Iron Chef Optimization Challenge: E6 Appetizer Edition (Round XXIII)

[DeTess]

Of course, one can enhance their basic, working, effective build with magic items, yes?

Of course. In my experience, most players don't include magic items in their build though, so including it in yours if it isn't a fundamental part of your character probably won't actually change the scoring you get.

That's my experience at any rate. I'm not Zaq, and I probably won't be judging this round either, so please don't take anything I say as objective fact!

[Zaq]

Regarding WBL, DeTess has the right answer! You are allowed to mention magical gear if you so choose, but historically, those that choose not to (or that talk about it in a sidebar rather than as a core part of the build's abilities) do better than those that go all-in on the gear. This is not universal! It's just a matter of judicial preference. Sometimes you have something really hilarious that just plain needs gear, and if you can convince a judge that your gear is sufficiently clever that it's worth it, then great, go for it! But most of the time if you need magic items to do your job, you might not do so hot.

---

Anyway, folks, kind of a serious topic I need to bring up: it has been brought to my attention that there are people who are posting elsewhere soliciting build help for this contest. I do not know who this is, and I do not know where it is, but I received a tip that it is happening.

Please don't do that.

I can't directly stop you from doing this. I won't disqualify you. I won't tell judges to directly penalize you (after all, there is no way in hell I'm opening that hornet's nest of proving that it was done). But I can ask you nicely, and that's what I'm doing. Please don't ask other people to build something for you and then pass it off as your own (even with a tweak or two). That just isn't fun and it isn't fair, and this is all just a game online.

I'm not saying that you have to excise any and all content related to the contest from your online habits! Ask about individual build elements (e.g., "anyone know an easy way to get XYZ as a bonus feat?" "Anyone know how to qualify as XYZ race while still being something else?" etc.), ask about general tactics, whatever. But please don't solicit someone else to make the whole build for you if you're planning on entering that build.

Please. Just keep making me proud, folks. You're all the best.

[Vrock Bait]

Regarding WBL, DeTess has the right answer! You are allowed to mention magical gear if you so choose, but historically, those that choose not to (or that talk about it in a sidebar rather than as a core part of the build's abilities) do better than those that go all-in on the gear. This is not universal! It's just a matter of judicial preference. Sometimes you have something really hilarious that just plain needs gear, and if you can convince a judge that your gear is sufficiently clever that it's worth it, then great, go for it! But most of the time if you need magic items to do your job, you might not do so hot.

---

Anyway, folks, kind of a serious topic I need to bring up: it has been brought to my attention that there are people who are posting elsewhere soliciting build help for this contest. I do not know who this is, and I do not know where it is, but I received a tip that it is happening.

Please don't do that.

I can't directly stop you from doing this. I won't disqualify you. I won't tell judges to directly penalize you (after all, there is no way in hell I'm opening that hornet's nest of proving that it was done). But I can ask you nicely, and that's what I'm doing. Please don't ask other people to build something for you and then pass it off as your own (even with a tweak or two). That just isn't fun and it isn't fair, and this is all just a game online.

I'm not saying that you have to excise any and all content related to the contest from your online habits! Ask about individual build elements (e.g., "anyone know an easy way to get XYZ as a bonus feat?" "Anyone know how to qualify as XYZ race while still being something else?" etc.), ask about general tactics, whatever. But please don't solicit someone else to make the whole build for you if you're planning on entering that build.

Please. Just keep making me proud, folks. You're all the best.

....I think I know what you mean, and I apologize, I thought I was just asking for the way to gain a certain immunity and the way to enhance a certain trait, which I thought of optimizing myself. I promise, every other aspect of my build I thought of myself.

Edit: if someone answered one of my questions with a full build, I haven’t seen it, so I can at least promise not to go back to my questions until we finish this contest. I’ve thought of solutions to the problems I posed independently anyway.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

....I think I know what you mean, and I apologize, I thought I was just asking for the way to gain a certain immunity and the way to enhance a certain trait, which I thought of optimizing myself. I promise, every other aspect of my build I thought of myself.

Edit: if someone answered one of my questions with a full build, I haven’t seen it, so I can at least promise not to go back to my questions until we finish this contest. I’ve thought of solutions to the problems I posed independently anyway.

For what it's worth, I've done much the same for several competitions, asking for help with specific parts of whatever build I'm working on. (For example, in a Villainous Competition I wanted overlap between the reach of Eldritch Glaive and my unarmed strikes, and it was crowd-sourcing that turned up Shorten Grip.) So it might have been me that was the problem. I think it's all fallen within Zaq's guidelines for acceptable, but if not I'll definitely stop. (And I haven't asked such a question for this round, anyway.)

[Vrock Bait]

For what it's worth, I've done much the same for several competitions, asking for help with specific parts of whatever build I'm working on. (For example, in a Villainous Competition I wanted overlap between the reach of Eldritch Glaive and my unarmed strikes, and it was crowd-sourcing that turned up Shorten Grip.) So it might have been me that was the problem. I think it's all fallen within Zaq's guidelines for acceptable, but if not I'll definitely stop. (And I haven't asked such a question for this round, anyway.)

Here I assume? I guess RPG.SE is pretty popular for these things...

[Unavenger]

See, I have a build idea but it's really dumb, [REDACTED] would do it better so it's not like I'm going "Ooh, look at all the cool stuff that the fighter can do!", I run out of feats I want to actually take before I even take my extra feats, and it's so clearly not RAI that I can't really claim that a DM would okay it.

...I might still submit it, though, for amusement value.

[Blackhawk748]

Well I'm doing a thing... It's just not working as cleanly as I hoped.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Here I assume? I guess RPG.SE is pretty popular for these things...

