Junkyard Wars XXX: Something a Little Spicy

[Thurbane]

Welcome to Junkyard Stadium! With permission of the previous chair, I am trying to rejuvenate and re-launch this great competition. It is in this hallowed pile of miscellaneous parts that we will hold a competition of Practical Optimization with three components. The catch? Competitors may not use the third item in their builds!

Goal: Create a build that showcases the selected ingredients while steering clear of the Forbidden Ingredient.

This competition has two Necessary Components and one Forbidden Component. This round's components are...

• Necessary: Scourge Maiden PrC (Shining South p.40)
• Necessary: Lichloved Feat (Elder Evils p.13)
• Forbidden: Cleric (this might seem like a big hurdle, but there are ways around it)

Spoiler: RULES

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• Creation: 32 point-buy is the presumed creation method. You may assume that you will have enough exp to reach ECL 20, and that the occasional bit of crafting, use of spells with exp components, or the like won't prevent you from doing so. However, LA buyoff is an alternate rule which is not in play.
• Workshop: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon Magazine is disallowed, and Unearthed Arcana is allowed; but see below. Web-exclusive 3.0 or 3.5 materials by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. If you use web material, please link it. Dragon Magazine Compendium is allowed, as are Oriental Adventures (and its 3.5 updates in Dragon Magazine) and the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. Alternate rule systems from UA such as generic classes, spontaneous divine casters, gestalt and fractional saves and BAB are not allowed, as they create a different playing field.
• Leadership is banned: We're creating one thing, not all of the things. If your entry includes a prestige class or ACF that grants Leadership or a Leadership-like ability as a bonus feat, the feat should be ignored and is not eligible to be traded away for another feat or ACF through any means.
• Speculation: Please don't post or speculate on possible builds until after the reveal in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.
• Disputes: Any scoring disputes should be sent to the Chair via PM. Valid disputes include RAW misreadings, arithmetic errors, things missed that are present in the entry, and inconsistently applied criteria. Invalid disputes include disagreements on matters of opinion, a judge not catching something not explicitly presented in the entry, and the like. Invalid disputes will be responded to via PM by the Chair, but valid disputes will be posted in-thread for the judge to review. When disputing, please indicate the judge the dispute is intended for and provide a quote of the disputed comment or comments. Note: the Chair may edit or paraphrase any disputes in presenting them to the judges.
• Presentation: You will need to present a write-up of your build at at least one of the following points: 5th level, 10th level, 15th, 20th, and a "sweet spot" that you feel is the high point of the build, as well as presenting a fully-fleshed out 20-level build in the table below. Please give a rundown of the build's abilities and playability throughout its life. Builds will be posted anonymously, in order to avoid the potential of bias towards a particular competitor. For this reason, please don't put your name in the build as I'm likely to miss it when reviewing the entries. Also for this reason, PLEASE do not include any material that may or may not offend any potential viewers/judges/competitors OR break forum rules. Any builds which violate forum rules WILL be withheld from posting.

Spoiler: Handy-dandy Tables You Can Use

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Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, please use the following table for their entry.

Spoiler

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NAME OF ENTRY

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
2nd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
3rd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
4th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
5th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
6th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
7th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
8th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
9th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
10th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
11th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
12th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
13th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
14th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
15th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
16th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
17th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
18th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
19th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
20th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities

Code immediately below (spoiler).

Spoiler

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[table="class: head alt1 alt2"]
[tr]
[th][B]Level[/B][/th]
[th][B]Class[/B][/th]
[th][B]Base Attack Bonus[/B][/th]
[th][B]Fort Save[/B][/th]
[th][B]Ref Save[/B][/th]
[th][B]Will Save[/B][/th]
[th][B]Skills[/B][/th]
[th][B]Feats[/B][/th]
[th][B]Class Features[/B][/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]1st[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]2nd[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3rd[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]4th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]5th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]6th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]7th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]8th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]9th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]10th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]11th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]12th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]13th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]14th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]15th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]16th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]17th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]18th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]19th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]20th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

For entries with spellcasting, use the following table for Spells per day and Spells Known. (Spells Known only if necessary, i.e. Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage)

Spoiler

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Spells per Day/Spells Known

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

Code immediately below (spoiler)

Spoiler

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[B]Spells per Day/Spells Known[/B]
[table="class:head alt1 alt2"]
[tr]
[th][B]Level[/B][/th]
[th][B]0lvl[/B][/th]
[th][B]1st[/B][/th]
[th][B]2nd[/B][/th]
[th][B]3rd[/B][/th]
[th][B]4th[/B][/th]
[th][B]5th[/B][/th]
[th][B]6th[/B][/th]
[th][B]7th[/B][/th]
[th][B]8th[/B][/th]
[th][B]9th[/B][/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]1st[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]2nd[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3rd[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]4th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]5th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]6th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]7th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]8th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]9th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]10th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]11th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]12th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]13th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]14th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]15th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]16th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]17th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]18th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]19th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]20th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list.

Spoiler: Judging

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• Scoring: Each judge is required to provide the criteria by which they are judging the builds. By "criteria," we mean a simple explanation of what the judge is looking for in each of the below categories and what kind of scoring we can expect. If a judge deems a build to be illegal, they may provide a 0 in Elegance but may not refuse to judge any build presented by the Chairman.
• The Categories: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, Use of Components.
  
