Results 271 to 300 of 563
-
2013-09-23, 08:13 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
He's far more reminiscent of one of Grimm's tales than the Disney one
Originally Posted by Siegfried
The Frog PrinceLevels
Spoiler
CE Neraph Ranger 3/ Paladin of Slaughter 2/ Mortal Hunter 5/ Thrall of Orcus 10
abilitiesSpoiler
str 16 dex 12 con 14 int 10 wis 8 cha 16
increases to cha
at 20: str 16 dex 10 con 16 int 10 wis 8 cha 21
Build tableSpoiler
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Ranger 1|+1|+2|+2|+0|climb 4, know (dungeoneering) 3, know (nature) 3, listen 4, Speak Language (Common), spot 4, Survival 4|Alertness, Elder Evil (Evil Brand)|Favored enemy (aberrations), Track, Celestial Slayer
2nd|Ranger 2|+2|+3|+3|+0| climb 1 (5), know (dungeoneering) 1 (5), know (nature) 1 (5), listen 1 (5), spot 1 (5), Survival 1 (5)||Combat Style (melee)
3rd|Ranger 3|+3|+3|+3|+1|climb 1 (6), know (dungeoneering) 1 (6), know (geography), know (nature) 1 (6), listen 1 (6), spot 1 (6)|Mortalbane|Endurance
4th|Paladin of Slaughter 1|+4|+5|+3|+1|know (religion) 2||Aura of Evil, detect good, smite good 1/day
5th|Paladin of Slaughter 2|+5|+6|+3|+1|know (religion) 2 (4)| Elder Evil (Thrall to Demon)|Divine Grace, deadly touch
6th|Mortal Hunter 1|+6/+1|+8|+3|+1|disguise 2, know (arcana) 2|Power Attack|Mortal hunting +1, mortal skin (any humanoid)
7th|Mortal Hunter 2|+7/+2|+9|+3|+1|disguise 4 (6)||Detect mortals, Boost Spell-Like Ability
8th|Mortal Hunter 3|+8/+3|+9|+4|+2|disguise 4 (10)||Mortal hunting +2
9th|Mortal Hunter 4|+9/+4|+10|+4|+2|disguise 2 (12), climb 2 (8)|Iron Will|Smite mortals
10th|Mortal Hunter 5|+10/+5|+10|+4|+2|disguise 1 (13), know (planes) 3 | Elder Evil: (Lichloved)|Spurn mortal magic, mortal skin (any nondragon)
11th|Thrall of Orcus 1|+11/+6/+1|+12|+4|+4|bluff 4|Orcus (Shape soulmeld (phase cloak))|Carrion stench
12th|Thrall of Orcus 2|+12/+7/+2|+13|+4|+5|bluff 4 (8)|Open chakra (shoulders)|Touch of fear
13th|Thrall of Orcus 3|+13/+8/+3|+13|+5|+5|bluff 3 (11), know (religion) 1 (5)||Demon wings
14th|Thrall of Orcus 4|+14/+9/+4|+14|+5|+6|know (religion) 4 (9)|Orcus (Willing Deformity)|Massive girth
15th|Thrall of Orcus 5|+15/+10/+5|+14|+5|+6|bluff 1 (17), know (arcana) 3 (5)| Divine Denial, Elder Evil (Evil's Blessing)|Summon minor undead
16th|Thrall of Orcus 6|+16/+11/+6/+1|+15|+6|+7|bluff 1 (18), know (religion) 1 (5), know (planes) 2 (7)||Pallor of death
17th|Thrall of Orcus 7|+17/+12/+7/+2|+15|+6|+7|know (religion) 2 (7), know (planes) 2 (9)|Orcus (Flyby Attack)|Demon wings (at will)
18th|Thrall of Orcus 8|+18/+13/+8/+3|+16|+6|+8|know (arcana) 4 (9)|Steadfast Determination|Death touch
19th|Thrall of Orcus 9|+19/+14/+9/+4|+16|+7|+8|know (religion) 2 (9), know (planes) 2 (9)||Summon major undead
20th|Thrall of Orcus 10|+20/+15/+10/+5|+17|+7|+9|know (arcana) 2 (11), know (religion) 2 (11)| Orcus (Deformity: Parasite), Elder Evil (Willing Deformity: Madness)|Summon Nightwing 1/week[/table]
Spells per daySpoiler
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd
6th|-|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|-|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|-|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|-|1|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
10th|-|1|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-
Progression does not advance after 10.[/table]
Mortal hunter spells known:
1st Level: cause fear, charm person, detect good, heartache, protection
from good, sleep, unnerving gaze.
2nd Level: detect thoughts, evil eye, hold person, magic circle
against good, see invisibility, web, wither limb.
3rd Level: flesh ripper, mirror sending, nondetection, scrying,
suggestion, vile lance, wrack.
Suggested play tipsSpoiler
level 5Spoiler
you're something of an odd duck here. a charisma focused ranger seems odd at first, but paladin helps you defensively with its divine grace. Power attack isn't online yet, so you might like to take advantage of your free TWF while it's still relevant before your second attack comes online and you can begin dealing more damage by THFing with power attack.
aberrations are what a neraph is likely to encounter in limbo, especially chaos beasts, and it's a very broad type that's likely to remain relevant throughout low, mid, and high levels. celestial slayer is up from the start and provides a good degree of versatility. it gives SR 10 + ranger lvl against [good] subtype spells and SLAs, which is handy at low levels, and provides a +4 competence bonus to confirm crits against [good] subtype creatures.
for right now, make use of your str to deal damage in melee and enjoy divine grace having your back. don't forget about neraph camouflage to deny enemies their dex.
neraphim have a +2 racial to spot/listen (along with +5 to jump should it come up) so with that on top of a few ranks and alertness, you should be a decent scout at low levels.
endurance helps you with those little checks if you need to make forced marches and the like.
use thrall to demon in tight spots. it may be minor, but it is a nice little boost 1/day that stacks with just about everything
level 10Spoiler
Now we've gotten serious.
This month's secret ingredient invited us to dive into the deep end of the alignment pool, and there are few classes deeper in that end than the mortal hunter. Ranger helps lay foundation here giving relevant abilities.
Mortal hunter builds on the platform ranger starts off by continuing your full BA along with paladin and the SI, helping you get a perfect 20 by the time you're all done.
Power attack is up here for the standard reasons. Helps with damage, etc. Now that you're done qualifying for stuff (for now), you have room to take it and enjoy it with your full BA.
You get some nice little bonuses against mortals with mortal hunting, applying to bluff, listen, sense motive, spot, and survival, same as favored enemy in addition to attack and damage (all damage not just weapon damage) rolls against mortals.
Mortals are everybody except outsiders, undead, constructs, and fey.
Mortal skin is up, granting the ability to skin your enemies and steal their power by turning into them. You can use this 1/day and it works as polymorph. Judiciously used, you can make it last as long as you like. If you turn into the same creature whose flesh you harvested, the duration is permanent. If it's the same type, you retain the shape for an hour, and even if it's not the same type, you retain the shape for 10 minutes, so you can use this ability on the fly in combat to turn into something bigger and meaner than the enemies you're fighting in addition to using this ability for long-term disguise/infiltration work.
There are no provisions made for the condition of the flesh, so if your DM is strict, carry around some unguent of timelessness to keep pieces of your favorite forms handy for different situations as with any shape changing character.
You can only do it once a day, as mentioned, so be careful with it and if it's possible try to maximize how often you can permanently retain a shape.
Initially you can only turn into humanoids, but at 5 you can turn into any creature that's not a dragon, outsider, undead, construct, or fey.
This offers one important edge over polymorph. Polymorph doesn't let you turn into elementals, while mortal skin does.
Iron will's up to boost your lowish will save and serve as groundwork for divine denial at 15. trust me, it's worth it
detect mortals does exactly what you think it does and is a very useful little ability, even nullifying darkstalkers! boost spell-like ability helps make your touch of fear and death touch stronger when that comes online later, and you get a smite attack against a mortal 1/day (every little bit helps)
Atropus, in its infinite generosity, graces you with the lichloved feat, the last thing you need to get into thrall of orcus.
your basic combat style is largely the same, however you rely more on THFing than TWFing at this point since PA's up. use your shape changing from mortal skin well and beat the bejeezus out of aberrations with murderous intent. you've got tons of ranks in disguise, so you should be able to pull off stealth/infiltration missions with relative ease between ranks, your good cha, and the +10 bonus mortal skin gives
mortal hunter also gives spells from a short but potent list. while your base allotment is a little puny, there's always wands which can provide a lot of use all throughout the game.
level 15Spoiler
Hoo-ah, you're in the secret ingredient!
Having learned to slip through the spaces between planes, the worlds between worlds, you have unlocked the power of the phase cloak. the climb bonus is kind of handy, and retaining your AC while climbing is awfully nice. the real reason you want the phase cloak though is the shoulder bind effect.
when bound, you turn ethereal whenever you move at least 5 feet, letting you go through difficult terrain and walk through walls, avoiding aoos (unless enemies can see/target ethereal creatures)
use this in tandem with your demonic wings and really confuse your enemies on the battlefield.
willing deformity allows orcus to grace you with his preternatural fatness via your massive girth ability, beefing up your con to make your carrion stench ability harder to resist, and helping you get more mileage out of steadfast determination later on.
for a shape changer, a high con actually makes a difference since your HP are tabulated from your base con and not the con of the monster you turn into. you have no real reason to care about dex since you can just assume a shape with a higher dex such as a jungle giant and it gets you all the concordant benefits of a good dex score, hence the rationale for fatness instead of skininess
you've got your summons online now, so have fun with them. they're handy flanking buddies and can provide a variety of fun status effects, inflicting ability damage, granting negative levels, and getting to otherwise difficult to access enemies.
mortal hunter's boost spell-like ability bumps touch of fear's dc by 2. it works 3/day/sla, so will be able to enhance touch of fear every time you use it.
you have a lot more mobility around the battlefield now and you should make use of it. demon wings, being a su ability that's not tied to your physical form like a breath weapon, can still be used while you are polymorphed into another monster that can't fly, so keep this in mind when deciding when to time your use for the levels that you don't have demon wings at will.
evil's blessing adds cha to your saves yet again (as a profane bonus, so it stacks with divine grace) for 5 rounds when you make a standard action. if you damage a creature with an aura of good or with the [good] subtype, the bonus doubles for the round, which can get your saves pretty darn high. extremely useful ability if you have the time to prebuff, and you can use it as often as you like, so it'll help you out with all your day's encounters.
divine denial helps strengthen your defense even further, giving a +2 bonus to all saves vs divine spells that allow saves and allowing you to make a will save vs divine spells that don't! useful to the max and built upon later with steadfast determination
combat is similar to levels before it. when your mortal skin ability is available, turn into something big and mean to beat the hell out of your enemies. use your slas from orcus, they're still just as useful.
now that you have your carrion stench online, remember that the save is keyed off your con. this is also the level you hit the cap for polymorph, so if you pick a shape with a good con (such as mountain troll with a 31) it makes your stench much harder for enemies to resist
level 20Spoiler
You are now truly a sight to behold. Due to the way pallor of undeath has been ruled to work, it can provide great utility for you since you're an outsider. standard uses of alter self apply, and if you really wanted to, you could use it in tandem with your mortal skin ability to change shape for a short period of time into a non-outsider form.
use your pallor of death's fear aura with your touch of fear to stack, and remember that mortal hunter has cause fear on its list as well, wands of which are dirt cheap to make up for its rather anemic base allotment of spells.
flyby attack makes you even more flexible on the battlefield popping in and out of walls and keeping enemies on their toes. Demon wings is at will now, so you don't need to worry about timing it right, and you can grow them when you're polymorphed by mortal skin and hide them if you're incognito.
don't forget that you don't provoke AoOs due to the phase cloak unless enemies can both see and target ethereal foes, nullifying one of flyby attack's biggest headaches
mortal hunter's boost SLA helps out again by making death touch harder to resist 3/day and you've got your appropriately epic capstone of summoning a night wing. this is an absolutely brutal monster to fight with and should help make a dent in almost any combat, even at 20.
deformity madness gives immunity to mind affecting, and steadfast determination earlier on keeps it from negatively affecting your will saves. it also helps you get more punch out of divine defiance by nudging your will save north a few points
fly around the battlefield and hide, spring out when your enemy least expects it, and keep tabs on them with detect mortals. you're all about versatility, so keep your options open and you should do fine
The Tale of Siegfried: Being the Story of a Frog, a Princess, Some Meat, and a Book of Stories
A Frog Is BornSpoiler
The story begins with the birth of a frog. A special kind of frog, called a neraph.
Neraphim aren't born just once like you and me. They're born twice. First they chew through the rubbery shells of their eggs and swim out into the water as little red tadpoles, slithering and jostling and bumping each other in the communal lagoon where the adults in their tribe have their young, pooling them together to keep everyone's offspring safe.
Because of this, neraphim don't know their parents the same way we do. They're said to belong to their whole tribe. Everyone is their mother, their father, their brother or sister. Or no one is, depending on your perspective.
Life as a tadpole, as you might imagine, is far from glamorous, and the whole time those little froglets are tail to tail and cheek to cheek, they're dreaming of what life outside the pond will be like.
Once they are able, they climb out of the pool on their own two feet and breathe the peppery air of Limbo, their gills sealing shut forever as they set foot on land for the first time.
Land in Limbo came in little chunks at irregular intervals. If we have to crawl before we can walk, neraphim have to swim before they can stand and stand before they can fly.
There isn't an up or a down there. Up is whatever you want it to be, which can be terribly confusing when on the run from a slavering chaos beast.
This wasn't a terribly rare occurrence in Limbo, and it was where the neraphim got much of their food and clothing since, due to the chaotic environment, it was difficult to say when travelers would come to trade.
It was during one of these raids by the chaos beasts, jumbled messes of teeth and ears and eyes and tentacles that they were, that a particular neraph had his first personal encounter with one of the things.
Once the other members of his tribe had finished kicking it to death, he made his way through the crowd and looked at its deflated form.
"This one looks different," he said, gingerly using a stick to raise one of the beast's tentacles tipped with a bulbous eye.
"So what?" the neraph who had delivered the deathblow grunted. "They all look different. It's what separates them from us."
The blood from the beast had stopped flowing. Gravity had changed again in the middle of his sentence and drops of blood hung for a while in round, wobbling beads, drifting through the air like mercury. The crowd began to disperse, floating in different directions towards little hunks of land.
"Is it, though?" the curious neraph said. He supposed his comrade had a point. After all, if pressed to tell you how exactly he looked different from any other neraph, he wouldn't be able to. Perhaps that was why none of them had names.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the other said, an edge to his voice, the sack in his throat wavering a little and stretching his skin taut out of habit.
"Well," he continued hesitantly, his own breath sac not quite so grown yet, "we change from tadpoles into adults. That's not so different from what these creatures do, is it?"
His companion's eyes widened, their thin nictitating membranes flicking over them reflexively as some dirt from a nearby landmass sprinkled down on them.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," he said, and floated upwards to join some other neraphim for a dinner of the fleshiest parts of this beast.
The remaining neraph sighed to himself.
"You and everyone else."
At times, though he was surrounded by individuals like himself as far as meat and bones were concerned, he still felt lonely in a way he couldn't put words to.