That's the one. RPG.SE is my go to for advice on a specific point, partially because I don't want to 'poison the well' with speculation on GitPG, partially because I like seeing my points go up on that site.

[Zaq]

To be clear, I was responding to a tip wherein the site and the person posting on the site were both unknown to me. I stand by what I said: it IS true that you shouldn't just ask someone to build for you, but it IS true that it's 100% cool to talk about and ask for help with things that will end up in your build! Hell, I do that second part all the time! Talk about feats and clever combos and unusual entry tricks and whether your super-clever RAW-parsing is actually RAW! That's fine! Just don't ask someone to do all your work for you.

However, please know that I was responding to the tip and to the tip's description of what's going on, not to anything I've actually seen. I was not and AM not calling out anything that I have personally observed, and I am not making any personal judgments about individual cases. The tipster has since reached out and expressed remorse for potentially overselling the severity of what's going on. This is understandable!

I'm not mad at anyone and I don't want a single one of you to feel chastised or guilty. Not the tipster, not the person or people the tipster was referring to (as long as no one is actually just submitting a build someone else did the bulk of the work on).

Remember, this is all for fun. And that's true no matter what angle you're coming from. Don't feel ashamed if you couldn't/didn't/don't want to put together your build in a sealed cone of silence and you need to get a little outside input on the details! Don't feel ashamed if you worry about the integrity of the contest! We're all in this together and I truly love the community we have become and are always becoming (it's never, ever a finished process).

I mean it. You're all the best. Please don't feel bad! Keep building and having fun!

[Lapak]

I'm not going to submit a build for this one, but if folks don't mind the fact that I'm a little rusty I'd be willing to give judging a whirl.

[Zaq]

I'm not going to submit a build for this one, but if folks don't mind the fact that I'm a little rusty I'd be willing to give judging a whirl.

Do it! No other way to shake off that rust!

[Zaq]

How's everyone doing?

[PoeticallyPsyco]

How's everyone doing?

Mine's pretty much all worked out; I'm still waffling on a couple of build points, and I need to type it all up, but I should have plenty of time for that once I'm done with the oodles of assignments and long-term stuff I have due on the 6th.

[MinimanMidget]

How's everyone doing?

I'd be done by now, except I stumbled across A Thing, and I'm having trouble deciding whether to include it in the build I have, or make a second build showcasing it specifically.

[Blackhawk748]

How's everyone doing?

Still trying to work out some bits. Nothing unusual there.

[Vrock Bait]

How's everyone doing?

An unexpected rules snafu turned up, but I’ve been unable to sort it out. Oh well, there’s still a week.

[DeTess]

The table for mine is all done, barring skills. I need to turn it over a few more times in my head to check if I'm happy enough with it to submit it though.

[daremetoidareyo]

Just a few days left. Can't wait to see what's been created

[Zaq]

Keep 'em coming!

[MinimanMidget]

Keep 'em coming!

Hey, can I ask what the numbers are like? I'm still tossing up doing a second build, and low or high numbers would definitely help me decide.

[Vrock Bait]

I think I’m going to drop out of the running for this. One, my build isn’t complete, and I don’t have enough time left over to finish it, two, I’m still a bit uncomfortable with the outside forum thing. If anyone wants to pick up my build stub, PM me.

[Zaq]

Hey, can I ask what the numbers are like? I'm still tossing up doing a second build, and low or high numbers would definitely help me decide.

We're sitting at around 6-7 so far, I think?

I think I’m going to drop out of the running for this. One, my build isn’t complete, and I don’t have enough time left over to finish it, two, I’m still a bit uncomfortable with the outside forum thing. If anyone wants to pick up my build stub, PM me.

Hey man, don't worry about the outside forum thing. Again, I was responding to a description of what was happening, not what you were doing. We're cool.

Totally understand if you don't have the build done, of course! That's a separate matter. But we're cool.

[Zaq]

I've got ten builds ready, so I'm not going to be offering any extensions. You've got about two hours if you're still cooking!

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Not getting mine done, no way no how. I'll post what I have/had when done with finals.

[Zaq]

Pencils down! Here come the builds!

[Zaq]

You know what? I respect a dude who knows what he wants out of life.

Arog
Arctic Orc CE Fighter 6

Spoiler: Introduction

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There are many tribes of orcs scattered through the icy mountains of the Spine of the World. One such tribe is led by Arog, ever since he murdered the previous chieftain and threatened to kill any orc who didn't fall into line.

Spoiler: Ability Scores

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Ability	Score	Modifiers	Final Score
Strength	18	+4 (orc)	22 (+6)
Dexterity	16	+1 (Level 4)	17 (+3)
Constitution	14	-	14 (+2)
Intelligence	8	-2 (orc)	6 (-2)
Wisdom	8	-2 (orc)	6 (-2)
Charisma	8	-2 (orc)	6 (-2)

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Fighter 1	+1	+2	+0	+0	Intimidate +4	Weapon Focus (morningstar), Two-Weapon Fighting	Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting
2nd	Fighter 2	+2	+3	+0	+0	Intimidate +5	-	Power Attack
3rd	Fighter 3	+3	+3	+1	+1	Intimidate +6	Cleave	-
4th	Fighter 4	+4	+4	+1	+1	Intimidate +7	-	Weapon Specialization (morningstar)
5th	Fighter 5	+5	+4	+1	+1	Intimidate +8	-	-
6th	Fighter 6	+6	+5	+2	+2	Intimidate +9	Skewer Foe	Improved Two-Weapon Fighting

E6 Feats:

1. Pulverise Foe
2. Improved Bullrush
3. Three Mountains
4. Endurance
5. Steadfast Determination
6. Menacing Demeanor
7. Skill Focus (Intimidate)
8. Iron Will
9. Lightning Reflexes
10. Great Fortitude

Spoiler: Level by Level Breakdown

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Spoiler: Level 1

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Arog fights with two morningstars, and to do that, he needs to cancel out those attack penalties. As a side note, arctic orcs are my favourite kind of orc, because they don't suffer sunlight sensitivity. And yes, sunglasses are a thing they published in a few places, but on top of item dependence, an orc in sunglasses is a little ridiculous for many campaigns.