  

  • Originality: Is the build unique? Does it deviate from the obvious? Does it forge its own path, or does it fall back on common, established optimization tricks? Some judges score entries for the quality of their concept & backstory as well, though not all do. Providing at least some backstory is heavily encouraged, as it helps the judges figure out who the entry is. Note that the purpose of this category is not to penalize entries that independently came up with the same idea as another entry, but rather to reward entries that explore underutilized and non-obvious areas of optimization, so, judges, try not to base your judging in this category too heavily on what other builds are doing. Multiple entries using the same element may certainly be evidence that the element is unoriginal, but you shouldn't impose anything like a "-1 for each other build using the same class" penalty.
  • Power: Power level is up to you. Cheese is acceptable, but should be kept to a sane level unless you're showcasing a new TO build you've discovered. In the words of one of my predecessors, a little cheddar can be nice, but avoid the mature Gruyere unless you're making a cheese fondue.
  • Elegance: This category was formerly titled "Build Stability." Here, we're essentially measuring how skillfully you put your build together and how you balanced flavor with power. We're cooking here - if your dish doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter how well-presented it is. Use of flaws is an automatic loss of one point per flaw in this category. Other things that will cause lost points here are excessive multiclassing (meaning any multiclassing that results in an xp penalty), and classes that don't fit the concept - using Cloistered Cleric in a front-line melee fighter, for example, may lose you points. Rule adherence and legality of sources is scored under this category; additionally, reliance on a questionable, controversial, or ambiguous ruling can and should result in a deduction. Neither the number of sources nor their relative obscurity should be penalized--contestants should feel free to use any books they like. Dipping should not be penalized unless it results in a multiclass xp penalty; if the system won't penalize it, neither should judges.
  • Use of Components: Was the Forbidden Component avoided? Were the Necessary Components showcased, or simply used because they were necessary?
• Disputes: Any scoring disputes will be posted by the Chairman in-thread after reviewing them privately. Valid disputes include
  
  • RAW misreadings,
  • arithmetic errors,
  • things missed that are present in the entry,
  • and inconsistently applied criteria.
  
  Invalid disputes include
  
  • disagreements on matters of opinion,
  • a judge not catching something not explicitly presented in the entry,
  • and the like.
  
  Invalid disputes will be responded to via PM by the Chair, but valid disputes should be responded to by each individual judge. Judges are obligated to respond to disputes to ensure that everyone gets a fair shake. A judge's scores will only be recognized if they have recognized all disputes. In the absence of any other judges, the entries will be judged by the chairman.

Completion Time:

• Contestants will have until 23:59 GMT Monday June 14, 2021 to create their builds and PM them to the chairman.
• Builds will then be posted simultaneously to avoid copying.
• Judges will have until 23:59 GMT Monday June 28, 2021 (May the ... er ... Telekinesis? be with you, judges!) to judge the builds and submit their scores. Judging deadline is subject to extension as required.
• As the precedent has been set from Episode 2, should all prospective judges have posted their rulings in a neat, timely fashion and all disputes have been settled satisfactorily (to either judges, contestants, or the Chairperson), the judging period may end prematurely to give way to a new episode. No reason to keep working on a finished building and avoid moving onto the next one.

Looking for as many contestants and judges as feel like playing! We will award 1st through 3rd places, as well as a shout-out for honorable mention. The honorable mention prize is given to the most daring or unexpected build that doesn't gain a medal. Contestants are invited to vote for honorable mention via PM. Everyone else can vote in-thread. Ready? Set? Get to the junkyard and start building!

Spoiler: Previous Competitions

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1. Junkyard Wars in the Playground I: Shadowdancer + Sneak Attack - Rogue
2. Junkyard Wars in the Playground II: Healing Spells + Ruby Knight Vindicator - Cleric
3. Junkyard Wars in the Playground III: Dragons + Theurges - Kobolds
4. Junkyard Wars in the Playground IV: BoED + Undead Type - Completes
5. Junkyard Wars in the Playground V: Dread Witch + Reaping Mauler - Fighter
6. Junkyard Wars in the Playground VI: Wonderworker + Profession Skill - Factotum
7. Junkyard Wars in the Playground VII: Metamagic Feats + LA - Metamagic Reducers!
8. Junkyard Wars in the Playground VIII: Pounce+Small Size-Barbarian
9. Junkyard Wars in the Playground IX: Earth Dreamer + Ordained Champion - Cleric
10. Junkyard Wars in the Playground X: Meldshaping + Natural Attacks - Totemist
11. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XI: Magical Darkness + Improved Familiar - Wizard
12. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XII: Dragonmark Heirs + Touchstones - Martial Weapons
13. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XIII: Mulhorandi Divine Minion + Monk - Any Other Wildshaping
14. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XIV: Racial Paragon Classes + Spellcasting - Base Classes
15. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XV: Ruathar + Stoneblessed - Human
16. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XVI: Trapsmith + Combat Trapsmith - Rogue
17. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XVII: Elemental Warrior + Jaunter - Fighter
18. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XVIII: Argent Savant + Holy Scourge - Wizard
19. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XIX: Incarnum Blade + Exotic Weapon Master - Spiked Chain
20. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XX: Xorvintaal Exarch + The Pact-Bound Adept - Sorcerer
21. Junkyard Wars in the Playground XXI: Rebuke Undead + Teamwork Benefits - [Divine] feats
22. Junkyard Wars XXII: Battle Trickster + Magical Trickster - Uncanny Trickster
23. Junkyard Wars XXIII: Spellwarp Sniper + Silver Pyromancer - Energy Substitution
24. Junkyard Wars XXIV: Vow of Peace + Saint - Divine casting
25. Junkyard Wars XXV: Silverwood Arcanist + Share Soulmeld - Soulcaster
26. Junkyard Wars XXVI: RSL + ACF - PrCs
27. Junkyard Wars XXVII: Unholy Scion + Mark - Affiliation
28. Junkyard Wars XXVII: 1MF + CPA&A - T
29. Junkyard Wars XXIX: Social Distancing Edition!

[Thurbane]

Q: Do I have to use the Elder Evils version of Lichloved?
A: Yes, this is the most recently published version of the feat.

Q: Does the ban on Cleric include variant classes such as Cloistered Cleric?
Y: Cloistered Cleric and similar Cleric variants are also banned.

Q: Can I use a different deity for an adaptation of Sourge Maiden?
A: No, the PrC must be used as written.