He saw little circular rings lined up along the underside of the beast's tentacle, arranged in the neatest, most perfect rows. To see anything orderly in Limbo was quite unusual. To see anything familiar was more unusual still.
It wasn't his imagination, he could surely say this time. He'd seen this part on a beast before a few days ago during the evening meal. It was as though they were using some other kind of creatures as reference.
It was difficult for him to imagine a creature that wasn't a neraph having parts that all fit together. All the same shape and size and color and not a patchwork quilt like the chaos beasts.
He was just getting ready to take it up to the tribe's cook when he heard a great tearing noise from behind him. He whirled on a point in space just as you or I might turn on our heels and saw it.
A perfect, smooth circle right through space. For someone whose life was all jagged lines and uneven rhythms, there was something alien about a perfect circle.
What he saw through that circle was something else entirely. A group of four leapt through the circle at his feet and hovered in the air before him, seeming unsure of their bodies in the ambiguous gravity that surrounded them at the moment.
"Hello," he said, his tongue feeling dry in his mouth.
The creature in front of him recoiled in what he guessed was disgust, likely as a result of the chaos beast he still held on the end of his stick. Its flesh hadn't yet stabilized, and despite his fascination with them, he had no desire to be afflicted by their cursed touch.
"Oh, no, don't worry, it's quite dead," he said, nodding towards the beast. The four uncomprehending looks before him told him they didn't speak his language.
They were odd looking things. They had tiny little mouths that barely stretched wider than the space between their eyes. They had a strange patch of fur on top of their heads and some kind of bowl-shaped growth on either side of their heads. Their skin was smooth like porcelain and was a different color for each of them, and none of it close to the red of his own hide. Other than that, they had two arms and legs and no discernible tails, so whatever they were, they had entered the adult stage of their life cycle.
He tried his greeting again in Slaadi, knowing a phrase here or there, but this didn't seem to improve this group's attitude. They backed away from him as though afraid, and one of them held a trembling hand in front of its face and surrounded his companions in a shimmering bubble of force by speaking a few beautiful, musical syllables with a short, thick little tongue.
He watched them drift away and noticed that in their haste, they had left something behind.
It was made of skin of some sort and roughly rectangular. Narrow sheafs of paper filled out its middle and there was some kind of language he didn't quite recognize on the inside along with some pictures of more of the strange creatures he had just seen.
Not wanting to push his luck further after his argument about the chaos beast earlier, he tucked the thing into his bag and went home to peruse it later on.
The Shadow That WasSpoiler
Once he had read the first book, he was hungry for more in a way that he felt would be sacrilegious to compare to food. The need to eat was something that happened on its own. This book had lit his soul on fire. Nothing he could do would quench it. All that could be done was to obtain more books.
When he had found the artifact's proper appellation, he was able to negotiate with traders in the tribe. There were adventuring parties that drifted through Limbo occasionally, he learned, and they were prone to losing things. Since no one else in his tribe seemed to have much use for the things, he was able to barter for them cheaply, and before long had filled his tent with books.
That first one still remained his favorite all this time later. The others had much to tell him indeed, yes. Those tentacles with little round rings were from a creature called an octopus from the prime material, and there were other creatures there that chaos beasts had taken other traits from. Sharp teeth from serpents, large snouts from alligators, and bulbous eyes from neraph-like creatures called frogs.
Once he had the Common word in his mind, he clung to it and sought out information on the subject wherever it became available.
Frogs were apparently quite prominent in the predominant culture in the prime material. There was no dearth of literature about them. Some peoples, from his studies, even revered them as gods.
As far as the ones who had left the book in his care in the first place, men, they were called, seemed to have a complex relationship with frogs. Some took frogs as familiar spirits, and still others put those people to death for doing so. It was all terribly confusing.
That was until one day he discovered a very special book. It was emblazoned with a wide, friendly neraphim face. Its cheeks were nice and round, thick rolls of fat under its chin showing his prowess as a great hunter.
His skin appeared to be green to the eye, but it might have just been the unusual material used to bind the book. He couldn't quite be sure, but thought it might be leather of some sort.
Warts dotted his cheeks and his mouth was cracked open in a toothy smile. He appeared friendly and genial, and the inside of the book was no different.
"Welcome, gentle reader. You must ask yourself not what you can do for Orcus, but what Orcus can do for you?"
The rest of the page was blank. This was most unusual since from what he understood, paper was quite the valuable commodity in the prime material.
What happened next surprised even a resident of Limbo.
The words on the page swirled and danced around his clawed hand as it rested against the blank page.
"Well? What'll it be, gentle reader?"
He blinked.
"Are you speaking to me?" he asked aloud.
"Who else?" the book said.
"Am I addressing Orcus?"
"In a manner of speaking," said the book. "I am but a shadow of what once was."
"What once was?
"You truly are an inquisitive sort…" it trailed off as though searching for his name.
"You can save yourself some time. Our kind doesn't have names."
The ink swam on the page and formed into the smiling face he'd seen on the cover.
"A wise decision. Never let anyone name you against your will. Names have power. It's why I'm not Orcus, at least not anymore."
He nodded, looking at the book without blinking his eyelids, his nictitating membranes flicking back and forth in excitement.
"So what have you named yourself?" he asked.
If it could be said that an ink drawing on a page drew itself up with pride, then that's exactly what happened as he asked Orcus or whoever he was this question.
"You may call me Tenebrous," it said, pride oozing from its lips as the ink coalesced into words under its many chins.
"So, you suggest I name myself? Take control of my own fate as you have yours?"
The head turned a little to the side as if to shrug
"Perhaps not exactly as I have. After all, you seem a decent sort of fellow, I'd hate to consign you within the pages of this tome of magic. It's not an entirely pleasant place to be. Although perhaps…" it trailed off.
The page was full, so he flipped it over to see if Tenebrous was still speaking.
The face reappeared as soon as he had laid the corner flat, looking as though it were chuckling, little "ha ha has" slipping from between his teeth.
In the books he had read, this was generally the part where the entity offered the reader something of value.
"I might transport you into one of these other books. In a more metaphorical sense, of course. Take you to this prime material you so fancy."
He stroked his chin and opened a book so it faced Tenebrous. It had an elaborate bird's feather filigree on its cover. He faced a meticulous illustration of a prince facing an evil wizard, a beautiful maiden clinging to his arm in fear or adulation, he wasn't sure which. He lightly traced his finger across the prince.
"You may call me Siegfried."
"Ah, a Renaissance man. I can respect that," the illustration purred in a florid cursive script.
"I'm not a man, per se," he said, "but I do appreciate Tchaikovsky."
"Well, would you like to be?"
Siegfried blinked his eyelids.
"Is such a thing possible?"
"My amphibian friend, anything is possible. I would expect a denizen of Limbo to know that. All I ask in return is that you visit a friend of mine."
Siegfried chewed on his thick, ropy tongue.
"Is it really like these stories? All I have to do is get a kiss from a beautiful maiden, and that will make a man of me?"
Tenebrous gave a lecherous wink so emphatic that he made ripples across the sea of his cheeks that traveled all the way down to the bay of his chins.
"You'll need to get a little more than just a kiss from her, but that is the general idea."
Had Siegfried been a man, he may have blushed. As it was, his red skin was able to hide his shock at Tenebrous's impropriety. As his books had taught him, such behavior was unbecoming of a gentleman.
"Well, all right then. What is it I must do?"
"Nothing too strenuous. Those creatures you hunt, do they have skulls?"
"Sometimes," said Siegfried. "Sometimes more than one."
"Do you know where they're kept?"
Siegfried nodded. "In the tannery. It's what we make clothes and tools out of."
"Fascinating. Do you think you could arrange for a live one to make its way there?"
"I could. What am I to do with it?" Siegfried asked.
"Kill it," said Tenebrous.
Siegfried felt a little sick. "If… if I must."
"Then we have a deal," Tenebrous said.
***
Siegfried tried not to look as he dashed the chaos beast's brains out against the makeshift dais Tenebrous had asked him to construct out of the chaos beasts' oddly shaped skulls.
He lit a tallow candle from a particularly greasy beast.
"There," he muttered. "I've done your distasteful deed."
The book smirked at him and opened its mouth wide, clearly laughing.
"You have no idea. Anyway, just smear some of that good stuff on my mouth here." Tenebrous opened his jaws.
Siegfried grimaced and wiped his finger through the slurry running down the altar of misshapen skulls and smudged it onto the page where it soaked in for a second and disappeared with a satisfied smack of Tenebrous's rubbery lips and impressive tongue.
"That's the ticket. Anyway, hang on, this might sting a little," Tenebrous said.
Siegfried was about to ask, but his question was answered with a searing pain in his finger.
He yanked it back in shock and popped it into his wide mouth, working hard not to make a noise, lest he be discovered in the tannery when he wasn't supposed to be there.
Siegfried looked to his hand and saw there was an odd, dark symbol that didn't look anything like a bite.
"What is this?" he said, feeling as though it was a gross understatement.
"Surely you're familiar with the mark of the beast," Tenebrous said, licking his lips.
"You're not telling me I've made some Faustian pact?"
Tenebrous's head rocked and rolled back and forth until it rolled off the page and onto the next one, forcing Siegfried to turn the page to see his bloated form again.
"I suppose you could say you're more von Rothbart than Siegfried."
Siegfried scowled. "You said not to let anyone else name me."
"Oh, yes, yes. Now do you want to see the world or not?"
Siegfried blew lightly on his finger.
"I suppose so."
"Just turn the page. You're good at that," he punctuated with a raspberry.
Siegfried rolled his bulging eyes and turned the page seeing Tenebrous pointing out his long, fat tongue at some text on the opposing page, giving a time, date, and location a short time from now.
"What is this?"
"You remember that odd group that you encountered a while ago. They traveled here through a portal. This is the location of the next one so you can find what you think you need to fill that hole in your heart."
Siegfried tried not to let the hurt show on his face, but it didn't seem to fool Tenebrous.
"And I'm supposed to believe that? I know what happens to the men in these sorts of stories"
Tenebrous rolled his eyes so forcefully they fell out of his head and rattled along the bottom of the page.
"As one predator to another, frogface, I've got what I need from you. If you don't want to collect, that's your problem. You've got the information. Whether you act on it or not's up to you. You want Odette? Go get her." He punctuated this with an eyeless wink that was truly unnerving to Siegfried.
He shut the book and drummed his fingers on the cover. Tenebrous's face still shifted beneath them, but he was at least free of his snide comments.
He wanted to pretend he had some choice in the matter. Being familiar with themes of fate, he knew that since he was embroiled in this choice in the first place, he would end up going along with Tenebrous's plan in the end.
A Frog In LoveSpoiler
The time came, and Siegfried held himself in position to wait for the portal to open.
The leader of the group of four opened the portal again, just as she had last time. She looked far different from how he had seen her last. Her hair was tied tightly away from her face and was showing streaks of gray. She looked as though she had scarcely eaten or slept since the last time Siegfried had last laid eyes on her. She had a look of determination burning in her eyes that Siegfried recognized from the illustrations in his books. She looked like Odette when she was facing von Rothbart in the final scene.
"Where is my book, slaad?" she hissed in Slaadi with a thick, Common accent, full of lips and teeth.
Siegfried snorted and reached into his bag to withdraw it.
"It's easier for me to speak your language, madam," he said in Common, pinching the sides of his mouth towards the center of his face to sound more human. "And for the record, I'm neraphim, not slaadi."
"Potayto, potahto," she said in Common, one hand on her hip and the other swirling some magic around her finger with the other. "Will you make this easy or difficult?" Her lip curled up into a sneer.
Siegfried followed her gaze to his wrist, submerged in his bag. She must have thought he was grabbing for a weapon. He took out the book and tossed it in her general direction, leaving it to hover between them.
"It was really quite a delightful little romp. Who was that fair maiden on page 46?" he said politely. The part of the page containing the caption had been damaged.
The woman in front of him made an odd face and gestured towards the book. It opened before her and turned to the page in question. She grimaced in disgust.
"You're sick! You know that?" she shouted. In a puff of smoke and foul-colored light, she was gone.
Siegfried shrugged and walked through the portal undeterred.
He found himself in a beautiful stone room. It wasn't just a little crumb of rock like the ones in Limbo. He appeared to be inside of a permanent structure, something unheard of in Limbo. When the landscape was so mutable, it didn't make sense to erect anything more than a tent.
There was a raised rectangular platform in the center of the room, a perfect shaft of sunlight beaming right down onto it. The room was all straight, clean lines, nothing jagged or irregular anywhere.
Siegfried walked over to the stone structure and saw a human shape on the top of it, a tradition for their royalty, he had read. There was no name on it.
When he was closer to it, he recognized the face as the symmetrical vision of loveliness that had greeted him on page 46 of the book he'd just returned to what he assumed to be its rightful owner. Her face looked slightly different cast in stone. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks much fuller than they appeared on the page.
"Hello there," Siegfried said, resting a hand on the lid. He was quite familiar with the story of the sleeping beauty. Imprisoned wrongfully by an evil witch until awoken by the ministrations of an amorous prince.
He was a prince, Siegfried thought. Despite his rough treatment, Tenebrous had had a point about the power experienced when one named himself.
Siegfried shoved the stone lid gingerly off the rectangular box and brought it to rest on the floor with a delicate scraping sound.
What lay before him was just what he'd seen on page 46. Her eye were black holes, empty as when Tenebrous's had rolled out of their sockets. Her face was clean and white, ivory cheeks and off-white teeth just like the tusks he'd seen on chaos beasts pasts, borrowed from what he now knew to be an elephant.
Her dress lay in tatters, making the task fate had appointed him somewhat easier. His fingers wandered across her long, smooth bones, searching for the magic splinter that kept his princess slumbering.
His palm rubbed across the round crests of her pelvis as he lowered himself into her resting place.
Siegfried lowered his face to her glimmering rictus and made the best approximation of a kiss he could to a princess with no lips.
Just as he did, two burning pinpricks of light flared to life in the middle of his lady's eye sockets, bathing the two of them in a deep red light the color of the sunset in his books.
Siegfried felt the bite of his lover's pointed phalanges digging into the back of his scalp, kissing him back far more adeptly than he would have thought she was able.
Since he knew she wouldn't have to come up for air, Siegfried was the first to pull away.
"What a treat," she purred.
Siegfried yelped as her bony hand pinched the bare flesh of his buttock.
"I'm here to-"
"Did Tenebrous send you?" she said, somehow inserting a yawn midway through the sentence. She stretched her arms wide over her head and climbed over the edge onto the floor.
Siegfried blinked and gratefully accepted his trousers when his lady handed them to him.
"In a manner of speaking. He told me when and where a mage would be opening a door here from Limbo in exchange for the book I first glimpsed you in." He leaned on the lip of the stone sarcophagus.
"Are you the friend he wished me to see, milady?"
She laughed, an odd, hollow noise without a tongue.
"Oh, you are precious," she said, her teeth chattering with every word as she watched him get dressed.
"He told me you would make a man of me," Siegfried said, feeling indecent. "And how did you know he sent me?"
"I'd say you took care of that yourself, Romeo." One of her gas lamp eyes flickered out for a second in what he guessed was supposed to be a wink. "You're bearing his mark," she said, pointing to his hand as he buttoned his shirt.
