Junkyard Wars XXXIX - SF + Evasion - Monk

[Thurbane]

I have found that the Way of the changeling is deception. This means that when you are compelled to choose between truth and lie, you must quickly choose lie.

He was a regular young changeling with a dream. He wanted to become a kung-fu master, but... When he came to the nearest monastery and asked monks there to take him as a disciple they chased him out. He didn't surrender to despair and traveled to another monastery, then to the third, fourth. He tried to join wandering monks' apprentices, but he refused him, too. "You don't fit." It was a constant response.
And then he remembered his parent’s words: "If there are several roads to your dream, choose the one that goes through the deception." They didn't want him as an apprentice? He'll come as a Master! No sooner said than done. It was a big surprise how easy it was. Just say: "I am the monk errant," looking accordingly and you can be sure they'll welcome you. After that you just have to watch. Or you can go and join them in their training - nobody says nothing against. Of course it didn't work well at each time. Sometimes he had been compromised, but always managed to identify the threat and escape in time. Time passed and once he found himself not just masquerading as kung-fu master, but truly being him.

It’s only through deception that a changeling moves to perfection.

Spoiler

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CN Changeling Wilderness Changeling Disruptive Attack Martial Rogue 18/Swashbuckler 2

Spoiler: Stats

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Abilities	Initial	Levels	Total
STR	12		12
DEX	14		14
CON	14		14
INT	14		14
WIS	15	5	20
CHA	10		10

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	BAB	Fort	Reflex	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Wilderness Changeling Martial Rogue-1	0	0	2	0	48: {+4} Bluff: 4; {+4} Hide: 4; {+4} Jump: 4; {+2 CC} Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; {+4} Knowledge (local): 4; {+4} Knowledge (nature): 4; {+4 CC} Knowledge (psionics): 2; {+4} Knowledge (religion): 4; {+4 CC} Knowledge (the planes): 2; {+4} Move Silently: 4; {+4} Sense Motive: 4; {+4} Tumble: 4; {+2} Use Magic Device: 2;	Darkstalker (1), Improved Unarmed Strike (B)	Bonus feat, social intuition
2nd	Swashbuckler-1	1	2	2	0	6: Bluff: 4; {+4} Diplomacy: 4; Hide: 4; Jump: 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 4; Knowledge (nature): 4; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Knowledge (the planes): 2; Move Silently: 4; {+1} Sense Motive: 5; {+1} Tumble: 5; Use Magic Device: 2;	Weapon Finesse (S)	Weapon Finesse
3rd	Swashbuckler-2	2	3	2	0	6: {+2} Bluff: 6; {+1} Diplomacy: 5; Hide: 4; Jump: 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; {+2 CC} Knowledge (local): 5; Knowledge (nature): 4; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Knowledge (the planes): 2; Move Silently: 4; {+1} Sense Motive: 6; Tumble: 5; Use Magic Device: 2;	Knowledge Devotion (Arcana) (3)	Grace +1
4th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-2	3	3	3	0	10: {+1} Bluff: 7; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 5; {+1} Jump: 5; {+1 CC} Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1.5; Knowledge (local): 5; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 5; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; {+2 CC} Knowledge (the planes): 3; Move Silently: 4; {+1} Sense Motive: 7; Tumble: 5; {+2} Use Magic Device: 4;	Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike) (B)	Bonus feat, evasion
5th	Wilderness Changeling Martial Rogue-3	4	4	3	1	12: {+1} Bluff: 8; Diplomacy: 5; {+3} Hide: 8; Jump: 5; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1.5; Knowledge (local): 5; Knowledge (nature): 5; Knowledge (psionics): 2; {+4} Knowledge (religion): 8; Knowledge (the planes): 3; Move Silently: 4; {+1} Sense Motive: 8; Tumble: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 5; {+2} Social Recovery;		Minor lore +1
6th	Wilderness Disruptive Attack Martial Rogue-4	5	4	4	1	10: {+1} Bluff: 9; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 9; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 1; {+2 CC} Knowledge (dungeoneering): 2.5; {+1} Knowledge (local): 6; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 6; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 8; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 5; {+1} Sense Motive: 9; Tumble: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 6; Social Recovery;	Cunning Evasion (6), Versatile Unarmed Strike (B)	Bonus feat, disruptive attack
7th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-5	5	4	4	1	10: {+1} Bluff: 10; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 10; Jump: 5; {+3} Knowledge (arcane): 4; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 2.5; {+1} Knowledge (local): 7; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 7; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 8; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 6; {+1} Sense Motive: 10; Tumble: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 7; Social Recovery;
8th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-6	6	5	5	2	10: {+1} Bluff: 11; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 11; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 5; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 2.5; {+1} Knowledge (local): 8; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 8; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 8; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 7; {+1} Sense Motive: 11; Tumble: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 8; {+2} Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;	Martial Study (Cloak of Deception) (B)	Bonus feat, minor lore +2
9th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-7	7	5	5	2	10: {+1} Bluff: 12; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 12; Jump: 5; {+2} Knowledge (arcane): 7; {+1 CC} Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 9; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 9; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 8; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 8; {+1} Sense Motive: 12; Tumble: 5; {+1} Use Magic Device: 9; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;	Superior Unarmed Strike (9)
10th	Wilderness Changeling Martial Rogue-8	8	5	6	2	12: {+1} Bluff: 13; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 13; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 8; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; Knowledge (local): 9; Knowledge (nature): 9; Knowledge (psionics): 2; {+5} Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 9; {+1} Sense Motive: 13; {+1} Tumble: 6; {+1} Use Magic Device: 10; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;	Stunning Fist (B)	Bonus feat, mutable anatomy
11th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-9	8	6	6	3	10: {+1} Bluff: 14; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 14; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 9; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 10; {+2} Knowledge (nature): 11; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 10; {+1} Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Tumble: 7; {+1} Use Magic Device: 11; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;		Minor lore +3
12th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-10	9	6	7	3	10: {+1} Bluff: 15; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 15; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 10; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+2} Knowledge (local): 12; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 12; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 11; {+1} Sense Motive: 15; {+1} Tumble: 8; {+1} Use Magic Device: 12; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;	Daring Outlaw (12), Martial Stance (Assassin's Stance) (B)	Bonus feat, dodge bonus +2, grace +2, sneak attack +6d6, special ability (camouflage)
13th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-11	10	6	7	3	10: {+1} Bluff: 16; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 16; Jump: 5; {+2} Knowledge (arcane): 12; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 13; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 13; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 12; {+1} Sense Motive: 16; {+1} Tumble: 9; {+1} Use Magic Device: 13; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;		Sneak attack +7d6
14th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-12	11	7	8	4	10: {+1} Bluff: 17; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 17; Jump: 5; {+2} Knowledge (arcane): 14; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 14; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 14; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 13; {+1} Sense Motive: 17; {+1} Tumble: 10; {+1} Use Magic Device: 14; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;	Ring the Golden Bell (B)	Bonus feat, minor lore +4
15th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-13	11	7	8	4	10: {+1} Bluff: 18; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 18; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 15; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 15; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 15; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 14; {+1} Sense Motive: 18; {+2} Tumble: 12; {+1} Use Magic Device: 15; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;	Unbalancing Strike (15)	Dodge bonus +3, sneak attack +8d6, special ability (hide in plain sight)
16th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-14	12	7	9	4	10: {+1} Bluff: 19; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 19; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 16; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 16; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 16; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 15; {+1} Sense Motive: 19; {+2} Tumble: 14; {+1} Use Magic Device: 16; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;	Weakening Touch (B)	Bonus feat
17th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-15	13	8	9	5	10: {+1} Bluff: 20; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 20; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 17; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 17; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 17; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 16; {+1} Sense Motive: 20; {+2} Tumble: 16; {+1} Use Magic Device: 17; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;		Minor lore +5, sneak attack +9d6
18th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-16	14	8	10	5	10: {+1} Bluff: 21; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 21; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 18; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 18; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 18; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 17; {+1} Sense Motive: 21; {+2} Tumble: 18; {+1} Use Magic Device: 18; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;	Fists of Iron (18), Freezing The Lifeblood (B), Falling Star Strike (R), Meditation of War Mastery (M), Weapon Focus (Dagger) (M)	Bonus feat, special ability (bonus feat)
19th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-17	14	8	10	5	10: {+1} Bluff: 22; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 22; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 19; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 19; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 19; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 18; {+1} Sense Motive: 22; {+2} Tumble: 20; {+1} Use Magic Device: 19; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;		Sneak attack +10d6
20th	Wilderness Martial Rogue-18	15	9	11	6	10: {+1} Bluff: 23; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 23; Jump: 5; {+1} Knowledge (arcane): 20; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 3; {+1} Knowledge (local): 20; {+1} Knowledge (nature): 20; Knowledge (psionics): 2; Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 3; {+1} Move Silently: 19; {+1} Sense Motive: 23; {+2} Tumble: 22; {+1} Use Magic Device: 20; Collector of Stories, Social Recovery;	Fiery Fist (B)	Bonus feat, dodge bonus +4, grace +3, minor lore +6

B - martial rogue bonus feats, S - swashbuckler bonus feat, R - bonus feat from rogue's special ability, M - martial arts.

A changeling’s word is harder than metal. Once I have lied about something, not even gods can change it.

Spoiler: Main idea evolution

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I want to build my Kung Fu master without using monk's prestige classes. Next I decided to abandon prestige classes at all and use a minimum of base classes.
To better use Stunning Fist I need as many feats as possible. Fighter is a first thought, but... the single Evasion option for fighter is in Dragon Magazine. Well, I took martial rogue. I spent three feats and two Swashbuckler levels to obtain a 12d6 sneak attack. Rogue without sneak attack isn't something right. I actually got seven fighter's feats for free. Cool!

Even if it seems certain that you will be revealed, bluff.

Spoiler: Build explanations

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Spoiler: ACF selection

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Martial rogue selection is clear.
Changeling Rogue gave me in-class Knowledge (religion). Not on all levels, but still not bad.
Plus mutable anatomy and +6 on all Knowledge checks. All three sound very good or perfect!
Wilderness Rogue gave me in-class Knowledge (nature) and Hide in Plain Sight as a Special Ability option!
And of course Disruptive Attack. It looks pretty useful against somebody with sneak attack immunity.

Spoiler: ECL 6

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Master is at the very beginning. He can strikes with bare hands and feet, can stealth well (thanks Darkstalker and Cunning Evasion feats) and bluff, has a broad range of expert knowledge and evasion ability.

Spoiler: ECL 7

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It's exactly the same as 6th ECL. Hilariously dead level!

