Monster Mash VII: Monsters through the Snow

[Beni-Kujaku]

Monster Mash #7

This competition is for monstrous adventurers, in part to experiment with the possibilities they offer and in part to make use of the revised level adjustments which Inevitability and Debatra have spent five years assigning.
Adventurers designed for this contest must be of a monstrous race. For the purpose of this contest, “monstrous race” excludes all races designed for PC use, unless their level adjustment has been increased by one or more templates. “Monstrous race” is a somewhat vague category, by necessity. No simple set of rules can exclude every single PC race without also excluding some genuine monsters. Entries which flout this rule with borderline-monstrous races risk a penalty to their Monstrosity score.


For the purpose of this competition, all races use the modified level adjustments listed in the LA Assignment Archive. Races with a -0 level adjustment are treated as if they had a +0 level adjustment. Monsters not rated at the time an entry is submitted and who haven't had an official level adjustment may not be used. You are allowed to play monsters not rated in the LA assignment thread only if they got an official level adjustment.
Some races' level adjustments include asterisks. These monsters have traits which render them unsuitable for PC use, such as a wight’s spawn creation, a dryad’s tree dependency, or a genie’s wishes; check the linked posts in the archive. For the purpose of this contest, those races do not possess those traits. In cases where it's unclear which traits are removed, please contact the chair for clarification.

Round Theme: Monsters through the Snow

It's a rule in all of fiction. Around December, even deadly monsters have to be Christmas-themed.

• The monster character must possess the Cold subtype, or otherwise have the ability to deal cold damage.

To note: Gaining the Cold subtype or the ability to deal cold damage through feats or class levels is acceptable, as long as it's an integral part of the character's build and tactics.

Contestants
You will need to present a full build for your entry, from its first level to level 20. Also required is a rundown of how your build works at lower levels, to demonstrate that it is a functional character that could be played in a real game.
Traditionally participants in similar competitions give "snapshots" of tactics and abilities at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20. Depending on the monstrous race chosen, your character may be unavailable at lower levels; in that case, instead give snapshots at various levels where it is playable. These snapshots should be roughly evenly distributed among what levels it is available at.

Spoiler: Sources and General Rules

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32 point-buy is the presumed creation method.
If you do use a different point-buy, please make your case for its necessity in your entry. Keep in mind that for using exceptionally large or small point-buys may warrant deductions in elegance and/or power.
If the monster you're cooking with has no intelligence, or an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, consider the intelligence as 3 (-8 racial modifier). It still retains any immunity to mind-affecting abilities it may have.

Competitors will be free to use any official 1st party (WotC) 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon Compendium is allowed, but Dragon magazine is disallowed. Unearthed Arcana is allowed. Unupdated 3.0 materials, as well as web exclusives by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion.
Official Errata and 3.5 updates to 3.0 content are considered valid regardless of whether their sources would otherwise be legal. This includes the 3.5 update of Oriental Adventures given in Dragon Magazine, and the 3.5 updates of Dragonlance Campaign Setting content given in later third party Dragonlance books.
Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt or Generic Classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Item Familiars and Taint are also banned from the competition.

Specific bans:

Any material that grants you leadership without you specifically taking it should be ignored and may not be traded away for another feat or ACF. Any variant of Leadership, such as Undead Leadership and Dragon Cohort are likewise banned. Wild Cohort and Obtain Familiar are allowed. If you are not sure if a specific feat violates the 'no leadership' rule, err on the side of caution, or ask me.
However, Leadership may be taken to qualify for another feat or class (such as the Great Captain feat or Legendary Leader prestige class), though a character still doesn't get its usual benefit in those cases. This is to allow characters to access unproblematic material that'd otherwise be made unavailable because of the Leadership ban.

Because this contest involves creating a build up to level 20, no race with a base ECL higher than 20 is allowed.
The Dragonlance Campaign Setting is allowed, but the subsequent books for Dragonlance are considered 3rd party, and are therefore not eligible, despite the "WotC approved" status of those books. The same holds for Oriental Adventures (1st party) and the subsequent Rokugan books (3rd party).
The Illithid Savant and Beholder Mage prestige classes are specifically banned due to their extreme potential for abuse.

Judging
Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, and Monstrosity.
Scores of zero may be applied in cases of exceptional misconduct (plagiarism earns a 0 in Originality, failure to meet prerequisites earns a 0 in Elegance, non-monstrous races earn a 0 in Monstrosity, etc); otherwise, all entries should receive at least one full point in each category.

• Originality: Is it unexpected or novel?
• Power: Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
• Elegance: Is it mechanically straighforward or “pretty”?
• Monstrosity: Is the monstrous character’s race used?

Spoiler: Precisions on Elegance and Monstrosity

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Elegance and Monstrosity demand further elaboration.
Elegance measures how skillfully you put your build together, and whether you sacrificed flavor for power. Use of flaws is considered in poor taste, and judges are asked to take a dim view of this option, taking it into account while grading. Other things that will cause penalties here are excessive multi-classing, and classes that don't fit the concept.
A legal source's relative obscurity should not be considered as penalizing Elegance, excepting the aforementioned issues with Unearthed Arcana. Using conflicting setting material may result in a penalty to Elegance at the judges' discretion, but a book's relative obscurity may not. In that same vein, drawing solely from the Core 3 (and the d20 SRD) should not be punished for lacking Originality.
Monstrosity measures how necessary the entry’s monster race was to the submission. We want to build monstrous adventurers here, not standard Iron Chef builds with a few racial hit dice at the start. Builds which could not function without the monstrous features of their race earn high Monstrosity scores, while builds which could work on any PC race with no changes will take Monstrosity penalties. Builds using non-monstrous races will also take penalties to Monstrosity. For rounds with specific restrictions on the monster race, this category will also include making good use of the mandatory component.

Presentation
Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, I'd like everyone to try to use the following table for their entry.

Spoiler

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NAME OF ENTRY

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

Code immediately below (spoiler).

Spoiler

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

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

Spoiler

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Spells per Day/Spells Known

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

Code immediately below (spoiler)

Spoiler

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

Alternatively, you may use this spreadsheet created by mattie_p.
For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list or table.

Speculation
Please don’t post or speculate on possible builds until the reveal, in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.
Once builds are revealed, please do not comment on errors or rules issues on entries unless you are a judge. If you have such a comment, wait until the final reveal to post it.

Deadlines

Contestants will have until 23:59 GMT Sunday 22nd of January to create their builds and PM them to the chair. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 23:59 GMT Sunday 5th of February 2023 to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted. Deadlines are subject to extension as/if required.

Submission
To standardize Entries, please use this format when sending it in:
PM: Beni-Kujaku
Subject: Monster Mash #, Name of your Entry
For Revisions and disputes, do the same thing. It makes it easier for me finding the entries in my mailbox.

More questions? Either ask in the thread or PM me with Monster Mash Questions in the header. Please use PMs for any questions relating to a specific build to avoid violating rules against speculation.

Houserules/Clarifications
D&D 3.5 is far from a perfect system, and inflated level adjustments are far from the only example of this. Many rules are ambiguous, absent, or just badly-written. I make no claim to fixing the system, but feel some “house rules” are in order:

Spoiler

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• Bonus feats that are granted even if you do not meet the prerequisites do not require you to meet the prerequisites in order to use.
• All creatures are proficient with any natural weapons they may have or acquire.
• Monsters with racial hit dice may gain an additional hit die instead of taking a character level. This functions as advancing a monster this way would under other circumstances. You cannot advance any monster beyond the maximum number of racial hit dice noted in its Advancement entry. You can advance that way before, after, or in-between taking actual class levels.
• The DC of a monster's supernatural ability is 10+1/2 number of Hit Dice+mod. This includes class levels.
• Able Learner's benefit applies to the level you take it.
• Weapons from soulmelds are considered to be magic weapons.
• Unarmed Swordsage grants Improved Unarmed Strike at level 1.
• Spelltouched feats are legal and can be taken just like any other feat when you meet the prerequisites and have the feat slot available.
• Possessing innate spellcasting from your race is treated as a spellcasting class for the purposes of prestige classes which provide new spells per day, an increase in caster level, and spells known (if applicable) as if you had gained a level in a spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level.

If you have trouble finding a monster with specific abilities, you might want to check the Searchable Monster Abilities Spreadsheet.

Previous Competitions:
MM1: Back to Basics
MM2: Scary Monsters
MM3: Keep your monsters close, and your enemies closer
MM4: Monsters in the darkness
MM5: Crawling Monsters
MM6: Mysterious Monster Magic


And now, time to get mashing!

[Beni-Kujaku]

Q&A for this round:

-

[loky1109]

It's really tough theme.
I did some search and so far found no ideas with synergy with monsters, not just cold-themed prestige class for everybody.

[loky1109]

It's really tough theme.
I did some search and so far found no ideas with synergy with monsters, not just cold-themed prestige class for everybody.

Okay, at least I have an idea now.

[Paragon]

Entry is in ;)

[Inevitability]

I got something! A bit of a weird build, but that's what this competition is for, isn't it?

[loky1109]

Entry submitted.

Upd: another submitted, too.