He cleared his throat, making his vocal sac swell a little, bulging like a balloon and eliciting a little giggle from his princess.
"It's Siegfried, actually," he said. "But I was speaking in a more literal sense."
"Ah. Well, that's simple enough." She reached through a hole in her dress and drew a withered scrap of meat that clung to the edge of her coccyx. "Bottoms up," she said said with another wink. Siegfried supposed without flesh, one's means of expressing oneself was rather limited.
Siegfried flicked his long tongue to his lady's hand and let it snap back to his mouth, savoring her salty aroma.
He swallowed and felt a strange sensation in his skin. It reminded him of the last stage in his life cycle when he went from tadpole to adult.
His skin faded from its normal scabby red to a pale, creamy color, like the Siegfried in his book. He felt hair shoving its way out of his scalp and his mouth shrinking to a human proportion.
His bones readjusted themselves until he was standing just a shade above his lady, as Siegfried should for his Odette.
"And that's all there is to it?" he said, his voice feeling reedy and thin coming from such a small mouth with no vocal sac to give his words some meat.
"Yes. It's not a bad trade for your soul, is it?" she said.
Siegfried swallowed. He'd heard reference to souls in a few of his books. It was what Anderson's little mermaid had so lacked and traded her life for. Was this what he had given up to do just the opposite?
"I suppose not. Can I turn into anything besides men?"
His lady shrugged. "I'm not sure. I asked for something else. You'll figure it out."
"What did you ask for?"
She looked at him blankly. "You're serious."
Siegfried simply waited.
"Eternal life. Of a sort, anyway. He does have a nasty sense of humor, our shadow that was."
"What's his twist for me?" he asked.
"My guess would be that you'll have an insatiable taste for mortal flesh."
Siegfried snorted. "I'm perfectly satisfied in this shape. Why should I want to metamorphose again?"
"You may not have a choice."
Siegfried didn't like the sound of that, but it did sound just like something out of his fairy tales.
Final chapter/Sources found hereLast edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-09-23 at 08:51 PM.
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:18 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
By the Power of Greyskull!
Originally Posted by Cara Skerritt
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:22 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
I mean, we all know that it's the crazy ones that have the good pills
Originally Posted by Adrienne Fzembrel
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:25 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is
Originally Posted by Waratah-Blossom
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:28 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
So, is this the D&D Version of a Nemesis-corrupted Winter Knight?
Originally Posted by Ankou
Spoiler
Seven years. That is now the heartbeat, the cadence of my life. Every seven years, we Unseelie owe a tithe, a blood debt. Every seven years, one of our own is owed to the Darkest of Lords.
Every seven years, one of us goes to Hell.
It began with our Queene's return, fivescore years ago. After her long exile at the hands of Titania and Oberon, Our Queene of Air and Darkness delivered us out of the farthest forgotten worlds and we returned to Faerie with rage and fury and terror. And a debt.
The accounting of this debt is now my task. The Mark upon my brow announces me to all the worlds as the seneschal and gravekeeper of Faerie. From this day forth, every seven years. Some are damned by their own treachery or incompetence; some are captured from Titania's armies; some are selected by lot. It matters not whence they came; every seven years one will be delivered to me. I will scribe their names in my Book. I will play them a dirge on my ghastly flute, which they say was carved from the thighbone of fallen Oberon. And I will perform the Rite as it was followed in ancient days, with golden sickle and oakwood bowl. And I will deliver their souls to Hell.
--
A Seventh Seven. A powerful number, deserving of a powerful tribute. This one, I hear, was a member of Our Queene's own inner circle; Mab's closest advisors. He had delved too deeply into Our Queene's ancient secrets, and so he damned himself. But this one, he did not plead. He did not struggle, or weep. When he heard my dirge upon my flute, he did not cringe or cower. When he beheld the Mark on my brow, he did not shake. He came before me proudly; and before he died, he spoke with me.
I learned much from this doomed soul. He told me much about the long ages of Mab's exile. I learned that, following her defeat by Oberon and Titania, Our Queene of Air and Darkness in fact perished from this world. I learned of the realms where her spirit dwealt for an Age of the World, and of the Powers with Which she treated there. I learned the nature of Mab's return, and of Him to whom Our Queene owes this blood debt.
Most importantly, I learned that this ancient Power seeks servants, and of the gifts and rewards he bestows upon his faithful.
I feel no betrayal in this knowledge. I do not resent Our Queene. I love and serve her still. But this knowledge cannot now be removed from me. I know now that there are even greater Powers in these Worlds. Before he died, this tribute showed me the true face of Him who we Unseelie serve. I have seen the true face of power.
--
It has been done.
For seven years I pondered, I sought answers and unburied dark secrets long forgotten. For seven years I have endeavored to learn the nature of this Power who owns the service of Our Queene Mab. And now, today, I have entered his service as well. As the hot blood gushed from my golden sickle, and fell steaming into the oakwood bowl, my words in the Rite consigned this soul not only to Mab and to Hell, but to Lord Orcus.
Already he has answered me; already I feel his touch. And now I feel that my service must end, or change; no longer can I languish in this stony cavern beneath the dolmen. No, Lord Orcus calls me to greater purpose. But I shall not abandon my duties here; after all, a debt is owed, and Lord Orcus rewards me well for paying this debt. In seven years, I will return.
Neither shall I abandon my Queene. The War continues, and as Mab's servant I will bring all the terror of Hell with me into Faerie and cut down the armies of wretched Titania. My mournful flute goes with me, and the sound of my piping will herald the arrival of the armies of Orcus. As seneschal to the Queene of Air and Darkness, and herald to the Demon Lord of the Dead, I will bring fear where fear is yet unknown.
--
At last the time of power comes again. The seventh seven, when at the dark of the moon I will again spill Faerie blood from my golden sickle. And now, for the first time in my long service, I understand that this tithe is but a means to a greater end. I now see that this tithe increases the power of Lord Orcus, and Lord Orcus will in turn bestow great gifts upon Our Queene Mab. And as the Seelie fall before Mab's armies, as Titania's power wanes, Orcus will muster the dead in his cold realm and amass an army the likes of which has never been seen in all the realms of Heaven, Hell, or Faerie.
When finally the armies of the dead have swelled and burst their cages, Orcus will march them upon the world of fragile and pitiful Men, with Mab as his captain. And when the world of mortals falls, Our Queene of Air and Darkness shall forever provide refuge for the armies of the Dead against the hated sun.
Ah! Such a simple scheme, and yet so far-sighted in perspective. I swell with pride to be esteemed so highly in the ranks of such great Lords as Mab and Orcus.
I am renewed in my purpose. May tonight's tithe bring great power unto Orcus and Mab, as I cast my gaze across the long ages, the untold seven-year heartbeats, until the armies of Hell and Faerie are united in victory.
Ankou, executioner of Mab.
NE Jaebrin Male Bard 9/Thrall of Orcus 10
Starting Stats
{table=head]STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
6|14|12|14|10|20[/table]
Spoiler{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Level Adjustment|+x|+x|+x|+x|+2 Racial bonus to Appraise, Bluiff, Perform, Diplomacy checks. Spellcraft is a class skill. +4 racial bonus to Spellcraft checks regarding Enchantment school||Fey creature type. Low-Light vision. +1 luck bonus to AC. Immunity to Enchantment spells and effects. +1 racial bonus to Enchantment DCs. Special quality: Feign Enchantment (see below). Special attack: Will Sapper (see below). Natural attack: Bite 1d3.
2nd|Bard1|+0|+0|+2|+2|Concentration 4, Hide 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Knowledge (Arcane) 2, Move Silently 4, Perform (Flute) 4, Tumble 4, Intimidate 2, Sense Motive 2|Evil Brand|Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Countersong, Fascinate, Inspire Awe ACF, Spells
3rd|Bard 2|+1|+0|+3|+3|Concentration 5, Hide 5, Knowedge (Religion) 5, Move Silently 5, Perform (Flute) 5, Tumble 5, Intimidate 2.5, Sense Motive 3||
4th|Bard 3|+2|+1|+3|+3|Concentration, Hide, Knowledge (Religion), Move Silently, Perform (Flute), Tumble 6; Intimidate 3, Sense Motive 4|Weapon Finesse|Inspire Competence
5th|Bard 4|+3|+1|+4|+4|Concentration, Hide, Knowledge (Religion), Move Silently, Perform (Flute), Tumble 7; Intimidate 3.5, Sense Motive 5||Ability Increase: Charisma 21
6th|Bard 5|+3|+1|+4|+4|Concentration, Hide, Knowledge (Religion), Move Silently, Perform (Flute), Tumble 8; Intimidate 4, Sense Motive 6||
7th|Bard 6|+4|+2|+5|+5|Concentration, Hide, Knowledge (Religion), Move Silently, Perform (Flute), Tumble 9; Intimidate 4.5, Sense Motive 7|Lichloved|Suggestion
8th|Bard 7|+5|+2|+5|+5|Concentration, Hide, Knowledge (Religion), Move Silently, Perform (Flute), Tumble 10; Intimidate 5, Sense Motive 8||
9th|Bard 8|+6/+1|+2|+6|+6|Concentration, Hide, Knowledge (Religion), Move Silently, Perform (Flute), Tumble 11; Intimidate 5.5, Sense Motive 9||Inspire Awe (60 ft), Ability Inrease: Charisma 22
10th|Bard 9|+6|+3|+6|+6|Concentration, Hide, Knowledge (Religion), Move Silently, Perform (Flute), Tumble 12; Intimidate 6, Sense Motive 10|Thrall to Demon|Inspire Greatness
11th|Thrall of Orcus 1|+7|+5|+6|+6|Intimidate 7, Knowledge (Religion) 13, Perform (Flute) 13||Carrion Stench, +1 Caster Level Abilities
12th|Thrall of Orcus 2|+8|+6|+6|+9|Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Religion) 14, Perform (Flute) 14||Touch of Fear
13th|Thrall of Orcus 3|+9|+6|+7|+9|Intimidate 9; Knowledge (Religion), Perform (Flute) 15|Daunting Presence|Demon Wings, Ability Increase: Charisma 23
14th|Thrall of Orcus 4|+10|+7|+7|+9|Intimidate 10; Knowledge (Religion), Perform (Flute) 16|Deformity: Gaunt, Haunting Melody|Skeletal Visage, Bonus Feat
15th|Thrall of Orcus 5|+11/+6/+1|+7|+7|+9|Intimidate 11; Knowledge (Religion), Perform (Flute) 17||Summon Minor Undead
16th|Thrall of Orcus 6|+12|+8|+8|+9|Intimidate 12; Knowledge (Religion), Perform (Flute) 18|Requiem|Pallor of Death
17th|Thrall of Orcus 7|+13|+8|+8|+9|Concentration 13; Knowledge (Religion), Perform (Flute) 19|Doomspeak|Demon Wings, Bonus Feat, Ability Increase: Charisma 24
18th|Thrall of Orcus 8|+14|+9|+8|+10|Intimidate 13; Knowledge (Religion), Perform (Flute) 20||Death Touch
19th|Thrall of Orcus 9|+15|+9|+9|+10|Concentration 14; Knowledge (Religion), Perform (Flute) 21|Hover|Summon Major Undead
20th|Thrall of Orcus 10|+16/+11/+6/+1|+10|+9|+11|Intimidate 14; Knowledge (Religion), Perform (Flute) 22|Evil's Blessing|Summon Nightwing, Bonus Feat[/table]
Spells per day
Spoiler{table=head]Bard Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th
1st|2|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|3|1|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|3|2|-|-|-|-|-
4th|3|3|1|-|-|-|-
5th|3|4|2|-|-|-|-
6th|3|4|3|-|-|-|-
7th|3|4|3|1|-|-|-
8th|3|4|4|2|-|-|-
9th|3|4|4|3|-|-|-
10th|3|4|4|3|1|-|-[/table]
Level 0: Detect Magic, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Read magic, Summon Instrument
Level 1: Sorrow*, Cause Fear, Lesser Confusion, Hideous Laughter
Level 2: Wave of Grief*, Dance of Ruin*, Vison of Entropy**, Hold Person
Level 3: Fear, Curse of the Putrid Husk*, Stunning Screech*, Displacement
Level 4: Dominate Person, Greater Invisibility
*Book of Vile Darkness
** Fiendish Codex 1: Hordes of the Abyss
Racial Specials
Spoiler
Feign Enchantment (Su): Jaebrin absorb the energy of enchantment effects used on them, allowing them to know the intended effect. The Jaebrin can then pretend to be affected, foolling even detect magic, arcane sight, and similar effects, since the absorbed enerty is displayed in the Jaebrin's aura for the duration of the spell (or until the Jaebrin dismisses it). Only by winning an opposed Sense Motive check against the Jaebrin's Bluff check can a viewer discern that the fey is not enchanted.
Will Sapper (Ex): Any creature damaged by a Jaebrin's bite must succeed on a Will save (DC 10+ 1/2 character level= CON modifier) or take a -4 penalty on Will saves for 1 minute.The effect of mulitiple bites doesn't stack.
Levels 1-5
Spoiler
Ankou is neither physically imposing nor particularly skilled in combat. While he wields a rapier suitably, his main tactic is to dishearten and disrupt enemies via spells and a dirge played on his masterwork flute. He is not as sneaky as a dedicated rogue, but maintains proficiency in moving unseen and unheard. At need, he can use Tumble to escape a melee.
Ankou's primary purpose in the service of Queene Mab is as interrogator and to deliver the blood tithe to Hell. In practice of this, he makes optimum use of his Knowledge (Religion) to extract a boon from each sacrifice (see BoVD, p.26). His Bardic training is weak in intimidation, but this is well-bolstered by his Charisma and a properly stocked dungeon.
Levels 6-10
Spoiler
Ankou continues as before, with the addittion of suggestion to his capabilities. If sent on assignment, Ankou rarely travels alone and makes frequent use of Inspire Greatness to aid his counterpart(s).
Levels 11-15
Spoiler
Entering Orcus' service expands Ankou's existing tactics. The stench of death which now surrounds him debilitates weaker enemies; likewise, Haunting Melody can cow low-level opponents for a significant duration, freeing Ankou to deal with stronger enemies (perhaps beginning with use of his Daunting Presence). Foes who succomb to one of these effects may prove vulnerable to a fear spell to further debilitate them. A terrified opponent makes a much more fitting target for Ankou's summoned companions. At need, Ankou can now use Greater Invisibility to hide from enemies while he enfeebles them; or he can simply dominate a weak-willed opponent.
Levels 16-20
Spoiler
Ankou is now a truly terrifying opponent. His Pallor of Death adds yet another option to his arsenal of fear effects, and his summon abilities (while limited) provide an effective closing option to finish off already weakened and terrified foes. Ankou selects a Vampire or Ghost companion based on his appraisal of his enemies' capabilities: a Ghost to deal incorporeal attacks against heavily-armored opponents, or a Vampire to drain levels from less evasive foes. Against weak enemies, Ankou prefers to summon a multitude of lesser undead.
While his undead minions rampage about the battlefield, Ankou remains aloft and invisible and continues to bolster them through his piping, then uses his death touch (boosted by his high Charisma) against high-priority targets. Against any foes who resist his existing fear options, Doomspeak provides a final opportunity since it is based on full character level, not Bard level and will likely reduce the target's Will save enough to succomb to other effects.
