Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground LXVI

[KrimsonNekros]

Given that Fochlucan Lyrist's prerequisites take up essentially the entire build, I'm not surprised it didn't show up. As for Bard, the prestige class requires bardic music, so I'm surprised you're surprised--how would you have entered the secret ingredient?

I'd tell you but I'd have to kill you ;P

That said, hats off to the Chairwoman for the tribute to Terry Pratchett

[WhamBamSam]

I may still judge. People wouldn't be too upset if I judged without having posted criteria during the cooking phase, would they?

Oh right, criteria. Ah well, I use basically the same criteria every time I judge, except for UoSI, which only changes based on the abilities I'm looking at.

So yeah, I'll be trying to get judgings out. We've only got a batch of 7, so it shouldn't be too bad. For criteria, just squint at the ones I used a few rounds back and pretend the various Witchborn Binder abilities are Dwarven Chanter abilities.

[arkangel111]

Interesting lot. trabadour of the stars was the only prc I didn't find when looking at alternative ways to get bardic music. Unfortunately couldn't find a way to make a build that didn't just scream "why dwarven chanter?" My vast amount of research did yield a nice find I plan on using in a future competition when the ingredient will actually compliment the base. As surprised as I was about TotS's, I was more surprised about the amount of people that failed to take the ingredient to 10, must be some new guys that entered this round. After reading trance I found myself trying to find a good use for it, but only came up with dumb idea's, I see at least I wasn't alone in thinking of endurance competitions, but i like the way you used it in the story Derinar.

I am failing to see the TO in sono, but may voice my argument against it in a judging (doubtful since finals are next week) or at least wait till the competition is over so I don't rip points out of his hand from other judges. Anyways good luck to you all.

[Bucky]

Nobody used Timing Chant to hit their enemies with a 1 hour no-save Daze.

I'm disappointed.

[Venger]

Nobody used Timing Chant to hit their enemies with a 1 hour no-save Daze.

I'm disappointed.

During this time, all who wish to be affected must join the chant and continue to accompany the chanter for the duration of the effect.

Nope. Doesn't work that way.

[KrimsonNekros]

Nope. Doesn't work that way.

It could, but it would require shenanigans with compulsion effects.

[Heliomance]

I am failing to see the TO in sono, but may voice my argument against it in a judging (doubtful since finals are next week) or at least wait till the competition is over so I don't rip points out of his hand from other judges. Anyways good luck to you all.

Using Continuous Spellcasting to ignore the concentration checks for Extraordinary Concentration, essentially getting move action concentration for free. I was asked about it by the chef in question and my response was "that's utterly disgusting, but I think it works."

I'm not sure if it lets you get swift action concentration, because you're not beating the DC by 10 or more, you're ignoring the need to make the check, but I think it pretty unambiguously works for move action.

[Troacctid]

I dunno, the highest DC you need to make at level 15 to concentrate as a move action is 32? 18 ranks and +3 Con only leaves you 10 short of auto-succeeding naturally, so the most you'd be accomplishing with the trick is saving 10k gp for a Third Eye Concentrate, right? And you still can't concentrate on multiple spells at once? It's a good use for the ability, and I'd give points for it, but I'd hardly call it cheese or TO.

Edit: Wait...does Sono even have any spells that require concentration?

[dysprosium]

So real life got me again so I have no entry.

Good thing too since one of my ideas was a Sorcerer/Troubadour of Stars entry. The other one was going to be a midgard dwarf that focused on using the chant to make magic items ad nauseum.

But since it is Round LXVI and in honor of dysprosium's atomic number, I will find a way to judge.