[loky1109]

I'm looking at LA Assignment Archive and think that at least some asterisks need more clear qualification. For example Lurking Strangler. I don't understand what exactly is asterisksed for him. And at all early evaluations were made without Monster Mash in mind, that's why there could be some issues.
I think we need some rechecking for old asterisks.

It isn't speculation, I didn't plane build Lurking Strangler for this round.
Upd: And I hope nobody planned.

[Beni-Kujaku]

I'm looking at LA Assignment Archive and think that at least some asterisks need more clear qualification. For example Lurking Strangler. I don't understand what exactly is asterisksed for him. And at all early evaluations were made without Monster Mash in mind, that's why there could be some issues.
I think we need some rechecking for old asterisks.

The asterisk was for the eye rays, mainly because they're only useable on creatures with less than 5HD. This means that you absolutely stomp everything at ECL 2, have some difficulty at ECL 3, and are useless at ECL 4. "LA +1 without class levels, LA-0 with at least one class level" is a bit too long for the chart, and since you basically always play at ECL 3 or more, LA-0* with the asterisk on the rays changes nothing in 99% of cases, and takes care of the occasional "level 2 One-Shot" without needing two different ratings.

Revisiting asterisks is mainly done on a case-by-case basis (like they did for the Cauchemar). If you think a specific asterisk is not warranted and have good arguments for your case, you can talk about it on the LA assignment thread.
However, if your goal is to revisit the LA on asterisked monsters without removing the asterisk, then I'm pretty sure you won't find much traction. I know I'm not one to talk with my negative LA thread, but there's no reason we should revisit asterisked LAs without revisiting all old LAs (most of which would probably get slightly different values nowadays) and we don't have the time or energy for that, especially since we haven't covered half of all 3.5 monsters in the main thread yet. The goal of the thread is to make monsters playable, and Monster Mash shouldn't change that. Of course, the level of optimization is not the same in MM compared to actual play, and it can make some LAs a bit inaccurate, but the fun of it is also to uncover the most abusable (understand "buildable upon") monsters within this new ruleset.

[Paragon]

How's everyone doing ?

[loky1109]

How's everyone doing ?

Mine are done and I'm very happy with them. )

[Inevitability]

I submitted a build a while ago.

[loky1109]

One day till reveal. I'm excited.

[Beni-Kujaku]

If nobody would like to submit another build in the next few hours, I think I will make the reveal a bit earlier, so that everybody can read them during their sunday. If you wish to submit a build before that, or if you want an extension to finish one up, please PM me or send a message here, otherwise, reveal in an hour!

[Beni-Kujaku]

I'd say "There must always be a Lich King", but even the Frozen Throne wouldn't fit an incorporeal king.

Bigger version
Source
Ghost Face is registered trademark of Fun World Div., Easter Unlimited, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The first thing I saw was my father. His shining happy eyes, light, almost imperceptible curve of his smiling lips whispering "Came true. One who freeze all...", his opened bloodied thorax...
The first thing I felt was the first beat of his heart inside my chest. First and last. Next moment my father died and his heart exploded with a wave of all piercing ultra-cold.
That's how my afterlife began. I didn't have my own passions and unfinished business, I didn't even have any started. But I had passion of my father, from his now forever freezed heart and from his last words. I should freeze all!

CE Frostfell Ghost Unseelie Fey Incarnate Construct 1st-Level Astral Construct Duskblade 3/Fighter 1/Warblade 2/Eidolon 1/Divine Crusader 1/Winterhaunt of Iborighu 9/Divine Disciple 1

Spoiler: Stats

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Abilities	Initial	Astral Construct	Unseelie fey	Ghost	ASI	Total
STR	8	4	-2			-
DEX	14	4	2			20
CON	8		-2			-
INT	14					14
WIS	12					12
CHA	18		2	4	4	28

Spoiler: Build

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ECL	Class	BAB	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	1st-level Astral Construct +1 LA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0	Incarnate Construct -2 LA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0	Unseelie Fey +0 LA	-	-	-	-	-	-	DR, iron vulnerability, Winter Chill
2nd	Frostfell Ghost +3 LA	-	-	-	-	-	-	Incorporeal, Chill Ray, Coldfire Radiance, Frigid Touch, Manifestation, Rejuvenation, +4 turn resistance
3rd	Duskblade 1	1	2	0	2	16: {+4} Concentration: 4; {+4} Knowledge (Arcana): 4; {+2} Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+4} Knowledge (Religion): 4; {+2} Spellcraft: 2;	Chosen of Iborighu (1)	Arcane attunement, armored mage (light)
4th	Duskblade 2	2	3	0	3	4: {+1} Concentration: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 5; {+1} Spellcraft: 3;	Combat Casting (B)	Combat Casting
5th	Fighter 1	3	5	0	3	4: Concentration: 5; {+4} Intimidate: 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 5; Spellcraft: 3;	Piercing Cold (3), Weapon Focus (Scythe) (F)	Bonus feat
6th	Warblade 1	4	7	0	3	6: {+2} Concentration: 7; {+4} Diplomacy: 4; Intimidate: 4; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 5; Spellcraft: 3;		Battle clarity (Reflex saves), weapon aptitude
7th	Warblade 2	5	8	0	3	6: {+1} Concentration: 8; {+1} Diplomacy: 5; {+4} Intimidate: 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 5; Spellcraft: 3;		Uncanny dodge
8th	Duskblade 3	6	8	1	3	4: {+1} Concentration: 9; Diplomacy: 5; Intimidate: 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Religion): 7; {+1} Spellcraft: 4;	Craft Wondrous Item (6)	Arcane channeling
9th	Eidolon 1	7	8	1	5	4: {+1} Concentration: 10; Diplomacy: 5; {+2} Intimidate: 10; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; Knowledge (Religion): 7; {+1} Knowledge (The planes): 1; Spellcraft: 4;	Touch Attack Specialization (Frigid Touch) (G)	Ghost feat, free multiclassing
10th	Divine Crusader 1	7	10	1	7	4: {+1} Concentration: 11; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 11; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Religion): 9; Knowledge (The planes): 1; Spellcraft: 4;		Aura, cold domain
11th	Winterhaunt of Iborighu 1	7	12	1	9	4: {+1} Concentration: 12; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 12; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Religion): 11; Knowledge (The planes): 1; Spellcraft: 4;	Heretic of Faith (9), Weapon Focus (Scythe) → Weapon Focus (Touch attack) (WA)	Cloak of winter’s chill
12th	Winterhaunt of Iborighu 2	8	13	1	10	4: {+1} Concentration: 13; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (The planes): 1; Spellcraft: 4;		Resistance to cold 5
13th	Winterhaunt of Iborighu 3	8	13	2	10	4: {+1} Concentration: 14; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 14; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 14; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+1} Spellcraft: 5;		Frozen skin
14th	Divine Disciple 1	8	13	2	12	4: {+1} Concentration: 15; Diplomacy: 5; Intimidate: 14; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 15; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+2} Spellcraft: 7;	Rashemi Elemental Summoning (12)	New domain (summoner), divine emissary
15th	Winterhaunt of Iborighu 4	9	14	2	13	4: {+1} Concentration: 16; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 15; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 16; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+1} Spellcraft: 8;		Coldstrike +1d6
16th	Winterhaunt of Iborighu 5	9	14	2	13	4: {+1} Concentration: 17; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 16; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 17; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+1} Spellcraft: 9;		Resistance to cold 10
17th	Winterhaunt of Iborighu 6	10	15	3	14	4: {+1} Concentration: 18; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 17; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 18; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+1} Spellcraft: 10;	Summon Elemental (15)	Constant Piercing Cold
18th	Winterhaunt of Iborighu 7	10	15	3	14	4: {+1} Concentration: 19; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 18; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 19; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+1} Spellcraft: 11;		Cold subtype
19th	Winterhaunt of Iborighu 8	11	16	3	15	4: {+1} Concentration: 20; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 19; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 20; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+1} Spellcraft: 12;		Coldstrike +2d6
20th	Winterhaunt of Iborighu 9	11	16	4	15	4: {+1} Concentration: 21; Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 20; Knowledge (Arcana): 5; Knowledge (Local - Rashemen): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 21; Knowledge (The planes): 1; {+1} Spellcraft: 13;	Final Strike (18)	Summon the entombed

B - bonus feats; F - bonus feats from Fighter class; G - bonus feats from Eidolon class; WA - change via Warblade's weapon aptitude.

Spoiler: Magic

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Spoiler: Divine Crusader Spells per Day

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Level	Class	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
10th	Divine Crusader 1	0+2
11th	Divine Crusader 2 (WoI)	1+2	0+2
12th	Divine Crusader 3 (WoI)	2+2	1+2	0+2
13th	Divine Crusader 4 (WoI)	2+2	2+2	1+2	0+2
14th	Divine Crusader 5 (DD)	3+2	2+2	2+2	1+2	0+2
15th	Divine Crusader 6 (WoI)	3+2	3+2	2+2	2+2	1+2	0+1
16th	Divine Crusader 7 (WoI)	3+2	3+2	3+2	2+2	2+2	1+1	0+1
17th	Divine Crusader 7 (WoI)	3+2	3+2	3+2	3+2	2+2	2+1	1+1	0+1
18th	Divine Crusader 9 (WoI)	3+3	3+2	3+2	3+2	3+2	2+2	2+1	1+1	0+1
19th	Divine Crusader 10 (WoI)	3+3	3+3	3+2	3+2	3+2	3+2	2+1	2+1	1+1

WoI - advanced by Winterhaunt of Iborighu; DD - advanced by Divine Disciple.

