Iron Chef E6 Appetizer Edition, Round XLI

[Venger]

Hello, all, from your new Chair. Welcome back to the Iron Chef Optimization Challenge E6 Appetizer Edition! It's time for round forty one: something a bit more abstract.

The form of this challenge is to take a particular D&D 3.5 game element (our "secret ingredient," or SI) and turn it into a functional E6 build, which must feature the SI as heavily as possible. (The only hard rule about this is that you must take at least one level—where applicable—in the SI, though judges are encouraged to look favorably on builds that take as many levels as possible in said SI or that otherwise use it as heavily as possible.) Your final build submission should consist of your 6 regular levels and your first 10 epic bonus feats, though providing a snapshot at earlier points through the progression is heartily encouraged. Entries are to be PM'd to the Chair (that would be me!), and they will be posted anonymously; our volunteer judges will then grade each build on a 1-5 point scale in four categories: Originality, Power, Elegance, and Use of the Secret Ingredient. The builds with the highest three scores will be awarded medals, with the Honorable Mention award going to the non-medaling build that the Chair likes best and/or that receives the most votes for HM in this thread. (HM may not always be awarded, particularly if the number of builds is very small.) And then we all have cake!*

*Note: You must provide your own cake.

This is basically like the regular Iron Chef, and let's be brutally honest with ourselves here: this isn't a gargantuan community, and we basically all know what we're talking about at this point. Make the builds, send 'em in, post some scores, and have fun. If you've got questions, lemme know. Still, let's lay out a few rules!

• Cooking Time: Builds must be submitted via PM to the Chair by 4:59 PM GMT - 9 on Monday, Dec 26, 2022 (1:59 AM GMT on Monday, December 26). The reveal shall be on the first evening the Chair has free following the cooking deadline, which is hoped to be that evening or the immediately subsequent one—I'll do my best, anyway. Judging is then encouraged to go as quickly as possible; if multiple judges volunteer, we'll set about a two-week window, but if we only get one judge, we'll try to wrap up as soon as possible after that judge presents scores. (I will admit that the deadline time may not be an exact science, but don't hide from me and we'll probably be cool.)
• Kitchen: Let's break this one down a bit.
  
  
  Spoiler: Let's talk about sources

  Show

  
  

  • ALLOWED: Almost all D&D 3.5 material published by WotC: Core, Completes, monster books, Races Of books, alternate power source books (Expanded Psionics Handbook, Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Battle, Tome of Magic, etc.), Spell Compendium, Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness, Eberron material, Forgotten Realms material, and other WotC-published 3.5 material. (This list is NOT exhaustive and there are many other legal books that I did not mention by name!)
  • ALLOWED: Material from the 3.5 archives of the Wizards of the Coast website (including, but not limited to, the Mind's Eye articles). If you use it, link it.
  • ALLOWED: Official errata from WotC. If you're relying on this in a material fashion, it's a good idea to link it and to discuss it.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Unofficial errata, including "class fixes" (regardless of the source, including from the original author if not published in a WotC book) or fan-created content.
  • ALLOWED: Unupdated WotC-published 3.0 material (e.g., Sword and Fist, Masters of the Wild, etc.) except for 3.0 psionics. No 3.0 psionics allowed. If you are using 3.0 material, use the general-purpose skill updates (Wilderness Lore becomes Survival, Innuendo becomes Bluff, etc.) and the general-purpose rules updates (spells with a casting time of "1 action" become "1 standard action," etc.) when appropriate.
  • NOT ALLOWED: 3.0 material for which a direct 3.5 update exists. Use the updated material instead.
  • ALLOWED: Dragon Compendium and its errata.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Content from Dragon Magazine and/or Dungeon Magazine unless said content appears in an otherwise allowed source.
  • ALLOWED: Oriental Adventures, including the 3.5 update to Oriental Adventures from Dragon Magazine #318. This is a specific exception to the "no Dragon" rule!
  • NOT ALLOWED: Pathfinder content, regardless of whether it is "D&D 3.5 OGL" or not. If it didn't come from WotC, we don't want it.
  • ALLOWED: From Unearthed Arcana: racial paragon classes, alternate class features/variant classes, spelltouched feats, and variant races. (Traits and flaws are technically legal, but traits warrant a -0.5 point penalty in Elegance, and flaws warrant a -1 penalty in Elegance.)
  • NOT ALLOWED: Other Unearthed Arcana content, including (but not limited to) bloodlines, LA buyoff, fractional BAB/saves, alternate casting systems, alternate skill systems, item familiars, prestigious character classes, generic classes, gestalt, etc. When you're wondering if UA content is allowed, err on the side of caution and don't mess around with it.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Leadership, regardless of source. Game elements functionally equivalent to Leadership (including, but not limited to, Dragon Cohort, Undead Leadership, and Thrallherd) are similarly banned. (Familiars, Improved Familiar, animal companions, Wild Cohort, psicrystals, elemental envoys, and similar game elements are allowed, and they are not considered to be "Leadership." If the difference isn't obvious, feel free to contact the Chair with specific questions.)
  • NOT ALLOWED: Third-party content, homebrew, or other non-WotC content.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Epic feats from the Epic Level Handbook. Just because you're "epic" in E6 after 6th level doesn't mean that you're that kind of epic.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Any race or template with a level adjustment other than +0. (Or any other source of LA other than a race or template, if any such things exist.) However, as a specific exception for round 26, see below.
  • NOT ALLOWED: For our judges: penalizing solely based on legal sources used, regardless of whether those sources are plentiful, sparse, common, obscure, or something in between. If the material is legal, then it doesn't matter how many or how few books it came out of.
  • ALLOWED: Also for our judges: penalizing for using a source (other than material in Core; don't be vindictive about genuinely obvious stuff) that isn't listed in the build writeup. The chef may choose to present the sources in-line with the text, in a consolidated source list, or somewhere else, but if the source is listed (and is otherwise legal), it counts. If the source is not listed, you may choose to penalize for that.

  
  If you have questions about anything in this section (or hell, in this ruleset), feel free to ask the Chair.
  
• Character Creation: 32 point buy is assumed. For the purposes of this contest, Level Adjustment greater than +0 is banned. (This may be revised at a later point, but I don't feel that the E6 LA rules are conducive to fun in the context of this contest.) No more than two entries per chef per contest, please; if you submit two builds and somehow are so overcome with inspiration for a third that you can't help yourself, PM me and tell me which two you care about the most.
• Highlighted because of past issues: It is not enough for your build to end with a level adjustment of +0. You must be +0 from start to finish. No using ANY build elements with a level adjustment above +0, even if they then get mitigated or reduced somehow. However, note that a special exception is in place for round 26...
• Speculation: Please do not post any form of speculation before the reveal. Just don't do it, guys. It's not cool. This means NOT posting any of the following or anything substantially similar: what you think is going to be common, significant elements of your planned build or of other potential builds, or anything else that could directly influence someone else's build choices for good or for ill. (It's acceptable to ask for rules clarifications as appropriate, but try to avoid tipping your hand too much.) Speculation is bad because it can discourage people from posting builds and can also "taint the judging pool" when it comes to Originality, so please just try to be aware of how other people might react to your speculation.
• E6: Here's how E6 works for the purposes of this contest. Build your character normally for the first six levels. After you reach level 6, you stop gaining levels and start gaining bonus feats every time you would gain 5,000 XP. Since we aren't actually tracking XP, you'll basically list your first ten epic bonus feats in the order that you take them, and we think of them as being kind of like levels. We will not use the LA-equals-reduced-point-buy rules, instead preferring to just ban races with LA, at least for now. We will not use the "capstone feats"; all feats that you take must be normal legal 3.5 feats, not homebrew E6 ones. You may not use the Epic feats from the Epic Level Handbook, though if for some reason there are non-Epic feats from the ELH that you qualify for, you may take those. (I don't think there are any, but I'm sure someone will prove me wrong.) It is up to the discretion of each judge whether this is a "hard E6" (magic above 3rd level spells is simply beyond mortal reach, items that have a listed CL above 6th are just plain not available, etc.) or a "soft E6" (if you can somehow get the magic on your character, it's yours, regardless of level), though I honestly don't expect it to come up. Don't go crazy with making assumptions about items and we probably won't have to find out.
• Presentation: Please use the table found below in the spoiler. List your epic bonus feats (in clear order) after the table. If you find a clever way of formatting that that isn't annoying and that doesn't break anything, have fun; if it's portable, I may steal it for the next round. When sending your build or any disputes to the Chair, clearly include your build's name in the subject of the PM, and please present your build exactly as you want the Chair to copy and paste it into the thread.
  If you're using a picture, cite the source and follow any relevant citation rules. Because we have had issues with this in the past, when listing your skills, please make it very clear how many ranks you have at each level. There are multiple ways to do this and we do not wish to cramp anyone's individual style by dictating exactly how this must look, but make sure that somewhere in your entry there's an explanation of how many actual skill ranks you have. It's still fine to list total skill bonuses, if that's your style, but don't only list bonuses; make sure that there is a clear listing somewhere of your ranks alone. You are allowed, but not required, to use this extremely spiffy tool that mattie_p cooked up (thanks, mattie_p!).
  Spoiler