[OMG PONIES]

As always, for ease of reference:

1. Tali Ozak:Dwarf Bard 3/Fighter 3/War Chanter 5/Seeker of the Song 2/Dwarven Chanter 7
2. Azalin Stonecutter:Tiefling Sorcerer 1/Spellthief 2/Stoneblessed 3/Spellsinger 5/Dwarven Chanter 8
3. Hot Kald Skald:White Dragonspawn Desert Dwarf Bard 6/Dwarven Chanter 7/Stormsinger 7
4. Sono Russhum:Dream Dwarf Sorcerer 8/Troubador of the Stars 2/Dwarven Chanter 10
5. Derinar Penathan:Dream Dwarf Bard 2/Binder 3/Dwarven Chanter 10/Anima Mage 5
6. Sergeant Hammer:Fireblood Dwarf Bard 1/Fighter 1/Duskblade 3/War Chanter 5/Dwarven Chanter 10
7. Bror Broadbeard:Dream Dwarf Marshal 7/Court Herald 2/Warrior Skald 1/Dwarven Chanter 10

Jury's out on whether I'll judge. More to come.

[Bucky]

It could, but it would require shenanigans with compulsion effects.

Does Bard not have the ability to get enemies to do foolish things as a class feature?

[Zaq]

Does Bard not have the ability to get enemies to do foolish things as a class feature?

It does, but it's difficult to use things like Suggestion while you're using Timing Chant.

Believe me, I thought about it, but short of Dominate or something similar, there's not really an elegant way of forcing an enemy to participate in the Timing Chant . . . and why bother dazing an enemy you've got Dominated?

[WhamBamSam]

Using Continuous Spellcasting to ignore the concentration checks for Extraordinary Concentration, essentially getting move action concentration for free. I was asked about it by the chef in question and my response was "that's utterly disgusting, but I think it works."

I'm not sure if it lets you get swift action concentration, because you're not beating the DC by 10 or more, you're ignoring the need to make the check, but I think it pretty unambiguously works for move action.

I dunno, the highest DC you need to make at level 15 to concentrate as a move action is 32? 18 ranks and +3 Con only leaves you 10 short of auto-succeeding naturally, so the most you'd be accomplishing with the trick is saving 10k gp for a Third Eye Concentrate, right? And you still can't concentrate on multiple spells at once? It's a good use for the ability, and I'd give points for it, but I'd hardly call it cheese or TO.

Edit: Wait...does Sono even have any spells that require concentration?

I think he failed to note the difference between Concentration the skill, and concentration the thing you do to maintain spells that require it. Or something. He seems to be operating under the impression that Extraordinary Concentration is giving him a move action Quicken, which it isn't. What he actually has is a decent trick that would allow him to maintain a spell as a move action while using his standard action to cast normally if he had any spells which require concentration, which you're correct, he does not.

Also note that Sonorous Hum is Bard 2, Cleric 3, Sor/Wiz 3, lets you do this with no action, and explicitly lets you use your actions to maintain another spell that requires concentration. Granted, it's a good spell for its level, but that's the power that we're dealing with here (at least until you stack Sonorous Hum and this trick together, and/or start getting things like Familiar Concentration involved, at which point it starts looking better but makes the SI itself as smallish part of a larger combo).

So there probably is an impressive build which somewhat justifies Dwarven Chanter's presence (or at least 5 levels of it) to be constructed around this trick, but I don't think Sono is that build. But we'll see how the judging ends up shaking out.

[Heliomance]

A note from the chef.

All,
Wow, lots of discussion about a single feat choice, and its implications, before judging. It may be helpful to clarify the context in which Extraordinary Concentration and Continuous Spellcasting came into Sono Russhum's build. I was looking through feats, and thought that Extraordinary Concentration might interact . . . oddly with Continuous Spellcasting. This oddness led to the following exchange with Heliomance:

The latter [Extraordinary Concentration] is on page 109 in Complete Adventurer. How do these two abilities interact, if at all?

O_o

Uh...

That's horrible, broken, and cheesy, but I think it works. Good find, try not to get dinged too hard in Elegance!