Spoiler: Duskblade Spells per Day

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Level	Class	0th	1st
1st	Duskblade 1	3	2+1
2nd	Duskblade 2	4	3+1
7th	Duskblade 3	5	4+1
20th	Duskblade 4 (WoI)	6	5+1

WoI - advanced by Winterhaunt of Iborighu.

Spoiler: Duskblade Spell Known

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Level	Class	0th	1st
1st	Duskblade 1	Acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue	Chill touch, obscuring mist
2nd	Duskblade 2	-	True strike
7th	Duskblade 3	-	Resist energy
20th	Duskblade 4 (WoI)	-	Color spray

Spoiler: Martial Maneuvers and Stances

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Level	Class	ML	Maneuvers Readied	Maneuvers Known	Stances Known
5th	Warblade 1	2	3	Douse the Flames, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Steel Wind	Punishing Stance
6th	Warblade 2	3	3	Action Before Thought	-

Spoiler: Build Breakdown

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Spoiler: ECL 2

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My father was an unseelie uldra, frostfell fey served and worshiped Iborighu, Frozen King, God of Killing Cold. He created me as his gift to our divine patron. I should be the one who finally brings the blessing of uttercold to the world. Came alive and died in the same moment I have no objections against this.

Let's look at what I have before taking the first level. I'm Incarnate Construct for the goal of -2 LA, I'm Ghost with abilities taken from Frostburn's ghost variant. Based on Ghost assignment post I concluded it is legal. And I'm Unseelie Fey. It isn't an essential and unavoidable part of entry, but it is pretty in-theme of evil fey creator and it of course gives me some goodies: +2 Cha to get 28 and bonus 9th level slot, -Cha to saves with Winter Chill. Sounds cool!

Spoiler: ECL 9

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I knew what I should to do. Eternal snowball-world. Goal was clear, but I needed power to achieve it. And I knew how. My father was an winterhaunt, extremely powerful servant of the Frozen King and he left me instructions on how to become one of them myself. I was Сhosen of Iborighu by right of death. I started to study magic to be able to bring all-piercing cold and to be able to craft an iceheart, but also I had to become Crusader of the Frozen King and take his divine power.

Okay. Chosen of Iborighu, Piercing Cold, Weapon Focus (Scythe) and Craft Wondrous Item are mostly prerequisites. Touch Attack Specialization is good free +2 damage. Warblade is here mostly for its full BAB and weapon aptitude, while Action Before Thought and Battle Clarity are very helpful with my low reflex. Other maneuvers are useful, but aren't essential. Fighter and Eidolon gave me free feats and their full BAB, plus both don't count for multiclass penalties. Fighter is favorite class for Incarnate Construct, Eidolon has Free Multiclassing class feature.

Spoiler: ECL 14

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Being Crusader and Winterhaunt I found I don't agree with the Frozen King about everything. Eternal winter is the ultimate Goal, of course, but methods for achieving this... I had my own view on it. Yes, I had all the time in the world, but I couldn't achieve the Goal alone, and I couldn't trust even uldras or other winterhaunts. I saw examples of betrayal with my own eyes. I needed backup who never let me down, I needed summoned monsters to fight for me and the Frozen King and who could freeze the whole world for us. And a scythe... It's a good symbol, but for me... It's just a symbol. Totally useless symbol. There is more cold in my touch than in scythe.

The Divine Crusader was the last piece of the puzzle to enter Winterhaunt of Iborighu. Of course I selected Cold domain, it is the single which synergies with WoI. Heretic of Faith let me to change my Weapon Focus for more useful and to get Summoner domain with level of Divine Disciple. Rashemi Elemental Summoning is the obvious next feat choice. Orglashes instead of regular air elementals are very good if you want to make eternal winter around whole world.

Spoiler: ECL 20

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My goal gets closer and closer now. With a legion of cold air elementals and uninterrupted unlife I'll achieve the Goal of the Frozen King and my father soon. And then I can rest.

We are here. 20th level. Summon Elemental reserve feat with Rashemi Elemental Summoning means free 8d6 Cone of Cold spam without any interruptions. Summon the entombed provides me way to fuel the reserve feat at full strength. Final Strike feat has more sense for rejuvenating ghost then for almost all other creatures - 18d6 + 9d6 damage every time I'm destroyed. Cool.

Spoiler: Some history

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Firstly it was Old Aasimar Zhentarim Soldier Fighter 3/Ghost/Eidolon 4/Divine Crusader 1/Winterhaunt of Iborighu 9. But there are some issues. Rashemi Elemental Summoning has Spellcaster Level prerequisite, which isn't the same as aasimar's existing Caster Level. And +3 LA is the big price.
Next I looked at Incarnate Construct and Astral Construct. At the beginning there are two levels of fighter and no levels of Eidolon and Warblade, because Astral Constructs in the XPH for some reason have +2 extra BAB. I thought to exploit this, but dropped the idea as being too cheesy. I thought to get Warblade levels one level later to get more powerful maneuvers, but this means I need to get all three Duskblade levels before to qualify for Craft Wondrous Item and to receive multiclass penalty for one level. If you think it isn't a problem or play without multiclass penalty you are free to use this variant.
Plus, there was one Contemplative level because I somehow had overlooked +1 LA of 1st-level AC.
Also I thought about getting a Spell Resistance SQ (from Frostburn), but it isn't clear for me what LA should have ghost with this SQ. If it's still +3 SR should be taken.
And I thought about granting my serving to the Elder Evil Father Llymic. It is very thematic, but free feats aren't an elegant decision and these feats don't give me something really valuable.

Spoiler: Issues

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Spoiler: Crafting Iceheart

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I lack some of the prerequisites. I have no Fog cloud and Sleet storm spells at the moment of creation (second at least is in my spell list and I could use it from items) and I'm of course not an uldra or a winterhaunt of Iborighu. Who wrote this dysfunctional stuff? To become a winterhaunt of Iborighu you need to be a winterhaunt of Iborighu. Anyway I needed somebody to help me. I think it isn't a big problem enlist the aid from another winterhaunt.

Spoiler: Rashemi Elemental Summoning

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This feat has a region prerequisite. But it clearly isn't regional feat - nobody could get it at the first level, so I think it should be enough to put two points in the Knowledge (Local - Rashemen) to qualify for it.

Spoiler: Iborighu in the FR

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Yeah, Iborighu isn't FR god, but he isn't god of any setting (his author, James Jacobs said that) and I see no problems to place him in the FR.

Spoiler: Eidolon and Ghost feats

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I see nothing prevented regular, non-Ghostwalk ghost to get this class and feats. Yes, they made with another ghost in the mind, but language is pretty clear.

Spoiler: Summon Elemental + Rashemi Elemental Summoning

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Summon Elemental's text says the Elemental acts "as if summoned by a summon monster spell" and Rashemi applies to Elementals you summon with spells. Yeah, it isn't strong RAW, but I think it should work by RAI.

Spoiler: Winterhaunt of Iborighu and arcane casting

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Last level of Winterhaunt of Iborighu advanced Duskblade's casting. There are nothing in Spells per Day description preventing this, there are "+1 level of existing class" lines in the table, and wizardly winterhaunts mentioned in the class's fluff.

Spoiler: Books

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Type	Name	Book	Page
Race	1st-level Astral Construct	Expanded Psionics Handbook	187
Race	Ghost	Monster Manual I	116
Race	Frostfell Ghost	Frostburn	132
Template	Incarnate Construct	Savage Species	120
Template	Unseelie Fey	Dragon Compendium	222
Class	Duskblade	Players Handbook II	19
Class	Fighter	Players Handbook	37
Class	Warblade	Tome of Battle	20
Class	Eidolon	Ghostwalk	16
Prestige Class	Divine Crusader	Complete Divine	33
Prestige Class	Winterhaunt of Iborighu	Frostburn	72
Prestige Class	Divine Disciple	Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting	43
Feat	Chosen of Iborighu	Frostburn	47
Feat	Combat Casting	Players Handbook	92
Feat	Piercing Cold	Frostburn	49
Feat	Weapon Focus	Players Handbook	102
Feat	Craft Wondrous Item	Players Handbook	92
Feat	Touch Attack Specialization	Ghostwalk	39
Feat	Heretic of Faith	Power of Faerûn	46
Feat	Rashemi Elemental Summoning	Unapproachable East	45
Feat	Summon Elemental	Complete Mage	47
Feat	Final Strike	Savage Species	34
Domain	Cold	Spell Compendium	271
Domain	Summoner	Spell Compendium	281

[Beni-Kujaku]

Using Distracting Ember as a Bleakborn is probably the undead equivalent of a Summon Snack spell.

Spoiler: Zombie image inside

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Looks like it's image from Walking Dead.

