Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground CVII

[The Viscount]

I have one skeleton almost entirely done aside from the gritty details on the skills (and, of course, the write-up). It's... not embarrassing, but to be honest it's not quite as crazy as I usually go for. The core components are pretty solidly locked in, though, so I think I'm just going to have to play it out.

I'm toying with the idea of a second build that gets somewhat kookier, but it hasn't solidly coalesced yet. I feel like I'm missing one key component (and I'm not sure what that key component is yet) to give it a real hook. But I'll keep tinkering with it and see if I can get something to pop.

I think this is going to be a good round, though! The ingredient's hard to use, but it's hard to use in a good and satisfying way. Its class features are actually good! They just kind of go sideways compared to what you give up, and that's a more interesting challenge than "well, none of these abilities actually do anything in the first place." Kudos on the pick, Viscount!

Thank you. I try to shoot for that mix of glimmer of promise and mire of frustration that motivated me as a chef. I'm glad to see that it's the right kind of bad.

[Sian]

Found a really cool idea that qualifies and everything ... except really showcasing the ingredient.

That said, I feel i have something just barely out of reach here, that if I grab it would be great :)

Think i have something here :)

[nosborm]

(Five iterations later…)
“OK, If you take these two odd ACFs and combine them, a hexblade/cleric is a perfect fit, and I can’t imagine anybody is going to do that one!”

(Queue reveal, with four hexblade/clerics, two zhentarim fighters and precisely zero rogues or swordsages.)

This is exactly how I build characters. Glad to know I have found my people!


Also, I have one build almost fully sketched out and hope to submit it by the end of the week. I'd love to do another but I don't think it will happen.

[H_H_F_F]

I've submitted one build, which I ended up liking a lot. I've been working on fluff for the second build. If I like the fluff I'll submit it, if not I'll just share the table after the competition is done.

[nosborm]

How concerned should I be about multiclass penalties? I know this answer is likely judge dependent but I'm curious if there's a general consensus. I never play with that rule at my table nor do I (usually) think about it while character building. However, I saw two builds penalized for it last round and want to make sure I'm not making an avoidable mistake.

[Thurbane]

Yeah, can't get enthused about an entry.

It's a very busy time of year, but if time permits, I may judge.

[Piggy Knowles]

How concerned should I be about multiclass penalties? I know this answer is likely judge dependent but I'm curious if there's a general consensus. I never play with that rule at my table nor do I (usually) think about it while character building. However, I saw two builds penalized for it last round and want to make sure I'm not making an avoidable mistake.

Not every judge dings for it, but most do, since it is an explicit rule and ignoring it is a (very very common) houserule. I basically always try to build with it in mind.

[WhamBamSam]

How concerned should I be about multiclass penalties? I know this answer is likely judge dependent but I'm curious if there's a general consensus. I never play with that rule at my table nor do I (usually) think about it while character building. However, I saw two builds penalized for it last round and want to make sure I'm not making an avoidable mistake.

Like Piggy, I usually build with it in mind just to dot i's and cross t's. When I judge, I assign the smallest penalty possible at the granularity of my rubric (-0.25), so essentially a build that incurs multiclass penalties will lose to a build that is otherwise equal but does not do so, but otherwise will not lose placing.

[H_H_F_F]

How concerned should I be about multiclass penalties? I know this answer is likely judge dependent but I'm curious if there's a general consensus. I never play with that rule at my table nor do I (usually) think about it while character building. However, I saw two builds penalized for it last round and want to make sure I'm not making an avoidable mistake.

I don't think I've seen anyone really tear into a build for it. I've been taking away half a point in elegance for having it, less if it's only an issue for a couple of levels. If you can find away to avoid it, do - I'd say it's usually not worth it for a bit of extra power. If your build can't work without it, just take the penalty and get on with it.

[Thurbane]

How concerned should I be about multiclass penalties? I know this answer is likely judge dependent but I'm curious if there's a general consensus. I never play with that rule at my table nor do I (usually) think about it while character building. However, I saw two builds penalized for it last round and want to make sure I'm not making an avoidable mistake.

Same as above answers: I would apply a small elegance penalty.

[nosborm]

Thank you everyone for the insights, it's really helpful!

[Zaq]

I probably won't be the one judging, but when I do judge, I ignore multiclass penalties entirely.

My ability to focus has been fragmented a little bit and I'm going to have to hustle to get even one build in, let alone two. How hard is that deadline, boss?

[Piggy Knowles]

I have one build mostly written up and one build finished but no write-up even begun, and I'm fighting through the swamps and morasses of demotivation to actually finish them. Hopefully I get there, because I really like both builds.

[Heavenblade]

Is there q chance to delay the deadline by a few hours/a day? I have a formatted build but I need to write flavor text and level breakdown.

[The Viscount]

Yeah, I can delay it a few hours. New deadline 02:00 GMT.

[Heavenblade]

Oh well, that was on my sleeping hours..., next time Ill make it on time.

[H_H_F_F]

Oh well, that was on my sleeping hours..., next time Ill make it on time.

Just making sure you realize the deadline has not yet passed, and you have ~12 more hours. If you know that and you just don't have the time, then never mind - it's just that your phrasing made it appear as if you believe we're past the deadline.

[Heavenblade]

Oh wait

Right
RIGHT
(Im always confusing international hours, its such a mess )

[Zaq]

Entry's in. I didn't get to devote quite as much TLC as I usually do to the write-up, but I'm just happy to have something in.

Piggy, your post about having two builds that you're really happy with and still having to battle against demotivation to get everything in? I feel ya, bro. I feel ya hard. Energy management is super challenging these days just in general.

Everyone remember to take care of yourselves, okay?

[Hiro Quester]

Piggy, your post about having two builds that you're really happy with and still having to battle against demotivation to get everything in? I feel ya, bro. I feel ya hard. Energy management is super challenging these days just in general.

Everyone remember to take care of yourselves, okay?

Doubleplus on that.

I took care of myself by not even trying to work out the details on the stupid kernel of an idea I had, that I could not convince myself was worth the effort to develop out.

Plus its a time of year that I could predict would be very very busy for me.

And frankly I could not get enthusiastic with the idea that you had to be able to cast dominate person (which lasts days/level), but the main class ability let you dominate a person --well any creature, which is an upgrade-- for one only round). Apart from the fact that you can Claws of Influence a group of creatures, that seems seriously inferior to the prerequisite ability that I'd be using instead in many situations.

And the side-benefits (adding to the DC of a charm or compulsion) seemed kinda meh. (I spend a few days perusing interesting ways to pair that with particular charms or compulsions and came up dry.).

Compelling a creature to cast a spell (it chooses which spell, and its target) seem seriously uncontrolled and risky.

The fact that you all seem to have found interesting ways to use this infuriating class has me expecting to be surprised (which might be a contradiction in terms). I can't wait to see what you have cooked up.

[Venger]

Got mine in. I'm excited to see what everyone's come up with.

[The Viscount]

Sorry for the delay, folks. It's time for the reveal! Please hold from posting until the all clear.

[The Viscount]

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!

Nimrae set at her desk in a room dimly lit by a single candle. She could tell the candle made the male uncomfortable. She didn’t care, of course. He deserved it, anyway, for making her uncomfortable first. Not that he did. She wasn’t afraid of any male, him included. She was a cleric of Lolth!

“Now listen, you swine-“, she opened, but the sight of his fist tightening chilled her anger at once. “Listen, Fadeyrn”, she said in a soothing, friendlier tone. “I’d like to read you a few quotes.”

After a moment, she decided to take his silence as acceptance.

“Ahem. ’Nearly all corruptors are arcane spellcasters.’”

She glanced it him. No reply.

“’Most of them are bards or sorcerers who establish a strong foundation of spellcasting abilities prior to advancing in this prestige class –’ This is straight from Drow of the Underdark, I’ll have you know.”

Still, nothing. She gritted her teeth, and carried on.

“’Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you ever fight on your own behalf... You lack the combat capabilities of other characters…’ Blah, blah, blah… ‘NEVER neglect bluff, diplomacy, disguise, intimidate and sense motive… Interaction is key to your survival.’”

Her eyes peeked at him over the scroll. “Well, no one can say you neglect intimidation, that’s for damn sure.”

Silence.

“Anyway… ‘He uses trickery and deception to get his way… A hidden enemy.’ Deception, male. Hidden. ”

No response.

“Well?”

Another moment of silence. Then, the hulking monstrosity in front of her leaned forward, laying one massive gauntleted hand on the desk. In a low, feral voice that sent shimmers down her spine, he growled:

“With respect, mistress…

“You can go **** right off with that ******* ********.”

Spoiler: Faderyn, the Furious Fae

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CE Half fey Lolth touched lesser drow male.
32 pb: Str 16, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 18.
Racial, templates: Str 22, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 22.
All advancements go to Cha.

Spoiler: Table

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ECL	Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
2	LA	Half fey	-	-	-	-	-	-	Flight, half fey SLAs, lowlight vision, enchantment immunity.
3	LA	Lolth touched	-	-	-	-	-	-	Fearless
4	1st	Thug fighter 1	+1	+2	+0	+0	Bluff 4, intimidate 4, sense motive 2.	Flyby attack	-
5	2nd	Paladin of Slaughter 1	+2	+4	+0	+0	Bluff 4, intimidate 4, Knowledge (religion) 1, sense motive 2.	-	Aura of evil, detect good, smite good
6	3rd	Paladin of slaughter	+3	+5	+0	+0	Bluff 4, intimidate 4, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 2.	Power attack	Divine grace, deadly touch
7	4th	Thug fighter 2	+4	+6	+0	+0	Bluff 7, intimidate 4, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 2.	B: EWP - whip (whip)	-
8	5th	Warblade 1	+5	+8	+0	+0	Bluff 7, diplomacy 3, intimidate 4, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 2.	-	Battle clarity, weapon aptitude, maneuvers
9	6th	Warblade 2	+6	+9	+0	+0	Bluff 8, diplomacy 4, intimidate 4, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 2.	WF - whip	Uncanny dodge
10	7th	Warblade 3	+7	+9	+1	+1	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 5, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 2.	-	Battle ardor
11	8th	Divine crusader 1	+7	+11	+1	+3	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 5, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 2.5	-	Spells
12	9th	Divine crusader 2	+8	+12	+1	+4	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 5, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 3.	Persuasive	-
13	10th	Divine crusader 3	+9	+12	+2	+4	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 5, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 3.5	-	Electricity resistance 5
14	11th	Divine crusader 4	+10	+13	+2	+5	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 5, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 4.	-	-
15	12th	Insidious corruptor 1	+10	+13	+2	+7	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 8, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 4.	Imperious command	Claws of influence, manipulate senses.
16	13th	Insidious corruptor 2	+11	+13	+2	+8	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 9, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 4. Skill trick: never outnumbered.	-	Probe thoughts
17	14th	Insidious corruptor 3	+11	+14	+3	+8	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 12, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 4. Skill trick: never outnumbered.	-	Manipulation
18	15th	Insidious corruptor 4	+12	+14	+3	+9	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 15, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 4. Skill trick: never outnumbered.	Martial stance: dancing blade form	Minion
19	16th	Insidious corruptor 5	+12	+14	+3	+9	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 18, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 4. Skill trick: never outnumbered.	-	Swift enchantment
20	17th	Insidious corruptor 6	+13	+15	+4	+10	Bluff 9, diplomacy 4, intimidate 20, knowledge (religion) 2, sense motive 5. Skill trick: never outnumbered.	-	Irresistible charm

Spoiler: Spells and maneuvers

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Maneuvers and stances:

ECL	IL	Maneuvers
8	3	Maneuvers: Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Emerald Razor, Mountain Hammer. Stance: Leading the Charge.
9	4	Wall of Blades
10	5	Iron Heart Surge
18	9	Stance: Dancing Blade Form

Spells:
Faderyn’s spell list, as a divine crusader of Lolth, is comprised solely of the spells in the wrath domain. The table below does not include bonus spells derived from Faderyn’s charisma.

ECL	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th
11th	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
12th	1	0	-	-	-	-	-
13th	2	1	0	-	-	-	-
14th	2	2	1	0	-	-	-
16th	3	2	2	1	0	-	-
18th	3	3	2	2	1	0	-
20th	3	3	3	2	2	1	0

Spoiler: Drows Drawing Straws.

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Life was always interesting for Faderyn. Born to a lesser drow mother and a lesser apparently-not-drow father, the signs of his heritage were obvious since his birth. He was beautiful, in a way – gentle wings like fluttering shadows caressing a lithe yet powerful form; Pale, glimmering eyes in his otherworldly face. His lot in life was a source of much thinly veiled envy. His gifts made him confident, vain.

Vanity doesn’t tend to last long in the realm of the spider queen.

The goddess blessed him, made him her own. His wings grew hard and thick. His elegant form was made massive, crude. The gifts of his heritage, transformed, made him a monstrosity. Where there was once vanity, there was left nothing but bitterness and hate.

Spoiler: ECL 5

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First couple of character levels. Like most high LA builds, he’s quite fragile at this point, with only 2 HD – but rolling d10 and having 16 con helps with that a lot. Still, if he wants to keep himself safe, flyby attack with a reach weapon is a phenomenal option at these levels, and he can do some pretty nice damage with his +6 Str. Once per day, he can also use the phenomenal glitterdust, which enjoys a relatively high DC thanks to his high Cha. Out of battle, he can decently function as a semi-face with his high Cha, his skill points, and his at-will Charm Person.

Fuelled by cold fury and the need to prove himself, Faderyn’s capabilities in battle grew. He had learned well, and took to heart the lesson given to him by Lolth. Strength is the only truth, and there is no way of cultivating it save hate and suffering. Your lot in life means nothing if you have any reserves, any hesitations.
He never fought like most drow, and though that didn’t change, he did move towards a more focused and sophisticated form of battle – one that still relied on his undying fury, and the need for superiority.

Spoiler: ECLs 6-10

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Divine grace pops up at ECL 6, as well as a few extra SLAs. Whip proficiency will have its use, but at ECL 7 it’s pretty much a dead feat. Luckily, weapon aptitude comes around 1 level later, and makes it a very useful feat to have. The warblade maneuvers are mostly ones that will have long term use. As far as the stance – while Faderyn is hardly a charger, a scaling bonus to charge damage is more useful to him than other 1st level stances, and will be much more useful by ECL 11.
The SLAs gained from the half-fey template over the warblade are definitely good. Protection from law, suggestion, and confusion can all easily find their uses throughout the day, and the increased caster level keeps some of the old ones very much in play.

Faderyn continued to wage war against all around him, earning a reputation as a tricky and powerful enemy. He fully embraced Lolth’s blessing, making himself a living aspect of her wrath. Many found that the only way to evade his fury was bowing down before him. Though a lesser drow, and a male at that, he started gathering power and influence – using his innate magic to bend others to his will.