Spoiler: ECL 12, first sweet spot

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There's a big difference between this and previous levels! Daring Outlaw gives back all sneak attack I trade off plus swashbuckler's dodge and grace! Greate!
And I got a Stunning Fist! Three uses, but it's up to three rounds of free sneak attacking!

Spoiler: ECL 18, second sweet spot

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I have Hide in Plain Sight that synergizes well with Cunning Evasion. I have Unbalancing Strike - unlimited flat-footed humanoids. I have Ring the Golden Bell 5 ranged unarmed strikes. I have Freezing The Lifeblood and Falling Star Strike very interesting substitutions for stunning attacks. As well as Weakening Touch and Fists of Iron not so good options, but they are prerequisites for Meditation of War Mastery, one of few ways to improve Stunning Fist's DC.

Spoiler: ECL 20

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Nothing changes dramatically. I get two more stunning attempts (one from levels, one from Fiery Fist - out of this totally not useful), +1 BAB and all base saves, one more sneak attack dice, +1 dodge bonus, grace and minor lore, and some skills.

Lying from the outset is the only way to attain believing in the end.

Spoiler: Magic items I want

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Stats, especially Wisdom and Dexterity, improvement items. Magic weapon or fang wands. Of course Monk's belt and Ki straps (I think everybody except VoPers in this round want this items).

Knowing the Lie is to know the True.

Spoiler: Books

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Type	Name	Book	Page
Race	Changeling	Races of Eberron	41
Class	Rogue	PHB	49
Class	Swashbuckler	Complete Warrior	11
Class variant	Martial Rogue	Unearthed Arcana	58
Substitution levels	Changeling Rogue	Races of Eberron	122
Class variant	Wilderness Rogue	Unearthed Arcana	56
ACF	Disruptive Attack	PHB2	57
Feat	Darkstalker	Lords of Madness	179
Feat	Improved Unarmed Strike	PHB	96
Feat	Weapon Finesse	PHB	102
Feat	Knowledge Devotion	Complete Champion	60
Feat	Weapon Focus	PHB	102
Feat	Cunning Evasion	PHB2	78
Feat	Versatile Unarmed Strike	PHB2	85
Feat	Martial Study	Tome of Battle	31
Feat	Superior Unarmed Strike	Tome of Battle	33
Feat	Martial Stance	Tome of Battle	31
Feat	Daring Outlaw	Complete Scoundrel	76
Feat	Stunning Fist	PHB	101
Feat	Ring the Golden Bell	Dragon Compendium	105
Feat	Unbalancing Strike	Oriental Adventures	66
Feat	Weakening Touch	Complete Warrior	106
Feat	Fists of Iron	Complete Warrior	99
Feat	Freezing The Lifeblood	Complete Warrior	99
Feat	Falling Star Strike	Oriental Adventures	62
Feat	Fiery Fist	PHB2	79
Martial Art Style	Meditation of War Mastery	Oriental Adventures	81
Skill Trick	Social Recovery	Complete Scoundrel	89
Skill Trick	Collector of Stories	Complete Scoundrel	85
Maneuver	Cloak of Deception	Tome of Battle	76
Stance	Assassin's Stance	Tome of Battle	75

[Thurbane]

Spoiler: Intro

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Fluff concept : Take Seelah, file the serial numbers off, and tie it in with the silver flame.

Soh, blabla reedeeming rogue+paladin, brief act 2 intermission to internalize something something about the power of friendship the soul, some mumbo jumbo about putting your soul where your mouth is ( I.E. your fists) and there you have it an easy bake argent fist!

Not much of Seelah I admit, but rogue+paladin couldn't not make me think of her.

p.s. I tried to append "the sad" but it doesn't roll as well as "the mad"

p.p.s. Motto: MUST PUNCH EVIL IN THE FACE!

Spoiler: Neelah Soulfist

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Lawful good Azurin, Argent fist 10, Cleric of the Silver Flame 1, Paladin 5, Rogue 4

Abilities	Initial	Ability Score Increase	Enhancement	Inherent	Total
STR	10		4		14
DEX	14		4		18
CON	14		4		18
INT	10				10
WIS	18	5	6	5	34
CHA	8		2		10

HP 10 + 14d10 + 5d6 + 40 (144) + (20-60) enhancement + (20-40) inherent
AC Baseline 10 + 8 (armor of some sort) + 2 (DEX) +12 (WIS) = 32, add relevant "generic gear", maybe +7 sacred, I forecast 49ish
Saves Fortitude 28 or more, Reflex 22 or more, Will 35 or more, With mettle and evasion, these numbers are with only the ability modifier and grace, add resistance and other bonuses to taste, I humb it at 35/29/42

Nakeish punch : +26/+21/+16 for 2d10+2, maybe +7 sacred
Smite evil 8/day, bonus attack 12, bonus damage 19
Stunning fist 8/day, DC 51 (10+10 level +12 wisdom +10 argent fist +5 sapphire fist +2 ki wraps +2 ability focus) , and bonus damage 5
Lay on hands+ divine spirit healing pool of 252 HP, potentially double with some turn undead investment
circa 12-24 turn undead leftover for fueling law devotion / argent fist features

Baseline moneybags:
Monk's belt 13000gp (bought)
Enhancement increases as tablefied 88000gp (bought)
Inherent increases as tablefied 137500gp (bought)
Ki wraps 2500gp(crafted)
= 241000, leaving 519000gp for
resistance bonus
natural armor bonus
deflection bonus
amulet of natural attack
miscellanea cleric wands
miscellanea "necessary magic items" : flight, tactical teleportation, true seeing etcetera, you know them, you love them
"best armor" that takes advantage of Holy armor

Spoiler: leveling table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Paladin 1	+1	+2	+0	+0	8: {+4} Diplomacy: 4; {+4} Sense motive: 4;	Knight training, Sapphire smiteHuman	Holy warrior; Aura of good, detect evil, Smite evil 1/day
2nd	Rogue 1	+1	+2	+2	+0	8: {+1} Appraise: 1; {+2} Balance: 2; {+1} Decipher Script: 1; Diplomacy: 4; {+2} Jump: 2; Sense motive: 4; {+2} Tumble: 2;	Intuitive attackbonus	Adventurer, Antiquarian; Bonus feat
3rd	Paladin 2	+2	+3	+2	+0	2: Appraise: 1; Balance: 2; Decipher Script: 1; Diplomacy: 4; Jump: 2; {+1 CC} Know(Arcana): 0.5; {+1} Know(Religion): 1; Sense motive: 4; Tumble: 2;	Serenity	Divine grace, Lay on hands
4th	Rogue 2	+3	+3	+3	+0	8: {+1} Appraise: 2; {+2} Balance: 4; {+1} Decipher Script: 2; Diplomacy: 4; {+2} Jump: 4; Know(Arcana): 0.5; Know(Religion): 1; Sense motive: 4; {+2} Tumble: 4;	Improved unarmed strikebonus	Evasion, Bonus feat
5th	Paladin 3	+4	+3	+4	+1	2: Appraise: 2; Balance: 4; Decipher Script: 2; Diplomacy: 4; Jump: 4; {+1 CC} Know(Arcana): 1; {+1} Know(Religion): 2; Sense motive: 4; Tumble: 4;		Aura of courage, Divine health
6th	Rogue 3	+5	+4	+4	+2	8: {+1} Appraise: 3; {+1} Balance: 5; {+2} Decipher Script: 4; {+1} Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Jump: 5; Know(Arcana): 1; Know(Religion): 2; {+1} Sense motive: 5; {+1} Tumble: 5;	Azure touch	Spell sense
7th	Paladin 4	+6/+1	+5	+4	+2	2: Appraise: 3; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 4; {+1} Diplomacy: 6; Jump: 5; Know(Arcana): 1; {+1} Know(Religion): 3; Sense motive: 5; Tumble: 5;	Divine soultouchHoly warrior	Turn undead, Bonus feat
8th	Paladin 5	+7/+2	+5	+4	+2	2: Appraise: 3; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 4; {+1} Diplomacy: 7; Jump: 5; Know(Arcana): 1; {+1} Know(Religion): 4; Sense motive: 5; Tumble: 5;		Divine spirit; Smite evil 2/day
9th	Rogue 4	+8/+3	+5	+5	+2	8: {+2} Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; {+1} Decipher Script: 5; {+3} Diplomacy: 10; Jump: 5; Know(Arcana): 1; Know(Religion): 4; {+2} Sense motive: 7; Tumble: 5;	Stunning fistbonus, Sapphire fist	Uncanny dodge
10th	Cleric 1	+8/+3	+7	+5	+4	6: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 11; Jump: 5; Know(Arcana): 1; Know(Religion): 4; Sense motive: 7; {+5} Spellcraft: 5; Tumble: 5;		Cloistered; Lore, Law devotion, Incarnum domain, Knowledge domain, Channel incarnum
11th	Argent fist 1	+8/+3	+9	+5	+6	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 12; Jump: 5; {+1} Know(Arcana): 2; Know(Religion): 4; {+1} Sense motive: 8; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 6;		Ascetic knight, Ki focus, Stunning smite
12th	Argent fist 2	+9/+4	+10	+5	+7	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+2} Diplomacy: 14; Jump: 5; {+1} Know(Arcana): 3; Know(Religion): 4; Sense motive: 8; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 7;	Craft wondrous items	Holy armor, Ki strike(silver)
13th	Argent fist 3	+10/+5	+10	+6	+7	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+2} Diplomacy: 16; Jump: 5; Know(Arcana): 3; Know(Religion): 4; {+1} Sense motive: 9; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 8;		Balm of the silver flame
14th	Argent fist 4	+11/+6/+1	+11	+6	+8	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 17; Jump: 5; {+1} Know(Arcana): 4; {+1} Know(Religion): 5; Sense motive: 9; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 9;		Smite evil 1/day
15th	Argent fist 5	+11/+6/+1	+11	+6	+8	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 18; Jump: 5; {+1} Know(Arcana): 5; Know(Religion): 5; {+1} Sense motive: 10; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 10;	Extra stunning	Wrath of the silver flame
16th	Argent fist 6	+12/+7/+2	+12	+7	+9	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 19; Jump: 5; {+1} Know(Arcana): 6; {+1} Know(Religion): 6; Sense motive: 10; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 11;
17th	Argent fist 7	+13/+8/+3	+12	+7	+9	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 20; Jump: 5; {+1} Know(Arcana): 7; {+1} Know(Religion): 7; Sense motive: 10; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 12;		Ki strike(cold iron)
18th	Argent fist 8	+14/+9/+4	+13	+7	+10	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 21; Jump: 5; {+1} Know(Arcana): 8; {+1} Know(Religion): 8; Sense motive: 10; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 13;	Ability focus(Stunning smite)	Mettle
19th	Argent fist 9	+14/+9/+4	+13	+8	+10	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 22; Jump: 5; {+1} Know(Arcana): 9; {+1} Know(Religion): 9; Sense motive: 10; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 14;		Smite evil 2/day
20th	Argent fist 10	+15/+10/+5	+14	+8	+11	4: Appraise: 5; Balance: 5; Decipher Script: 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 23; Jump: 5; {+1} Know(Arcana): 10; {+1} Know(Religion): 10; Sense motive: 10; Spellcraft: 5; {+1} Tumble: 15;		Embrace of the silver flame

Spoiler: Stuff!