Q: Since the PrC required is specific to FR, can I use source material in my entry from other settings?
A: Yes, but it is entirely up to individual judges as to how this might affect scoring. Historically, some judges have a beef with this and may mark you down, while others will have no issue with it at all.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Ah, there are few things I love so much as cheesing entry requirements. Let's see what we're working with here.

Initiate of Loviator

With great pain comes great power.

Prerequisite
Cleric level 5th

...

Okay, this might be a tougher nut to crack than I was originally thinking.

---

On an unrelated subject, I've concluded that my entry to the previous round (Social Distancing) has enough mistakes to be unsalvageable. As such, I'll start working out judgments for the other contestants in that round, and, if I finish, withdraw my entry and post the judgments to finally bring the round to a close.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

[removed as speculation]

Well that is certainly a lot less cheesy than what I was going to resort to. ...Not that my plan is off the table; depends on how risque I'm feeling when push comes to shove.

[Thurbane]

[deleted]

Just FYI, this would probably be considered build speculation, so may be better if it was deleted.

[ciopo]

I like the combination scourge maiden but forbidden cleric, it makes it interesting to find a way to qualify

I do not understand the lichloved requirements :(

I mean, it clearly prompts to story reasons, and I dig that, but it's an ingredient I'm very stumped on how to build on it

Question for the chair : does the scourge count as a whip, or are we to use the scourge statistics as standalone?

[ciopo]

I got smoke coming out my ears :9

Question for the chair : given the setting specific deity, are cross-setting material disallowed for this round?

[Thurbane]

Is that really? I'm not going to participate in this one, and not knowing this kinda obscure rule may deter other people from entering the round, if they don't know how to cheat specific prerequisites. I believe it would be pretty detrimental to remove this precision, but if you think I should, I will.

Yes, if you could please remove (after this is done I will delete my quote of your post, and would ask PoeticallyPsyco to do the same). Half the challenge in this comp is working around the restriction, and if the third post in spells out the most common ways around it, kind of kills the mystery and inventiveness for the round.

I got smoke coming out my ears :9

Question for the chair : given the setting specific deity, are cross-setting material disallowed for this round?

As in, can you chose a different deity for the PrC, or can you use material from different campaign settings as well as FR?

No to swapping out the deity (must remain Loviatar); in terms of mix-n-matching source materials from different settings, that is entirely up to the judges as to how they score it.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Yes, if you could please remove ([I]after this is done I will delete my quote of your post, and would ask PoeticallyPsyco to do the same.

The deed is done.

[Zaq]

This PrC is remarkably bad.

[ciopo]

I have a build in mind and it's horrible, but eh

[NotInventedHere]

You know, I've seen prestige classes with 10, 5 and 3 levels, but 6 is actually a new one to me.

I'm already thinking of interesting ways to cheese that Initiate requirement, which is usually a good sign. Let me see if I can whip something up.

[Thurbane]

This PrC is remarkably bad.

You know, I've seen prestige classes with 10, 5 and 3 levels, but 6 is actually a new one to me.

I was actually perusing my list when I thought of this PrC: List of PrCs with "nonstandard" levels

[Beni-Kujaku]

This PrC is remarkably bad.

I know, right? Please choose between being a spellcaster with fear effects or a monk who uses a scourge for stunning strike, do not make half of each and nothing well!

[Thurbane]

Nice to see some entries already in. Still well over a week until the initial deadline.

While waiting for the next round of Iron Chef and/or Villainous Competition, now might be a good time to get an entry in here.

[ciopo]

Offtopic : I saw a ZC challenged mentioned, has it since been discontinued? I'm not even sure what the acronym stands for and I failed at googling for it

MY first attempted partecipation in a contest was the PoeticallyPsyco runned military challenges, which didn't take off iirc, I had a hiatus from the forum at the time

[mattie_p]

I think it's ZS not ZC, and would stand for Zinc Saucier. I used to run it years ago but got busy and dropped from the forums. With as many PO competitions going already I'm not sure there would be any demand for another

[Beni-Kujaku]

If you don't have a judge yet‚ I would be happy to take that role

[Thurbane]

If you don't have a judge yet‚ I would be happy to take that role

Much appreciated, than k you!

P.S. If anyone is struggling with the "no cleric" restriction, feel free to message me for a hint.

[jdizzlean]

my life is to crazy right now to build let alone judge, but i'm happy to see this comp make a return :)

[Thurbane]

I am currently pushing the deadline back 1 week, to allow time for additional entries.

[ciopo]

How many entries do you have so far?

[Thurbane]

How many entries do you have so far?

Lets just say I think more would be better, and I've been PMd requesting an extension.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I'm not sure I could do something with this, and I'm already working on another contest entry, but if Thurbane gets at least two entries I'm down to judge.

[Thurbane]

So my PC with about a year of data that wasn't backed up has died. On my wife's PC right now. I feel like slamming my head into a wall.

Reveal is delayed until further notice. Feel free to keep submitting up until the reveal.

[Thurbane]

New ETA for the reveal is this Friday, but if circumstances allow sooner, I'll see what I can do.

PC update: looks like my solid state HDD has died, and that's the one with my OS on it. I'm desperately hoping I can retrieve the data from the secondary HDD, which was the larger of the two and where I stored most of my stuff (primary drives was OS, software and games for the most part, but sadly, also some files I really didn't want to lose, like 3 years worth of data I kept in a notepad file relating to an online game I play: stupidly had it on my desktop for easy access).

Also got a lot of other IRL stuff happening which means I can't sort my PC issues with the urgency I would have liked to.

Anyhow, like I said before, all submissions up until the reveal will be accepted.

[Beni-Kujaku]

So my PC with about a year of data that wasn't backed up has died. On my wife's PC right now. I feel like slamming my head into a wall.

Reveal is delayed until further notice. Feel free to keep submitting up until the reveal.

Yeah‚ it's always sad when a character you have played for a long time dies. Did your wife leave the campaign to lend you hers?