Spoiler: ECLs 11-15

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Breaking away from the martial classes, Faderyn becomes a divine crusader of Lolth and takes his first level of the SI. His chosen domain is the Wrath domain. The granted power of this domain is extremely bad for clerics, but it functions as a nice little boon for faderyn – giving him a small Str bonus in exchange for almost nothing. He gains Rhino’s rush at ECL 11, making good use of his stance. Bull’s strength, at ecl 12, is boring but useful. Rage could be a good buff for subordinates, but it’s usually not worth a standard action, unless you have ample time for buffing. Shout is a great AOE option, something he mostly lacks otherwise. The first level of the SI doesn’t give him much, yet, but he finally has the skill points to pursue intimidation as a combat resource. It’s a pretty high ECL, and a lot of enemies are going to be immune to fear – but it’s not a huge investment for him, and with imperious command (and never outnumbered, next level) when it works – it works.
His half fey SLAs keep evolving as well, and include very good options. Of special note are the abilities of ECL 14 (11 HD). One of those is Dominate Person, which lets Faderyn qualify for the SI.

Faderyn continued to rise in the ranks of the insidious corruptors, beoming one of the most notorious of his time. What he lacked in social slickness and spellcasting versatility he made up for with raw brutality – cutting down the enemies of Lolth while throwing around powerful enchantments.

Spoiler: ECLs 16-20

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Final stretch of the build, and the majority of SI levels taken. ECL 16 brings righteous might to the mix, which is an excellent buff if you’ve got time for it. It also brings in mass invisibility 1/day. As already mentioned, never outnumbered comes up – and by the end of the build, intimidate will be maxed out. Persuasive and pumped Cha should be enough to get everyone around cowering quite often. ECL 17 brings with it the first ability of the SI which is really useful to Faderyn – manipulation is crazy good for a melee. It’s a short range immediate action debuff with no save of its own. “Move or suck” can really ruin a melee opponents day. ECL 18 brings lots of boons: It brings a new stance for more reach, which is always useful and can be used to flyby attack bigger creatures without worry. You also get the cute Minion ability from the class, which can be situationally useful. More importantly, it brings about Mass Suggestion or Geas as SLAs. Geas has a really long casting time, which makes it unviable most of the… Oh, who am I kidding, you know where this is going. Finally, we get to cast song of discord, which is mean and awesome.

ECL 19 brings about the broken ability known as swift enchantment. As an immediate+free action combo, we cast an enchantment spell. From this point onward, Faderyn should have a couple of subordinates affected by his claws of influence with him at ALL TIMES. If the situation allows to switch it to an enemy outside of battle, that’s fantastic – but it’s not really necessary. As a gish (I guess?) Faderyn needs his actions. Gishes thrive on swift action spells, and this just made Rage, Song of Discord, and a lot of his SLAs swift action spells. Swift action Geas once per day is pretty ****ing incredible, and has massive combat potential.

Finally, we come to the peak of the build. 1 more ammo for swift enchantment and the like is fantastic, and Irresistible Charm is awesome with Faderyn’s Cha. It works great with Charm Person at will, obviously, but Mass Charm monster at 18+Cha*2 DC? Yes, thank you! Insanity is the other SLA granted by this level, and it’s very good, of course, with swift enchantment. Other than that, This level brings us 1 more BAB, to finish out at 13, and Tenser’s Transformation.

Now, Tenser’s Transformation is usually kind of a trap. For a full spellcaster, it’s too risky, and not worth it. For a gish, it takes away what makes you uniqe, and you should have decent BAB either way. For Faderyn, it’s the ultimate buff.
Transformation takes away your capability to cast spells, or to use spell trigger magic items. It does not, to my knowledge, affect SLAs. Here’s the method: Throw down Song of Discord as a free action, and cast Tenser’s Transformation. Next turn, rush in to do what you wanna do (Flyby attack, intimidation, whatever) and cast a free action SLA – insanity, geas, hold monster, whatever. Tenser’s makes up for your lost BAB, gives you ability bonuses and natural armour, and you don’t even sacrifice your strongest magical options.

Spoiler: Weaponry

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With weapon aptitude, EWP, and WF, there are plenty of weapons one should strive to keep at hand, in case the circumstances justify using them. Longstaff, mancatcher, etc. However, as a main weapon, I would recommend a Kaorti weapon for x4 shenanigans. Either a 19-20 reach weapon or a falchion. If you can’t get your hand on one, just carry a normal reach weapon, and the greathammer from the MM 4.

Spoiler: Sources

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Complete Divine: Divine crusader.
Complete Scoundrel:: Never outnumbered.
Drow of the Underdark: Insidious corruptor, Imperious command.
Fiend Folio: Half fey template.
Monster Manual: Flyby Attack.
Monster Manual IV: Lolth touched template (also, a few pages later, Greathorn minotaurs – which have the Greathammer mentioned in weaponry.)
Spell Compendium: Wrath domain.
Tome of Battle: Warblade, maneuvers.
Unearthed Arcana: Thug fighter variant, paladin of slaughter variant.
Lesser Drow

[The Viscount]

He always gets his man.

Aster Lac'nala - the Truthseeker


Tell all the Truth but tell it slant –
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind …



Emily Dickinson

Spoiler: Truthseeker

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Captain Romarin stood before the corpse of Lord Eri. The dagger wounds in his back were many. "Stabbed at least 20 times", the Captain mumbled. A fresh recruit of the City Watch approached him: "Captain Romarin!" He saluted. After a nod from the Captain the eager youth continued: "The complete household and the whole family is in attendance and watched over by Sergeant Odro and his squad. Also a messenger arrived and told the Sergeant that the king has sent for the Truthseeker". The Captain wasn't surprised but he couldn't help but frown. The young recruit noticed the frown. When the Captain looked back at the corpse, he mumbled: "I hope he's worth the trouble...." After a long pause the young recruit cleared his throat. The Captain turned to the recruit. "As I expect you never had the pleasure of working with the Truthseeker before, here are some guidelines." The young recruit looked baffled but listened. "First rule: Never interact with him alone. In fact I will order three more men in when he arrives. Second rule: Never accept his offer to "help you see". While he is indeed capable of making us notice things we had overlooked before it comes at the price that he is able to do something to your mind. Third rule: Answer his questions truthfully no matter how stupid the questions may sound to you. As a matter of fact I am pretty sure his first question will be: who is the victim?" The young recruit gaped: "He doesn't know Lord Eri?" The Captain frowned again deeply and waved a hand dismissively. "He claims he has to be a blank page so truth can be written on it. He is a weird man. Last rule: Do not interfere when he speaks to witnesses or suspects. He has the King's approval and is one of his most trusted advisors." The young recruit nodded. When the Captain didn't continue and turned back to examine the corpse, the young recruit dared to ask: "So he is a torturer. The King's torturer." The Captain crouched down. Without looking at the young recruit, he whispered: "Sometimes I wish he was. Would make me way more comfortable knowing what he is about." Louder he continued. "No, he is not. He can be intimidating. He can be dangerous. But he never harms anyone physically. He claims he is a priest of the city. A priest sworn to truth. You can ask him about that if you want when we are close by. I am sure it helps you understand how dangerous this man is. He is full of **** if you ask me. An evil man enjoying toying with witnesses and suspects but he is reliable and he finds the truth within a pool of lies more often than not. I am pretty sure he will find out who backstabbed Lord Eri 20 times just by talking to those in attendance. If not we have a suspect within 24 hours, when he goes and asks the city". The young man didn't ask what that meant, and Captain Romarin didn't fell like explaining it. So the captain stood up and turned to the young man. "Now fetch Hamill, Urk and Rifdorn from outside. Tell them I ordered them in because of the Truthseeker coming. They will understand. And get us something to eat and drink. The Truthseekers interrogations may take a while.

NE Middle Aged Lesser Drow Urban Druid 7 - Insidious Corruptor 10 - Urban Druid 3


Attributes

	Base	Middle Age	Racial Traits	Class Level Advancement	Final
Strength	12	-1	-	-	11
Dexterity	13	-1	+2	-	14
Constitution	13	-1	- 2	-	10
Intelligence	13	+1	-	-	14
Wisdom	11	+1	-	-	12
Charisma	16	+1	-	+5	22

Table

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Urban Druid	+0	+2	+0	+2	Bluff 4, Diplomacy 4, Intimidate 4, Sense Motive 4, Gather Information 4, Concentration 4	Persuasive	City sense, favored city 1, urban companion
2nd	Urban Druid	+1	+3	+0	+3	Bluff 5, Diplomacy 5, Intimidate 5, Sense Motive 5, Gather Information 5, Concentration 5	-	Crowdwalk
3rd	Urban Druid	+2	+3	+1	+3	Bluff 6, Diplomacy 6, Intimidate 6, Sense Motive 6, Gather Information 6, Concentration 6	Weapon Finesse	Alley fighting
4th	Urban Druid	+3	+4	+1	+4	Bluff 7, Diplomacy 7, Intimidate 7, Sense Motive 7, Gather Information 7, Concentration 7	-	Disease immunity, favored city 2
5th	Urban Druid	+3	+4	+1	+4	Bluff 8, Diplomacy 8, Intimidate 8, Sense Motive 8, Gather Information 8, Concentration 8	-	Urban shape (1/day)
6th	Urban Druid	+4	+5	+2	+5	Bluff 9, Diplomacy 9, Intimidate 9, Sense Motive 9, Gather Information 8, Concentration 8, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	Imperious Command	Urban shape (2/day)
7th	Urban Druid	+5	+5	+2	+5	Bluff 10, Diplomacy 10, Intimidate 10, Sense Motive 10, Gather Information 9, Concentration 9, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Urban shape (3/day)
8th	Insidious Corruptor	+5	+5	+2	+7	Bluff 11, Diplomacy 11, Intimidate 11, Sense Motive 11, Gather Information 10, Concentration 10, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Claws of influence (1 target), manipulate senses
9th	Insidious Corruptor	+6	+5	+2	+8	Bluff 12, Diplomacy 12, Intimidate 12, Sense Motive 12, Gather Information 11, Concentration 11, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	Spell Focus (Enchantment)	Probe thoughts
10th	Insidious Corruptor	+6	+6	+3	+8	Bluff 13, Diplomacy 13, Intimidate 13, Sense Motive 13, Gather Information 12, Concentration 12, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Manipulation, claws of influence (2 targets)
11th	Insidious Corruptor	+7	+6	+3	+9	Bluff 14, Diplomacy 14, Intimidate 14, Sense Motive 14, Gather Information 12, Concentration 13, Spellcraft 1, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Minion
12th	Insidious Corruptor	+7	+6	+3	+9	Bluff 15, Diplomacy 15, Intimidate 15, Sense Motive 15, Gather Information 12, Concentration 14, Spellcraft 2, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	Heighten Spell	Swift enchantment
13th	Insidious Corruptor	+8	+7	+4	+10	Bluff 16, Diplomacy 16, Intimidate 16, Sense Motive 16, Gather Information 12, Concentration 15, Spellcraft 3, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Irresistible charm, claws of influence (3 targets)
14th	Insidious Corruptor	+8	+7	+4	+10	Bluff 17, Diplomacy 17, Intimidate 17, Sense Motive 17, Gather Information 12, Concentration 16, Spellcraft 4, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Greater manipulation
15th	Insidious Corruptor	+9	+7	+4	+11	Bluff 18, Diplomacy 18, Intimidate 18, Sense Motive 18, Gather Information 13, Concentration 17, Spellcraft 4, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	Practiced spellcaster	Greater minion
16th	Insidious Corruptor	+9	+8	+5	+11	Bluff 19, Diplomacy 19, Intimidate 19, Sense Motive 19, Gather Information 14, Concentration 18, Spellcraft 4, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Irresistible compulsion, claws of influence (4 targets)
17th	Insidious Corruptor	+10	+8	+5	+12	Bluff 20, Diplomacy 20, Intimidate 20, Sense Motive 20, Gather Information 15, Concentration 19, Spellcraft 4, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Master manipulator
18th	Urban Druid	+11	+9	+5	+13	Bluff 21, Diplomacy 21, Intimidate 21, Sense Motive 21, Gather Information 16, Concentration 20, Spellcraft 4, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment)	Urban shape (Large), favored city 3
19th	Urban Druid	+11	+9	+6	+14	Bluff 22, Diplomacy 22, Intimidate 22, Sense Motive 22, Gather Information 17, Concentration 21, Spellcraft 4, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Information network
20th	Urban Druid	+12	+10	+6	+15	Bluff 23, Diplomacy 23, Intimidate 23, Sense Motive 23, Gather Information 18, Concentration 22, Spellcraft 4, Skill trick: Never outnumbered	-	Urban shape (4/day)

Spoiler: Spells

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Spells per Day including bonus spells

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	4	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	4	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	5	4	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	5	4	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	5	4	4	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	6	5	4	3	2	-	-	-	-	-
8th	6	5	4	3	2	-	-	-	-	-
9th	6	5	4	4	3	-	-	-	-	-
10th	6	5	4	4	3	-	-	-	-	-
11th	6	5	5	4	3	1	-	-	-	-
12th	6	5	5	4	3	2	-	-	-	-
13th	6	5	5	4	4	3	-	-	-	-
14th	6	5	5	4	4	3	-	-	-	-
15th	6	6	5	5	4	3	1	-	-	-
16th	6	6	5	5	4	3	1	-	-	-
17th	6	6	5	5	4	4	2	-	-	-
18th	6	6	6	5	5	4	3	1	-	-
19th	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	2	-	-
20th	6	6	6	6	5	5	4	2	1	-

Spells by level worth considering. Bold ones are key for Aster.

0: Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Create Water, Cure Minor Wounds, Mending, Purify Food and Drink
1: Charm Person, Faerie Fire, Obscuring Mist, Scatterspray (low level swarms), Cure Light Wounds, Seething Eye Bane (corrupt)
2: Hold Person, Suggestion, Barkskin, Summon Swarm, Rope Trick, Knock, Lesser Restoration, Lahm's Finger Darts (corrupt)
3: Charm Monster, Glibness, Stinking Cloud, Halt Undead, Protection From Energy, Touch of Jubilex (corrupt)
4: Dominate Person, Hold Monster, Freedom of Movement, Scrying, Rusting Grasp, Dispel Magic
5: Animate Object, Wall of Stone, Susurrus of the City, Death Ward
6: Mass Suggestion, Undeath to Death, Antilife shell
7: True Seeing, Heal, Disintegrate, Death by Thorns (corrupt)
8: Polymorph any Object, Word of Recall

At higher spell levels (5 to 8) heightened versions of Hold Monster and Dominate Person will be mostly used to make use of the SI's abilities.

Spoiler: level breakdown and Use of SI

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The build ended up as a very simple "10 and 10" build. I wanted to enter the SI as early as possible because Claws of influence is keyed off level in the SI. Urban Druid is one way to enter at 7 and as far as I know the only way to keep Charisma based casting while doing that. Also it has all 4 skills that are key for the SI and Claws of influence. Also while the Urban Druid's spell list is very limited it has a distinct focus on enchantment spells.