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Azurin: Special snowflake humans from Magic of Incarnum, bonus feat, 1 essentia, no bonus skill
Essentia: soul energy you can invest in stuff, and the receptacles have a cap of 1 +1/6 character level, rounded down

Paladin: Core base class, d10 hit die, 2 skill points, full BAB, high/low/low saves

• Holy warrior: Complete champion Alternate Class Feature, trades paladin spellcasting for a bonus feat at 4th level
• Aura of good: We are shiny!
• Detect Evil: At will Spell-like Ability, as the spell
• Smite Evil: Add charisma to attack and Paladin level to damage to a normal melee attack, Works only against evil
• Divine grace: Add charisma bonus to all saves
• Lay on hands: a pool of supernatural healing equal to charisma bonus * paladin level
• Aura of courage: fear immunity to self and +4 morale bonus vs fear to allies within 10ft
• Divine health: Immunity to diseases
• Turn undead: 3+cha modifier special ability to make the stinkies go away
• Divine spirit: ACF from Dungeonscape, trades special mount for a 1/day summon of an untargettable spirit that can heal for twice the amount of lay on hands, duration 5 rounds

Rogue: Core base class, d6 hit die, 8 skill points, medium BAB, low/high/low saves

• Adventurer: ACF trading sneak attack for bonus fighter feats
• Antiquarian: ACF from complete champion, trades trapfinding for a bonus to Appraise for divine items, and a 1/day identify-like SLA , for divine items only
• Evasion: Reflex saves for half instead saves for null
• Spell sense: ACF from complete mage, prereq arcana 1 rank. trades trap sense for dodge bonus to AC against spells and spelllikes
• Uncanny dodge: keep DEX bonus to AC even when flat-footed or attacked by invisible enemeis

Cleric: Core base class, d8 hit die, 2 skill points, medium BAB, high/low/high saves

• Cloistered: variant, d6 hit die, 6 skill point, poor BAB, bonus domain
• Lore: d20+1 knowledge check to know about random tidbits about famous stuff
• Law devotion: ACF from complete champion, trades law domain for law devotion feat
• Incarnum domain: From Magic of Incarnum, grants Incarnum spellshaping as a bonus feat
• Knowledge domain: bonus domain granted by cloistered variant, add all knowledges to the list of class skills
• Channel incarnum: ACF from magic of Incarnum, trades turn undead for the ability to free action gain 1 bonus essentia, times 3+CHA/day

Argent fist: Prestige class from Faiths of Eberron, d10 hit die, 4 skill points, medium BAB, high/low/high saves
prereq

• BAB 5
• Lawful good
• Religion 4 ranks
• Knight training and Improved unarmed strike
• Evasion, Smite evil, Turn undead
• Worship the Argent Flame, join the Order of the Argent Fist

Features

• Ascetic knight: paladin, monk, and ascetic knight level stacks for the purpose of determining unarmed strike damage and smite evil bonus damage
• Ki focus:Can use stunning fist with any held monk weapon
• Stunning smite: when using stunning fist and smite evil together, add the argent level to the stunning fist DC
• Holy armor: Keep the armor bonus from wisdom and monk levels even when wearing armor or using shields
• Ki strike: unarmed strike are treated as silver, and later also cold iron
• Balm of the silver flame: swift action spend 1 turn attempt to double any healing you do for 1 turn
• Smite evil: extra uses of the paladin feature
• Wrath of the silver flame: swift action spend 1 turn attempt to add 2d6 fire damage dealt with unarmed attacks to undead, lycanthropes and evil outsiders. lasts for 5+CHA bonus rounds
• Mettle: Fortitude and will saves for half/partial instead saves for null
• Embrace the silver flame: swift action spend 1 turn attempt to gain, for 5+CHA bonus rounds : fast healing equal to WIS; radiate light as daylight that deals 2d6 damage and -2AC to undead, lycanthropes and evil outsiders; Autoconfirm critical hits against undead, lycanthrope and evil outsiders and allowed to crit undead; can spend action point to take an extra move action

Feats:
Knight training: from Eberron campaign setting, we can multiclass freely between paladin and one class of our choice (Rogue)
Sapphire smite: from Magic of Incarnum, prereq smite feature, CON 13; gain 1 essentia, and can invest essentia in it to gain extra uses of smite evil and bonus damage
Intuitive attack: from Book of exalted deeds, prereq BAB 1, exalted behavior; can use WIS in place of STR for attack rolls with natural attacks and simple weapons
Serenity: from Dragon compendium, prereq divine grace; Use WIS instead of CHA for divine grace, lay on hands, smite evil and turn undead.
Improved Unarmed strike: core,considered armed even when unarmed, unarmed strikes can deal lethal damage
Azure touch: from Magic of Incarnum, prereq lay of hands, CON 13; gain 1 essentia, and can invest essentia in it to be counted as higher level for lay on hands
Divine soultouch: from Magic of Incarnum, prereq turn undead, CON 13; can spend 1 turn undead to gain 1 temporary essentia and increase the receptacle capacity by 1 for 1 round
Stunning fist: core, prereq DEX 13, WIS 13, BAB 8, Improved unarmed strike; for (charlevel/4), target of attack must make a fortitude save DC 10+1/2charlevel+WIS modifier or be stunned for 1 round
Sapphire fist: from Magic of Incarnum, prereq stunning fist, CON 13; gain 1 essentia, and can invest essentia in it to increase the DC and the damage of stunning fist
Incarnum spellshaping: from Magic of Incarnum, prereq ability to cast spells, CON 13; gain 1 essentia, and allowed to use incarnum spells
Law Devotion: from Complete Champion, 1/day swift action gain sacred bonus to either AC or attack for 1minute, can change bonus each round, scales +5 to +7 at 15th level. Can spend 3 turn attempts to use again
Craft wondrous items: core feat, prereq caster level 3rd; Can craft wondrous items
Extra stunning: from Complete Warrior, 3 more uses per day of stunning fist
Ability focus: core feat, prereq special attack; add 2 to the DC of the selected special attack

Spoiler: build decisions

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This didn't really get my usual flipflopping about, I saw stunning fist and i was all "IMMA MAKE AN ARGENT FIST!", followed by "If I want to do all the things I want to do, I need me some extra feats", so feat rogue became kindaish the only option.
for a little while I was doing Rogue 2/ Paladin 8, but in the end with all the incarnum stuff I'm taking, azurin cleric is just too strong an option to willfully ignore

The only real variance after that was feat order and class order really, and if to include or not craft wondrous items

I will admit in shame that I had somehow missed the BAB8 prerequisite of stunning fist and was taking it at level 4ish before I wised up to it

I wish I could have taken 1st level as rogue, but just too many of the feat have prerequisites that don't make it easy shifting one up over yonder

Cloistered cleric isn't really needed, but it let's me have all skills in multiple of 5 except diplomacy which we keep at max rank, and that makes me happy

Spoiler: Story/tactics

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1-5
We grew up making big starry eyes at the stories of how argent fists PUNCHES EVIL! Alas, we missed the "once every 20 years" admittance season for the monastic training, we suspect this was some sabotage from those shiny bald heads over yonder, in envy of our magnificient hair!, But never fear! We got into the "paladin track" of training just fine, we'll just have to make do on the side with the less known "action archeologist" for due training on the physical requirements for those exclusive argent fists!

--Some growing pains here, as our damage will never be much to write home about, since we're optimizing a DC. At least we take care of becoming SAD as soon as possible. At least we have TWO smites, do remember there is an essentia cap and for level 1-5 it's 1

6-10
Study hard! Our joint training as paladin and action archeologist continues! It was only just when the next recruiting season for argent fist that we remembered we need to study for the written exams, too! and so we went into seclusion to cram a bunch. At long last we passed that difficult physical exam of "stun this hardy dude"(Yes I'm going to pretend this is the RP requirement for entering argent fists)

(see, I can find lip service to pay to cloistering! who cares that I'm mixing up the wuxias)

-- these levels are ana ccumulation of a bunch of essentia related stuff, at 6th level we can put 2 essentia on sapphire smite and 1 in azure touch. Azure touch in a way is just lowering the "cost" of multiclassing, but from 7th level we'll be putting 3 essentia on smites and 2 on azure touch thanks to divine soultouch, and at 8th level the value of lay on hands get tripled, such that without even any WIS item, such that the total "pool" is 105 or so!. And of course, at 9th level we get the signature stunning fist, and right out of the gate it'll have a DC of 22 or more! The cleric level closes the deal. We now have 5 essentia, and a cap after divine soultouch of 3, but with two abilities giving temporary essentia, all three of azure touch, sapphire smite, sapphire fist will be capped.

With our high wisdom, we got a bunch of leftover turn attempts to fuel law devotion

Cleric spell : we got 3 first level slots, plus domain slot; domain slot will be detect incarnum, proposed prepared spells will be 3xConviction^{Spell Compendium}

11-20
happily ever after punch stuff

-- a bunch of "numbers going up" in regard to stunning fist DC, and more uses for turning attempts, build is fairly self contained like that!
Craft wondrous item exists to make sure we get Ki wraps from magic item compendium, I'm sure there will be other little useful items we can craft with our first level cleric spell access, but the one directly relevant for the comp is +2 DC of stunning fist
final essentia "split", accounting for temporary essentia, will be 5 to sapphire fist, 4 to sapphire smite and 2 to Azure touch

Spoiler: Possible controversies

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Craft wondrous prerequisite: it's paid for by the SLA we have, both detect evil and the antiquarian, per complete mage SLA can satisfy "caster level X" prerequisites

Temporary essentia and incarnum feat: needs GM adjudication, but given how divine soultouch says it increases the capacity of feats, it would be useless if that didn't last the whoel 24 hours, we are still spending a daily resource after all!