  Show

  Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
  1st	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  2nd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  3rd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  4th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  5th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  6th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities

  Code for the table:

  Spoiler

  Show

  [TABLE="class: head alt1 alt2"]
  [TR]
  [TH][B]Level[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Class[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Base Attack Bonus[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Fort Save[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Ref Save[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Will Save[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Skills[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Feats[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Class Features[/B][/TH]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]1st[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]2nd[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]3rd[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]4th[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]5th[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]6th[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [/TABLE]
• Contest houserules: Nearly the same as the main contest's rules here: all creatures are proficient with natural weapons they have or may acquire, bonus feats that are explicitly granted without meeting prereqs are usable even without those prereqs, and feats that affect which skills are class skills for you and/or how you spend your skill points (Able Learner, Martial Study, Truename Training, Apprentice, etc.) apply immediately at the level at which you take them (even though you normally spend skill points before taking a feat). When taking Open Minded as an epic feat, any skill that has ever been a class skill for you (including through your class, your race, your feats, or similar game elements, though please don't muck around with retroactively making something stop being a class skill for some stupid reason) is a class skill when determining how the 5 granted skill points may be spent. All usual rules about HD-related skill caps apply. When taking Open Minded as a non-epic feat, treat it as normal; the class skills of the class you took at the level you gained Open Minded (plus race, feats, etc.) are your class skills for those skill points, similar to if Open Minded's skill points came straight from your class.
• Judging guidelines: The minimum score in a category is 1, and the maximum is 5 (except in high-Originality rounds, wherein the maximum in Originality is 10). Judges are expected to be fair, consistent, and open-minded, and they are expected to make a good-faith effort to engage with any reasonable disputes that arise, especially when RAW is in question. That said, contestants are asked to not dispute more than necessary; let's do everything in good faith and really only dispute when a judge is being inconsistent, being unfair, or is otherwise grossly misinterpreting a build.
  Judges may not penalize Originality solely because a build is a tribute or homage to an existing creative work (in or out of D&D canon; note that this is not the same thing as penalizing Originality for using well-known optimization tactics), nor may judges penalize based solely on sources used (whether those sources are plentiful, sparse, common, obscure, or something in between, you should judge the build elements and how they work together rather than what book or what books they came out of, as long as those books are legal for this contest and are cited in the entry).
  As with the main contest, we will follow the "One Mistake, One Penalty" guideline, and it is very important that the judges adhere to it. I'm going to directly copy and paste this from the main thread, and hopefully the original author won't mind too much:
  
  Spoiler

  Show

  Judges are only allowed to penalise once for a given mistake. If someone messes up their skills and doesn't qualify for a PrC, ding them as hard as you like. Once. In one category. You don't then get to declare that because they didn't qualify for that PrC, they don't get those levels, and thus don't qualify for anything else. If Ranger is a common ingredient, ding them for Originality. Once. Don't also take off points for Two-Weapon-Fighting being a common ingredient.
  
  Non-exhaustive list of examples:
  
  Skills

  Allowed:
  

  • Giving a penalty for miscalculating the number of skill points gained
  • Giving a penalty for not having enough ranks to meet a prerequisite
  • Increasing the harshness of a skill miscalculation penalty if it affects critical skills including prereqs

  
  
  Not allowed:
  

  • Giving separate penalties for miscalculating skill points and for non-qualification where the non-qualification is solely caused by the miscalculation

  
  Prereqs

  Allowed:
  

  • Giving a penalty for not meeting prereqs
  • Scaling the penalty depending on how important the item that the build failed to qualify for is
  • Giving minimum score in UotSI for not qualifying for the SI
  • Not giving credit for (note: not the same as penalising for) tactics using feats or classes other than the SI that were not qualified for (but see below)

  
  
  Not Allowed:
  

  • "Cascading" failures to qualify - declaring that because a build doesn't qualify for a feat, for example, it also doesn't qualify for anything using that feat as a prereq
  • Treating a build as having fewer levels than it does because of FtQ for classes

  
  Other general things that are no longer allowed:
  

  • Penalising because someone has chosen to build a tribute to an existing creative work
  • Deciding that a backstory has not met a fluff prerequisite well enough, or because its method of meeting it is "unrealistic". You may penalise if a fluff prereq is not addressed at all, but not for how well it is addressed.

  
  
  Note that these are protections, not licenses. Deliberately taking a feat that you know you don't qualify for hoping to just suck up the judging penalty for a feat that you couldn't normally take is not okay, and may lead to your build being disqualified.
• Dispute guidelines (NEW, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION): Disputing is long, annoying, and emotional. It's also sometimes necessary, but it's often not actually something that makes everyone have more fun. Let's go into a little more detail here.
  
  Spoiler

  Show

  • Do NOT dispute to make an argument that goes fundamentally beyond what's in your write-up. It is the responsibility of the chef to make sure that the write-up is complete and contains their best arguments for what the build does and why it's awesome. If you didn't explain your tactics well or didn't spell out something that a judge misses, just do better next time. Don't drag it out after the fact.
  • Do NOT dispute just to be clever or witty or cheeky. Please. We're all adults here and so I assume you know what that means. Don't treat the build as a setup and your oh-so-clever dispute as the punchline. It's not as funny as it is in your head. Trust me. I've been down that road.
  • Do NOT dispute just to say "oh yeah, my bad, I missed that" or some equivalent. If you're not directly challenging the judge, save the commentary until after the reveal. I 100% get that the urge to respond to commentary is very strong, but type it out and sit on it for a while if you've gotta.
  • Do NOT dispute just to try to wheedle more points out of the judge. Note that this is different from saying that the judge is being truly unfair or is being truly wrong by black-and-white RAW. A dispute is NOT the place to try to scrape together a few last quarter-points. If you didn't put it in your write-up, that's on you. This also means that a dispute is really not the place to have long back-and-forth tit-for-tat arguments. That's a surefire way to get people grumpy. It's a contest on a D&D board, guys, not the results of a federal election.
  • Do NOT dispute to tear down another build. That's just plain not cool. If you entered the contest, it's not on you to judge the other builds.
  • DO dispute if the judge is being blatantly biased by giving you a substantially different ruling on a build element compared to another chef who used the same build element in nearly the same way. (Note that position in a build may affect if you're using that element in "nearly the same way" or not.) Please reserve this for the truly blatant examples. I mean it. Remember, it's the contestant's responsibility to make their best argument in the original write-up.
  • DO dispute if the judge is actively going against the contest rules. Note that there are relatively few ways in which a judge can go against contest rules (we intentionally give very wide discretion to our judges), but examples include truly breaking One Mistake One Penalty, penalizing just because of number of sources of (legal) material, and so on.
  • DO dispute if the judge is clearly ignoring unambiguous RAW. Note that this is for unambiguous RAW; if the RAW is shady and you're making an argument that isn't completely clear and that it wouldn't be strange for a GM to frown on, the judge has every right to frown on it as well. (You generally know when you're indulging in shady RAW. Be mature about this.) But if the judge is saying you didn't hit a prereq that you clearly did hit (and included in your write-up!), saying you can't do something that the plain text of the ability says you can do, or anything like that, by all means, call 'em out.
  • Do NOT dispute if the judge doesn't agree with your interpretation of ambiguous RAW. Yes, this is a retread of the previous bullet point; this is that important. If you're relying on ambiguous RAW, it's on you to lay out clearly why it should work the way you want it to work. Again, be mature and act in good faith: you really know when you're pushing things like this. If they don't like it, they don't like it. Move on.

  
  
  Disputing is a privilege, not a right. In the Chair's sole discretion, disputes that do not meet these guidelines and/or that do not seem to be offered in good faith may be suppressed. The Chair reserves the right to choose to post all, some, or none of a dispute if appropriate.
  