Levels 1-5:
Early on Aster is a pretty typical face character with divine support casting and enough combat prowess to be useful. Since the SI has a bad BAB, the druid's 3/4 BAB progression helps Aster in the early levels. Weapon Finesse and 3/4 BAB with only 14 Dexterity isn't a lot of melee potential, but this may do to be helpful besides support casting. Since Urban Druid is proficient with all crossbows, some leather armor and bucklers, Aster can rely on shooting Heavy Double Crossbows at foes at level 1 and 2 and engage in melee with a Rapier at level 3. Demoralizing foes with the Intimidate skill is also a valid combat option. As soon as Hold Person is available there is also the real threat of Aster performing a Coup de Grace with his Double Heavy Crossbow. Even Alley fighting might come in handy.
Out of combat Aster has the full social package with Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate and Sense Motive as well as Gather information. Favored City adds Wisdom bonus (+1) to all those rolls except Sense motive. City Sense is another increase to Gather Information rolls by 2. Persuasive is the cherry on top for Bluff and Intimidate.
Spells: Hold Monster, Suggestion, Charm Person/Monster and of course the all time broken Glibness are the bread and butter of Aster. Besides them I listed spells worth considering in the spell section including the corrupt spells that help expand the limited spell list a little.
Urban Shape: At level 5 Aster significantly improves his combat abilities and his movement options. The default combat form would be the Darkstalker (3d6 sneak attack means even more Coup de Grace damage), decent stats that work well with crossbows and Weapon Finesse. Movement forms include the flying Avariel, all aquatic humanoids and the Varag for ground speed.
Companion: Your first companion will most likely be the ever stable riding dog but you will switch it as soon as you enter the SI.

Levels 6-10:
At level 6 the full Demoralize combo is assembled: Imperious command and Never outnumbered. At 7 4th level spells kick in and fulfill the last prerequisite for the SI (Dominate Person). You should also switch your Urban companion. Since Claws of Influence cannot target anything with Intelligence lower than 3 switch your loyal riding dog (or animated object or whatever you deemed most useful) for an Otyugh. Since it is an Aberration with an Intelligence score of 6, it is a viable target for Claws of Influence which is very relevant later on. If I am not mistaken, level 8 is the earliest possible entry for Insidious Corruptor.
Claws of Influence: At level 8 Claws of Influence aren't that impressive yet but it is already another +1 to Intimidate in combat ending up at 1d20 +18 (in your Favored City) without Claws of Influence or +19 with Claws of Influence at level 8. One of your main investments should be the Fearsome armor property (Intimidate as move action). A typical turn at later levels (11-15) could be using Claws of Influence as a standard action followed by demoralize as a move action. At levels 8-10 the other way round should be more effective.
Manipulate Senses is useful for Aster when he gets his second Claws of Influence target. If in a party Aster uses it to enhance Spot, Search and Listen for whoever needs it. If he is alone his Otyugh will be the chosen target.
Probe thoughts is a nice out of combat option on a restraint captive or an even nicer in combat follow up after first turn demoralizing when you want save spells.
Manipulation: At first I wasn't a big fan of this class feature but soon I realized that this is way stronger than I thought. Especially when you as a player are able and allowed to metagame. Let's say Aster managed to use Claws of Influence on a single opponent and was able to demoralize his opponent who is now shaken. Now give him an option he simply doesn't want to fulfill: the caster attacks, the melee brute casts. If he does so: great. If he refuses, that opponent just agreed to have -4 on saves for 1 round on top of being shaken. That's -6 to saves. Hello newly found target of Dominate Person or Hold Monster or any other save or suck/die your party has available.

Levels 11-15:
Minion is a little lackluster because it only lasts one round and it requires Claws of Influence.
Swift Enchantment is the main reason you need an Otyugh or any other intelligent companion: you are attacked? Give up the Claws of Influence on the Otyugh. Hold Monster as an immediate action. On your turn use Claws of Influence again on your Otyugh (simply command it to fail the save) and repeat for as long as you have Enchantment spells.
Irresistible charm: when you really need that one person to be your friend: bring your otyugh or any other subject under Claws of Influence. Should be especially useful when you have prepared a Heightened Charm Monster /Person spell.
Greater Manipulation: This is why you will be able to convince your party members to let them be targets of Claws of Influence. The Attack Option is amazing for almost every melee character and so is the cast option for casters. The move option will probably be used by some other mounted builds because increasing mount speed by 10 is pretty good.
Greater Minion is a probably mostly useful to screw over your party who you just convinced that they all should be under your Influence before taking their stuff and teleport away at this level.
Practiced Spellcaster helps overcome spell resistance by regaining almost all lost caster levels and Heighten Spell was already mentioned.

Levels 16-20:
Irresistible Compulsion: when you really need that one person to be your slave.
Master Manipulator: swift action Claws of Influence, move action demoralize, standard action casting a save or suck spell or use Greater Minion? Yes please. Claws of Influence standard action (DC=24+CHA[7]=31) and then demoralize your opponent. Let's add up again: At level 17 your Intimidate roll vs a target under Claws of Influence in one of your Favored Cities is 1d20+32+CHA[7]+WIS[1]. For reference: A Balor has a +19 bonus on Will saves which means his chance to save vs Claws is 45% (depending on Aster's exact Charisma) and his opposed roll vs demoralize is capped at 47 (1d20+27). Without any attribute boosted Aster needs to roll an 8 or higher with his Intimidate check to beat the Balor and make him cower in fear.

The build returns to Urban Druid for the spell progression ending up with level 8 spells, more Urban Shape and another boost to Gather Information. Besides the spells, nothing really new is added to the build.

References:
Lesser Drow: http://archive.wizards.com/default.a...040215a&page=2
Urban Druid: Dragon Compendium
Never outnumbered: Complete Scoundrel
Imperious Command, Fearsome armor: Drow of the Underdark
Double Heavy Crossbow: http://archive.wizards.com/default.a...d/we/20060420a
Practiced Spellcaster: Complete Divine

[The Viscount]

You can't betray someone if they weren't loyal to you in the first place.

Spoiler: Begida, The Betrayer of Faith

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Strange are the details our minds choose to remember. I can recall almost nothing about the beginning of the day I was captured – it was, I assume, no different than any other day in the tunnels. Waking up, surprised at the lack of a knife in my back. Eating, and not being poisoned. I knew I was sent with the patrol to die – there could be no other reason to send a wizard-in-training, only three years into my studies. I guess they had no reason to do it themselves – after all, what were my odds of surviving any encounter? I didn’t carry any weaponry, I was not in armor, I was frail of body, and I have never succeeded in mustering more arcane power than that required for a small cantrip. I felt like I got close a few times, trying enchantment spells (my specialty), but I never managed to get the full effect. That was natural. I didn’t have the luxury of coming from a noble house, after all, so I received no real education in the arcane arts before coming to the academy.

No, I don’t recall much of the beginning of the day I was captured. I also don’t recall much from the battle itself – and what I do remember seems so far away. Faint screaming, cursing and growling, distant recollections of orc and drow blood staining the walls. And I recall nothing of the march to the surface, though I know I must have been raving in delirium, exhausted as I was and drenched in my own blood.

But I remember in perfect detail the gloomy eyes of the pale fish in the small underdark pond. Amassing in a clump, biting each other, fighting desperately over the spot where my blood flowed steadily into the water. I remember the bored, tired face of the warrior who came to finish the job. My scream echoed through the halls when she ripped the spear out of my chest. As she raised it to strike, I tried to cast a charm spell. It didn’t work of course.

But something did catch.

I watched her halt her movement, a confused look in her eyes. She wasn’t charmed, not by any means – but she was… vulnerable.

“Please.” I blurted out in Goblin. My lungs were on fire, the metallic singe of blood in my mouth. “Please. I can be of use.”

She hesitated. I could see the spear, dripping with my blood, was shaking. Her shoulders tensed - and released. She turned around, and shouted out something in Orcish.

Another figure approached. A tall, powerfully built orc, covered head to toe in ornate plate armor. Two humanoid skulls hung from her belt at the hips, rattling as she walked. Her tusks were intricately carved with arcane runes. On her chest, there was a giant symbol of one blood-red eye.

She looked down on me, intrigued. Her lips moved in silent prayer, and I felt a cold wave wash over my mind. In heavily accented Elvish, she asked “Will you denounce the spider-bitch, completely and absolutely? Denounce your home, your people, your family? With all your heart?”

I couldn’t lie.

“Screw Lolth. Screw Menzoberranzan. Screw the drow.”

The shaman smiled. “Then you might be of use indeed.”

---

I learned much in my first few months in the surface cave. Uzgaa was wise enough to let me carry on with my arcane studies, under her guidance. She had taught me the way of Gruumsh, a philosophy of strength and domination. Again and again, she’d attack my mind with her spells, forcing me to avoid all lies, reveal all secrets. She knew there was no devotion in my heart. My obedience was borne out of fear, and the will to live. But it was obedience nonetheless, and it seemed to suffice.

Though I did not have the vast arcane resources of Sorcere and the academy at hand, my training progressed much quicker under the guidance Uzgaa’s surveillance. The short lived orcs had no time for the slow, methodical approach of my former people. There were downsides, of course. My breadth of knowledge, in spells as well as in other subjects, was vastly inferior to that of a proper drow wizard; but my research progressed, and my power grew. I met other slaves of the orcs, the strange inhabitants of this surface world. Many of them saw the life the tribe gave us as hard and painful.

They would not have liked Menzoberranzan.

Eventually, a few years later, it was decided that I should go back to the underdark. Go and serve as a spy for the tribe, to deliver information and captives to its inquisitors. To sow chaos and destruction, wherever I go. Uzgaa told me so one winter night, when we both wen to the surface to train under the nearly full moon.

“Works for me.” I responded.

“Nobody asked, worm.” She replied. “We will be hosting a little going away party for you tomorrow night. A leaving ceremony, if you will.”

I usually knew better than to ask questions. It only resulted in punishment, and while it was not usually very severe by drow standards, a beating is still a beating. Yet as my naked body was stretched over the cruel metal beams, sweat pouring down my face and dripping unto the fire beneath, I couldn’t help but asking: “Master, may I inquire as to what this ceremony entails, precisely?”

Uzgaa smiled. “You’ll be going away tomorrow. Out of our reach. This is just about making you a bit easier to control.”

“Oh. Well that’s okay, then.”

She smiled again. “Nobody asked, worm.”

And she jammed the stake into my heart.

---

I serve the purpose of my masters. Why wouldn’t I? Others, given my situation, would seek ways to free themselves of the powerful spells binding them to Uzgaa’s successors’ will. But why would I? I get to do what I want. My judgement is never overruled. I am allowed to satisfy the needs that arise in me, even when it means the destruction of a captive’s body, or mind.

The powers I have gained by desecrating Lolth’s vile sanctums are immense. I am hidden in drow society, my identity and nature protected by magical and mundane means alike. I take those I consider worth taking, tempt them way by promising riches, power, or the desired grace of Lolth. Sometimes they suspect something’s afoot, but they never guess right. They’re always surprised by where they end up.

Nobody expects the Orcish Inquisition.

Spoiler: Basics

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Lesser drow necropolitan male. Chaotic evil. Enchanter 5, mindbender 1, ur-priest 2, mystic theurge 2, insidious corruptor 10.
Abilities (post racial): Str 8, Dex 16, Con 6 (-), Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 14.

Spoiler: Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Focused enchanter* 1	+0	+0	+0	+2	Bluff 4, diplomacy 4, intimidate 4, K. (religion) 4, sense motive 4.	B: Scribe scrolls, Arcane disciple: Gruumsh, domination.	Spells, social proficiency, snake familiar.
2nd	Enchanter 2	+1	+0	+0	+3	Bluff 5 (+1), diplomacy 5 (+1), intimidate 4, k. (religion) 5 (+1), sense motive 4, spellcraft 2 (+2).	-	-
3rd	Elf wizard enchanter 3	+1	+1	+1	+3	Bluff 6 (+1), diplomacy 5, intimidate 4, k. (religion) 6 (+1), sense motive 4, spellcraft 5 (+3).	Spell focus: evil	Natural link
4th	Enchanter 4	+2	+1	+1	+4	Bluff 6, diplomacy 5, intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 2 (+2), k. (religion) 7 (+1), sense motive 4, spellcraft 7 (+2).	-	-
5th	Enchanter 5	+2	+1	+1	+4	Bluff 6, diplomacy 5, intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 3 (+1), k. (plains) 2 (+2), k. (religion) 8 (+1), sense motive 4, spellcraft 8 (+1)	-	-
6th	Mindbender 1	+2	+3	+1	+6	Bluff 6, diplomacy 5, intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 5 (+2), k. (plains) 5 (+3), k. (religion) 8, sense motive 4, spellcraft 8.	Iron will	Telepathy
7th	Ur-priest 1	+2	+3	+1	+8	Bluff 10 (+4), diplomacy 5, intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 5, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 4, spellcraft 8, disguise 0.5 (cc).	-	spells
8th	Ur-priest 2	+3	+3	+1	+9	Bluff 11 (+1) , diplomacy 5, intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6 (+1), k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 4, spellcraft 8, disguise 1 (+0.5, cc), skill trick: social recovery.	-	Rebuke undead
9th	Mystic theurge 1	+3	+3	+1	+11	Bluff 11, diplomacy 5, intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 9 (+5), spellcraft 8, disguise 1, social recovery.	Persuasive	-
10th	Mystic theurge 2	+4	+3	+1	+12	Bluff 11, diplomacy 5, intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8 sense motive 13 (+4), spellcraft 9 (+1), disguise 1, social recovery.	-	-
11th	Insidious corruptor 1	+4	+3	+1	+14	Bluff 11, diplomacy 12 (+7), intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 13, spellcraft 9, disguise 1, social recovery.	-	Claws of influence, manipulate senses
12th	Insidious corruptor 2	+5	+3	+1	+15	Bluff 14 (+3), diplomacy 14 (+2), intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 13, spellcraft 9, disguise 3 (+2), social recovery.	Practiced spellcaster (ur-priest)	Probe thoughts
13th	Insidious corruptor 3	+5	+4	+2	+15	Bluff 16 (+2), diplomacy 16 (+2), intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 13, spellcraft 9, disguise 6 (+3), social recovery.	-	Manipulation
14th	Insidious corruptor 4	+6	+4	+2	+16	Bluff 17 (+1), diplomacy 17 (+1), intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 13, spellcraft 9, disguise 11 (+5), social recovery.	-	Minion
15th	Insidious corruptor 5	+6	+4	+2	+16	Bluff 18 (+1), diplomacy 18 (+1), intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 13, spellcraft 9, disguise 16 (+5), social recovery.	Heighten spell	Swift (free) enchantment
16th	Insidious corruptor 6	+7	+5	+3	+17	Bluff 19 (+1), diplomacy 19 (+1), intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 13, spellcraft 9, disguise 19 (+3), skill trick: assume quirk, social recovery.	-	Irresistible charm
17th	Insidious corruptor 7	+7	+5	+3	+17	Bluff 20 (+1), diplomacy 20 (+1), intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 17 (+4), spellcraft 9, disguise 20 (+1), assume quirk, social recovery.	-	Greater manipulation
18th	Insidious corruptor 8	+8	+5	+3	+18	Bluff 21 (+1), diplomacy 21 (+1), intimidate 4, k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 21 (+4), spellcraft 9, disguise 21 (+1), assume quirk, social recovery.	Divine Meta Magic: Heighten Spell.	Greater minion
19th	Insidious corruptor 9	+8	+6	+4	+18	Bluff 22 (+1), diplomacy 22 (+1), intimidate 7 (+3), k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 22 (+1), spellcraft 9, disguise 22 (+1), assume quirk, social recovery.	-	irresistible compulsion
20th	Insidious corruptor 10	+9	+6	+4	+19	Bluff 23 (+1), diplomacy 23 (+1), intimidate 10 (+3), k. (arcana) 6, k. (plains) 5, k. (religion) 8, sense motive 23 (+1), spellcraft 9, disguise 23 (+1), assume quirk, social recovery.	-	Master manipulator

*ACFs: Focused specialist (Banned evocation, abjuration, necromancy), Social proficiency, elf sub level at level 3.