Serenity and "alternative turn undead": I'm staying low-key and assume serenity doens't change WIS for CHA for channel incarnum, as we don't actually need it, but in an actual campaign I would probably allow serenity to apply to alternative types of turn undead

Serenity and lay on hand prerequisites: lay on hand says " a paladin with CHA of 12 or higher" etcetera, a strict read might disallow us from using lay on hand in spite of serenity, if the strict read only apply serenity to the numerical use of WIS for those class features, and not for "prerequisites"

Ability focus: I've seen some say you can't take it with stunning fist, because "a feat isn't a feature" and thus it's not a "special attack". So I'm taking it on stunning smite, which is definetively a class feature, and in the sample NPC statblock is right there under attacks and not qualities :)

[Thurbane]

Old master One Hundred Tigers once found a badly wounded bakemono child. Master was looking at an evil-born creature and thought. Are bakemonos true inherent tainted or can good attitudes and teaching change that? This was a challenge!
Master cured the goblin, gave him a name - Small Oak, and started to teach him. It was a really hard task, Small Oak was barely smarter than monkey and had no idea of discipline. First time he tried to run away almost every day. Master chased him and brought him back until he realized that it’s just a game for Oak. Well, master like games, too.
One Hundred Tigers played with Small Oak for a few years. During this time he teached bakemono common language and slight understanding of religion. Okay, understanding is too strong of a word, “some feeling” would sound better. Anyway One Hundred Tigers managed to raise Oak good bakemono.
However, the idyll did not last long. One Hundred Tigers was a great martial artist, but he wasn’t all-powerful and when a gang of bandits ambushed him with poisoned weapons… He defeated them, but poison defeated him. When Small Oak found the master's body he realized all. He wasn’t smart as a human, but he was smart as a predator. This ambush wasn’t incidental, bandits were hunting on the One Hundred Tigers on purpose. It was unfair, the old master was a good kind Vanara. This means his murderers were evil. Small Oak returned to his and One Hundred Tigers’s house, took master’s sword and went to do justice with prayer in his mind.

CG Bakemono Barbarian 20

Spoiler: Stats

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Abilities	Initial	Race	levels	Total
STR	16	4	4(others)	24
DEX	14	0		14
CON	16	4		20
INT	8	-8		3
WIS	14	-2	1(4th)	13
CHA	8	-6		2

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Spiritual Lion Totem Whirling Frenzy Barbarian-1	1	2	0	0	4: {+2 CC} Knowledge (religion): 1; {+2 CC} Speak Language (Common): 1;	Improved Unarmed Strike	Illiteracy, pounce, whirling frenzy 1/day
2nd	Barbarian-2	2	3	0	0	1: {+1} Jump: 1; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Uncanny dodge
3rd	Spell Sense Barbarian-3	3	3	1	1	1: {+1} Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;	Ancestral Relic	Spell sense +1
4th	Barbarian-4	4	4	1	1	1: {+1} Jump: 3; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Whirling frenzy 2/day
5th	Barbarian-5	5	4	1	1	1: {+1} Jump: 4; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		View the spirit world
6th	Barbarian-6	6	5	2	2	1: {+1} Jump: 5; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;	Power Attack	Spell sense +2
7th	Streetfighter Barbarian-7	7	5	2	2	1: {+1} Jump: 6; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Streetfighter 1
8th	Barbarian-8	8	6	2	2	1: {+1} Jump: 7; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Whirling frenzy 3/day
9th	Barbarian-9	9	6	3	3	1: {+1} Jump: 8; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;	Stunning Fist	Spell sense +3
10th	Streetfighter Barbarian-10	10	7	3	3	1: {+1} Jump: 9; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Streetfighter 2
11th	Barbarian-11	11	7	3	3	1: {+1} Jump: 10; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Greater frenzy
12th	Barbarian-12	12	8	4	4	1: {+1} Jump: 11; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;	Leap Attack	Whirling frenzy 4/day, spell sense +4
13th	Streetfighter Barbarian-13	13	8	4	4	1: {+1} Jump: 12; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Streetfighter 3
14th	Barbarian-14	14	9	4	4	1: {+1} Jump: 13; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Evasion
15th	Barbarian-15	15	9	5	5	1: {+1} Jump: 14; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;	Pharaoh's Fist	Spell sense +5
16th	Streetfighter Barbarian-16	16	10	5	5	1: {+1} Jump: 15; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Streetfighter 4, whirling frenzy 5/day
17th	Barbarian-17	17	10	5	5	1: {+1} Jump: 16; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Tireless frenzy
18th	Barbarian-18	18	11	6	6	1: {+1} Jump: 17; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;	Extra Stunning	Spell sense +6
19th	Streetfighter Barbarian-19	19	11	6	6	1: {+1} Jump: 18; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Streetfighter 5
20th	Barbarian-20	20	12	6	6	1: {+1} Jump: 19; Knowledge (religion): 1; Speak Language (Common): 1;		Mighty frenzy, whirling frenzy 6/day

Spoiler: Ancestral Relic

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ECL	Ancestral Relic	New Abilities	Relic Value	Max Relic Value
3rd	Masterwork Falchion	-	375	1350
4th	Falchion +1	+1	2375	2700
5th	Falchion +1	-	2375	4500
6th	Falchion +1	-	2375	6500
7th	Sizing Falchion +1	SizingMIC	7375	9500
8th	Ki focus Sizing Falchion +1	Ki focusDMG	13375	13500
9th	Ki focus Sizing Falchion +1	-	13375	18000
10th	Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +1	KeenDMG	23375	24500
11th	Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +1	-	23375	33000
12th	Slow burst Brash Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +1	BrashMIC, Slow burstMIC	42375	44000
13th	Everbright Agility (+2) Slow burst Brash Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +1	EverbrightMIC, Agility (+2)OA	46375	55000
14th	Berserker Everbright Agility (+4) Slow burst Brash Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +1	BerserkerMIC, Agility (+4)OA	70375	75000
15th	Berserker Everbright Agility (+4) Slow burst Brash Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +1	-	70375	100000
16th	Berserker Everbright Agility (+4) Slow burst Brash Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +3	+3	118375	130000
17th	Valorous Berserker Everbright Agility (+4) Slow burst Brash Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +3	ValorousUnapproachable East	147375	170000
18th	Furious Valorous Berserker Everbright Agility (+4) Slow burst Brash Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +3	FuriousOA	220375	220000
19th	Initiative Prismatic burst Furious Valorous Berserker Everbright Agility (+6) Slow burst Brash Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +3	InitiativeOA, Agility (+6)OA, Prismatic burstMIC	280375	290000
20th	Jumping Initiative Prismatic burst Furious Valorous Berserker Everbright Agility (+6) Slow burst Brash Keen Ki focus Sizing Falchion +3	JumpingMagic of Faerûn, BlurringOA, Dr# 318	328085	380000

Spoiler: Couple words to judges

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Barb Whirling Pouncer, yeah... Very fresh concept, I know. I understand that Lion Totem Frenzer clearly should get a big penalty in Originality, but... Look at the round's restrictions. I think barbarian 20 shouldn't be the first idea for this round. Plus, please note the very unusual race.

Spoiler: Level-by-level

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Small Oak is pretty straightforward and his abilities speak for themselves, so snapshots will not be very broad.

Spoiler: 5th

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Small Oak is just stupid goblin who can biting, clawing and striking with another body parts. Of course he has Frenzy and Pounce. Nothing special apart from stats - minmax perfection. Int 3, Cha 2, Str and Con 20.
Oh yes, he has his master's Falchion, but now it's oversized so maybe unarmed strike and natural weapons are better.

Spoiler: 10th

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Okay, here we are. Power Attack, Stunning Fist feats, Sizing, Ki focus and Keen Falchion enchantments. Plus Streetfighter. Small Oak is a pretty strong charger now. Three attacks with up to +18 AB for first two (before PA) and threat range of 14-20, plus secondary bite. Also Small Oak has two Stunning Fists which he can use through his Ancestral relic falchion.
At this point it's good to have Monk's Belt^{DMG, p. 248} and Ki Straps^{MIC, p. 113} as well as Mask of Blood^{MIC, p. 115}, Cloak of Predatory Vigor^{MIC, p. 87}.

Spoiler: 16th Sweet spot

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Small Oak now has all he needs. Evasion during frenzy, +3 on Reflex from frenzy, +4 from ancestral relic, +5 on all saves against spells from Spell sense, Pharaoh's Fist for better utilize Stunning Fist, at least 4 Stunning Fist attempts, good charge synergy from Streetfighter ACF, Berserker and Brash enchantments for better utilize frenzy.
Number of attacks is five with up to +28 AB for first two.

Spoiler: 20th

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Small Oak has just better numbers now. Only special feature is cleaving charge from Streetfighter ACF. First attack's AB is +36 now, 8 SF/day.
Ancestral Relic gives something now, though. Valorous is must have for every charger, Jumping is very good - +30 to jump doesn't just lie around, Prismatic burst works well with crit-fishers.

Spoiler: Sources

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Type	Name	Book	Page
Race	Bakemono	OA, Dr #318	146, 44
Class	Barbarian	PHB	24
ACF	Spiritual Lion Totem	CC	46
ACF	Whirling Frenzy	UA	66
ACF	Spell Sense	CM	35
ACF	Streetfighter	Web	link
ACF	View the spirit world	CC	46
Feat	Improved Unarmed Strike	PHB	96
Feat	Ancestral Relic	BoED	39
Feat	Power Attack	PHB	98
Feat	Stunning Fist	PHB	101
Feat	Leap Attack	CA	110
Feat	Pharaoh's Fist	Sandstorm	51
Feat	Extra Stunning	CW	98

[Thurbane]

Spoiler: background

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Tam the Drifter

Tam doesn't remember much of Limbo or his kind. Vague feelings of dread, a flash and then nothing until he was found by the ranger who brought him back to the monks that raised him. Though he looked like a Slaad the monks, like the ranger, knew him for what he was and they raised him as one of their own.

And for that Mystra has always had his devotion.

But life for Tam was difficult. Never truly comfortable, he didn't belong like the other orphans. Tam was of the city and yet not, of the wild and yet not, of the world of men... and yet not. After living with the monks for 40 years, Tam yearned to wander. He had stayed to care for father Gil and the others who had taken in him as a child but now they were dead. And the only friend other friend he had, a nymph who was similarly long lived, urged him to see the world and so Tam joined the Order of the shooting star.

Most members of the shooting stars don't have an animal companion, the few that do often choose smaller creatures akin to a familiar: a hawk or a raven that can assist them better in the city.

Tam's snake was not small. As large a man, the creature could serve as a mount for many of the wizards he assisted through the years. Bean needed to be strong, adaptable, capable of navigating the wild or the city. Like Tam the dung snake was incredibly smart and like him he intimidated most people that encountered him. But Tam knew the creature would serve him well and it proved its worth time and time again in the service of Mystra.