My intent in asking the Chair's opinion here was merely to see if the abilities worked together in any meaningful way, in her official opinion. I did not initially label or consider the 'trick' to be TO, until her response, both here and in the thread. My write-up of the combination as being TO is merely in keeping with my understanding of the Chair's official opinion on it.

As to whether Sono Russum has spells which require concentration checks, the equipment list indicates runestaves, which - as you know - may have any spells a given DM decides. He also has maxed out UMD with a good CHA, further increasing the odds that he'll be casting spells which require those checks. That I did not list such spells specifically indicates that I have taken to heart the general advice of not getting too specific in equipment listings. I'll also note that at least one contestant asked, before the reveal, how much weight judges were going to put on the listed spell selection. If a judge responded to that query before the reveal, I admit I missed that response.

[arkangel111]

Well I guess since no one is spoiling their responses I'll go ahead and voice my understanding of it, but I will spoiler my response just in case it has an effect on the judging.

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Continuous Spellcasting (Ex):

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At 5th level, the chanter is able to boost his concentration by focusing his mind on his song, thus ignoring distractions while spellcasting.

While he is reciting this special song, the chanter need not make additional Concentration checks when casting spells for the duration of the chant. In addition, the chant acts as the verbal component of any spell he casts for its duration.

The chanter begins this chant by making a DC 15 Concentration check as a standard action; he is able to maintain incredible focus for one round per point by which he succeeds on this check.

The bold is of course mine, and the point I am making. This concentration is a special action set aside by the ability in question, it is NOT a concentration check for spellcasting, but instead a concentration check for this chant.
If you read extraordinary concentration it states "When concentrating to maintain a spell,...." Thus its reduction of concentration time doesn't work, since you are concentrating for the chant, not the spell.

Now the thing that makes this ability awesome is actually the fact that this one concentration check bypasses the need for any further checks while maintaining the chant, which means duration concentration spells are absolutely amazing with this ability and should likely be in TO builds already that revolve around those spells. The thing I see is that this class is actually a diamond in the rough and might even erase the need for extraordinary concentration and its ilk in future TO builds, of course it's entry of dwarf is sub-optimal but that's a whole other story. The fact I saw is no one made good use of this ability by loading their spell lists with concentration spells, at least i didn't see it called out with my cursory glance.

I did have this story written up for a character that accidentally set an impossible task for his trance and thus was completely unable to stop his trance and continued working on it until his bones turned to dust. The build was utilizing binder for naberius and thus couldn't die from the ability score loss. While the story was funny the build just had no real need for chanter and i couldn't bring myself to enter a build I knew could not place.

[Troacctid]

I did have this story written up for a character that accidentally set an impossible task for his trance and thus was completely unable to stop his trance and continued working on it until his bones turned to dust. The build was utilizing binder for naberius and thus couldn't die from the ability score loss. While the story was funny the build just had no real need for chanter and i couldn't bring myself to enter a build I knew could not place.

I had a similar idea! I was going to have him be a Desert Dwarf with a couple levels in Incarnate, using Strongheart Vest to a similar end. Eventually he would get lost in the desert and go into a trance to survive. But the trance doesn't work that way, so he dies... except his resolve is so strong that it keeps him going, fusing the incarnum of his soulmelds with the sands of the desert to create a Soulfused Dustform creature, still hammering away at the task he assigned himself to do.

Of course, his Constitution gets reset to 10, so... eh...

[arkangel111]

Oh... and sono, about the spell list. I think its vitally important in a character especially when they have 9's. It's like evaluating a fighter without considering his weapons only worse. At least with a fighter you can assume if he has power attack he wields a 2h weapon, and with twf you can assume 2 weapons. the spell list isn't necessarily a major concern to me but the list does give me an idea of his tactics, therefore without the concentration spells I assume you weren't utilizing the tactic. yes the spell list can always be adjusted for the non-spontaneous classes but it is a gauge of your tactics.

[KrimsonNekros]

Any word from our illustrious judges?

[dysprosium]

I have been working on these and should get judgment in before the deadline.

