp the pair, but the magical beasts swarm around the coffin, biting and scratching at the baron’s various limbs*
Rose: Yeah! We can do this, together!
*Split close up of Rose and Otto as they scream their battle cry and drive the stake forward once more, penetrating deep into Strahd’s heart. The baron’s eyes go wide and he exhales a final breath before turning to dust*
Strahd: Ta..tya…na…

Champions of Ruin: Craven
Complete Champion: Knowledge Devotion, Travel Devotion
Complete Scoundrel: Uncanny Trickster, Skill Tricks
Complete Warrior: Shock Trooper
Draconomicon: Clinging Breath, Lingering Breath
Dragon Compendium: Unorthodox Flurry
Dragonlance Campaign Setting: Flyby Breath, Strafing Breath
Drow of the Underdark: Hit-and-Run Tactics, Poison Use Rogue, Poison milking rules
Dungeonscape: Beast Heart Adept
Exemplars of Evil: Invisible Fist
Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Sunsword
Magic Item Compendium: Greater Truedeath Crystal
Magic of Eberron: Bloodspike (Tempo)
Magic of Incarnum: Open Chakra, Shape Soulmeld, Soulmelds
Miniatures Handbook: Marshal, Double Hit
Oriental Adventures: DC 40 Tumble check to make a 5-ft step into a 10-ft step
Planar Handbook: Planar Touchstone, Oxyrhynchus
Player’s Handbook II: Decisive Strike, Cometary Collision, Cunning Evasion
Player’s Handbook II Web Enhancement (http://rpg.nobl.ca/archive.php?x=dnd/we/20060526a): Crafting Transference
Races of the Wild: Expeditious Dodge
Savage Species: Great Flyby Attack
Tome of Battle: Crusader, Swordsage, Evasive Reflexes, Martial Study, Shadow Blade, Snap Kick, Maneuvers
Underdark: Morphing enhancement
Weapons of Legacy: Legacy Champion
Everything else should be SRD.

[The Viscount]

The only way to survive in the desert is together.



Gradur
"Touche un membre de ma clique frérot, tu verras on est pas tout seul”


https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/027/772/031/large/filipe-augusto-desert-algoiukkal-04-1-1.jpg?1592499169

TN Bhuka Shai’r3/Geomancer2/Beast Heart Adept10/WarWeaver5



Feat Summary
Alignment : True Neutral
Race : Bhuka
Level 1 : Silver Tongue, Heat Endurance (Bhuka Bonus)
Level 3 : Animal Affinity
Level 6 : Enlarge Spell
Level 9 : Incarnum Spellshaping
Level 12 : Shape Soulmeld (Beast Tamer Circlet)
Level 15 : Practiced Spellcaster (Sha’ir)
Level 18 : Wild Cohort

Point Buy
Point Buy at level 1
STR 10 -2
DEX 12 +2
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 8
CHA 18

All level increases in Cha



“Gradur Gradur !” the latter heard screaming. “It’s the monsters, they’re attacking the village !”
Gradur stood up, waved at his flying friend to come close, whispered something in his ear and then the little genie vanished.
On his way to the scene of the ruckus, Gradur whistled.
Suddenly the ground started to tremble as some mythical creatures made their way to him. As they were pouring in, you could see Gradur weaving as if he had some kind of thread in his hands. Ethereal threads started to float towards the different creatures surrounding him and meld with their soul energy.
Gradur was welcomed by the guttural growlings of a gargantuan purple worm and that didn’t seem to phase him one bit. Instead he cast a spell that targeted the Tapestry he had just finished to weave and a previously barely noticeable circlet took consistence.
Following which he addressed the worm directly : ‘Sup ?
- “Hungerrrr” the behemoth responded
- “You want food ? I can get it for you if you just wait a few hours”
- “Hours ?!” the worm shouted, incredulous that such a small form of life would ask so much of him, “Noooo ! Me want food nooow”
- “Wrong choice pal” concluded Gradur as his entire menagerie transformed into Huge 12-headed Hydras, growling and foaming at the mouthes.

Warning: The following sequence contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing and as such we’ll skip to the next part

The purple worm laying on the ground was imploring for mercy.
- “That’s a much more reasonable attitude ! We’ll see what we can do about your hunger if you accept to remain here and protect the village as long as you’re fed decently, how’s that ?”
His last drop of pride having left his body he immediately accepted.

The menagerie accepted a new member and they all lived happily ever after
The End





Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
1st Sha'ir 1 0 0 0 2 Know (Arcana) (+4) 4; Know (Nature) (+4) 4; Know (Dungeon) (+4 CC) 2; Silver Tongue, Heat Endurance (Bhuka Bonus) Summon Gen Familiar
2nd Sha'ir 2 1 0 0 3 Know (Arcana) (+1) 5; Know (Nature) (+1) 5; Know (Dungeon) (+1 CC) 2.5;
3rd Sha'ir 3 1 1 1 3 Know (Arcana) (+1) 6; Know (Nature) (+1) 6; Know (Dungeon) (+1 CC) 3; Animal Affinity Recognize Genie Works
4th Geomancer 1 1 3 1 5 Handle Animal (+4) 4; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) (+1 CC) 3.5; Drift 1, Spell Versatility 0
5th Geomancer 2 2 4 1 6 Handle Animal (+4) 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) (+1 CC) 4; Drift 1, Ley Line +1, Spell Versatility 1
6th Beast Heart Adept 1 3 6 1 8 Diplomacy (+5) 5; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Enlarge Spell Monstrous Companion, Monster Empathy, Monster Handler
7th Beast Heart Adept 2 4 7 1 9 Diplomacy (+5) 10; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Monster Lore
8th Beast Heart Adept 3 5 7 2 9 Concentration (+1) 1; Diplomacy (+1) 11; Craft (Weaving) (+3) 3; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Alternative Monstrous Companion
9th Beast Heart Adept 4 6 8 2 10 Concentration (+1) 2; Diplomacy (+1) 12; Craft (Weaving) (+3) 6; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Incarnum Spellshaping Monstrous Flank
10th Beast Heart Adept 5 7 8 2 10 Concentration (+4) 6; Diplomacy (+1) 13; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Extra Monstrous Companion
11th War Weaver 1 7 8 2 12 Concentration (+3) 9; Diplomacy 13; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Eldritch Tapestry
12th War Weaver 2 8 8 2 13 Concentration (+3) 12; Diplomacy 13; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Shape Soulmeld (Beast Tamer Circlet) Quiescent Weaving 1
13th War Weaver 3 8 9 3 13 Concentration (+3) 15; Diplomacy 13; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Quiescent Weaving 2
14th War Weaver 4 9 9 3 14 Concentration (+1) 16; Diplomacy 13; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Spellcraft (+2) 2; Quiescent Weaving 3
15th War Weaver 5 9 9 3 14 Concentration (+1) 17; Diplomacy 13; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Spellcraft (+2) 4; Practiced Spellcaster (Sha'ir) Enlarged Tapestry, Quiescent Weaving 4
16th Beast Heart Adept 6 10 10 4 15 Concentration 17; Diplomacy (+5) 18; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal 8; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Spellcraft 4; -
17th Beast Heart Adept 7 11 10 4 15 Concentration 17; Diplomacy (+2) 20; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal (+3) 11; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Spellcraft 4; Monstrous Tactics
18th Beast Heart Adept 8 12 11 4 16 Concentration 17; Diplomacy (+1) 21; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal (+4) 15; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Spellcraft 4; Wild Cohort -
19th Beast Heart Adept 9 13 11 5 16 Concentration 17; Diplomacy (+1) 22; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal (+4) 19; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Spellcraft 4; Extra Monstrous Companion
20th Beast Heart Adept 10 14 12 5 17 Concentration 17; Diplomacy (+1) 23; Craft (Weaving) 6; Handle Animal (+4) 23; Know (Arcana) 6; Know (Nature) 6; Know (Dungeon) 4; Spellcraft 4; Monstrous Team-up


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

Spell Known (at level 20 after :
0th : Resistance, Read Magic, Detect Magic, Launch Bolt, Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation, Create Water
1st : Color Spray, Grease, Mage Armor, Parching Touch, Silent Image, Nerveskitter,
2nd : Rope Trick, Silence, Snake’s Swiftness, Invisibility, Heroism
3rd : Alter Fortune, Fly, Haste, Displacement
4th : Open Least Chakra, Guardian Spirit, Polymorph






The first five levels are a bit harder for you than it is for a wizard (not by much) but since you’re a Bhuka, you’re all about adapting to harsh conditions via solidarity (and get Knowledge (Nature) as a permanent class skill)
The Create Water spell means you’re contributing to the community and what’s more you could also offer a premium service of Planar Traveling ; clients only need to bring their bag of holding and step in it for your Gen to Plane Shift with them inside. This little business ought to get you the money you need to buy the stuff you need to improve your diplomatic skills. Having a memory of 1 to ultimately 3 hours for spells is both a blessing and a curse, you’re really versatile because you can prepare spells on the fly, and if you end up not needing it, just wait a bit and put that spell slot to better use ! Otoh, if there is a spell you REALLY need to always have handy at low levels (like Color Spray) you have to send your Gen every time you’re about to forget it.
Other workarounds include Mage Armor for multiple hours protection and touch spells ; you can cast the latters and hold the charge indefinitely (just be careful when going to the restrooms).
By level 3 you can even have your Gen hold the charge of your Parching Touch for you.
Twist in the first 5 levels, you enter Geomancer.
You’re the sole class that can do that since you’re able to cast both arcane and divine spells so you can show off for one and get d6 HDs, Handle Animal as a class skill and 4+Int on skills. You also get to pick 2 cosmetic modifications (green and scaly skin matches the goblinoid subtype pretty well) and the Ley Line (Desert) gives you a +1 CL on your home turf. You can also treat fetching first level divine spells as getting arcane ones (maybe not Known arcane ones but still).
Animal Affinity is a prereq but Silver Tongue is insanely powerful. For now we use it by taking 20 on the Inspire Love and Despair on ourselves (I picture it as an ego boost talk in front of a mirror) before making the diplomacy checks necessary for retrieving spells. You can also use it in combat for Crushing Despair (Ex) at will DC14 isn’t a joke at those levels or you can also try and Cause Confusion with it. It’s a really good feat and will only get better.