Spoiler: Level 2

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When it's 1:1, Power Attack isn't a great trade, but it will sometimes be useful, and we need it for better things down the line.

Spoiler: Level 3

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Cleave is really just a pre-req feat, but a free attack is nice when it comes up.

Spoiler: Level 4

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Weapon Specialization gets a bad rap, but the more attacks you make, the better it is.

Spoiler: Level 6

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Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, because the more attacks the better, and Pulverise Foe, for +1d6 on each hit after the first, to make the most of those attacks.

Spoiler: Skewer Foe

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The morningstar is both a bludgeoning and piercing weapon, which qualifies it for both Pulverise Foe and Skewer Foe. This means +2d6 damage on each hit after the first.

Spoiler: Improved Bullrush

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Another pre-req feat.

Spoiler: Three Mountains

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It took a few bad pre-reqs to get here, but the payoff is well worth it. Any enemy Arog hits twice in a round has to make a pretty difficult DC 19 Fort save or suffer the extremely nasty nauseated condition, basically making them useless for a round.

Spoiler: Endurance

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One last pre-req feat.

Spoiler: Steadfast Determination

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A nice big boost to Arog's (absurdly terrible) Will save.

Spoiler: Menacing Demeanor, Skill Focus

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Intimidate isn't the most useful skill, but it's the only one Arog has, so he might as well be good at it.

Spoiler: Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Great Fortitude

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They're never the most exciting feats, but saving throws are pretty important.

Spoiler: Stats

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HP: 5d10+22 (49.5 hp)
AC: 10 + 5 (breastplate) + 3 (Dex) = 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15
Full attack: 6 (BAB) + 6 (Str) + 1 (Weapon Focus) - 2 (Two-Weapon Fighting) = +11/+11/+6/+6. The first attack that hits in a round does 1d8 (morningstar) + 6 (Str) + 2 (Weapon Specialization) = 1d8 + 8, subsequent attacks deal 1d8 + 2d6 (Pulverise Foe + Skewer Foe) +8.
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +6

Spoiler: Sources

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• Education: Player's Guide to Faerun
• Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting: Complete Adventurer
• Pulverise Foe, Skewer Foe: Champions of Ruin
• Three Mountains: Complete Warrior
• Steadfast Determination: PHB II
• Everything else: SRD content

[Zaq]

This, my friends, is what we refer to as a "load-bearing backstory."

The Demon Leg of Martok

”After much consternation, my underlings, we have opened the portal to the prime material! May all of the powers of the abyss assembled here follow me in!” bellowed Martok, ArchFiend of the 327th layer of the Abyss. Today is the culmination of decades of intelligent and ruthless efforts. The plan to invade and subjugate hell through the prime was finally at hand.

Meanwhile, on the prime...

“Pick up the pace, mendicant! I don’t care if your feet are weighed down by your iron vest! This is how you push your body to the limit!” asserted Chief acolyte Sasuke. The straggling orphan monk in training strained against the uphill climb.

…

Martok went through the scintillating portal, his bulging muscles wreathed in flames as he stepped through. His army of demon lieutenants and underlings waiting to follow.

He looked around at the sheer immensity of this world. Boulders lay strewn about, and blades of plant life strained towards the heavens. Just then he saw it. “Is this a storm giant’s god?” Martok thought to himself. As what seemed like a meteor attached to a giant’s ankle descended down upon him, he tried to scramble away. It smashed him into the rocky ground and constricted every ounce of life energy out of him.

“OWWW. #@$%ing fire ants!” The struggling monk in training hobbled the rest of the way up to the temple, oblivious to the destruction of one of the most powerful demons in existence wrought by that fateful step of his right foot.

Everyone was oblivious to the size morphing qualities of the 327th layer of the Abyss, even the most powerful arch-fiends of the plane, all of which were negated the moment that Martok stepped through the portal to the prime material.

...

That night the orphan had a dream, in which a powerful figure from another realm offered him stability, power, and a way to control an infection that was making his right leg inoperative.

It was the least that Asmodeus could do for removing the unexpectedly diminutive tiny shaped archfiend whose legacy of blood had threatened to tip the balance of the Blood War over the last 200 years.

Within a fortnight, Chief acolyte Sasuke expressed to the young orphan that the efforts of the Overwhelming attack decisive strike monks were not a good fit and that he had spoken to a friend in the local mercenary guild to take him in.

And so, the legend of demon leg of martok (DLoM) began.

