Base Class Challenge XXI Voting Thread

[Temotei]

Welcome to the voting thread for Base Class Challenge XXI, Can I Get Some Booze From the Crowd?! Voting will consist of each voter giving a first, second, and third place vote for three separate base classes. Anyone can vote.

A first place vote is worth three points, a second place vote is worth two points, and a third place vote is worth one point. You may not vote for your own class.

You are encouraged to include reason with your votes, though this is not absolutely required.

The class that ends up with the most points wins the challenge contest. Voting starts now and will continue until 23:59 (Central Standard Time USA/Canada) on March 18th.

1st Place: ., by
2nd Place: ., by
3rd Place: ., by

{table=head]Base Class|Author|1st|2nd|3rd|Total Points
Intoxicanter (Feats)|Zaydos|2|2|1|11
Imbiber|sengmeng|0|0|0|0
Bartender|CryWolfCorrupt|2|0|3|9
Abstainer|Vaynor|0|3|2|8
Bacchanalian Priest (Spell List and Spheres)|Jester of Doom|2|1|0|8[/table]

Unfortunately, the brew fist, master drunkard, and vicari of Sanguine are ineligible for voting.

[GuyFawkes]

1st Place: The Bartender by CryWolfCorrupt. Because Spiked Drinks.
2nd Place: The Abstainer by Vaynor. I like the concept of having the class actually abstain from the main point of the competition.
3rd Place: Intoxicanter by Zaydos. Because Dehydrating Touch.

[Adam1949]

First Place: The Intoxicanter. The idea of simply touching someone and being able to do stuff like that is just cool.

Second Place: The Bacchanalian Priest. Spheres are a really neat idea, and it's well-balanced as well.

Third Place: The Abstainer. A class that went against the grain and forsook alcohol in order to become stronger is quite awesome and unique.

[Temotei]

Votes tallied.

[Beelzebub1111]

First Place)Bartender
Second Place)Intoxicanter
Third Place)Abstainer

[Temotei]

Votes tallied. Keep 'em coming.

[Jester of Doom]

1^st: Intoxicanter, by Zaydos. The ability damage is interesting, and looking at it's abilities I can't decide whether playing it would feel more like a blaster sorcerer or some trick melee class. The medicinal alcohol also let's it fulfill the healing role, so I guess it's almost a jack-of-all-trades, something I enjoy that is not usually done well.

2^nd: Abstainer, by Vaynor. Seems fairly well balanced (although I am not a fan of the spell point system), It gets some neat abilities and I think with some minor alterations this might make the best paladin fix I have seen.

3^rd: Bartender, by CryWolfCorrupt. I really like the idea here, bartenders should adventure more often. Some of its abilities are kinda cool, but some others seem poorly thought out or tacked on. A decent attempt and a good basic idea, but I think it would need more work before I'd allow it in a campaign.

[Zaydos]

Before I vote a small soapbox rant.

When I look at a class my first question, and the most important one, is would I allow this in a game. In the case of this contest that means one thing I'm really looking for is the ability to adapt a class outside of Booze.

The next is they feel like a class with an actual place. This is... a combination of things. Fluff. Mechanics. And honestly the Intoxicanter fails here. While I like the mechanical function of it (although there's a hole I need to patch), but that's just it. It feels like a mechanical construct and not a class, and there it fails. When I repost it I'm probably going to try fluffing it as an alchemist and see if that works but it might not, and as far as things go is a personally unsatisfying class.

That tangent over...

1st: Bacchanalian Priest. It's usable without a beer themed game. It feels like a class, filling a niche (enchanter/cult leader priest), and is relatively balanced for a full caster though I'd still guess at Tier 2 (it looks to be above beguiler so I'd guess tier 2). It's a neat idea, a divine caster that's less martial and less Lawful than a cleric, but instead more of a leader of a cult of personality or mystery cult which are nice options.

2nd: Abstainer. Again it's usable without a beer themed game and feels like a class (well a paladin fix). I don't particularly like the spell points system but it can be ported to bard easily enough and it's pretty functional. I could see using it, but with difficulty unless replacing Paladin; it feels very much like a paladin fix despite not getting Full BAB.

3rd: Bartender. This contest needed one. *grumbles about need for a bootlegger class*

[Vaynor]

First Place: Bacchanalian Priest by Jester of Doom: I really like the flavor of this class, and it seems well-balanced with interesting mechanics that differentiate it well from the cleric. The way the spheres affect the sacraments is really cool and unique.

Second Place: Intoxicanter by Zaydos: This is basically the opposite of my class. I wonder how a battle between them would play out (although I suspect being immune to alcohol's effects would help the abstainer). I like the flavor and the class seems well rounded. Lots of interesting abilities and no dead levels!

Third Place: Bartender by CryWolfCorrupt: I think this class is interesting, but I think it fell a bit flat. Lots of cool concepts though.

[Temotei]

Votes tallied. We currently have a two-way tie for third place, so there's that. More votes!