In the end, each foe should now be at least Frightened, if not Panicked, and subject to whatever further penalties Ankou elects to apply through his spells. These Frightened enemies are faced with at least two significant undead foes, while an invisible, flying Ankou flits about snuffing out life with his death touch.
Of course, Ankou's duties as Tither continue, and his Knowledge (Religion) is now high enough to secure significant boons from each sacrifice. An average roll of 10 should be enough to earn the services of a greater planar ally, or to bless any and all companions with divine power.
Sources
Spoiler
Jaebrin race: Monster Manual V, p.92
Insipre Awe ACF: Dragon Magic, p.13
Feats
Daunting Presence: Libris Mortis, p.25
Doomspeak: Champions of Ruin, p.20
Evil's Blessing: Elder Evils, p.13
Haunting Melody: Heroes of Horror, p.123
Requiem: Libris Mortis, p.29
NOTE: This entry assumes a stock Vampire or Ghost for the purposes of this competition. No additional stats for the undead companion are provided here.Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:29 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Didn't I see this movie?
Originally Posted by Ophelia
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:31 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
No, this isn't the one presented in the Tome of Magic
Originally Posted by Luxx
Luxx
CE Human Binder 5/Cleric 1/Tenebrous Apostate 4/Thrall of Orcus 10
"Praise Orcus the One True King, and His herald Tenebrous, the Shadow that Was."
The Story:SpoilerMost of the boys in the village fashioned their identity after their fathers. Roderick ruled the schoolyard much like his father, the mayor. Jack was just as fat and mean as his father Gristly Joe, the town butcher. There were many other boys desperately trying to emulate their fathers as they grew into men themselves...and then there was Luxx.
For the bastard son of the village's perpetually-single seamstress, there was nowhere to turn for identity so he became a quiet boy, interested more in drawing and reading than interacting with the others as they lived vicariously through the most recent exploits of their parents. Whenever Luxx asked about his father, though, the boy's mother would either fall eerily silent or begin to sob. Never anything more--never any answers to his question. For years, he continued to live his life in the dark until his mother shared the truth with him.
It's one thing to tell your son that you're a member of a secret Tenebrous cult; it's quite another thing to have him experience a Session of Shadow firsthand. Deep in the wine cellar of the local inn, Luxx was fascinated to see many familiar faces parading around and playacting in strange costumes. The entirety of it was fraught with religious symbolism, but that was all lost on the ten-year-old boy who watched with wide eyes.
The ceremony was divided into three parts, the first of which was called The Schism; according to Luxx's mother it was a dramatic retelling of the events that led to the death and resurrection of Orcus as Tenebrous. From Luxx's viewpoint, though, it was simply an occasion for the lanky tailor from next door to walk around with his arms splayed while Gristly Joe the butcher donned a pair of horns and fake bat wings. "Do you see him, Luxx?" his mother had asked with tears in her eyes. She pointed to the butcher as he clutched a replica Wand of Orcus and threw his massive naked girth around the room. "He's your father." Luxx was confused, and asked if she meant Gristly Joe. "No, child," she responded with the tears now running down her face. "Orcus is your father. You're a prince in the Court of the One True King. He will bless you with everything you could ever want."
As the play concluded, the Session moved into its next act: the Sacrifice. Luxx watched in blissful naivete as the priest stepped forward and asked for a volunteer to give themselves to the coming king. He cheered for his mother as she grimly stepped forward to the altar of skulls and raised her hand, and he wondered why none of the adults cheered as well. Moments later, he found out why as Luxx's mother met her grisly fate on an altar made of skulls. Thankfully, the torches were extinguished so that Luxx could not see the sights that accompanied his mother's horrific cries of pain. Minutes later, the torches were re-lit as the priest placed one more skull on the altar. "Praise Orcus, the One True King!" he shouted. "And his herald Tenebrous, the Shadow that Was," the crowd replied with the memorized response. Looking for a way to cope with the shock, Luxx set to quietly counting the skulls on the altar. Before his mother's, there had been 29. He stared at the 30th and began to cry quietly.
As if the second act was as mundane as a midday meal, the cult continued their session with the third act: one called The Sacrament. The priest explained how Tenebrous would one day reunite with Orcus to restore the One True King, the only god worthy of worship. He then drew a seal on the ground and invited others to step forward to share their souls with Tenebrous so that he may live within them until the time of the Sacrament. Many came forward and bound the dark, shadowy figure to themselves before dispersing for the night. The priest invited Luxx to stay in the rectory with him, and the next morning the village was back to normal. Nobody mentioned anything about the death of Luxx's mother nor even acted as if she had existed in the first place.
Life resumed, with mundane routines by day and Sessions of Shadow by night. As the years went by, the shock wore off and Luxx began to believe that secret ritual sacrifices could actually be considered normal. As he grew in understanding, he began to soak in the religious imagery of the Sessions, even taking up the path of those that bound souls like Tenebrous' to their own while learning the role of the priesthood from his guardian. One night, Luxx stepped forward during the Sacrament to bind Tenebrous to his own soul, drawing applause from the crowd and a smile from the priest which broke the usually somber mood. He had long studied the symbol, drawing it compulsively. When Tenebrous' shadowy self adhered to him, he had hoped to feel some connection to his demonic father as promised by the priest. Instead, he felt more alone than he ever had before.
The darkness of Tenebrous grew within him, coming to a head as he volunteered for the Sacrifice at one session. The priest hovered over him with the same smile that had been affixed to his face when Luxx had bound Tenebrous for the first time. As they extinguished the lights for the ceremony, though, Luxx saw perfectly through his father's eyes as Tenebrous was still bound to him. He knocked the knife from the priest, laid the old man down on the altar, and pinned him. Many more skulls had been added to the altar since the first Luxx had seen it, but he always remembered exactly where the 30th one had been placed. He retrieved his mother's skull, clutched it in his hand, and bludgeoned the priest to death with it. He felt the darkness of Tenebrous spread for the last time, consuming his entire soul. Finally, he felt the presence of his father within him.
As the torches were relit, the congregants were shocked to see Luxx standing before the altar, covered in the priest's blood. "Praise Orcus, the One True King!" he said as he lifted his mother's bloodied skull over his head. "And his shadow Tenebrous, the Shadow that Was," the townsfolk replied in rote fashion, unfazed by the grisly murder. From that night forward, the townsfolk worshiped with renewed vigor, stepping forward to sacrifice themselves to the king of destruction one after another until Luxx found himself alone with his mother's skull and his father's shadow once more.
He left town, moving to the next Tenebrous cult and beginning the cycle anew. He shared the tale of his descent, whipped the worshipers into a revival, and allowed them to sacrifice themselves to Orcus one after another until the sect was gone and there was no one left to tell his tale. Ignorant to the truth of the matter, a fable began spreading among members of various cities' watch that a vigilante hero was among them, systematically erasing evil. Little did they know that he sought to see it spread. Every sacrifice bestowed a blessing upon him and he grew ever stronger, ever more vile. But with each ritual, he wished for the one thing that never came: to meet his father and see his mother once more, to truly be together with them.
As time went on, Luxx became something of a spectre himself. Eventually, the abandoned feeling of Tenebrous' influence on his soul was too much to bear, and he visited a far-off Tenebrous cult. He watched the story of the Schism, silently mouthing every line. When it came time for the Sacrifice, he volunteered himself. He had learned from the ancient scrolls that the only true reunion with his mother and Orcus would be found in his father's layer of the Abyss. However, his tale had preceded him, and nobody saw fit to slay the heir of the Rightful King. Instead, they all threw themselves at Luxx's feet, begging for him to sacrifice them instead. He obliged and sought out another cult the next night, hoping for a different result...but they were all the same.
Luxx grew bitter at their unwillingness to let him experience the release of death and unity with his unholy family. He grew into his role as executioner, spreading the word of Orcus throughout the land. The tales of Luxx the vigilante hero or Luxx the priest faded from memory, replaced only by gory vignettes of Luxx the executioner. Tenebrous cults throughout the land still look for his presence, but they still rouse his ire by refusing to sacrifice him. Rather than breaking his oath as a Tenebrous Apostate, Luxx obliges by playing his part in the continuing routine. Some worshipers whisper that Luxx may never die, as Orcus is so proud of the destruction wrought by his son. His Father continues to bless him richly with everything but the one thing he truly seeks.
The Build:Spoiler
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Features
1|Binder 1|+0|+2|+0|+2|Bluff 4, Intimidate 4, Know: Religion 4, Know: Planes 4|Evil Brand, Chosen of Evil|Soul binding (1 vestige)
2|Cleric 1|+0|+4|+0|+4|Bluff 4, Intimidate 4, Know: Arcana 5, Know: Local 1, Know: Religion 5, Know: Planes 5|Knowledge Devotion, Chaos Devotion|Aura of Evil, Rebuke Undead, Lore
3|Binder 2|+1|+5|+0|+5|Bluff 5, Intimidate 4, Know: Arcana 6, Know: Local 1, Know: Religion 6, Know: Planes 6|Thrall to Demon|Pact augmentation (1 ability), suppress sign
4|Binder 3|+2|+5|+1|+5|Bluff 5, Intimidate 5, Know: Arcana 7, Know: Local 1, Know: Religion 7, Know: Planes 7||+1 CHA
5|Binder 4|+3|+6|+1|+6|Bluff 5, Intimidate 6, Know: Arcana 8, Know: Local 1, Know: Religion 8, Know: Planes 8|Improved Binding|Bonus feat
6|Binder 5|+3|+6|+1|+6|Bluff 5, Intimidate 8, Know: Arcana 9, Know: Local 1, Know: Religion 9, Know: Planes 8|Power Attack|Pact augmentation (2 abilities)
7|Tenebrous Apostate 1|+3|+8|+1|+8|Bluff 5, Intimidate 10, Know: Arcana 10, Know: Local 1, Know: Religion 10, Know: Planes 8||Eternal Bondage, Tenebrous' Rebuke
8|Tenebrous Apostate 2|+4|+9|+1|+9|Bluff 5, Intimidate 11, Know: Arcana 10, Know: Local 2, Know: Religion 11, Know: Planes 9, Collector of Stories||Soul Binding, Visage of the Dead, +1 CHA
9|Tenebrous Apostate 3|+5|+9|+2|+9|Bluff 5, Intimidate 12, Know: Arcana 10, Know: Local 3, Know: Religion 12, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories|Lichloved|Soul Binding, Destroy/Empower Undead
10|Tenebrous Apostate 4|+6/+1|+10|+2|+10|Bluff 5, Intimidate 13, Know: Arcana 10, Know: Local 5, Know: Religion 13, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories||Soul Binding (2 vestiges), Umbral Body
11|Thrall of Orcus 1|+7/+2|+12|+2|+12|Bluff 5, Intimidate 14, Know: Arcana 10, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 5, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 14, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories||Carrion stench
12|Thrall of Orcus 2|+8/+3|+13|+2|+13|Bluff 5, Intimidate 15, Know: Arcana 10, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 7, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 15, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories|Divine Might|Touch of fear, +1 CHA
13|Thrall of Orcus 3|+9/+4|+13|+3|+13|Bluff 5, Intimidate 16, Know: Arcana 10, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 9, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 16, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories||Demon Wings
14|Thrall of Orcus 4|+10/+5|+14|+3|+14|Bluff 5, Intimidate 17, Know: Arcana 11, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 10, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 17, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories|Deformity (Obese), Willing Deformity|Massive Girth
15|Thrall of Orcus 5|+11/+6/+1|+14|+3|+14|Bluff 5, Intimidate 18, Know: Arcana 13, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 10, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 18, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories|Abominable Form|Summon Minor Undead
16|Thrall of Orcus 6|+12/+7/+2|+15|+4|+15|Bluff 5, Intimidate 19, Know: Arcana 15, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 10, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 19, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories||Pallor of Death, +1 CHA
17|Thrall of Orcus 7|+13/+8/+3|+15|+4|+15|Bluff 5, Intimidate 20, Know: Arcana 17, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 10, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 20, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories||Demon Wings (at will)
18|Thrall of Orcus 8|+14/+9/+4|+16|+4|+16|Bluff 5, Intimidate 21, Know: Arcana 19, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 10, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 21, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories|Beloved of Demons|Death Touch
19|Thrall of Orcus 9|+15/+10/+5|+16|+5|+16|Bluff 5, Intimidate 22, Know: Arcana 21, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 10, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 22, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories||Summon Major Undead
20|Thrall of Orcus 10|+16/+11/+6/+1|+17|+5|+17|Bluff 5, Intimidate 23, Know: Arcana 23, Know: Dungeoneering 1, Know: Local 10, Know: Nature 1, Know: Religion 23, Know: Planes 10, Collector of Stories||Summon nightwing, +1 CHA[/table]
{table=head]Stat|Base|Levels|Obese|Items|Total|Mod
STR|14|0|0|0|14|+2
DEX|12|0|-2|0|10|+0
CON|12|0|2|6|20|+5
INT|12|0|0|0|12|+1
WIS|14|0|0|0|14|+2
CHA|15|5|0|6|26|+8[/table]
{table=head]Level|Vestiges Available
1|Amon, Aym, Leraje, Naberius, Ronove
2|
3|
4|Dahlver-Nar, Haagenti, Malphas, Savnok
5|Andromalius, Focalor, Karsus, Paimon
6|Agares, Andras, Buer, Eurynome, Tenebrous
7|Tenebrous ONLY
8|Tenebrous ONLY
9|Tenebrous ONLY
10+|Acererak, Balam, Dantalion, Geryon, Otiax[/table]
Spells per Day
{table=head]Level|0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9
1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2|3|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3|3|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4|3|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5|3|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6|3|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7|3|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8|4|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9|4|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
10|5|3+1|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
11|5|3+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-
12|5|3+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-
13|5|3+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-
14|5|3+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-
15|5|3+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-
16|5|3+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-
17|5|3+1|3+1|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-
18|5|3+1|3+1|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-
19|5|3+1|3+1|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-
20|6|4+1|3+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-[/table]
Tactics:
Spoiler- Levels 1-5: Being a binder always gives great versatility from the word "Go." You've got darkvision w/ Amon, ranged attacks are covered w/ Leraje, and my personal favorite...You've heard the name before, but Naberius is your best friend. You can use Disguise Self to infiltrate the ranks of Tenebrous sects or cults of Orcus in any form beside your own, you gain access to Naberius' skills for utility (which is based on your CON mod, so Obese gives you an extra skill). You gain face abilities, but you also gain Naberius' fast ability healing, trademark of optimizers everywhere. More on that in a moment. We also pick up some versatility through 1st-level cleric spells, and we pick up the Chaos and Trickery domains from Tenebrous. Knowledge Domain is swapped for Knowledge Devotion, and Chaos Domain for Chaos Devotion for free boosts and something to do with our turn attempts. After that, it's back to binder for even more versatility. Dahlver-Nar lets us tank a bit with 1/2 CON to natural armor (also boosted by Obese) as well as shield self. Malphas gives us Invisibility until we get it from Trickery Domain, as well as excellent scouting skills with Bird's Eye viewing. At 5th level, we snag Improved Binding to grab third-level vestiges right on schedule. Andromalius gives us some divining skills with locate item and see invisibility, Focalor is always fun if we need to lower enemies' saves further than we already can (more on that later), Karsus lets you play wizard and Paimon lets you play stabber. Season to taste; you've got all the goodies of a full binder progression with some clericy goodness added in to boot. On top of all that, your two instances of pact augmentation let you snag DR 2/- so you can hang out and ignore just as many wounds as all the cool Dread Necromancer kids.
