Xen’kar Torkak, The Shadow's Fall
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-Originality: (4)
--Positive: Elves and their subraces tend to be underused. Backstory is well-written, if a little cliche. Drow, Scorpion Wraith, and Shadowblade are thematically and mechanically linked, and linked into backstory. Racial prestige class.
--Negative: Dark template was highly expected (even from an item). Tome of Battle dip. No particularly interesting capabilities/classes.
-Power: (3.5)
--Positive: Able to contribute to combat very well, and exploration competently. High damage output plus stat damage, plus a few sundry debuffs. Shadowblade directly contributes to both combat and exploration abilities.
--Negative: Unable to meaningfully contribute to information gathering, partial ability to contribute to social encounters. Poison ineffective against many high-level enemies. Only three uses of SS/day against immune enemies. Cannot effectively contribute to more than a single encounter per day against undead, elementals, or constructs (problematic in a tomb adventure, for instance).
-Elegance: (4)
--Positive: Scorpion Wraith flows into Shadowblade well. Fairly clean advancement. Build comes online when expected. Full advancement of both prestige classes.
--Negative: Three different sorts of “warrior” in five levels, with Swordsage not taken as a block. Minor item dependency (Collar). Launching item would require special DM permission, though the item is not central to the build.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (4.5)
--Positive: Full Shadowblade advancement taken. Scorpion Wraith and Shadowblade fit well together thematically. Shadowblade directly complements the builds main strengths.
--Negative: Nothing in particular :)!
-Total: (16)
-Final Comments: I rather like this build; it manages to be highly capable without sacrificing flavor and without appearing overly ‘tweaky’. I could easily see this build be used as-is in a lower-op game without drawing DM ire. My main complaint against the build is that is has relatively poor ability to contribute outside of combat and stealth situations, particularly because it lacks strong alternative methods for dealing with Lifesense, Mindsight, and Poison/Precision immune creatures (which are too often one in the same). I also frowned upon the use of three different ‘warrior’ classes in less than five levels; Drow Fighter could have easily been replaced with Swordsage without unduly decreasing combat ability, while making the build feel more natural. Overall, however, I feel that the build is interesting and well-executed. Good job!
Saleed, Blade in the Shadow
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-Originality: (2.5)
--Positive: Thug Fighter variant is mildly interesting. Two-Weapon Fighting, on the other hand, is very
interesting.
--Negative: Generic, boring, overused human. Rogue/Fighter/Shadowblade is an extremely generic combination (the sample Shadowblade uses it).
-Power: (2)
--Positive: With the help of stat boosting items, able to contribute meaningfully to essentially any challenge. Effective in combat.
--Negative: Doesn’t particularly excel at anything other than combat and stealth challenges. Insufficient Attack Bonus boosters to effectively offset Two-Weapon penalties, though this could be partially corrected with items. Hide/Move Silently are weirdly low for a stealth focused character, though this could be partially corrected with items. No ability to Hide in Plain Sight makes SA/SS a pain. No backup plan against precision immune creatures, though this can be partially corrected with items. Assassin abilities and spells come online so late that the are essentially meaningless.
-Elegance: (3.5)
--Positive: Build is fairly straightforward, no real unnecessary dips, and only a single broken up class. Build comes online more-or-less immediately, and grows at an acceptable rate. Uses material from relatively few sources. Assassin and Shadowblade are thematically related.
--Negative: Assassin doesn’t particularly improve the build (could have just as easily taken additional rogue). Wierd single level of Rogue at 20.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (3.5)
--Positive: Full Shadowblade advancement taken. Assassin and Shadowblade are thematically linked. Shadowblade improves the core capabilities of the build.
--Negative: Entered Shadowblade through generic class combination.
-Total: (11.5)
-Final Comments: If there is such a thing as a build immune to DM objections, this is probably it. While the build manages to make a fairly competent character with relatively few book resources, it simply doesn’t have the degree of optimization required to win this contest.