Lawful Evil Human
STR 16
DEX 16
CON 15 (+1 at level 4 to bring it to 16)
INT 10
WIS 8
CHA 10

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Overwhelming attack decisive strike (PHB 2 p.51) monk 1	+0	+2	+2	+2	Balance 4, climb 2, Hide 4, move silently 4, spot 4, swim 2	Brand of the Nine Hells: (Fiendish Codex II p. 81), Mark of Nessus (Fiendish Codex II p. 84), Power Attack, Improved Unarmed Strike	Unarmed Strike, Decisive Strike, Bonus Feat
2nd	Fighter 1	+1	+4	+2	+2	jump 2, craft (blacksmithing) 1	Weapon Focus (Kick)	Armor & weapon proficiencies, bonus feat
3rd	Fighter 2	+2	+5	+2	+2	jump 4, ride 1	Roundabout Kick (Complete Warrior p. 105), Combat Reflexes	Bonus feat
4th	Applied Force Fighter 3	+3	+5	+3	+3	jump 6, craft (blacksmithing) 2		+1 to str checks to break inanimate objects
5th	Fighter 4	+4	+6	+3	+3	Jump 8, ride 2	Circle kick (Sword and Fist p. 5)	New Class Abilities
6th	Applied Force Fighter 5	+5	+6	+3	+3	jump 9, extreme leap skill trick (complete scoundrel p. 86)	Weapon Specialization (kick)	+1 to str checks to break inanimate objects

epic feats
Craft wondrous item
Craft magic arms and armor & bonus Least Legacy (weapons of legacy p.14)
Quicken Legacy (Weapons of Legacy p.15)
Cleave
martial study (sudden leap) (ToB p.31)
martial stance (blood in the water) (ToB p.31)
Superior unarmed strike (ToB p.33)
Improved natural attack (Monster Manual 5 p.204)
Vile natural attack (Elder Evils p.14)
great cleave

1st level: Overwhelming attack decisive strike monk
Feats: Brand of the Nine Hells, Mark of Nessus, Improved unarmed strike, Power Attack

Brand of the nine hells offers a sweet command spell like ability 3 times a day with caster level equal to HD. Mark of Nessus will allows movement of some attacks away from Martok’s squishy self. Martok should use armor and load up on some hand axes as a ranged weapon.


2nd Level: Fighter
Feat: Weapon focus (kick)

After some short tutelage under the Mercenaries outfit, DLOM continued toughening his body, and his entire right leg, particularly his right foot, which was always in searing pain with no identifiable cause. The dreams of his benefactor continued to follow him, and during those dreams were the only time where some part of his mind was not grappling with the constant flow of pain. That, and when he used that foot to destroy things.

I know that you can choose weapon focus unarmed strike, but we are just choosing it for DLOM’s right kicking leg. Put some heavy armor on this guy! A breastplate is a good place to start (+5 AC, allows for full +3 dex bonus) Swap out the tower shield proficiency for exotic shield proficiency (variant rule found in Races of Stone p.139) and get yourself an extreme shield (races of stone p.157) to bring your AC up to 21. Get a composite bow for ranged plinking.

3rd level: Fighter
Feats: roundabout kick, combat reflexes

Now we’re cooking with fire. Green hellfire. If people provoke AoOs you have up to 3 extra attacks, which is nice if you activated a decisive strike this round, making them all double damage. Roundabout kick gives you an extra attack when you make a critical hit. We’ll be playing with this later.

4th level: Fighter

Add +1 to your constitution.

5th level: Fighter
Feat: Circle Kick

Now, if you hit with a decisive strike kick, you can kick someone else.

6th level Fighter
Feats: Weapon specialization (kick)
With decisive strike, this is +4 damage. The extreme leap skill trick grants 10 more feet of movement when you jump horizontally. Might be useful.

The dreams and pain are getting worse. DLOM entreats his benefactor in prayer, and is left with this message: “I cannot end your pain, but i can allow you to redirect it to others. Your leg is Martok and the longer you keep him trapped, the safer the world is. This is your burden. Make this sacrifice to crack open and deplete martok’s power! You must make this necklace and perform this ritual to reach your goal.

Epic feats 1-3:
Craft wondrous item, craft magic arms and armor, least legacy (bonus!), Quicken legacy

This build was originally made for kensai entry, but i figured out how to cram it down to E6. Your command ability from your 1st level mark of the nine hells feat gives DLOM a caster level to fulfill the prereqs. After gaining both crafting feats, DLOM can make a necklace of natural weapons (Savage Species p.58). This is the magic item that allows you to put enhancement bonuses on your natural attacks, as well as weapon magical enhancements. Make one.

Spoiler: necklace of natural attacks

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Necklace of Natural Weapons: The enhancement bonuses on this necklace are applied to attack and damage rolls involving one or more of the wearer's natural weapons. In addition, any weapon special quality may be applied to this necklace, and the quality then applies to those natural weapons as well. For instance, a +1 throwing returning necklace of natural weapons would apply its enhancement bonus and the throwing and returning special abilities to one or more of the wearer's natural weapons.

Caster Level: 3rd; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Magic Arms and Armor; Market Price: 600 gp, plus the cost of the enhancement bonuses, multiplied by the number of
natural weapons affected.

Least legacy (Weapons of legacy p.14) allows you to found a legacy item after doing some sort of ritual. Asmodeus will tell you what to do. DLOMs foot contains a demon prince after all. Since, you’re level 6, you have the choice of 2 level A abilities, or a single level B ability. Get the level B ability and apply it to your necklace of natural attacks:

Spoiler: Weapon Enhancement (Su)

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: The effective enhancement bonus of a weapon increases by 1,to a maximum of +2. You can instead choose any special ability whose market price is equivalent to a +1 bonus, such as flaming. This ability can be placed only on a weapon.

And the weapon special quality that we are adding to our leg is:

Masterslaying.

Spoiler: MASTERSLAYING

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- BOOK OF VILE DARKNESS p.112 Masterslaying: This melee weapon comes with a scabbard, belt hook, or other holder that is keyed to it in a special
way. At the command of the character wearing the scabbard, the weapon attacks its current wielder with the scabbard wearer’s attack bonus, and the wielder is considered flatfooted
(no sneak attack is possible, even if the scabbard wearer is a rogue). If it hits, the masterslaying weapon deals critical hit damage. This weapon is useful against rogues, foes that enjoy disarming and grabbing weapons, and in conjunction with the fleshgrinding ability.