He is a relic of the past ages, born and died in the City of Moil. Now he is a bleakborn, one of the infamous moilian zombies. Creature of inescapable craving and great hate to the live heat.
But that isn't all. There are some flashes of memories in his frozen brain. Something about his own previous life. Maybe the reason is that he had dragons in his lineage, probably white or silver - some with affinity to the Cold. That could be why he didn't lose his identity completely, but only most of it. But part that remains still is something, it lets him act not only how his craving forces him, but also according to his own understanding. Yes, killing somebody for the heat isn't a big crime in his frozen eyes, but also he understands the benefits of cooperation and allies. Or at least food storage.

NE Bleakborn Psychic Warrior 1/War Mind 5/Warblabe 6

Spoiler: Stats

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Abilities	Initial	Race/Template	12th	16th	20th	Total
STR	18	12	1	1		32
DEX	15	6			1	22
CON	8	-				-
INT	12	4				16
WIS	12	4				16
CHA	10	4				14

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Undead 1	0	0	0	2	28: {+4} Diplomacy: 4; {+4} Hide: 4; {+4} Intimidate: 4; {+4 CC} Knowledge (psionics): 2; {+4} Listen: 4; {+4} Sense Motive: 4; {+4} Spot: 4;	Dragontouched1	Cold to the touch, create spawn, heat draining aura, contingent healing 10, darkvision 60 ft., diet dependent, fire lover, undead traits, +2 turn resistance
2nd	Undead 2	1	0	0	3	7: {+1} Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Hide: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 5; {+2 CC} Knowledge (history): 1; {+1 CC} Knowledge (psionics): 2.5; Listen: 4; {+1} Sense Motive: 5; Spot: 4;
3rd	Undead 3	1	1	1	3	7: {+1} Diplomacy: 6; {+1} Hide: 6; {+1} Intimidate: 6; Knowledge (history): 1; {+1 CC} Knowledge (psionics): 3; Listen: 4; {+1} Sense Motive: 6; Spot: 4; {+2} Tumble: 2;	Martial Study (Distracting Ember)3
4th	Undead 4	2	1	1	4	7: {+1} Diplomacy: 7; {+1} Hide: 7; {+1} Intimidate: 7; {+2 CC} Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 3; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 6; Spot: 4; {+2} Tumble: 4;
5th	Undead 5	2	1	1	4	7: {+1} Diplomacy: 8; {+1} Hide: 8; {+1} Intimidate: 8; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 3; Listen: 4; {+2} Sense Motive: 8; Spot: 4; {+2} Tumble: 6;
6th	Undead 6	3	2	2	5	7: {+1} Diplomacy: 9; {+1} Hide: 9; {+1} Intimidate: 9; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 3; Listen: 4; {+1} Sense Motive: 9; {+1} Spot: 5; {+2} Tumble: 8;	Draconic Aura (Resistance (Cold))6
7th	Undead 7	3	2	2	5	7: {+1} Diplomacy: 10; {+1} Hide: 10; {+1} Intimidate: 10; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 3; Listen: 4; {+1} Sense Motive: 10; {+1} Spot: 6; {+2} Tumble: 10;
8th	Undead 8	4	2	2	6	7: {+1} Diplomacy: 11; {+1} Hide: 11; Intimidate: 10; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 3; Listen: 4; {+1} Sense Motive: 11; {+1} Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 11; {+2} Never Outnumbered;
9th	Psychic Warrior 1	4	4	2	6	5: Diplomacy: 11; Hide: 11; Intimidate: 10; Knowledge (history): 2; {+5} Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; Tumble: 11; Never Outnumbered;	Power Attack9, Psionic FistB	Bonus feat
10th	War Mind 1	5	6	4	6	5: {+1} Concentration: 1; Diplomacy: 11; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 11; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 12; {+2} Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;		Chain of personal superiority +2
11th	War Mind 2	6	7	5	6	5: {+3} Concentration: 4; Diplomacy: 11; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 12; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 13; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;		Chain of defensive posture +2
12th	War Mind 3	7	7	5	7	5: {+3} Concentration: 7; Diplomacy: 11; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 13; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 14; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;	Psionic Meditation12	Enduring body (DR 1/—)
13th	War Mind 4	8	8	6	7	5: {+3} Concentration: 10; Diplomacy: 11; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 14; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 15; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;
14th	War Mind 5	9	8	6	7	5: {+1} Concentration: 11; Diplomacy: 11; Hide: 11; {+2} Intimidate: 16; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+2} Tumble: 17; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;		Sweeping strike
15th	Warblabe 1	10	10	6	7	7: {+2} Concentration: 13; {+1} Diplomacy: 12; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 17; {+2} Jump: 2; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 18; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;	Unavoidable Strike15	Battle clarity (Reflex saves), weapon aptitude
16th	Warblabe 2	11	11	6	7	7: {+2} Concentration: 15; {+1} Diplomacy: 13; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 18; {+2} Jump: 4; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 19; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;		Uncanny dodge
17th	Warblabe 3	12	11	7	8	7: {+2} Concentration: 17; {+1} Diplomacy: 14; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 19; {+2} Jump: 6; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 20; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;		Battle ardor (critical confirmation)
18th	Warblabe 4	13	12	7	8	7: {+1} Balance: 1; Concentration: 17; {+2} Diplomacy: 16; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 20; {+2} Jump: 8; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 21; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;	Greater Psionic Fist18
19th	Warblabe 5	14	12	7	8	7: {+2} Balance: 3; Concentration: 17; {+2} Diplomacy: 18; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 21; {+1} Jump: 9; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 22; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;	Improved InitiativeB	Bonus feat
20th	Warblabe 6	15	13	8	9	7: {+2} Balance: 5; Concentration: 17; {+2} Diplomacy: 20; Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 22; {+1} Jump: 10; Knowledge (history): 2; Knowledge (psionics): 8; Listen: 4; Sense Motive: 11; Spot: 7; {+1} Tumble: 23; Back on Your Feet, Never Outnumbered;		Improved uncanny dodge

Spoiler: Subsystems

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Spoiler: Psionic

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Level	Class	New Powers	PP
9th	Psychic Warrior 1	Chameleon (1st)	0+1
10th	War Mind 1	Force Screen (1st)	2+1+1
11th	War Mind 2	Expansion (1st)	5+1+3
12th	War Mind 3	-	9+1+4
13th	War Mind 4	Animal Affinity (2nd)	14+1+6
14th	War Mind 5	-	20+1+7

Spoiler: Martial Arts

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Level	Class	Initiator Level (max Maneuver lvl)	New Maneuvers Known	Maneuvers Readied	New Stances Known
3rd	Undead 3	1 (1st)	Distracting Ember (Desert 1)	1	-
15th	Warblabe 1	8 (4th)	Steel Wind (Iron 1), Mithral Tornado (Iron 4), Wall of Blades (Iron 2)	1+3	Stance of Clarity (Diam 1)
16th	Warblabe 2	9 (5th)	Emerald Razor (Diam 2)	1+3	-
17th	Warblabe 3	10 (5th)	Disrupting Blow (Diam 5)	1+3	-
18th	Warblabe 4	11 (6th)	Steel Wind (Iron 1), Dazing Strike (Iron 5)	1+4	Dancing Blade Form (Iron 5)
19th	Warblabe 5	12 (6th)	Crushing Vise (Stone 6)	1+4	-
20th	Warblabe 6	13 (7th)	Wall of Blades (Iron 2), Avalanche of Blades (Diam 7)	1+4	-

Spoiler: Level by Level

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Spoiler: ECL 8

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Here we start. Lachlan has no class levels, but already has some customization. I'm talking about his feats. He has three of them now: Dragontouched, Draconic Aura and Martial Study.
Distracting Ember maneuver conjures a Small fire elemental, or, as I call it, snack. Really, it's alive so it's valid target for Heat-Draining Aura, plus it is made of fire and has Burn ability. If Lachlan strike it he not only drain some hp via Cold to the Touch, but also take 1d4 fire damage and catch on fire which is good for Fire Lover ability.
Cold Resistance Aura firstly gives Lachlan some protection against his well known weakness and secondly it gives Lachlan's allies protection against his Heat-Draining Aura.

Spoiler: ECL 14

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One level of PsyWar and five levels of War Mind. It should be clear my goal was a Sweeping strike. For a character with a single one slam it looks like a very significant offensive improvement. It works even better with Psionic Fist and Psionic Meditation.
Of course other War Mind's abilities aren't useless as well as psionic powers. Variety isn't wide, but all are useful for Lachlan Force Screen, Expansion and Animal Affinity are good for fights, Chameleon is good for scouting, which is from time to time one of Lachlan's roles, since he putted 11 points in Hide. Animal Affinity also could improve Lachlan's Charisma, it's good for his Heat-Draining Aura DC and for him as a face.