But we're not a hellfire warlock or anything like that, so what are we doing with Naberius' faster ability healing? Scope out the Chosen of Evil feat--this'll be our bread and butter from levels 1-20, as we keep picking up Vile feats. As an immediate action, we can gain a bonus to our attacks, skills (including [CON mod] number of untrained skills thanks to Naberius), or saves in exchange for 1 CON damage. With Naberius, we still TAKE the damage, but then we heal it away for free every round. So we can boost up our attacks, skill checks, or saves (especially our abysmal Reflex saves) without penalty every round. At first level, that's a free +2 bonus every round without penalty. At third level, that becomes +3. Every round. It only gets better from here, folks. - Levels 6-10: At 6th level, you pick up access to 4th-level vestiges thanks to Improved Binding. Agares lets you function as a trapspringer and advance scout in dungeons thanks to your small earth elemental, whereas Andras lets you charge in and smite good away. If you need healing or wilderness skills, Buer's there with fast healing and Track.
But really, we're here for Tenebrous. His Deeper Darkness grants constant concealment as well as a means to penetrate it so you don't suffer from your own concealment--that's a defensive 1-2 punch. His Turn/Rebuke ability stacks with your cleric levels to give you some OOMPH against undead as well as letting you power Divine feats (like Chaos Devotion and, soon to come, Divine Might). Lastly, Flicker lets you up your miss chance to 50% and teleport in instances when you need to get out of dodge fast. Power Attack ups our damage output, and then we enter Tenebrous Apostate. We've detailed the benefits of Tenebrous' Rebuke below, and we can also use Umbral Body 1/day when we need the incorporeal subtype.
We enter Tenebrous Apostate for other goodies, but they come at a price. Namely, we can only bind Tenebrous from levels 7-9. This is great for our constant concealment, turning, and the like, but trades in some of our versatility. Additionally, it seems like it shuts off our Chosen of Evil trick...but not so fast! You see, while we're forced to bind Tenebrous, we also get advanced soul binding AND cleric casting out of the deal. While Naberius is offline, we gain access to 2nd-level cleric spells at level 9 which allows us to cast Lesser Restoration! We're taking CON damage from Chosen of Evil, but now at least we still have a way to heal it away. Good thing, too, because we just snagged Lichloved to bring our Chosen of Evil bonus to +4 as an immediate action every round. Say it with me, friends...every round.
"But wait!" you'll say, "you can only do that until you run out of Lesser Restorations." I'll point you in the direction of potions, scrolls, and wands, but raise you the fact that at 10th level, we have 8th-level binding and thus can continue binding Naberius alongside Tenebrous for fast ability healing. Every round.
If you need more versatility, you can choose to bind any of the vestiges we had access to before, or a whole host of new ones, as we snag access to 5th-level vestiges only a level behind a straight binder thanks to Improved Binding (remind me to send a Christmas card to whoever wrote that feat). Acererak is available if you want your Tenebrous' Rebuke to heal YOURSELF as well as your undead minions, Balam gives you the ability to reroll 1/5 rounds, Dantalion is tons of fun defensively and for face skills (detect thoughts for the win!), not to mention giving a +8 to all knowledges on a build with Knowledge Devotion. Geryon lets you muck about with flight before you sprout your demon wings, and Otiax means that nothing's ever locked. Options? Yeah, you've got options. - Levels 11-15: Ah, the Secret Ingredient. The main chassis of our build is online, so from this point forward we just keep getting more evil, slapping folks around with fear effects, SLAs, and the like. Oh yeah, we also pick up 3rd-level cleric spells at level 11. Summon Minor/Major Undead is good, and summon nightwing is fun, but Animating Dead in a desecrated area is even better. Granted, you won't control an army of expendable mooks, but you'll have a few decent undead members of your entourage with the ability to heal them all quickly thanks to Tenebrous' Rebuke (or Empower Undead, if mindless undead are more your type). Divine Might comes online at level 12, giving us a way to supercharge our damage output at the cost of a measly turn attempt (P.S. we have a lot of those). Our Chosen of Evil bonus keeps scaling with level, too; it's a +6 at level 14, and level 15 bumps it to +7 to any attack, check, or save as an immediate action. All my people say? That's right...every round (thanks again, Naberius and cleric casting).
- Levels 16-20: Again, see below for the nastiness we start pulling with our class features from the Secret Ingredient. Your main routine is "Bind Tenebrous because you have to and you love him. Bind Naberius because you want to and he loves you. Kill everything in sight with free bonuses along the way and temporary HP from anything good you kill." Capiche? You can always switch up your second vestige if you're going into a situation that requires a particular skill set, but Naberius and Chosen of Evil makes you pretty darn good at every skill set. However, binding anything else is an option because your cleric casting advances to 6th-level at level 17 and 7th-level at level 20. We snag access to fourth level spells because there's so many good ones, from Freedom of Movement to Divine Power to everything in between. By picking up Beloved of Demons at Level 18, your free Chosen of Evil bonus is +8. If you'd rather, though, you can cash in that immediate action and 5 temporary HP from Beloved of Demons for DR 5/good instead. One last time...every. Round.
Use of the Secret Ingredient:
Spoiler- Requirements: Let's start with the feats...all those feats. Awful things, aren't they? Lichloved requires Evil Brand, so you're required to take three admittedly lackluster feats to get into this class. But we're not content to let them remain lackluster! Here in Iron Chef, we polish turds until they shine, and we're doing the same with these feats. Thrall to Demon's random "+1 to any roll 1/day" isn't going to win any awards on its own, but once you pair it up with the right feats it gives you a little extra edge. Chaos Devotion gives a bonus depending on the roll of a die, and whether you add it to attacks or AC is determined by whether it's odd or even. Roll an odd number at a time when you could actually use the extra AC or an even number when you REALLY need to land a hit? Activate Thrall to Demon for a +1 and remind Chaos that you're the one calling the shots. Also worth consideration is the vile feat Master's Will (see our Adaptation section). As an immediate action, you have a 50/50 shot of getting a +8 to any roll or taking some damage depending on whether you roll odd or even. Activate Thrall to Demon if you roll an unfortunate even number to prevent yourself from taking damage. Granted, we've got another way of getting +8 to a roll per round, which is why Master's Will is just a footnote. Later versions of the feat specify what rolls you can effect, but not the one printed in BoVD. if your DM is keen to use the latest version of feats, at least Thrall to Demon is a vile feat--Chosen of Evil means it's not just +1 1/day, but adds +1 to any attack roll, skill, or save 1/round if you're willing to take some CON damage (but more on that above). Lichloved (and its prerequisite Evil Brand) are rubbish, but Evil Brand is required to take the ever-so-lovely Chosen of Evil. These two "feat taxes" have suddenly become a further +2 to any attack roll, skill, or save you'd like 1/round. Enjoy.
That takes care of our feats, but what about our BAB and skill requirements? We've actually managed to maintain a +16 BAB by 20th level, keeping the all-important fourth iterative attack. With Knowledge Devotion, Power Attack, and Divine Might in play, we'll also be able to cash in some of that BAB for damage and still ensure a hit. Keep in mind, 1/round we also have a free +8 to any one roll by 20th level. In terms of skills, both required skills are maxed out and put to use via Knowledge Devotion (which we acquired for free thanks to Cloistered Cleric--an oldie, but a goodie). However, that's not enough for us. You see the special requirement about a sacrifice? Ask your DM if the sacrifice rules from Book of Vile Darkness are in play. If so, your mindless slaying now carries a mechanical benefit! It's keyed off a Knowledge: Religion skill check, so you've already got max ranks. You know how I keep pestering you about a free +8 every round? Well, here's another use for it. That makes +32, and there's a handy list of other bonuses you can get on page 27 of BoVD. Don't forget that cleric casting makes Lore of the Gods a spell you can easily cast. We can be making sacrifices of DC 50 with a great roll by level 9. This can get us a Wish once in our lives (make it count), or a list of other goodies ranging from persisted stat-boost spells (DC 15) to persisted Divine Power (DC 25) to Limited Wishes (DC 40). While the Wish is 1/individual, Limited Wish carries no such caveat, and you'll be autosucceeding on a DC 40 for free Limited Wishes every time you sacrifice someone reliably by 12th or 13th level. Have fun. - Carrion Stench: This ability has a DC based on your CON modifier. Luckily for us, we'll pick up Deformity (Obese) in a few to pump our CON which increases the save DC by +1. However, if you need to make sure your foes receive a -2 penalty to most things, you can always bind Focalor for his aura of sadness. This imposes a further -2 penalty to the same things as Carrion Stench, including your foes' save against Carrion Stench itself. This is a good thing, as the two together impose a -4 penalty to most things (including saves). We also have Abominable Form coming online in a few for another -2, so we're at a -6 penalty to opponent's saves. This will come in handy for our touch of fear, pallor of death, and touch of death SLAs that comes online in a few levels.
- Touch of Fear: This ability is underwhelming for a few reasons. First of all, it only affects creatures with 5 or fewer HD. Secondly, on a failed save you only render opponents frightened for 1d4 rounds (or shaken for 1 round on a successful save). The good news, though, is that fear effects are cumulative. With Abominable Form, we can render foes shaken for a number of rounds equal to our CON mod (just a touch better than 1d4). They have to save against this shaken condition whenever they look at us. Because of this, a failed save means they'll be panicked instead of frightened, and even a successful save against touch of fear means we've got 1 round to get them to look at us and fail a save in order to become frightened for CON mod rounds. Since Abominable Form takes no action on our part, this should automatically kick in after activating Touch of Fear when our opponents look at us. Either that, or they could close their eyes and accept their imminent doom.
- Demon Wings: Every build needs a way to get flight, and this one is no exception. We only have average maneuverability and a 30-foot speed, but that's really all we need. We don't want to get away from our opponents; we just want to position ourselves OVER them.
- Massive Girth: Why position ourselves over our enemies, you ask? Because due to the wording of the Deformity (Obese) feat we pick up for free, we can do some fun things with falling damage. You see, you're now at least triple the average weight of a person...but there's absolutely no indication of a maximum weight. Take wing, lifting your massive girth into the air, then drop it all on some poor, unsuspecting schmoe. Granted, you'll probably get to do this once before your DM goes into conniptions, at which point you can mollify their cries of cheese by suggesting that you simply use Deformity (Obese) for the more mundane purposes of adding +1 to the save DC of your Abominable Form ability we discussed above (since it's a Deformity feat) and to your free bonus every round from Chosen of Evil (since it's also a Vile feat). Also, your +2 CON means +1 to the DC of your Carrion Stench and, if you're in the need for more AC, you can bind Dahlver-Nar to turn that into a +0.5 natural armor bonus to AC (which can help make up nicely for the -2 DEX you get from the deformity).
- Summon Minor/Major Undead: Here's the thing about summoning undead minions--they usually soak up damage faster than it's worth it to heal them. However, Tenebrous Apostate comes to the fore here. You can rebuke undead as a 9th-level cleric (1 cleric and 8 from your EBL thanks to Tenebrous); with Tenebrous' Rebuke, you can spend a turn attempt to heal ALL undead creatures within 30 feet of 9d6 points of damage. Pick and choose whether you need multiple minions or just one, knowing full well that you can heal them til the cows come home. Also, there's no need to lay out a specific vampire or ghost; we're summoning them rather than calling them, so you can summon a different one for any given situation: vampire meatshield, ghostly caster, etc. You've got the ultimate in versatility, so why pigeonhole yourself? Granted, you can also use your cleric casting to cast Black Sands if you're in a smaller spot in order to create a no-save zone of undead healing that harms your enemies at the same time. While you're at it, cast desecrate to give your minions some bonuses and extra hit points for fun!
- Pallor of Death: Alter Self is always fun, but we're really here for the fear aura. Living outsiders within 25 feet have to save against being panicked for 6 rounds. Remember Abominable Form? Yeah, your panicked foes will need to make another save if they look at you or else they'll be cowering for 6 rounds! Of course, Pallor of Death lasts for up to 10 minutes, so that's plenty of time to scare away idiots. Even if they succeed on their save, they're shaken for a round which Abominable Form can escalate to frightened for CON modifier rounds.
- Death Touch: We've got plenty of save reducers to make sure this lands, as well as Knowledge Devotion and Chosen of Evil 1/round that can allow us to boost our touch attack. Since this is at will, we can kill our foes all day long...and there's something in it for us! The Beloved of Demons feat allows us to gain 9-10 temporary hit points every time we kill someone. While it triggers when we kill folks the old-fashioned way, it also triggers when we use this SLA. If a free +8 every round doesn't sound like a good way to spend your immediate actions, you can instead cash in 5 temporary HP for a round of damage reduction. Keep in mind, if you use Death Touch to sacrifice someone you can also get a whole bevy of other goodies (see Requirements, above).
- Bonus feats/casting:Here's the thing about Beloved of Demons, though...it requires a caster level of 6. And us? We only have a caster level of 4 before we enter this prestige class. We can snag advanced casting at 1st and 7th levels, bringing us to CL 6 with perfect timing for Beloved of Demons. At 4th level, the bonus feat allows us to pick up Willing Deformity, which has a few perks for us: it gives +2 to the DC of Abominable Form, +1 to our bonuses from Chosen of Evil, and actually allows us to use the free Deformity (Obese) we picked up. At 10th level, season to taste. If there's a vile feat you've been waiting to pick up, you can snag it as well as boosting our Chosen of Evil bonus to +9. I opted for the added caster level instead, meaning that we pick up 4th-level spells (which give us a bunch of great options).
Suggested Items:
SpoilerHonestly, you don't need much.
- Some Dreadful Armor from Drow of the Underdark gives you something to do in combat with your move actions and maxed Intimidate skill (with bonuses). Not to mention that this fear effect would stack with your Pallor of Death, Touch of Fear, and Abominable Form. If you have your Pallor of Death up, hit a fool with Touch of Fear, they look at you and trigger abominable form, and you use your move action to intimidate, you can get a foe from 0 to cowering for CON modifier rounds in no time.
- Stat boosting items are handy for CON and CHA, but those are really the only two we care about. WIS boosts our spell save DCs, but we're mainly using spells for buffing and animating undead, so we don't give a rip about spell save DCs.
- Execution Devices: these little beauties are in Book of Vile Darkness. Tie someone up on one, and you can slay them with a simple Profession (executioner) check. Granted, you're not trained...but you've got Naberius' skills! Make Profession (executioner) one of them, pop in your WIS bonus and your Chosen of Evil bonus, and you can sacrifice people in style in no time flat! Now if only sacrificing people could get you goodies like persisted spells or limited wishes...
- Vestige Phylactery: this bad boy is great for on-the-go switching of bound vestiges without needing the Expel Vestige feat and the time to bind a new one. Helpful if you find yourself in need of contingency plans, or you know a particular vestige may be helpful for the task at hand. Bind Naberius to use faster ability healing with Chosen of Evil, along with the full knowledge that you can tag him out at a later time if need be. Always be prepared, that's the binders' motto.