Caster Level: 11th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, animate objects;
Market Price: +1 bonus.

We were building to this point this whole time!

But first, some rules text!

VOLUNTARILY FAILING A creature can voluntarily forego a saving throw and willingly accept a consequence.

Whenever a creature would attack you, target you with a spell, or use spell-like or supernatural ability against you, it must first succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Cha modifier). If it fails, it must select another target or take some other action. Once an opponent succeeds on the saving throw, it cannot be affected again by your Mark of Nessus for 24 hours.

See what Im getting at here? WE HAVE UNLOCKED THE POWER OF THE DEMON LEG OF MARTOK!

Which is the command word to unleash a critical hit not on yourself, because you failed your save from the mark of nessus, you instead hit someone else. And if you’re using decisive strike (from a haste spell or something) that means that you do triple damage? Quadruple damage? I’m not sure, but it’s a lot. (decisive strike doubles the damage of all of your attacks in the round, critical hits double your damage with a hit, so do we use wonky D&D critical hit math?) Especially with weapon specialization in there, You’re set up to do a lot of damage.

But wait, didn’t we take roundabout kick? That means we get to kick them again! And with Circle kick, we get to kick someone else too, and if we have a crit? Well then we get more roundabout kicks. With quicken legacy, you can make the demon leg of martok activate 3 times a day with your decisive strike. You could even use a standard action to command your leg to attack, trigger roundabout kick, and then use a swift action master slaying for your circle kick to trigger another roundabout kick.

Some quick math
Attack 5+3 (str) -2 decisive +1 focus +1 necklace = +8
Damage: 1d6+3 (Str) +2(specialization) +1 necklace x2 decisive x2 critical= minimum of 21 to 28 depending on if you triple or quadruple, and that’s before adding in power attack or roundabout & circle kicks.

Before we move on, if DLoM is friends with casters, he can craft wondrous items and arms and armor in his off time. This is useful. Especially if he needs ranged weapons. If retraining epic feats is an option at your table, feel free to swap these out and move up your epic feat progression. Stories this is justifiable with the knowledge being imparted by Asmodeus' direction. My suggestion is to do range extending feats or partying shield as you're flatfooted when you're using the masterslaying attack.

Epic feats 4-7: Cleave, martial study (sudden leap), martial stance (blood in the water), superior unarmed strike.
Swift action jumps are way cool, and might put you into position to use combat reflexes. Cleave keeps the demon leg flying at enemies if you wollop one to death and can reach another. Blood in the water gives you cumulative stacking +1 attack and damage bonuses per critical hit. These bonuses dissipate after 1 minute of not getting a critical hit, but, if you wanted to cheese it up, bring some animals around with you and use non-lethal crits on them in between what you think will be closely spaced battles, or hang out with trolls. Whatever it is, DLoM is in pain in his right leg during anytime he isn't using it destroy things due to the demonprince particles inextricably up in there.

Superior unarmed strike lifts your leg damage up to 1d8.

Epic feats 8-10improved natural attack, vile natural attack, great cleave
Deal 2d6 damage per kick! Throw some unhealable vile damage on top! Im not sure if the vile damage is added at the end of damage multipliers or multiplied with them, if it's the former, consider a different feat as having feats that add piddly damage isn't optimal. There's a feat that allows coup de grace as a standard action, Death blow, if you make an item that grants improved initiative like the
Silverhelm of the Guardian.

And also now you can cleave all day. But if you don't have reach extension abilities, you may want to swap this feat with


Some quick math
Attack 5+3 (str) -2 decisive +1 focus +1 necklace = +8
Damage: 2d6+3 (Str) +2(specialization) +1 necklace +1 vile x2 decisive x2 critical= minimum of 27 to 36 depending on if you triple or quadruple, and that’s before adding in power attack or roundabout & circle kicks.

[Zaq]

Sorry, road's closed, we're investigating a hit-and-run incident…

Halvena Ironhide, Wheels of Steel

Spoiler: Picture

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Pic by Andrew Howat

Spoiler: Background

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Halvena felt the wind blow through her hair as her chariot bore down on the goblin menace that had decided to attack the village. The pounding of her horses hooves on hard ground, the clatter of the iron shod wheels, and the war screams of the goblins sounded like a beautiful symphony to her.

Especially when the war cries turned to screams of terror as she rode the creatures down, crushing them beneath her unforgiving wheels.

Spoiler: Stats

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LG, Silverbrow Human
Str: 16 (+1 at level 4)
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 10
Cha: 14

Spoiler: Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Ranger	+1	+2	+2	+0	Craft (Taxodermy) 2,Craft (Wagonmaking) 2, Handle Animal 4, Knowledge (Geography) 4, Listen 4, Spot 4, Survival 4	Chariot Combat, Wild Cohort	Track, Spiritual Connection, Arcane Hunter
2nd	Fighter	+2	+4	+2	+0	Craft (Taxidermy) 3,Craft (Wagonmaking) 2, Handle Animal 5, Intimidate 1, Knowledge (Geography), Listen 4, Spot 4, Survival 4	Chariot Trample	Dragonscale Husk (lose all Armor Proficiencies)
3rd	Fighter	+3	+5	+2	+0	Craft (Taxidermy) 4,Craft (Wagonmaking) 2, Handle Animal 6, Intimidate 2, Knowledge (Geography), , Listen 4, Spot 4, Survival 4	Skill Focus (Handle Animal)	Resolute
4th	Fighter	+4	+5	+3	+1	Craft (Taxidermy) 5,Craft (Wagonmaking) 2, Handle Animal 7, Intimidate 3, Knowledge (Geography) 4, Listen 4, Spot 4, Survival 4
5th	Fighter	+5	+6	+3	+1	Craft (Taxidermy) 6, Craft (Wagonmaking) 2, Handle Animal 8, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Geography) 4, Listen 4, Spot 4, Survival 4		Align Weapon
6th	Beastmaster	+6	+8	+5	+1	Craft (Taxidermy) 6,Craft (Wagonmaking) 2, Handle Animal 9, Intimidate 5, Knowledge (Geography) 4, Listen 5, Spot 6, Survival 5	Weapon Focus (Lance)	Animal Companion, Wild Empathy