What do you mean you didn't mean "Player Character" by "PC" ?

[Thurbane]

Yeah‚ it's always sad when a character you have played for a long time dies. Did your wife leave the campaign to lend you hers?

What do you mean you didn't mean "Player Character" by "PC" ?

I see what you did there.

Update on my computer: the solid state HDD that the OS was on has died, but it looks like my secondary drive may be intact, so I'm going to pull it out and put it in one of our old PCs to see if I can retrieve the data.

I tried doing it via command prompt from the boot disk (Windows 7), but it won't recognise the external I plugged in.

[Thurbane]

Tine for the reveal: please don't post here until I give the all clear.

[Thurbane]

Spoiler: Intro

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Hello there!, It is I, Contestant X!

this is the.. 4th iteration I'm making on the scourge maiden, because damn is this prc bad.

My mind goes like this : first I imagine a build, and THEN find some story that makes the build make sense, then some build choices become informed by the natural extrapolating that comes from the story, or I make new build choices that make sense for the story.

The result for this entry is this : Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 7 / Scourge Maiden 6 / Maiden of Pain 9.

I want to get this out of the way right away : there's this choice of doing Scourge Maiden 6/6 and Maiden of Pain 9/10 or Scourge Maiden 5/6 and Maiden of Pain 10/10. Why am I talking about this you'll ask? Well, if you take the RAI reading that Maiden of Pain advances the archivist spellcasting, then what that last level of scourge Maiden competes with is unlocking 9th level spells. On Archivist.

I'm going to spell it out, to avoid being called out on not spelling it out : Archivists can add spells from ANY divine list, and if they have friendly arcane casters around, also from ANY arcane list those friendly spellcasters have access to. You all probably already know this, and are rolling your eyes right now, but this is power overwhelming right there, the opportunity cost of that 6th level of Scourge Maiden is insane if we take the read that Maiden of Pain advances Archivist casting.

THAT SAID, the entry is made with the more strict RAW reading that Maiden of Pain spellcasting is independent from Archivist! so the end spellcasting is CL5 archivist and CL11 cleric. Maiden of Pain 10 is still better than Scourge Maiden 6, but the munchkin inside me is throwing much less of a tantrum in finishing the UotSI when it's "only" an extra 6th and 5th slots we're trading away for a lousier trip goes to cry in a corner. At least I found a story reason to have it gives self a cookie
It hinges on what qualify for painful enough to make use of the Liquid Pain spell in BoVD. I'm basically Deus-ex-machinaing that only Scourge Maiden Agonizing strike is powerful enough for that, so 6/6 Scourge maidens are vitally Important to Loviatar societies!

Spoiler: Setting and story blurb

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You know that mental exercise "what if the shadow 'Create Spawn' is taken to it's logical conclusion?"

WELL, THAT HAPPENED!

Buckle up, we're now in post apocalypse, Orcus is rubbing hands over yonder, there are shadows and zombies and skeletons everywhere . civiliziation as we know it is NO MORE!

The living population is much reduced, surviving in havens made of Hallow, a LOT of knowledge, magical or otherwise, is lost.

"Everybody" or most everybody that is serious about adventuring busyness will have some way to mitigate ability damage, they "have to" if they want to survive the shadows long enough to not have a problem with shadows anymore.

Venturing out is a very dangerous affairs. Undeads, Undeads everywhere!

Our character is one of those daredevil adventurers that does just that, she has a thirst for (ancient?) knowledge, because much has been lost and it is not KNOWN anymore. She's also somewhat uncomfortable whenever she is inside an hallowed zone, maybe if she was a bit more of a righteous gal she wouldn't have that problem...

She have to be strong, and hale, and wise. You have to be if you want to survive in such a world. What "adventures" will she have!?

Spoiler: Name, alignment, point buy

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Daralei, LE lesser Zenythri, Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 7 / Scourge Maiden 6 / Maiden of Pain 9
Str 16(+2race), Dex 8(+2race), Con 16(+1leveling), Int 14, Wis 14(+2race,+4leveling), Cha 8(-2race)

Size/Type	Medium Humanoid (Planetouched)
Hit Dice	15d6+6d8+max(1d6)+60 (145)
Armor Class	Negligible, our touch AC is .. 9 before items/spells shenanigans
BAB	+14 or +20(Divine power)
Space/Reach	5 ft. / 10 ft.
Special Attack	Pain touch 3/day, (Stunning/Painful/Agonizing) strike 6/day, Dark knowledge(tactics, puissant) 4/day, Bane 3/day, Crushing Despair 3/day
Special Qualities	Lore Mastery, Still mind, addicted to Agony, Lasher
Saves	15 Fort, 8 Ref, 17 Will
Abilities	18 Str, 10 Dex, 17 Con, 14 Int, 20 Wis, 6 Cha
Skills	Concentration 20, Craft(Alchemy) 19, Decipher Script 12, Heal 13, Intimidate 24 (26 against evil), Knowledge(Religion) 27, Spellcraft 17, Use Rope 10
Feats	Bonus Essentia, Chosen of Evil, Deformity(Tall), Evil Brand, Exotic Weapon Profiency(Scourge), Improved Disarm(whip only), Improved Trip(whip only), Initiate of Loviatar, Insane Defiance, Lichloved, Open Greater Chakra(Waist), Scribe Scroll, Shape Soulmeld(Strongheart Vest), Violate Spell(Consecrate), Weapon Focus(Scourge), Willing Deformity

