D&D Base Class Contest X Voting Thread

[MoleMage]

This is the voting thread for the tenth base class contest Blast from the Past.

The rules are simple. Vote for your top three picks, in order. You can't vote for yourself. A number 1 vote is worth 3 points, a number 2 vote is worth 2, and a number 3 vote is worth one.

You can also suggest or vote on what you would like the next contest's theme to be. Currently in the suggestion box are Based In Science, Heroes from Myths, Partial Casters, Dragons, and Signatures (as in Signature Weapon or Signature Skill) but don't feel as though you need to limit your suggestions to those themes; a larger pool means more options to vote on next time.

Entry	Creator	1st	2nd	3rd
Totemist	MoleMage	2	0	3
Soulknife	sengmeng	0	2	3
Kindred	Lanth Sor	0	1	1
Cavalier	Breccia	2	0	0
Mystic	Leathalsandwich	0	0	1
Duskblade	heavyfuel	2	0	2
Warlord	AdAstra	0	2	0
Warlord	BlueHairedKat	1	1	0
Martial Adept	PairO'Dice Lost	2	2	0

The voting period will be three weeks, ending at the end of the day on May 10. The following day I will tally these results and declare a winner. For the curious, the tiebreakers I will be using are:

1st tiebreaker is whether both participants voted. If one did not, they lose the tie.
2nd tiebreaker is total number of 1st place votes. The entry which got more 1st place votes will win the tie.
There is no 3rd tiebreaker. If both entrants voted and both entries reached their total score with the same number of 1st place votes, the tie will stand.

[Breccia]

There were some good and imaginative entries, with some re-imaginings that seemed to fit 5E pretty well.

1st: The Duskblade by heavyfuel
2nd: The Warlord by AdAstra
3rd: The Soulknife by sengmeng

Third place was a tough call. There were some fun looking entries, like the Totemist and Kindred. But in the end, with the "throwback" nature of the contest, I ended up biased towards the ones I've actually played in the past. Please don't misinterpret my lack of votes as a sign of dissent -- there are some clever and interesting mechanics that have been carefully designed, and I like the results, I really do.

[BlueHairedKat]

I'm still writing up some longer-form feedback, but here's my votes:

1. The Totemist. It's pretty involved, but a lot of fun and seems to work well enough to be publishable.
2. The Soulknife. It's kind of uneven in some ways, but overall gives something that looks fun and interesting.
3. The Duskblade. I question your maths, but the rest of the class looks solid, and I'm a sucker for a gish.

As for a theme for next time, Heroes of Myth sounds pretty cool, or I reckon you could do something interesting with Signatures - a bonded heirloom, a specialist in a single weapon, or a spellcaster with a couple of spells they can do crazy things with.

[Leathalsandwich]

1 Martial Adept
2 Soul knife
3 Kindred


Theme: Dragons, Partial Casters, or From Film
I like the idea of signatures

[MoleMage]

1. Cavalier I just think it's a really cleanly put together class.
2. The Martial Adept As ever, I'm a sucker for new mechanical systems. This one looks pretty solidly functional and I think it would expand well into subclasses and maybe a half-initiator class.
3. The Duskblade It was a close call between this and the two Warblades for me. Ultimately, I see myself more likely to play this class (I like hybrids), and that tipped the scales.

Overall it's a really solid batch of entries this time around. Just a few days left to vote, and we're missing several people still. Remember that voting is the first tiebreaker!

As for theme, I'm going to actually make a third vote for Signatures. I don't have any ideas yet, but I like the theme and I imagine I can come up with something.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

1. Warlord by BlueHairedKat: I've been looking forward to seeing a good 5e Warlord ever since we got an awesome Warblade/Warlord combo in the 5e playtest and then the Battle Master ended up being...not that. This Warlord is a masterful blend of 4e Warlord (with its Inspiring Word, several gambits named for 4e powers, and a LazyLord-like focus on reactive abilities) and Warblade (with a selection of "Fighter lite" abilities, several gambits named for 3e maneuvers including a bit of Desert Wind flavor, and Int-primary secondary skillmonkey capabilities), and I like it quite a bit.
2. Warlord by AdAstra: It was a very tough choice between the two Warlords, but while this Warlord was very well put together, it reminds me more of the 5e Fighter crossed with the PF Path of War Warlord--which isn't at all a bad thing in general, just not my favorite of the two takes.
3. Totemist by MoleMage: Most 5e takes on Incarnum I've seen are either straight-up ports whose melds and chakra binds and such don't play well with various 5e mechanics, or attempts to adapt the general flavor while leaving most of the mechanics behind. I like the fact that this takes a middle road, largely adapting the mechanics and many existing soulmelds but not feeling bound by the specific flavor or list of 'melds. (And the reference to the Flail Snail is a great touch. )

For the next contest, I'd prefer either Heroes of Myth or Dragons.

[RecordedChaos]

1: Duskblade by heavyfuel (loved that class to peices, so sad it got so little love from WotC)
2: Totemist by MoleMage
3: Mystic by Leathalsandwich

[Lanth Sor]

1: Totemist
2: Martial Adept
3: Soul Knife

[MoleMage]

Today is the last day to vote! If you haven't yet you should.

[heavyfuel]

1st - Cavalier
2nd - Warlord (Bluehairedkat)
3rd - Soulknife

Nearly forgot to vote

[AdAstra]

1- Martial Adept
2- Kindred
3- Totemist

[MoleMage]

Alright votes are in an points are tallied, let's call this contest!

In 3rd place, with 8 points earned, we have that gishiest of gish, heavyfuel's Duskblade. Cast your spells through your weapon! Break through magic resistance (with your weapon)!

In 2nd place, with 9 points earned, we have a throwback to Magic of Incarnum, MoleMage's Totemist. Take on aspects of nature, from animals to elementals to plants to even a fungus!

And in 1st place, with 10 points earned, we have the recreation of Tome of Battle rolled into one last-minute-but-still-complete entry, it's PairO'DiceLost's Martial Adept! What schools of combat will you focus on?


All in all this contest was very close, with only a point in difference almost all the way down. We had a lot of fun and interesting classes, whether recreating a classic as faithfully as possible or reimagining a concept that once had clumsy mechanics.


As far as theme goes, the write-in entry of Signatures--characters with a personal iconic trait like a preferred spell, a magic heirloom, or an utter devotion to one type of weapon--pulled in three votes, edging out Heroes of Myth and Dragons both at 2. I'll put the new contest chat and entry threads shortly.


EDIT:
New Chat: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...0#post24502350

New Entries: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...5#post24502355