Final Post 6 Skill Ranks: Craft (Taxidermy) 6, Craft (Wagonmaking) 2, Handle Animal 9, Intimidate 9, Knowledge (Geography) 4, Listen 5, Spot 7, Survival 5

Post 6: Natural Bond, Chariot Charge, Chariot Sideswipe, Weapon Supremacy, Open Minded (4 Ranks into Intimidate, 1 into Spot), Trophy Maker, Protection Devotion, Martial Study (Crusader's Strike), Martial Stance (Martial Spirit), Martial Stance (Iron Guards Glare)

Spoiler: Wild Cohort Horse

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HD: 7d8+21 (45)
Init: +2
AC: 18 (-1 Size, +2 Dex, +7 Natural)
BaB/Grapple: +5/+13
Attack: Hoof +9 (1d6+4) (+3d6 on a charge)
Full attack: 2 Hoofs +9 (1d6+4), 1 Bite +4 (1d4+2)
Space/Reach: 10/5
Special Qualities: Low Light Vision, Scent, Evasion
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +3 (+4 vs Mind Affecting Abilities)
Stats: Str 19, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +6, Spot +6
Feats: Scorpion's Resolve, Powerful Charge, Greater Powerful Charge.

Tricks: Attack, Come, Defend, Down, Guard, Heel, Stay, Work

Spoiler: Animal Companion Horse

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HD: 8d8+24 (52)
Init: +2
AC: 19 (-1 Size, +2 Dex, +8 Natural)
BaB/Grapple: +6/+15
Attack: Hoof +11 (1d6+4) (+3d6 on a charge)
Full attack: 2 Hoofs +11 (1d6+4), 1 Bite +6 (1d4+2)
Space/Reach: 10/5
Special Qualities: Low Light Vision, Scent, Evasion, Devotion, Link
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +3 (+4 vs Mind Affecting Abilities)
Stats: Str 20, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 13, Cha 6
Skills: Listen +7, Spot +6
Feats: Scorpion's Resolve, Powerful Charge, Greater Powerful Charge.

Tricks: Attack, Come, Defend, Down, Guard, Heel, Stay, Work

Spoiler: Build Breakdown

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Spoiler: 1-2

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Level 1 is rather boring for Halvena as she is a pretty bog standard mounted character, except she has a higher AC than most, as Chariots give cover, netting her a grand total of 18 with a Heavy Shield, Cover and her Dex alone. SHe could wear armor at this point or just ignore it and wait till level 2 when she gets her Dragonscale Husk ability which jacks her AC up to 24. Level 2 is also when the build takes off and the primary form of combat begins.

Running everyone and everything over.

Halvena, using her Powerful Charge equipped horse, simply rides around the battlefield crushing opponents who can't resist a charging Overrun from a horse at +12. If they fail they will eat a 1d6+4 +2d6 Hoof attack, 2d6 from the wheels, 2d4 + 1 per 10 feet traveled if Scythes are equipped on the wheels, and a Lance hit for 2d8+4.

Needless to say, not much is living through that.

Spoiler: 3-4

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While the primary tactic has come online, levels 3-4 are incredibly boring. Resolute is gained which is a nice, if boring, boost to Will saves and Skill Focus Handle animal is grabbed as a pre req. Not much changes except incremental boosts.

Spoiler: 5-6

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Just as the normal Heavy Warhorse she's been using is getting too long into the tooth, she gets a boosted one to replace it giving her two rather impressive steeds with which to run over a multitude of targets. The strategy hasn't changed, she's just got a second, much improved, mount to do it with.

Align Weapon lets her overcome some DR without having to spend money on upgrading her lance to do that and she can use that money for other things. Weapon Focus is boring and it's just here as a pre Req for Weapon Spec, which will net us more damage down the line.

Spoiler: Post 6

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The Post 6 feats are spent on grabbing the last of the Chariot feats so that we can now use the Scythe Blades for more damage and free attacks, boosting our Lance multiplier to x3 and just boosting our durability and survivability of her and her mounts.

Weapon Supremacy nets us a +6 to damage, Protection Devotion gives a +3 Sacred bonus to her and her horses, the two Stances either heal the horses or herself or gives them an effective +4 AC.

Trophy Maker is, obviously, a rather strange feat to be in here and its mostly there for flavor. Well, that and boosting Intimidate is generally helpful as is boosting Will saves on the cheap. Plus having a chariot festooned with trophies looks cool.

Spoiler: Notes on the Animal Companions

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Animal Companion feats are always limited and choosing a first level one is often annoying, what with the lack of BaB and all. So Scorpions Resolve was chosen to boost the horses Flagging Will save for everything that matters (mind affecting) and Power Charge is chosen as a quick and dirty way to boost damage as this build just charges around the battle field all day anyway.

Horses are chosen because Chariot Trample specifically calls out Hoof attacks, and while all of us would probably agree that that simply means a basic natural attack, RAW is as RAW is. Plus RAW also says Chariots are pulled by horses, so here we are. Thankfully they are perfectly decent mounts, particularly when some barding is tossed on them, making hitting them a fairly intimidating prospect.