Adaptation:
Spoiler- Flaws & Traits: I really, really wanted to build Luxx as a Krinth, the gluttonous spawn of shadow demons depicted in Champions of Ruin. Unfortunately, the feats just weren't lining up to squeeze in everything I wanted. If you can take even one flaw, grab one like Shaky in exchange for Chosen of Evil at first level to allow room to fit everything. The second flaw can be seasoned to taste, but you should probably snag another Vile feat for a free +3 to an attack, save, or check as an immediate action every round via Chosen of Evil...you know, in case +2 wasn't good enough to start. If even that's not good enough, snag Master's Will. As an immediate action, you've got a 50/50 chance of getting a +8 to your attack/save/check or taking damage based on whether you roll odd or even on a d20. As detailed above, Thrall to Demon doesn't specify what rolls it can impact, so that +1 1/day can be the difference between odd or even, which means the difference between a +8 to your check or taking damage.
- LA Buyoff and the like: I don't think LA buyoff can be used to get rid of Bloodline levels, but if it can it would be flavorful as all get out to snag a Demonic Bloodline for Luxx. Any of the three would snag you Power Attack for free, meaning that you don't have to burn a flaw feat in order to play a Krinth. If your DM allows both, you can make that flaw feat another Vile feat, just to pile on the hurt. If your DM allows LA buyoff but states it's not for bloodlines (which I think is the case), you should look at the Curst undead template from pg 166 of Lost Empires of Faerun. It's got a whole bevy of defensive goodies for the whole "evil servitor of an overlord who won't let it die" vibe, but it absolutely tanks your mental ability scores. You'd have to do some gymnastics with them to make sure you still qualify for everything, and it lowers the saves of some of the SI's abilities, so it's not my first choice...but it's a small price to pay for nigh-invulnerability.
- Elder Evil Service: In the book of the same name, page 10 details how an intelligent evil creature can swear service to an Elder Evil. Ask your DM if you can gain the benefits by swearing service to Orcus, and you're looking at five free Vile feats (at levels 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20). Snag a bunch of Deformity feats to up your Abominable Form save (Madness is a good one if you allocate some more points to WIS) or flavorful minor perks like Demonsworn Knight--what really matters is that this equates to an additional +5 bonus from Chosen of Evil for free every round, bringing our total to a +13 by 20th level.
- Taint: Of course, +13 is good--heck, it's even flavorful for an evil character with the whole "unlucky number" thing. But a little more power can never hurt, right? If your DM uses taint rules, you're guaranteed to rack up the points with your constant sacrifices. Use the feats you gain from Moderate and Severe taint for two more vile feats, bringing your possible total from Chosen of Evil to a +15 every round. Yeah, that's good...we should probably stop there
. Obese ups your CON score for purposes of resisting corruption, but you'll probably get nice and depraved since your WIS isn't the highest. Some of the corruption effects give bonuses along with penalties (Skin Seeps, Bones Thicken, Paralyzed Face, Skin Thickens, Lich Vision, and Wrigglers), so look at those first. Same goes for Depravity, but only Prophetic. - Look, Ma, no Domains!: The way Complete Champion is written, clerics can actually give up their domains to gain domain feats, so you can forego the benefits of the Trickery Domain for Trickery Devotion. The double from this feat is always the subject of much cheese and debate (what are combat actions? Does it take an action to command the double? etc.) so I left it out of the build proper, but please ask your DM how he or she rules on this feat. If you get a free duplicate, we can have so much fun. You can possibly bind different vestiges for additional versatility, cast different spells for giggles, or my personal favorite: you can double up on Secret Ingredient features. Having one fear aura is good--having two makes you a competent battlefield controller. Having one death touch per round is fun; having two is MORE fun. Since you're not focused on casting in the first place, you don't miss much by giving up 1 domain spell/level.
- But wait, Luxx is a sample character!: In name alone, yes. The idea of a favored of Orcus/Tenebrous who is actively destroying worshipers was intriguing to me, and I wanted to explore why such a creature would not only be allowed to exist but still maintain the favor of his dark lord. As such, I decided to flesh out the hook a little and change up some of the mechanical portions of Luxx.
Sources:
Spoiler- Book of Vile Darkness: Deformity (Obese), Evil Brand, Lichloved, Thrall of Orcus, Thrall to Demon, Willing Deformity
- Complete Champion: Chaos Devotion, Knowledge Devotion
- Complete Warrior: Divine Might
- Elder Evils: Abominable Form, Chosen of Evil
- Exemplars of Evil: Beloved of Demons
- PHB: Cleric, Power Attack
- Tome of Magic: Binder, Improved Binding, Tenebrous Apostate
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:33 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Billy, you son of a goat!
Originally Posted by Bill E. Kidd
Bill E. Kidd
Chaotic Evil Ibixian Hexblade 4/Thrall of Orcus 10/Avenging Executioner 2
Story:
SpoilerFather Luxian hurried down the hallway, then stopped cold at the open doorway. He covered his eyes at the sight before him, but the image lingered to haunt him behind his eyelids. The blood splattered across the walls, the red puddles on the floor, the droplets beaded along the platinum sun embedded in the ivory floor. There were parts here and there, arms and legs, a head, toes, fingers, all scattered around the room. They had been his friends and colleagues, his abbot, his acolytes, his mentors and students. And here they were, bruised, battered, bloodied, broken.
A man stood up slowly from where he was squatting in the middle of the room. He turned to the doorway and dipped his head slightly in greeting.
Father Luxian bow low in reply. "Inquisitor, may I welcome you to the Presence of Pelor, Temple of Glory."
The High Inquisitor glanced around the room at the blood splatter dripping from every surface of the room. "This isn't, exactly, a welcome I'd have preferred."
Father Luxian bowed in silence, partly in awkward embarrassment of the situation, but mostly to avert his eyes from the horror of the sight of the room.
"I'll need to review your security measures, of course." The Inquisitor walked slowly around the room, examining the scene closely, all senses alert for clues. "Standard set-up for a Temple of Pelor in a town this size, yes?"
Father Luxian glanced up at the Inquisitor and nodded, trying to keep his eyes focused away from the blood. "Yes. All standard, though with one addition. I prayed to Pelor for months for His insight and He blessed me with a understanding of a new way to keep the Cup safe. Its been implemented here, over the sun."
The Inquisitor looked up from where he stooped over a body, its form crushed and broken, its chest horrendously ripped apart, entrails violently torn and scattered, its heart missing. "The Cup? The Everflowing Cup of Pelor's Blessing? It's here?"
"Yes. We've been Keepers of the Cup for decades now." Father Luxian pulled back the sleeve of his robe, showing his guest the tattoo of the chalice emblazoned on his arm. "We keep the Cup here, safe beneath the floor, under the rays of the sun."
As he spoke, Father Luxian moved to the edge of the platinum arc in the floor, the metal curving in a perfect circle in the middle of the ivory floor. He bowed low, stooping down to press his tattoo against the platinum. The ivory moved away, pulling back to offer an opening in the circle, showing stairs descending into the sun.
"As I said, Pelor Himself showed me the spell to secure the Cup. Tattoos on my arm, and my abbot's, hold the key to the entrance, a ward on the stairs blocks passage to all but those who have the heart of a pure man."
The two men stepped carefully down the stairway, each holding aloft a platinum disc that spread light out before them like the noonday sun. When he reached the bottom of the stairs and looked into the chamber beyond, Father Luxian turned away in revulsion.
"Dear sweet Light of Pelor!" Father Luxian sunned himself, his shaking fingers drawing the arc from the middle of his forehead along the side of his face to his chin, then back up in a holy circle.
The Inquisitor stepped forward into the chamber. On full display atop the pedestal in the middle of the room was a tattooed arm with a bloody, pure heart clutched in its palm. The Cup lay shattered on the floor, broken pieces dry, the waters of Pelor's blessings no longer flowing. On the pedestal was scratched a crude carving.
"Wh-what is th-that?"
The Inquisitor leaned forward, shining his light onto the pedestal, and examined the carving. "The head of a goat. The same was carved into the temples of Elhonna, Obad-hai, St. Cuthbert, Heironeous, Nerull...."
Father Luxian started at hearing the last. "What? Who would attack both the glory of a Temple of Pelor and attack Nerull, too?"
"That," the Inquisitor replied, "is what I'm here to find out."
Miles away now, the overly large Ibixian ducked his head and curled back his wings to squeeze through the mountain pass and into the cave entrance beyond. He moved swiftly through the darkness, as though he knew the nooks and crannies of the cavern well. He stopped in the darkest corner, his knees bending back, bringing himself down into a low squat. He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and offered himself up to his Master. And soon, a quiet voice came to him from the darkness.
You have done well, my child. But there is no time to rest. Gather your forces and head south. There is a Monastery of Yondalla in the valley beyond the river....
Stats:
Spoiler{table=head]Condition|Str|Dex|Con|Int|Wis|Cha
Start|16|12|14|14|8|14
Race|+4|--|+2|-2|-2|--
Lvl 4|--|--|+1|--|--|--
Lvl 8|--|--|+1|--|--|--
Deformity (Obese)|--|-2|+2|--|--|--
Lvl 12|--|--|--|--|--|+1
Lvl 16|--|--|--|--|--|+1
Total|20|10|20|12|6|16[/table]
Build:
SpoilerBill E. Kidd
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
2nd|Monstrous Humanoid (Ibixian) 1|+1|+0|+2|+2|- Intimidate 4(4)
- K:R 4(2)
- Spot 4(4)
3rd|Monstrous Humanoid (Ibixian) 2|+2|+0|+3|+3|- Intimidate 1(5)
- K:R (2)
- Listen 1(1)
- Spot 1(5)
4th|Monstrous Humanoid (Ibixian) 3|+3|+1|+3|+3|- Intimidate 1(6)
- K:R (2)
- Listen 1(2)
- Spot 1(6)
5th|Hexblade 1|+4|+1|+3|+5|- Bluff 2(2)
- Intimidate 1(7)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot (6)
6th|Hexblade 2|+5|+1|+3|+6|- Bluff 2(4)
- Intimidate 1(8)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot (6)
7th|Hexblade 3|+6/1|+2|+4|+6|- Bluff 1(5)
- Intimidate 1(9)
- K:A 1(1)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot (6)
8th|Hexblade 4|+7/2|+2|+4|+7|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison 1(1)
- Intimidate 1(10)
- K:A 1(2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot (6)
9th|Thrall of Orcus 1|+8/3|+4|+4|+9|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison (1)
- Intimidate 1(11)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot (6)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
10th|Thrall of Orcus 2|+9/4|+5|+4|+10|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison (1)
- Intimidate 1(12)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot 2(8)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
11th|Thrall of Orcus 3|+10/5|+5|+5|+10|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison (1)
- Intimidate 1(13)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot 2(10)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
12th|Thrall of Orcus 4|+11/6/1|+6|+5|+11|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison (1)
- Intimidate 1(14)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot 2(12)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
13th|Thrall of Orcus 5|+12/7/2|+6|+5|+11|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison 1(2)
- Intimidate 1(15)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot 1(13)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
14th|Thrall of Orcus 6|+13/8/3|+7|+6|+12|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison 1(3)
- Intimidate 1(16)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Spot 1(14)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
15th|Thrall of Orcus 7|+14/9/4|+7|+6|+12|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison (3)
- Hide 1(1)
- Intimidate 1(17)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Move Silently 1(1)
- Spot (14)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
16th|Thrall of Orcus 8|+15/10/5|+8|+6|+13|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison (3)
- Hide 1(2)
- Intimidate 1(18)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Move Silently 1(2)
- Spot (14)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
17th|Thrall of Orcus 9|+16/11/6/1|+8|+7|+13|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison (3)
- Hide 1(3)
- Intimidate 1(19)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Move Silently 1(3)
- Spot (14)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
18th|Thrall of Orcus 10|+17/12/7/2|+9|+7|+14|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison (3)
- Hide 1(4)
- Intimidate 1(20)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Move Silently 1(4)
- Spot (14)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
19th|Avenging Executioner 1|+17/12/7/2|+9|+9|+16|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison 1(4)
- Hide (4)
- Intimidate 1(21)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Move Silently (4)
- Spot 5(19)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
20th|Avenging Executioner 2|+18/13/8/3|+9|+10|+17|- Bluff (5)
- C:Poison 5(9)
- Hide (4)
- Intimidate 1(22)
- K:A (2)
- K:R (2)
- Listen (2)
- Move Silently (4)
- Spot 1(20)
- Skill Trick: Never Outnumbered
Spells:
SpoilerI'm not going to include a chart here. Simply stated, at ECL 8, Bill gets two 1st level spells known. Death's Call (Complete Mage) fulfills the necromancy requirement for Thrall of Orcus and is useful against swarms. Undetectable Alignment (PH/SRD) just seems handy to have when you're evil and lasts all day long.
ECL 5:
SpoilerIbixian 3/Hexblade 1 (+1 LA)
Bill is a front-line fighter. With a BAB of +4, he's using a two-hand weapon (a great axe or a great club) as a primary attack and following it with a head butt as a secondary natural attack. Intimidate and Hexblade's Curse can be used to debuff, as necessary.
ECL 10:
SpoilerIbixian 3/Hexblade 4/Thrall of Orcus 2 (+1 LA)
Now Bill is a scary guy. To start combat, Bill uses a free action to move his Dark Companion into place, a move action to engage his enemy, a free action to use Carrion Stench, another free action to use Hexblade's Curse, and a standard action to attack with Intimidating Strike. If all are successful, his opponent will be suffering -2 AC, -6 to hit, -8 saves, -6 ability and skill checks, and -4 weapon damage. In his next round, he follows with a full-attack (2 weapon attacks and a head butt) with wicked awesome Power Attack potential. Arcane Resistance and Mettle help to keep safe.
ECL 15:
SpoilerIbixian 3/Hexblade 4/Thrall of Orcus 7 (+1 LA)
Black goat gives you wings!! The ibixian is becoming deformed, willingly. Demon Wings grants better movement (and carries over to the Dark Companion), Deformity (Tall) increases Bill's reach (which is always helpful in combat), and much of the deformity increases his Intimidate ability. Combat tactics remain much the same, though the first attack of each round becomes a Brutal Strike, adding the sickened condition to his enemies, bringing the debuff totals to: -2 AC, -8 to hit, -10 saves, -8 ability and skill checks, and -6 weapon damage. The undead Bill summons to use as flankers obviously get helped well from those debuffs. Those summons also fill Bill's Lichloved needs at night. (See other uses in the "At Your Table" section.)
ECL 20:
SpoilerIbixian 3/Hexblade 4/Thrall of Orcus 10/Avenging Executioner 2 (+1 LA)
Bill can summon major undead now. Other Ibixian, as vampire or ghost, brings about a Pack Fervor that increases combat abilities for them all. Bill's got 4 weapon attacks followed by a head butt and a bite. All of the debuffs he brings about make it that much harder for an enemy to resist his Death Touch.
Items of Interest:
Spoiler(All found in Magic Item Compendium)
Hexbands
Weapon with Cursespewing
Veil of Allure
Circlet of Persuasion
At Your Table:
SpoilerIf level adjustment buy-off is available, do it! Take another level of Avenging Executioner.