Entering Beast Heart Adept (BHA).
We get a Hippogriff of course because flying is life and it’s even buffed compared to the SRD version. We fast track those Diplomacy ranks we dearly missed so far and ensure we won’t be failing a spell fetch ever again.
We get Monstrous Empathy and we can start to use Silver Tongue’s Inspire Love and Devotion ability on Magical Beasts, low-Int aberrations (Ray of Stupidity and Touch of Idiocy are both available to make them stupid enough to be your pet) and Handle Animal (taking 20) ensures you can teach them the tricks you want.
BHA 5 is when we can trade our Hippogriff (but keep it “under our spell” even though the ability is Ex… lol) for an Owlbear that will reach 9HD → 2 bonus feats → Martial Stance is on !
Island of Blades is really good for Monstrous Flank since positioning is made a lot easier in order to benefit from the class feature (and the std action teleport can situationally be awesome). Vanguard Strike/Iron Guard’s Glare is pretty nice too to ensure the security of the rest of your Menagerie.
Enlarge Spell is a prereq but Incarnum Spellshaping opens up access to a whole new line of spells (and grants us one Essentia we will need later).



5 Levels of War Weaver
This class is awesome for multiple reasons. The obvious one is the ability to buff ALL your minions with one spell. Furthermore the class only accepts up to 5th level spells, which is what we get in the end so that’s a good fit (see Spells section below). The best part though is the ability to store spells into the Weave for a later move action release. Now this is usually pretty good but it also erases a big problem of the Sha’ir’s spell mechanic, you can play like a wizard that leaves spell slots open during the day and takes 15 min to fill them except you don’t need a quiet place to do so (and probably less time too).
Last but far from least, you can store up to 4 spells that can be released in the order they were cast as a MOVE action. That’s 4 times the number of creatures in the Tapestry (up to 12) for less than half your action for the round. Before the capstone lets you change “Touch” for “Close” range, you can have your Gen “deliver touch spells” in melee if you don’t want to dive in ; his 70ft perfect fly speed should be enough
Polymorph is an insane spell that is tapestry legal and since your Gen is an Outsider considered to have your HD, you can go nuts.
Shape Soulmeld (Beast Tamer Circlet) is pretty good. It gives you bonuses to Handle Animal and Monstrous Empathy (as per Viscount’s ruling) and just by casting Open Least Chakra, you get to bind it for 24h. You can spend your Essentia (Incarnum Spellshaping) on it to get Speak with Animals at will which means you should be able to bypass the -4 of Monstrous Empathy and use Diplomacy with them directly. You can also use it to speak with Magical Beasts according to RotW p190 (see Notes and Discussions).
Practiced Spellcaster allows you to pick up on the lost CLs somewhat making you CL 13. If you’re in desert terrain, Ley Line gives you another +1 and getting a last one make you able to cap the Polymorph spell. Options include items (Orange Ioun Stone, Ring of Arcane Might (MIC), …) or spells (Adept Spirit is a given, Create Magic Tattoo not so much but can work)



Back to finish the SI.
We get an extra low level companion (Otyugh is the highest HD), and a Wild Cohort at 18 which should be a Dire Tortoise since it calls the desert home much like the Bhukas. Monstrous Tactics and Monstrous Team-up give an attack of opportunity against one opponent as soon as one of your allies hits it. Now imagine we polymorph our Wild Cohort, Gen, first MC and ourselves as 12 headed Hydras ; we get the benefits from their improved version of Combat Reflexes on that AoE which makes 48 attacks. Even better, if the strike that triggered Monstrous Tactics is a Vanguard Strike/Leading the Attack maneuver and Island of Blades as well as Tactics of the Wolf stances are up : that +6 to hits and +8 to damage on every hit. Chomp chomp indeed.
That’s just what the Gang is capable of, you can add the Minions as well for real craziness (see The Menagerie), in a perfect-never-gonna-happen setup, you could have up to 10 hydras (excluding the 2 lower HD MCs) and more if you use ME on actual Hydras that don’t need polymorph, which makes 120 attacks through Monstrous Team-up.
You like that image ? Now imagine casting Snake’s Swiftness… (well you’d have to be able to cast so that’s only 108 attacks sadly, but for one 2nd level spell, I doubt you can do better).
Ofc you can downright break the game by using ME to get yourself some devoted Tarrasques and show those 9th level casters who’s boss.




Ok let’s see.
1 Gen familiar, 1 Wild Cohort and 3 Monstrous Companions (MCs) will thereby be referred to as the Gang.
Whatever animals/magical beast/aberration we get through Monstrous Empathy will thereby be referred to as the Minions.

The Eldritch Tapestry can be woven among Cha Mod creatures excluding us.
By level 16 we have 22 Charisma. Throw in a +6 Cloak of Charisma and a Tome of Leadership and Influence +5 and by level 20 you can weave up to 12 creatures into the Tapestry.

It’s fun that Silver Tongue’s “Change an NPC attitude towards a person other than yourself” lets us have other people be friendly to our Menagerie leading to practicality for sure but mostly for comical situations when the city guards let you enter a city with your horde.


At ECL 6, 10 and 19, we get MCs. At ECL 18 we get a Wild Cohort.
The trick here is to optimize the amounts of feats you can give each creature.
At BHA10, a 1st level creature gets +8HD which means +3 feats (for those above 3HD) like the Hippogriff or the Owlbear
At BHA 6-equivalent, the second MC’s cap, it’s +4 HD which is +2 feats for the Owlbear specifically.
At BHA 1 equivalent, the last MC’s cap, you can’t add HD so might as well pick the highest HD for Polymorph purposes, the Otyugh.
ECL 18 means we can pick a cohort from the AC list of a 15th level druid. We return to our field, the desert, and get the Dire Tortoise and since it gains a bonus HD, it reaches 15HD and gets an extra feat ! At ECL 20 it has 17HD, see Warbeast Template.

The first 2 feats go to Martial Study and then Martial Stance.
Stances :
* Island of Blades (SH) : Any opponent your and your allies are adjacent to is considered flanked. Monstrous Tactics just got a lot better.
* Iron Guard’s Glare (DS) : Any enemy you threaten gets a -4 to hit anyone else but you. The meat sack of the bunch.
* Tactics of the Wolf (WR) : Allies attacking an enemy you both flank (see Island of Blades and Monstrous Tactics) get ½ your IL as bonus to damage (12HD = IL of 6).
Strikes (The rights discipline are needed to qualify for the right stance) :
* Shadow Jump (SH) gives a teleporting option to your monster which has tons of utility out of combat, can help him with positioning during fights and is Ex too.
* Vanguard Strike (DS)/Leading the Attack (WR) can be used after a move action to grant the rest of the Menagerie a +4 to hit the target of your ire.

The third feat (or the only one available) we want to spend on is Shape Soulmeld. It’s great because Open Least Chakra is a Tapestry valid spell that lasts 24h ; one casting opens up the Least Chakras (Crown, Hands, Feets) for all it may concern.
Many options are available but the best ones are :
* Sphinx Claws : Pounce is great. Imagine your Huge Dire Tortoise pouncing. Hilarious.
* Mauling Gauntlets : Give Improved Unarmed Strike to your Gang so it can use iteratives before using its natural attacks. (Magical Beasts are full BAB, that’s +3 attacks at 12HD)
You also get [2+Essentia x 2] to damage with it (see Soul Boon, which is Tapestry valid)

Since replacing an MC is aligned on the druid’s AC replacement rules, you can mix and match in between the options presented before.


Since you have the ranks for it, you could totally take two months to train any Animal in your Menagerie giving it +3 Str & Con, +2 Wis and, more importantly, +1HD. (Wild Cohort comes to mind)
If you select creatures with 5, 8, 11, 14, 17 HD, this +1 gets you a new feat, which is going to be Shape Soulmeld. Open Least Chakra just got a lot better !


Your typical Gang at ECL 20 would be :
A 12HD Hippogriff, a 9HD Owlbear, a 6HD Otyugh, a 17HD Dire Tortoise and a 20HD Air Gen
Hippogriff : Mauling Gauntlets, Leading the Attack, Tactics of the Wolf
Owlbear : Shadow Jaunt, Island of Blades
Warbeast Dire Tortoise : Leading the Attack, Iron Guard’s Glare. (If Warbeast isn’t possible, just take the one Shape Soulmeld : Sphinx Claws)



Now, we invested quite dearly in Handle Animal, Monstrous Empathy and Diplomacy.


At ECL20 we have :
* Diplomacy : 23 ranks, +Cha +5 (Scepter of Obedience) +2 Clebdecher Glamerweave +2 Good Hope (Silver Tongue) +2 Mwk Tool +2 (Aid Another from your Gen)

* Handle Animal : 23 ranks +Cha +5 (Scepter of Obedience) +2 Good Hope (Silver Tongue) +2 Mwk Tool +[2 x Essentia +2, maximum 10 with Soul Boon] (Beast Tamer Circlet) +2 Animal Affinity +2 (Aid Another from your Gen)

* Monstrous Empathy : +10 (BHA levels) +Cha +5 (Scepter of Obedience) +2 Handle Animal synergy


Tricks
* Silver Tongue : Inspire Love and Devotion
It’s meant to be for Diplomacy but ME fits the shoe just as well meaning any Magical Beast, Animal or low-int Aberration whose attitude you flip to Helpful will stay by your side until death do you part.

* Stupidity
Aberrations have a “low-int” only clause and you happen to have access to Ray of Stupidity, Touch of Idiocy and, the nuclear option, Feeblemind. Either you use Diplomacy to make them friendly to you or you make them stupid and use ME to achieve the same result ; either way, they’re your friends.

* Speak with Animal
The Beast Tamer Circlet, once bound to the crown chakra (by casting Open Least Chakra and having invested the essentia point from Incarnum Spellshaping), gives you at will Speak with Animal as the spell. That would be useless for magical beasts IF there wasn’t a precedent in RotW p190 about training an Elven Hound.

A character can use a Diplomacy check instead, provided the character has some way to communicate with the cooshee, such as access to a speak with animal spell. We can actually communicate with Magical Beast meaning we can use Diplomacy with them instead of ME if they’re intelligent enough (and Feeblemind them into ME if it fails).

So there is no limit on how many creature we can make fall in love with us but we’ll say that we only pick as many as we can weave into our tapestry (up to 12 -3MC -1WC -1Fam = 7)

* Our love nest
This is even more game breaking than spellcasters. I feel like I just discovered a whole new look on things.

Magical Beast : Tarrasque or the Thunder Worm (MMIII) are both fair game. Getting a Deathraven, Swarm (BoED) would be pushing it but works by RAW.
Animals : Battletitan or Seismosaurus Dinosaur (MMIII) because why the hell not.
Aberration : Annihilator (Und) and the Lodestone Marauder (MMIV) are the best Aberrations you can make fall in love with you.




- Domain Draught (MIC) : Grants you access to domain spells “if you normally prepare domain spells” which we do. Granted Powers, good, Domain spells, good, Domain Draught GOOOD.