  
• Other bits and bobs: If there's something major and relevant I haven't mentioned, assume that the way I handle it will probably be the same as the main contest unless stated otherwise or unless doing so would be an obviously absurd result. If you've got questions, I'll give you answers.

This round's secret ingredient:
LIGHT AND DARKNESS!


Your dish must use and showcase the use of light and/or darkness. What that means is largely up to you, but please be as clear as possible about how you are utilizing them in your entry.


Allez Optimizer!

The Builds:
Coming soon!

Spoiler: Contest History

Show

Round 4: Knight
Round 5: Ninja
Round 6: Racial Paragon Classes
Round 7: Hexblade
Round 8: Shugenja
Round 9: Swashbuckler
Round 10: Crusader
Round 11: Soulknife
Round 12: Factotum
Round 13: Prestige Classes
Round 14: Mountebank
Round 15: Sorcerer
Round 16: Dragon Shaman
Round 17: Lurk
Round 18: Paladin
Round 19: Scout
Round 20: Incarnate
Round 21: Shadowcaster
Round 22: Dragonmarks
Round 23: Fighter
Round 24: Pets
Round 25: Warlock
Round 26: Monsters
Round 27: Ardent (exhibition round)
Round 28: Rogue
Round 29: Signature Spells
Round 30: Any Prior Ingredient
Round 31: Ranger
Round 32: Tanking
Round 33: Psychic Warrior
Round 34: Flight
Round 35: Binder
Round 36: Skill tricks
Round 37: Barbarian
Round 38: Fire
Round 39: Bard
Round 40: Poison

Spoiler: Way Old Stuff (2012 and earlier; Amechra's run as Chair)

Show

Round 1: Divine Mind
Round 2: Monk
Round 3: Marshal

[Venger]

Here's a few gentle recommendations that are intended to improve scores and make things easier for the judges. As always, THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS POST ARE NOT RULES. Judges and contestants are free to honor them or ignore them; my intent here is only to help, and NONE of what I'm saying here is required. (That said, did you see the new dispute guidelines? Those ARE rules, so please go read them. And I'm even going to be better about enforcing them this time.)

Recommendations:

• Double-check ALL of your prereqs. Every. Single. One. Feats, PrCs, whatever. You might even go so far as to spell out when you meet each one, but again, that's not a requirement. But one of the single biggest causes of point loss is failure to meet prereqs.
  
• Tell the judges what's cool about your build! You spent hours or days on this (y'know, probably) and know it inside and out, but the judges are getting a whole bunch of these dishes all at once and don't know the build history of each one. You're significantly more likely to score well if you spell out exactly what makes you awesome than if you try to just let it stand on its own.
  
• Make it easy to read! Skill tables are awful, though they're an incredibly necessary evil. Full Monster Manual-style statblocks are occasionally useful but are also insanely dense if not formatted well. Judges are very likely to miss something if you aren't careful with how you present your info. Remember that judging takes a lot of time, energy, and focus, so don't rely on the judge being willing/able to decode something in order to see what makes you interesting!
  
• Be memorable. Remember that we've all seen these ingredients used at least once before. What makes you different?

[MinimanMidget]

I've already used my only idea for this theme, so I'll plan to judge.

[AsuraKyoko]

Alright, seems interesting. I'm in to cook!

[loky1109]

I have a terrible idea...

[loky1109]

Hello, everybody! How are you doing?

I think I'll be judge this time. My both ideas didn't enjoy me.

[Inevitability]

I submitted a pretty okay build, didn't really have inspiration or time for a second one.

[Venger]

How are people doing? Do people need more time? As it stands, I've just got the one submitted so far.

[AsuraKyoko]

I could use some more time, I have a build, but I need to finish the write-up.

[loky1109]

With extra week I maybe could breathe life into on of my ideas.

[Venger]

Extension granted. New deadline the 26th. OP updated.

[loky1109]

Mine sent.

[AsuraKyoko]

Entry submitted!

[loky1109]

Good! We'll have at least three entries.

[Venger]

Time for the reveal! Please refrain from posting until dishes have been revealed!

"Anyone who can hear the tale of the little match girl and not burst out laughing as a heart of stone."-- Oscar Wilde

The Little Match Girl
"Won't you look at those pretty lights..."



LE Strongheart Halfling Duskblade 1 / Monk 2 / Cancer Mage 3

Spoiler: Story

Show

Sir Francis Perceval hurried through the narrow, dark streets. How he loathed this district, loathed the mud-like snow clinging to his boots, loathed the dank and oppressive air, loathed the-

"Excu-say me, guvner? Wou- *cough* would you like to buy some matches?"

Perceval shuddered as he saw the source of the voice (more a rasp, really): a soiled, pockmarked girl, probably no older than twelve, wrapped in stained rags. One of her small, square fists was wrapped in cloth, in a failed effort to cover two missing fingers. The other, intact but covered in yellowish boils, clutched a small bundle of sooty sticks. Her face, he now noted, was dominated by a large, warty boil, which slightly sagged from its growing place on her forehead, covered in coarse black hair unlike that on her scalp.

A leper? Something worse? Perceval took a step back and prepared to bark something to his bodyguards. They really should have spotted her sooner, he noted, he shouldn't have to tell them to get her out of his way. Really went to show how hard it was to find good help these days...

"Please, guvner! Lookie how pretty they shine!"

One of the matches in her hand flared to life. For the briefest instant, Perceval wondered how that could be, when she hadn't touched it. Then a brightly colored scene flared up in front of him: a cozy dining room, filled with warm light and good friends, singing songs and making merry. The noble froze, his mouth sagging open, as he took in the enchanting scene.

With dim awareness, he noted the girl huddle up to him, but failed to bring himself to care. Even as the little thing coughed (wiping her undoubtedly disgusting mouth on his overcoat), he simply gazed ahead, taking in the scene of holiday merriment, scintillating lights, and pure bliss.

When Sir Francis Perceval came to, several minutes later, the lights were gone. As were, he soon noticed, the little girl, his money-purse, most of the exotic delights he'd come to this district to purchase, his ornate dagger, his golden cuff-links and, so he would find out several days later, his health.

A single burnt-out matchstick, carelessly tossed into the snow, released a final wisp of smoke.

Spoiler: Build Table

Show

Ability scores: 8/12/13/16/8/17
After adjustments: 6/14/13/16/8/17
ECL 4 boost: 6/14/13/16/8/18

Languages known: Common, Draconic, Elvish, Halfling, Giant

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Duskblade 1	+1	+2	+0	+2	Concentration 4, Craft (Alchemy) 4, Heal 2 {CC}, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Nature) 2, Spellcraft 4	Fascinating Illumination, Great FortitudeHB	Arcane Attunement (6/day), Armored Mage (Light)
2nd	Undying Way Decisive Attack Monk 1	+1	+4	+2	+4	Concentration 5, Hide 3, Move Silently 3	Improved Unarmed StrikeB, ToughnessB	Decisive Attack, Unarmed Strike, AC bonus
3rd	Invisible Fist Halfling Monk 2	+2	+5	+3	+5	Concentration 6, Heal 3 {CC}, Hide 6, Move Silently 6	Poison Immunity (Purple Worm Poison), Weapon FinesseB	Invisible Fist
4th	Cancer Mage 1	+2	+7	+3	+5	Craft (Alchemy) 5, Craft (Poisonmaking) 1, Hide 7, Move Silently 7, Sleight of Hand 5	-	Sneak Attack +1d6, Disease Host
5th	Cancer Mage 2	+3	+8	+3	+5	Craft (Alchemy) 8, Hide 8, Move Silently 8, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Sleight of Hand 7	-	Cancerous Companion, Contagion
6th	Cancer Mage 3	+4	+8	+4	+6	Craft (Alchemy) 9, Hide 9, Move Silently 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 4 {CC}, Sleight of Hand 9	Craven	Tatterdemalion, Poison

The Match Girl's cancerous companion has 7 intelligence and 30 ft. blindsight. Once per day, it can use one of her spells or SLAs, though it lacks the reach to use Poison or Contagion (it should still be able to use Contagion on Match Girl to get her disease collection going).