Above all Tam learned to hunt rogue spellcasters for they were always going to be the biggest threat he would face during his travels.

Tam's other studies often confused his companions. ''Why learn to fight with your hands?'' Just use a weapon. But Father Gil, the monk who had spent the most time with him, warned him thus: ''weapons can be dropped, broken, lit on fire, frozen or simply not available'. Your body is a weapon like any other, learn to use it. Strike a man in the right spot and he is helpless before you. Hone your skill enough and your hands will be as deadly a greatsword.''

As always, Tam found his own way. He discovered kindred spirits in the paragnostic assembly. Within their ranks he found friends and people who reminded him of the monks that had raised him. Curious minds always willing to wander in search of wonder.

And amongst them he found he belonged.

Spoiler: Basics

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Tam the Drifter

Race: Neraphim
Templates: none
ACF and substitution levels:

Arcane Hunter level 1
Ranger of the Shooting star Level 3 and 4 but did not trade his animal companion
urban companion
2 weapon fighting style
Planar Ranger substitution at level 8

Attributes

STR 14
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 14
WIS 15 (20)
CHA 8

Spoiler: urban companion

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Bean the dung snake
Medium Animal
Initiative: +3 (Dex); Senses: low-light vision, scent, Listen +10, and Spot +10

AC: 15 (+3 Dex, +2 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 12
Hit Dice: 3/4 of Tam's
Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +2
Speed: 20 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Space: 5 ft./5 ft.
Base Attack +2; Grapple +5
Attack: Bite +5 melee
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee
Damage: Bite 1d3+4
Special Attacks/Actions: Constrict 1d3+4, improved grab
Abilities: Str 17, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Special Qualities: Environmental adaptation, fast healing 1, immunity to disease
Feats: Alertness; improved grab; Toughness
Skills: Balance +14, Climb +14, Hide +13, Listen +10, Spot +10, and Swim +11

Bean is especially brutal for 2 reasons: he gets 3/4 of Tam's hitpoints instead of merely 1/2 like a normal familiar and he get's Tam's BAB, making him surprisingly good at grappling.

With fast healing 1, scent, great racial skill bonuses, Tam's skillpoints and 3 movement modes, Bean's is quite the bodyguard/flanking buddy. Most importantly, he can share spells with Tam and transform into large creatures through alter self and eventually polymorph.

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Ranger	+1	+2	+2	+0	+4 Jump +4 Listen +4 Spot +4 Survival +4 knowledge: dungeoneering +4 knowledge: nature +4 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +1 knowledge: arcana	Knowledge devotion (add religion to skill list)	Favored Enemy: Arcanists +2, track, wild empathy
2nd	Ranger	+2	+3	+3	+0	+1 Heal +5 Jump +5 Listen +5 Spot +5 Survival +5 knowledge: dungeoneering +5 knowledge: nature +5 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +1 knowledge: arcana	-	Combat Style: TWF
3rd	Ranger	+3	+3	+3	+1	+1 Heal +5 Jump +5 Listen +4 Spellcraft +5 Spot +5 Survival +5 knowledge: dungeoneering +5 knowledge: nature +5 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +5 knowledge: arcana	Improved Unarmed Strike	Wavespeak
4th	Ranger	+4	+4	+4	+1	+1 Heal +5 Jump +5 Listen +4 Spellcraft +5 Spot +5 Survival +7 knowledge: dungeoneering +7 knowledge: nature +7 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana	-	Urban Companion: Dung Snake
5th	Ranger	+5	+4	+4	+1	+1 Heal +5 Jump +5 Listen +4 Spellcraft +7 Spot +8 Survival +8 knowledge: dungeoneering +8 knowledge: nature +8 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana	-	Favored enemy Arcanist: +4 Favored Enemy Undead: +2
6th	Ranger	+6/+1	+5	+5	+2	+1 Heal +5 Jump +7 Listen +4 Spellcraft +9 Spot +9 Survival +9 knowledge: dungeoneering +9 knowledge: nature +9 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana	Sword of the arcane order	Improved Combat Style
7th	Ranger	+7/+2	+5	+5	+2	+1 Heal +5 Jump +10 Listen +4 Spellcraft +10 Spot +10 Survival +10 knowledge: dungeoneering +10 knowledge: nature +10 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana	-	Woodland Stride
8th	Ranger	+8/+3	+6	+6	+2	+1 Heal +5 Jump +10 Listen +4 Spellcraft +10 Spot +10 Survival +10 knowledge: dungeoneering +10 knowledge: nature +10 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana +8 knowledge: planes	-	Portal Intuition
9th	Ranger	+9/+4	+6	+6	+3	+1 Heal +5 Jump +10 Listen +4 Spellcraft +10 Spot +12 Survival +12 knowledge: dungeoneering +12 knowledge: nature +12 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana +8 knowledge: planes	Stunning Fist	Evasion
10th	Ranger	+10/+5	+7	+7	+3	+1 Heal +5 Jump +11 Listen +4 Spellcraft +13 Spot +13 Survival +13 knowledge: dungeoneering +13 knowledge: nature +13 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana +8 knowledge: planes	-	Favored Enemy Arcanist +6, Undead +2, Constructs +2
11th	Ranger	+11/+6/+1	+7	+7	+3	+1 Heal +5 Jump +14 Listen +4 Spellcraft +14 Spot +14 Survival +14 knowledge: dungeoneering +14 knowledge: nature +14 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana +8 knowledge: planes	-	Combat Style Mastery
12th	Ranger	+12/+7/+2	+8	+8	+4	+1 Heal +7 Jump +15 Listen +4 Spellcraft +15 Spot +15 Survival +15 knowledge: dungeoneering +15 knowledge: nature +15 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana +8 knowledge: planes	Superior unarmed strike	-
13th	Ranger	+13/+8/+3	+8	+8	+4	+1 Heal +7 Jump +15 Listen +4 Spellcraft +15 Spot +15 Survival +15 knowledge: dungeoneering +15 knowledge: nature +15 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +7 knowledge: arcana +16 knowledge: planes	-	Planar Tracking
14th	Ranger	+14/+9/+4	+9	+9	+4	+1 Heal +7 Jump +15 Listen +4 Spellcraft +15 Spot +15 Survival +15 knowledge: dungeoneering +15 knowledge: nature +15 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +15 knowledge: arcana +16 knowledge: planes	-	-
15th	Ranger	+15/+10/+5	+9	+9	+5	+1 Heal +7 Jump +15 Listen +4 Spellcraft +15 Spot +15 Survival +17 knowledge: dungeoneering +17 knowledge: nature +17 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +17 knowledge: arcana +16 knowledge: planes	Practiced Spellcaster: Ranger	Favored Enemy: Arcanist +8, Undead +2, Constructs +2, Elemental +2
16th	Ranger	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+10	+5	+1 Heal +7 Jump +15 Listen +4 Spellcraft +16 Spot +18 Survival +18 knowledge: dungeoneering +18 knowledge: nature +18 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +18 knowledge: arcana +16 knowledge: planes	-	-
17th	Ranger	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+5	+1 Heal +7 Jump +15 Listen +4 Spellcraft +16 Spot +18 Survival +20 knowledge: dungeoneering +20 knowledge: nature +20 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +20 knowledge: arcana +16 knowledge: planes	-	Hide in plain sight
18th	Ranger	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+11	+6	+1 Heal +7 Jump +15 Listen +4 Spellcraft +17 Spot +21 Survival +21 knowledge: dungeoneering +21 knowledge: nature +21 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +21 knowledge: arcana +16 knowledge: planes	Snap Kick	-
19th	Ranger	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+11	+6	+1 Heal +7 Jump +15 Listen +4 Spellcraft +20 Spot +22 Survival +22 knowledge: dungeoneering +22 knowledge: nature +22 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +22 knowledge: arcana +16 knowledge: planes	-	-
20th	Ranger	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+12	+6	+1 Heal +7 Jump +15 Listen +4 Spellcraft +23 Spot +23 Survival +23 knowledge: dungeoneering +23 knowledge: nature +23 knowledge: religion +1 knowledge: local +23 knowledge: arcana +16 knowledge: planes	-	Favored Enemy: Arcanist +10, undead +2, constructs +2, elemental +2, oozes +2

Spells per Day/Spells Known

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

Key spells per level

Spoiler: spells

Show

1 mighty wallop
2 alter self, hunter's eye
3 greater mighty wallop
4 polymorph

Spoiler: breakdown

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Breakdown

Level 1-7

You're a mostly standard ranger that uses the spell mighty wallop and knowledge devotion to boots your weapon damage somewhat.

Level 8-11

Being an outsider with sword of the arcane order means you can transform into a large dwarf ancestor (+18 natural armor) making you a fairly tough opponent. You also share this spell with Bean the dung snake who becomes a large animal that suits whatever environment you're in.

Level 12-15

Your unarmed strikes now deal a significant amount of damage with greater mighty wallop and superior unarmed strike. You have a caster level of 8 (1/2 of 12 + 2 from shooting star substitution level ) so greater mighty wallop lasts 8 hours and increases you 2 size categories.

Each casting of alter self lasts 80 minutes, which also gives you an extra size category. Thus your 1d10 strikes become 4d8 damage without magic items. When you stun an opponent you can further enhance your damage with a swift spell (hunter's eye) for an extra 2d6 sneak attack damage

Finally, unlike a monk's unarmed strikes, superior unarmed strikes can be made off-hand which you can combine with your ranger combat style.

Level 15+

With practiced spellcaster your caster level becomes 13, letting transform into a kelvezu which grants you 8d6 sneak attack dice. Any creature you stun is essentially dead. Bean becomes just as deadly as you since you share polymorph with him, which helps you flank any target you choose.

[Thurbane]

...and that's it. Five very varied entries this time around.

I was working on a chair's entry before I got sick, but I don't think I saved it properly. The only notes I have remaining are Martial Wizard 6/Spelldancer 4/Abjuration Champion 5/Enlightened Fist 5.

That later on Changed to Archivist X/Spelldancer X/Knight of the Raven 10/Dragon Slayer 1, from memory.

Basically I was looking for a primary caster build that ticked the req boxes for the round.

Now we await judging.

[edit] I'm a bit muddle-headed at the moment, if I messed up posting anyone's entry, please PM me [/edit]

[H_H_F_F]

Nice!

I was playing with a Kalashtar unarmed swordsage 5/ fist of dal quor 1/ warmind 5/ and then 4 more levels of swordsage and 5 of shadow sun ninja (jumbled up to get maneuvers (9ths) and stances (8ths) at the right time).