- Optimizing checks :
* Cha-based : Circlet of Persuasion then Scepter of Obedience (MH) (when you get the Beast Tamer Circlet soulmeld on the Crown slot)
* Masterwork Tool of Handle Animal (a whip of some sort would be cool) and Diplomacy (Appropriate clothing or Cheat sheets with your target’s likes and dislikes)
* Cha boosting items : Cloak of Charisma +6, Tome of Leadership and Influence +5
* Clebdecher Glamerweave (SCoT) outfit for a circumstance +2 to Diplomacy

- For the Menagerie
* Amulet of Teamwork (MIC) : Get +3 to Aid Another and +2 to damage when flanking (Island of Blade and Monstrous Flanking). +5 to AC immediate 1/d
* Necklace of Natural Weapons (SS) : Relying on natural attacks means DR is a problem. This Necklace helps bypassing that, if you can afford it.



Quiescent Weave Madness
- Usual Combo : Soul Boon, Displacement, Polymorph (12-headed Hydra), Draconic Might (Dra)
- Grapple Combo : Babau Slime, Jaws of the Moray (Stwk), Urchin's Spines (Stwk), Polymorph (Jarilith/Glazebru)
- Defensive Combo : Indomitability, Stoneskin, Displacement, Delay Death
- Sneaking Combo : Xorn Movement, Polymorph (Wil O'Wisp), True Seeing

Other candidates to put in the tapestry are :
1st : Nerveskitter, Protection from C/E/G/L
2nd : Insight of Good Fortune (PHBII), Heroism, Invisibility, Snake’s Swiftness
3rd : Energy Aegis (PHBII), Alter Fortune (PHBII), Fly
4th : Greater Invisibility, Nezram's Emerald Energy Shield (LEoF)
5th : Draconic Polymorph

Hour/level spells you don’t have to keep fetching
Those are good because they lessen the pressure on the 3 hours recharge on spells you have going on and don’t need to be stored inside the Tapestry ; one casting and we’re set for the day.
1st : Mage Armor
3rd : Greater Mage Armor, Adept Spirit (MoI)
4th : Open Least Chakra, Guardian Spirit (MoI)
5th : Superior Resistance (SS)

Utility
Grease, Invisibility, Fly, Polymorph, Teleport etc.
The Sor/Wiz list is the best in the game and if you give it a little effort, Sha’ir has access to all of them effectively breaking the in-game/out-of-game knowledge barrier !
That combined with the fact that fetching ONE spell can end up buffing ALL you companions makes you a force to be reckoned with.
For our own use, I mentioned the Ray of Stupidity, Touch of Idiocy and Feeblemind spells which are really helpful if diplomatic endeavors failed.

The “I have access to domain spells” section
Sha’ir has access to the Air, Chaos, Earth, Fire, Knowledge, Law, Sun, Water domain spells
Among this selection, only a few are worth picking up but they’re great in the Tapestry !
2nd : Aid (Luck)
4th : Freedom of Movement (Luck), Air Walk (Air)
5th : True Seeing (Knowledge) and with no material components to boot !

Domain Draught
Granted Powers : Destiny (1 reroll for an ally), Courage (aura vs fear), Joy (+4 Diplomacy), Planning (Extend Spell bonus feat)
Spells to cast in the Weave :
1st : Bless (Community)
2nd : Elation (Joy), Barskin (Plant)
3rd : Delay Death (Destiny), Recitation (Purification)
4th : Greater Magic Fang (Dragon, Permanenciable), Cure Critical Wound (Heal), Death Ward (Death/Repose)
5th : Valiant Fury (Courage), Spell Resistance (Magic/Protection)




The Sha’ir
For the purpose of this build, I made the following assumptions :
- Sha’ir is an arcane spellcasting class that happens to be able to cast divine spells.
- Concerning Unknown Arcane Spell, the Sha’ir must have seen the effect of the spell in question and identified it with a Spellcraft check.
Our Spellcraft is abysmal for skill point reasons BUT Arcane Writings rules say
Deciphering a magical writing allows the reader to identify the spell and gives some idea of its effects.
This is pretty straightforward ; cast (permanency) read magic and go to magic marts to stock up on every.single.spell available on the Sor/Wiz list.
- The spells your Gen familiar brings back and stuffs in your mind have an expiration date. I’m assuming the
If a spell is not used within that time, the power to cast the spell dissipates harmlessly means you don’t lose the spell slot, you just need to resend the Gen to fetch the spell.


Level Casting Level Spell Level Arcane Known Arcane Unknown Unknown Divine Take 10 / Roll a 1 Diplo boost WBL
1st Sha'ir 1 0th/1st DC17/19 DC19/21 DC25/27 18 / 9
2nd Sha'ir 2 0th/1st DC16/18 DC18/20 DC24/26 20 / 11 Clebdecher Glamerweave 900 gp
3rd Sha'ir 3 0th/1st/2nd DC15/17/-- DC17/19/21 DC23/25/27 20 / 11 2,700 gp
4th Sha'ir 4 0th/1st/2nd DC15/17/19 DC17/19/21 DC23/25/27 23 / 14 Circlet of Persuasion 5,400 gp
5th Sha'ir 5 0th/1st/2nd/3rd DC15/17/19/-- DC17/19/21/23 DC23/25/27/29 23 / 14 9,000 gp
6th 28 / 19 +5 ranks 13,000 gp
7th 33 / 24 +5 ranks 19,000 gp
8th 35 / 26 Cha 20, +1 rank 27,000 gp
9th 36 / 27 +1 rank 36,000 gp
10th 37 / 28 +1 rank 49,000 gp
11th 39 / 30 Scepter of Obedience 66,000 gp
12th Sha'ir 6 0th/1st/2nd/3rd DC15/17/19/21 DC17/19/21/23 DC23/25/27/29 88,000 gp
13th Sha'ir 7 0th/1st/2nd/3rd/4th DC15/17/19/21/-- DC17/19/21/23/25 DC23/25/27/29/31 110,000 gp
14th Sha'ir 8 0th/1st/2nd/3rd/4th DC15/17/19/21/23 DC17/19/21/23/25 DC23/25/27/29/31 150,000 gp
15th Sha'ir 9 0th/1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th DC15/17/19/21/23/-- DC17/19/21/23/25/27 DC23/25/27/29/31/33 200,000 gp

DC math : DC20 -Sha'ir class level (max 3) -2 if Arcane Known +2 x spell level +6 Unknown Divine +1 x modified metamagic level

Out of combat highest DC : 5th level unknown enlarged divine spell = DC 34. Taking 10 works
In combat DC : 4th level known arcane enlarged spell = DC 24. Rolling a 1 works.


Polymorph
The spell description mentions willing creatures so it’s fair to put it into the tapestry.
The “CL or creature’s HD, whichever is lowest” is a bit of a problem since we’re dealing with highly different HD of our Menagerie by the end of the build. I reckon you can always decide not to touch the ones you don’t want the spells to work on when you release the Quiescent Weave.
But OMG who thought a 9th level class ability of “get an extra 3-6HD minion” was any good ?!

Fun Findings

As soulmelds go we have the Ankheg Breastplate, Behir Gorget, Blink Shirt, Claws of the Wyvern (DrM), Girallon Arms, Great Raptor Mask (Eagle & Owl), Krenshar Mask, Manticore Belt, Pegasus Cloak, Threefold Mask of the Chimera, Totem Avatar (Owlbear & Gray Render, Winter Mask, Worg Pelt, Yrthak Mask.




SRD - Feats, Spells, Monsters
Dragon Compendium - Sha’ir
Complete Arcana - Practiced Spellcaster
Tome of Battle - Feats, Maneuvers
Magic of Incarnum - Feats, Spells and Soulmelds.
Complete Divine - Geomancer
Dungeonscape - Beast Heart Adept
Heroes of Battle - War Weaver
Web - Wild Cohort (https://web.archive.org/web/20110225130427/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a)
Dragon 318 : Oriental Adventure 3.5 update - Silver Tongue
Spell Compendium - Spells and Domains

[The Viscount]

Nine builds it is!
Judges, over to you.

[Thurbane]

Interetsing entries.

I was thinking about doing something with a Planar Ranger/Druid entry, but I was misremembering one of the Planar Ranger's class features: I thought they could cast spells that affect animals on magical beasts, but they can only cast these spells on Celestial or Fiendish animals.

Also, it specifically calls out Ranger spells, so wouldn't have affected Druid casting anyway...

[loky1109]

Reading my entries now and see errors and cool missed opportunities. (((

[loky1109]

Table.

Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef Judge 1 Total Place
Flea (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681917&postcount=38) TN Desert Kobold Wilderness Kobold Penetrating Strike Rogue 10 / Beast Heart Adept 10
Liam Greve (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681918&postcount=39) NG Dragonborn Half-Elf Healing Hymn Half-Elf Bard 1/Warblade 7/Half-Elf Paragon 1/Marshall 1/Beast Heart Adept 10
Pjotr Campioni (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681920&postcount=40) NG Human Noble 1/Rival organization Ranger 1/Human Paragon 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/Legacy Champion 6
The Beast Brain Adept (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681921&postcount=41) TN Rilkan Archivist 8/Beast Heart Adept 2/Bardic Knack Bardic Sage 1/Urban Savant 7/Beast Heart Adept 2
The Pack (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681922&postcount=42) ?? Krenshar Champion of the Wild Trap Expert Fangshields Ranger 4/Beastmaster 1/Abolisher 1/Beast Heart Adept 10
Sir Griffith (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681923&postcount=43) ?? Silverbrow Human Warblade 9/Fighter 1/Beast Heart Adept 10
Otto Solinksi (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681926&postcount=44) LG Strongheart Halfling Poison Use Martial Wilderness Rogue 2/Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Fighter 1/Invisible Fist Sleeping Tiger Decisive Strike Monk 2/Swordsage 2/Beast Heart Adept 7/Legacy Champion 6
Rose Aluna (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681926&postcount=44) CG Strongheart Halfling Poison Use Martial Wilderness Rogue 2/Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Skilled City-Dweller Fighter 1/Marshal 1/Crusader 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/Shadowdancer 1/Uncanny Trickster 3
Gradur (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681928&postcount=45) TN Bhuka Sha’ir 3/Geomancer 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/War Weaver 5

[Inevitability]

My very first idea was to go Halfling Monk 2/Wilderness Rogue 3/Hellbreaker 4/BHA 10/something 1 (using Monk for Unseen Fist, Weapon Finesse, Improved Feint and Sun School Access), then enter BHA and get 3 Blink Dogs. Each can teleport as a free action 1/round letting you teleport along with Hellbreaker's Stowaway and make a free Sun School attack.