Epic feats:
1: Deceptive Illumination
2: Stench of the Grave
3: Empower Spell-Like Ability
4: Darkstalker
5: Practiced Spellcaster (Duskblade)
6: Obtain Familiar
7: Master of Poisons
8: Martial Study (Shadow Jaunt)
9: Martial Stance (Assassin's Stance)
10: Ability Focus (Hypnotic Pattern)

Spells: The Match Girl knows two 0th-level spells and two 1st-level spells, and can cast three spells per day of both levels. This remains true for each level of her career.
Her 0th-level spells are Acid Splash and Disrupt Undead.
Her 1st-level spells are Chill Touch and Resist Energy

Spoiler: Snapshots

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ECL 1-3
Duskblade + Fascinating Illumination gives us seven Hypnotic Patterns per day at level 1. We also get Disrupt Undead and Chill Touch to save-or-suck the immune undead, Resist Energy for a good spell that shores up our so-so reflex, and some alchemy crafting for downtime.

Two monk levels give us Decisive Strike (taken because we're going to want light armor with this wisdom stat), several prerequisite feats, qualification skills, and Invisible Fist. Note the synergy with Hypnotic Pattern: you can get a round of invisibility, drop a pattern, wait a little, and make another attack from invisibility, or use the invisibility rounds to take actions that would normally break fascination.

What to do while patterns are active? Well, you yourself can't do much yet, but your allies get to regroup, drink potions, save dying allies... With clever use of delays and readied actions, you can turn the spell into a free turn for everyone else in the party. You can also grab some alchemical items or (later) poison vials: drawing a weapon might break fascination, but drawing a funny little flask should not. Once you enter cancer mage you can also use the rounds to infect people! At the very least, it'll force some enemies to waste a turn, and others to waste a turn waking those up, which is fine from an action economy perspective.

By the way, note that we can deliver Chill Touch through our unarmed strike in lieu of a normal touch attack! If you're making a Decisive Attack, it might be worth it.

ECL 4-6
Prestige classes in E6! Cancer Mage starts off by giving us some sneak attack, which we'll augment with Craven later (the halfling bonus on saves vs fear is useful here). We also get blindsight (useful, we can't see in the dark but love stealth), disease immunity, some tatters that nevertheless serve as excellent light armor, 1/day Contagion, and 1/day Poison. Finally, our charisma is upped to 18, increasing the strength of our patterns.

The reason we pick cancer mage is its 3rd-level feature: once per day, your cancerous companion can use a spell or SLA of yours using its own standard action, requiring no actions on your part. Not only does this mean we can get a free Hypnotic Pattern or Resist Energy off when necessary, it tells us that our cancerous companion has standard actions, and can thus maintain concentration on the pattern.

We can then start casting new spells while the pattern is ongoing, letting us catch another few enemies in a secondary Pattern, buff ourselves, or hit the foes with anything that's not an obvious threat. We can also rob them blind with Sleight of Hand checks, which they take a penalty to detect. If they haven't drawn weapons yet, we can even steal those!

Also note that our combat damage is actually pretty respectable. A decisive unarmed sneak attack deals (1d6+1d4-2+6)x2, which is an average of 18 damage. A level 6 human rogue with craven, no strength penalty, and a shortsword is dealing 4d6+6, or an average of 20, but their slightly worse to-hit and lack of alchemical support lead me to conclude we compare favorably. We also have a tool for setting up sneak attacks that the rogue lacks, though in turn we're more reliant on full attacks (though those need not be melee: throwing two alchemical flasks from stealth deals some pretty devastating damage as well).

Epic levels
Deceptive Illumination adds to our light theme in a manner close to the original story and goes great with the fascination. Just surround your fascinated victims with a Silent Image identical to their current view, and they'll be incapable of seeing what you're doing while unaware that something is amiss. It also gives us an extra use, so we can now use both once in four encounters per day.

Stench of the Grave is a flavorful way to debuff saves and attacks, and probably doesn't count as a 'threat' by the rules. Just fascinate people and slowly walk around sickening them.

Empower SLA helps catch bigger monsters (who tend to have worse Will and are thus prime targets) in the effect.

Darkstalker isn't as important in E6 as it normally is, but guard dogs are real and at some point you might want to be able to sneak past them.

Practiced Spellcaster and Obtain Familiar get us a familiar (I recommend a raven to go with the 'filthy scavenger' theme) which can break the action economy wide open and more importantly can perform simple tasks while we're busy concentrating on a pattern. Note that your familiar keeps your skill ranks, and is thus an excellent scout and pickpocket! The caster level boost also helps make Chill Touch a bit more threatening, and gives us an encounter-long source of touch attacks or punch-enhancers.

Master of Poisons lets us get more serious about poison use, in addition to allowing mid-combat refreshing of poisoned weapons.

Martial Study and Martial Stance give us another big pile of sneak attack damage, as well as a neat frequently-reusable teleport: great for getting into confined spaces or escaping from a patch of BFC!

Our final feat is ability focus: I generally dislike those 'basic' feats but Hypnotic Pattern is core to our build, so I want to dedicate resources to it.

Spoiler: Discussion

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I decided to approach this project from the Light angle, as I figured it would be the less explored of the two. Duskblade + Fascinating Illumination is a classic low-level combo that falls off at higher levels: perfect for E6. I then found as many ways to expand it as possible, settling on Cancer Mage as a fun combo piece with an unique mechanical identity. The fluff tied everything together beautifully.

This build shows originality both on the mechanical level (duskblade, monk, and cancer mage aren't exactly expected for a light-based build), the feat choices, and the overall strategy (turning Dancing Lights, of all things, into a combat option). The build shows elegance by meeting all prereqs, avoiding multiclass XP penalties or excessive dipping, and avoiding ambiguous RAW. The build shows power by having a reliable save-or-suck to spam, a solid level of sneak attack damage, and a bunch of noncombat utility. The build showcases the secret ingredient (Light) by focusing on augmenting Dancing Lights and exploiting the free turns it can grant.

If flaws are allowed, consider changing the race to Synad and investing in psionics instead. The ability to get swift action concentration from level 1 on really helps with hypnotic pattern spam, and the freed-up standard actions can be used to . Perhaps some Duskblade/Psychic Rogue/Trapsmith build could be funny, rapidly constructing traps around its dumbfounded enemies before waking them up.

Spoiler: Sources

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Strongheart Halfling - FRCS
Duskblade - PHB2
Cancer Mage - BoVD

Fascinating Illumination, Deceptive Illumination, Master of Poisons - DotU
Poison Immunity - BoVD
Craven - CoR
Stench of the Grave - UA
Darkstalker - LoM
Practiced Spellcaster, Obtain Familiar - Complete Arcane
Martial Study, Martial Stance - ToB

[Venger]

"It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." -- William L. Watkinson

I kindle the candle and darkness will flow from it.
Duncan Aotrom

Duncan was old. Very old. Almost all his life he was a wizard's apprentice. Probably, he could have become a full wizard years ago, but... You know, wizards, those people who are obsessed with knowledge and magic. It wasn't about Duncan. He always was obsessed with light, shadows and candles. Most likely, his life story would have ended this way. Forever apprentice till death and only on his gravestone would it be posthumously written "Wizard!"
But fate decreed otherwise, one day his teacher had a colleague who remained in visiting. He looked at Duncan and said: "You have talent for shadow magic! I could give you one grimoire if your master had no objection to it." Master hadn't. Firstly, Duncan took the idea without enthusiasm, but when he began reading he imperceptibly sank into a book with all his mind.