My idea was using a reach weapon with expansion for reach, and using warmind to stun two opponents with the same martial strike each time - utilizing mountain tombstone strike to impact both enemies' ability to make the save.

At the end, the stunning didn't feel ad impactful as I wanted it to be, I didn't feel that I found enough of a reason to want to do it with a weapon and not just unarmed strike, and I didn't really care about evasion, so I gave it up.

[ciopo]

seeing a single classed ranger, single classed barbarian and (almost) single classed rogue is very funny to me.

I was tinkering with a single classed ranger too, going for wildshape ---> great flyby attack , since it's one attack roll, therefore one stun for them all! and ascetic hunter for juicy DC bonus.

but it was just bland and I could think of any "glue", prone as I am to not outputting much fluff, wasn't much fun as simple as it was

[Thrice Dead Cat]

My uninspired idea was simply Swordsage 10/Shadowsun Ninja 10. It felt incredibly lazy, but at least got 10 "real" monk levels for Stunning Fist. I had pulled up a list of "monk" prestige classes to see if I could bump up the effective monk level a little bit, but never really went anywhere with it due to their various requirements.

Another idea was to go Barbarian into Frozen Berserker and/or Fist of the Forest before swinging into Rogue for evasion and then Swordsage/SSN.

I'm honestly surprised to see not one, but almost three didn't single class entries here!

[loky1109]

seeing a single classed ranger, single classed barbarian and (almost) single classed rogue is very funny to me.

For me, too.
I think it's sorta protest against PrC domination in the Iron Chef.

Table!

Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Total	Place
Bansh, Hadozee Truespeak Warrior	LN Hadozee	Martial Rogue 4/Warblade 9/Disciple of the Word 7
Master Lying True	CN Changeling	Wilderness Changeling Disruptive Attack Martial Rogue 18/Swashbuckler 2
Neelah Soulfist	LG Azurin	Holy Warrior Paladin 5/Antiquarian Spell Sense Martial Rogue 4/Azurin Cloistered Cleric 1/Argent fist 10
Small Oak	CG Bakemono	Spiritual Lion Totem Spell Sense Whirling Frenzy Streetfighter Barbarian 20
Tam the Drifter	?? Neraphim	Arcane Hunter Urban Companion Planar Ranger of the Shooting Star 20

[pabelfly]

Anyone interested in judging this comp? I personally think there are some interesting entries here.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Anyone interested in judging this comp? I personally think there are some interesting entries here.

Yes, I stated that I was going to judge in the event that I did not submit anything. Apologies for the delay. I thought I had an extra week to judge! As always, here is my rubric:

Spoiler: Originality

Show

• Starts at 3/5. It's the halfway point, so that's what I'll use for everything
• I'm going to focus more on the narrative and the character you're presenting here than strictly the mechanics. So even a Fighter 20 could score well if you did something interesting with it.
• Numerous dips will likely lead to penalties.
• "Standard" tricks/builds will also likely be penalized (e.g., Wizard 3/Master Abjurer 10/Iot7V 7 isn't taking home any points here, ignoring the obviously banned class for the moment)

Spoiler: Power

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• Starts at 3/5
• The goal is "What sort of power/flexibility do you bring to your role, and does it achieve the goals of said role?" Essentially, I'm trying to provide some weight to avoid pure caster supremacy.
• Still, bigger numbers, more skills, and more tools all count to more power.

Spoiler: Elegance

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• Starts at 4/5
• Illegal entry deductions apply here
• Same goes for ambiguous/debatable interpretations.
• Skill point math being off or missed skills also apply here (e.g., Knowledge of a creature where you have zero ranks in the appropriate Knowledge without some other way to know about it via something like Bardic Knowledge/Lore/something like the Jack of All Trades feat for a floating 0.5 skill rank/etc.)
• Multiclassing penalties will earn a minor penalty if they apply at all.

Spoiler: Use of Components

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• You have twenty levels to play with to spend on various base/prestige classes, but even a Required Base Class/Required Prestige Class isn't necessarily enough for 5/5.
• Forbidden material will be penalized.

That out of the way, let's begin!

Spoiler: Bansh (Dispute 1: Updated to 15.75)

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Spoiler: Originality (4.5)

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I honestly was not expecting to see any Truespeech, so props there (+1.00). I also wasn't expecting Hadozee, so there's another +0.5 to you. The story is a little light, but not enough to penalize you.

Spoiler: Power (Dispute 1: Updated to 4.00)

Show

Early levels, you're a Warblade with more skills. Your stats are spread a little thin, but having access to armor at least helps somewhat. Pearl of Black Doubt usually isn't worth it, but stacking that with miss chances certainly helps. I'm not terribly sold on on the Combat X feats, but being able to switch Dodge targets as an immediate action is nice. Same for the limited fast healing.

I feel like you're not getting much out of Disciple of the Word, however. Your best trick is eventually replacing your reflex saves at most 10 times per day with a Truespeech check (which, because it's not a Reflex saving throw, does not benefit from evasion), bypass DR, or dispel the highest spell on an enemy. Action Before Thought and Mountain Hammer have both been options since ECL 4 for you to do those same two things. Sure, your Truespeech check will liking be higher than your Concentration check but I'm just not seeing the benefits there.

Your miss chance also can be negated somewhat since it's only total concealment rather than a flat 50% miss chance. This opens up a bit of a rules kerfluffle as it's not due to poor lighting or invisibility, so you could argue that you still benefit from it even against a target with blindsight (although a True Strike type effect will still bypass it). Let's call this a +0.75 altogether.

EDIT: Added an extra +0.25 here per the first dispute.

Spoiler: Elegance (3.75)

Show

Most of your abilities flow into each other. You have to burn a few feats to make your schtick work. Being able to use a Truespeech check on Swooping Dragon Strike is nice, but mostly replacing one skill for another doesn't really do much for you. Sure, you're getting more mileage out of your magic items as they can pull more than double duty effectively applying to multiple skills (with restrictions), but once you take those away, you've got about the same amount of bonuses to something like jump or tumble as you would Truespeech. Plus, like I mentioned under power, some of the abilities you do get from Disciple of the Word are easily replaced with maneuvers you could have had since level 3 at the earliest. I'm not penalizing you for that, but I'm not giving you any points here either.

That said, I will penalize you for how you listed out your skills. Yes, filling out the skills for all 20 levels is the most annoying part of this competition, but you drop skills from the table at various points and it makes it hard for me to figure out what's new and what's not (-0.25).

Spoiler: Use of Components (3.5)

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You have access to everything required as fast as I think is possible in this competition (+0.50). You also have new uses for your SF attempts (+0.25), but you only have 10 attempts per day (7 from Disciple levels, plus another 3 from your other 13 class levels). That last one was going to be hard to pass, but you could have fit a few more in there with more Disciple levels and/or Shadowsun Ninja levels. I mean, you already have Warblade in there!

Another thing I won't penalize, but it's clear where you found the feat rogue. Officially, that ACF doesn't have a name. Neither UA or the official SRD call it what you called it, but another site does. It's still clear from your sources what you meant. Just be care in the future on where you pull your information from, as sites like that tend to have errors in their transcriptions.

Spoiler: Master Lying True (Dispute 1: Updated to 14.00)

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Spoiler: Originality (3.5)

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Rogue/Swashbuckler is simple and to the point. A little odd, but not terrible given the existence of Daring Outlaw. That said, I do like how you used the feat rogue variant to qualify for Martial Stance and then used that to qualify, effectively double dipping on your class features (+0.5). Arguably, you couldn't apply both the Wilderness ACF and Changeling racial substitution levels since they both make adjustments to the class skills list.

Spoiler: Power (Dispute 1: Updated to 3.75)

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You're basically a ranger for most of your career. You have a slew of skills, but lack sneak attack until 12th level. Disruptive attack is effectively "free" for you when you get it, so that's nice (+0.50). Versatile Unarmed Strike and all of the feats you spent on Meditation of War Mastery just feel like a waste. Ability Focus (Stunning Fist) does the same thing without lighting three feats on fire. The limitations on Falling Star Strike, Freezing the Lifeblood, and Fists of Iron just hurt too much. You don't have enough attempts to warrant what is in effect an extra +1d6 of SA with FoI, and you really don't have enough attempts to use either of the other two feats (-0.25). At least Fiery Fist gives you an extra use per day.

EDIT: Added an extra +0.25 here per the first dispute.

Spoiler: Elegance (4)

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A 2/18 class split is straight and to the point. You're all in on your fists, but question the choices you've made regarding most of your feats. No penalties, but no bonuses either.

Spoiler: Use of Components (3)

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Again, this just feels "functional." You've got Evasion and Stunning Fist about as fast as can be expected. You also went all in on Stunning Fist with Meditation of War Mastery - it's just that MoWM isn't that good when Ability Focus is right there! You could have instead picked up something like Improved Natural Attack, some Ambush feats, or something else. Again, no penalty, but I'm not seeing anything that warrants a boost.

Spoiler: Neelah Soulfist (15.5)

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Spoiler: Originality (4.00)

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Paladin into Argent fist is interesting for this competition (+0.50). Your fluff is almost nonexistent though (-0.25). I also was not expecting to see any Incarnum, so bonus points there (0.75).

Spoiler: Power (3.25)

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You can get some insanely high DCs on your Stunning Fist when you use one of your Smites and have access to 15 uses per day by my count with your Extra Stunning. So that's good (+0.25). Even without the extra +10 leaves you with a solid 41 DC throughout the day. You're also close to being WIS sad, but your damage will be a little on the low ends compared to other front line fighter types. Craft Wondrous Item is an odd choice, and I feel like you'd have been better served grabbing Knowledge Devotion or just about anything else in its place.

Spoiler: Elegance (4.25)

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Argent Fist is everything you want and need, so I don't get why you pushed it back as far as you did. You qualify as early as 6th level (entering at 7th). You could have shuffled your rogue levels to later on and gotten the good stuff sooner. That said, you at least have everything you need for the contest online at 9th level. There's also something to be said for dumping all of your essentia into Sapphire Smite and/or Sapphire Fist for extra uses of Smite Evil and higher DCs for Stunning Fist. Being able to gain virtual essentia also means that you don't have the usual problems of locking all of your mojo into a feat for the day. So call that a +0.25 altogether.

Spoiler: Use of Components (4.00)

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You've got a solid focus on SF and are almost WIS sad. Arguably, you won't be benefiting from evasion due to wearing heavy armor, but you've got a middle-ish Ref saving throw bonus anyhow. Call it 4.00.

Spoiler: Small Oak (11.50)

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Spoiler: Originality (3.0)

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Gotta say, was not expecting a barely sentient goblin race with a wisdom penalty going Barbarian 20 for this competition. I like the fluff you have here, too, even if Ancestral Relic is a bit overdone in my opinion. Same for all of your charging shenanigans. Call it an even 3.0.