Backstory would've been a LE monk aiding in the conquest of a sylvan forest slowly realizing the value of those things he's destroying, changing alignment to CG, and joining the pack of blink dogs he'd previously been hunting.

Of course, Stowaway only works with spells and spell-like abilities, and a blink dog's dimension door is (Su), so...

------

Outside of that, I had some half-formed ideas involving Nightsong Infiltrator, but it didn't give a lot other than Teamwork Sneak Attack and Grant Move Action, which seemed a bit so-so.

I also looked at half-orc druid to get the ability to use Strength on Monstrous Empathy, maybe going into Outcast Champion to boost allies (and give ourselves a very funny bonus on our empathy rolls).

My final idea before settling on my submissions was a Dungeoncrasher fighter who'd use his allies to get heavy objects in place to bull rush enemies into, maybe using the fighter bonus feats to get the Wolfpack feat later on (though that got kind of expensive prerequisite-wise).

[Paragon]

I found out too late about my second build idea but I'll post it here since it was kinda funny.

Gold Dwarf
Harmonious Knight 1 sub level to get Inspire Courage (even though it's not Bardic Music which saddened me), it does however lets you count Paladin levels for the purpose of how many times per day you can use it.

Then we get another 4 levels of Paladin.
Berronar Valkyrie at 3rd and 4th to get Valiant Rescue which is a Paladin-disguised Pounce attack.

Next on the tweaks agenda was the Holy Warrior ACF trading the little-to-no casting into an extra feat.

Getting a mount is great at 5th levels and then we move on to BHA for 10 levels ... originally...

I found the Skyguard of the Great Rift PrC in RoF and jesus that is the funniest PrC ever written to me. It makes sense since it improved the hippogriff you get as your last Monstrous Companion (or the other ones if you so wish) and the class features are plain awesomeness.

I ended not having the time to draft it further but I feel I would have been disappointed to only have 5 levels of that last one and would rather wait for it to come up as the actual SI !

[Inevitability]

I ended not having the time to draft it further but I feel I would have been disappointed to only have 5 levels of that last one and would rather wait for it to come up as the actual SI !

Great Rift Skyguard (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?482249-Iron-Chef-Optimisation-Challenge-in-the-Playground-LXXVII) has been done, sadly. Proud to say I came in dead last, though!

[Paragon]

Didn't even think to check x)
I'm going to enjoy reading this though

[Gruftzwerg]

Nine builds it is!
Judges, over to you.

Do we have any judges at all? Unless I missed the post, there seems to be none.

[Darrin]

Do we have any judges at all? Unless I missed the post, there seems to be none.

Judgmentation initiated.

Caveat: I'm rusty. And slooooooooooooooooooooooowwww...

[ThanatosZero]

I am going to join in as a supporting judge, helping a certain member with my 2 cents. :P

[Wildstag]

I guess with two other people, I'm more comfortable trying my hand at this judging thing. Hopefully my judgments live up to y'all's standards.

[Paragon]

Do we have any judges at all? Unless I missed the post, there seems to be none.

2 of those formidable judges answered duty's call in the Discord server you like to hate ;)

Thanks guys, looking forward to reading your thoughts on those entries !

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Oh my gods, I was looking at the judging deadline instead of the submission deadline. That's disappointing. Ah, well, I was starting to worry about whether my build was even up to snuff power-wise anyway.

EDIT: On the plus side, I get to close like half of my tabs, which is always a nice feeling.

[Gruftzwerg]

Thanks at the volunteering judges^^





2 of those formidable judges answered duty's call in the Discord server you like to hate ;)

Thanks guys, looking forward to reading your thoughts on those entries !

Ah, I get it. It's the discords achievment to let some of the people that have been partially lured away in the first place back onto the forum or what?^^

Both have joined the forum long before the discord has existed and I doubt that the discord is the reason why they volunteer, but more their familiarity with the site/forum itself.

And if you want me "to hate the discord", you shall get all the hate you asked for^^
I still feel the drop in forum activity every day and I also feel a drop in google search ratings. Thank you all for that great achievement ;)

[loky1109]

2 of those formidable judges answered duty's call in the Discord server you like to hate ;)

Thanks guys, looking forward to reading your thoughts on those entries !

Maybe we also could find there any judge for VC (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?649810-Villainous-Competition-XLVIX-Controller!)?

[Inevitability]

While we're waiting for the judges... any thought on Cyre Scout (Dragonmarked) as a future ingredient? It's race and subrace specific, which kind of bites, but other than that it's got very relaxed entry requirements (technically you could enter and finish this without getting any prerequisite skill in-class), it gives lots of janky little abilities, and it grants use of infusions, which I feel tend to go pretty underexamined in iron chef.

[Wildstag]

On that note, I've got time this weekend, so I should be able to finish up the first draft of the judging, and then I'll review and edit them. Should be done by Wednesday. It's been a busy couple weeks, so you'll have to be patient for a few more days (for my judging at least).

[The Viscount]

While we're waiting for the judges... any thought on Cyre Scout (Dragonmarked) as a future ingredient? It's race and subrace specific, which kind of bites, but other than that it's got very relaxed entry requirements (technically you could enter and finish this without getting any prerequisite skill in-class), it gives lots of janky little abilities, and it grants use of infusions, which I feel tend to go pretty underexamined in iron chef.

It certainly is janky and kind of interesting. As you mentioned, the entry method narrows things somewhat. Infusions definitely get less use, same with a lot of the subsystems. I'm wary of using it given that the last magic subsystem we used (psionics) got 2 non-chair entries.

[loky1109]

It certainly is janky and kind of interesting. As you mentioned, the entry method narrows things somewhat. Infusions definitely get less use, same with a lot of the subsystems. I'm wary of using it given that the last magic subsystem we used (psionics) got 2 non-chair entries.
As for me "magic" itself isn't issue, but so Eberronish class maybe.

[daremetoidareyo]

How goes judging?

[Wildstag]

Currently in the process of peer review, as it is my first time and I want it done right.

[daremetoidareyo]

Awesome. No rush. I just wanted to get the comp off of page 2.

[Paragon]

Judgment incoming soon :D

[Wildstag]

So um... the last few days I've had the judgment finished and just formatting it for the thread only took 1.5 hours of the government's time, but I figure everyone gets anxious when they first submit this crap, so critique me as harshly as you will. I can't promise a satisfying rebuttal.

Each score starts at 3 and gets points up or down dependent on their strengths and weaknesses. I also don't judge too much around the story; that part has always seemed contrived to me, even within the considerations of the competition.

All in all though, this has been a fun exercise in my 3.5 literacy and competency.



It uses a very unique mechanic from the kobold alternate class features. That alone bumps it up (+) by .25. The rest of the build relies on that one interaction between Destrachan’s at-will ability and Evasive Skitter. It is a kobold and no one else went with a kobold, so I’ll factor that into another +.25. It shares Wilderness Rogue with two other builds, so that knocks the build down by .25.

Total : 3.25



The likelihood of more than two hitting is low at higher levels. The 10/10 of the build also leaves the saves at +10 across the board (+.25). It’s not a particularly strong build, but it utilizes its companions well and sneak attacks pair well with the teamwork components of the SI. As such, it remains a bit above the base line.

Total : 3.25



The build relies on an ability granted at level 9 but the compatible monstrous companion isn’t for another 7 levels. Before that it’s an expected rogue companion build, replicable with a grappling Wild Cohort. That being said, it’s a minor gripe, so subtract .5 at most. I’ll also subtract another .25 because it doesn’t get Improved Evasion. The rogue still has a chance of failing the saving throw for full damage, and with only d4 hd from Kobold substitution levels, Flea is slightly flimsier than other rogues.
Total : 2.25



The build goes to 10 with the SI, so I’ll give that +.5. Additionally, the SI is necessary for the concept and the build uses all three companions well. .25.

Total : 3.75




The concept is interesting and using the Krenshar with its low LA and HD to play a pack of creatures is intriguing. The commitment to the theme is commendable.

Total : 3.5



It doesn’t do much, it basically just utilizes Ranger at a lower level to get an additional companion, but it doesn’t seem to have any way to keep them alive late game. It just has low level and power companions by the end of the game. It has no defensive options to keep the pack alive and no offensive options to utilize them better.

Total : 1



It doesn’t do anything uniquely impressive to get what it needs aside from its Fangshields ACF to raise its Companion level enough to replace the animal companion with a Krenshar (+.25). Also Beast Totem and Totem Companion get the additional Krenshar companions in an interesting manner (+.25). The devotion to Krenshar does reduce the effectiveness of the build, so a penalty -.25. It just reads like that old line “Second verse, same as the first but a whole lot louder and a whole lot worse” (but in a charming way if that makes sense?).
Total : 3.25



It doesn’t do anything special with the SI specifically. Its primary interaction is that it ends up with companions of the same species as itself. The end. That’s already given bonuses to Originality, and I don’t see the point in doubling the bonuses. It does go 10 levels in the SI, so that grants a +.5.

Total : 3.5

P.S. It seems like it'd be a fun encounter to run for a party, the pack of Krenshar that do more than normal Krenshar... but would that increase the effective level because of one being a player character? Maybe decrease since all but one are class features... I dunno.




As far as common elements go, this one shares significant Warblade investment with another build, and for that it gets knocked down -.25. It uses Dragonborn for the (dragonblood) subtype to qualify for a feat that provides bonuses in the teamwork component, in a otherwise unused way, so +.25.

Total : 3



As far as combat potential goes, fire is very commonly resisted or immunized against, however it’s still useful for a lot of foes (+.25). But the 4d6+14 per attack is good melee damage output, especially applied to as many attacks as you’d get. Even if it’s not on every attack, that’s still reliable damage. Mostly I’m just partial to static damage, and this build deals a lot of it (+.25). The focus on Charisma gives a lot of uses in and out of combat too (+.25). All told, a +.75.

Total : 3.75



I think by definition, anything using Snowflake Wardance fits one definition of elegant. And using Marshall and Inspire Courage to buff the entire team and the minions is a good solution to getting more damage out of the minions. In my view, it amounts to +.5 for the way it commits to a warlord concept.

Total : 3.5



I feel like this uses the SI to get more companions more than anything else, and that can be done with a summons build or any other minion-mancer. It takes 10 levels, and I previously graded that +.5. Other than that, it doesn’t do anything unique with the SI.

Total : 3.5





So you use Wild Cohort, an element shared by a couple other builds, and as such will reduce score by .25. In each case it seems to just add an additional minion and isn’t central to any build, but it sticks out in my mind. Another -.25 for sharing heavy Legacy Champion usage with another build. Other than that, I have no comments on originality that are not already penalizing Elegance.