Spoiler: build

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Spoiler: leveling table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Archivist 1	+0	+2	+0	+2	Concentration +4, Decipher Script +4, Heal +4, Intimidate 2(+4)(CROSSCLASS), Knowledge(Religion) +4, Spellcraft +4	Shape Soulmeld(Strongheart Vest), Scribe Scroll(Bonus, Class)	Dark Knowledge (tactics) 3/day, simple weapon profiency, light armor profiency, medium armor profiency
2nd	Archivist 2	+1	+3	+0	+3	Concentration 4+1, Decipher Script 4+1, Heal 4+1, Intimidate 2-1/2(4+1)(CROSSCLASS), Knowledge(Religion) 4+1, Spellcraft 4+1		Lore mastery
3rd	Archivist 3	+1	+3	+1	+3	Concentration 5+1, Decipher Script 5+1, Heal 5+1, Intimidate 3(5+1)(CROSSCLASS), Knowledge(Religion) 5+1, Spellcraft 5+1	Violate Spell(Consecrate)	Dark knowledge 4/day
4th	Archivist 4 (+1 wis)	+2	+4	+1	+4	Concentration 6+1, Decipher Script 6+1, Heal 6+1, Intimidate 3-1/2(6+1)(CROSSCLASS), Knowledge(Religion) 6+1, Spellcraft 6+1		Still Mind
5th	Archivist 5	+2	+4	+1	+4	Concentration 7+1, Decipher Script 7+1, Heal 7+1, Intimidate 4(7+1)(CROSSCLASS), Knowledge(Religion) 7+1, Spellcraft 7+1	Evil Brand (bonus), Lichloved (bonus)	Dark Knowledge (puissance)
6th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 1	+2	+4	+3	+4	Concentration 8+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 4+3, Knowledge(Religion) 8+1, Spellcraft 8+1	Bonus Essentia	Exotic weapon profiency(Whip), Agony Addiction, Lasher, Extra domain(Pain), Pain touch 1/day
7th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 2	+3	+4	+4	+4	Concentration 9+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 7+3, Knowledge(Religion) 9+1, Spellcraft 9+1		Cleric Spellcasting
8th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 3 (+1 Wis)	+4	+5	+4	+5	Concentration 10+1, Craft(Alchemy) +1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 10+1, Knowledge(Religion) 10+1, Spellcraft 10+1, Use Rope +1		Improved Trip, Advances spellcasting
9th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 4	+5	+5	+5	+5	Concentration 11+1, Craft(Alchemy) 1+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 11+1, Knowledge(Religion) 11+1, Spellcraft 11+1, Use Rope 1+1	Exotic weapon profiency(Scourge)	Pain touch 2/day, Advances spellcasting
10th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 5	+5	+5	+5	+5	Concentration 12+1, Craft(Alchemy) 2+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 12+1, Knowledge(Religion) 12+1, Spellcraft 12+1, Use Rope 2+1	Willing Deformity (bonus)	Advances spellcasting
11th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 6	+6/+1	+6	+6	+6	Concentration 13+1, Craft(Alchemy) 3+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 13+1, Knowledge(Religion) 13+1, Spellcraft 13+1, Use Rope 3+1		Improved Disarm, Advances spellcasting
12th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 7 (+1 Wis)	+7/+2	+6	+6	+6	Concentration 14, Craft(Alchemy) 4+2, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 14+1, Knowledge(Religion) 14+1, Spellcraft 14+1, Use Rope 4+1	Initiate of Loviatar	Pain Touch 3/day, Advances spellcasting
13th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 7 / Scourge Maiden 1	+8/+3	+8	+6	+8	Concentration 14+1, Craft(Alchemy) 6+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 15+1, Knowledge(Religion) 15+1, Spellcraft 15, Use Rope 5	Weapon Focus(Scourge) (bonus)	Advances spellcasting
14th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 7 / Scourge Maiden 2	+9/+4	+9	+6	+9	Concentration 15, Craft(Alchemy) 7+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 16+1, Knowledge(Religion) 16+1, Spellcraft 15, Use Rope 5+1		Bane 3/day
15th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 7 / Scourge Maiden 3	+10/+5	+9	+7	+9	Concentration 15, Craft(Alchemy) 8+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 17+1, Knowledge(Religion) 17+1, Spellcraft 15, Use Rope 6+1	Deformity(Tall), Chosen of evil (bonus)	Crushing Despair 3/day, Advances spellcasting
16th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 7 / Scourge Maiden 4 (+1 Con)	+11/+6/+1	+10	+7	+10	Concentration 15, Craft(Alchemy) 9+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 18+1, Knowledge(Religion) 17+1, Spellcraft 15, Use Rope 7+1		Stunning strike
17th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 7 / Scourge Maiden 5	+12/+7/+2	+10	+7	+10	Concentration 15+1, Craft(Alchemy) 10+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 19+1, Knowledge(Religion) 19+1, Spellcraft 15, Use Rope 8		Painful strike, Advances spellcasting
18th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 7 / Scourge Maiden 6	+13/+8/+3	+11	+7	+11	Concentration 16, Craft(Alchemy) 11+1, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 20+1, Knowledge(Religion) 20+1, Spellcraft 15, Use Rope 8+1	Open Greater Chakra (Waist)	Agonizing strike
19th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 8 / Scourge Maiden 6	+14/+9/+4	+11	+8	+11	Concentration 16, Craft(Alchemy) 11+3, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 21+1, Knowledge(Religion) 21+1, Spellcraft 15, Use Rope 9+1		Advances spellcasting
20th	Archivist 5 / Maiden of Pain 9 (+1 Wis) / Scourge Maiden 6	+14/+9/+4	+12	+8	+12	Concentration 16+1, Craft(Alchemy) 14+3, Decipher Script 8, Heal 8, Intimidate 22+1, Knowledge(Religion) 22+1, Spellcraft 15, Use Rope 10	Insane Defiance (bonus)	Advances spellcasting

Spoiler: Spells per day

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Legenda: A stands for archivist, C stands for cleric equivalent (combined Maiden of Pain + Scourge Maiden), D stands for domain (as granted by the Maiden of Pain feature)
The list Includes bonus slots from ability scores, but it is assumed that we will not have obtained any periapt of wisdom or equivalent.
For fast reference, wisdom is 16 at level 1-7, 18 from 8-19 and 20 at level 20
Spells per Day/Spells Known