TN Human Shadowcaster 5/Candle Caster 1

Spoiler: Stats

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Abilities	Initial	Venerable Age	4 ECL	Total
STR	10	-6		4
DEX	10	-6		4
CON	14	-6		8
INT	18	3	1	22
WIS	9	3		12
CHA	13	3		16

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	BAB	Fort	Reflex	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features	Mysteries & Fundamentals
1st	Wizard 1	0	0	0	2	32: {+4} Concentration: 4; {+4} Craft (Candlemaking): 4; {+4} Decipher Script: 4; {+4} Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2} Knowledge (Local): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 1; {+4} Knowledge (Religion): 4; {+1} Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+4} Spellcraft: 4; {+4 CC} UMD: 2;	Extraordinary Artisan1, Greate FortitudeH, Scribe ScrollB	Summon familiar, scribe scroll	-
2nd	Shadowcaster 1	0	2	0	4	8: {+1} Concentration: 5; {+1} Craft (Candlemaking): 5; Decipher Script: 4; {+3} Hide: 3; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Religion): 4; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+1} Spellcraft: 5; {+1 CC} UMD: 2.5;		Fundamentals of shadow, apprentice mysteries	Arrow of Dusk, Sight Obscured, Umbral Hand, Carpet of Shadow
3rd	Shadowcaster 2	1	3	0	5	8: {+1} Concentration: 6; {+1} Craft (Candlemaking): 6; Decipher Script: 4; {+2} Hide: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Religion): 4; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+1} Move Silently: 1; {+1} Spellcraft: 6; {+1 CC} UMD: 3;	Legendary Artisan3, Sudden ExtendB	Bonus feat; see text	Steel Shadows
4th	Shadowcaster 3	1	3	1	5	9: {+1} Concentration: 7; {+1} Craft (Candlemaking): 7; Decipher Script: 4; {+1} Hide: 6; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 7; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Religion): 4; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+3} Move Silently: 4; {+1} Spellcraft: 7; {+1 CC} UMD: 3.5;		Umbral sight (darkvision 30 ft.)	Black Fire
5th	Shadowcaster 5	2	4	1	4	9: {+1} Concentration: 8; {+1} Craft (Candlemaking): 8; Decipher Script: 4; {+1} Hide: 7; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 8; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Religion): 4; {+3} Knowledge (The planes): 4; Move Silently: 4; {+1} Spellcraft: 8; {+1 CC} UMD: 4;		Sustaining shadow (eat 1 meal/week), bonus fundamental	Black Candle, Clinging Darkness, Sight Eclipsed
6th	Candle Caster 1	2	4	1	6	9: {+1} Concentration: 9; {+1} Craft (Candlemaking): 9; Decipher Script: 4; Hide: 7; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 9; Knowledge (Local): 2; Knowledge (Nature): 1; {+5} Knowledge (Religion): 9; Knowledge (The planes): 4; Move Silently: 4; {+1} Spellcraft: 9; UMD: 4;	Ritual Transference6, Scribe ScrollB	Scribe candle	Voice of Shadows

#	Epic Feats
E1	Magical Artisan (Extraordinary Artisan)
E2	Magical Artisan (Legendary Artisan)
E3	Magical Artisan (Scribe Scroll/Candle)
E4	Enhance Item (Scribe Scroll/Candle)
E5	Enhance Item (Legendary Artisan)
E6	Enhance Item (Extraordinary Artisan)
E7	Exceptional Artisan
E8	Enhance Item (Exceptional Artisan)
E9	Magical Artisan (Exceptional Artisan)
E10	Magical Artisan (Enhance Item (Extraordinary Artisan))
E11	Magical Artisan (Enhance Item (Legendary Artisan))
E12	Magical Artisan (Enhance Item (Scribe Scroll/Candle))
E13	Magical Artisan (Enhance Item (Exceptional Artisan))

It is a simple idea. Shadowcaster for the Darkness, Candle Caster for the Light.
What is the weakness of Shadowcaster that Candle Caster could compensate for? Of course being short on ammo. Candle Caster has a sorta Scribe Scroll, so I decided to optimize it. I need to decrease creating prices and to increase efficiency, namely save DCs. You can see the result in the next table.

Spoiler: Scribing

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Level	1st (CL 1)	2nd (CL 3)	3rd (CL5)	1st (CL6)	2nd (CL6)	3rd (CL6)	Save DC bonus
Full price (gp)	25 gp	150 gp	375 gp	150 gp	300 gp	450 gp
6th	9.38 gp, 0.750 XP	56.25 gp, 4.500 XP	140.63 gp, 11.250 XP	56.25 gp, 4.500 XP	112.50 gp, 9.000 XP	168.75 gp, 13.500 XP
E1	7.03 gp, 0.563 XP	42.19 gp, 3.375 XP	105.47 gp, 8.438 XP	42.19 gp, 3.375 XP	84.38 gp, 6.750 XP	126.56 gp, 10.125 XP
E2	5.27 gp, 0.422 XP	31.64 gp, 2.531 XP	79.10 gp, 6.328 XP	31.64 gp, 2.531 XP	63.28 gp, 5.063 XP	94.92 gp, 7.594 XP
E3	3.96 gp, 0.316 XP	23.73 gp, 1.898 XP	59.33 gp, 4.746 XP	23.73 gp, 1.898 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	71.19 gp, 5.695 XP
E4	3.96 gp, 0.316 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	118.65 gp, 9.492 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	94.92 gp, 7.594 XP	142.38 gp, 11.391 XP	+6
E5	3.96 gp, 0.316 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	118.65 gp, 9.492 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	94.92 gp, 7.594 XP	142.38 gp, 11.391 XP	+12
E6	3.96 gp, 0.316 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	118.65 gp, 9.492 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	94.92 gp, 7.594 XP	142.38 gp, 11.391 XP	+18
E7	3.96 gp, 0.316 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	118.65 gp, 9.492 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	94.92 gp, 7.594 XP	142.38 gp, 11.391 XP	+18
E8	3.96 gp, 0.316 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	118.65 gp, 9.492 XP	47.46 gp, 3.797 XP	94.92 gp, 7.594 XP	142.38 gp, 11.391 XP	+24
E9	2.97 gp, 0.237 XP	17.80 gp, 1.424 XP	44.49 gp, 3.560 XP	17.80 gp, 1.424 XP	35.60 gp, 2.848 XP	53.39 gp, 4.271 XP	+24
E10	2.22 gp, 0.178 XP	13.35 gp, 1.068 XP	33.37 gp, 2.670 XP	13.35 gp, 1.068 XP	26.70 gp, 2.136 XP	40.05 gp, 3.204 XP	+24
E11	1.67 gp, 0.133 XP	10.01 gp, 0.801 XP	25.03 gp, 2.002 XP	10.01 gp, 0.801 XP	20.02 gp, 1.602 XP	30.03 gp, 2.403 XP	+24
E12	1.25 gp, 0.100 XP	7.51 gp, 0.601 XP	18.77 gp, 1.502 XP	7.51 gp, 0.601 XP	15.02 gp, 1.201 XP	22.53 gp, 1.802 XP	+24
E13	0.94 gp, 0.075 XP	5.63 gp, 0.451 XP	14.08 gp, 1.126 XP	5.63 gp, 0.451 XP	11.26 gp, 0.901 XP	16.89 gp, 1.352 XP	+24

Feats beyond E10 are in my build just to demonstrate full potential of combo, but even without the last three I can craft candles with less than 1/10 of market price and with negligible consumption of XP. Plus, with the Ritual Transference feat I could create candles with almost any spell. Yes, it could be a problem to use it myself, but it can be sold with 463% revenue or I can just work together with party-members who have needed spells in the spell list.

My own spells to deal with enemies are Clinging Darkness and Voice of Shadows. First is total movement-lock, second - well control. Enemy drops weapon, stays still and does nothing, lies on the ground. Yes, it is only 1 round, 2 with Sudden Extend abuse, but it is almost unavoidable with Will DC 35.

If I wanna kill I use Black Fire. With Clinging Darkness it kills anybody who isn't immune to cold.

Also I have Steel Shadows and Sight Eclipsed for obvious reasons.

I think you agree with me, the possibility of obtaining +2 Int item isn't an overly bold assumption for me. And with it I have +4 more to my DCs.

One level of Wizard was traded off at the 5th level via Creeping Darkness rule (ToM, p. 115).
I needed this level to be able to take Extraordinary Artisan and Legendary Artisan before entering Candle Caster. Having these both feats I clearly can trade wizard, because since 3rd level they work as prerequisites to each other.

And actually, I have nothing more to say.