Total : 2.5



Lastly, I don’t see this as being any more powerful than the other aura-based entries. It gives static bonuses to as many allies as are in reach of effects; the bonuses to damage due to the dragonblood subtype are nice. +.25. The focus on Charisma gives a +.25, since that can be used in a lot of non-combat situations. Otherwise, it’s less powerful than other builds I see here. Lastly, it actually has ways of keeping allies alive and giving them alternative usefulness. +.25.

Total : 3.75



Both for the use of Leadership (-.5), and for the overreliance on a specific magic item through Legacy Champion (-.5), I would say that the penalties are significant enough to warrant a significant reduction for this category. I do like the use of Primary Contact to enter the SI early though, and that will increase score by .25.

Total : 2.25



This build goes to 10, so it will get +.5 for that. I don’t see it doing anything else special with the PrC though…

Total : 3.5


P.S. While I understand the value of the build, it uses Leadership, and it is my understanding that the feat is banned. A wasted feat slot is a wasted feat slot. That should be enough to penalize the points significantly. Further, the build relies heavily on a single item, and it is my understanding of the rubric that such builds tend to be discouraged by judges. Seems subjective to some extent though. And like, with the plethora of minions this SI gives, does a Cohort stat block add that much work?



You use Wild Cohort, and though it isn’t a core element, its commonality with other build results in a .25 penalty; it is used in the explanation as another source of land-based flanking. Also it’s a fleshraker, which is just *soooo* common. The full mounted combatant build isn’t replicated in the list of builds, but does seem a bit obvious, like an expected part of the PrC. Additionally, the build relies heavily on Warblade to get is qualifying levels, which it has in common with another build; -.25. Lastly, many of your Monstrous Companions use blade magic for their feat slots, and that is something other builds have in common; -.25.

Total : 2.25



So as I state elsewhere, I’m a sucker for static bonuses to damage, and this build relies on it. Assuming you hit with those attacks (and you have full BAB), it’s big damage from multipliers. +.25. Further, Draconic Aura helps to keep your minions alive slightly, so I’ll add a further .25 to this. You probably could have been just as powerful with only four levels in the SI and just used the other levels for amplifying the static damage.

Total : 3.5



I want to penalize you .25 for a thing that I hope looks justified in the eyes of the forum. You took Stone Bones at level 1, but you also state that you would probably purchase a mount and use it as early as possible. How are you using Stone Bones (which requires contact with the ground) while mounted? And also you keep it until level 17 despite the entire point of the SI entry being to gain a flying mount for diving charges. It just seems sloppy, even despite the eventual replacement of it. Otherwise, I have no issues with the build’s elegance.

Total : 2.75



Story-wise, you built around using a Hippogriff mount, and I appreciate that. You also go the full 10 in the class, so +.5.
Total : 3.5





I’d penalize the build for the Strongheart Halflings, but seeing as the same guy submitted both such builds, no penalty. Legacy Champion being central to the build mirrors another build, and is a .25 penalty. Wilderness Rogue is used for this build as well as Flea and Rose, and so I’ll penalize a further .25 for it. Lastly, many of your Monstrous Companions use blade magic for their feat slots, and that is something a couple other builds have in common; -.25.

Total : 2.25



I don’t see this as really being stronger or weaker than the alternative, but it does rely heavily on Monstrous Tactics to deal damage, as well as the mounted combat.

Total : 3.25



This build relies more heavily on Legacy Champion than the other build with that PrC does, as such, the reliance on a specific magic item comes out to -5.

Additionally, using both Martial Rogue and Wilderness Rogue on the same levels doesn’t really work. Martial Rogue is listed under the “Other Class Variants” heading. Per the “Multiclassing and Variant Classes” tab on page 48 of the Unearthed Arcana, multiclassing into multiple variants of the same class is okay. But they’re not substitution levels. To make this work, you’d have to take levels in Martial Rogue, and then multiclass into Wilderness Rogue. -.25 for each level used incorrectly in this way.

Total : 2.25



+.5 for getting to level 7 but also getting effective levels through Legacy Champion. Otherwise, I don’t think the SI amplifies anything the build does. In combat, even through level 15, it seems like you’re relying on Legacy Champion moreso than anything else. +.25 for the effective 11th level.

Total : 3.75





I’m docking .25 for the use of Wilderness Rogue, if only because two other builds utilize it. It’s a convenient entry, I guess, but its convenience also makes it predictable. Lastly, many of your Monstrous Companions use blade magic for their feat slots, and that is something a couple other builds have in common; -.25.

Total : 2.5



I don’t see this being nearly as powerful a build as the others, but it does utilize the SI to amplify damage; +.25. It also doesn’t provide methods for keeping the companions alive.

Total : 3.25



So first off, I want to say the hypothetical Evasive Reflexes cheese is really funny, but also it feels dumb. The mobility of the build is central to the build, and so I’d give this a +.5.

Additionally, using both Martial Rogue and Wilderness Rogue on the same levels doesn’t really work. Martial Rogue is listed under the “Other Class Variants” heading. Per the “Multiclassing and Variant Classes” tab on page 48 of the Unearthed Arcana, multiclassing into multiple variants of the same class is okay. But they’re not substitution levels. To make this work, you’d have to take levels in Martial Rogue, and then multiclass into Wilderness Rogue. -.25 for each level used incorrectly in this way.

Total : 3



+.5 for getting to level 10 in the PrC. +.25 for going above and beyond, reaching effectively 11 levels of the PrC. Further, the mobility the build is centered around is primarily possible through use of the SI, so another +.25.

Total : 4





This is high, in that I don’t really see any similarities between this and others. +.5 for being unique.

Total : 3.5



I think, objectively speaking, using spellcasting makes this a more powerful build than the alternatives, and that’s a whole tier thing. Still, +.5 for being able to utilize spells effectively with the build. Dark Knowledge gives significant combat benefits for another .25. The way you further improve your power through Knowledge Domain Affiliation gives another +.25. By itself, the build doesn’t do much, but support is a keystone part of the D&D experience, and it does that very well; +.5.

Total : 4.5



I don’t really see anything inelegant perse, aside from the whole Hoarding Dragonborn Pegasus/Eagle thing, which just seems grossly cheesy, and I can’t say I’ve met a GM that would let the whole “diplomacy to convert the Bahamut worshiper to Chaotic Evil; -.25 imo.

Total : 2.75



Ironically, the SI dip is 100% necessary for the build, and yet you only dip and don’t get bonuses for halfway and full completion of it. Still, because the build’s usefulness is dependent on the SI, you get a +.25.

Total : 3.25





This is unique among the builds in that you are a spellcaster, but you use it to buff your minions, and you actually have a full pack of minions. This is two positives for a +.5. Additionally, you share Wild Cohort with several other builds, so that will result in a .25 penalty. Lastly, many of your Monstrous Companions use blade magic for their feat slots, and that is something a couple other builds have in common; -.25.

Total : 3



By using War Weaver, you can give significant buffs to your minions while still having the versatility that spells provide. Just considering the examples given, this seems worth at least a +.5. Further, Practiced Spellcaster improves the duration of your buffs significantly, for another +.25. Finally, just based on the fact that the build is a half-caster, an additional +.5 in strength. Personally, the build can be strong, but with a team, it’s even stronger.

Total : 4.5



I’m really not a fan of how you qualify as a 2nd level arcane spellcaster solely through Arcane Spell Unknown, using that to even enter Geomancer, but you are able to cast those spells. Further, you list 5th level spells on your “spells” section, but you technically don’t know them, and you’d have to be lucky enough to witness them all. Most seem reasonable, but Draconic Polymorph might not show up in standard gameplay. In my opinion, that’s worth a -.25. Admittedly, you also have a missing spell known of first level (I think), but eh?

Total : 2.75



By default, for going a full 10 in this class, get a +.5. Further, using War Weaver’s capstone, you buff all of your minions with long duration spells, and though on the one hand I feel like that puts a greater spotlight on the War Weaver levels, it showcases the minionmancy of the SI very well. +.25 for that.

Total : 3.75

[Paragon]

Thank you for taking this time !
That many entries as a first timer is pretty big a challenge

[daremetoidareyo]

Thank you for judging, no disputes here

[The Viscount]

Thank you for judging, Wildstag! I promise you we appreciate it.
With that said, here are some disputes.


Hey there Wildstag, thanks for judging this round. A few minor disputes for Gradur.

Originality : I thought Sha'ir would see some love, not gonna lie, as well as a very obscure Silver Tongue feat whose "romantic option" optimizes Monstrous Empathy very much. Geomancer is the sole PrC used to get Handle Animal as a class skill too while being pretty rarely seen itself imo.
Most of all, I thought taking the Incarnum route would grant originality and using the Essentia from Incarnum Spellshaping to maintain the Circlet with which you can speak with animals at will would be very Elegant.

Speaking of Elegance, I pointed out in Notes & Discussions that while witnessing spells being cast using Spellcraft is one way to identify spells, you can actually just read them with read magic in other spellbooks or scrolls in any magic shop you can find which increases the ways to acquire them dramatically.

As for qualifying with Arcane Spells Unknown, I didn't see it that way, I only looked at what you can or cannot cast. My take on the Sha'ir (or at least on Gradur's build here) is that you have your combat spells and your utility ones. Utility is when you're not as pressed by time as combat which is fine since time is what you need to pull up virtually any spells you're read/witnessed before.

Use of the SI : I feel I exploited Monstrous Empathy a lot since it's very close to Diplomacy (Sha'ir's core mechanic) and I get it through the roof which means I can rear in Tarrasques and other listed monsters. Having the ability to reduce intelligence in creatures in order to influence them is pretty cheesy and unique too.

That's my view on things but hey, you're judging so it's your take on all this that matters (I'm just pointing it out in case you missed it).

Cheers.


Only one minor gripe. I think, the beast heart adept class is good for this concept specifically, because it gives a lot of extra attacks, in-class diplomacy, and full BAB, which is a rare combination I cannot get with summoner or minionmancer.

I care a lot about extra attacks because I apply static bonuses to each, and with monstrous tactics and monstrous team up everyone makes a lot more of them. I also expand my versatility with monster empathy and monster lore, which use my primary stats (and monster lore gets a tiny bonus from bard), letting me be useful against things that diplomacy does not work against. I am sad the score in UoSI does not reflect this.



-The very core of the build is based on getting no-action controllable movement, something that's actually rather difficult for rogues as travel devotion, pounce, etc, all tend not to work (I went into detail on this in the build itself). Compared to a regular rogue, I have much better movement and thus a much better chance of getting full attacks off, and I can even move mid-round to get to another opportunist target. It's a bit disappointing to see this reflected nowhere in the scores.