Spoiler: Spells

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Spell tables do not include extra spells from Int/Wis.

Enchanter Spells:

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1st	2+3	0+3	-	-	-
2nd	3+3	1+3	-	-	-
3rd	3+3	1+3	0+3	-	-
4th	3+3	2+3	1+3	-	-
5th	3+3	2+3	1+3	0+3	-
6th	3+3	2+3	2+3	1+3	-
9th	3+3	3+3	2+3	1+3	0+3
10th	3+3	3+3	2+3	2+3	1+3

Ur-Priest Spells:

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
7th	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	5	3	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th	5	3	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
10th	6	3	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-
12th	6	3	3	2	1	0	-	-	-	-
14th	6	3	3	3	2	1	0	-	-	-
16th	6	4	3	3	3	2	1	0	-	-
18th	6	4	4	3	3	3	2	1	0	-
20th	6	5	4	4	4	4	3	2	1	0

Spoiler: Snapshots

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Level 5:
The insidious corruptor is all about magical and mundane manipulation, something a focused specialist enchanter with social proficiency also embodies. The elf wizard substitution levels from races of the wild require the wizard to an elf, which a lesser drow undoubtedly is. Taking a sub level at level 3 doubles the bluff benefit from the snake familiar.
Arcane disciple (domination) gives access to command and enthrall, two useful spells that fit an enchanter well and are usually outside the wizard spell list. Necropolitan can certainly make a face’s job harder – but probably less so for someone working mainly with drow, and it’s necessary for survivability.
Another important point regarding arcane disciple: these are not divine spells, nor do they require faith, reverence, or allegiance to their associated deity. The wording doesn’t indicate needing any relationship to the deity besides having the same alignment. The spells cast are not granted by the deity, nor inspired by it. I chose to represent it as studying magic under the guidance of orcish clerics of Gruumsh.

Level 10:
Almost into the SI. A mindbender dip complements enchanter very well, and will complement insidious corruptor for the same reason. It also has a good Fort save, which allows entry into Ur-Priest – the crux of the build’s spellcasting power, and the final break from Lolth’s influence and from the laws of drow society. A couple of levels of Mystic thuerge mean access to 4th level wizard spells – and through arcane disciple, dominate person is now a 4th level wizard spell, allowing entry into insidious corruptor.

Level 15:
Pretty straight forward, 5 levels into insidious corruptor. Access to 6th level ur priest spells is nice, and bluff and diplomacy are maxed out, with disguise closing the gap behind them. Insidious corruptor’s unique advantages can get plenty of use – Swift enchantment is great for utilising the enchanter slots, and the rest works well for a face with telepathy.

Level 20:
Dear judges: DON’T PANIC!
You may have seen the feat choice at 18 and immediately decided in blind rage to tank my elegance score into oblivion. Don’t do it. Please pay attention to the fact that this isn’t DMM persist, and that in fact I’m not using it for any real shenanigans – no early entry to anything, no crazy Meta magic loops, no mention of n*ght st*cks. Heighten spell is useful, and Ur priest doesn’t get access to some useful low level wizard spells, which would be nice to increase to level 5 or 6. That’s all there is to it. It’s a cheap way to increase DC on a few important spells, nothing too crazy. Back to our usual programing.
The peak of the build. 10 levels of the SI, full face capabilities, 9th level spells. The powerful irresistible compulsion has less punch than it would on a high Cha entry, but it’s still pretty clutch, and the rest can be utilised phenomenally with maxed out disguise, bluff, and diplomacy.
Yeah, not much else to say. The main take away here is – well, It’s probably 9th level spells, but what I was going to say is that 10 levels of the SI make up for the relatively low Cha entry, as far as DCs go – especially once master manipulator comes online.

Spoiler: Sources

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Complete Divine: Ur priest, arcane disciple, divine meta magic, practiced spellcaster.
Drow of the Underdark: Insidious corruptor.
Libris Mortis: Necropolitan.
Races of the Wild: Elf wizard substitution level.
Unearthed Arcana: Focused specialist, social proficiency.

[The Viscount]

Dance puppets! Dance!

Name: Sandam "Sandy" - Master of Puppets

Stub: NE Deepwyrm Half-Drow Bard 1 / Sorcerer 4 / Fiend-Blooded 2 / Insidious Corruptor 4 / Fatespinner 5 / Insidious Corruptor +4

Backstory

Spoiler: Level 5

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The abandoned child of two outcasts, a Drow father and Tiefling mother, Sandy grew up rough on the streets of the Nameless City. Always quick with a joke, bawdy song, or limerick and handy with cards, she hustled on the streets for years. A bit smaller than the other orphans, she realized the often times the best way to get by was by manipulating and using other people. That was a good enough strategy to protect herself, mostly, until it wasn't. As her arcane powers began to more fully manifest themselves, Sandy began to move her way up in the ranks of the underworld. Eventually, she realized true power would be found via arcane means and abandoned her tactile and physical means of guile and deception, preferring to rely on her spells.

Spoiler: Level 10

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After years of honing her craft and taking down ever more dangerous targets, Sandy began to hear voices whispering of greater power and realized her true Fiendish heritage. She always knew she was a bit of an outcast, shunned by many for her monstrous mixed parentage, but did not realize the true nature of her eldritch power. Her (presumed) mother's fiendish blood was good for more than some striking eyes and wicked teeth but also powering her very font of power. Sandy, lured by the promise of escaping her life and finally controlling those around her fully instead of subtly. Following this path she eventually realizes her ability to dominate others much earlier than others are awakened to this power. With this new knowledge in hand, she begins to subtly build a network of trusted agents, spies, and thieves in her shadowy underground world. All the while dreaming of something...bigger.

Spoiler: Level 15

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Sanday has spent years, plotting, planning, and moving in the shadows. A woman who was once considered nothing in the city is now, secretly, amassed great power moving through the shadows. No one is quite sure, when it all happened, when they began to swear their allegiance to Sandam. She is the master of puppets, they whisper in the back alleys and rooftops - but she is always listening, to both her trusted agents and those plotting to betray her. Only now is it becoming clear that it is this abandoned urchin child who has taken over the underworld. And yet, at the height of her power, Sandy begins to dabble. She realizes that while she has built a network of mortals, she could dream even bigger. Perhaps taking her own fate into her hands and twisting it to distort the world into a form she prefers, much like she has with the minds of her erstwhile allies.

Spoiler: Level 20

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Sandy has finally unlocked some of the core secrets of the universe, and like everything she touches she has turned it to her own will. Long gone are the days many decades ago where she was the lowliest rat on the street. Now she commands mighty demons and elementals, ordering them as if they were her personal servants. Her underworld empire has moved into the light of day, her power growing immense and unassailable. While Sandy has never truly unlocked the deepest secrets of the magic, she has her own 'pets' to do that for her. In fact, only few creatures beyond the gods themselves can resist her charms and many are all too happy to comply with her demands to earn favor with the self styled shadow queen. Those that do not, are quickly made to do as Sandam sees fit and those that crossed her, have long since been buried.

Abilities

Score	32 PB	L5	L10	L15	L20
STR	8	8	8	8	8
DEX	12	12	12	12	12
CON	12	12	12	12	12
INT	14	14	14	14	14
WIS	10	10	10	10	10
CHA	18	19	20	21	22

Spoiler: Build Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Bard 1	+0	+0	+0	+2	Bluff (4), Concentration (4), Diplomacy (4), Intimidate (1), Know (Arcana) (4), Know (Planes) (4), Perform (Comedy) (4), Profession (Gambler) (2), Sense Motive (4)	Eschew Materials	Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Countersong, Fascinate, Inspire Courage +1
2nd	Sorcerer 1	+0	+0	+0	+4	Concentration (5), Know (Arcana) (5), Know (Planes) (5)		Summon Familiar
3rd	Sorcerer 2	+1	+0	+0	+5	Concentration (6), Know (Arcana) (6), Know (Planes) (6)	Blood Calls to Blood
4th	Sorcerer 3	+1	+1	+1	+5	Concentration (7), Know (Arcana) (7), Know (Planes) (7)
5th	Sorcerer 4	+2	+1	+1	+6	Concentration (8), Know (Arcana) (8), Know (Planes) (8)
6th	Fiend-Blooded 1	+2	+1	+1	+8	Bluff (6), Intimidate (3)	Persuasive	Fiendish Companion, Fiendish Heritage +1 AC
7th	Fiend-Blooded 2	+3	+1	+1	+9	Bluff (9), Intimidate (4)		Fiendish Sorcery
8th	Insidious Corruptor 1	+3	+1	+1	+11	Intimidate (6), Perform (Comedy) (6)		Claws of Influence (1 target), Manipulate Senses
9th	Insidious Corruptor 2	+4	+1	+1	+12	Intimidate (8), Perform (Comedy) (8)	Doomspeak	Probe Thoughts
10th	Insidious Corruptor 3	+4	+2	+2	+12	Profession (Gambler) (4), Know (Arcana) (9), Intimidate (9)		Manipulation, Claws of Influence (2 targets)
11th	Insidious Corruptor 4	+5	+2	+2	+13	Profession (Gambler) (5), Know (Arcana) (10), Bluff (10), Concentration (9), Intimidate (10)		Minion
12th	Fatespinner 1	+5	+2	+2	+15	Concentration (10), Know (Arcana) (11), Profession (Gambler) (6), Spellcraft (1)	Ability Focus (Claws of Influence)	Spin Fate
13th	Fatespinner 2	+6	+2	+2	+16	Concentration (11), Know (Arcana) (12), Profession (Gambler) (7), Spellcraft (2)		Fickle Finger of Fate
14th	Fatespinner 3	+6	+3	+3	+16	Concentration (12), Know (Arcana) (13), Profession (Gambler) (8), Spellcraft (3)		Spin Destiny
15th	Fatespinner 4	+7	+3	+3	+17	Concentration (13), Know (Arcana) (14), Profession (Gambler) (9), Spellcraft (4)	Sudden Ability Focus	Deny Fate, Resist Fate
16th	Fatespinner 5	+7	+3	+3	+17	Concentration (14), Know (Arcana) (15), Profession (Gambler) (10), Spellcraft (5)		Seal Fate
17th	Insidious Corruptor 5	+7	+3	+3	+17	Bluff (11), Concentration (15), Intimidate (11), Know (Arcana) (16), Spellcraft (6), Sense Motive (5)		Swift Enchantment
18th	Insidious Corruptor 6	+8	+4	+4	+18	Bluff (12), Concentration (16), Intimidate (12), Know (Arcana) (17), Spellcraft (7), Sense Motive (6)	Improved Familiar	Irresistible Charm, Claws of Influence (3 targets)
19th	Insidious Corruptor 7	+8	+4	+4	+18	Bluff (13), Concentration (17), Intimidate (13), Know (Arcana) (18), Spellcraft (8), Sense Motive (7)		Greater Manipulation
20th	Insidious Corruptor 8	+9	+4	+4	+19	Bluff (14), Concentration (18), Intimidate (14), Know (Arcana) (19), Spellcraft (9), Sense Motive (8)		Greater Minion

Spoiler: Spells Table

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Bard Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st - 20th	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Bard Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st - 20th	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Sorcerer Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	6	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	6	6	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
10th	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
11th	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-	-
12th	6	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-
13th	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-
14th	6	6	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-
15th	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-
16th	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-
17th	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-
18th	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	-	-	-
19th	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	-	-	-
20th	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-

Sorcerer Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	5	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	6	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	6	4	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	7	4	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	7	4	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th	7	5	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
10th	7	5	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
11th	8	5	3	2	1	-	-	-	-	-
12th	8	5	4	3	2	-	-	-	-	-
13th	9	5	4	3	2	1	-	-	-	-
14th	9	5	5	4	3	2	-	-	-	-
15th	9	5	5	4	3	2	1	-	-	-
16th	9	5	5	4	3	2	1	-	-	-
17th	9	5	5	4	3	2	1	-	-	-
18th	9	5	5	4	4	3	2	-	-	-
19th	9	5	5	4	4	3	2	-	-	-
20th	9	5	5	4	4	3	2	1	-	-

Note: These tables do not include extra spells per day from ability scores and extra spells known from Fiendish Sorcery.

Breakpoints

Spoiler: Level 5

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At this level Sandy is a pretty standard multiclass Bard 1 / Sorcerer 4. She's unfortunately a full spell level behind single-classed Wizards so we have to choose our spells carefully and for maximum effect. We can help out our allies with Bardic music and our decent Intelligence plus Bardic Knowledge can also be helpful. Finally, we do have lots of spells per day from both classes together, although they're mostly cantrips. Our high Charisma plus variety of skills means we can also be a good face and talk our way out of social situations.

Spoiler: Level 10

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Sandy is now starting to take shape and some of our earlier trade-offs are paying off here. We pick up Dominate Person early as a level three arcane spell off of the Thayan Slaver spell list via Fiendish Sorcery. This lets us enter Insidious Corruptor early for a Sorcerer. From there we can use Claws of Influence. Doomspeak is a huge boon, it allows a -10 to a single save. We can use this 1/day along with a Belt of Battle to get an extra Standard Action (also 1/day) to pick the scariest thing we can target with our Claws of Influence ability. While this control doesn't amount to much yet we can use it to great effect later. For now we're happy to Influence both ourselves and potentially our familiar, which are reliable targets and can be used to self-buff via Manipulate Senses. We can later target foes and/or potential recruits/allies and use our (limited) Manipulation power. Right now our effective DC is 28 = 10(Base)+3(Lvl)+5(Cha)+10(Doomspeak) although it's still possible Doomspeak fails (DC 25) so we may have to try again and be careful who we target daily.

Spoiler: Level 15

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Now Sandy really gets going. A few levels in the Fatespinner class combined with the Minion ability give us a 9th level effect (Dominate Monster) on almost any target we could face. This allows us to per-round control some truly scary combatants. Ability Focus (+2 DC) and Sudden Ability Focus (+2 DC 1/day) both come online here. Our current DC is: 33 = 10+4+5+10+2(AF)+2(SAF) with Doomspeak DC of 30. We can now also combine this with Fickle Finger of Fate to effectively give one roll disadvantage, which is something like a -5 penalty so we can potentially boost Claws of Influence to an effective 38. We can do all of this without the target even realizing that we are manipulating them. On top of all of this we're still a fairly potent spellcaster, if a few levels behind our focused casting cousins. However, we can probably just manipulate them into casting for us aka the whole point of this exercise.