Spoiler: Sources

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Type	Name	Book	Page
Race	Human	PHB	12
Class	Wizard	PHB	55
Class	Shadowcaster	Tome of Magic	111
Prestige Class	Candle Caster	Tome and Blood	52
Feat	Extraordinary Artisan	Eberron Campaign Setting	53
Feat	Greate Fortitude	PHB	94
Feat	Scribe Scroll	PHB	99
Feat	Legendary Artisan	Eberron Campaign Setting	56
Feat	Sudden Extend	Complete Arcane	83
Feat	Ritual Transference	PHB 2, Web Enhancement	link
Feat	Magical Artisan	Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting	36
Feat	Enhance Item	Epic Level Handbook	114
Feat	Exceptional Artisan	Eberron Campaign Setting	52

[Venger]

"I want that star; I want it now. I want it all and I don't care how." -- King Nothing

Spoiler: Introduction

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“Did you hear about what happened to that charlatan who used to hang around Kahar? You know, the one who would offer “healing” on the cheap? Apparently, a sinkhole opened up right underneath him and he fell in. Moments later, the hole filled with darkness, and then the screaming began. After a few minutes, the pit filled in, and an old, weathered looking man rose up out of the ground. He looked at the pilgrims, nodded, and just silently walked away, carrying some kind of large jar.”
- Overheard in a tavern

Spoiler: Build

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The Sandman


(Image Source: https://www.deviantart.com/haryarti/...line-317516048)

CN Necropolitan Asherati Cloistered Cleric 3/Walker in the Waste 3

Ability Scores:

Abilities	Initial	Race / Template	4th
STR	8
DEX	16
CON	8
INT	12
WIS	16
CHA	15		1

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Cloistered Cleric	0	2	0	2	28: {+4} Concentration: 4; {+4} Knowledge (Local): 4; {+4} Diplomacy: 4; {+4} Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+4} Knowledge (Religion): 4; {+4} Knowledge (The Planes): 4; {+2 CC} Knowledge (Nature): 1; {+2 CC} Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 1;	Spell Focus (Necromancy), Knowledge Devotion	Turn Undead, Lore, Domains (Sand, Travel), Spontaneous Domain Casting (Sand)
2nd	Cloistered Cleric	1	3	0	3	7: {+1} Concentration: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 5; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 5; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 5; {+1 CC} Knowledge (Nature): 1.5; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 1;
3rd	Cloistered Cleric	1	3	1	3	7: {+1} Concentration: 6; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 6; {+1} Diplomacy: 6; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 6; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 6; {+1} Knowledge (The Planes): 6; {+1 CC} Knowledge (Nature): 2; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 1;	Touchstone (Shrine at Kahar)
4th	Walker in the Waste	1	3	1	5	3: {+1} Concentration: 7; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 7; Diplomacy: 6; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The Planes): 6; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 3; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 1;	Improved Heat Endurance	Desiccating Touch (1d6)
5th	Walker in the Waste	2	3	1	6	3: {+1} Concentration: 8; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 8; Diplomacy: 6; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The Planes): 6; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 4; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 1;		The Wasting
6th	Walker in the Waste	2	4	2	6	3: {+1} Concentration: 9; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 9; Diplomacy: 6; Knowledge (Arcana): 6; Knowledge (Religion): 6; Knowledge (The Planes): 6; {+1} Knowledge (Nature): 5; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 1;	Black Lore of Moil	Desiccating Touch (2d6), Local Drought

Epic Feats
Widen Spell
Divine Metamagic (Widen Spell)
Sunlight Eyes
Divine Intercession
Retrieve Spell
Extra Turning
Extra Turning
Extra Turning
Extra Turning
Weapon Finesse

Spoiler: Alternate class features

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• Cloistered Cleric - The Sandman doesn’t really need the armor proficiencies, since, Asherati can’t sandswim well in armor heavier than light, and Knowledge Devotion is very useful, as are the extra skill points. (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/c...oisteredCleric)
• Spontaneous Domain Casting - Since Black Sand and control Sand are such central spells for the build, the ability to cast them spontaneously is very, very useful.

Spoiler: Build Breakdown and tactics

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Levels 1-2 - For the first 2 levels, the Sandman is a regular cleric. Beyond that, the notable tactics he is capable of primarily revolve around using the Asherati’s Sandswim to move through the desert and avoid enemy attacks. Notably, the Asherati’s ability to glow is particularly useful for them, because, while glowing, they can see through the sand, which makes for some nice scouting abilities.

Levels 3-5 - Starting at level 3, the Sandman gets access to 2 very important spells: Devil’s Eye and Black Sand. Black Sand is notable among darkness spells in that it is not templated after the spell Darkness. Because of this, it does not create shadowy illumination, and instead creates proper magical darkness. Devil’s Eye allows the Sandman to see through that darkness, and thus not be subject to the penalties.

Black Sand is also notable in that it causes any creature that is reduced to 0 hp from it to turn into more black sand. This sand persists beyond the end of the spell, since it is created as a property of the hazard, rather than the spell specifically. By collecting this sand the Sandman has access to darkness on demand, though efficiently spreading it is more difficult. One of the more efficient ways of spreading it would be through use of the Sand Blaster.

While being a Necropolitan means that the save against the Sand Blaster’s cone of sand will be very low, the real use of it is to spread black sand over a 10’ cone. Additionally, because the Sand Blaster does not require an attack roll, the Sandman doesn’t need to be proficient to use it, since there is nothing to penalize.

Beyond that, Walker in the Waste gives some nice thematic abilities. Desiccating Touch gives a decent melee touch attack, should that be necessary, and the other abilities are very fitting for the Sandman as a character.

Level 6 and Epic - At level 6, the Sandman gains several important tricks. First of all, Black Lore of Moil increases the damage from Black Sand by 1-2d6 (depending on if it is cast as a 2nd or 3rd level spell). Additionally, Control Sand allows him to create a pit underneath his opponents before casting Black Sand, trapping them in the area.

Spoiler: Note on qualifying for Black Lore of Moil

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Black Lore of Moil requires a Caster Level of 7, which is tricky to get in E6. Luckily, the Higher-order ability of the Touchstone site Shrine at Kahar gives a spell like ability (Create Food and Water) at a caster level of 3+Character level. This allows the Sandman to meet the caster level prerequisite for Black Lore of Moil without issue.

Using Divine Metamagic to Widen the area of Control Sand allows him to create a pit that is 24 ft. deep, which is going to be very difficult to escape, especially without being able to see at all. For the other Epic feats, there are a couple of notable tricks. Twilight Eyes is a more slot efficient way to see inside the complete magical darkness than Devil’s Eye. Divine Intercession allows for short range teleportation, but it’s primarily useful as a prerequisite for Retrieve Spell.

Retrieve Spell allows the Sandman to recover his spent spell slots, so that he can repeat his main trick multiple times per day. The remainder of the Epic feats are just a bunch of instances of Extra Turning, to fuel Divine Metamagic and Spell Retrieval.

Weapon finesse is listed last, but can be moved to when the attack boost becomes particularly important. If it turns out to be unnecessary, then it can be replaced with Extra Turning.

Spoiler: Sources

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Feature	Source
Cloistered Cleric	SRD
Spontaneous Domain Casting	(Player's Handbook II, p. 37)
Necropolitan	Libris Mortis, p. 114
Asherati	Sandstorm, p. 37
Heat Endurance	Sandstorm, p. 50
Improved Heat Endurance	Sandstorm, p. 50
Touchstone	Sandstorm, p. 53
Shrine at Kahar	Sandstorm, p. 54
Walker in the Waste	Sandstorm, p. 89
Black Sand	Sandstorm, p. 111
Control Sand	Sandstorm, p. 112
Black Lore of Moil	Complete Arcane, p. 75
Divine Metamagic	Complete Divine, p. 80
Sunlight Eyes	Complete Mage, p. 48
Divine Intercession	Drow of the Underdark, p. 54
Retrieve Spell	Complete Champion, p. 62
Knowledge Devotion	Complete Champion, p. 60
Sand Blaster	Monster Manual III, p. 58

and that's our round! Enjoy, everyone.

[MinimanMidget]

All of these are really creative, no-one went for anything at all obvious. Judging should be fun, I'll get started.

[loky1109]

Very interesting entries. Pretty unexpected, all three (even mine ).

Table.

Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Total	Place
The Little Match Girl	LE Strongheart Halfling	Duskblade 1/Monk 2/Cancer Mage 3
Duncan Aotrom, Candle of Shadow	TN Human	Shadowcaster 5/Candle Caster 1
The Sandman	CN Necropolitan Asherati	Spontaneous Domain Casting Cloistered Cleric 3/Walker in the Waste 3

[AsuraKyoko]

Pretty cool to see such varied builds! 2 builds with 3 levels in a prestige class is unusual, too.

[Inevitability]

Do we have a judge?

[MinimanMidget]

Yes, but despite being on holiday I haven't found time* to get stuck into it yet.

*Not helped by getting a Switch and Metroid Dread** for christmas.

**Which then lead to me deciding to beat Super and Fusion before starting it.

[Inevitability]

Yes, but despite being on holiday I haven't found time* to get stuck into it yet.

*Not helped by getting a Switch and Metroid Dread** for christmas.

**Which then lead to me deciding to beat Super and Fusion before starting it.

Ah, I missed your earlier post, my bad. Have fun with the games and good luck with judging!

