Disputes!
Quote Originally Posted by Ophelia
I expected that using Ghostwalk would get some sideways looks in this competition, but the logic given by the honorable Judges doesn't sit well with me.

Amphetryon calls it "Known Cheese" and I admit, Ophelia does smell more like Brie than Velveeta. But I've never seen Ghostwalk used in this competition or discussed on these boards, so (more as a question than a dispute) my rebuttal is, "Known to whom?"

But my real issue is with Dysprosium and WhamBamSam's rulings. They indicate, severally, that the template rates a scoring penalty because (a) it doesn't have a LA and (b) WoTC didn't errata it in 3.5 to include a LA.

In a competition that's specifically designed around squeezing every bit of RAW abuse possible, the argument of "It doesn't have a LA penalty, but it should, so have a scoring penalty instead" is a bit odoriferous.
Quote Originally Posted by Captain Tardis
Whether builds were penalized or gained bonus for multiclassing-

many people recommend ignoring XP penalties, becase they're bad for balance. All they do is penalize low op mundanes.
They shouldn't have made the transition from 3.0 to 3.5. It was an editing error.


Captain Tardis
You can’t apply inherited templates to your animal companion, so a magebred dire wolf isn’t kosher. (-0.5)
< PHB p35 > A 1st-level druid’s companion is completely typical for its kind
except as noted in the sidebar on page 36 - Animal Companion Basics: Use the base statistics for a creature of the
companion’s kind, as given in the Monster Manual, but make the following changes.
ALTERNATIVE ANIMAL COMPANIONS 7th Level or Higher (Level –6) Dire wolf

With past competitions rulings that have permited various things on the premis of the DM allowing it - Nothing within the rules above says that the DM could not allow a templated animal companion that would in fact be completely typical for its kind.
Quote Originally Posted by Ari
Thank you for your judging. I found your critiques overall fair, but I have one dispute to make. WhamBamSam, you mention Races of the Wild being the most recent version of the feat, but Complete Adventurer was also published in February of '05. This was the version of the feat I used.
Quote Originally Posted by Derek Bragg
(As before, read all Guardian of Metal Quotes in Ozzy Osbourne's voice)

Amphetryon - Carifications

Use of the SI


Guardian of Metal: "Not sure what you're on about with weaknesses mate. The only one I spotted (besides his awful hairstyle choice) was his slow reflexes. But the Power of Metal has that sorted."

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I'm not sure what you mean by weaknesses in your breakdown. If it was in reference to his Reflex save, he's got a maneuver to substitute Concentration (and therefor Perform) for it instead. Mostly, I was just a bit unclear on this one.


Amphetryon & Whambamsam - Disputes

Originality


Guardian of Metal: "All right, all right. You don't have to remind me that the various flavors of humanity make the best musicians, I already know that. But doesn't my man Baelfire get just a little credit for slaying people with the power of Metal?"

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I was a little disappointed there was no commentary on the ability to kill people with Perform checks via the Insightful Strike/Undersong combo. I've seen Undersong used for the save maneuvers, but not for smiting people down. I thought it was a neat little deal myself. That said, it's awfully hard to dispute anything you said, so if there is no adjustment I understand.


Power (Just Whambamsam)


Guardian of Metal: "I dunno if you missed it, but Baelfire does crank up the noise about midway through his career. I almost missed it myself but then, I'm missing almost all of 1986 as well."

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Baelfire bumps his Inspire Courage by +1 at Ninth Level, not 19th with the Song of the Heart feat. I'm not sure that factors into your score at all, or if it was a typo on your part. There's also +1 from his Inspirational Boost spell. So he's sitting on +3 Inspire courage, not just +2.


TO ALL JUDGES THIS ROUND


Guardian of Metal: "You've been a beautiful audience, you have. Your fantastic job judging means that the Gods of Metal are pleased. Go forth and ROCK THE **** OUT!"
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