Spoiler: ECL 20

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Six final levels are Warblade. Lack of attacks is an issue that Warblade is intended to solve.
Mithral Tornado just gives extra attacks (which synergy well with Sweeping strike - some enemies could be hit up to three times).
Avalanche of Blades can't make something worse. Lachlan already has one attack and any possibility for increasing is amazing! Plus this maneuver has synergy with Sweeping strike, too. Sweeping strike is actually a single melee attack, but has two chances to hit. More chances to hit, more chances to further series.
Disrupting Blow, Dazing Strike and Crushing Vise serve a different purpose - to keep enemies close in the range of Heat-Draining Aura.
Emerald Razor is one of the two (another is Unavoidable Strike) options to strike as a touch attack, which is great with Power Attack.
Usefulness of Dancing Blade Form is obvious. Stance of Clarity taken mostly as prerequisite for Avalanche of Blades, but could be useful sometimes.
Also I get feats: already mentioned Unavoidable Strike, Greater Psionic Fist for the cases when Lachlan doesn't need touch attacks, and free Improved Initiative. I was surprised that the list of Warblade's bonus feats doesn't include Instant Clarity. Three times in a day isn't enough, but if it is free three times... Well, no is no.

Spoiler: Sources

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Type	Name	Book	Page
Race	Bleakborn	Libris Mortis - The Book of Undead	86
Class	Psychic Warrior	Expanded Psionics Handbook	24
Class	Warblabe	Tome of Battle - Book of Nine Swords	20
Prestige Class	War Mind	Expanded Psionics Handbook	155
Feat	Dragontouched	Dragon Magic	18
Feat	Martial Study	Tome of Battle - Book of Nine Swords	31
Feat	Draconic Aura	Dragon Magic	16
Feat	Power Attack	Players Handbook	98
Feat	Psionic Fist	Expanded Psionics Handbook	50
Feat	Psionic Meditation	Expanded Psionics Handbook	50
Feat	Unavoidable Strike	Expanded Psionics Handbook	52
Feat	Greater Psionic Fist	Expanded Psionics Handbook	47
Feat	Improved Initiative	Players Handbook	96
Powers	All	Expanded Psionics Handbook	76, 82, 105, 108
Maneuvers & Stances	All	Tome of Battle - Book of Nine Swords	52-94
Skill Trick	Back on Your Feet	Complete Scoundrel	85
Skill Trick	Never Outnumbered	Complete Scoundrel	87
Draconic Aura	Resistance	Dragon Magic	86

[Beni-Kujaku]

This is the reason why you treat your summons humanely! Some of these days, one of them might take over the world, and you do not want to be on their bad side...

Ysbrand, Horned Lord of the Frozen Procession



NE Ice Mephit 3 / Acolyte of the Skin 2 / Horned Harbinger 8 / Soul Eater 1 / Horned Harbinger +2 / Dragon Devotee 1 / Devoted Defender 1 / Warchief 2

Robed in a demon's hide and crowned with fiendish horn!
Followed by the frozen dead and served by ghosts forlorn!
Servant of a dragon-lord, which he chose to betray!
He and his pack consume the souls of all those who they slay!

Spoiler: Backstory

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The mephit appeared with a little popping sound and a waft of frozen air. Looking around, he saw rocky cavern walls giving way to dark passages, dried lichen clinging to scattered boulders, and a giant white dragon, staring down on him smugly. Nobody else, strangely enough. He'd been summoned a few times, but always to fight something.

"Alright, nice to meet you, here you go, one mephit as ordered. Just tell me what you want from me, I'll do it, and we can all go our separate ways in a minute or two, sounds good?"

The dragon blinked. Perhaps Ysbrand was imagining it, but its lizard-like grin seemed to get slightly wider.

"Look pal, if you're not commanding me to do anything I am not gonna do anything. Chop chop, the clock's ticking."

The dragon quite literally roared with laughter. The mephit was starting to get a little nervous: what wasn't adding up? Think, think, what was off? Air a little crisper than usual? Shadows a bit sharper? No con-

With a wave of its enormous claw, the dragon dismissed the spell that had called Ysbrand here.

The mephit remained where he was. A second later, he realized that he wasn't supposed to. Another second later, he decided the appropriate response to this chain of events was complete and utter panic.

The dragon, for its part, continued to laugh.

-------------------

His situation, so he would later learn, was one shared by many. Some dragon had acquired calling variants of established summoning spells, and was merrily using them to call large numbers of outsiders to its own realm. They could leave, sure, but with no place to go, and no desire to earn an ancient dragon's ire, most remained where they were rather than risk true death. Be they demons, yugoloths, slaadi, elementals: all were pressed into unceremonious service, digging tunnels, guarding entrances, and leading kobolds into raids.

--------------------

So Ysbrand would have remained, were it not for a fortunate coincidence. A recent count had revealed that the dragon's store of gems was short a single ruby, and servants had been mobilized to comb through the mazelike tunnel network that the dragon called home. Ysbrand had been told to search a narrow, vertical shaft that few others could fly down, connected to some-or-another abandoned treasure room.

After an uncomfortable thirty minutes, following cracks in the permafrost and partially collapsed ventillation shafts, the mephit found its path blocked by a single, large obstruction: some kind of black hemisphere, encased in ice? Parts of the object had become uncovered, revealing some kind of barbs lining its surface.

Ysbrand didn't care much. It wasn't a ruby, so he squeezed past, continued his search, and thought little of it. The passage went nowhere, the ruby was never found, and the search was eventually ended.

But ever since, Ysbrand found himself having all sorts of new ideas. He observed the dragon's summoning spells, taking mental notes on their structure and results. He studied the magic items in the dragon's hoard. He spoke to called fiends, trying to learn more of their homes and habits.

And eventually, the experiments lead him somewhere. In an isolated cavern, using stolen reagents and improvised schematics, something was called from the slumbering place of dead gods. Ysbrand's very own skin, offered as a sacrifice, was consumed and replaced, a process he only barely survived. His skull warped, growing six large horns, and his very touch grew deadly. Even his eyes were changed, showing him the very souls of those he watched.

Most of all, he learned how to animate the dead. That, in retrospect, kind of overshadowed the other things.

The dragon was suspicious of the new powers, but quickly saw their use. Kobold corpses were a plentiful resource for any dragon, and even weak zombies could perform considerable work. Slowly, Ysbrand's undead army grew: never to any size that truly worried the dragon, of course, but enough to let the mephit rise in rank.

For years (decades? centuries?) Ysbrand served the dragon faithfully, amassing more and more undead, raiding the frozen surface, even parleying with would-be vassals. The dragon grew to respect him, even trust him, and Ysbrand's quiet resentment almost began to waver.

But then, the whispers returned, carrying a new and magnificent suggestion with them.

The dragon was prepared for zombies, ghouls, the odd mummy or wight. But never had it realized Ysbrand could call more advanced undead as well. In a meticulously planned ambush, dozens of shadows emerged from the cavern walls, draining the dragon of all strength in a single instance. Its subsequent death was a drawn-out affair, perpetuated by the very kobolds it commanded in life.

And now? Now Ysbrand remains, his revenge complete. The bound outsiders, he set free, the treasures he took for himself, the kobolds he ruled and killed and raised. They say he still lurks there, deep underground, emerging only to claim new riches and corpses.

Spoiler: Ability Scores

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	Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma
Base	10	8	16	14	9	17
Racial adjustments	10	14	16	10	9	21
Classes	-	+2	-	-	-	+4
Level-up	-	-	-	-	-	+5
Final	10	16	16	10	9	30

Spoiler: Build Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Ice Mephit 1	+1	+2	+2	+2	Bluff 4, Diplomacy 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 4, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Move Silently 4, Speak Language (Draconic) (CC), Spot 4, Use Magic Device 4	Apprentice (Spellcaster) (the Planes)	Breath Weapon, Magic Missile 1/day, Chill Metal 1/day, Summon Mephit, DR 5/magic, Fast Healing 2, Cold subtype
2nd	Ice Mephit 2	+2	+3	+3	+3	Bluff 5, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 5, Hide 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Move Silently 5, Spot 5, Use Magic Device 5	-	-
3rd	Ice Mephit 3	+3	+3	+3	+3	Bluff 6, Diplomacy 6, Escape Artist 6, Hide 6, Knowledge (The Planes) 6, Move Silently 6, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	Dragontouched	-
4th	Acolyte of the Skin 1	+3	+5	+3	+5	Knowledge (The Planes) 7, Use Magic Device 7	-	Wear Fiend (+2 DEX), Poison 1/day
5th	Acolyte of the Skin 2	+4	+6	+3	+6	Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Use Magic Device 8	-	Fire Resistance 10
6th	Horned Harbinger 1	+4	+8	+3	+8	Knowledge (Arcana) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 1	Entangling Exhalation	Bone Horns, Rebuke Undead, Death Domain
7th	Horned Harbinger 2	+5	+9	+3	+9	Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Religion) 2	-	Deathwatch, Animate Dead
8th	Horned Harbinger 3	+6	+9	+4	+9	Knowledge (Arcana) 3, Knowledge (Religion) 3	Extra TurningB	-
9th	Horned Harbinger 4	+7	+10	+4	+10	Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4	Animal Devotion, Extra TurningB	-
10th	Horned Harbinger 5	+7	+10	+4	+10	Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Religion) 5	-	Captain of Undeath
11th	Horned Harbinger 6	+8	+11	+5	+11	Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6	-	Create Undead
12th	Horned Harbinger 7	+9	+11	+5	+11	Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Knowledge (Religion) 7	Alertness, Weapon Focus (Bone Horns)B	Ranged Animation
13th	Horned Harbinger 8	+10	+12	+5	+12	Knowledge (Arcana) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 8	-	Create Greater Undead
14th	Soul Eater 1	+11	+14	+7	+14	Search 4	-	Energy Drain 1
15th	Horned Harbinger 9	+11	+14	+8	+14	Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (Religion) 9	Multiattack, Extra TurningB	-
16th	Horned Harbinger 10	+12	+15	+8	+15	Knowledge (Arcana) 10, Knowledge (Religion) 10	-	General of Undeath
17th	Dragon Devotee 1	+12	+17	+8	+15	Sense Motive 4	-	+2 Charisma, +1 Natural Armor
18th	Devoted Defender 1	+13	+19	+10	+15	Sense Motive 6	Strength Devotion	Harm's Way
19th	Warchief 1	+13	+21	+10	+17	Bluff 7, Diplomacy 7	-	Tribal Frenzy (+2 STR)
20th	Warchief 2	+14	+22	+10	+18	Bluff 8, Diplomacy 8	-	+2 Charisma