Even if 'the likelihood of more than two hitting is low at higher levels' (despite my high dexterity, high BAB, and +4 from flanking), even if you want to round my three iteratives off to a single additional hit, I'm still hitting three or more times where a normal rogue hits twice: that's a significant boost in damage!

Similarly, I think my flimsiness is overemphasized when I have such an easy time repositioning and hiding mid-turn. The HD downgrades cost me 2 HP total: if I succesfully skitter away from an attack once per day I'm still compensating for my frailty a dozen times over. Besides, with natural armor, small size, and higher dex, I am harder to hit than a normal rogue anyway.

Lastly, while the destrachan is -optimal- for my strategy, it's not -necessary-. The 1/encounter fire breath from my chimera comes online at level 14, and even the 1/6hr ankheg splatter (level 9) can be used to good effect. I can definitely pull my main trick off before level 17, I just cannot do it every round.

Also, is 10 level base class / 10 level prestige class not very Elegant?


Thanks for judging Wildstag. I do have some disputes though.


Wilderness Rogue is used for this build as well as Flea and Rose, and so I’ll penalize a further .25 for it. Lastly, many of your Monstrous Companions use blade magic for their feat slots, and that is something a couple other builds have in common; -.25.Both Otto and Rose received this criticism. I submitted them together in hopes that overlapping elements like Wilderness Rogue would hurt my originality less, as they are after all coming from the same source, but I suppose those elements did technically appear in multiple builds.

I take more issue with the penalty for use of ToB on Monstrous Companions' feats. This feels like you're just punishing the people who made a meaningful effort to optimize their Monstrous Companions' feats at all. Also, their companions use relatively little ToB in comparison to Meldshaping, which none of the other builds use, and Otto's Cometary Colision companion setup and Rose's Great Flyby Attack companion setup are also distinct from the rest of the field (I suppose the Great Flyby setup is one that actually does use ToB, but it's a maneuver that no one else uses and specifically does something with Monstrous Team-Up in Rose's specific context).


Additionally, using both Martial Rogue and Wilderness Rogue on the same levels doesn’t really work. Martial Rogue is listed under the “Other Class Variants” heading. Per the “Multiclassing and Variant Classes” tab on page 48 of the Unearthed Arcana, multiclassing into multiple variants of the same class is okay. But they’re not substitution levels. To make this work, you’d have to take levels in Martial Rogue, and then multiclass into Wilderness Rogue. -.25 for each level used incorrectly in this way.A Wilderness Rogue is still a Rogue which retains the thing that Martial Rogue wants to trade away, so I don't believe the passage in question actually precludes the use of multiple variants used in this way, but rather leaves the door open to something like Rogue 1/Wilderness Rogue 1 for extra Sneak Attack progression (something which is obscenely inelegant in my view) as well. However, both Otto and Rose can resolve this issue at the cost of a few skill points by using Wilderness Rogue 1/Fighter 2 instead of Martial Wilderness Rogue 2/Sneak Attack Fighter 1.


This build relies more heavily on Legacy Champion than the other build with that PrC does, as such, the reliance on a specific magic item comes out to -5.This, I feel, is essentially like penalizing a VoP build for item reliance, since Legacy Items tend to not be very good and getting them to the level of standard WBL requires optimization. Legacy Champion was included because I felt it was important to push Monstrous Companion progression past 10 levels, but I made an effort to not just handwave away the Legacy Champion requirements and find a printed Legacy Item that, in conjunction with Legacy Champion's Replace Legacy Ability which I was getting anyway, would jive with what the build was trying to do, and don't feel that constitutes specific item reliance in the usual sense.


I don’t see this as really being stronger or weaker than the alternative, but it does rely heavily on Monstrous Tactics to deal damage, as well as the mounted combat.

+.5 for getting to level 7 but also getting effective levels through Legacy Champion. Otherwise, I don’t think the SI amplifies anything the build does. In combat, even through level 15, it seems like you’re relying on Legacy Champion moreso than anything else.Monstrous Tactics to forcibly trigger AoOs is just about the best amplification as one could hope for on a Decisive Striker, as it grants extra attacks at double damage.
As you acknowledge in Power, Otto also uses the Monstrous Companions as mounts to help him move and Decisive Strike in the same round and to get the benefit of Spirited Charge. He also does more than any build apart from Rose to optimize the Monstrous Companions as reliable triggers for Monstrous Tactics.
Island of Blades ensures that Monstrous Flank is always active when Otto is mounted and more reliable in general, and Decisive Strike and Spirited Charge multiply the damage bonus.


Thank you for judging Wildstag!


The devotion to Krenshar does reduce the effectiveness of the build, so a penalty -.25.
It sounds like double penalty. You give me 1 in Power and -0.25 here for the same thing. I see why I have so low Power (maybe I expected some more, but it's ok, Pack isn't powerhouse and I understand it), but Elegance... I don't see any decisions within the chosen paradigm that make Pack weaker.


It doesn’t do anything special with the SI specifically.
You mostly correct, but I should mention synergy with Vexing Flanker feat.


I am very grateful you for your judging Wildstag!

But I have some disagreements.

Other than that, I have no comments on originality that are not already penalizing Elegance.
What exactly you are talking about? I see Leadership and legacy item as controversial elements, but how about Noble? Is it unoriginal or inelegant in your eyes? And Guildmaster feat?

I think if you see something that simultaneously is original and inelegant (or annihilating in some another way) it's better still to say it because if you didn't contestants couldn't dispute about negative part.


Both for the use of Leadership (-.5)...

While I understand the value of the build, it uses Leadership, and it is my understanding that the feat is banned.
I disagree.

If your entry includes a prestige class that requires Leadership, you still need to qualify, but the feat should thereafter be ignored.
I specifically specified this point with chairman. It is true for feats, too. I didn't use Leadership, I took it as prerequisite.


Lastly, I don’t see this as being any more powerful than the other aura-based entries.
I have more powerful Monstrous Companions than all other entries have, but maybe you already gave me points for that here: "it actually has ways of keeping allies alive and giving them alternative usefulness."

Plus... I have about 700 000 gp for my castle. Yes, it is stationary building, and this funds can't be used in the encounters directly, but I think it’s wrong not to consider them at all.


This build goes to 10, so it will get +.5 for that. I don’t see it doing anything else special with the PrC though…
Well... Firstly, this build goes to 15 BHA effective level, I think it should worth something.
Secondly, SI has good synergy with Blade of the Last Citadel's Leading the attack, Prayer and Remove fear, maybe you have already taken it into account in Power part, but I don't see this. Or you could ignored this because of source - specific magic item. I understand why you penalized me for it in Elegance, but... It still is legal item.
Also my Transfer Legacy feat works well with all my companions (even if I couldn't get this specific legacy item and will be forced to get another one).


And like, with the plethora of minions this SI gives, does a Cohort stat block add that much work?
Sorry, but I didn't understand what do you mean here.

[Wildstag]

Sorry about the delay, I've been afk for work all weekend (Friday through Monday), but I'll look these over tonight and tomorrow and try to get a reply by evening GMT -7. From what I've seen, there are a couple revisions that will be made.

[Gruftzwerg]

I just had the idea where I was asking myself if ChatGPT could be maybe set up as judge AI for our contests?
Imho would be interesting to see how well it could perform as judge.

Has anyone the experience and time to give it a try? I have zero xp with ChatGPT sadly..

[Inevitability]

I just had the idea where I was asking myself if ChatGPT could be maybe set up as judge AI for our contests?
Imho would be interesting to see how well it could perform as judge.

Has anyone the experience and time to give it a try? I have zero xp with ChatGPT sadly..

As someone who studies AI, please please please don't actually do that, or think it's a good idea.

You'd already have trouble getting ChatGPT, I suspect. It's was (and continues to be) trained to respond to questions in a 'safe, legal, and true' way. I think this whole endeavor was a bit of a hack job with only questionable quality improvements, but it did get ChatGPT to always sound like a stuffy butler. It's structurally disincentivized from giving its opinion on things, because during fine-tuning it learned that 'statements that look like they are someone giving an opinion' get ranked lower.

However, let's say we use GPT-3 or something instead, and we get what looks like a judgement. What was it actually based on?

Basically, GPT looks at the previous X words (the context window) and using an immense amount of relationships it learned from the training data then tries to predict the next one. ChatGPT is a little different because of the aforementioned fine-tuning, but is still fundamentally based on GPT-3 in how it processes language.

That context window is a huge issue. Even if it had previous iron chef competitions in its training data, essentially no build is within a thousand words of its judgement, so even if you could get it to generate a judgement, or generate something in the style of a build submission, it never actually learned how to generate judgements based on builds.

Most likely you don't even get it to access its GitP-specific knowledge, and you get something much more closer to its generic idea of what 'judgements' look like, tapping into who-knows-what.

tldr: Even if GPT perfectly understood we were talking about the Iron Chef Build Competition, it would be fundamentally incapable of judging, because it has 100% never seen builds and judgements close enough to form relationships between the two. It wouldn't know what parts of a build correspond to increases or decreases in score, or where, and it certainly wouldn't know whether parts of a build are illegal or not. It might not even know how to sum the scores at the end. At best, you get something that looks like a score, with no coherent arguments backing it up.

[Gruftzwerg]

tldr: Even if GPT perfectly understood we were talking about the Iron Chef Build Competition, it would be fundamentally incapable of judging, because it has 100% never seen builds and judgements close enough to form relationships between the two. It wouldn't know what parts of a build correspond to increases or decreases in score, or where, and it certainly wouldn't know whether parts of a build are illegal or not. It might not even know how to sum the scores at the end. At best, you get something that looks like a score, with no coherent arguments backing it up.

We had recent examples of what the AI thinks of "are DWK True Dragons" as example.
So, I was hoping that we could maybe feed it with former contests and how judges had judged em to train it somehow.
I don't know how well (or if at all) this would work. I'm just curious if it would be possible at all and how such results might look like. I didn't intended it as real judge or as replacement if you thought of that.

So, do you think that an attempt to train it as possible judge would be possible?

[Inevitability]

So, do you think that an attempt to train it as possible judge would be possible?

This was going to be a much longer post but I figured I'd best distill it down to the essentials:

Making an AI that looks at a build and outputs reasonable scores is doable, but not easy.
-Ideally, if you wanted to do the above you'd have some way of summarizing builds so they take up fewer overall words and fit in the context window.
--A lot of words mean something else in the context of D&D than in real life and that might cause all sorts of trouble, but fine-tuning it on the contents of this forum would possibly fix that problem.
-You also need enough samples of builds with corresponding judging: the past run of iron chef might be enough, or it might not be: thousands of words makes for a big problem domain!