Spoiler: General Gear choices

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Lance
Heavy Wooden Shield
Chariot (clearly)
Scythe Blades for chariot
Horse Barding (Breastplate is ideal unless you can afford Mithral FullPlate)
A magic Standard (your team will appreciate you)
Anything that gives fixed bonuses to damage

Spoiler: Weaknesses

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Enclosed spaces.

Like all mounted builds that don't use a small character, she has issues with tight spaces, just even more so. Unlike a normal mounted rider, she can't just turn around, she has to actually have sufficient room to pull a U-turn and maneuver. This, of course, means that she is locked into functioning outdoors and if she isn't on her chariot she isn't all that useful. Though she can at least just ride one of her horses normally and use a lance, though she will be lacking a number of bonuses that make the chariot work as well as it does.

Spoiler: Sources

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Player's Handbook
Complete Champion
Sword and Fist (all the Chariot Feats)
Complete Adventurer
Dragon Magic
Miniatures Handbook
WotC Archive

Also, kudos to this chef for providing credit to the artist who made their image! That's a good thing! Everyone keep doing that!

[Zaq]

Per the author, it seems the character's name is Stephan but the build's name is "I knew he was worthy!"

…Yeah, I got nothing.

Spoiler: I knew he was worthy!

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[tr]

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	fighter	+1	+2	+0	+0	diplomacy2,jump2,swim2,tumble2	Luck of Heroes(PG pg40, Shield Specialization(PHB2 pg82), shape soulmeld:Incarnate weapon(good)(MoI pg72)	bonus feat
2nd	fighter	+1	+1	+0	+0	climb1,diplomacy2,jump3,swim3,tumble2	Improved shield bash(PHB pg96)	bonus feat
3rd	fighter	+1	+0	+1	+1	climb2,diplomacy2,jump3,swim3,tumble3	Throw anything(CW pg105)
4th	fighter	+1	+1	+0	+0	climb3,diplomacy2,jump4,swim4,tumble3	Agile shield fighter(PHB2 pg74)	bonus feat
5th	fighter	+1	+0	+0	+0	climb4,diplomacy2,jump4,swim3,tumble4
6th	fighter	+1	+1	+1	+1	climb5,diplomacy2,jump5,swim5,tumble4	Point Blank Shot(PHB pg98), Bonus Essentia(MoI pg35)	bonus feat

Epic feats: Improved Initiative(PHB pg96),Ancestral Relic(Adamantine Razored shield)(BOED pg39),shapesoulmeld:Lightning Gauntlets(MoI pg76), Open least chakra:hands(MoI pg39), Bonus essentia(MoI pg35), Far shot(PHB pg94), Brutal throw(CAd pg106), Iron will(PHB pg97), lightning reflexes(PHB pg97), endurance(PHB pg93).

The ancestral relic feat is just to ensure a +1bashing returning heavy shield could be available. Lesser Crystal of return would be beneficial but not necessary.
shapesoulmeld feat is found in MoI pg40. The pg numbers listed above refer to the specific soulmeld acquired with the feat.

Stephan is a NG Human Fighter
Stats: Str-16, Dex-15, Con-16, Int-10, Wis-10, Cha-10 (4th level stat bump used on Str)
Initiative +6, Spd 30, Saves: fort-9, ref-7, will-5 , HP 5d10+28
I would plan on using chain shirt, dastana(OA pg76), chahar-aina(OA pg76), Heavy shield combo to maximize ac while maintaining full mobility. Assuming Masterwork armor and +1Shield AC should be 23 with an acp of -2.
The Shapesoulmeld feats will provide a warhammer with +2 enhancement from the bonus essentia(that feats provides two essentia if able to shape melds), This hammer will reappear in wielders hand on the next turn so use as a thrown weapon is very convenient(unlike returning property it doesn't care if you have moved)
The Lightning Gauntlets are a 1d6 lightning touch attack, investing the essentia from the second bonus essentia feat raises that to 3d6, the chakra bind allows it to be channeled into one of your melee attacks every round.
This fighter works best in melee(+9/+8/+4 hammer/shield/hammer,for d8+5 hammer, 2d6+2 shield, +3d6 lightning) but is fairly capable at range with hammer and shield. Would also carry a secondary melee weapon in case of anti magic/ dead magic zones.

Raised By the church of Torm in Raven's Bluff Stephan had a firm sense of right and wrong and a strong desire to serve the community. He was trained from a young age to be part of a small order of fighters that used incarnum powered weapons. This led to his first problem with the church. All the other young men and women in training formed Longswords when they meditated on their power. Try as he might Stephan formed a warhammer every time, this troubled his instructors.
Over the next few years stephan was arrested several times. Each time he was doing what was right but it was not lawful. Eventually he was expelled from the order and excommunicated from the church. It was then he began wandering the countryside helping those in need. During this time he was drawn to the church of Lathander. After performing many great deeds in aid of the church and its patrons he was presented with a relic of the church that had been wielded by champions of the faith for many centuries, an unbreakable shield. He Now travels with a group of like-minded adventurers destroying evil wherever they find it and serving the people of Faerun.

[Zaq]

This might be the most flamboyant whisper gnome I've seen recently.

Spoiler: Personal note

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First i would like to note that English is not my native language, i apologise for any grammatical mistakes. The objective is to make the “Fighter” part of the build, but there is not much the Fighter is unique at. So the Fighter itself is quite bland, adding another class would most likely result in the other class being the important characteristic of the build, yet just working with six levels of Fighter would not easily result in something unique as well. I had several builds in my mind, which i would like to play in an E6 game. But all of them could be recreated with a different class, using the extra feats past level 6 or their own class feats. I wanted to create something that could only be done using the Fighter class, no other class would be able to get the same result, so this is what i came up with.