Spoiler: Level 20

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Finally, Fatespinner's capstone ability Seal Fate really cranks our targets up a notch. Our DC is now 48 (10+8+6+10+2+2+10). Let me repeat, if everything goes well, our DC is 48! Basically anything with a less than +28(!) Will Save is ours to control. The gravy is swift enchantment, more Claws of Influence targets, improved familiar for other helpful forms, better companions, etc. and we have a mini-army at our disposal. We're now at 7th level spells and can Dominate basically every creature on the planet aside from gods. The only real downside is that we're limited to targets with HD less than or equal to our level due to Doomspeak's wording. Luckily we have a bunch of great targets that can do our wok for us. We can also pick up a Helm of Telepathy to make sure our targets understand our complex commands (and we probably could have bought it earlier). That's why they call us Master. Master, Master of Puppets pulling the strings!

Equipment:
- Belt of Battle
- Helm of Telepathy (optional)

Sources:
- Dragon Magic: Deepwyrm Half-Drow
- Races of Faerun: Half-Drow
- PHB: Bard, Sorcerer, Eschew Materials, Ability Focus, Improved Familiar
- DotU: Insidious Corruptor
- HoH: Fiend-Blooded, Blood Calls to Blood
- CoR: Doomspeak
- ToM: Sudden Ability Focus
- CArc: Fatespinner
- MIC: Belt of Battle
- UE: Thayan Slaver
- DMG: Helm of Telepathy

[The Viscount]

They don't call her the red queen for nothing.

Spoiler: The scarlet overlord

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Fluff

Spoiler

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The scarlet overlords have no names. They are kings, the rest are either brothers and sisters in kinghoood under the scepter of the eternal red, or servants to die and fight for them. THis particular overlord has some dimmed memories of his early life, Raised on the streets of a large metropolin, as the third child of
a low class noble who fell into poverty, nobody gave him a second look. Chaos was everywhere in his life, and thus he found discipline and strength in the church of the grinning witch, Wee Jass, the Crimson inifinity.
He joined the ranks of her sacred order, lookin for criminals and traitors. After a long time in her service, she opened more secrets to him. The ability to finally push his will on others. His understanding that he knows better than everyone around him what to do, was now weaponized. His cold hearted and precise orders helped his allies countless times - his mind have finally completed its transendance into the divine scarlet, and now he serves as part of her. Loyal and blind to mercy, like an attack dog, a leader of the pack in the hunt against those who dare to insult her majesty or oppose her.

Chassis

Spoiler

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Alignment: LE
Race: Half drow
Class: Paladin of tyranny 3/crusader 2/consecrated harrier 1/RKV 7/Corruptor 7
Ability scores:
STR 16 DEX 8 CON 10 INT 14 WIS 14 CHA 15
Ending phase:
STR 18 DEX 8 CON 10 INT 14 WIS 16 CHA 16

Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Paladin of tyranny 1	+1	+2	+0	+0	hide 2, diplomacy 4, disguise 4, religion 4	city slicker	Aura of evil, detect good, smite good
2nd	Paladin of tyranny 2	+3	+3	+0	+0	hide 2, diplomacy 4, disguise 5, gather info 2, religion 5		Divine grace, deadly touch
3rd	Paladin o tyrannny	+3	+3	+1	+1	hide 3, diplomacy 4, disguise 5, gather info 3, religion 6	Power attack	Rebuke undead, Aura of
4th	Crusader 1	+4	+5	+1	+1	hide 3, diplomacy 5, disguise 5, gather info 5, religion 7, sense motive 2	Feats	Maneuvers and stances, furious counterstrike, steely resolve 5
5th	Crusader 2	+5	+6	+1	+1	hide 4, diplomacy 5, disguise 5, gather info 5, intimidate 1, religion 8, sense motive 4		Indomitable soul
6th	Consecrated harrier 1	+6/1	+6	+1	+3	hide 4, diplomacy 5, disguise 5, gather info 5, intimidate 4, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 2	Spell focus (enchantment)	Spellcasting, Blessing of scripture, detect chaos (at will)
7th	Ruby knight vindicator 1	+7/2	+6	+1	+5	hide 4, diplomacy 5, disguise 5, gather info 5, intimidate 4, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 4		Spellcasting advancement, Maneuvers
8th	Ruby knight vindicator 2	+8/3	+6	+1	+6	hide 5, diplomacy 5, disguise 5, gather info 5, intimidate 4, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 9		Divine recovery
9th	Ruby knight vindicator 3	+9/4	+7	+2	+7	hide 5, diplomacy 5, disguise 5, gather info 5, intimidate 10, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 9	G spell focus (enchantment)
10th	Ruby knight vindicator 4	+10/5	+7	+2	+8	hide 5, diplomacy 5, disguise 5, gather info 5, intimidate 13, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 12
11th	Ruby knight vindicator 5	+11/6/1	+7	+2	+9	hide 5, diplomacy 11, disguise 5, gather info 5, intimidate 13, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 12		Armored stealth
12th	Ruby knight vindicator 6	+12/7/2	+8	+3	+10	hide 5, diplomacy 11, disguise 5, gather info 11, intimidate 13, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 12	Persuasive
13th	Ruby knight vindicator 7	+13/8/3	+8	+3	+11	hide 5, diplomacy 11, disguise 11, gather info 11, intimidate 13, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 12		Divine impetus
14th	Insidious corruptor 1	+ 13/8/3	+8	+3	+13	hide 5, diplomacy 11, disguise 17, gather info 11, intimidate 13, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 12	Feats	Claws of influence, manipulate senses
15th	Insidious corruptor 2	+14/9/4	+8	+3	+14	hide 5, diplomacy 12, disguise 17, gather info 11, intimidate 13, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 17	Extra turning	Probe thoughts
16th	Insidious corruptor 3	+14/9/4	+9	+4	+14	hide 5, diplomacy 17, disguise 17, gather info 12, intimidate 13, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 17	Feats	Manipulation
17th	Insidious corruptor 4	+15/10/5	+9	+4	+15	hide 5, diplomacy 17, disguise 17, gather info 17, intimidate 14, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 17	Feats	Minion
18th	Insidious corruptor 5	+15/10/5	+9	+4	+15	hide 5, diplomacy 17, disguise 17, gather info 17, intimidate 20, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 17	Law devotion	Swift enchantment
19th	Insidious corruptor 6	+16/11/6/1	+10	+5	+16	hide 5, diplomacy 17, disguise 17, gather info 21, intimidate 22, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 17	Feats	Irresistable charm
20th	Insidious corruptor 7	+16/11/6/1	+10	+5	+16	hide 5, diplomacy 22, disguise 17, gather info 22, intimidate 22, religion 8, sense motive 4, bluff 17	Feats	G. manipulation

Leveled abilities

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Initiating:
IL: 14
Stances:
Il 1: Iron guard’s glare
Il 3: Leading the charge
Il 5: Child of shadow
Il 10: Press the advantage
Maneuvers:
Lvl 1:Vaunguard strike, leading the attack, douse the flame, Charging minotaur, crusader’s strike
Lvl 2: Cloak of deception, mountain hammer,
Lvl 3:White raven tactics


Spellcasting:
Not going to go through the entire ranger’s list. You want to prepare some enchantments (Command, hold person, dominate person would be very good here), and use the rest of your spell slots to costumize your character, probably best used for utility purposes.

Level breakdown

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1 – 5: Let’s begin with the basics.

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At this level, you are playing as a regular melee brute, with a dash of skills on the side – and you are not half bad at either. Your touch attack can pack up a small amount of punch, combined with full bab-power attack, an aura that reduces enemy saves, and martial maneuvers to boot, you are a pretty well rounded character – and the martial-caster dis[arity doesn’t really hit at this level, so you should be able to do just fine.

6 – 10: It’s time to get magical

Spoiler

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Right when the disparity I mentioned above begins to put its pressure on your shoulders, you get boosted. With more maneuvers, more skills, and more spellcasting ability (for utility purposes right now, you aren’t that great at combat casting but you have pretty decent utility if needed, and some of the ranger spells can cover for your poor wilderness skills, so you can actually put the track feat for some use on the rare occasion its needed. Your party buffing has also improved – your aura keeps being useful, and now spell focus feat can make sure you might actually manage to hit an enemy with one of your few enchantment spells. You also have more maneuvers that relate to buffing and help you in that area.

11 – 15: Knight of dark rubies.

Spoiler

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We start this section by taking the wonderful 7th level of the ruby knight vindicator. More swift actions are always useful…but for you especially so. See more below. You also get some more maneuvers and spellcasting – and now its time to start getting funky.
You get the claws of influence ability, which lets you target living creatures at will as a standard action, and you get some cool abilities – IF they fail their save. Woe to us, since our charisma is only a mere 16 so the chance that someone will actually FALL for your claws is not high, even with the paladin of tyranny’s aura.
Fortunaetly for you, allies are also potential targets of your claws of influence. They will be willing to be targeted, and you can also activate the claws on allies in your free time/while dungeon crawling, as long as you are not too far away from each other – and thus you can solve the pesky action economy problems. What do you actually get from targeting allies with the claws? Well, at this phase, here are some neat benefits
1. Can detect thoughts on the target (good in case of infiltrator situation, and since you can confuse them after detecting it’s a pretty neat way to shut down enemy controllers trying to ruin your day)
2. You give them a moderate bonus to some sense-related skills, a free at will bonus is always nice!
Also, being an investigator of the church and all, you can also use the claws during an interrogation/social situation in order to gain a little extra edge – however, using it on your party members IS an important part of the build.

Combat and buffing wise, you keep getting better at these, and you are at an almost full BaB progression with a great will save (generally the weakest for martials)

16 – 20: The Crimson emperor

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Besides getting more general goodies from BaB increase. Law deovotion as a nice capstone feat (although not a nessecary one), you also get a few good bumps for the claws of influence ability.
Now you can target more party members with the claws, and the sense-bonuses have increased into something resembling a “reasonable” bonus at this level – even liches get “only” a +8 bonus to listen checks (;
In addition, you can get the following benefits for the claws of influence
1. Greater manipulation ability. While the former manipulation ability didn’t do much good for you, this one is VERY good for a buffer. All day long, as an immediate action, give one of your buddies a +4 to attack and damage, a +2 to spell save DC, or a bonus movement speed. (Remember all those extra swifts from divine Impetus? They might come in handy now…but just wait for later)
2. Irresistble charm – now, your crew are a rechargeable battery of the ability to add +3 to the DCs of your charm spells. Not the most amazing ability ever…but not bad as a renewable at will which basically costs you no resources
3. The real gem here – you can as a swift action (remember those extra ones?) release a buddy of yours from the effect of your claws in order to cast an enchantment spell as a free action. Why is it important? Because it just turned enchantment spells (the four you have) from a turn-wasting tactic for a martial barely-half caster, into a back-pocket tactic against the right enemy.
Now you can enter combat with your buddies under the claws of influence, you make a full attack/maneuver, and get to cast a basically-quickened enchantment spell at the right moment, which can also be used in conjunction with Irresistble charm (multi-turn set-up or just use divine impetus for a nova casting). Hold person isn’t that amazing as a spell for a gish, since the enemy will just save against the effect on it’s turn. But now you have just swift-action paralyzed the dude right before you unleash your four attacks on him. The only limit is your imagination (and the four spells you have).

In the end of the day…

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You got almost full consecrated harrier casting, 14 initiator levels, ¾ BaB, enough spells for wilderness utility and face skills to be useful outo f combat, and a very large amount of renewable/constant buffs and debuffs. In addition for the ability to nove-enchant an enemy if you are in the right condition to do so.

Additional rant

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About entry levels:
RKV was taken to 7 to get impetus, but also in order to qualify for the corruptor from the casting of the harrier.
Alternate classes - if your GM waves alignment requirments, you can invest more in charisma, switch the spell focus feats for weapon focus and other fancy stuff, and go for divine crusader of wee jass instead (also frees up your first feat as a city slicker since you don't need the skill reqs for harrier.)

[The Viscount]

Crunchatize my will, Cap'n!

From the journal of Bhaldrulim Brickarmor, dwarf sailor:

• Day 11 since capture. I still think of myself as a stubborn sort, but I feel like the captain's definitely got some kind of control over me. One minute I was defending myself and my ship from her and her murderous bunch, and the next minute I don't have any other choice but to serve as her crew to help her find some stupid treasure? The boys at home won't be proud to hear about this.
• Day 17. I can't be the only one she's got ensorcelled. Can I? If she can do this to me, surely she can have done it to that centaur bloke she's got steering this damn ship, or that big orc bastard she's always got chanting those freaking Gruumshian prayers day and night, or that halfling lass up in the crow's nest. Who would follow a monster like the captain? Maybe I can use that.
• Day 25. Am I the only one? The rest of the crew won't even give a single hint that anything's up. We had to raid another dwarven ship yesterday. Broke my heart to turn my hammer against my own countrymen! But the captain's word is law, and at least those poor doomed bastards had some proper booze that's ours now. She brought a few of the dwarves onboard just like me! I've gotta be able to reach them.
• Day 26. Nothing. They seem to be absolutely petrified with fear at the captain.
• Day 41. I think? I think it's 41, at least. Time is hard now. I barely remember life before this ship. Maybe it's been longer? But the captain says we're making progress on finding that treasure she wants, so I guess that's good. Then I can be free, I think? What will I do after we find the treasure and I can leave? At least I guess I'll leave.
• Day 66. I've learned a lot of Orcish just listening to the ship's chaplain talking to the captain. Who'da thunk a drow like the captain would be such a loyal follower of Gruumsh? It kind of makes sense, though. Those teachings are soothing, in a way. Logical, even.
• Day 50? Maybe? One of the newcomers started talking about a mutiny. Mutiny! Can you believe it? Against our captain?! The very thought terrifies me! I don't even want to THINK about what she'd do if she got wind of that. I got the chap alone and kind of read him the riot act. Wouldn't do at all to have that kind of talk getting out. She's scary enough when she's in a good mood!
• Day 139. I dunno why the ship we raided yesterday felt different. The sailors onboard seemed scared to see my compatriots—as is proper!—but seemed saddened and desperate to see me? And they knew my name, or something? I guess it must be my outfit. Even though I'm pretty sure I'm dressed the same as the rest of the crew here. Dunno why they thought I'd stop doing my rightful and proper job just because they begged and pleaded. But they had good booze! I think I need more of that booze.
• Day 92. Gruumsh preserve us, those harpies this morning were a handful! How dare they try to get in our way like that! By the One-Eyed Spear, I can't recall the last time I fought so hard.
• Day 8R. That troublesome bloke keeps talking about a mutiny. Why on earth would we want to mutiny? How would we possibly find the treasure then? It's like he doesn't understand the importance of our quest!
• Day G2#. Back from the scouting mission. I prepared my whole report but never needed to deliver it. Captain just looked me in the eye, started barking orders to everyone else based on exactly what I was going to report, and I felt really dizzy for a while. She dismissed me immediately but it took a while for me to register that. I think I need to sit down.
• Day 0~&. The new batch of recruits are all so scared! I don't know why. They should be happy to be chosen as part of our crew! This is such an improvement for them. Maybe a few rousing rounds of the song I wrote will bring their spirits up.
• Day 🍍3🍞🍄. I had to kill him. I had to. He wouldn't stop urging us to go against the captain. Our captain! She'll be disappointed when she hears I had to do it, but I hope she'll be proud of me when she hears that I solved the problem!