Making the AI output arguments for its scoring, as we'd expect from a judge, is much much harder. A normal GPT model is trained by giving it an input (say, half a paragraph), and an output (the next word) and scoring it for how well the predicted output matches the actual output. But we don't really care about the exact wording of judgements, we care about the quality of the arguments, and that's hard to automatically rate.
-You could involve a lot of human labor to manually rate arguments and teach the model what 'good arguments given a build and a score' look like. Something like this is how chatGPT was created from GPT-3.
--However, if you do that you need a lot of human labor, and I suspect it might produce a model that's disinclined to make objective checkable statements, rather than a model that actually judges well.

-A lot of judging is about very specific interactions: nothing about Craven and Necropolitan being on the same build seems suspicious at first glance, but it warrants an elegance deduction. GPT might be able to infer some relationships that don't show up in the training data, but every competition sees new ways to break the rules. A judge needs to reason explicitly in a way that AI still struggles to do: large language models can convincingly fake reasoning skills with pattern-matching but that's of little help here.

-Also, the 'power' and 'UoSI' categories have very complex standards that aren't fully captured by statistical relationships between words. Judging those requires a complex model of D&D games and a solid understanding of a class and its strengths or weaknesses. Again, AI models like to sidestep this by falling back on observed patterns (I'd expect one to be able to say 'your lack of casting hurts your versatility' where appropriate), but there's again a fundamental component to it all that the AI literally cannot access.

[The Viscount]

The idea of trying to navigate the dispute process for an AI chatbot is a headache.

Speaking of disputes, if we're not waiting on any other judgements, we'll close the round after Wildstag's responses.

Possible ingredients for the next round:

A Paradox
The Funk of 40 Thousand Years
I Asked for This?

[Paragon]

Let's go for the funk of 40k years

[loky1109]

I Asked for This?

[Inevitability]

The idea of trying to navigate the dispute process for an AI chatbot is a headache.

Speaking of disputes, if we're not waiting on any other judgements, we'll close the round after Wildstag's responses.

Possible ingredients for the next round:

A Paradox
The Funk of 40 Thousand Years
I Asked for This?


I'm always partial to paradoxes...

[Venger]

I asked for this?

[Thurbane]

The Funk of 40 Thousand Years

https://i.imgur.com/0gQmazu.jpg

[Wildstag]

Disputes

Work kicked my butt yesterday, but I'm here today!

A theme I see in these disputes is on Elegance. So I'll try to explain myself, and hopefully provide insight into my judgments. This seems like the most subjective category, at least from my experience as a spectator and a chef. Basically it came down to a few questions. Is simplicity elegant? Is a seemingly convoluted path to the destination elegant? If I give points for the more simple submissions, that seems at odds with the alternative. Should more complicated builds be reduced in points for the complicated paths? And how does this all interact with Originality?

Points are awarded for the flourishes. I kinda thought of it like a performance competition. Synchronization of participants is the expectation. What sells the judges on the team are the flourishes (and inherent risks taken) and what distracts is a penalty. If something appears baseline, it's not worth points. But if it's strange and noteworthy, it is. Hopefully that helps y'all understand my perspective.

Also, if I didn't notice a conflict before, I won't subtract points. But if permitted, if I notice something I'd missed that would have warranted points, I'll add those.

P.S. I really should have given my judgments another once-over. I basically peanut-gallery'd myself, and that ends up in the disputes often. I'll clean that up next time.


Gradur... changed to 14.5

Elegance: I um... don't really think of Oriental Adventures or its Dragon Magazine 3.5 update obscure. I know the clan-based feats aren't seen often though. Inspire Love and Devotion is interesting, but I think you almost treat it like how some caster players treat Prestidigitation. It can do anything you want if you try justifying it as "love".

As for the Geomancer option, I didn't feel like its inclusion to pick up Handle Animal, if only because you don't really do much with the dip. And as far as dips go, there are plenty of other ways to get the class skill.

Regarding the Incarnum options, I think I did you dirty. It is an interesting way to communicate with 2/3 of your ECL 20 "typical gang", and the 3rd doesn't even need anything since apparently Otyughs just speak common? With that mouth? I bet it's a lot of crap-talk (please pardon the allusion). +.25 is what I can give you for it.

Lastly, I didn't actually penalize for the whole spells known thing, that was at most an aside. I felt it deserved mention because I was on the fence, but it makes enough sense to not be penalized.

Use of SI: I'll accept that argument, partially because I gave points to TBBA for similar PrC synergy. +.25


Liam... no change

Use of SI: I feel like that's kinda the baseline expectation of those abilities. The companions with their flanking and opportunity attacks expand combat potential and the empathy and lore expand the master's out of combat usefulness.


Flea... changed to 13

Elegance: I didn't penalize for the hit point reduction, though I may have overemphasized it. Your two levels of d4 hp actually subtract 3 hp (since one of them is at first level, thus starting with 4 + Con-Mod HP rather than a 6 + Con-Mod), but I digress. My gripe in that penalty is that the build relies heavily on dodging Reflex saves, and on top of ending the build with less of a Reflex bonus than the standard Rogue, you also end it with Evasion rather than Improved Evasion. Flea is objectively more frail than a Rogue with Improved Evasion (which is standard on Rogues), since you're using Reflex saves on a constant basis. Statistically speaking you will fail a save eventually, and you will end up taking full damage.

As for the 10/10 question, I think it's elegant enough, but that is represented in the middling starting score.

Reviewing the explanation though, I think the -.5 was too harsh, and -.25 is reasonable.

Power: Your damage comments have swayed me. I think it's reasonable to say it's a fair bit stronger than just 10/10 Rogue/SI. +.25


Otto... changed to 12

Originality: The way I see it, if everyone does the same thing, or if multiple people are doing the same thing, it's less of a flourish and more of a trendy thing. Blade Magic is represented in the monsters of several builds. It might be optimal to take a certain option, but that detracts from Originality. On the flip side, only one monster appears to use Leap Attack (which admittedly IS different enough to warrant a look at, but that's another submission entirely).

Further, you state "in comparison to Meldshaping, which none of the other builds use", but Gradur's actually does use Meldshaping. I didn't comment on that in the judgment, but funnily enough, both Otto's and Gradur's builds mention picking up Sphinx Claws, so uh... yeah...

Elegance: A Wilderness Rogue is explicitly a Variant class, and the text discussing it seems clear in my eyes. Also, I'm not sure this part of the judgment should consider revisions. I understand that's what you would do instead, but I will not grade based on that knowledge.

Additionally, Legacy Champion is based around the idea that the PC finds an incredibly specific and literally one-of-a-kind magic item. This has nothing to do with you specifically, but the story aspect of builds feels contrived, moreso than the concept of the competition overall.

Power: You deserve a revision, and it seems I was lax in my judgment. As you say, Decisive Strike wants nothing less than additional attacks, and your build gives a lot of double damage attacks through opportunity attacks, for +.25. And the synergy with Island Of Blades is worth another .25.

Use of SI: See above. I'm not going to score the same thing twice, but as you prove, the SI amplifies the build's strengths, and I was wrong in that assessment; so +.25



Rose... changed to 13

Originality: See the above explanation.

Use of SI: As you point out, Great Flyby does add to Monstrous Team-Up. +.25


The Pack... If it pleases the court, 11.75. If it does not, 11.5.

Elegance: You are correct, this is a double penalty, so you'll gain back .25 in this category.

Originality: I pointed this out above, but I think you're the only one that actually uses a Leap Attack monster, and as I stated in my judgment for Liam, I do so enjoy seeing static bonuses. It's not necessarily the strongest option, but it's unique. +.25 (if this pleases the court)


Pjotr Campioni... changed to 13.25

I will admit, much of this is due to my own lack of understanding regarding Leadership and this competition. Further, my peanut gallery postscript appears to lead to some confusion. To explain that last line, the SI involves a lot of intelligent creatures, each capable of taking feats and having statblocks all their own. I felt like a cohort wouldn't complicate that overmuch. But then, that would be using Leadership, so maybe it's best to ignore my postscript entirely.

Originality: I will give you a +.25 for Noble and Guildmaster each. You use them to interact with a subsystem noone else appears to have used.

Elegance: As you explain, you're not using Leadership, it is just a stepping stone to greatness. I think your explanation earns you back the +.5.

Use of SI: As you correctly point out, I gave points to other builds for using Legacy Champion to exceed the standard 10 levels of progression. I was looking for it in the build table itself, but missed it in the "Beasts" table. That would be an additional +.25


The idea of trying to navigate the dispute process for an AI chatbot is a headache.

Speaking of disputes, if we're not waiting on any other judgements, we'll close the round after Wildstag's responses.

Possible ingredients for the next round:

A Paradox
The Funk of 40 Thousand Years
I Asked for This?


I like the sound of "A Paradox"

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120319165548/community-sitcom/images/b/b0/Paradox.png

[loky1109]

Table

Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef Wildstag Total Place
Flea (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681917&postcount=38) TN Desert Kobold Wilderness Kobold Penetrating Strike Rogue 10 / Beast Heart Adept 10 13.00 13.00 5th
Liam Greve (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681918&postcount=39) NG Dragonborn Half-Elf Healing Hymn Half-Elf Bard 1/Warblade 7/Half-Elf Paragon 1/Marshall 1/Beast Heart Adept 10 13.75 13.75 3rd
Pjotr Campioni (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681920&postcount=40) NG Human Noble 1/Rival organization Ranger 1/Human Paragon 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/Legacy Champion 6 13.25 13.25 4th
The Beast Brain Adept (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681921&postcount=41) TN Rilkan Archivist 8/Beast Heart Adept 2/Bardic Knack Bardic Sage 1/Urban Savant 7/Beast Heart Adept 2 14.00 14.00 2nd
The Pack (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681922&postcount=42) ?? Krenshar Champion of the Wild Trap Expert Fangshields Ranger 4/Beastmaster 1/Abolisher 1/Beast Heart Adept 10 11.75 11.75 7th
Sir Griffith (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681923&postcount=43) ?? Silverbrow Human Warblade 9/Fighter 1/Beast Heart Adept 10 12.00 12.00 6th
Otto Solinksi (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681926&postcount=44) LG Strongheart Halfling Poison Use Martial Wilderness Rogue 2/Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Fighter 1/Invisible Fist Sleeping Tiger Decisive Strike Monk 2/Swordsage 2/Beast Heart Adept 7/Legacy Champion 6 12.00 12.00 6th
Rose Aluna (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681926&postcount=44) CG Strongheart Halfling Poison Use Martial Wilderness Rogue 2/Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Skilled City-Dweller Fighter 1/Marshal 1/Crusader 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/Shadowdancer 1/Uncanny Trickster 3 13.00 13.00 5th
Gradur (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681928&postcount=45) TN Bhuka Sha’ir 3/Geomancer 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/War Weaver 5 14.50 14.50 1st

[Inevitability]

Judgmentation initiated.