[The Viscount]

We greatly appreciate your toil, dysprosium.

[dysprosium]

Still on target for before the deadline but I believe that I will be able to beat it by a good margin.

[Heliomance]

A note to everyone: The reveal is very likely to be several hours late this round, as I'm away this weekend and may very well not have an opportunity to sort it until Sunday evening.

[dysprosium]

The atomic number for dysprosium is 66. This round’s number is also 66.
One of the last times I judged it was Dwarven Defender. This round’s ingredient is Dwarven Chanter.
Coincidences? I think not!
The Dwarven Chanter was originally a 2nd edition player’s kit, which allowed players to take base concepts and tweak them a little to fit a different style. Kits were the predecessors to both prestige classes and archetypes. So this ingredient is like an homage to editions past. This round produced seven entries with their take on the player’s kit updated to 3.5.

Here is my criteria; some of you are familiar with it already.

Spoiler: dysprosium's criteria

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First of all, though some may not agree with this assessment, I believe that the four categories are interrelated. It’s more of an observation really. I’ve noticed that by really trying to score high in one category can create a drop in one or more of the others. Second, my scoring style is more organic, that is to say that you might not necessarily be able to say definitively that you were awarded 0.5 for a particular thing or penalized 0.25 for another. All categories start at 3 and are adjusted from there which makes 12 an average score.
Originality: This seems easy enough. Try and come up with an idea that has not been thought up before. However just because you pick some weird monster or race out of Monster Manual Infinity does not necessarily mean that the entire idea is original. Also how does your idea stack against your fellow competitors? Does your story catch my interest and make me want to read more? Do you have more for me to read? Did I roll my eyes as I read the entry?
Power: OK so you’re a powerhouse and can do ungodly amounts of damage. That is not that impressive if you can be easily charmed into OMGsmashing your party by an opposing spellcaster. Also do you rely on other things to make you go? Does your DMM Persist Cleric rely on nightstick stacking or does your Shadowdancer rely on a Mobility feat from his armor to qualify for that class? Also how relevant are you in different situations? Social power is power too. I hope I made my point here. Are you viable and playable at all levels or is there a certain maturation process that has to take place?
Elegance: Call me old fashioned but I believe certain things should stay in certain settings. Please don’t tell me about your warforged Wizard from Sharn studying at the Library in Silverymoon using the Greyhawk Method. Don’t tell me about how you sold your soul to an Elder Evil, a Demon Prince, and an Archdevil (all to gain bonus feats) all while proclaiming your innocence before the Seven Heavens of Celestia for that prestige class you really want to get into. Do you qualify for all of your feats and other prestige classes outside of the SI? Have you provided a list of sources to make judging easier? Are you basing the entire premise of your build on questionable rules?
Use of the Secret Ingredient: Do you qualify for the SI? Note that I give out zeroes if you do not at all. Do you take it to completion and if not is there an explanation? Is the SI an integral part of your build or is it taken to satisfy the parameters of the competition? Does your build showcase the class abilities of the SI? How does it all tie together? Does the build feel like it would be a strong member of the SI?

Please remember that none of the comments are personal.