---

Cap'n Calwyn, Terror of the Whale-Road
Race: Half-drow
Alignment: CE
Deity: Gruumsh
Blood type: O+
Favorite snack: Toast and jam
Greatest flaw: Murky-eyed (UA pg. 91)
Greatest benefit: Persuasive (PHB pg. 98)

Stats

STR 12 (4 pts)
DEX 12 (4 pts)
CON 11 (3 pts)
INT 13 (5 pts)
WIS 8 (0 pts)
CHA (level-up points here) 18 (16 pts)

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fortitude	Reflex	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1	Sneak Attack Thug Fighter 1	1	+2	+0	+0	Bluff +4 (4), Diplomacy +2 cc (2), Intimidate +4 (4), Sense Motive +2 cc (2), Profession: Sailor +2 cc (2)	Aberrant Dragonmark: charm person, Persuasive (flaw)	Sneak attack +1d6
2	Sneak Attack Thug Fighter 2	2	+3	+0	+0	Bluff +1 (5), Diplomacy +0.5 cc (2.5), Intimidate +1 (5), Sense Motive +0.5 cc (2.5), Profession: Sailor +0.5 cc (2.5)		n/a
3	Sneak Attack Thug Fighter 3	3	+3	+1	+1	Bluff +1 (6), Diplomacy +0.5 cc (3), Intimidate +1 (6), Sense Motive +0.5 cc (3), Profession: Sailor +0.5 cc (3)	Weapon Focus: Spear	Sneak attack +2d6, combat bearing +1
4	Sneak Attack Thug Fighter 4	4	+4	+1	+1	Bluff +1 (7), Intimidate +1 (7), Profession: Sailor +0.5 cc (3.5), Knowledge: Religion +1 cc (1)		n/a
5	Sneak Attack Thug Fighter 5	5	+4	+1	+1	Bluff +1 (8), Intimidate +1 (8), Profession: Sailor +0.5 cc (4), Knowledge: Religion +1 cc (2)		Sneak attack +3d6, combat bearing +2
6	Scarlet Corsair 1	6	+4	+3	+1	Bluff +1 (9), Diplomacy +2 (5), Intimidate +1 (9), Sense Motive +0.5 cc (3.5)	Lesser Aberrant Dragonmark: bestow curse	Improved Feint
7	Scarlet Corsair 2	7	+4	+4	+1	Bluff +1 (10), Diplomacy +2 (7), Intimidate +1 (10), Sense Motive +0.5 cc (4)		Sneak attack +4d6
8	Scarlet Corsair 3	8	+5	+4	+2	Bluff +1 (11), Diplomacy +2 (9), Intimidate +1 (11), Appraise +1 (1)		Corsair's feint
9	Divine Crusader 1	8	+7	+4	+4	Bluff +1 cc (12), Intimidate +1 (12)	Greater Aberrant Dragonmark: dominate person, Spell Focus: Enchantment (bonus from domain)	Aura, Domination domain, divine crusader casting
10	Insidious Corruptor 1	8	+7	+4	+6	Bluff +1 (13), Intimidate +1 (13), Sense Motive +1 (5), Concentration +2 (2)		Claws of influence 1, manipulate senses
11	Insidious Corruptor 2	9	+7	+4	+7	Bluff +1 (14), Intimidate +1 (14), Concentration +3 (5)		Probe thoughts, +1 casting
12	Insidious Corruptor 3	9	+8	+5	+7	Bluff +1 (15), Intimidate +1 (15), Concentration +3 (8)	Combat Expertise	Manipulation, claws of influence 2
13	Insidious Corruptor 4	10	+8	+5	+8	Bluff +1 (16), Intimidate +1 (16), Concentration +3 (11)		Minion, +1 casting
14	Insidious Corruptor 5	10	+8	+5	+8	Bluff +1 (17), Intimidate +1 (17), Concentration +3 (14)		Swift (free) enchantment
15	Insidious Corruptor 6	11	+9	+6	+9	Bluff +1 (18), Intimidate +1 (18), Concentration +3 (17)	Surprising Riposte	Irresistible charm, claws of influence 3, +1 casting
16	Insidious Corruptor 7	11	+9	+6	+9	Bluff +1 (19), Diplomacy +1 (10), Intimidate +1 (19), Concentration +1 (19)		Greater manipulation
17	Insidious Corruptor 8	12	+9	+6	+10	Bluff +1 (20), Diplomacy +2 (12), Intimidate +1 (20), Concentration +1 (20)		Greater minion, +1 casting
18	Insidious Corruptor 9	12	+10	+7	+10	Bluff +1 (21), Diplomacy +2 (14), Intimidate +1 (21), Concentration +1 (21)	Scourge of the Seas	Irresistible compulsion, claws of influence 4
19	Insidious Corruptor 10	13	+10	+7	+11	Bluff +1 (22), Diplomacy +2 (16), Intimidate +1 (22), Concentration +1 (22)		Master manipulator, +1 casting
20	Divine Crusader 2	14	+11	+7	+12	Diplomacy +1 (17), Intimidate +1 (23), Concentration +1 (23)		+1 casting

Magic

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Character level	1sts	2nds	3rds	4ths	5ths	6ths	7ths	8ths	9ths
9	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
14	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	2	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-
16	2	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-
17	3	2	2	1	0	-	-	-	-
18	3	2	2	1	0	-	-	-	-
19	3	3	2	2	1	0	-	-	-
20	3	3	3	2	2	1	0	-	-

Pirate

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Calwyn is a half-drow—her father was a drow and her mother was a half-orc. She got her dad's knack for speaking and her mom's knack for fighting, and she was raised as a follower of Gruumsh, just like her mother.

Calwyn starts out as a piratical thuggish sort who's mostly interested in bullying and who has zero interest in fighting fair. Thug adds Bluff to her class skill list, Intimidate is there already, she's naturally charismatic, and she's got Persuasive; she's surprisingly talkative. Sneak attack on full BAB is completely reasonable offense, especially early on. She works hard to establish a reputation as a fearsome pirate and commandeers a ship as soon as she's able to. Access to charm person, from her aberrant dragonmark, also aids in her role as a face; she has no compunction about magically manipulating someone's emotions to get what she wants when she wants it.

Rules reminder: PGtE pg. 47 clarifies that a member of a variant subrace (say, for example, a half-drow, which is a variant subrace of half-elf) does indeed qualify for Aberrant Dragonmark.

Rules commentary: If your GM allows the simultaneous use of thug fighter (which gives up heavy armor but keeps tower shields) and drow/hit-and-run tactics fighter (which gives up heavy armor and tower shields), take hit-and-run tactics fighter too! This build is presented with the noncontroversial option, but if you can get away with it, absolutely take the extra goodies offered there.

Captain

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Scarlet corsair takes what she's already doing and makes it better. Calwyn takes three levels, gaining the ability to feint as a move action (Improved Feint) or, eventually, as a free action (corsair's feint) and adding to her sneak attack total.

She's trying to add as many people to her pirate crew as possible. Diplomacy, coercion, charms, threats, intimidation, whatever it takes. Bestow curse is honestly just thematic as hell for a wicked pirate captain. If you're willing to try using alternative curses, I feel like "always believe the captain's words are true and genuine" or something similar is completely in line with the printed curses (basically giving the target a big minus to Sense Motive or similar opposed rolls against Calwyn's social skills--considering that one of the printed options is "-4 to all skill checks, ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls," this seems pretty trivial). Even sticking with the printed stuff in the PHB and the BoVD (see pg. 28 of BoVD) is just fun and appropriate for a creepy pirate captain.

Calwyn's social skills remain strong and her sneak attack remains strong as well. Especially, but not only, with her crew behind her. And/or behind her target, in flanking.

The single rank in Appraise is just an "I'm trained, really!" rank because there was nothing better to do with a single leftover point.

Queen

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Divine crusader gives Calwyn casting! Nice to have something to advance. Greater Aberrant Dragonmark gives dominate person, which is perfectly in tune with her character, helps her get what she wants regardless of the wishes of anyone else, and also happens to be the last piece of the puzzle necessary to get into insidious corruptor (per Complete Arcane pg. 72, a spell-like ability meets prerequisites to know a specific spell). Domination, of course, is what she's all about; every spell there is relevant to how she operates.

Claws of influence is great for using on members of the crew! Manipulate senses is very helpful for making sure that whoever's up in the crow's nest is able to easily see and hear whatever might be coming, and the bonus to social skills granted by CoI's base effect just helps cement Calwyn's sway over her crew. Probe thoughts works as a great way for a busy captain to very quickly get what a subordinate has to report without wasting time by letting that subordinate speak, since the insidious corruptor version works instantly and doesn't take time building up. Who cares if they're confused afterwards? It also works on enemies if that's your deal. Tactical info and trading a turn for a turn with no save (once the claws are sunk in) isn't a bad trade.

Manipulation is good debuffing/soft control once Calwyn gets her claws in an enemy and before that enemy becomes turned to her side. Either the enemy makes a suboptimal choice or they're penalized? That's worth a swift action now and then!

Minion gives Calwyn a repeatable way of forcing actions even if her dragonmark is exhausted and her spells are worn out. It's a way to keep the fun going even once the consumable daily resources have been spent, and it's a good way to pass the time if she's waiting for corsair's feint to come back.

Swift enchantment! That's the good stuff. Let someone free from your claws to gain action economy. This is great because it's absolutely possible—easy, even—to load up a claws effect on an ally or even on yourself well before combat starts, so that turns an offensive enchantment effect into basically just a swift action. This is amazing. Eventually, by the way, this becomes Calwyn's pride and joy when she gets access to geas/quest, which has no saving throw and normally takes ten minutes to cast. But when it's a swift action? That's basically an instant win against anything not immune. Marvelous.

Our dear chair, whom I definitely did not manipulate or influence in any way, has stated that insidious corruptor abilities that work on charm/compulsion spells also work on charm/compulsion SLAs respectively, so Calwyn's old dragonmark with charm person benefits from irresistible charm. Still best out of combat, but honestly, the bonus is massive enough to overcome the in-combat penalty.

Surprising Riposte happens to come from the same book as insidious corruptor, so it feels right, you know? It lets you keep a target flat-footed for a whole round after feinting against them. Since Calwyn can feint as a free action with corsair's feint, that's an entire round of sneak attacks! Of course, she has to succeed on the Bluff check to feint first, but hey, claws of influence increases her ability to bluff, so that honestly just plain works.

Greater manipulation is fun for keeping order among the crew! Offer bonuses to follow your orders, and you don't even have to speak out loud to do it. The crew knows better than to disobey by this point. Also, if Calwyn has herself as a claws target (for convenience), this can be used for a free +2 on the DC of a spell.

Greater minion is fundamentally about action economy. The setup round pays off basically immediately as soon as this comes online. Calwyn's abilities are such that it makes sense to spend actions on this! Early rounds involve making corsair feints and full sneak attacks. While waiting for that to recharge, she uses her spells if there are any left that are appropriate and she uses claws and minion to gain an advantage without spending any other resources.

Scourge of the Seas is simply a really entertaining feat for someone with high Intimidate. I honestly can't think of anything more perfect for an emotionally manipulative pirate captain with a creepy and coercive hold over her crew. You see that coming and buddy, you do not stick around to find out if you're next.

Master manipulator is simply useful on its face with no explanation needed, honestly.

Sources

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Category	Game Element	Book	Page #
ACFs	Sneak attack fighter	Unearthed Arcana	58
ACFs	Thug fighter	Unearthed Arcana	51
ACFs	Combat bearing	Online	http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20061013a
Classes	Fighter	PHB	37
Classes	Scarlet corsair	Stormwrack	65
Classes	Divine crusader	Complete Divine	33
Classes	Insidious corruptor	Drow of the Underdark	84
Deity	Gruumsh	PHB	107
Domain	Domination	Complete Divine	138
Feats	Aberrant Dragonmark	Eberron Campaign Setting	47
Feats	Persuasive	PHB	98
Feats	Weapon Focus	PHB	102
Feats	Combat Expertise	PHB	92
Feats	Lesser Aberrant Dragonmark	Dragonmarked	141
Feats	Greater Aberrant Dragonmark	Dragonmarked	140
Feats	Surprising Riposte	Drow of the Underdark	52
Feats	Scourge of the Seas	Stormwrack	93
Race	Half-drow, Eberron	Online	http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebxe/20060224a

[The Viscount]

MIND CRUSH! In Stereo!

Ravre and Apushri Xarann

Spoiler: TLDR

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The principle theme of these builds is the leveraging of Swift Enchantment in the action economy and the use of Claws of Influence as a resource more than an effect.
Ravre uses the SI and Ruby Knight Vindicator to push save or suck spells out with frightening DCs. Through Divine Impetus she can get her CHA as a bonus to her charm DC with Irresistible Charm and then cast a spell like Symbol of Persuasion with Swift Enchantment. In this instance that DC is 30 without items and can be coupled with effects like Coercive Spell and Winter Chill to further decrease her opponent's saves.
Apushri uses the SI and War Weaver to cast more buffs per round than any potential enemy. His Enlarged Tapestry meshes well with the range limit on Claws of Influence and through Quiescent Weaving, Quicken Spell or Swift Enchantment, and his standard action Apushri is capable of casting 6 spell buffs on up to 7 creatures (without items) in one round. Additionally, by sticking with the SI, Apushri’s ability to support his party includes all the Greater Manipulation benefits such as buffing his sister’s DC by another 2.
The bonuses from the Unseelie Fey template aid both twins in survivability through increased DEX and DR and increase CHA which boosts Ravre's DCs and is Apushri's main stat. Winter Chill on Ravre hits her opponent's saves and Autumn Harvest on Apushri give him even more dispelling. Natural flight is always appreciated as well.
Basically all wealth by level goes towards increasing Ravre's DCs and paying for summons/planar binding/allies/hirelings.

Spoiler: Lore/Backstory

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Ravre and Apushri are the twin pillars of the guard detail for Malaggar Xarann’s diplomatic delegation. Unlike typical Drow; the twins care deeply for one another. They have a strong sense of pride from being trained by Malaggar himself.

Abandoned to die in the darkness between cities; the children who lay at Malaggar’s feet were abominations. Dark wings hung from their emaciated and shivering forms as they struggled against their own weight to grasp at his robes. Any other of his race would have been disgusted by this shameful display and denied the pair even the simple mercy of a quick death. But Malaggar had not climbed to his seat on the Ruling Conclave by being like the rest of his race and in these lost children he saw a spark. A will to survive that overruled even a Drow’s pride.

The Master of Enchantment and Charm raised the orphan fey twins with singular purpose. As he had saved their lives, the twins would spend their whole lives dedicated to saving his. The brother and sister drove themselves with a force of will unseen in most, and in time they came to command the slave beasts and monsters of Malaggar’s personal security.