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

Spoiler: the 'hero' journey

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Spoiler: level 1-5

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Assumptions : the only spell knowns listed are those granted from class levels, because it is unknown whether we'd find scrolls to copy down or not, and of what.
Reasoning about skill choices : concentration for defensive spellcasting; Decipher Script because of character motivations; Heal because treating ability damage is important in a world of Shadows; Spellcraft because copying scrolls in the prayerbook is a thing :); Religion because the vast predominance of undead enemies.
Intimidate because we need a way to not be bullied by other survivors and high str "lent itself" to intimidate more than diplomacy : no one will care much about a sissy being all diplomatic in a postapocalyptic world.

level 1: We are teensy tiny 9HP BAB0 casters, we better have some meatshields with us!
that said, we can still do an adeguate WHACK! on the occasional corporeal undead that wanders too close, ToHit +4 for 1d8+6 morningstar is passable for a first level pure spellcaster.

Spells known : all cleric 0-th level, 1st level : Comprehend language, scholar touch, healthful rest, Cure light wounds, Hide from undead

Average adventuring day prepared spells : 2x hide from undead, 1x healthful rest
We are not at a level where we can engage shadows, assuming we have at least one friend braving the outside with us, we want the emergency Hide from undead for the both of us. To RUN AWAY BACK INSIDE HALLOWED GROUND, of course.

We have the Str score to hopefully survive the occasional swipe, plus the vitally important Strongheart Vest reducing that damage from 1-6 to 0-5! a World of difference!
Healthful rest basically halves the downtime needed to recuperate, and on a 7+ on the heal check we halve that again if it's only our companion that got touched by shadows. Our stressful adventuring time is therefore spent hunting skeletons/zombies, we aren't strong enough yet to venture far from the gates.

Daralei *is* an Archivist, of course she would have Comprehend language and scholar touch!
Likely 0th spells prepared : Amanuensis, Cure minor wounds, Purify food and drink

Level 2:New spells known : Magic weapon , Shield of faith
precisation : "Protection from Evil" and "Light of Lunia" are obvious choices for spells to learn, and the archivist doesn't have alignment restriction, unlike the cleric. It just doesn't sit right with me to have an evil character cast spells tagged as good. Sure, she could do it, but at discomfort to herself, so perhabs she will learn some later, but not taking these as early as possible is very intentional.

Average Adventuring day prepared spells : 2x hide from undead, 2x Magic weapon OR 1x hide form undead, 2x Magic weapon, 1xCLW
the extra CL let us hide both ourselves and our pal with one casting, or a party of 4 in two casting. with Magic weapon we might risk facing one Shadow, but it's more likely we'll just run away if we encounter one
If we had Light of Lunia, this might have been different, 4d6 per casting might well mean killing a shadow in two castings, but two problems with that, other than the Good descriptor : it doesn't specify what kind of damage it is, so there is still a 50% incorporeality miss chance, and it's a ranged touch attack, we have a grand total of +1 to hit, so we only hit shadows on a 12+, we're better off running away, or risk it with magic weapon, less damage, but higher hit chance.

Level 3: Unlock second level spells! New spells known : Consecrate , Spiritual Weapon
Feat is Violate spell(Consecrate), because it's storytime! Daralei has had enough of the uncomfortable feeling that hallowed ground makes her feel, she knows/discovers that consecrate is an "early version" of hallow, and tries ( unsuccessfully, since she can't metamagic it yet ) to make a nongood version of it.

Average adventuring day prepared spells : 1x hide from undead, 2x Shield of faith, 1xCLW, 3x Spiritual Weapon
Boy does it make a world of difference unlocking the second level spell slots, it's much less risky confronting one shadow at a time now, Spiritual Weapon and soon enough goodbye shadow!
Reap that damn xp!

Level 4: new spells known : Ghost touch armor, Body Ward
Ghost touch armor is kinda a nobrainer, Body Ward or lesser restoration are kinda of a wash, these are just the spells learned form leveling up after all, we'll gonna catch them all eventually! One more 1st and one more 2nd spell slot just make it even smoother doing some successfully hunting

Level 5: Oh la la third level spells!, new spells known: Ghost touch weapon, Neutralize Poison
Ghost touch weapon is a nobrainer to now go forth and conquer! Us and our group are now able to survive traveling quite a bit farther than before from their settlement, so they go about exploring...

Spoiler: the reveal

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Ancient tablets and books in some ruins, le gasps! Elder evils! What's this about Orcus and undeads!? There are others that oppose him!? Well then, sign us up! Demogorgon we beseech thee, grant us the power to defy Orcus!
What a good fit is such a discovery for an archivist!

Katablam! Evil Brand and Lichloved, mindless undead ignore us, I repeat, Mindless undead ignore us. Cue singing I believe I can roam

Spoiler: level 6-10

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Off we are in the next chapter of the adventures of our 'heroes'.
They have now much more freedom to roam about, here they stumble on a settlement of.. strange ladies? But who cares about the ladies, what's this about drugs that have the 'side' effect of intense pleasure for 1d4 hours? Who wouldn't get a vice or three in a post apocalyptic world?
Our dear protagonist promptly gets addicted, and in the pursuit of the next dose she swear allegiance to this cult these strange ladies all seems to be a part of.
Note that addiction to a drug is pretty debilitating, it function like a disease, and the rate for Agony is a Initial fort save at DC25 or become addicted.
Being addicted means a DC25 fort save every day or take 1d6 dex, 1d6 wis and 1d6 con damage, or DC36 for 1d8 Dex, 1d8 Wis, 1d6Con, 1d6Str if she tries to withdraw from it. These are Harsh effects, hopefully by now she picked up/traded for scrolls that helps survive the addiction long enough to qualify for Maiden of Pain ;)
Neutralize poison spell choice above is in function of that, she couldn't know she needed sadism and masochism, could she? too bad Sheltered Vitality has been upped to 4th level in Spell compendium, that was my choice otherwise :(


Of course, she needs to be like-minded, but keeping to her own morality is kinda difficult when you're addicted to a substance only they seems to have, isn't it?