Spoiler: Spotlights

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ECL 5
A basic mephit is kind of a weird foundation for a character. At low levels, we'll be helping out with a smattering of skills, serving as a solid scout, face, or wand monkey, and offering the odd bit of lore. In combat, our main attacking option is a cold breath weapon which debuffs AC and attack rolls, though if necessary we can fly into a flanking position and make some claw attacks (two attacks that deal 1d4+1d4 cold isn't awful). Chill Metal is mostly useful for creating ice to activate our Fast Healing with, though perhaps we can just repeatedly breathe frost at a waterskin.

We enter Acolyte of the Skin using our Chill Metal SLA (caster level 6!) to qualify. Unlike most warlock-friendly Complete Arcane PrCs, AotS doesn't specify arcane caster level, meaning we're good to go. The entry ritual is a bit scary, dealing a potential 40 damage to our 27 HP, but as the damage is dealt over 10 rounds, fast healing takes care of it without a problem. This gives us some more dexterity, 1/day Poison, and fire resistance.

ECL 10
Here's where things pick up! Horned Harbinger gives us a component-free Animate Dead that scales with level and charisma, and adds periodic bonuses to the amount of undead you can control. At level 10, we are controlling 55 HD through the spell, and a further 10 through Rebuke Undead: significantly more than an at-level cleric! The class also gives us at-will Deathwatch, the death domain's granted power, and a natural horn attack (which will end up being much more important than you might be thinking).

(Aside: Animate Dead was updated in 3.5 to allow for the control of 4 HD/CL. If we assume that this update applies to the harbinger and its features as well, we can control 110 HD instead)

(Another aside: if corpses are in short supply, just buy some lifestock and reanimate them: cows are 10 GP, 5 RHD and work just fine as boneshields until you come by something better. The cool thing about necromancy is that corpses are the one piece of guaranteed loot in D&D)

(Aside 3: access to cold damage has a minor synergy with necromancy: it lets you keep corpses fresh until you need them! 1/day Chill Metal can create enough ice to keep a sizeable underground room cooled, letting you stash superfluous bodies without creating disease risks)

Entangling Exhalation lets our breath weapon as a big debuff, which now doesn't just apply AC and attack roll penalties but Entangles as well. That said: Entangling Exhalation is overhyped. If several monsters are clustered together, that's typically because they are engaged in melee. Entangle them, and you entangle your allies as well. To optimally use the feat, you need roadblocks immune to your breath weapon... like our cold-immune skeletons.

Animal Devotion gives us a big boost in power, an extra natural weapon, or a very situational land speed bonus. It's very hungry for turning attempts, but fortunately Horned Harbinger gives us several free copies of Extra Turning.

ECL 15
With Create (Greater) Undead, we can now create Ghouls, Ghasts, Mummies, and Shadows. The latter especially is interesting: 80+18 RHD of strength damage-dealing incorporeals is a lot (and in a single level, it goes up to 170 + 50!). Soul Eater gives us energy drain, which additionally lets us create wights (uncontrolled, but we can rebuke them!). We don't need the spawn of these undead to be under our control as well, but if the DM rules it so, that's a very nice bonus.

Our combat routine has settled down by this point. After moving into position, we activate Animal Devotion for the strength buff and entangle some foes. Next turn, we activate Animal Devotion for the bite and full attack, hitting a buffed claw/claw/horns/bite routine that applies further debuffs on every hit. Note that we have 22 rebuking attempts, meaning we can use two animal devotions per combat, four combats in a row. And all the while, an arbitrary number of skeletons is playing goalie, while some shadows sneak through the walls to ambush enemy casters.

ECL 20
The CL for Animate Dead is boosted by the final level of Horned Harbinger and several charisma-boosting PrCs, for a final 20 (10 level, 10 charisma). This lets us create Wraiths, Spectres, Mohrgs, and even Devourers: the last of which can be used to convert fallen foes into various useful SLAs (most notably True Seeing and Lesser Planar Ally). For a character utterly lacking in caster levels, we can do some impressive minionmancy! We have 250 (possibly 450?) HD of undead under our control at this point, not counting any spawn they might create. With -6 AC applied to our foes, even basic shadows have a solid chance to hit.

Our final levels require a bit of explanation. Dragon Devotee and Warchief are there mostly there for the Charisma boost (though the former gives us +1 natural armor and useful class skills also!), but Devoted Defender might seem puzzling.

While it's not insanely synergistic, Devoted Defender grants us lots of little benefits that make it worth the entry skill investment. It offers another point of BAB and +2 Reflex, it lets us finally wear armor (though our AC is already pretty high between boosted natural armor, dexterity, and size), and it grants us Harm's Way, letting us take hits for a squishier target. If nothing else, we can use it to protect our more valuable undead (devourers, spectres) and then Fast Heal the damage after combat.

The last notable addition is Strength Devotion, which lets us overcome hardness and certain DR (mostly found on constructs, which we otherwise struggle with) and adds a slam attack to our routine. With 25 turning attempts a day, we can spend basically each of our in-combat turns activating a Devotion feat.

Finally, note how that with 30 Charisma, our ranks in UMD are now enough to reliably use wands on a roll of 2 or higher.

Spoiler: Discussion

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There's two questions in this competition: does your monster help the class levels, and do the class levels help your monster?

On the first count, being a mephit qualifies us for Soul Eater, while also providing the SLA we need to enter Acolyte of the Skin (and giving us the fast healing to survive that early entry). More importantly, it gives us the +4 charisma bonus we need to hit 30 charisma at level 20 and offers us a very useful at-will breath weapon that also debuffs AC. In theory, any mephit (but not much other than a mephit) could do the above, but only ice mephit offers a cold breath weapon, which has unique synergy with the skeletal immunity to cold, and only ice mephit combines a perfect flight speed with an easily-triggered Fast Healing. I am not exaggerating when I say that ice mephit is the only monster that this build could work with: remove the race and try to salvage the rest, and you'll be left with little more than the Horned Harbinger levels (without the ability to create devourers).

On the second count, our class levels improve the mephit's middling melee capacities. Soul Eater improves our lackluster melee damage, and the Extra Turning we get from Horned Harbinger lets us spam several useful devotion feats. Acolyte of the Skin grants us a useful resistance to fire, and finally we gain useful to several great social skills that benefit from our high charisma. We also go a route (minionmancy) that combos well with our breath weapon in several ways (protecting minions by lowering attack rolls, lowering the AC of enemies, entangling foes but not our skeletons).

--------------

Also, a note about power. Ysbrand does something (animate dead minionmancy + BFC) that is traditionally the purview of casters, but he obviously does not stand up in direct comparison to a 20th-level cleric or wizard specializing in necromancy.

In my defense, I will note that those are tier 1 classes: an orb of force mailman will outperform a rogue, but we don't punish every rogue build with a low power score. Considering the components of Ysbrand (one terrible PrC, a few barely-used ones, and a single level of soul eater), I think the result is better than could be expected, and certainly manages to serve as a solid tank that does some debuffing and utility on the side. Furthermore, when comparing only the necromantic capabilities, Ysbrand can create most of the same undead as a full caster while being able to control more of them, and additionally has better ability to support those hordes.

Spoiler: Variants

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A variant I was initially considering is Ice Mephit 3 / Binder 2 / Horned Harbinger 8 / Soul Eater 1 / Horned Harbinger +2 / Knight of the Sacred Seal 4 (with the alignment changed to Lawful Evil to get more out of Aligned Strike).

This variant uses the Aym vestige to get early medium armor proficiency and fire resistance (at the cost of the dexterity bonus and Poison SLA that Acolyte grants, making it a bit more passive early-game), and later uses soul binding to qualify for Knight of the Sacred Seal, which is absolutely insane on high-charisma characters that can assume they'll be surrounded by allies. The build needs higher intelligence to meet the Horned Harbinger requirement in time (12 int allows for 2 cross-class ranks as a mephit, 6 skill points as a binder), but can afford to drop Apprentice early on. In return, it becomes required to take Practiced Magic to still hit CL 20 with the necromancy SLAs. Amon is an interesting option to bind because he offers another natural weapon (ram =/= bone horns!), and if we're already serving a dead god we might as well add another.