Hamond Shadowstrike
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-Originality: (4.5)
--Positive: Avenging Executioner has a very strong thematic and mechanical link with Shadowblade. Dread Blade/Rapid Intimidation is an interesting way to get your Sudden Strikes. Lion Totem Barbarian is a clever and interesting choice. Two-Weapon Fighting is an interesting choice, particularly in combination with Bite of the Wolf/Dragon Tail.
--Negative: Tome of Battle dip. Silverbrow Human is still only a slightly less boring human.
-Power: (4.5)
--Positive: Able to meaningfully contribute to nearly any challenge. Quite competent in both combat and exploration, plus some social encounters and sorts of information gathering. Shadowblade (and Dread Blade strategy) directly contribute to core capabilities. Very high degree of endurance. Backup strategies for precision damage (stealth and intimidate), plus Mountain Strike/Penetrating Strike for precision immune creatures.
--Negative: Attack penalties on many of the secondary attacks are not effectively offset, worse, this only be partially corrected with items.
-Elegance: (4)
--Positive: Avenging Executioner flows well into Shadowblade. Advancement is, for the most part, smooth. Mechanically and thematically well-executed. Low item dependency.
--Negative: Build comes fully online a little late, though the build remains competent at low levels. Two single level dips.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (5)
--Positive: Full Shadowblade advancement taken. Avenging Executioner and Shadowblade fit well together thematically, particularly the fear/darkness theme. Shadowblade directly complements the builds main strengths.
--Negative: Nothing in particular :)!
-Total: (18)
-Final Comments: I love just about everything about this build; the idea of a shadowy, beastial predator who exploits his victims’ fear is a wonderful concept for a villain or antihero. The only simple suggestion I would make to improve this build would be to find a place for Imperious Command, as it so effectively augments one of the builds main strategies. An overall wonderful build; well done!
Krkitckl, Champion of Mab
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-Originality: (5)
--Positive: That is a backstory, alright. Combat Trapsmith is an extremely interesting choice (one that I wish you had made a bit more central to the build). Non-standard race with a non-standard alignment.Wizard is an interesting dip.
--Negative: LA race with LA buy off.
-Power: (1.5)
--Positive: Traps opening the door for SS is an interesting idea. Able to contribute moderately to combat and stealth challenges. Has secondary methods to deal with precision immune creatures.
--Negative: Unable to meaningfully contribute to social and information gathering challenges past very early levels. Shadowblade only partially contributes to core capabilities. Endurance is an issue thanks to Trapmaking Kit weight and limited number of spells and spell-like abilities. Lacks sufficient Attack Bonus to routinely make SS, much less Full Attacks, against most creatures with even moderate AC. Trap DC is painfully low.
-Elegance: (2)
--Positive: Advancement taken in block. Combat Trapsetter and Shadowblade have an interesting thematic link.
--Negative: Level adjustment buy off used. Single level Rogue dip in the middle of Shadowblade advancement. Wizard levels quickly become obsolete, and would have been better spent elsewhere. Build feels very unfocused. Build comes online a little late, particularly considering that the build would inevitably be behind the rest of the party thanks to LA.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (3.5)
--Positive: Full Shadowblade advancement taken. Combat Trapsetter and Shadowblade fit well together thematically.
--Negative: Shadowblade only partially contributes to builds main strengths; the build lacks the direct combat ability to make full use of Unseen Weapon, or even SS, against higher AC enemies.
-Total: (12)
-Final Comments: I feel awful about having to rate this build so poorly, since it is probably my favorite concept, even if it isn’t the most powerful one. Excellent backstory, with great tie-ins to mechanics; I could easily see this character as a major villain’s henchman. Build would have been better served both mechanically and focus-wise by replacing Wizard, Rogue, and Ninja levels with Factotum (with Iaijutsu Focus of course), and perhaps even an extra level or two of Combat Trapsetter. Overall, this is a build full of great ideas that weren’t fully realized, and thus it is my recommendation for Honorable Mention.
Munemasa
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-Originality: (2)
--Positive: Shadow paladin is a mildly interesting concept.
--Negative: Boring human. Iaijutsu was expected. Trip-focused melee fighter is overused. Able Learner is overused.