Caveat: I'm rusty. And slooooooooooooooooooooooowwww...


I am going to join in as a supporting judge, helping a certain member with my 2 cents. :P

We're still waiting on this, right, Viscount? How are those judges coming along?

[Paragon]

From what I can tell from the Discord conversations, Thanatos helped Wildstag with his judgement.

[Inevitability]

From what I can tell from the Discord conversations, Thanatos helped Wildstag with his judgement.

Ah, fair enough, then we'd just be waiting for Darrin I guess.

[Paragon]

Hey fellow competitors,
Are we waiting for Darrin's judgement ? I took the liberty to check his last activity on the forum and it was 2 weeks ago, has anyone got any news from him ? (Mb irl friends or private messages ?)
Kinda eager to see what the next ingredient is :-)

EDIT : This round started last year and we're pushing March already

[daremetoidareyo]

Hey fellow competitors,
Are we waiting for Darrin's judgement ? I took the liberty to check his last activity on the forum and it was 2 weeks ago, has anyone got any news from him ? (Mb irl friends or private messages ?)
Kinda eager to see what the next ingredient is :-)

As a judge, Darren’s modi’s operandi is long wait times/ fantastic analysis. I’ll direct message him and see where he’s at.

[Paragon]

Any updates?

[The Viscount]

Unfortunately, no.

[The Viscount]

It's time to move forward.

With that, here is the reveal!


Name Alignment / Race Class Levels Chef Wildstag Total Place
Flea (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681917&postcount=38) TN Desert Kobold Wilderness Kobold Penetrating Strike Rogue 10 / Beast Heart Adept 10 Inevitability 13.00 13.00 5th
Liam Greve (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681918&postcount=39) NG Dragonborn Half-Elf Healing Hymn Half-Elf Bard 1/Warblade 7/Half-Elf Paragon 1/Marshall 1/Beast Heart Adept 10 Inevitability 13.75 13.75 3rd
Pjotr Campioni (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681920&postcount=40) NG Human Noble 1/Rival organization Ranger 1/Human Paragon 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/Legacy Champion 6 loky1109 13.25 13.25 4th
The Beast Brain Adept (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681921&postcount=41) TN Rilkan Archivist 8/Beast Heart Adept 2/Bardic Knack Bardic Sage 1/Urban Savant 7/Beast Heart Adept 2 daremetoidareyou 14.00 14.00 2nd
The Pack (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681922&postcount=42) ?? Krenshar Champion of the Wild Trap Expert Fangshields Ranger 4/Beastmaster 1/Abolisher 1/Beast Heart Adept 10 loky1109 11.75 11.75 7th
Sir Griffith (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681923&postcount=43) ?? Silverbrow Human Warblade 9/Fighter 1/Beast Heart Adept 10 Gruftzwerg 12.00 12.00 6th
Otto Solinksi (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681926&postcount=44) LG Strongheart Halfling Poison Use Martial Wilderness Rogue 2/Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Fighter 1/Invisible Fist Sleeping Tiger Decisive Strike Monk 2/Swordsage 2/Beast Heart Adept 7/Legacy Champion 6 WhamBamSam 12.00 12.00 6th
Rose Aluna (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681926&postcount=44) CG Strongheart Halfling Poison Use Martial Wilderness Rogue 2/Hit-and-Run Sneak Attack Skilled City-Dweller Fighter 1/Marshal 1/Crusader 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/Shadowdancer 1/Uncanny Trickster 3 WhamBamSam 13.00 13.00 5th
Gradur (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25681928&postcount=45) TN Bhuka Sha’ir 3/Geomancer 2/Beast Heart Adept 10/War Weaver 5 Paragon 14.50 14.50 1st

Congratulations everyone on an excellent round, and special congratulations to our medalists!

Fun fact: krenshar was one of my back-pocket builds, stored away for when the Chair picked Siren as an ingredient.

I hope everyone had fun with a better ingredient. Next we're returning to something more the usual speed.

[Wildstag]

Thanks for sitting through my judging, it's interesting that there were so many double submissions this time. Looking forward to the next round!

[Inevitability]

Grats to Paragon and loky!

I had a lot of fun building for this round, though I'm a little sad to see Flea (whose main trick I thought was a really clever find) miss out on a medal. Gl in the next round, everyone!

[loky1109]

My congratulations to Paragon, daremetoidareyou and Inevitability!

Thankы Wildstag for judging!

Thanks all who vote for me in HM nomination! I didn't expect that.

Talking about "cool missed opportunities".
When I read my Pjotr Campioni entry I found out that I could use Monster Lore to help with Blade of the Last Citadel rituals. I just need to make the Blade intellectual item and ask somebody about Greater humanoid essence spell. Yes, it's very specific spell, but I need it only once or twice.

Firstly, I wanted to wrote all Pjotr's story in snapshots and describe all his beasts in tour, but.. I just didn't have enough time and power.

[WhamBamSam]

Sucks when you feel like you have great entries and they don't do as well as you think they should, but good round all and thanks for judging, Wildstag.

I would like to lobby for hard rules saying the UA variant classes are ACFs in all respects in the future, though. Call it a houserule if you like - I still think imposing a variant on a variant should be kosher since it's still a Rogue or whatever at the base and still has the thing the variant trades away - but I really don't want to see anyone getting penalized for something like Martial Wilderness Rogue on the one hand or to leave the door open to something like Ranger 3/Planar Ranger 3/Urban Ranger 3 on the other. I guess there's more appearance of intent than monks not being proficient in unarmed strikes, but it feels like a comparably terrible rule.

[Inevitability]

I would like to lobby for hard rules saying the UA variant classes are ACFs in all respects in the future, though. Call it a houserule if you like - I still think imposing a variant on a variant should be kosher since it's still a Rogue or whatever at the base and still has the thing the variant trades away - but I really don't want to see anyone getting penalized for something like Martial Wilderness Rogue on the one hand or to leave the door open to something like Ranger 3/Planar Ranger 3/Urban Ranger 3 on the other. I guess there's more appearance of intent than monks not being proficient in unarmed strikes, but it feels like a comparably terrible rule.

I agree with this: variant classes are clearly meant to be the same sort of thing as ACFs, and treating them differently just invites silliness. Half of them don't even have a proper name!

[The Viscount]

I would like to lobby for hard rules saying the UA variant classes are ACFs in all respects in the future, though.

It is done.

Added it to the FAQ.

[Wildstag]

I still argue that the wording on the two Dragon magazine Ranger variant classes makes it clear that the intent of the rules is that variant classes are not the same as their base classes. Further, if they were merely alternate class features, they would be under such a header, as you see in PHB 2 or the Complete series books that include alternate class features. Additionally, the wording of Sneak Attack Fighter implies that unless otherwise stated, these variant classes are not meant to be layered on top of each other; if they were, the line "This variant can also be combined with the thug variant." would be unnecessary.

I see no argument for this ruling that clarifies why the Sneak Attack Fighter would be alone in its declaration if it were allowed for all variant classes.

P.S. The use of Dragon Magazine is not permitted for the Iron Chef Optimization Challenges, but to ignore them means that we begin to deviate significantly from standard rules discussions on this forum.

P.P.S. The line in the sidebar "Only the first version of a favored class is treated as favored; a halfling rogue/wizard who later begins training levels in the wilderness rogue variant class can't treat both the rogue and wilderness rogue classes as favored, only the class gained first (in this case, rogue)." seems to indicate that two different Rogue variants are separate classes and not functionally the same class. No alternate class feature appears to have a similar line in their text.

[Inevitability]

I still argue that the wording on the two Dragon magazine Ranger variant classes makes it clear that the intent of the rules is that variant classes are not the same as their base classes. Further, if they were merely alternate class features, they would be under such a header, as you see in PHB 2 or the Complete series books that include alternate class features. Additionally, the wording of Sneak Attack Fighter implies that unless otherwise stated, these variant classes are not meant to be layered on top of each other; if they were, the line "This variant can also be combined with the thug variant." would be unnecessary.

The issue with this line of reasoning is that the 3.5 rules love spelling out what the rules already imply, and do so inconsistently and sometimes even incorrectly. Everyone, no matter their rules interpretation, agrees that sneak attack and thug fighter can be combined, why would a line that says exactly and exclusively that mean anything more?

[loky1109]

"This variant can also be combined with the thug variant." wording exists because both these ACFs trade the same base feature.

[ciopo]

I can't check right now, but I vaguely remember the sneak attack and thug figther actually need to be spelled out because both substitude the same thing, iirc

[Wildstag]

The issue with this line of reasoning is that the 3.5 rules love spelling out what the rules already imply, and do so inconsistently and sometimes even incorrectly. Everyone, no matter their rules interpretation, agrees that sneak attack and thug fighter can be combined, why would a line that says exactly and exclusively that mean anything more?

I feel like you worded that the wrong order. People likely agree that the two can be combined because a line says exactly and exclusively that. And since when does group consensus matter for a rule? It only takes a single rules statement to prove a consensus wrong. The ruling from this round writes a new rule rather than reading the rules that exist in their current state.

If they were intended to work identically to Alternate Class Features, they'd merely be called "Alternate Class Features". Instead, they are called "Other Class Variants".


"This variant can also be combined with the thug variant." wording exists because both these ACFs trade the same base feature.

They both trade away the first level bonus feat, yes. Also Thug touches Skill Ranks and Skills, whereas Sneak Attack Fighter does not.

P.S. I would also like to point out that the Alternate Class Feature subsystem also comes with a format that describes what level an ACF can be taken at. The class variants such as Martial Rogue and Sneak Attack Fighter do not come with that format.

P.P.S. I will abide by the decision of the chair in future judgments, I just don't think the decision is a good one; it relies more on player feelings than actual rules text. Or rather, the argument for the ruling provides no rules text in support, but are a majority (not consensus) opinion.

[Paragon]

Wow 1st place, I have been reaching hard for it since Tattooed Monk (first comp I partook in)
Thanks Wildstag for the judgement and my HM goes to Flea (if we still do this), I lmaoed pretty hard during the read.
Eager to see what the new one is all about

[daremetoidareyo]

Thank you judge. The beast brain adept was fun to create. And although not one of the expected uses of the SI, I appreciate that you saw how this one peculiarly worded ability unlocked some other optimization arenas, and only the BHA could do it.