[MinimanMidget]

Sorry for the wait. And thanks, Inevitability, for jolting me into action. Sometimes a friendly reminder goes a long way.

Global judging note: I still struggle with judging theme rounds. My UotSI criteria are now split into 3, with one being ingredients, another being mechanical effect, and the third being overall theme/feel. Hopefully it makes it a little less nebulous than when I judged the Fire round. I'd be interested in any and all feedback on this.

Spoiler: The Little Match Girl

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Spoiler: Originality

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Strongheart halfling, ew. (-1)

Duskblade certainly isn't usual, but it's not too weird. But Cancer Mage 3? Wow. Any prestige class is unusual in E6, let alone 3 levels of it. And Cancer Mage normally only comes up in theoretical discussion about infinite strength. (+1)

There are some familiar favourites in there, but a lot of your feats are pretty weird. It's funny, I was expecting to see a lot of feats from DotU, but I was expecting the Darkness ones. (+0.5)

You called Duskblade + Fascinating Illumination a classic combo, but I've certainly never seen it before. Your core concept is new to me, and it's an unusual take on the theme. And your intro is just great. (+1)

Overall: 4.5

Spoiler: Power

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Hypnotic Pattern is a good spell, no doubt about it. It does suffer from the limitations both on what you can affect and what you can do to them while fascinated, but you've put a lot of thought into that. Your melee damage is decent, but it's tied to an attack bonus that's definitely lower than you'd want it to be, especially considering you're only making one attack per round. You're intending to augment your attacks with poison, but you don't have an obvious way to get your hands on any. Alchemical items, Cancer Mage abilities, even Sleight of Hand - you have a lot of what I'd call miscellaneous options. (+0.25)

You have a decent amount of hp, but while Tatterdemalion is indeed good light armour, your total AC is still not great. Your Fort is good, your Ref is better than you think it is (more on that in Elegance), and your Will is a little low. Good stealth scores help, as does Stench of the Dead. (+0)

In terms of utility, you're good at stealth and Sleight of Hand (which is a personal favourite of mine, although I know it's objectively not that useful). Craft (alchemy) has some non-combat usefulness, and Silent Image is always handy. A familiar is generally useful, especially a raven - you don't need to recommend it, since it's your build, you can just pick it. Infinite use short-range teleportation is also pretty useful outside of combat, and blindsight counts for something, too. You might struggle to contribute in social situations, but outside of that I think you'll almost always find something useful to do. (+0.5)

Overall: 3.75

Spoiler: Elegance

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I feel weird about the paragraph where you talk about how great the build is. Trust me, the build speaks for itself. This feels like you're telling me how to judge. (-0)

Your IL is too low to take Assassin's Stance, even if we assume the dodgy interpretation of prestige class IL. (-0.5)

Cancer Mage has good Fort and Ref, not just Fort. No penalty since it didn't matter, but it's something to watch out for. Also, tsk tsk, dndtools. (-0)

Important note from the rules on multiplying damage: "Extra damage dice over and above a weapon’s normal damage are never multiplied." Decisive Strike can double Craven, but not Sneak Attack damage or Chill Touch. I'm unconvinced that Chill Touch would be affected by Decisive Strike anyway, for what it's worth. (-0.25)

It's Stench of the Dead, not Stench of the Grave. Speaking of, I wish you'd mentioned the prerequisite event in your backstory somehow - those are spells that it's totally feasible to have been hit by in E6, but still, you don't have access to them yourself, and you shouldn't just ignore the requirement completely. (-0.25)

In a similar vein, the description of Poison Immunity says that you get it via repeated exposure. There's a lot of reasons why this would be impractical to achieve with purple worm poison. No penalty since it's not listed as a prerequisite, but I wanted to mention it. It's also a weird choice - do purple worms even exist in an E6 world? Anyway, unimportant. (-0)

Overall: 4

Spoiler: Use of the Secret Ingredient

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Your Dancing Lights-related feats are definitely on theme, I'm counting stealth skills as related, and I'd say Darkstalker and Shadow Jaunt count. That's about it for themed ingredients, though. (-0.5)

In terms of mechanics, you don't actually create any darkness or light, or interact with those mechanics at all. You don't even have darkvision yourself, your companion has to use its blindsight and tell you what it sees. (-0.5)

Thematically, I see Hypnotic Pattern/illusions in general as related to light, but distinct in terms of theme. It definitely helps that you're using them via Dancing Lights, though. (-0.25)

Overall: 1.75

Total: 14

Spoiler: Duncan Aotrom, Candle of Shadow

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Spoiler: Originality

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Human, boo. (-1)

Shadowcaster is always an unusual choice, even though it is very thematic for this round. Candle Caster even more so, although it's basically pure fluff, since you're only using it as a really expensive (but thematic) way to get Scribe Scroll. (+0.5)

So, this is kind of tough for me to judge, because the concept here is "Shadowcaster crafting scrolls to fix the uses/day problem". Which is a concept I've judged before, in the Shadowcaster round. It's certainly not something I expected to see, and I don't generally deduct points in Originality for a concept having appeared in a previous round. It's still a neat idea, and not an expected one. (+0.5)

What I will deduct points for, though, is your feats. I don't like seeing a list of the same feats taken repeatedly, but more importantly, this really just seems like you read the Complete Cost Reduction Handbook and said "cool, I'm doing that". If you came up with this combo on your own then I'm sorry, I've misjudged you, but even I'd heard of it before, and I avoid crafting like the plague. (-0.5)

Overall: 2.5

Spoiler: Power

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I don't know if you noticed, but candles have a major disadvantage over scrolls.

A successfully lit candle automatically activates the stored spell at the beginning of the candle caster’s action in the next round

There are certainly niche situations in which the effect happening on a one round delay would be a good thing, but it's far from the norm. Relying on candles is like all your spells having 1 round casting times.

There's also extra item juggling, since you need both the candle and a tindertwig, rather than just a scroll.

Ignoring all that, you have effectively unlimited uses of your shadowcaster mysteries. What's that worth? Well, your headline item is Clinging Darkness + Black Fire. Clinging Darkness is weird, but it's solid battlefield control. A lot of creatures can potentially just ignore it, though, since it inflicts no penalties beyond being unable to move. Black Fire is 3d6 cold damage per turn, which is...okay, but it really relies on being combined with Clinging Darkness to work. It's also Reflex negates, which isn't great - it says see text, but the text doesn't mention it. Classic ToM editing, I guess. Voice of Shadows is fine, but doesn't influence me much. Overall, you're definitely going to contribute to a party, but it's a contribution more in line with a 1st-level spellcaster than a 6th-level one. (-0.5)

Your max hp is pathetic. Steel Shadows is a good amount of AC, but the duration is a problem (you'll need to recast it a lot), and with your Dex your AC is still laughable anyway. Your Will is okay, but your Fort is on the low side, and your Ref is literally negative. (-1)

In terms of utility, you've got some Knowledge skills, and Umbral Hand is something. You're nominally a stealthy character, but with a Dex of 4, your totals are Hide 4 and Move Silently 1. Sight Obscured will get your Hide to 9, which is okay (though still not great), but the short duration really limits the circumstances where you can use it. Sight Eclipsed is nice, but there's enough problems here that I think stealth is more likely to be a liability for you than an asset. (-0.5)

I'm not going to give you free points for Ritual Transference - crafting cheap scrolls of your party members' spells is nice, but you can't reliably use them yourself, and your party members who could use them can just cast their spells themselves. With no 1-round delay. (+0)

Overall: 1

Spoiler: Elegance

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Another round, another paragraph about magic item crafting penalties. The contest rules aren't clear on how xp works, and whether you can afford to lose some. If each character gets enough xp to level to E10, the moment you craft something, you've lost access to your final feat. There's also potentially an issue with gold, too. My general rule when judging is to allow mundane items and ignore any magic items, since most builds don't assume they have access and we want a level playing field. There's obviously a big difference between "my character can craft these items" and "my character wants to buy these items", but I still feel weird about assuming you can fund your crafting, but others can't buy magic items. Normally, this would be a bigger penalty, since you're so reliant on crafting (it basically is your build), but you've obviously reduced your costs a long way, and that does count for you here. It just doesn't remove the penalty completely. (-0.5)

You say "I think you agree with me, the possibility of obtaining +2 Int item isn't an overly bold assumption for me." But it's not an item you can natively craft, so it's exactly as much of an assumption as it would be for any other build. It'd be cheaper for you, but nothing more. [-0.25]