-Power: (3.5)
--Positive: Able to meaningfully contribute to most challenges. Able to contribute substantially to combat and social challenges. Shadowblade promotes core capabilities.
--Negative: Build suffers from a lack of ability endurance. Build has no real backup strategy for dealing with precision immune creatures, and is unable to deal with special senses.
-Elegance: (2.5)
--Positive: Levels taken in block.
--Negative: Build comes online somewhat late. Reliant on items to make up for poor endurance. Paladin feels at odds with the rest of the build. Uses materials from quite a few different sources.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (3.5)
--Positive: Shadowblade enhances, and forms, the build core capabilities. Full Shadowblade advancement taken.
--Negative: Paladin feels at odds with Shadowblade.
-Total: (11.5)
-Final Comments: There isn’t a whole lot I can say about this build. Competently executed, though with some blind spots. Mostly, I just found the build a bit uninspired; by no means bad, but not on par with some of the more interesting and impressive builds put out.
Jef Costello
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-Originality: (4)
--Positive: Well written backstory. Totemist and Animal devotion make for an interesting predator theme. Ninja is thematically linked with Shadowblade. Quite a few interesting alternate strategies in play here.
--Negative: Yet another human. Ninja is a fairly obvious entry for Shadowblade.
-Power: (4)
--Positive: Able to contribute substantially to combat and exploration. Able to contribute meaningfully to most challenges. Mindsight is amazing. Quite a bit of versatility. Some backup abilities against precision immune creatures.
--Negative: Daily endurance is only mediocre. Attack bonus is somewhat low, and cannot be easily fixed with items if using natural attacks.
-Elegance: (3.5)
--Positive: Most of the build use material from a fairly small number of books. Mechanically and thematically well-executed. Low item dependency. Build comes mostly online fairly early.
--Negative: Ninja and Shadowblade advancement interrupted. Two single level dips. Cleric feels a bit at odds with the rest of the build.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (4.5)
--Positive: Ninja flows well into Shadowblade. Predator theme is interesting. Shadowblade complements builds main strengths, and is used in many interesting ways.
--Negative: Cleric feels a bit at odds with the rest of the build.
-Total: (16)
-Final Comments: A difficult build to comment on; very well put together, interesting both thematically and mechanically, and generally hard to make simple suggestions for improvement. I like this build, and I believe that many DMs would as well, though nothing really makes me say ‘Wow!’ like the highest rated builds.
Mortumdal
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-Originality: (4.5)
--Positive: Interesting use of shadowblade. Killoren is an odd, but interesting choice. Ghoul, Urban Ranger, Lurking Terror, and Shadowblade are thematically linked. Paralysis/Coup de Grace is an interesting tactic. Interesting backstory.
--Negative: LA template (but no buyoff!)
-Power: (4)
--Positive: Able to significantly contribute to most challenges; amazingly well-rounded. Passable daily endurance. Shadowblade directly contributes to core capabilities.
--Negative: Lacks an effective backup plan against precision/paralysis immune creatures (which are often one in the same).
-Elegance: (3.5)
--Positive: Build well linked thematically and mechanically. Low item dependency. Build comes online fairly early. Smooth power curve.
--Negative: Advancement in classes interrupted several times. Second Ranger level doesn’t add much to the build.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (5)
--Positive: Full advancement taken. Shadowblade promotes core capabilities. Shadowblade well linked thematically throughout the build, and used in an interesting way.
--Negative: Nothing in particular :)!
-Total: (17)
-Final Comments: With a bit more refinement, this build could have easily been my winner. One of the most well rounded and overall best builds in the contest. Replacing one or both Ranger levels with a ToB dip for some anti-construct/undead maneuvers would have covered most of the builds weaknesses, and moving levels around a bit to be able to take class advancement in block would have covered the rest.
Geula Abishag
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-Originality: (4)
--Positive: Can’t say I was expecting Hellbreaker, Spellthief, and Duskblade. Top to bottom, build tied together thematically.
--Negative: Not a whole lot of backstory.