Check with your DM. If Summon Minor Undead can be used to summon undead using the Monstrous Levels in Libris Mortis, summon Ibixian ghouls or wights to utilize Pack Fervor four levels earlier.
If you can choose class levels for your summoned undead, Bill should take advantage and use his crafting skill to aid his summoned undead in crafting poisons for Bill to use in combat.
References:
SpoilerIbixian: Monster Manual III
Hexblade: Complete Warrior
Hexblade ACF (Dark Companion): Player's Handbook II
Thrall of Orcus: Book of Vile Darkness
Avenging Executioner: Complete Scoundrel
Feats:
Fiendish Codex I: Evil Brand, Thrall to Demon, Demonsworn Knight,
Elder Evils: Lichloved
SRD/Player's Handbook: Power Attack
Player's Handbook II: Intimidating Strike, Brutal Strike
Heroes of Horror: Willing Deformity, Deformity (Tall), Deformity (Teeth),
Drow of the Underdark: Imperious CommandLast edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-09-23 at 08:35 PM.
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:37 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
I... just... no. There's nothing that I can say for this one.
Originally Posted by Sentrosi
Sentrosi the Death Chicken
SpoilerSentrosi was born to a poor family of dirt farmers in the Midlands. In addition to raising dirt, her family had a small flock of chickens, which she eventually bonded with. She loved her chickens more than life itself. She would spend all of her free time with them, finding weeds and bugs for them to eat. She often slept in the coop with the chickens on hot afternoons. They would often peck at her, lovingly she thought, until one day a strange rooster appeared in the coop. It pecked her fiercly, drawing blood. After she ran home, she told her family. They followed her to the coop, but the strange and awful chicken was not there.
Then bandits came and took all of her family's dirt, leaving behind only the chickens and slaughtering her family. How she survived, she didn't know, at least at first. As she stood in the ashes of her cottage, destroyed by an evil sorcerer who accompanied the bandits, she swore revenge on everyone and especially on all magic users. She left her home, followed only by her flock.
White MeatSpoiler
Sentrosi, NE Strongheart Halfling Were-Chicken / Commoner 1 / Death Master 6 / Thrall of Orcus 9
{table=head] Level | Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills| Feats|Class Features
1st | Commoner |+0|+0|+0|+0| Control shape 4 Craft (Pottery) 4 Handle Animal 4 Listen 4 Profession (Dirt Farmer) 4 Spot 4 | Chicken Infested, Evil Brand |
2nd | LA |+0|+0|+0|+0| | | Wis +2, natural armor +2, alternate form (Chicken), low-light vision, shapechanger subtype, Were-chicken feat (Alertness)
3rd | LA |+0|+0|+0|+0| | | Alternate form (hybrid), chicken empathy, damage reduction (5/silver), were-chicken feats (Iron Will, Weapon Finesse)
4th | Animal HD (Chicken) |+0|+2|+2|+0| Control Shape 5 Handle Animal 4.5 Listen 5 Knowledge (Nature) 1 Spot 5 | | Str -10, Dex +4, Claws
5th | Death Master 1 |+0|+2|+2|+2| Control Shape 6 Concentration 2 Knowledge (Arcana) 1 Knowledge (Religion) 1 Spellcraft 1 | Lichloved | Rebuke Undead, spells, undead minion
6th | Death Master 2 |+1|+2|+2|+3| Control Shape 7 Concentration 4 Knowledge (Arcana) 2 Knowledge (Religion) 2 Spellcraft 2 | |
7th | Death Master 3 |+2|+3|+3|+3| Control Shape 8 Concentration 6 Knowledge (Arcana) 3 Knowledge (Religion) 3 Spellcraft 3 | |
8th | Death Master 4 |+3|+3|+3|+4| Control Shape 9 Concentration 8 Knowledge (Arcana) 4 Knowledge (Religion) 4 Spellcraft 4 | Thrall to Demon |
9th | Death Master 5 |+3|+3|+3|+4| Control Shape 10 Concentration 10 Knowledge (Arcana) 5 Knowledge (Religion) 5 Spellcraft 5 | | Master of the dead
10th | Death Master 6 |+4|+4|+4|+5| Control Shape 11 Concentration 11 Knowledge (Arcana) 6 Knowledge (Religion) 6 Spellcraft 7 | |
11th | Thrall of Orcus 1 |+5|+6|+4|+7| Control Shape 12 Concentration 12 Knowledge (Arcana) 7 Knowledge (Religion) 7 Spellcraft 9 | Lycanthropic Spell | Carrion Stench
12th | Thrall of Orcus 2 |+6|+7|+4|+8| Control Shape 13 Concentration 13 Knowledge (Arcana) 8 Knowledge (Religion) 8 Spellcraft 11 | | Touch of fear
13th | Thrall of Orcus 3 |+7|+7|+5|+8| Control Shape 14 Concentration 14 Knowledge (Arcana) 9 Knowledge (Religion) 9 Spellcraft 13 | | Demon wings
14th | Thrall of Orcus 4 |+8|+8|+5|+9| Control Shape 15 Concentration 15 Knowledge (Arcana) 10 Knowledge (Religion) 10 Spellcraft 15 | Divine Defiance | Massive girth
15th | Thrall of Orcus 5 |+9|+8|+5|+9| Control Shape 16 Concentration 16 Knowledge (Arcana) 12 Knowledge (Religion) 11 Spellcraft 16 | | Summon minor undead
16th | Thrall of Orcus 6 |+10|+9|+6|+10| Control Shape 17 Concentration 17 Knowledge (Arcana) 14 Knowledge (Religion) 12 Spellcraft 17 | | Pallor of death
17th | Thrall of Orcus 7 |+11|+9|+6|+10| Control Shape 18 Concentration 18 Knowledge (Arcana) 16 Knowledge (Religion) 13 Spellcraft 18 | Willing Deformity | Demon wings (at will)
18th | Thrall of Orcus 8 |+12|+10|+6|+11| Control Shape 19 Concentration 19 Knowledge (Arcana) 18 Knowledge (Religion) 14 Spellcraft 19 | | Death touch
19th | Thrall of Orcus 9 |+13|+10|+7|+11| Control Shape 20 Concentration 20 Knowledge (Arcana) 20 Knowledge (Religion) 15 Spellcraft 20 | | Summon major undead
20th | Thrall of Orcus 10 |+14|+11|+7|+12| Control Shape 21 Concentration 21 Knowledge (Arcana) 21 Knowledge (Religion) 17 Spellcraft 21 | Heighten Spell | Summon nightwing [/table]
Dark MeatSpoiler
Spells per day/Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|3|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|4|2|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|4|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-|-|-
10th|4|3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-
11th|4|4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-|-
12th|4|4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-|-
13th|4|4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-|-
14th|4|4|3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-
15th|4|4|3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-
16th|4|4|3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-
17th|4|4|4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-
18th|4|4|4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-
19th|4|4|4|3|2|1|-|-|-|-
20th|4|4|4|3|3|2|-|-|-|-
[/table]
Commonly used spells include animate dead (level 2) and dispel magic (level 3, later heightened and used in slots for spell levels 4 and 5)
The gizzardSpoiler
Starting Stats: Str 12, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 8, Cha 14
Template: +2 Wis
Levels: All to Int
Final (without items) Str 12, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 22, Wis 18, Cha 14
Break down that bird:Spoiler
Levels 1-5: Sentrosi survives her initial levels due to hiding with her chickens. When confronted, she fights, using her chicken allies as a "white-meat"-shield to protect herself, and using her DR to help protect against direct damage. She learns a few spells, not many though, as a Deathmaster.
Levels 6-10: Sentrosi sells her soul to Orcus for revenge. She continues to grow in power, learning to animate dead corpses and to dispel magic. Typically she relies upon her allies to fight and do damage, while she readies actions to counterspell any casters, sending her undead minions to fight and protect her while she casts.
Levels 11-15: Sentrosi's camouflage is complete - she can cast spells while in chicken form, meaning all foes see is a bunch of chickens clucking and scratching on the ground while their spells are counterspelled. Because of divine defiance, she can counter twice as many spells per round as she was formerly able to, should she ready an action to do so.
Levels 16-20: Sentrosi and her undead minions continue their rampage. She is the magic against her foes magic, while her minions and undead summons are the steel against their steel. Because honestly, who believes the chicken is behind all of it?
Are you kidding me? A were-chicken?!?Spoiler
No, this is legitimate.
As a halfling, Sentrosi can go to size tiny. Originally Posted by Lycanthrope
Originally Posted by Common Raven, Wikipedia
Originally Posted by Raven, SRD
So chickens can use the same stats as a Raven (size timy), and as omnivores, qualify for the animal side of a lycanthrope. Originally Posted by Chicken, Wikipedia
Sources:Spoiler
Faiths and Pantheons: Lycanthropic Spell Feat
MM: Control Shape Skill, Were-RavenChicken
Fiendish Codex II: Divine Defiance feat
Dragon Magazine Compendium: Death Master
Book of Vile Darkness: Thrall to Orcus, Evil Brand, Lichloved, Thrall to Demon
Dragon Magazine #330: Chicken InfestedFlawFeat
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting: Strongheart Halfling
Sword of Truth Novels: Inspiration behind sentrosi (a chime)Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:40 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Now, why does cancer Mage look familiar...
Originally Posted by Ari
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-09-23 at 09:33 PM.
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:41 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
I can barely stop myself from the Porky Pigs jokes that are popping up in my head
Th-th-th-th-at's all, folks! Originally Posted by Thrall of Porkus
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:42 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Your princess is in my dungeon now
Originally Posted by Ruk Rak
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-09-23 at 08:44 PM.
Spoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:45 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Okay, I couldn't help it.
That's all that I got, folks. Have at it!
EDIT: Few last-minutes correctionsSpoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:45 PM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
So it looks like...19 entries. That's at least below 20 this time.
Some unique ideas, some ideas that paralleled others. I'm not allowed to say which category my build fell into, but this should be a fun discussion.
-
2013-09-23, 08:50 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Note - missing stub to The Frog Prince
Recalled from the Light[/spoiler]Spoiler
Unfortunately, Siegfried's princess was right. By the time he had knocked down the barred door to her crypt, he noticed that his mortal skin was sloughing off in patches.
When they were outside in what appeared to be a graveyard, Siegfried caught his reflection in a statue and saw he was a neraph again.
"Damnation," he growled.
"Exactly," said his princess. "You and me both. Might as well enjoy it."
Siegfried flexed his fingers, disappointingly red and scaly again.
"I don't suppose he might consider un-damning us?"
She laughed. "Not unless someone takes him down a peg. He does have one enemy that may have a shot at it."
"Who?" asked Siegfried, his tongue feeling too big for his mouth.
"A creature called Gorguth. Truthfully, I'm not sure what he used to be. I gather that he was someone like us once and made a bad deal. He used to work for Tenebrous back when he was still called Orcus, but tired of service, so defected to Atropus's banner."
Siegfried nodded along, trying to keep up.
"So why not seek out Atropus directly?"
His princess shook her head. "In short, he doesn't socialize. He's a giant, cancerous moon. It's not that he cares for us, exactly, just that I know Gorguth won't pass up a chance to spit in Orcus's eye."
"I… see," said Siegfried, even though he didn't .
"I could take you to him, if you like. Now that we're out of that mausoleum, my magic is back."
With that, she cut another hole in the world, a perfectly round slice right in the middle of the night, showing an imposing throne room with an inert, black man-shaped thing sitting in the center of it.
Siegfried nodded gratefully and made his way through the portal. He turned and was surprised to see his lady wasn't following him, but had instead turned around and was opening another.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked.
"Oh, no, dear. From what you told me, it sounds like that little girl still has her hands on my book. I wanted to go share the good news of my freedom with her."
She touched the heel of her hand to her chin and then made a hissing noise in Siegfried's direction. He guessed she had blown him a kiss, which he made sure he caught before she disappeared through her portal to Limbo. He remembered men in his position often kept a token from their ladies. He could still feel the tang of her meat on the back of his tongue. Much better than a handkerchief. No matter where he went, she would always be with him.
He looked before him to the form that must have have been Gorguth.
"Enter," Gorguth intoned.
"I understand you have a grievance with my," he grimaced for a moment, "master, Orcus."
Gorguth snarled and extended his hand, closing the portal behind Siegfried.
"There is nothing for you here, creature." Gorguth stood from his throne with a cracking of bones. "I can see plainly whatever pittance that bloated fiend offered you for your soul isn't great enough for you to give me what I need."
Siegfried looked around him for an exit but saw none. "What is that?" he asked, hopefully giving himself enough time to think of something.
"Oblivion," he boomed in a voice that shook the whole chamber. "Just as your," he sniffed with contempt, "mistress sold her soul for eternal life, I seek the opposite. I serve Atropus because he might bring an end to this world, and by extension me as well, along with Orcus."
He gestured and a slavering beast appeared before Siegfried, intent on swallowing him whole. "Until then, I wait. Goodbye, thrall of Orcus," he said, sounding bored.
Siegfried was quickly pinned beneath the creature's weight, its foul breath hot in his face. He craned his neck forward as far as he could and bit off one of the creature's toes. He swallowed it quickly so as not to taste it and stole the creature's shape. From that point, he was able to make short work of it and tear out the beast's throat.
As his lady had surmised, he found himself unable to stop until his stomach was full. The whole time, Gorguth simply watched, his gray, featureless face inscrutable to Siegfried.
"You may prove of use after all," Gorguth said. "Very well. Consider yourself under Atropus's banner. Orcus will be unable to revoke your newfound fell powers without returning your soul, so either way, it seems you're coming out ahead…" he trailed off, so Siegfried chose now to supply his name.
"Prince Siegfried," he said proudly.
"Well, then, your highness," Gorguth said without a shred of respect, "I suggest you lie low for the time being. It will be some time before he is weak enough for us to strike. When it comes, you will know."
Siegfried nodded, and before he could ask how he was supposed to leave, Gorguth sent him back to his lady's graveyard with a wave of his hand.
Once enough time had passed for him to disguise himself in some unobtrusive shape, Siegfried did some reconnaissance in town as an owl. He thought since this time he was planning out his devouring of flesh, he might find the time to cook it, but when the time came, he found he much preferred his prey raw.
His lady's enemy, the mage, was a local big wig in this town. Apparently when she and her friends had seen him in Limbo that first time, it was after their first encounter with his lady, who even after all his spying, he found was indeed too ancient and terrible to have a name known by the hoi polloi. This gave him a certain sense of pride.
Apparently, she had indeed been trying to take down Orcus in order to reclaim her own soul through Gorguth's master, Atropus. By causing a large enough tragedy on the surface of the prime material, Atropus would be attracted to the scent, like Siegfried to the smell of fresh meat.
Her plan was to encase the city in a bubble of force and fill it with water. The sorrow would hopefully summon Atropus. Without Orcus to hang onto her soul, she would be free to enjoy whatever hereafter she has been destined for before she met him.
The mage and her companions had been able to cage his lady and steal her book. They wanted to use it to warn Orcus of her strike against him that he might prepare himself for the forces of Atropus. While they knew he was a malefic force, they viewed him and the other demon lords as a necessary evil. With him out of his position in the Abyss, they thought there would be a power vacuum.