Tali Ozak 9.25

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Originality: 3.75
A plucky dwarf with a series of bad luck events, questionable friendships, and an axe guitar that is going to be somebody. Your entry was the closest to having a “vanilla” dwarf in this round. You also were the only one with Seeker of the Song. You do not really have too much in the way of background so I do not know a lot about Tali. According to the SRD, dwarves reach adulthood at age forty, so the young (thirteen year old) Tali has had quite a harsh life indeed.
Power: 3.5
Your feats and skills make you quite the social butterfly. You can definitely work as the face of the party. You can cast as a 10th level Bard and have a BAB of +16. You do have the gish capability. I can understand why you took the third level of Fighter—BAB increase—but it does nothing for you from an optimization standpoint. Fighter 3 is a level that does not provide a bonus feat and most only take it to at least get Fighter 4 for that next bonus feat (if they even take Fighter at all). Your write up only mentions that you can have three bardic music effects at once but does not mention which ones would be the most useful. I can make guesses as to which music effects you would want to combine but I would have rather heard it from you.
Elegance: 2
You have a few issues here that need mentioning. When I calculate your point buy, I get 34—starting with a 16 score costs 10 in a point buy and not 8. Your final stat array also seems to have your Dexterity and Constitution scores reversed. I also believe that your skill calculations are off somewhat. Concentration is not a skill on the Fighter list so ranks bought would also have to be cross class. You do not qualify for Combat Expertise as you do not have the required Intelligence 13. This means that you also do not qualify for the War Chanter prestige class. You have the exalted feat Nymph’s Kiss but you mention being a “member of the Zhentarim,” which is known to be a highly evil organization. Most DMs will take this feat away from you and I would be one of them. There are also some inconsistencies in the write up itself. Your Skill Focus feat mentions axe guitar but the write up mentions axe bass.
Use of Secret Ingredient: 0
If we were to take your final racial stat array into account, you would not qualify for the SI as you do not have the requisite Constitution score of 13. Putting that aside however, you also do not have any ranks in Perform (percussion). According to this post from the Chair, you needed both Perform (chant/sing) and Perform (percussion) to qualify for the SI. Even if you did qualify, you would not have scored well in this category. You do not take the class to its entirety. None of the abilities of the SI are showcased. In fact I have to ask why Tali would even want to enter the prestige class at all. It seems more likely that Tali would be the lead guitarist (or bassist) in his band, not the drummer .

Azalin Stonecutter 11.25 (and my choice for Honorable Mention)

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Originality: 4.5
An orphaned tiefling taken in by a kindly dwarf who becomes proficient in the singing and chanting traditions of both her adopted and (proposed) natural races. I have to say that I was expecting Stoneblessed characters this round but not any Spellthieves or Spellsingers for that matter. The story is also one that I enjoyed, even if others might call out special snowflake tropes. I did like your exploration of elven and dwarven traditions (even though this is normally not a thing). I can appreciate how your skills points are spent developing these heritages. It is the story itself that drew me to naming you as my Honorable Mention choice.
Power: 4.25
You have 7th level spells thanks to both Spellsinger and a full casting SI. And these spells come from the Sorcerer list! Personally I would like to have seen a prospective spell list, but you have Tier 2 casting along with a respectable final BAB. You can make your enchantment spells stronger via Spellsinger but how many of those kind of spells do you have? Your charisma is high enough and though more social skills would be appreciated from my perspective you could play the party face well.
Elegance: 2.5
Spellsinger may not have a requirement that you have bardic music but it does not grant you bardic music if you did not have it before. Compare the wording in the bardic music section of Spellsinger to the bardic music section of the Warrior Skald (it’s from the same book and it is even the next prestige class alphabetically in the book). You could make the argument that 0 Bard levels plus 5 Spellsinger levels equals 5. I made a similar argument during the Zerth Cenobite round and got hammered for it. You also have quite a background and it is one that your DM is going to have to get behind in order to play Azalin. We’ll talk about your dwarven qualifications in the UoSI category below so let’s concentrate on the elven. Azalin’s mother is described as a half elf. It is implied that her father is a demon corrupted human. To me it is a stretch that a tiefling would be born to such a union.
Use of Secret Ingredient: 0
You do not qualify for Stoneblessed as you are an outsider. You have the level adjustment included in your write up so you are most definitely an outsider and not the watered down lesser version. According to the prerequisites of Stoneblessed, only humanoids, giants, and monstrous humanoids can enter that class. Since you cannot be considered a dwarf, you cannot legally enter the SI, which is a shame because you actually came up with a good story to go along with the whole thing. However you do not showcase any of the SI’s class abilities other than to make a couple of passing remarks. I can get behind your reasoning by not taking the full SI however.