Spoiler: Sources

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Acolyte of the Skin - CA
Horned Harbinger - F&P
Soul Eater - BoVD
Dragon Devotee - RotD
Devoted Defender - S&F
Warchief - MH

Apprentice - DMG2
Dragontouched - DrM
Entangling Exhalation - RotD
Animal Devotion, Strength Devotion - CC

(the backstory spell is Halaster's Fetch IV)

[Beni-Kujaku]

"I can assure you I saw a head in the corner of my eye! And on the other corner... And another one... And... Everywhere..."

Morty, the Apex Hydra
"7 heads on a hydra, 7 heads on a hydra, take one down and pass it around, 8 heads on a hydra”

CE 7-Headed Hydra Wendigo Barbarian2/Crusader1Fighter1/Thayan Gladiator5/Warblade1

Spoiler: Overview

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Spoiler: Feat Summary

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Alignment : Chaotic Evil
Race : 7-Headed Hydra
ECL 3 : Toughness, Combat Reflexes (Hydra Bonus)
ECL 5 : Mage Slayer
ECL 8 : Weapon Focus (Bite)
ECL 13 : Flyby Attack
ECL 14 : Power Attack (Fighter Bonus)
ECL 15 : Improved Natural Attack (Bite) (Thayan Gladiator Bonus)
ECL 16 : Robilar’s Gambit, Improved Critical (Thayan Gladiator Bonus)
ECL 17 : Improved Trip (Barbarian Bonus)
ECL 19 : Blazing Berserker

Spoiler: Point Buy

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Abilities	Initial	7 headed Hydra	HD 4	Wendigo	HD 8	HD 12	HD 16
Str	18	26		30	31	32	33
Dex	14	16		24
Con	15	25	26	30
Int	8	3
Wis	9	9		11
Cha	8	6		10

Spoiler: The Story

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Have a sit, I’ll tell you the story of Morty, the apex hydra.

As anyone rolling a 15 Know (Arcana) knows, a Hydra is a gray-brown to dark brown, with a light yellow or tan underbelly, reptile-like monsters with multiple heads and that is usually true. Then comes Morty, our albino hydra. At birth he was rejected by his parents for his skin color and so he learned to hate his own kind because it was easier to deal with the pain of rejection. His low intelligence didn’t allow him to analyze this resentment in depth which means he went on to live his life like this until a ravenous spirit took a liking to him, stalking him for days, Morty went underwater to escape it but everytime he resurfaced to catch his breath, the haunting presence would be there, whispering this maddening thoughts to him, that he had to take revenge on his kind for having discarded him, that he was a better version and he should let them know. The multiple bite wounds would close pretty quickly but Morty caught some kind of fever that would make him lose consciousness sometimes and he would wake up with the taste of blood in his mouthes. This lasted for a while until, one day, Morty woke up and started to run faster than he ever did in his life. He ran until his feet burned away into bloody charred stumps and he became a Wendigo.
Having reached the apex of what his race could offer, he started stalking and killing hydras to quench his thirst for vengeance and he even began attacking cryo-hydras that were unable to do much to him. He stayed away from pyro-hydras at first but the mere idea that a variant of his kind could be better than himself sent him into a blazing rage that allowed him to destroy them !

Such is the story of Morty, the apex hydra.
Now if you’re not a good boy, Morty will come in the stead of Santas Claus and bite you with all its heads until you’re nothing but a puddle of flesh and blood.
So no more fighting with your brother ok ?
Good night my darling and merry christmas !

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	LA +1
2nd	LA +2
3rd	Hydra 1	1	2	2	0	Spellcraft (+4 CC) 2;	Toughness, Combat Reflexes (Hydra Bonus)	Darkvision 60 ft., Fast Healing 17, LLV, Scent
4th	Hydra 2	2	3	3	0	Spot (+1) 1; Spellcraft 2;		-
5th	Hydra 3	3	3	3	1	Spot (+1) 2; Spellcraft 2;	Mage Slayer	-
6th	Hydra 4	4	4	4	1	Spot (+1) 3; Spellcraft 2;		-
7th	Hydra 5	5	4	4	1	Spot (+1) 4; Spellcraft 2;		-
8th	Hydra 6	6	5	5	2	Spot (+1) 5; Spellcraft 2;	Weapon Focus (Bite)	-
9th	Hydra 7	7	5	5	2	Spot (+1) 6; Spellcraft 2;		-
10th	Wendigo LA +1	7				Spot 6; Spellcraft 2;		Cold Subtype, Corner of the Eye, Regeneration 5, Wind Walk, Disease, Maddening Whispers, Ravenous Bite
11th	Wendigo LA +2	7				Spot 6; Spellcraft 2;		-
12th	Barbarian 1	8	7	5	2	Spot (+1) 7; Spellcraft 2;		Fast Movement, Illiteracy, Rage 1/d
13th	Crusader 1	9	9	5	2	Spot (+1) 8; Spellcraft 2;	Flyby Attack	Steely Resolve 5, Furious Counterstrike
14th	Fighter 1	10	11	5	2	Spot (+1) 9; Spellcraft 2;	Power Attack (Fighter Bonus)	Bonus Feat
15th	Thayan Gladiator 1	11	13	5	2	Spot (+1) 10; Spellcraft 2;	Improved Natural Attack (Bite) (Thayan Bonus)	Improved Natural Attack, Study Opponent
16th	Thayan Gladiator 2	12	14	5	2	Spot (+1) 11; Spellcraft 2;	Robilar's Gambit, Improved Critical (Thayan Bonus)	Improved Critical, NA+1
17th	Warblade 1	13	16	5	2	Spot (+1) 12; Spellcraft 2;	Improved Trip (Barbarian Bonus)	Battle Clarity, Weapon Aptitude
18th	Barbarian 2	14	17	5	2	Spot (+1) 13; Spellcraft 2;		Wolf Totem Barbarian, Uncanny Dodge
19th	Thayan Gladiator 3	15	17	6	3	Spot (+1) 14; Spellcraft 2;	Blazing Berserker	Stunning Critical, Silver Strike
20th	Thayan Gladiator 4	16	18	6	3	Spot (+1) 15; Spellcraft 2;		Natural Weapon Focus

Level	Class	Initiator Level	Maneuvers	Stances
13th	Crusader	5 (4.5 for Warblade)	Vanguard's Strike Defensive Rebuke Leading the Attack White Raven Tactics Moment of Perfect Mind	Thicket of Blades
14th	-	5	-	-
15th	-	5.5	-	-
16th	-	6	-	-
17th	Warblade 1	7	Wall of Blades Iron Heart Surge Claw at the Moon	Blood in the Water
18th	-	7.5	-	-
19th	-	8	-	-
20th	-	8.5	-	-

Spoiler: Level Breakdown

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Spoiler: Level 9 - 11

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We start at ECL 9 as a 7-headed Hydra. Those 7 heads bring us a total of Fast Healing 17 which is nothing to scoff at and most of all, 7 attacks every time we move or charge (this is even better than pounce !) and all of this with a 10ft range. Our 20ft move speed is a bit low at first but as a swim speed it’s way better. Combat Reflexes doesn’t look like much until you read that Hydras have a special clause for it ; they can make any AoO they have with ALL their heads. So with our 18 Dex that’s up to 4x 7 attacks within a 20 ft. diameter around us and if spellcasters of any sort are in range, Mage Slayer will make them regret they ever tried casting in a threatened area. On the defensive side, we have AC 19 (-2 size, +3 Dex, +8 Nat). Scent, Low Light and Darkvision as well as ranks in spot help us with detection.
And then we get bitten by a Wendigo.
The 120 ft. fly speed alone makes the 7-headed Hydra a real nightmare to deal with (that's a 500% increase of our speed), the Cold subtype, regeneration 5 is added to our Fast Healing 17 for a total of +22 HP per round. Also, we’re only vulnerable to fire now (the rest being nonlethal) and regeneration can regrow any heads we might end up losing (see 14-headed hydra in Note&Discussions)
Next, some hefty ability bonuses (+8 dexterity, +4 strength/constitution/charisma, +2 wisdom) that makes our physical stats skyrocket.
Type changes to Fey, our d10s become d6s but that’s not much of a problem since we have Toughness ! Jokes aside, see Notes&Discussion to see why it’s not that bad.
Christmas isn’t over yet. As per the template, a “Wendigo's bite is its sole attack.” Lucky for us, a bite attack is all we have !
They improve from 1d10 to 2d6 per bite (times 7) and upgrade from 1 to 1.5 Str on damage which isn’t negligible since we have a +10 modifier. Our bites have a crit threat of 18-20 x3 now and furthermore cause bleeding. Cumulative bleeding. 3 hp/round each time you land a successful bite, and a rider disease for kicks (DC20).
Lastly, some minor abilities that make us perfect at harassing our targets. A minor debuff 1/d/target of 1d3 Wis and a -2 penalty to wisdom check to targets you stalk. Wind Walk at will as a move action allows us to move around at 600ft per move action. Fight or Flight is our choice. Oh and a +1 deflection bonus, awesome !