Be that as it may, he could understand his lady's plan, and not only because he stood to benefit from it. While before making the deal with Tenebrous, he would have been able to answer plainly who was at fault, now, he could understand what would drive someone to go to such extremes.
He'd never really noticed his soul before, but now it was gone, he thought he had finally given a name to that unreasoning pain in his stomach that persisted regardless of whose form he stole.
Orcus had apparently received the news poorly and had managed to dispatch the mage's companions. She was able to escape and went to his lady's chamber to check that she was still imprisoned there. She was able to divine where the book had last been read and tracked Siegfried down. After she had retreated, she went back to her tower to recuperate.
This was where Siegfried went to find her. She wasn't there personally, but she had left her study in the care of her familiar spirit, a raven that was so busy filing papers, it didn't notice Siegfried swoop in behind it and bite through its spinal cord.
Siegfried appreciated the poetry of an owl's sharp beak and curved talons now that he was using them for their intended purpose. Once he'd filled his stomach with feathers and gizzards, he found a reflective surface to make sure he got the details of the bird right.
After preening for a moment, he got back to filing, so his mistress, the mage, wasn't surprised when she saw him.
"I have more information on that damned lich," she said and collapsed into a chair.
"Oh?" Siegfried chirped. He alighted on a falconer's glove she held out before her face.
"Yes. It appears as though some perverse individual has managed to free her from my curse," she said, sounding annoyed.
"How?" he asked.
"If you can believe it, true love's kiss. And I think a little more than that." She made a face.
"Why do you think that?" Siegfried asked, glad his current form had no lips, or he was sure he would have smiled.
"She told me in… great detail of how her prince had come when she confronted me. It wasn't easy, but I was able to escape with my life. I'm not sure what her aims are, but I wouldn't be surprised if she attempted to pick up where she left off to destroy this city."
Siegfried nodded sagely.
"What do you think we should do to prepare?" he said.
The mage sighed deeply. "Truthfully, I have no idea. Ever since the rest of my order was lost to that damned woman, it's been… difficult being the sole guardian of this city."
Siegfried hopped onto her shoulder and rubbed his feathers against her cheek.
"Then rest," he said. "I can hold down the fort until then."
She nodded. "Perhaps that would be a prudent decision."
Siegfried watched her get undressed and slip into bed from a small wooden perch. Some part of him wanted to pounce on her now, but he thought better of it. If she were able to take on his lady singlehandedly, he had best not try to take her on alone.
Over the next few weeks, Siegfried familiarized himself with the mage's library, looking for information on his lady and her plan. He was able to learn enough to assume that his lady was busy at the moment removing abjurations cast at strategic locations around the city. He likely had time to wait before he would see her again.
Eventually, the day came when the mage flew into her tower in a fury, blood dripping down her face from four diagonal slashes across her cheek of the precise dimension to be a token from his lady.
"Hark unto me!" she snapped. Siegfried landed on her shoulder and listened to her as she caught him up on the situation.
"She's in the town square. She's managed to undo my abjurations despite my best efforts. She's surrounded the city in her force field, but there should still be time to prevent her from creating the flood!"
He held on fast and the mage carried him high above the town square.
His lady hovered in the air, a low droning noise
coming from her beautiful, white teeth. She let out a primal scream and ripped a hole in the sky, not at all like the portals he'd seen before. It was rough and asymmetrical, and for a moment, Siegfried felt homesick for his chaotic plane.
Not a moment later, sinister black shapes started pouring out from it. Gorguth was riding atop a great, mechanical bat, tearing a hole in the sky, black and jagged as a fissure in the earth. Behind him, all manner of horrible creatures from whatever far-off realm Atropus hailed from were following, claws and teeth bared and chewing through the clouds.
Before the first of them touched down on the surface of the city, the ground shook and cracked. A band of demons, no doubt Orcus's minions, dragged themselves up from the depths of the Abyss.
Siegfried now understood his lady's plans. Regardless of which side won between Orcus's and Gorguth's forces, there would be plenty of collateral damage amongst those caught in the middle. That was how she was planning to summon Atropus.
The mage brought herself to bear in front of his lady and surrounded herself in a shimmering white light. She flicked her gaze to Siegfried for a moment and quirked her eyebrow at him seeing he wasn't encapsulated by the spell.
The mage's head turned away from his lady, he realized now was the best time to strike.
Without a handy bit of flesh nearby, he dismissed the demonic magic that kept him in the bird's shape and was himself again, even if just for a second. Since Orcus's forces and his magic was so close, Siegfried could feel his power growing and extruded a pair of bat's wings to stay aloft behind the mage.
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and put her in a full nelson. He latched on and bit down on the first thing he could find to distract her, an ear. It came right off and slid down his throat. His stomach still bulged with all the mortal flesh he'd swallowed. His skin felt tight. Now even the illustration of Tenebrous would respect his prowess as a hunter, so corpulent was he.
"Good to see you again, my lady," Siegfried gurgled through a mouthful of blood.
"And you as well, my prince," she said, and drifted over to Siegfried and the mage to finish her off.
The mage managed to buck Siegfried and teleport a few feet away, fire blazing in her eyes.
He beat his wings and interposed himself between the two women. Siegfried between Odile and Odette. Just as it was meant to be.
No matter how this battle ended, whether Orcus was victorious and retained claims to their souls, if Atropus succeeded in consuming the planet, or if the mage beat the odds and was able to ward all of them off, he knew he had done what he could for his lady. That was what princes did.
SourcesSpoiler
srd: paladin of slaughter, ranger, alertness, power attack, iron will, flyby attack
phb2: steadfast determination, flyby attack
bovd: si, mortalbane, mortal hunter
fiendish codex 1: evil brand
elder evils: devotion to elder evils, thrall to demon, lichloved, murderous intent, deformity (madness), evil's blessing, deformity (parasite)
magic of incarnum: shape soulmeld, open chakra
exemplars of evil: celestial slayer, divine denialSpoiler: Trophies
Avatar by Iron Penguin.
The Power of the Orient: A Wu Jen Handbook
Originally Posted by Paul S. Kemp
-
2013-09-23, 08:55 PM (ISO 8601)Firbolg in the Playground
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
I. . . was afraid of that.
-
2013-09-23, 08:58 PM (ISO 8601)Firbolg in the Playground
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
- Gender
-
2013-09-23, 08:59 PM (ISO 8601)Banned
- Join Date
- Nov 2012
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
I knew it! They all share the same ingredient!
SpoilerThrall of Orcus!
That'll never get old.
-
2013-09-23, 08:59 PM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
I'm already sick of that joke.
-
2013-09-23, 09:00 PM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2013
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
I am willing to help judge if need be, but not as a raw cruncher, just on where I think the powerbase and usefulness as something is.
I see one build already though that broke the rules, chicken infested is a dragon magazine flaw.
But am also very glad/proud that my idea did not get replicated, fiend of possession and become the weapon that the thrall of orcus vampire wields as a wand of orcus.
-
2013-09-23, 09:17 PM (ISO 8601)Banned
- Join Date
- Nov 2012
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Time for a list, methinks.
1; Captain Tardis; Half-Pyroclastic Dragon Human Fangshields Champion of the Wild Ranger 10/Tempest 5/Thrall of Orcus 2
2; The Decaying Tears; Gnome Cloistered Cleric 1/Binder 8/Thrall of Orcus 10/Tenebrous Apostate 1
3; Gem; Unknown race Dread Necromancer 10/Thrall of Orcus 10
4; Henry Oakshield the 666th; Battle Sorcerer 1/Fighter 11/Thrall of Orcus 10
5; Doctor Dellamorte; Half-elf Druid 5/Ranger 1/Blighter 7/Thrall of Orcus 10
6; Dobluth; Lesser Drow Warlock 4/Necromancer Wizard 1/Warblade 1/Demonbinder 4/Thrall of Orcus 10
7; Derek "Baelfire" Bragg; Silverbrow Human Bard 3/Warblade 2/Thrall of Orcus 10/Dirgesinger 5
8; The Frog Prince; Neraph Ranger 3/Paladin of Slaughter 2/Mortal Hunter 5/Thrall of Orcus 10
9; Cara Skerritt; Strongheart Halfling Lich Death Master 10/Thrall of Orcus 10
10; Adrienne Fzembrel; Human Hexblade 7/Thrall of Orcus 10/Paladin of Tyranny 3
11; Babalon; Human Hexblade 4/Thrall of Orcus 10/Horned Harbinger 6
12; Ankou; Jaebrin Bard 9/Thrall of Orcus 10
13; Ophelia; Human Ghost Cleric 3/Eidolon 7/Thrall of Orcus 10
14; Luxx; Human Binder 5/Cleric 1/Tenebrous Apostate 4/Thrall of Orcus 10
15; Bill E. Kidd; Ibixian Hexblade 4/Thrall of Orcus 10/Avenging Executioner 2
16; Sentrosi; Strongheart Halfling Were-Chicken Commoner 1/Death Master 6/Thrall of Orcus 9
17; Ari; Vashar Spirit Shaman 4/Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian 1/Thrall of Orcus 10/Cancer Mage 5
18; Thrall of Porkus; Barbarian 1/Sorcerer 4/Dread Witch 5/Thrall of Orcus 10
19; Ruk Rak; Arctic Kobold Fighter 4/Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian 1/Dungeon Lord 5/Thrall of Orcus 10
- - - - - -
As an aside, I know I'm nowhere near the top 3, possibly 5. Some... Inspired builds; Doctor Dellamorte, Babalon, and Baelfire are my favourite, and I'll call it now that those 3 will place.
And I'd felt so good about mine going into this one.
-
2013-09-23, 09:21 PM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
- Join Date
- Sep 2011
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
That feel, I know it so well. Originally Posted by Vaz
-
2013-09-23, 09:22 PM (ISO 8601)Firbolg in the Playground
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
- Gender
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
I know this ruins the anonymity, but I don't care if people know this one isn't mine: I think Gem is in violation of forum rules. Even if the creator thinks it's an amusing way to respond to a rules disagreement, something makes me uneasy about posting a fictitious account in which you set another poster on fire. I'd normally just report the post quietly, but due to the nature of this competition Kuulvheysoon is the one that posted it. Any suggestions on how we should handle it?
-
2013-09-23, 09:25 PM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Location
- <<Undetected>>
- Gender
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Kuulvheysoon posted it without complaint. If our esteemed chairman is cool with it, I don't see an issue. (I am not a mod, though). Originally Posted by OMG PONIES
Last edited by mattie_p; 2013-09-23 at 09:26 PM.
This forum may use my name, simulated likeness, and/or words for any entertainment purposes or signature quotes.
Chairman Emeritus of Zinc Saucier. It is just like Iron Chef but comes with double the prize money.
Avatar by Derjuin, sing her praises to Elysium.
Originally Posted by Psyren
-
2013-09-23, 09:27 PM (ISO 8601)Firbolg in the Playground
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
- Gender
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Even if the subject of the offense is fine with it, I'd rather our contest not include things that violate forum rules. I know I'm probably seeing a worst-case scenario, but I'd hate to see our competition derailed or thread locked due to rules violations. Originally Posted by mattie_p
-
2013-09-23, 09:29 PM (ISO 8601)Titan in the Playground
- Join Date
- Feb 2011
- Location
- Texas
- Gender
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Originally Posted by OMG PONIES
I'm with you on this. Originally Posted by OMG PONIES
Check out my new sci-fi TTRPG about first contact. Cool alien races, murderous AIs, and more. New book letting coming soon.
fight my brute! it's a lot of fun
Iron Chef Medals! Originally Posted by weckar
Amazing Princess Mononoke avatar by Dispozition
Iron Chef Deep Freeze: Turning Tables on Old Dishes
-
2013-09-23, 09:31 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Dec 2012
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
That's a legitimate concern to have. Originally Posted by OMG PONIES
Kolyarut Avatar by Potatocubed.
Awards Originally Posted by willpell
-
2013-09-23, 09:36 PM (ISO 8601)Titan in the Playground
- Join Date
- Feb 2011
- Location
- Texas
- Gender
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
What did we do in GSA when the thread devolved into personal attack? Ask the mods for help? It's not like we don't know who did gem.
Check out my new sci-fi TTRPG about first contact. Cool alien races, murderous AIs, and more. New book letting coming soon.
fight my brute! it's a lot of fun
Iron Chef Medals! Originally Posted by weckar
Amazing Princess Mononoke avatar by Dispozition
Iron Chef Deep Freeze: Turning Tables on Old Dishes
-
2013-09-23, 09:41 PM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Jul 2007
- Location
- Bellona
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
Several fun builds here! Skimmed most of them, I'm going to enjoy reading them all in detail over the next couple of days.
Two ideas I didn't use ended up being used by other contests, so I won't mention them.
I must admit, I expected Ur-Priests galore, and am pleasantly surprised to have been mistaken.
I did consider the following build, but just thought of it yesterday and didn't have time to get anything together:
Paladin of Slaughter 4/Thrall of Orcus 3/Divine Crusader 2/Thrall of Orcus +7/Divine Crusader +4
...with the Demonic domain.
That would end up with +18 BAB, 9th-level spells (which means the ability to cast Gate), turn undead, Charisma focus, etc.
I also thought of using a lesser drow (which gets Touch of Fatigue as an SLA) as an entry point for a crusader build with a focus on lots of deformity feats, but the end product was messy and I discarded it pretty early on.Last edited by Piggy Knowles; 2013-09-23 at 09:42 PM.
Optimization Showcase in the Playground
Former projects:
Shadowcaster Handbook
Archer Build Compendium
Iron Chef Awards!
Spoiler
GOLD
IC LXXVI: Talos
IC LXXV: Alphonse Louise Constant
IC XLIX: Babalon, Queen of Bones
IC XLV: Dead Mists
IC XL: Lycus Blackbeak
IC XXXIX: AM-1468
IC XXXV: Parsifal the Fool
IC XXX: Jal Filius
-
2013-09-23, 09:43 PM (ISO 8601)Banned
- Join Date
- Nov 2012
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLIX
RE; Gemgate
SpoilerGot to say I didn't even bother to read the submission after it followed a similar layout to another entry that I felt didn't even bother to attempt the competition; quite frankly embarrassed that someone even considered that a decent thing to put down in words, and a little bit disgusted.
When such a personal attack is made in regards to a ruling made regarding a game, I don't feel that they should be a part of the game.
Perhaps Kuulv posted it out of a sense of fairness, but it's not something that should be taken lightly. While yes, we're dealing with the BoVD and we have baby's being slaughtered while mass murderers are getting jiggy with decomposing bodies, I think that posting about about setting another member of the board on fire is bang out of order.
- - - - -
@Piggy, I'd considered Ur-Priest; the problem was the casting progression; X4/Orcus 1/Ur-Priest 1/Orcus +9/Ur-Priest advancement 6 means that you've got at best Ur-Priest 9 casting; not much to sniff at, but compared to how good Cleric 9ths are, and how powerful Ur-Priests can be when played right, there's a difference.
Sure, you could go Orcus 8/Ur Priest 7 instead for it, but compare that to a dual 9th's, say. You'd also sacrifice that power gain in not getting the Nightwing.
S'all Vizzini at the end of it.Last edited by Vaz; 2013-09-24 at 05:14 AM.
Reply With Quote
RSS Feeds: 