Not that it matters, but Magical Artisan was updated in PGtF. Speaking of, setting specific feats from both FR and Eberron. (-0.5)

Applying Magical Artisan and Enhance Item to Extraordinary/Legendary/Exceptional Artisan (and each other) is dodgy as hell. It's probably legal, but this category is Elegance, not Legality. (-1)

Enhance Item is itself a problematic feat. It's poorly written, so it's not altogether clear, but it seems like it's supposed to allow you to use your actual ability score when calculating the DC rather than the minimum score required to create the item. I can certainly see how it can be read as just adding your ability modifier to the DC, so this is only going to be a ping. (-0.25)

Candle Caster requires you to have at least 100 tindertwigs. Yes, you can probably buy them, but it'd be a lot better if you had Craft (alchemy). I'd let it slide if you'd even mentioned it, but you straight up didn't address this at all. (-0.5)

Overall: 2

Spoiler: Use of the Secret Ingredient

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In terms of your ingredients, you've got Shadowcaster, which does a lot of heavy lifting here. Candle Caster helps a little, but it could be replaced with Scribe Scroll so easily (and the build would be better off) that it's really more of a seasoning. Your feats are all generic crafting feats, and your race is human. Your skills are largely unrelated to the theme, but Craft (candlemaking) and Hide definitely count. (+0.5)

Mechanically speaking, the only actual light and/or darkness you have is Black Candle, which you listed but never talked about. And as a fundamental, you can't craft a candle of it. (Which is a shame, because creating a black candle of Black Candle which can be lit to provide either light or darkness would be absolutely beautiful.) (-0.25)

Thematically, using candles to cast shadow magic is a pretty strong concept here. (+0.5)

Overall: 3.75

Total: 9.25

Spoiler: The Sandman

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Spoiler: Originality

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Oooh, asherati. So, this is completely unrelated to your judgement, but I'm a bit embarrassed. I did an asherati entry in the Lurk round, and I completely forgot that their illumination lets them see through sand. Anyway, you don't see a lot of asherati. Necropolitan is a lot more used, although not usually in this contest (more on that in Elegance). (+0.25)

Cloistered Cleric, bleh. Walker in the Waste is a lot more interesting - any prestige class is unusual in E6, let alone 3 levels of it. (+0.25)

You've got some unusual feats there, but taking Extra Turning four times weighs down your list a bit. (+0.25)

Your core concept is basically "Black Sand is cool". And yeah, Black Sand is pretty cool! As a result of that, though, it does get talked about a lot. (-0.25)

Overall: 3.5

Spoiler: Power

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Your core combo of Black Sand + Control Sand is interesting to judge in terms of power. It is rather costly in terms of spell slots, even with Retrieve Spell. The damage is fairly low, but a lot of enemies are going to find it near-impossible to escape, and the duration on both spells is long enough that if they don't have a way to escape, sooner or later they'll die. You can freely attack them while they're in the pit (presumably with your Dessicating Touch), but with no ability to move->attack->move, you do risk being retaliated against. If an enemy is immune to (or healed by) negative energy damage, they'll be a lot less threatened by this, although Control Sand with the darkness effect is still decent battlefield control. Enemies with options that allow them to escape the pit are a problem, and that brings me to an important point. Black Sand offers a Reflex save to avoid being caught in the area where it is cast. If you create a sandpit, then cast Black Sand at the bottom, can anyone escape with a successful save? If so, ouch. It also relies on you being in a desert (or other sandy terrain), obviously. Outside of the desert, you have your Dessicating Touch, which has a rather low attack bonus, even for a touch attack, and even with Knowledge Devotion. You're also planning to use a sandblaster to spray people with Black Sand, which is cool but not particularly dangerous. Of course, five levels of Cleric casting means you do have other options if you need them. (-0.25)

You have a solid pool of hp, and your AC should be good. In terms of saving throws, your Ref is on the low side. I guess there's no point discussing your low Fort save, and your (much better) Will save is almost never going to come up either. You do have the unique (among PCs) weakness to turning, and no Turning Resistance. You haven't specified whether, as a Neutral cleric, you're turning or rebuking, but if we generously assume you chose rebuking, you can bolster yourself. Anyway, there's no denying that the defensive benefits of being undead vastly outweigh the vulnerabilities. Including, of course, being healed by your own primary offense. Five levels of Cleric casting counts for something here, too. (+0.75)

In terms of utility, your Diplomacy score is okay (although being a Necropolitain may limit the situations where you can use it), you've got some Knowledge skills, Divine Intercession will see some use, and you (still) have five levels of Cleric casting. (-0.25)

Overall: 3.25

Spoiler: Elegance

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Necropolitan? Really? You have 4 copies of Extra Turning, and you couldn't spare one feat for Tomb-Tainted Soul to avoid this mess? The rules ban templates with LA > 0, which Necropolitan technically isn't. It can't be taken until 3rd level, or you just die, and it costs 3000 gp, as well as 2000 xp (at least). This is the same problem as crafting - the contest rules aren't clear on how xp works, and whether you can afford to lose some. If each character gets enough xp to level to E10, taking Necropolitan means you've lost access to your final feat. In terms of gold, spending 3000 gp to become a Necropolitan is roughly equivalent to relying on a specific magic item for your build, both in terms of cost and the assumption that you'll be able to find someone willing to sell it to you. (-1)

You took Knowledge (local) ranks, but you don't have 8 in time to qualify for Touchstone. In theory, you could qualify with a touchstone key, but that would be as bad a penalty or worse, anyway. (-0.5)

Qualifying for Black Lore of Moil via an SLA is a little dodgy, but relying on a higher-order power from a touchstone site is worse, since it requires you to go to a specific place that may not even exist in any given campaign. I'm just relieved you at least picked a site which is doable in E6 and by your character. (-0.5)

What are you a Cleric of? CN, Sand, Travel, and "Most cloistered clerics worship deities associated with knowledge and learning." I'm pretty sure the only deity with the Sand domain is Zoser, who doesn't have Travel. Presumably you'd tell me you're a Cleric of an ideal (desert or something like that?), but you didn't mention it in your build. (-0.25)

As a side note, Black Sand has the Evil tag, so you're not going to stay Neutral for long. Not worth a penalty, but worth mentioning.

Overall: 2.75

Spoiler: Use of the Secret Ingredient

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Asherati definitely counts toward the light part of the theme here. Sunlight Eyes counts too, although I really wish you'd told me which Light spell you're keeping prepared to power it - even if you're not planning on using it. Black Sand is obviously your big darkness-themed ingredient, and the build is centred on it, but the rest of your ingredients are not light- or darkness-themed in and of themselves. (-0.25)

Mechanically speaking, you're relying on magical asherati light to see, you're spreading magical darkness everywhere, and you can see through any and all illumination conditions. (+0.5)

Thematically, it's a little less clear. It really feels (to me, at least) more sand-themed than anything else, with undead/necromancy/negative energy as a strong flavour. (-0.25)

Overall: 3

Total: 12.5

[MinimanMidget]

So...what's happening? I did my bit.

[Venger]

That you did. I feel like 12 days is probably plenty of time for disputes. If anyone has any send them in otherwise I'll post reveal in the morning. Thanks for judging.

[AsuraKyoko]

Nothing particularly reasonable for a dispute, here, though I have some comments for after the reveal.

[Venger]

Time for the reveal!

Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	MinimanMidget	Total	Place
The Little Match Girl	LE Strongheart Halfling	Duskblade 1/Monk 2/Cancer Mage 3	Inevitability	14.00	14.00	1st
The Sandman	CN Necropolitan Asherati	Spontaneous Domain Casting Cloistered Cleric 3/Walker in the Waste 3	AsuraKyoko	12.50	12.50	2nd
Duncan Aotrom, Candle of Shadow	TN Human	Shadowcaster 5/Candle Caster 1	loky1109	9.25	9.25	3rd

[MinimanMidget]

In the absence of any disputes, does anyone have any feedback? I'm worried about how jaded I'm getting - wondering if I should take a break from judging for a while. I'd hate it if anyone was going "oh no, not another Miniman judgement".

[daremetoidareyo]

In the absence of any disputes, does anyone have any feedback? I'm worried about how jaded I'm getting - wondering if I should take a break from judging for a while. I'd hate it if anyone was going "oh no, not another Miniman judgement".

Ain’t no one feeling that way. Gratitude is primary.