-Power: (4)
--Positive: Able to contribute meaningfully to exploration and social challenges, and substantially to combat. Shadowblade directly enhances core capabilities. Quite a few different combat options, many of which are not precision dependent. Fairly low item dependency.
--Negative: No information gathering or knowledge abilities. Doesn’t have the sheer power many of the other builds do.
-Elegance: (3.5)
--Positive: Progression very smooth. Fairly clean overall. Build very well constructed thematically.
--Negative: Mountain Tombstone Strike is taken illegally. Spellthief dip.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (5)
--Positive: Full advancement taken. Shadowblade linked thematically to both race and classes. Shadowblade directly contributes to core abilities, and does so very well.
--Negative: Nothing in particular :)!
-Total: (16.5)
-Final Comments: This build is inspired and well put together; if only you had written up a more extensive backstory, and had not taken MTS, this build would probably be a solid contender for best. Clever and well thought out, I really don’t have any simple suggestions for improvement.
Keeliani Amaruak
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-Originality: (1.5)
--Positive: Mildly interesting backstory
--Negative: Know cheese race, known cheese templates, Tome of Battle dip, too many dips in general, build strategy cheese reliant
-Power: (3)
--Positive: Infinite Strength makes this build a combat monster. Plenty of endurance for combat encounters.
--Negative: Build has relatively little ability to contribute to any challenge that isn’t combat. Shadowblade does not contribute to the builds capabilities. Builds power based in known and obvious cheese than would inevitably be shot down.
-Elegance: (1)
--Positive: Comes online early, if mostly thanks to loophole abuse.
--Negative: Five templates, mild cheese race, six one or two level dips, massive amounts of known cheese
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (1)
--Positive: Not much.
--Negative: Didn’t take full Shadowblade advancement. Shadowblade only tangentially supports builds main capabilities. Shadowblade doesn’t complement the flavor (such as it is) of the build.
-Total: (6.5)
-Final Comments: Honestly, I don’t take kindly to this sort of cheese, nor the Incarnate Construct/Dustform loophole abuse. Overall, I feel that this build is deeply contrary to the spirit of the contest, since no sane DM would allow this character, and I rated it as such.
Tacgnol
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-Originality: (4)
--Positive: Knight is an unusual pick, and Shifter is interesting. Interesting and clever strategy.
--Negative: Dark creature template is highly expected.
-Power: (3.5)
--Positive: 55 ft reach plus Bulwark of Defense is hilarious. Contributes very well to combat. Shadowblade directly contributes to core capabilities. Great daily endurance.
--Negative: Unable to meaningfully contribute outside of combat, as stealth is likely to be negated thanks to lack of Darkstalker.
-Elegance: (2)
--Positive: Advancement taken in block.
--Negative: Fighter dip. Comes online very, very later, though it can get by until then. A build having three different types of ‘warrior’ class feels very odd.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (2.5)
--Positive: Full advancement taken.
--Negative: Shadowblade doesn’t feel thematically linked to the rest of the build. Further, it doesn’t particular improve your builds core abilities, and most of the classes features go unutilized.
-Total: (12)
-Final Comments: An interesting and clever bit of optimization that unfortunately is pretty impractical in actual play. Powerful, but fails to fully utilize Shadowblade, the primary goal of the contest.
Briggs "The Shadow Demon"
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-Originality: (4)
--Positive: Binder is unexpected. Build well-linked thematically. Clever use of abilities; doesn’t fight like a rogue.
--Negative: Binder+Bloodline is known cheese. Boring, standard human.
-Power: (4.5)
--Positive: Incredible versatility, able to contribute substantially to most challenges. Strong and versatile in combat. Great daily endurance. Low item dependency. Shadowblade enhances core capabilities.
--Negative: Lack of Darkstalker ruins your stealth a bit.
-Elegance: (5)
--Positive: Extremely straightforward advancement. No dips. Build viable at all levels. Smooth power curve. Comes online more-or-less immediately. Only two classes (plus bloodline). Binder (with Tenebrous) flows well into Shadowblade. Build well linked thematically. Low item dependency.