Hot Kald Skald 17.25

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Originality: 4.5
You are a draconic templated desert dwarf both “Hot Blooded” and “Cold as Ice.” You have an interesting story that tells me about your character and let me root for him over the course of it. I enjoyed the large amount of details that were put into this entry. Only you used Stormsinger and the Savage Bard alternate class. You were also one of the only contestants to do something after your use of the SI was completed.
Power: 4.75
You have full Bard casting and full access to bardic music. No one else this round can say that. Dragonspawn gives you natural weapons, natural flight, natural armor, and Sorcerer spellcasting. Your bardic abilities are combined with the SI and Stormsinger to create a versatile character. You can use your abilities on undead, can rally the party with Dragonfire Inspiration, and can help in melee with Snowflake Wardance. These last two abilities may be considered a bit late in the build to be very effective, but you have plenty of bardic music uses.
Elegance: 3
You qualified for all of your feats and prestige classes outside of the SI. You are going to need the DM’s approval of combining settings like you did. The white dragonspawn from the Dragonlance Campaign Setting is a known power grab. The white dragonspawn is a an absolute steal at only +1 LA. By RAW it looks like your alignment should be Chaotic Evil, as it is supposed to be the same as your draconic lineage, so some DMs are going to look squinty at you when you tell them you are Chaotic Neutral. You also might need a permissive DM to allow you to take all of the different alternate class features, though I don’t really have a problem with these. When I first read the line for base race I initially thought, “Really? A white dragonspawn desert dwarf?” Your explanation of the cold desert nights helps alleviate my first thoughts. Plus you take your hot and cold theme very seriously throughout the build. I can appreciate that.
Use of Secret Ingredient: 5
You qualify for the SI and even though you do not take it to completion, you explain what you take to supplement the missing SI class features. You also have quite a class feature showcase—it was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. You talk about how these features help to make your character go. You use your other prestige class to add to the SI. I like the use of Quick Recovery to counteract the chanting downsides. I could go on but you’ve got us covered here.

Sono Russhum 15.5

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Originality: 3.75
Our first dream dwarf of this round’s competition, he is an exalted character taking Troubadour of the Stars to qualify for the SI. (Fun fact—one of my unentered builds was going to use this same chassis, though my breakdown was Sorcerer 8/Troubadour 5/Dwarven Chanter 7.) There was not much of a backstory here at all. I know next to nothing about him other than he can rally his fellow dwarves to action. I would have liked to see something more, considering how greedy I am for such things.
Power: 4.5
You have 9th level spells on Tier 2 casting, even with the loss of one caster level and losses of spells known. You have a list of spells known too which I can appreciate. You have a good Charisma and a high Diplomacy score so you can be the party face as well. Dragonfire Inspiration comes online a little late given the way you acquired bardic music but it is always useful. Earthbound spell is thematic but I would like to have seen how it benefits you.
Elegance: 4.75
You qualify for your prestige classes and feats outside of the SI. There are no cross setting materials nor reliance on controversial rulings. I like the use of the Transdimensional Spell feat to go along with your racial choice. This makes it better thematically and justifies your racial choice as more than “dwarf subrace without a Charisma penalty.” Likewise your choices for spells are very thematic with dwarves in general.
Use of Secret Ingredient: 2.5
You qualify for the SI and take it to completion. There is not much of a showcase for the SI class abilities. None of them are mentioned except in passing. You do take time mentioning your Concentration trick. It could be quite good for the right kind of character, but for Sono, I do not see it being overly useful. From your spell list, only two spells have a duration of concentration, and one of them, gate, you get at the very end of your build. I’m not quite sure how the SI enhances your character outside of it advancing full caster level.