Together they formed an unbeatable team known for settling conflicts in an instant. A rapid succession of spells would flow like a river’s rapids from the brother and a moment later the irresistible charms of the sister would crash over the minds of their opponents like a waterfall. More often than not this allowed them to resolve altercations without bloodshed which is a true and valuable rarity in cutthroat Drow politics.

Spoiler: Effective Character Level 5

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Ravre is a 1st level Warblade for a bit of survivability with Stone Bones and HP. Diamond Mind and White Raven choices now set her up for later. 4 levels of Cleric are 4 levels of Cleric. The Domination domain qualifies her for Greater Spell Focus and gets the spell we need for the SI prerequisite. Mind gets bonuses to social skills and Knowledge gets more nice spells with the CL boost. Ravre isn’t too interested in doing damage and will always want to avoid a slug fest if possible so Knowledge Devotion isn’t her cup of tea.
Apushri is straight Sha’ir up to this point and will eventually get to use his Gen as a target of Claws. 3rd level spells are 3rd level spells.

Spoiler: Effective Character Level 10

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Ravre takes a dip of Binder for some class skills and Naberius’s social buffs. The first 4 levels of RKV get her a 2nd and 3rd level maneuver: Action Before Thought replaces her worst save and White Raven Tactics is at 3. Divine Metamagic starts fueling Coercive Spell for save-or-suck and Ravre gets her 4th level spells at 10.
Apushri just stacks all 5 levels of War Weaver onto his Sha’ir for all of the action economy goodness of Quiescent Weaving and 5th level spells. He’ll also get into counterspelling since his own actions are saved by the Tapestry.

Spoiler: Effective Character Level 16

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The appetizer vs the main course.
Ravre and Apushri will both take 6 levels of the SI but Ravre stops there; wouldn’t want to overwhelm her other flavors after all. The sister will hit her 5th level spell and the brother his 6ths.
In the Catalogues of Enlightenment, Ravre will gain the Tyranny domain for some additional DC boost should she need a non-charm spell like Bewildering Mischance and Swift Enchantment opens up the sort of thing mentioned at the beginning whereby she can take a long casting time spell like Symbol of Sleep and cast it as a swift action… maybe right after Bewildering Mischance. Spell Focus Necromancy gives a little nod towards enemies that are immune to most enchantments.
Apushri takes Quicken Spell and Craft Contingent Spell to continue to capitalize on his Tapestry but Quickening is hard without shenanigans like his sister’s DMM. Swift Enchantment helps him get around that will spells like Battle Hymn and Heroism as swift buff options. Contingent also helps with his counterspelling and his high level slots mean he can quicken non enchantment spells into the tapestry.

Spoiler: Effective Character Level 20

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Back to the TLDR. After 4 more levels of RKV, Ravre is able to use her extra swift actions to throw multiple long-casting-time spells at her opponents each round like Geas/Quest or Symbol of Persuasion. Even though she didn’t stick with the SI for Irresistible Compulsion she still gets boosted by her Tyranny domain and other feats. She has access to 7th level Cleric spellcasting and her Initiator Levels line up exactly to take her 7th level maneuver. Moment of Alacrity further speeds up her spells per round and Quicksilver Motion jives with the swift action mood. Black Lore of Moil doubles into Coercive spell so that the penalty for charming while fighting is offset.
Apushri keeps going with the SI for Greater Manipulation and more Claws to fuel the other abilities. Greater Manipulation's immediate action buffs are great, his 8th level spell slots are in full swing, and the Breaching Obelisk’s time stop style effect is just gravy on top of all the rest of the buff routine.

Ravre Xarann
CE Lesser Drow
Warblade 1 / Cloistered Cleric 4 / Binder 1 / Ruby Knight Vindicator 1-4 / Insidious Corrupter 6 / Ruby Knight Vindicator 5-8

Spoiler: Ability Scores

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Ability	Point Buy	Race/Template	Ability Increase	Total Score
STR	7	-2	0	5
DEX	7	+4	+1	12
CON	10	-4	0	6
INT	14	0	0	14
WIS	18	0	+4	22
CHA	16	+2	0	18

Spoiler: Build

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Ravre

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Warblade 1	1	2	0	0	Bluff 2, Concentration 4, Diplomacy 4, Hide 2, Intimidate 4, Sense Motive 2	Coercive Spell	Battle Clarity (Reflex Saves), Weapon Aptitude
2nd	Cloistered Cleric 1	+1	+4	+0	+2	Bluff 2, Concentration 5, Diplomacy 5, Hide 2, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 5, Sense Motive 2, Spellcraft 1	-	Domination Domain, Knowledge Domain, Mind Domain, Aura, Lore, Rebuke Undead
3rd	Cloistered Cleric 2	+2	+5	+0	+3	Bluff 2, Concentration 6, Diplomacy 6, Hide 3, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Sense Motive 3, Spellcraft 2	Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment)	-
4th	Cloistered Cleric 3	+2	+5	+1	+3	Bluff 3.5, Concentration 7, Diplomacy 7, Hide 3.5, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Sense Motive 3.5, Spellcraft 2	WIS+1	-
5th	Cloistered Cleric 4	+3	+6	+1	+4	Bluff 4, Concentration 8, Diplomacy 8, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 4	-	-
6th	Binder 1	+3	+8	+1	+6	Bluff 8, Concentration 8, Diplomacy 8, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 4	Divine Metamagic	Soul Binding (1 Vestige)
7th	Ruby Knight Vindicator 1	+4	+8	+1	+8	Bluff 10, Concentration 9, Diplomacy 9, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 4	-	Divine Recovery
8th	Ruby Knight Vindicator 2	+5	+8	+1	+9	Bluff 10, Concentration 10, Diplomacy 10, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 8, Spellcraft 4	WIS+1	-
9th	Ruby Knight Vindicator 3	+6	+9	+2	+9	Bluff 11, Concentration 11, Diplomacy 11, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 10, Spellcraft 4	Persuasive	-
10th	Ruby Knight Vindicator 4	+7	+9	+2	+10	Bluff 11, Concentration 12, Diplomacy 12, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 12, Spellcraft 4	-	-
11th	Insidious Corrupter 1	+7	+9	+2	+12	Bluff 13, Concentration 13, Diplomacy 13, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 13, Spellcraft 5	-	Claws of Influence (1), Manipulate Senses
12th	Insidious Corrupter 2	+8	+9	+2	+13	Bluff 15, Concentration 15, Diplomacy 14, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 14, Spellcraft 5	Planar Touchstone: Catalogs of Enlightenment (Charm), WIS+1	Prope Thoughts
13th	Insidious Corrupter 3	+8	+10	+3	+13	Bluff 16, Concentration 16, Diplomacy 16, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 16, Spellcraft 5	-	Claws of Influence (2), Manipulation
14th	Insidious Corrupter 4	+9	+10	+3	+14	Bluff 17, Concentration 17, Diplomacy 17, Hide 4, Intimidate 6, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 17, Spellcraft 5	-	Minion
15th	Insidious Corrupter 5	+9	+10	+3	+14	Bluff 18, Concentration 18, Diplomacy 18, Hide 4, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 18, Spellcraft 5	Spell Focus (Necromancy)	Swift Enchantment
16th	Insidious Corrupter 6	+10	+11	+4	+15	Bluff 19, Concentration 19, Diplomacy 19, Hide 4, Intimidate 10, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 19, Spellcraft 5	WIS+1	Claws of Influence (3), Irresistible Charm
17th	Ruby Knight Vindicator 5	+12	+8	+9	+16	Bluff 20, Concentration 20, Diplomacy 20, Hide 4, Intimidate 12, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 20, Spellcraft 5	-	Armored Stealth
18th	Ruby Knight Vindicator 6	+13	+8	+9	+17	Bluff 21, Concentration 21, Diplomacy 21, Hide 4, Intimidate 14, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 21, Spellcraft 5	Black Lore of Moil	-
19th	Ruby Knight Vindicator 7	+13	+9	+10	+17	Bluff 22, Concentration 22, Diplomacy 22, Hide 4, Intimidate 16, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 22, Spellcraft 5	-	Divine Impetus
20th	Ruby Knight Vindicator 8	+14	+9	+10	+18	Bluff 23, Concentration 23, Diplomacy 23, Hide 4, Intimidate 18, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Sense Motive 23, Spellcraft 5	DEX+1	-

Spoiler: Ravre's Maneuvers and Stances

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1: Moment of Perfect Mind, Stone Bones, Douse the Flames, Leading the Charge
2 (RKV1): Action Before Thought
3 (RKV3): White Raven Tactics
6 (RKV6): Moment of Alacrity, Press the Advantage
7 (RKV8): Quicksilver Motion

Apushri Xarann
CE Lesser Drow
Sha'ir 5 / War Weaver 5 / Insidious Corruptor 10

Spoiler: Ability Scores

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Ability	Point Buy	Race/Template	Ability Increase	Total Score
STR	7	-2	0	5
DEX	14	+4	0	18
CON	12	-4	0	8
INT	12	0	0	12
WIS	11	0	+1	12
CHA	18	+2	+4	24

Spoiler: Build

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Apushri

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Sha'ir 1	0	0	0	2	Bluff 4, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 0, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 0, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 0	Improved Initiative	Summon Gen Familiar
2nd	Sha'ir 2	1	0	0	3	Bluff 4, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 3, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 0, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 0	-	-
3rd	Sha'ir 3	1	1	1	3	Bluff 4, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 0, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 0	Enlarge Spell	Recognize Genie Works
4th	Sha'ir 4	2	1	1	4	Bluff 4, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 3, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 0	CHA+1	-
5th	Sha'ir 5	2	1	1	4	Bluff 4, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 0	-	Elemental Protection
6th	War Weaver 1	2	1	1	6	Bluff 5.5, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 0	Improved Counterspell	Eldritch Tapestry
7th	War Weaver 2	3	1	1	7	Bluff 7, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 0	-	Quiescent Weaving 1
8th	War Weaver 3	3	2	2	7	Bluff 8.5, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 0	CHA+1	Quiescent Weaving 1
9th	War Weaver 4	4	2	2	8	Bluff 9, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 2	Persuasive	Quiescent Weaving 1
10th	War Weaver 5	4	2	2	8	Bluff 9, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 5	-	Quiescent Weaving 1, Enlarged Tapestry
11th	Insidious Corrupter 1	4	2	2	10	Bluff 9, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 10	-	Claws of Influence (1), Manipulate Senses
12th	Insidious Corrupter 2	5	2	2	11	Bluff 9, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 14	Quicken Spell, CHA+1	Prope Thoughts
13th	Insidious Corrupter 3	5	3	3	11	Bluff 9, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 15	-	Claws of Influence (2), Manipulation
14th	Insidious Corrupter 4	6	3	3	12	Bluff 9, Concentration 0, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 14, Spellcraft 16	-	Minion
15th	Insidious Corrupter 5	6	3	3	11	Bluff 9, Concentration 1, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 17, Spellcraft 17	Craft Contingent Spell	Swift Enchantment
16th	Insidious Corrupter 6	7	4	4	12	Bluff 9, Concentration 4, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 18, Spellcraft 18	WIS+1	Claws of Influence (3), Irresistible Charm
17th	Insidious Corrupter 7	7	4	4	12	Bluff 9, Concentration 7, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 19, Spellcraft 19	-	Greater Manipulation
18th	Insidious Corrupter 8	8	4	4	13	Bluff 9, Concentration 12, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 19, Spellcraft 19	Planar Touchstone: Breaching Obelisk	Greater Minion
19th	Insidious Corrupter 9	8	5	5	13	Bluff 9, Concentration 17, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 19, Spellcraft 19	-	Claws of Influence (4), Irresistible Compulsion
20th	Insidious Corrupter 10	9	5	5	14	Bluff 9, Concentration 20, Craft (Weaving) 6, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Sense Motive 20, Spellcraft 20	WIS+1	Master Manipulator

Sources

Spoiler: Sources

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PHB: Lots
Complete Arcane: Black Lore of Moil, Craft Contingent Spell
Complete Divine: Divine Metamagic
Dragon Compendium: Sha'ir, Unseelie Fey
Drow of the Underdark: Insidious Corrupter, Coercive Spell
Heroes of Battle: War Weaver
Planar Handbook: Planar Touchstone
Player's Guide to Faerun: Lesser Drow
Tome of Battle: Warblade, Ruby Knight Vindicator
Tome of Magic: Binder
Unearthed Arcana: Cloistered Cleric

[The Viscount]

Say that name five times fast.

Grysylla Maure
NE Half-Drow Bard 5/Fiend-Blooded 2/Insidious Corruptor 3/Sublime Chord 1/Insidious Corruptor +7/Fiend-Blooded +2

Spoiler: Underdark Money Groups

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An eagle alighted on the overhang that had been set into the cavern wall above the ornate doorway. From the special saddle on its back leapt a cat, first to the overhang beside the bird, then to pad lightly across one of his companions’ pauldroned shoulders as the other rapped on the door and finally down to stand at their feet on the ground.

A woman with long, sleek white hair and smooth skin of light indigo pulled the door open. “Suilad?” She said, then seeing the group standing in the doorway switched to common. “Oh, hi! You must be the ones K sent. Come on in.”

“My name is Obadaih, and this is my granddaughter Aza.” The Elan inclined his head and gestured to the armored human woman next to him as he stepped over the threshold.

“Fuzos von Arkhent” the Tibbit said through his Pearl of Speech.

The drow woman nodded politely at the two larger adventurers, then started in momentary surprise as she looked down at the cat. “Oh, my apologies, I didn’t realize you were an adventurer as well! And an Arkhent man, no less! Well, I should formally introduce myself. I’m Grysylla Maure. Did you ever take Enchantment from my great aunt? Same last name. Older tiefling lady.”

“Oh, no. Banned school.” Fuzos said.

“Always the way with wizards,” she laughed.

“Did you go to Arkhent as well? I lived over by the library,” Fuzos had in fact squatted in the library posing as a lovable stray cat during his college days. “So I never really met too many people on the Ench track.”

“Oh, no. I went to Dad’s alma matter. University of Vashna – Underdark, School of Economics. Go, UVU!” She performed a little cheer, sweeping her hand in an arc as if to draw a ‘U,’ ending next to her eye in a ‘V for victory’ sign as she struck a pose and winked, then raising both her arms up to make another ‘U.’ “I still haven’t altogether forgiven you guys for that castling a few years back.”

Obadiah and Aza being of more modest, martial background compared to the elite magical education of their feline companion, stood back from the conversation somewhat awkwardly. Aza gasped and reflexively reached for her greataxe as a dog-sized spider skittered along the floor towards them, relaxing only slightly when she realized that it was carrying a tray of drinks in its forelegs.

“Don’t worry about him,” Grysylla said, smiling sheepishly at the spider as it blinked reprovingly at her before vanishing into thin air. “Go ahead and help yourselves, and my apologies. I should get to why you came all the way down here instead of gabbing about college xorvintaal.”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry,” Aza replied, taking her hand from her axe and reaching for a glass, a bright concoction of some svirfneblin spirit and faintly glowing fungal juices. “I got eaten by a bunch of monstrous spiders in Xen’drik,” she explained. “Fuzos and his friends had to retrieve my body and pull grandpa out of some quicksand so he could drag me back to Vashna for a rez.”