Spoiler: Power (2.5)

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You've got the usual staples of pounce, whirling frenzy, and spell sense, plus some extra features to the usual "charge first, ask questions later" mentality with the Streetfighter ACF. Unfortunately, with only a 13 Wisdom score, your SF attempts aren't going to be terribly successful. End result is a poor man's barbarian mixed with a poor man's monk (-0.50).

Spoiler: Elegance (3.5)

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Taking a race with a wisdom penalty and minimal investment into one of the two themes of the round isn't doing you any favors here (-0.50). Really, it looks like you took three separate concepts and failed to get them to emulsify after chucking them all into a blender. Sure, crit fishing with an ancestral relic falchion works well with charging, whirling frenzy attacks, but then you just have stunning fist tacked on and it doesn't really do much of anything. It's like a pina colada, but the pineapple isn't ripe and the chunks still have bits of skin on them.

Spoiler: Use of Components (2.5)

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Again, Stunning Fist feels like an afterthought. You have a few extra feats, but they're not really doing much with your low DC. You get them as riders on your falchion, but they still just aren't doing much for me (-0.50).

Spoiler: Tam (11.75)

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Spoiler: Originality (2.75)

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Neraphim for shapechanging abuse isn't new (-0.25). Neither is Sword of the Arcane Order (-0.25). Ranger 20 is an interesting take on this challenge, however (+0.25).

Spoiler: Power (3.25)

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You've got all the usual power from SotAO and Practiced Spellcaster means Hunter's Eye gets some extra mileage, too. I wish you would have broken down more of your alternate forms - both yours and Bean's. You're stronger than the stereotypical ranger, but I also don't know what all else you can do from your ACFs since you never really go into why you took them. Greater Mighty Whallop and its lesser brother are always nice - more so with "real" size increases, too, so you at least have damage (+0.5).

Your skills are mostly set up to powering Knowledge Devotion, which almost feels like a waste. You eventually get HiPS but have no ranks in hide or move silently! Altogether, it feels a little half-baked (-0.25).

Spoiler: Elegance (2.75)

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You get a penalty here for not citing your sources (-1.00). You also don't qualify for Knowledge Devotion at first level due to it requiring 5 ranks in a Knowledge skill (-0.25). That said, you could just swap the order you take it and Improved Unarmed Strike, so it's not as if your build is completely invalid otherwise. This also screws with your skill ranks, but I'm not going to penalize you twice here.

You also don't really talk about your ACFs. I know you get your dung snake from the urban companion, Favored Enemy: Arcanists from Arcane Hunter, but it would have been so much easier to read had you listed them all in the table.

Spoiler: Use of Components (3)

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You at least have a strategy of trying to apply SF so that you can eventually sneak attack with Hunter's Eye, but you don't build on its DC or any other effects for it (+0.00). Evasion is "just there," but that's honestly been the case for almost all of the entrants this round.

I gotta say, judging this round felt like I was going more off vibes than I usually do. So apologies there, too.

[ciopo]

Thank you for judging, 3DC!

[pabelfly]

Yes, I stated that I was going to judge in the event that I did not submit anything. Apologies for the delay. I thought I had an extra week to judge! As always, here is my rubric:

I gotta say, judging this round felt like I was going more off vibes than I usually do. So apologies there, too.

I'm very grateful that you've judged. Thank you very much for your time.

[loky1109]

Thank you TDC!


Table with rating.

Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Thrice Dead Cat	Total	Place
Bansh, Hadozee Truespeak Warrior	LN Hadozee	Martial Rogue 4/Warblade 9/Disciple of the Word 7		15.50	15.50	1st
Master Lying True	CN Changeling	Wilderness Changeling Disruptive Attack Martial Rogue 18/Swashbuckler 2		13.75	13.75	2nd
Neelah Soulfist	LG Azurin	Holy Warrior Paladin 5/Antiquarian Spell Sense Martial Rogue 4/Azurin Cloistered Cleric 1/Argent fist 10		15.50	15.50	1st
Small Oak	CG Bakemono	Spiritual Lion Totem Spell Sense Whirling Frenzy Streetfighter Barbarian 20		11.50	11.50	4th
Tam the Drifter	?? Neraphim	Arcane Hunter Urban Companion Planar Ranger of the Shooting Star 20		11.75	11.75	3rd

[Thurbane]

Many thanks for the judging TDC. Here is a couple of disputes:

Thanks for your time and effort judging, Thrice Dead Cat, it’s very much appreciated.

I'm not terribly sold on on the Combat X feats, but being able to switch Dodge targets as an immediate action is nice. Same for the limited fast healing.

Switching Dodge targets is worthwhile since we need to specify Dodge targets to get a 50% miss chance against our dodge target. Instead of one opponent that has a 50% miss chance against us with "Word Given Form" martial art, it’s every opponent.

Bansh also manages to pick up Combat Vigor, which gives us a +4 to Will saves while in combat. I think this is a pretty good buff, especially since will save based spells are a good way to otherwise get around one of the weaknesses of the “Word Given Form” martial art.

I hope my high base saves are worth considering in regards to Power scoring – 17/14/14 saves are all above “good” levels of saves before magic items are considered, and Will can easily go up to 18 thanks to Combat Vigor.

Outside of this edge-case build, I completely agree with your assessment of Combat X feats.

I feel like you're not getting much out of Disciple of the Word, however. Your best trick is eventually replacing your reflex saves at most 10 times per day with a Truespeech check (which, because it's not a Reflex saving throw, does not benefit from evasion), bypass DR, or dispel the highest spell on an enemy. Action Before Thought and Mountain Hammer have both been options since ECL 4 for you to do those same two things. Sure, your Truespeech check will liking be higher than your Concentration check but I'm just not seeing the benefits there.

“Action Before Thought” and “Mountain Hammer” are options available, true, but as with any manoeuvre, they can only be used once before they need to be re-initiated. There’s also the opportunity cost of these manoeuvres – if I have these, I’ve had to forgo other options for them. I would make the argument that instead of getting these capabilities from Warblade, I’ve gotten them from Disciple of the Word instead.

I also think the effect “Word of the Fist Unravelling” kind of got skipped here. It can dispel the highest-level effect currently targeting the target, and I believe this is a rather difficult effect to find elsewhere. The word “effect” is rather ill-defined, and while it seems to mean a buff spell, I’d also argue this could apply to the effects of an equip items too. It’s a pretty good option for any melee character to have.

Being able to use a Truespeech check on Swooping Dragon Strike is nice, but mostly replacing one skill for another doesn't really do much for you.

Swapping Jump for Truespeak also helps with our swift-action movement option in Sudden Leap – we’re getting pretty much twice the distance from our swift-action jump should we need it. Aside from that, as a sailor, we’ll probably make occasional use of being able to push Balance, Jump and Tumble into epic DC levels to be the best crewman aboard whatever ship we find ourselves.

That said, I will penalize you for how you listed out your skills. Yes, filling out the skills for all 20 levels is the most annoying part of this competition, but you drop skills from the table at various points and it makes it hard for me to figure out what's new and what's not (-0.25).

I did list out my full and complete skill ranks every five levels in my level summary though.

You have access to everything required as fast as I think is possible in this competition (+0.50). You also have new uses for your SF attempts (+0.25), but you only have 10 attempts per day (7 from Disciple levels, plus another 3 from your other 13 class levels). That last one was going to be hard to pass, but you could have fit a few more in there with more Disciple levels and/or Shadowsun Ninja levels. I mean, you already have Warblade in there!

Setting Sun and Shadow Hand disciplines are Swordsage only. If I switched Warblade to Swordsage, I lose 3 BAB (and go below 16 BAB), I lose 18 HP, and Iron Will and Improved Initiative. There are upsides to this trade, sure, but it seems like a debatable build choice, rather than a missed opportunity.

Disciple of the Word is difficult to justify taking to 10th level in this specific build. Firstly, there’s the opportunity cost of losing Warblade levels, and thus a loss of higher-level manoeuvres, reduced damage output, and losing Iron Will. Second, the abilities are underwhelming for this build. 8th-level lets you negate one melee attack per day. 9th lets you negate a targeted Will save. This does counter some really strong spells, but our Will is pretty good, even before adding item effects. Lastly, you can get swift-action movement, but we already have that, and since we’re using manoeuvres to assist with damage output, this isn’t a huge concern as it would be on a mundane without manoeuvres.

I also thought that all of the extra ways that Disciple of the Word makes use of the Stunning Fist ability might be worth recognizing here too. We need to use a Stunning Fist usage to power every single one of our class abilities.

Again, regardless of your response, I’d like to finish off by thanking you again for taking the time to judge.

Thank you for your judging, Thrice Dead Cat!

I have couple of words to saying, however.

Spoiler

Show

Versatile Unarmed Strike and all of the feats you spent on Meditation of War Mastery just feel like a waste.

Well, first about Versatile Unarmed Strike. I don't think it's a waste, it's good against X/bludgeoning DR and to be honest I can't replace it with something better on the level when I took it. It's fighter bonus feat. Improved Natural Attack and Ambush feats aren't.
Meditation of War Mastery is another thing. Yes, Ability Focus is almost the same and looks cheaper, but... I want Falling Star Strike and Freezing the Lifeblood with MoWM or without. So we have choose between Ability Focus and Fists of Iron plus free MoWM. One feat for +2 DC or another one feat for +2 DC, not very useful +1d6 damage option and free WF. Second option looks more elegant for me.
And yes, I wanted to take Ability Focus and MoWM (and Ascetic Rogue, too), but it's very feat starved in second half build.

---

you really don't have enough attempts to use either of the other two feats (-0.25).

It's inherent Stunning Fist issue. Without this two feats I still have not enough attempts, but them at least give me variety of options. Plus, look at the Unbalancing Strike. It's feat with Stunning Fist in prerequisites, but it doesn't eat SF attempts and gives me very good debuff option.

---

Again, this just feels "functional." You've got Evasion and Stunning Fist about as fast as can be expected. You also went all in on Stunning Fist with Meditation of War Mastery - it's just that MoWM isn't that good when Ability Focus is right there! You could have instead picked up something like Improved Natural Attack, some Ambush feats, or something else. Again, no penalty, but I'm not seeing anything that warrants a boost.

I see your point about not the best SF using, but how about Evasion? Cunning Evasion plus Hide in Plain Sight and Darkstalker with +16 Reflex before any items is worth something, isn't it?

And I don't agree with your SF using evaluation. Yes, SF itself is very limited, but it opens Unbalancing Strike for me. Which is... I don't know how to say. It's almost all what sneak attacker could dream about.