Derinar Penathan 13

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Originality: 4
Our second dream dwarf attempts to win a castle in a convoluted decades long game show. I agree with the Chair’s assessment in that he was robbed. Who did the casting for that show anyway? The deck seems to be definitely stacked in the lich’s favor. The game show saga was cute but unfortunately I know little about Derinar himself. I would have liked more in that regard—I’m greedy that way. He is also the only Binder and Anima Mage involved in this round.
Power: 2.75
Binder is known for versatility and Anima Mage is one of the better theurge-like classes out there. A lot of what makes Anima Mage so interesting is the increase of the Binder class features. However by taking that prestige class after the SI, you make your mid levels part of your build a little stagnant. Personally I would have had the Anima Mage earlier to gain all of the advantages of gaining a second vestige earlier, but that is just my style. You earn 6th level Bard casting by Level 20 but like Azalin above, you do not have a list of spells known so it is harder to gauge what you have available. You have an unusual feat in Create Rune Circle. I can guess what you plan on using it for but not hearing it from you in your write up, it appears to be a wasted feat.
Elegance: 4.25
You qualify for all of your prestige classes and feats outside of the SI. You do not have a reliance on RAW rulings or cross settings materials. As mentioned though a list of spells known would have been nice to see. Here I see dream dwarf chosen only because it is a dwarf subrace without a Charisma penalty.
Use of Secret Ingredient: 2
You qualify for the SI and take it to completion. However there is not much in the way of a class feature showcase. In fact the only reference to the SI itself is its trance feature. I like the use of Naberius along with the persisted spell for negating long term effects for abilty damage that you may be taking during a trance. However be aware that soul binding as well as persisted spells are only good for one day so this tactic is not as effective for trances that would last longer than that. In the story, he would have lost sooner because (unfortunately) 1s are a thing. Considering the story and what little you have listed for the class features, it would appear that the entire build is based on winning that castle in some kind of endurance test. Dwarven Chanter does not necessarily need to be in your build to win such a contest.

Sergeant Hammer 13.5

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Originality: 3.75
A fireblood dwarf who marches on through all of the pain of being a war orphan. Sadly there is not much more to this description than what I just wrote. I am greedy and would like to know more. I was intrigued to see Duskblade and was curious on how it was going to fit in with your build. War Chanter was used by another entrant this round but I enjoyed your use of it and I felt it went along with your concept better.
Power: 3.25
You fancy yourself as a gish wading into combat with the SI advancing Duskblade casting. I’m going to guess that the Practiced Spellcaster feat also applies to Duskblade casting. Sadly your channeling is going to be limited since it only affects your first attack. War Chanter is thematic but since it does not increase caster level, it is limiting you spellcasting and Duskblades need to be able to cast as many spells as possible to make up for what can be considered a lackluster spell list.
Elegance: 2.5
As our other War Chanter entrant above, you do not qualify for Combat Expertise as your Intelligence score is 10 when it needs to be 13. This means that you too do not qualify for War Chanter. You do not rely on cross setting materials though. As you mentioned the first few levels can be considered dippy.
Use of Secret Ingredient: 4
You qualify for the SI and take it to completion. You give all of the class features a mention, which is more than some of the other contestants this round, though it is not exactly wordy. I do like however the functional use of making the good sergeant a sapper during a military style campaign as well as a banner holder rallying the troops.