Spoiler: Character

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Irkle is not a sneaky character by any means, he is quite a loud-mouth actually, and not the nice kind. He does have a knack of finding the right spot to bring the hurt. He is always in the frontline of a battle, furiously fighting, not backing down, not letting his size get in the way, not letting any of the big folk steal his kills, never! That said, he does like having them big folk around, they form a good distraction that Irkle can work with to find the sweet spot, and once he does, the battle is half over

Spoiler: Race + Ability Scores

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Whisper gnome (RoS 96)
+2 DEX/CON, -2 STR/CHA, Small (+1 AC/Attack, +4 Hide) Speed 30
Lowlight and Darkvision 60ft, Weapon Familiarity, +1 attacks vs kobold/goblinoids, +4 dodge to AC vs giants, +4 Hide/Move Silent, +2 Listen/Spot. SLA’s: 1/day Silence, Ghost sound, Mage Hand, Message
4d6+2d4+12 HP
Point Buy:
STR 12 DEX 17 CON 14 INT 13 WIS 8 CHA 12
Adding racial-abilities and a level 4 boost to DEX results in:
STR 10 DEX 20 CON 16 INT 13 WIS 8 CHA 10

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Swashbuckler 1	+1	+2	+0	+0	Tumble +4, Sense Motive +4, Balance +4, Diplomacy +4, Escape Artist +4	Two-weapon fighting	Weapon Finesse
2nd	Fighter* 1	+4	+0	+0	+0	Tumble +4, Sense Motive +4, Balance +4, Diplomacy +4, Escape Artist +4, Bluff +2, Intimidate +3	-	Sneak Attack +1d6
3rd	Fighter* 2	+3	+5	+0	+0	Tumble +4, Sense Motive +4, Balance +4, Diplomacy +4, Escape Artist +4, Bluff +5, Intimidate +5	Craven	-
4th	Fighter* 3	+4	+5	+1	+1	Tumble +4, Sense Motive +4, Balance +4, Diplomacy +4, Escape Artist +4, Bluff +7, Intimidate +7, Handle Animal +1	-	Sneak Attack +2d6
5th	Swashbuckler 2	+5	+6	+1	+1	Tumble +5, Sense Motive +5, Balance +5, Diplomacy +5, Escape Artist +5, Bluff +7, Intimidate +7, Handle Animal +1	-	Grace +1
6th	Swashbuckler 3	+6	+6	+2	+2	Tumble +9, Sense Motive +6, Balance +5, Diplomacy +5, Escape Artist +5, Bluff +7, Intimidate +7, Handle Animal +1	Daring Outlaw	Insightful Strike

* The Fighter uses three Alternate class features: Thug, Sneak Attack Fighter, Hit-and-Run tactics.

Spoiler: Epic bonus feats

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1- Martial Study (Cloak of Deception)
2- Martial Stance (Island of Blades)
3- Shadowblade
4- Improved two weapon Fighting
5- Staggering Strike
6- Improved Initiative
7- Martial Study (Shadow Jaunt)>
8- Martial Study (Burning Blade)>
9- Combat reflexes
10- Vexing Flanker

Spoiler: Explanations

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This build uses the Sneak Attack and Thug alternate class abilities (SRD) to get a full BAB character with 4d6 sneak attack. Obviously full BAB is important to a melee character to get that second attack. Added to it is Swashbuckler, not just for Weapon Finesse and INT to melee damage, but also to get Daring Outlaw. We meet the prerequisites of the feat, but have no Rogue levels. Due to the wording of Daring Outlaw, we add the Swashbuckler levels (3) to the Rogue levels (0) to determine the Sneak Attack damage, which means you add +2d6 Sneak Attack (for a total of +4d6 Sneak Attack).
Truth be told, as a DM, i would only allow this character to have +3d6 Sneak Attack, and it would still be fine. I also wouldn’t allow Hit-and-Run tactics, believing that it was intended with a Drow prerequisite. Finally i wouldn’t allow Craven, because i believe it is too strong. That said, i assume we build by RAW here, and that is what i did.

1st level: You start out as a dex-based Two-Weapon Fighting Swashbuckler, mostly so you can add skill points to more useful skills.
2nd level: You now get +1d6 Sneak Attack, so flanking in combat becomes a priority.
3rd level: You now get +1d6+3 Sneak Attack.
4th level: Sneak Attack becomes +2d6+3
5th level: This is a boring level for us
6th level: This is what we were waiting for. With Daring Outlaw our Sneak Attack has become +4d6+6 and our BAB is now 6 for the extra attack.
1st epic bonus feat: This provides us with a way to get a reliable full attack Sneak Attack.
2nd epic bonus feat: And now we can get Flanking much more easily.
3th epic bonus feat: We get (at least) +5 damage to every attack (we need to use Short Swords and Daggers now).
4th epic bonus feat: An extra attack, we now get +11/+11/+6/+6 (1d4 + 6 + Sneak Attack 4d6+6).
This assumes Masterwork Shortswords and does not include any other bonuses, penalties or items.
Other epic bonus feats: The last 6 feats seemed like the most useful to me, but are by no means necessary for the build.

Spoiler: Sources

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SRD: Thug, Sneak Attack Fighter
Champions of Ruin: Craven
Complete Adventurer: Staggering Strike
Complete Scoundrel: Daring Outlaw
Complete Warrior: Swashbuckler
Drow of the Underdark: Hit-and-run tactics
PHB 2: Vexing Flanker
Races of Stone: Whisper Gnome
Tome of Battle: Martial Study, Martial Stance, Shadowblade, Cloak of Deception, Island of Blades