--Negative: Nothing in particular :)!
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (5)
--Positive: Full Shadowblade advancement taken. Tenebrous Binder, Demon Blood, and Shadowblade fit well together thematically. Shadowblade directly complements the builds main strengths. Fewer classes means Shadowblade feels less diluted.
--Negative: Nothing in particular :)!
-Total: (18.5)
-Final Comments: If I could give a higher Elegance score I would; I considered bumping down everyone elses’ Elegance just to make your higher by comparison. A truly wonderful build; just find a place for Darkstalker!
Ynolar Darkheart
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-Originality: (3)
--Positive: Shadow Cloak Paladin is interesting. Build well tied thematically.
--Negative: Unseelie Fey is known cheese. Whisper gnome is pretty overused for rogue-esque characters.
-Power: (3)
--Positive: Able to significantly contribute to combat and exploration challenges. Very well optimized stealth abilities. Shadowblade directly complements core capabilities.
--Negative: Unable to contribute to info gathering or social challenges. Hide in Plain sight requires shadow, which is at odds with flight. Combat ability isn’t that impressive compared to some of the other builds. Fairly high degree of item dependency. No real backup plan for precision/poison immune creatures (often one in the same).
-Elegance: (4)
--Positive: Smooth power progression. Comes online fairly quickly. Advancement taken in block. Build thematically linked.
--Negative: Unseelie Fey counts as questionable material.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (3.5)
--Positive: Full advancement taken. Shadowblade promotes core capabilities. Shadowblade links with Paladin of Tyranny/Shadow Cloak Knight.
--Negative: Class feels underutilized, it doesn’t really synergize with any other abilities in a powerful way.
-Total: (13.5)
-Final Comments: Stealth is good, but does not a character make. This build spends so many resources trying to escape notice that forgets to have powerful ways to take advantage of its stealth. Playable, but lacks the power of most of the other builds.
Nightman
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-Originality: (4)
--Positive: Monk is an interesting choice, particularly all the substitution levels. Skarn is unexpected as well. Umbral Disciple ties the monk to the Shadowblade seamlessly.
--Negative: Nothing in particular :)!
-Power: (3.5)
--Positive: Able to contribute effectively to most challenges. Quite capable in combat and exploration. Good daily endurance. Several ways to contribute in combat against precision immune enemies. Shadowblade directly contributes to core abilities.
--Negative: No Darkstalker makes stealth much less useful, though your build can get around it. Build lacks the power to fully take advantage of its flat-footed forcing capabilities.
-Elegance: (4)
--Positive: Straightforward advancement. Umbral Disciple ties monk to Shadowblade perfectly. Low item dependency. Smooth power curve. Build viable at all levels.
--Negative: Multiple types of substitution levels is a bit odd.
-Use of Secret Ingredient: (4.5)
--Positive: Full advancement taken. Enhances core capabilities. Extremely well tied in thematically and mechanically.
--Negative: Nothing in particular :)!
-Total: (16)
-Final Comments: Another build that I like pretty well, but feel that it could use a little bit of reworking. Finding a way to add both Craven and Darkstalker would make this build much, much better at what it does. Overall the build is well rounded and well designed.
Totals:
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1 - Briggs the Shadow Demon (18.5)
2 - Hammond Shadowstrike (18)
3 - Mortumdal (17)
4 - Geula Abishag (16.5)
5 - Xen’kar Torkak, the Shadow’s Fall (16)
5 - Jef Costelo (16)
5 - Nightman (16)
8- Ynolar Darkheart (13.5)
9 - Krkitckl, Champion of Mab (12)
9 - Tacgnol (12)
11 - Saleed, Blade in the Shadow (11.5)
11 - Munemasa (11.5)
13 - Keeliani Amaruak (6.5)
I'm sure you can see from the length of my comments how far I got before I become busy with other work. Overall, I liked many of the builds in the contest, and would like to give all the participants both my thanks for such a wonderful contest, and congratulations on performing well.
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge In the Playground XLII
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