Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLVIII

**Kuulvheysoon** · 2013-08-25, 02:43 PM (ISO 8601)

For every force, there is an equal and opposite reaction

Originally Posted by Shi Gandang

Shi Gandang

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LG male human Unarmed Swordsage 5/Shadow Sun Ninja 10/Master of Nine 5
32 point buy
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 8
increase Wis at level 4, 16, 20
increase Dex at level 8, 12

Vital Signs

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{table=head]Level|Class|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|Unarmed Swordsage 1|

+0

|

+0

|

+2

|

+2

|Balance 4, Concentration 4, Hide 4, Knowledge (local) 2, Knowledge (nobility) 2, Listen 4, Martial Lore 4, Tumble 4|Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Weapon Focus (B)|discipline focus (shadow hand), monk unarmed progression, quick to act +1

2nd|Unarmed Swordsage 2|

+1

|

+0

|

+3

|

+3

+2

|

+1

|

+3

|

+3

+3

|

+1

|

+4

|

+4

| Balance +1, Concentration +1, Hide +1, Listen +1, Martial Lore +1, Move Silently +1, Tumble +1| |discipline focus (insightful strike)

5th|Unarmed Swordsage 5|

+3

|

+1

|

+4

|

+4

|Balance +1, Concentration +1, Hide +1, Listen +1, Martial Lore +1, Move Silently +1, Tumble +1| |quick to act +2

6th|Shadow Sun Ninja 1|

+3

|

+3

|

+6

|

+6

+4

|

+4

|

+7

|

+7

+5

|

+4

|

+7

|

+7

+6

|

+5

|

+8

|

+8

+6

|

+5

|

+8

|

+8

+7

|

+6

|

+9

|

+9

+8

|

+6

|

+9

|

+9

+9

|

+7

|

+10

|

+10

+9

|

+7

|

+10

|

+10

+10

|

+8

|

+11

|

+11

+10

|

+8

|

+11

|

+13

+11

|

+8

|

+11

|

+14

|Balance +1, Concentration +1, Hide +1, Jump +1, Knowledge (local) +1, Martial Lore +1, Tumble +1| |dual stance

18th|Master of Nine 3|

+12

|

+9

|

+11

|

+14

+13

|

+9

|

+12

|

+15

|Balance +1, Concentration +1, Hide +1, Jump +1, Knowledge (local) +1, Martial Lore +1, Tumble +1| |counter stance

20th|Master of Nine 5|

+13

|

+9

|

+12

|

+15

|Balance +1, Concentration +1, Hide +1, Jump +1, Knowledge (local) +1, Martial Lore +1, Tumble +1| |mastery of nine[/table]

Maneuvers

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{table=head]Level|Known|Readied|Stance
1st|6|4|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|7|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|8|5|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|9|5|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|10|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|11|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|11|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|12|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|12|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
10th|12|7|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
11th|13|7|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
12th|13|7|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
13th|13|7|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
14th|14|7|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
15th|14|8|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
16th|16|9|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
17th|17|10|5|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
18th|19|11|5|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
19th|20|12|6|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
20th|22|13|6|-|-|-|-|-|-|-[/table]

Maneuvers by Level:
1: blistering flourish (DW), charging minotaur (SD), clinging shadow strike (SH), mighty throw (SS), sapphire nightmare blade (DM), step of the wind (SS stance), wolf fang strike (TC)
2: child of shadow (SH stance), moment of perfect mind (DM)
3: action before thought (DM)
4: swap clinging shadow strike (SH) for shadow jaunt (SH)
5: pearl of black doubt (DM stance), shadow garrote (SH)
6: devastating throw (SS)
8: obscuring shadow veil (SH)
10: shifting defense (SS stance)
11: shadow stride (SH)
14: hydra slaying strike (SS)
16: foehammer (DS), mind over body (DM)
17: defensive rebuke (DS), ghostly defense (SS stance)
18: entangling blade (DS), time stands still (DM)
19: immortal fortitude (DS stance), shadow blink (SH)
20: five shadow creeping ice enervating strike (SH), tornado throw (SS)

Available Light – The Legend of Shi Gandang

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Level 1-5 Closer to the Heart
“And the men who hold high places/Must be the ones to start/To mold a new reality/Closer to the heart”

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The man who would become Shi Gandang was born to nobility and prosperity. However he soon saw how the decadence of his family made them both lazy and arrogant. As soon as he could he left home and began training his body to become stronger and faster and began training in the Sublime Way. Not sure of what direction to focus upon at first, Shi Gandang dabbled in all of the disciplines he could study. However, soon enough he found himself drawn to the Shadow Hand discipline. During his training he became very good friends with one of the other students – Aku Shiomori.

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We start off our career as an unarmed Swordsage. By taking the focus in the Shadow Hand discipline, Shi Gandang can use the SI with more effectiveness. All of the feats chosen now go into the Master of Nine prestige class later and help with the SI now. He easily meets the maneuver requirements as both of the schools are offered to the Swordsage. The highlight maneuvers include the Diamond counters action before thought and moment of the perfect mind. Each of these shore up Shi Gandang’s saving throws—having maxed out Concentration helps with this too.

Level 6-10 The Weapon
“He’s not afraid of your judgment/He knows of horrors worse than your Hell/He’s a little bit afraid of dying/But he’s a lot more afraid of your lying”

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Though he swore he would never be like his decadent family, Shi Gandang could not escape the reach of his family. They owned large swaths of land and treated the people who worked the land poorly. He vowed to take care of the people but could not openly defy his former family. He proceeded to use his skills of stealth to find a way and became a part of the Shadow Sun Ninja. After the oppressive guards attacked some villagers, Shi Gandang was able to strike from the shadows, harming the guards and healing the wounded. The nobles would back down and the people were safe—for now.