Luckily, archivist can copy new spells on their prayerbooks, so eventually she'll have all the prerequisites to become a maiden of pain ;)

I'm not going to list prepared spells anymore, except when unlocking new spell levels, because the loadout for undead-hunting is essentially the same. Our BAB is bad but we have a fairly good 18STR, so delivering touch attack is easily doable, not that we have any yet :)

Level 6:She can deliver touch attacks with a whip now, which is.. okaysh? she doesn't have any yet except for the pain touch, which doesn't really help adventuring, but seems to be important to the sisters because it's somehow used in the production of that wonderful liquid pain?
Bonus essentia feat : this is exactly the level we start being allowed to put 2 essentia in things, and since we can shape the one thing, we get 2 essentia. Our dear strongheart goes from reducing by 1 to reducing by 3, sweet! Also helps greatly with the addiction, double sweet!
Why did we stop learning heal and decipher script : people grow up, that was our past, we are a new lady now!

Level 7:The unlocking of spellcasting as a first level cleric does one important thing for us : we can now independently copy all the cleric spells to our prayerbook, the success in copying a 1st level spell is 4+, a masterwork spellcraft item and guidance makes it a success on a 1
A word of note : Clerics are forbidden from casting spells of opposing alignments, while technically this same limitation does not apply to Maiden of Pain, the spirit of things compels me to consider Maiden of pain as forbidden from casting spells of opposite alignment.
Also technically, a cleric can prepare a spell of opposed alignment, and not cast it. You don't need to cast the spell to scribe a scroll, so we can technically scribe down the Good and Chaotic spells, to pass them over to the prayerbook, they are fair game in the archivist slots!
We'll only do that when the goddess isn't paying attention wink wink , and if she deigned us worthy of being bestowed a spell of opposed alignment, surely she'll turn a blind eye when we not cast it, yeah?

Level 8: We can trip!, How good are we at tripping? Well BAb4 and 18str, so a total of +12 on touch attack, kinda okay I suppose, but hey, freebie is freebie! Certainly not particularly useful against undead, but sometimes we have hostile goons of the living variety, don't we?
Craft(Alchemy) and Use rope : that's what the cult demands of us, we're starting out our training in making the drugs, and also our training in the proper way of binding those prisoners we extract the pain from.

Level 9:"Tell me again why do I have to train in using this special weapon that's kinda equivalent to the morningstar I've been using since before I started adventuring?" "Because our Lady of pain digs it, now shush and flex that arm!" Aka how to lampshade what a... weapon the Scourge is
"Also, if you behave, later we might teach you how to deliver nasty drugs with it!"
This level we also unlocked 2nd level slots for cleric casting, which we successfully scribe over on a 3+, so masterwork item and no worries of fails here

Level 10:Demogorgon "granted" us Willing Deformity, it's flavorful because what says pain like self mutilation, no? and the bonus on intimidate is on point with the build!

Spoiler: level 11-15

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Level 11: Third level cleric slots, which we can copy over to the archivist slots on a 2+ unaided :) , also free disarming is better than no free disarming! This is worse than the free trip, because we don't really have the BAB for the opposed attack roll, but hey, free is free.

Level 12:Our worship has been recognized! We're granted leave to whip people with frizzy energy
On concentration : "we feel we mastered our mental defenses, and can now focus on other things" aka we succeed on defensive casting on a 1 even for our highest spell slot, so we can dedicate these skill points elsewhere. Like getting better at making drugs, for example. We're only upping concentration when we need to do so to auto-succeed defensive casting new levels of spell slots.
Same with spellcraft, even for 3rd level spells, we now succeed on a 1, so we "mastered the art of copying scrolls to our prayerbook".

Level 13:it's the SI!, why so late!? Well, qualifying for the prerequisite Initiate feat wasn't that easy :(
4th level spell slots, Praise Loviatar! All I need to mention is DIVINE POWER , but I'm sure you all know the goodies we're unlocking here. Death ward, Restoration, Lesser planar Ally... and that's just from core...
It's also when we get the Liquid pain, so entering Scourge Maiden fall right on the cusp of when we become indipendent in the making of drugs. Our Alchemy is sadly still low, but it's a start, we can divine insight it in a pinch, but I wouldn't risk that crafting DC just yet, DC 25 against combined bonus of 21 if we divine insight ourselves... we don't want to risk wasting the precious

Level 14: Eh. We can Bane 3/day at DC 11, or 9 if the Cha malus applies :) . this does not bring them, but also us, joy. Then again our domain is pain, not joy, so it certainly fits that our own abilities trascends the 4th wall and brings pain to the player.
Does the Gm at least grants us the use of Improved trip and disarm with the Scourge? who knows! There'll come a time when we apply drugs to the scourge, but it is not yet the time! (because we don't have the alchemy to reliable make the drugs ourselves)

Level 15: So, let's see what today brings us : Crushing despair, DC12 cone. Well, it's certianly making me sad, considering the level :( It's being so effective it's crossing the 4th wall!
We've grown taller! So what is the reach with our Mystic lash or scourge then? 15+5 feet? 10*3=30 feet? Who knows! Not I!, But delivering melee touch attack out to 30 feet is kinda sweet.
What about our bonus vile feat? Well... how would you like to have an insight bonus of +5 to basically every check other than damage you'll ever make, nice right? right!, it's even going to upgrade to +6 at level 20! Too bad the Violate spell doesn't have the Vile tag :). Now we can reliably make Agony on our own! Much joy in pain! (With Divine insight, not chosen of evil, they don't stack)

Spoiler: level 16-20

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Level 16: it's our signature stunning strike, which we can totally not use against undead! Unless we Spark of life them, I suppose, what did we say was our melee touch range again?
Why Improve CON to 17 now? Because we need that to qualify for Opening the waist chakra