---

And... talking about my power you didn't say anything about my skill variety. I think I can something out of combat. )

[Thrice Dead Cat]

For the disputes:

Spoiler: Bansh (+0.25)

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For switching Dodge targets, I'm not seeing how you get to apply that to everyone. Yes, you can switch targets, but that comes at once per round and uses your immediate action. Word of Reflexes Exalted is already fighting for that, too. Don't get me wrong, I know it's not nothing, but it's also not "Dodge applies to everyone in a round."

I'll give you the saves and effective save bonus from all of your Combat X feats. Bansh actually ends up with a fairly close "Monk" save bonus, all said and done, and that is something I didn't really touch on in my review of your build. So you've earned yourself an extra +0.25 to power there.

Warblade does have the worst recovery method, but you still have the option to burn a swift action and attack to recover a single maneuver. That would mean that those maneuvers are available every other round or so, if you so chose. There is something to be said for the opportunity cost of taking the maneuver versus using a class feature. Plus, you're not actually that far behind. Warblade 16 would certainly net you a higher IL level, but you'd only be up three extra maneuvers known (plus a bonus feat and other class features). And like you said, Word of the Fist Unravelling is certainly worth a (high level) maneuver. I know I briefly mentioned WotFU, but it did play heavily into your Power Score, even with its restrictions.

Again, substituting a SF attempt and truespeech check for a higher Jump check is not bad, given your dedication to pumping that skill up. It just feels like one of the least impactful thing you can do with a SF attempt. By 10th level, I would hope most characters would have at least some means of temporary flight. So jumping extra good without something like Leap Attack to play into a reason to jump versus fly doesn't really do it for me, y'know? The fact that it's also a Su ability doesn't help it either.

For skills, "every 5 levels" is every 5 levels. It's not every level. So I still have the same complaint on having to do skill point math. I know doing that math is a giant pain. It's one of the reasons why I highly recommend using mattie_p's Google spreadsheet. It makes it so, so, so much easier!

My suggestion for Shadowsun Ninja was less "Drop Warblade and take Swordsage" and more "Use some feats to qualify so that you get a few extra SF attempts (and other class features)." Although, to be fair, I was mistaken in thinking that Martial Study was a Warblade bonus feat option... and it's not. So shame on me. (Although, I might also just be disappointed that nobody went for SSN when that was the idea I dedicated the most time myself for a build, which is neither here nor there. That also doesn't really reflect on Bansh either.)

You also make a good point for level 7 being a good breakpoint from Disciple. It's a little weird for saves, but per your assessment, it probably is the best point to get out of it. Getting even a limited dispel magic type ability on someone who is otherwise purely melee is just that good. I also know Bansh is tight on feats, but as some of the other builds here have, you could have picked up Extra Stunning.

So, all together, you're up an extra +0.25!

Spoiler: Master Lying True (+0.25)

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Fair point on Versatile Unarmed Strike. I still think you would be better off with larger damage dice than worrying about bypassing DR on the enemies that have it. Improved Natural Attack helps in all cases, just less so when those types of DR are involved while VUS only helps when said DR is in play. Also, the restrictions on all of those feats is a very, very steep one. It's not "against a living creature," but rather explicitly only against creatures of the Humanoid type. That is just too narrow an ability to ever be worth it in my opinion! You're also not really benefiting from the free weapon focus since you're all-in on using your fists, so an extra +1 to attack roles with another weapon isn't even a drop in the bucket.

Unbalancing Strike is nice, but it has the same problem as most of the rest of your feats: if your opponent isn't humanoid, it does nothing but burn one of your precious feat slots. The same holds for most of the rest of the OA feats. You could make the argument that "humanoid" refers to body plan rather than creature type. There is that ambiguity there since it doesn't say "Humanoid creature type," but even then, a large portion of the monster manual is going to be off limits for those feats.

You got me on not giving you credit for your wide array of skills and actual ability to hide. I very much breezed past your skill list. So shame on me there and an extra +0.25 points in power for you, too.

Points will be added to my review post for ease of tabulation. Just wait until the edit appears.

[Thurbane]

I have been advised no further disputes from Bansh, and no disputes from Small Oak.

I'm furiously finishing up my VC entry, but if there seems to be no further disputes coming, will wrap this up relatively soon, and post the final reveal.

[loky1109]

Updated table.

Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Thrice Dead Cat	Total	Place
Bansh, Hadozee Truespeak Warrior	LN Hadozee	Martial Rogue 4/Warblade 9/Disciple of the Word 7		15.75	15.75	1st
Master Lying True	CN Changeling	Wilderness Changeling Disruptive Attack Martial Rogue 18/Swashbuckler 2		14.00	14.00	3rd
Neelah Soulfist	LG Azurin	Holy Warrior Paladin 5/Antiquarian Spell Sense Martial Rogue 4/Azurin Cloistered Cleric 1/Argent fist 10		15.50	15.50	2nd
Small Oak	CG Bakemono	Spiritual Lion Totem Spell Sense Whirling Frenzy Streetfighter Barbarian 20		11.50	11.50	5th
Tam the Drifter	?? Neraphim	Arcane Hunter Urban Companion Planar Ranger of the Shooting Star 20		11.75	11.75	4th

[Thurbane]

Sorry for the late reveal, but here we go:

Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Thrice Dead Cat	Total	Place
Bansh, Hadozee Truespeak Warrior	LN Hadozee	Martial Rogue 4/Warblade 9/Disciple of the Word 7	pabelfly	15.75	15.75	1st
Master Lying True	CN Changeling	Wilderness Changeling Disruptive Attack Martial Rogue 18/Swashbuckler 2	loky1109	14.00	14.00	3rd
Neelah Soulfist	LG Azurin	Holy Warrior Paladin 5/Antiquarian Spell Sense Martial Rogue 4/Azurin Cloistered Cleric 1/Argent fist 10	ciopo	15.50	15.50	2nd
Small Oak	CG Bakemono	Spiritual Lion Totem Spell Sense Whirling Frenzy Streetfighter Barbarian 20	loky1109	11.50	11.50	5th
Tam the Drifter	?? Neraphim	Arcane Hunter Urban Companion Planar Ranger of the Shooting Star 20	Soranar	11.75	11.75	4th

Congrats to all the competitors, especially pabelfly.

New round will be up soon(ish).

[pabelfly]

Sorry for the late reveal, but here we go:

Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Thrice Dead Cat	Total	Place
Bansh, Hadozee Truespeak Warrior	LN Hadozee	Martial Rogue 4/Warblade 9/Disciple of the Word 7	pabelfly	15.75	15.75	1st
Master Lying True	CN Changeling	Wilderness Changeling Disruptive Attack Martial Rogue 18/Swashbuckler 2	loky1109	14.00	14.00	3rd
Neelah Soulfist	LG Azurin	Holy Warrior Paladin 5/Antiquarian Spell Sense Martial Rogue 4/Azurin Cloistered Cleric 1/Argent fist 10	ciopo	15.50	15.50	2nd
Small Oak	CG Bakemono	Spiritual Lion Totem Spell Sense Whirling Frenzy Streetfighter Barbarian 20	loky1109	11.50	11.50	5th
Tam the Drifter	?? Neraphim	Arcane Hunter Urban Companion Planar Ranger of the Shooting Star 20	Soranar	11.75	11.75	4th

Congrats to all the competitors, especially pabelfly.

New round will be up soon(ish).

There were some great competitors in this competition, I'm pretty happy to win against this field.

Thanks to Thurbane for running the comp and having an interesting set of ingredients, and thanks again to Thrice Dead Cat for judging.

[ciopo]

Spoiler: Neelah Soulfist (15.5)

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Spoiler: Originality (4.00)

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Paladin into Argent fist is interesting for this competition (+0.50). Your fluff is almost nonexistent though (-0.25). I also was not expecting to see any Incarnum, so bonus points there (0.75).

Spoiler: Power (3.25)

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You can get some insanely high DCs on your Stunning Fist when you use one of your Smites and have access to 15 uses per day by my count with your Extra Stunning. So that's good (+0.25). Even without the extra +10 leaves you with a solid 41 DC throughout the day. You're also close to being WIS sad, but your damage will be a little on the low ends compared to other front line fighter types. Craft Wondrous Item is an odd choice, and I feel like you'd have been better served grabbing Knowledge Devotion or just about anything else in its place.

Spoiler: Elegance (4.25)

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Argent Fist is everything you want and need, so I don't get why you pushed it back as far as you did. You qualify as early as 6th level (entering at 7th). You could have shuffled your rogue levels to later on and gotten the good stuff sooner. That said, you at least have everything you need for the contest online at 9th level. There's also something to be said for dumping all of your essentia into Sapphire Smite and/or Sapphire Fist for extra uses of Smite Evil and higher DCs for Stunning Fist. Being able to gain virtual essentia also means that you don't have the usual problems of locking all of your mojo into a feat for the day. So call that a +0.25 altogether.

Spoiler: Use of Components (4.00)

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You've got a solid focus on SF and are almost WIS sad. Arguably, you won't be benefiting from evasion due to wearing heavy armor, but you've got a middle-ish Ref saving throw bonus anyhow. Call it 4.00.

Thank you again for judging, 3DC, here some comment now that I'm back form vacation, before I go on vacation again, I wasn't feeling like typing it out as a dispute from the phone :)

About power : and overall monstrous saves! :P

About Elegance : that cleric dip gives "too much" to be left for later, and rogue/paladin levels are carefulyl weaved to try to minimize multiclass penalties as much as possible, while still getting "a lot" of feats as soon as possible, in that regard it made perfect sense to me to frontload all the base classes, and leave a straight PrC 10 afterward

About UotSI : Evasion is also one of the PrC prerequisites, and it's kind of stupid that it get's invalidated by one of the early PrC features, at a table I would probably propose to let holy armor works for evasion, too, but in the context of the contest, it is what it is.

Also I thought I only had 8 SF ( 5 from levels + 3 from extra stunning ), are you counting argent fist to give 1 SF/level?

Create wondrous items is a bit of an odd choice, I know, but it's kind of the only sureway way of getting a specific nongeneric item :), and +2 DC from the wrappings is equivalent ot the ability focus on value, and of course there may be other items I get to possibly craft for either myself or the party, assuming access to the relevant spells by party member. This was in part a kind of holdover from a previous iteration of the build : I was getting that kama that works with stunning fist from the magic item compendium with ancestral relic, and craft wondrous items would then allow me to get all the other pieces of that item set, but it was a lot of investment for little return, relatively speaking

[Thurbane]

New round is up: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...7#post25548047