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We have entered the SI as soon as we possibly could having easily met all requirements. Maxing out our skills of Hide and Move Silently keeps him hidden while our maximum Listen ranks keeps us from missing when our opponents approach. Best of all our unarmed progression continues during our time in the SI making our strikes more potent. Adaptive Style is a must for any Swordsage and fulfills the Master of Nine requirement. Blind Fight which is also a necessity for Master of Nine makes sense for Shi Gandang for his darkness within light ability. Being able to counter the blindness effects while still gaining the ability’s bonuses is key. Flame of the shadow sun protects us from the cold and gives us a ranged option that we do not have at this level. The ability to alternate the light and darkness makes our enemy blind and allows Shi Gandang to take advantage of their temporary affliction.

Level 11-15 Time Stand Still
“I turn my back to the wind/To catch my breath/Before I start off again./Driven on without a moment to spend/To pass an evening with a drink and a friend”

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Aku Shiomori returned to his friend’s side and vowed to help him protect the villagers from the dangers of the world at large. The nobles would occasionally harass the people of the villages but Shi Gandang was there to protect them as always. Even though the villagers remained safe for the most part, the nobles could not totally be stopped. It seemed as though the nobles could predict Shi Gandang’s movements. He reasoned that they knew it was their former family member protecting the village and used their memories of him to help with their maneuverings. Still the people loved their champion—some said that they have even seen a halo of sorts above Shi Gandang’s head while he protects them. They started to believe that their protector was sent from the Heavens above.

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We spend these levels finishing the SI so all of our abilities are enjoyed for the latter quarter of our career. Picking up Darkstalker foils the detecting abilities of foes that can see beyond normal senses—and yes picking it up this “late” in the game hurts. Superior Unarmed Strike acts for us similar to how Practiced Spellcaster does for gishes—so we can gain the unarmed power of a 19th level monk now and enjoy that for the rest of our pre epic career. When our “halo” is pierced, those that do so are effected by the void of the shadow sun and suffer for it with cold damage—a burst effect that helps clear out too many undesirables and keeps our perimeter safe. The capstone ability gives us the ultimate form of protection with an amazing set of immunities but it also replenishes our health when we drain levels—dangerous for what happens afterwards but a good nova ability when desperate times are met.

Level 16-20 Double Agent
“Wilderness of mirrors/World of polished steel/Gears and iron chains/Turn the grinding wheel/I run between the shadows/Some are phantoms, some are real”

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Shi Gandang had reached the pinnacle of his training with the Shadow Sun Ninja but still felt incomplete within. He decided to master all of the disciplines of the Sublime Way he could in order to help those in need. He was able to use this mastery of the nine to enhance his Shadow Sun Ninja maneuvers. It was a rainy night when the nobles launched an overwhelming assault on the villages. Shi Gandang was able to fend off all attackers using his void of the shadow sun to freeze out the warriors. Once the attack was over, Shi Gandang started to relax. His good friend Aku had been with him all along, but now something looked amiss. Aku approached Shi and raised his weapon high and struck his friend. Shi was shocked to see his friend strike him. Even more shocked to see that Aku was helping the nobles and from what it seemed like, Aku was helping them all along. Shi Gandang assumed his most terrible form – the balance of light and dark. Aku could do nothing against defend against the negative energy attacks Shi launched. Aku begged for mercy but Shi had a look in his eyes – a look of a killer. Dangerously close to his threshold of succumbing to the dark, Shi raised his hand one last time. But was it to give mercy or to give death?

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These last five levels are dedicated to the Master of Nine prestige class. Shi Gandang had dabbled with the six Swordsage disciplines at level one and has maximum ranks in four key discipline skills along with the prerequisite feats. Now he is able to take any maneuver he can qualify for from the nine disciplines. He is finally able to get the last Diamond Mind counter for saving throws—which has even a more significant advantage now. Being able to add the ninth level Shadow Hand and Setting Sun maneuvers go thematically with the Shadow Sun Ninja. I’m sure I don’t have to describe the benefits of Time Stands Still to the Playground. The Master of Nine class ability of dual stance allows Shi to stay in a stance like Immortal Fortitude and use the benefits of the child of shadow and light Shadow Sun Ninja ability. He can alternate the dazzling ability with the darkness ability, close his eyes and launch attacks against the effectively blinded opponents. Obviously he could have done this earlier but since that means giving up a stance to do so, it is much more opportunistic to use this ability now when he can still use a stance’s effect. Perfect form allows Shi Gandang to perform his maneuvers with a higher difficulty for the opponent’s saving throws. And the discipline that gives lots of saving throws—Shadow Hand.

Freewill

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Shi Gandang does not need much for his abilities. Since he chooses unarmed combat, weapons are not needed. Standard WBL would cover his needs with enhancements for Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, and Constitution as well as Armor Class. An interesting adaptation for this character would be to make him Exalted and take the Vow of Poverty.

Show Don’t Tell

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Lords of Madness: Darkstalker feat
Tome of Battle: most of what you see here outside of SRD
Rush: song titles and lyrics

“The case had been tried by the jury inside
The choice between darkness and light...
The choice between darkness and light” – Double Agent, Rush

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