“Well, don’t go singing the praises of Eolian socialized medicine too loudly around here,” Grysylla laughed. “Makes my job harder. Anyway, you did come here to kill some spiders, though as you probably already know, it’s more than just spiders now.” She turned her attention toward Fuzos as he leapt up beside the tray and batted over a glass with his paw so that it tipped and poured the shot within to mix into a saucer of milk beside it. “It’s probably a good thing that they sent a wizard who banned Enchantment, because these things are immune to Mind-Affecting even when they start from something that isn’t mindless. Inscrutable alien minds following the mad unlogic of the Far Realm or whatever. But it means I’ve got to resort to the usual enchanter’s backup plan when faced with such thing and get someone else to kill them for me.”

“Happy to be of service,” Obadiah replied heartily, raising his glass of dark duergar stout.

Fuzos looked up from his saucer and nodded. “They also hate sunlight,” he offered helpfully.

“So does everyone down here,” Grysylla smirked wryly. “But maybe I can call in a few favors and get the Pelorites involved. I’ll probably have to if the situation gets much worse. But in the meantime, I can give you guys some leads to where some of the creatures might be holed up.”

“There were demon cultists involved as well in Xen’drik,” Fuzos interjected.

“Gnoman?”

“Yeah, seemed like it. There were some drow with them too, so we thought they might have connections here.”

“Well, of the eight houses, and the ones that are friendliest with the gnomes, I would guess Despana to be the most likely to be involved with demonic cults. I wouldn’t just go knock on the door if I were you, but it’s easy to keep an ear to the ground round these parts, and I’ll let you know if I learn anything interesting.”

***

Fuzos glided alongside his companions on eagle-back as they walked back toward Grysylla’s apartment, Aza carrying the head of a drow that had been warped by the strange disease of the far realm which continued to ravage the Underdark. Even the Pelorites for all the discomfort they’d caused the locals, the negative impact on fungal yields, and the amount they’d charged for their services, struggled to contain the problem. What’s worse, Fuzos had had no success in tracing the source of infection for this recent victim. He wasn’t sure whether it was the strange faerness radiation that permeated much of the Underdark interfering with divinations, or if something much worse was afoot. And as the economy worsened under Grysylla’s proposed measures, her reputation worsened, along with that of anyone connected to her.

But on that day, the drow that accosted Fuzos and his companions would offer not a condemnation but a warning. They had a name for economic advisors like Grysylla – who was an exemplar of her type, a half-drow who studied Economics at UVU, and showed up deeper into the Underdark to push market-based reforms favorable to the Eolian Republic on any and every house that they could convince to undergo them, and even more on the nose, was a scion of another Eolian proxy in the House of Maure on her human side – a “Vashna Lass,” (or sometimes “Vashna Lash,” particularly when they worked with the Church of Loviatar) pronounced deliberately with the rhyming “æ” sound of Vashna’s Thrandish Common pronunciation rather than the softer elven one. She would turn on her own adventurers in the end as well, should she ever see a profit in it.

“Listen up cat. Keep your guard up around that woman, and make sure that when she’s scratching behind your ears, she’s not also scratching behind your brain.”

*This was written for my own home setting, essentially to fill in a B-plot for my current campaign to explain what Fuzos von Arkhent has been up to while his player has been taking a hiatus from the game. Said setting is a bit of a kitchen sink as you can perhaps tell from the various Faerunnian and Eberron sources drawn from for fluff here, but that isn’t necessary for the build, which will function in essentially any setting.

Spoiler: The Build

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Ability Scores

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8 Str, 10 Dex, 14 Con, 14 Int, 10 Wis, 18 Cha
Increase Cha at all opportunities.

Build Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Bard 1	+0	+0	+2	+2	Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Bluff 4, Diplomacy 4, Listen 4, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 4, Perform (Oratory) 4	Eschew Materials	Bardic Music, Loresong, Fascinate, Countersong*, Inspire Awe
2nd	Bard 2	+1	+0	+3	+3	Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Listen 5, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 5, Perform (Oratory) 5, Spellcraft 2	-	-
3rd	Bard 3	+2	+1	+3	+3	Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (The Planes) 6, Bluff 6, Diplomacy 4, Listen 6, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 6, Perform (Oratory) 6, Spellcraft 2, Profession (Astrologer) 2	Blood Calls to Blood, Soothe the Beast	Music of Creation
4th	Bard 4	+3	+1	+4	+4	Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 7, Bluff 7, Diplomacy 4, Listen 7, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 7, Perform (Oratory) 7, Spellcraft 2, Profession (Astrologer) 4	-	-
5th	Bard 5	+3	+1	+4	+4	Knowledge (Arcana) 8, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 8, Diplomacy 4, Listen 8, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 8, Perform (Oratory) 8, Spellcraft 2, Profession (Astrologer) 6	-	-
6th	Fiend-Blooded 1	+3	+1	+4	+6	Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 9, Diplomacy 4, Listen 8, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 8, Perform (Oratory) 8, Spellcraft 4, Profession (Astrologer) 6	Persuasive	Fiendish Companion, Fiendish Heritage +1 AC
7th	Fiend-Blooded 2	+4	+1	+4	+6	Knowledge (Arcana) 10, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 10, Diplomacy 4, Listen 8, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 8, Perform (Oratory) 8, Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6	-	Fiendish Sorcery (Dominate Person)
8th	Insidious Corruptor 1	+4	+1	+4	+8	Knowledge (Arcana) 11, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 10, Diplomacy 4, Listen 11, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 8, Perform (Oratory) 9cc[/b], Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6	-	Claws of Influence (1 Target), Manipulate Senses
9th	Insidious Corruptor 2	+5	+1	+4	+8	Knowledge (Arcana) 12, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, [/b]Bluff 12[/b], Diplomacy 4, Listen 12, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 8, Perform (Oratory) 10cc, Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6	Obtain Familiar	Probe Thoughts
10th	Insidious Corruptor 3	+5	+2	+5	+8	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, [/b]Bluff 13, Diplomacy 5, Listen 13[/b], Sense Motive 4, Concentration 10, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6	-	Manipulation, Claws of Influence (2 Targets)
11th	Sublime Chord 1	+5	+2	+5	+10	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 13, Diplomacy 5, Listen 13, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 14, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	-	Bardic Lore, Bardic Music
12th	Insidious Corruptor 4	+6	+2	+5	+11	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 15, Diplomacy 8, Listen 13, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 15, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	Improved Familiar (Imp)	Minion
13th	Insidious Corruptor 5	+6	+2	+5	+11	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 16, Diplomacy 12, Listen 13, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 16, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	-	Swift Enchantment
14th	Insidious Corruptor 6	+7	+3	+6	+12	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 17, Diplomacy 16, Listen 13, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 17, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	-	Irresistible Charm, Claws of Influence (3 Targets)
15th	Insidious Corruptor 7	+7	+3	+6	+12	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 18, Diplomacy 18, Listen 15, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 18, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	Versatile Spellcaster	Greater Manipulation
16th	Insidious Corruptor 8	+8	+3	+6	+13	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 19, Diplomacy 19, Listen 18, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 19, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 6, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	-	Greater Minion
17th	Insidious Corruptor 9	+8	+4	+7	+13	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 20, Diplomacy 20, Listen 20, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 20, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 7, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	-	Irresistible Compulsion, Claws of Influence (4 Targets)
18th	Insidious Corruptor 10	+9	+4	+7	+14	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 21, Diplomacy 21, Listen 21, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 21, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 9, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	Practiced Spellcaster	Master Manipulator
19th	Fiend-Blooded 3	+9	+5	+8	+14	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Bluff 22, Diplomacy 21, Listen 21, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 22, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 11, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	-	Blood of Fiends +1 Saves, Fiendish Heritage +1 Cha
20th	Fiend-Blooded 4	+10	+5	+8	+15	Knowledge (Arcana) 13, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Bluff 23, Diplomacy 21, Listen 21, Sense Motive 4, Concentration 23, Perform (Oratory) 10, Spellcraft 11, Profession (Astrologer) 6, Social Recovery	-	Fiendish Sorcery (Symbol of Insanity), Smiting Spell 1/day

*If your DM says that Half-Drow count as Half-Elves for prerequisite purposes, take Soothing Voice instead.

Spellcasting

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Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
1st	2/4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	3/5	0/2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	3/6	1/3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	3/6	2/3	0/2	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	3/6	3/4	1/3	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	3/6	3/4	2/3	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	3/6	3/4	2/4	0/2+1	-	-	-	-	-
9th	3/6	3/4	3/4	1/3+1	-	-	-	-	-
11th	3/6	3/4	3/4	1/3+1	2/3	1/1	-	-	-
12th	3/6	3/4	3/4	1/3+1	2/4	2/2	-	-	-
14th	3/6	3/4	3/4	1/3+1	3/4	2/2	1/1	-	-
16th	3/6	3/4	3/4	1/3+1	3/4	3/3	2/2	-	-
18th	3/6	3/4	3/4	1/3+1	3/4	3/3	2/2	1/1	-
19th	3/6	3/4	3/4	1/3+1	4/4	3/4	3/3	2/2	-
20th	3/6	3/4	3/4	1/3+1	4/4	4/4	3/3	2/2	1/1+1

*Does not include bonus spells/day for a high Cha score.

Spells Known
0th: Detect Magic, Songbird, Prestidigitation, Message, Mage Hand, Lullaby
1st: Sleep, Charm Person, Grease, Hypnotism, Improvisation
2nd: Tongues, Glitterdust, Alter Self, Entice Gift
3rd: Glibness, Haste, Dominate Person*, Charm Monster
4th: Ruin Delver’s Fortune, Modify Memory, Dimension Door, Freedom of Movement, Voice of the Dragon
5th: Greater Dispel Magic, Symbol of Sleep, Teleport, Greater Scrying, Greater Blink
6th: Familial Geas, Irresistible Dance, Disintegrate
7th: Hiss of Sleep, Symbol of Stunning
8th: Binding, Symbol of Insanity*
*Denotes a Fiendish Sorcery spell.

Spoiler: Level Breakdown

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Level 5

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We open things up with straight Bard. Since we won’t be sticking around or investing the necessary resources for Inspire Courage optimization, Inspire Awe is going to be a favorable trade. We take a few other minor ACFs as well. Loresong gives a little bump to skill checks when needed. Nabbing Soothe the Beast as a bonus feat expands utility a bit on a build with a lot of abilities that don’t work against animals. Grysylla’s a solid face, especially with the extra boost from Charm Person, Hypnotism, and Tongues, and has a few potent spells for combat as well, like Sleep and Glitterdust. Our feats go to Eschew Materials and Blood Calls to Blood, and Bard skill points are put to work meeting prestige class prerequisites.

Level 10

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Fiend-Blooded pays off on the investment in its requirements and then some. Fiendish Sorcery spells can come from other spell lists, meaning that we can nab Dominate Person as a 3rd level spell from Thayan Slaver. Early access would be nice enough on its own, but it also gets us into Insidious Corruptor. Claws of Influence stacks with the untyped bonus from Glibness for a whopping +40 (+58 total before items) which puts us on the level of being able to hit the +50 DC for an epic skill check to implant non-magical Suggestions in people. Obtain Familiar is now online as well, ensuring we always have something to affect with Claws of Influence, and in particular something that shares Grysylla’s Listen ranks, and is assured to get good use out of the potential bonus from Manipulate Senses.

Level 15

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Sublime Chord improves our spell progression, and with two of the non-casting already out of the way, we feel less of a sting from the SI’s half-casting progression. Insidious Corruptor also makes up for the lost caster levels. Minion’s Dominate effect is nice to have under the right circumstances and Grysylla’s Cha focus and access to Charm Monster to cover non-humanoids make Irresistible Charm especially potent, but the real prize is Swift Enchantment. As it lacks the normal stipulations of Quicken Spell, it allows any spell, even those that ordinarily have long casting times to be cast as a swift action. Being able to Modify Memory on the fly without having to wait for the following round is nice enough, but it really gets wild as casting progresses. Like Sleep, Symbol of Sleep will eventually be unsuited to level-appropriate challenges, but at the levels where it’s relevant can be encounter-ending, and since attuning friends or dominated underlings to the symbol just increases casting time, that cost can be obviated by hard resetting that casting time to a swift action. Sublime Chord’s ability to draw from the Bard list also gives us access to Familial Geas at 6th level. With its 10 minute casting time wiped away, it’s a no-save-just-lose effect as a swift against anything not immune to Mind-Affecting, with an added high DC save imposed upon their next of kin should the target die before completing the task set before them. In addition, having a familiar (now an Imp thanks to Improved Familiar) as an always-available target for Claws of Influence guarantees that Irresistible Charm will always be on out of combat and there will always be at least one creature to release from Claws of Influence for the purpose of Swift Enchantment.
We also nab Versatile Spellcaster, which a spontaneous caster will always appreciate, and can catch up on ranks in some skills now that all our prereqs are met, and pick up Voice of the Dragon which stacks with both Claws of Influence and Glibness to further juice Bluff and Diplomacy.

Level 20

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We finish out the SI and close out with another two levels of Fiend-Blooded. The Bard list offers another nice discount on Irresistible Dance and we diversify a bit with Disintigrate as our last 6th, giving us a powerful option against constructs and undead who are immune to enchantments (potentially boosted with Smiting Spell once per day at 20th level) and with some use out of combat as well. Then for 7ths and 8ths it’s back to picking up choice spells for Swift Enchantment. Hiss of Sleep and Symbol of Stunning (though the latter could be swapped out for Glass Strike or something if you’re worried about being too reliant on Mind-Affecting) are sped up considerably, allowing them to function as mass SoL effects in combat. With another Fiendish Sorcery right at 20th we get a second 8th level spell known, allowing us to pick up both Binding and Symbol of Insanity to accelerate by minutes of casting time with Swift Enchantment. Symbol of Insanity, like other symbol spells, serves as a mass SoL effect, but with more potential for hilarity on a partial success, and potentially creating circumstances where you can take advantage of Claws of Influence and Greater Manipulation offensively. Binding is just incredibly cool, and even cooler as a swift action. Putting enemies down in a way that they can’t come back from is hard at this level, it can double as an Antipathy effect, and you can use easy to carry, imprisoned enemies as always-available targets for Claws of Influence, along with your Imp, who can help boost the caster level with its Suggestion SLA even if you can’t get anyone else to join in. Our big ticket spells are all compulsions, so Irresistible Compulsion is very welcome, and like Irresistible Charm can always be toggled on out of combat.

Spoiler: Non-SRD Sources

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Complete Arcane: Obtain Familiar, Practiced Spellcaster, Sublime Chord
Dragon Magic: Inspire Awe
Drow of the Underdark: Insidious Corruptor
Dungeon Master’s Guide: Improved Familiar (Imp)
Dungeonscape: Loresong
Eberron Campaign Setting: Music of Creation
Heroes of Horror: Blood Calls to Blood, Familial Geas, Fiend-Blooded
Races of the Dragon: Versatile Spellcaster
Spell Compendium: Entice Gift, Glass Strike, Hiss of Sleep, Improvisation, Ruin Delver’s Fortune, Songbird, Voice of the Dragon
Unapproachable East: Thayan Slaver