Bror Broadbeard 9.75

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Originality: 4.25
Our third dream dwarf but this one takes a completely different path to the SI. Marshal and Court Herald? I can’t really say I saw these coming. Warrior Skald rounds out the unusual path by being the provider of bardic music to enter the SI. I mostly like the flavor of this build and if there was more to the story I could really get behind it. I am a greedy bastard when it comes to backstory.
Power: 3
Marshal is solid for what it does and the addition of a (small) spell list helps in the versatility factor. You are not going to solo encounters yourself but you can certainly help the rest of the party achieve their goals. You can also act as the party face with the high Charisma and the social skills listed. Personally I’m not sold on the Obtain Familiar being so great when you get it—a little late for my particular taste.
Elegance: 2.5
First, be aware that some DMs could put the kibosh on this from the start. I see what you are doing here and I used a similar tactic back in the Zerth Cenobite round and got hammered for it. How many Bard levels do you have? Since you have zero Bard levels, the Warrior Skald and Dwarven Chanter bardic music uses would not able to combine like you are using them. It would be that you get one use for Warrior Skald and 10 uses for dwarven chants which are technically two different things. I’m not penalizing you for this tactic, just letting you know that some would dislike your reasoning. I also understand your stance on the Perform skill and how it functions and by RAW it works. However, I see this as being disingenuous to the Warrior Skald flavor. This is a class that uses its bardic music via poetry and not singing and though mechanically the two skills are the same it seems to go against the RAI. It also has the comma in the prerequisites that implies that it needs poetry plus any other Perform skill use, much like the SI itself (see below). And yes indeed bardic music was different in 3.0 as opposed to 3.5 which means that this most likely falls into the “ask your DM how to handle this” territory as you do not actually have any Bard levels to extrapolate the music abilities.
Use of Secret Ingredient: 0
You do not have any ranks in Perform (percussion). According to this post from the Chair, you needed both Perform (chant/sing) and Perform (percussion) to qualify for the SI. An argument can be made that you also do not qualify for the SI because you have no uses of bardic music since you don’t technically qualify for the Warrior Skald prestige class either (see the reasons above). This really is a shame since you have some good uses for some of the SI class abilities. It isn’t exactly a showcase per se but at least there was more than just a passing mention of abilities that you get.

[Amphetryon]

Thanks for judging, dysprosium.

[WhamBamSam]

I've written up judgings for 5/7 entries so far, so I'll hopefully be able to finish before the deadline as well.

[KrimsonNekros]

Thanks for the judging Dys, looking forward to hearing what you have to say as well Sam

[samduke]

Thanks for the judging Dys, looking forward to hearing what you have to say as well Sam

I presume you are referring to me. the judging seems fair overall okay.

[Sian]

nah, obviously it was referring to WhamBamSam

[arkangel111]

Pretty good judging. Overall I think it looks like a fair assessment of the contestants. Personally disagree with the 5 in UOSI for hot skald but only Because he failed to take to completion, I think it sets a dangerous precedent for future competitions. Don't get me wrong high marks are warranted, but a perfect score should have all levels included in my opinion. So many of the SI'S have dead levels or crappy capstones that is easy to decide not to take to completion, the hard part is making those dead levels shine.

Just my 2cp though.

Thanks for the judging though.

[Heliomance]

So we have one response to the judging, but as it isn't looking for a score change (and comes from the highest scoring entry anyway) I won't wait for the reveal.

Hot Kald Skald 17.25
Elegance: 3
By RAW it looks like your alignment should be Chaotic Evil, as it is supposed to be the same as your draconic lineage, so some DMs are going to look squinty at you when you tell them you are Chaotic Neutral.

Believe it or not, the build writeup presented is my pared-down version so it would fit in only 2 PMs to the Chairman. I had noted the alignment issue, but had Hot Kald Skald reverting to his original alignment over time (well within 17 levels) after he returned to his home and family and experienced some friction there. Not only does this change put him within 1 alignment step of Kol Korran, having a Neutral component is more consistent with the general alignment trends of desert races:

Alignment
The predominant alignment among desert races is neutral. It takes equal parts of law and chaos to survive under the harsh desert sun. Evil folk soon find themselves without friends, and to be isolated in an environment that cannot long support individuals means certain death. In contrast, those who place the principles of goodness over the needs of survival often find themselves in dire straits. Life in the desert often requires one to meet one's own needs before tending to another's.

My thought was that, since alignment on the Good-Evil axis was not an issue in any character requirements, and the change has no mechanical effect, this reversion could be excised from Hot Kald's story. Apparently that was an incorrect assumption.

I'm not seeking any change in my score.

Reveal to follow.