Level 17:Well, if we had doubts about being allowed to Spark of life -> stunning strike undead, at least by the wording of things we can Spark of life -> Painful strike them!
More to the point, the name of this ability is painful strike, so it's fuel for liquid agony! Gimmie Gimmie liquid agony! We're upping our production from 3 to 5 doses per day, yummy!
5th level slots unlocked, and Initiate gives us this interesting NO SAVE STUN on living targets with HD less than us. And hey, we can Commune!, Or do all those other things 5th level slots allows us, like casting good spells and then atone for it, snickers

Level 18: Agonizing strike! The naysayer will think "what is this good for? it's basically a trip but worse!", to which I counter with Agonizing, Liquid pain, if painful wasn't enough to extract liquid pain, Agonizing certainly is! "gain 200gp per use per day", we have infinite wealth, woohoo!
We open our chakra so that Our trusty Soulmeld we carried with us ever since level 1 also protects us from ability drain, sweet potatoes!

Level 19-20: We wrap up by progressing our other PrC, capstoning with 6th level slots (who wants to circle of death for 11d4 HD worth of things at a time? need I remind you we are in a shadowapocalypse scenario?).
Insane Defiance is, well, insane, mind-affecting are like, most of the spells with a will save, and we just no-sell them, we do worse than no sell them, we make our enemies the target of them and with a malus to their saves, seriously!?

Why *that* amount of ranks of use rope : 10 rank +10 circumstance bonus are a good ballpark for the opposed check who takes escape artist anyway
Can we finally make our drugs in peace!?, let's see. baseline we're at 17ranks+2intelligence+6chosen of evil, which just so happens to be the crafting DC of Agony(liquid pain), I swear this is actually a coincidence, what serendipity.

What about some drug with combat use? Well, Luhix is a DC 30 to make, so we could fail, except we're divine caster, so let's just "ahah, no" Divine insight and craft it without problems.

Why would we apply it to our Trusty Scourge? Well, it's poisonlike effect is a DC25 for -1 to all abilities scores, which is kinda not really hot in a world where everybody that's still alive has *some* form of ability damage mitigation, but here is the interesting bit: drugs have an overdose effect if you're exposes to them again in a 24hour period, what's Luhix overdose effect? death on a DC25 fort save, that's cooler!

We risk nothing ourselves because cleric have spells to deal with it, psych!

Spoiler: Features recap

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Strongheart Vest and it's upgrades : occupies waist slots, reduces all ability damage taken by 1, later upgraded to 3 and also applied to ability drian
Dark Knowledge : 4/day religion check for variable bonus to himself and allies to either attack rolls or saves against undead
Lore Mastery and still mind : +2 to decipher script, religion checks and saves against enchantments
Evil brand and lichloved: +2 to diplomacy and intimidate against evil creatures , mindless undead treats us as undead, +1 to saves against some conditions
Lasher : can use whip to deliver melee touch effects, can deliver touch effects as part of a standard attack
Pain touch : 3/day DC 24 stun
Willing deformity and Tall : +3 intimidate, + 5ft. reach, -1AC, -2 hide
Chosen of Evil and Insane Defiance : at will immediate actions for insight bonus to checks, or to redirect mind affecting effects. We take ability damage on use whistles
Bane and Crushing Despair : SLA as the spells 3/day DC 9 and 12
Stunning/painful/agonizing strike : 6/day DC 18 stun/nauseating/dazing effect, duration 1/2/1d4

Spoiler: Possible controversies

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Q: How are you qualifying for Initiate of Loviatar? A: Dragon Magic pg 15.
Q: You can't select Insane Defiance if you can't take ability damage! A: I thank you for houseruling I'm immune to ability damage!
Q: Where are you getting all these extra feats from!? A: Elder Evils pg 10.
Q: You're swearing service to Demogorgon! This no sells worshipping Loviatar to me! A: I'm sorry you feel that way, but the elder evils aren't gods, service to one does not preclude worship of the other.
Q: You only get the bonus feats the level you swear service! A: Well... okay? If I was feeling fastidious I'd counter rule lawyer argue with you that I can swear service to more than one elder evil, and so I gain "all" the vile feats I qualify for/want? But oh well, I covered my ass by swearing service at level 5 for a reason! Build changes become... Chosen of Evil at level 15 instead of tall, I'd say, it's still a nice +3 to everything, and it doesn't have the nonselectable special about ability damage, so it comes cleanly with that possible controversy, yay!
Q: Even if Spark of life makes an undead lose it's undead immunities, Stunning strike can't affect it because it specifically says it doesn't affect undead, it's not a function of undead immunities! A: Indeed, that's my RAW reading too because my brain is weird about nuances (not RAI, obviously), but painful/agonizing strike do not have that problem!
Q: I don't like that you're using 3.0 spells A: I don't like it either, but at least sadism and masochism are needed to qualify for Maiden of Pain, unless you're willing to drop those prerequisites? I haven't found a source that says it's been updated to not have those as preprequisites :(
Q: You can't stack Divine insight with Chosen of Evil! A: That is correct, but we don't need to. Divine Insight is enough to craft/apply Luhix with 100% success rate

Spoiler: Sources

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Book of Vile Darkness : Drugs, Deformity(Tall), Violate spell, some prerequisites, pain domain
Heroes of Horror : Archivist
Shining South : Scourge Maiden
Champions of ruins : initiate of Loviatar
Elder Evils : Vile feats taken except Tall
Magic of Incarnum : Shape Soulmeld, Open Chakra, Bonus Essentia
Complete Warrior : Scourge weapon
Book of Exalted Deeds : mentioned in passing for remove addiction spell
Player Guide to Faerun : lesser(template), Maiden of Pain
Monster Manual II : Zenythri
Spell Compendium : primary reference for noncore spells
Races of destiny : scholar touch spell
Complete Champion : Body ward spell