Spoiler: Level 12 – 14

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Our first class levels ! Barbarian comes in to keep our full BAB, adds Rage which pumps our Str and Con even more and Fast Movement +10ft just makes our perfect flight even more ridiculous.
Crusader comes online with good maneuvers at IL5 opening up 3rd level maneuvers. Vanguard Strike and Leading the Attack are there for prereqs (strike maneuvers are pretty useless to us) but Moment of Perfect Mind is a life saver since we have a +10 in Con to substitute for our abyssal Will save, Defensive Rebuke lets us make more AoOs meaning 7 bites every time our teammates are attacked and White Raven Tactics, well, doesn’t need to be introduced anymore. The real beauty of this level is the Thicket of Blades stance : enemies in our reach can’t make 5 foot steps without provoking and we all know what that means…
Steely Resolve is another pool of delayed damage that pairs well with our DR5/Iron and 22 hp regeneration/fast healing ; we’re pretty tough to deal with (especially since damage is non-lethal). A fighter dip to get Power Attack (all that BAB is finally going to be useful now).
Flyby Attack makes our attack routine deadly. We can move 60ft, attack 7 times (10ft reach), and move 70ft to stay out of medium humanoid charges.

Spoiler: Level 15 – 20

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We finally enter Thayan Gladiator (did you think I took Toughness and Weapon Focus (Bite) for fun ?) and it’s worth the wait. The first 2 levels we get Improved Natural Attack (Bite) making it 3d6 per bite now, Improved Critical making it a 30% crit chance (the multiplier is x3 as you recall).
Study Opponent is totally in line with our tactics, since we can Wind Walk at will, stalking them at up to 600ft per move, taking our sweet time while using our Maddening Whisper. One round is enough (unless we find ourselves some +X wisdom item).
+1 Nat Armor, complementing ours nicely.
A dip into Warblade at IL7 (Different from Crusader’s IL) opens up Blood in the Water stance that is finishing our crit fishing build nicely (we need a Tiger Maneuver as a prereq) and Wall of Blade into Iron Heart Surge are welcomed additions to our defensive side : (touch) AC wise and getting rid of “effects” we failed to save against.
Then we go back to Barbarian just to nick Improved Trip even though we don’t meet the prereq combining nicely with Reach, Thicket of Blades & Mage Slayer. We can trip enemies (32 Str, +8 from Size +4 from the feat another +2 when raging) in our reach and chomp them while they’re down and remember, no casting to get out of this hellhole.
Finishing strong with another SoL that happens on every crit (Fort DC25 or stunned for a round) and since this build’s capstone is an extra attack, totalling 8 each and every time, we have statistically a little over 2 crits per assault.
Featwise, Robilar’s Gambit is plain broken ; sacrificing your AC so that every time someone attacks you… you hit them 8 times in return ! With a 120ft, that’s a LOT of provoking you can do (you have up to 7 AoO thanks to Combat Reflexes) and if they fail their saves, you stun them and it cancels their attacks. Pretty disgusting right ?
Oh and remember how only fire is able to deal lethal damage to us ? Well Blazing Berserker takes care of that 1/d when you rage, you’re immune to lethal damage meaning, RAW, people can’t cauterize your cut down heads anymore, you’re the APEX HYDRA.

Spoiler: Notes & Discussions

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HPs & HDs
Magical Beast gives out d10s which switch to Fey HDs when Wendigo fever takes you. Meaning you lose 6 times the difference between d10 average and d6 average (2hp) plus the initial 10 becoming a 6 (-4) for a total of 16HP lost.
Wendigo otoh, adds 4 to you Con which is 7x 2hps = 14. Between that and the occasional DR5/Iron, you might even come out on top.
Afterwards, the class HDs take over and not only are they safe from the fey HDs conversion, we have 7 d12s and 2 d10s making up nicely for the unavoidable d6s.

Hide & Move Silently
Your size out balances the wendigo bonuses, which is sad.
OTOH since you’re an albino Hydra, Wind Walk says

If fully clothed in white, they are 80% likely to be mistaken for clouds, fog, vapors, or the like.

which can be a viable ambushing strategy, maybe.

Items
Wind Walk specifically allows continuous items to continue working while in gaseous form
Stats Improving items :
- Str makes your attacks even more insane
- Dex is more Init, AC and more importantly AoOs
- Con makes you tankier, add to your “Will save” and increase the Wendigo Disease DC
[lower priority]
- Wis is good for Study Opponent (meaning insight bonuses on atk and dmg on the first round of the fight)
- Cha is good for Deflection AC and Maddening Whisper’s DC

Items that boost concentration boost or grant immunity to mind-affecting are your friends
Third Eye Concentrate for a sweet +10 and Third Eye Conceal for a continuous Mind Blank effect so there’s a lot you don’t have to save for.
You have 7 pairs of eyes you can put those items on but if your DM says it doesn’t work that way, you can always save up for a Cowl of Warding (MoF) to get FoM + Mind Blank why not ?

14-headed Hydra
Since you have regeneration and a bite attack is considered, bludgeoning, piercing and slashing, you can cut off your own heads before engaging in a particularly bitter fight. 14 heads might be over doing it especially since it’s not clear how long it takes for regeneration to regrow one of them if DM rules it’s like a Trolls then make sure you wait 18 minutes in between cutting your first and last head and you’re safe. Otherwise, 13 is just as fearful. We’re talking 13x 3d6+15 damage +3 from bleeding, crit on 15-20 x3, disease and possible stun rider while moving at 130ft fly speed (perfect). Same goes for anyone provoking you.

Spoiler: Sources

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SRD/LA Assignment Thread - Fighter, Barbarian, Hydra, Feats, Items
Fiend Folio - Wendigo (+ update booklet for the DR)
Tome of Battle - Crusader, Warblade, Maneuvers & Stances
Sandstorm - Blazing Berserker
Complete Arcane - Mage Slayer
Unearthed Arcana - Wolf Totem Barbarian
PHB II - Robilar’s Gambit
Champions of Ruin - Thayan Gladiator

[Beni-Kujaku]

And here you go! Four freezing entries for your reading pleasure!

[Paragon]

Is there anyone judging so far ?

[loky1109]

I bring you the table.

Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Judge 1	Total	Place
Harbinger of Eternal Winter	CE Frostfell Ghost Unseelie Fey Incarnate Construct 1st-Level Astral Construct	Duskblade 3/Fighter 1/Warblade 2/Eidolon 1/Divine Crusader 1/Winterhaunt of Iborighu 9/Divine Disciple 1
Lachlan the Frozen	NE Bleakborn	Psychic Warrior 1/War Mind 5/Warblabe 6
Ysbrand	NE Ice Mephit	Acolyte of the Skin 2/Horned Harbinger 10/Soul Eater 1/Dragon Devotee 1/Devoted Defender 1/Warchief 2
Morty	CE Wendigo 7-Headed Hydra	Barbarian 2/Crusader 1/Fighter 1/Thayan Gladiator 5/Warblade 1

We have two entries with numbers in the race this round. Funny.

I had an idea to make something about these images, but I didn't have enough inspiration.


It's Chyskhaan - Yakut cold spirit half-human half-bull, some analogue of Santa Claus.

[loky1109]

Still no judges here?

[Beni-Kujaku]

Not that I know of‚ sadly. If anybody feels up to the task‚ we would greatly appreciate that. Otherwise‚ I guess I could do it myself. Would you mind that?

[Paragon]

Not that I know of‚ sadly. If anybody feels up to the task‚ we would greatly appreciate that. Otherwise‚ I guess I could do it myself. Would you mind that?

No problem with that here.

[loky1109]

Otherwise‚ I guess I could do it myself. Would you mind that?

It's okay. Always like your judging.

[Inevitability]

No objections about the host judging.

[Remuko]

Not that I know of‚ sadly. If anybody feels up to the task‚ we would greatly appreciate that. Otherwise‚ I guess I could do it myself. Would you mind that?

better than it staying in judging limbo for eternity imo

[Beni-Kujaku]

And here is the result of my judging! Congratulations to all and thank you for these entries. If you want to send disputes, please do before the end of next week.

Spoiler: Harbinger of Eternal Winter, 5.25

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Originality 2/5: Winterhaunt of Iborighu is pretty original, as is Divine Crusader. Unseelie Fey makes me sad. Incarnate Construct would be interesting if you made anything of it, but you don’t. Eidolon would be very unique if it wasn’t pretty explicitly banned by the competition. The rest is very expected and you’re not doing much that is original.

Elegance 0/5: In a word, nothing here is legal. First, the race. Unseelie Fey is an inherited template, it can’t be applied after an acquired template like Incarnate Construct. So this chain of template is illegal. Plus, I did tell you in private message that you should expect the judge to look at your build unfavorably if you considered that Frostfell Ghost was worth +3 only by removing Cold Immunity. Well, I do look at your build unfavorably. Also, Incarnate Construct has a LA-2 (min. 0) clause, which means that even if it was legal, your LA would go 1-0-0-3, not 1-(-1)-(-1)-2. You have one class level too many. Then, the classes. Especially Eidolon. I suggest you read the whole chapter when attempting this kind of cheese. Page 8 of Ghostwalk : « The Monster Manual describes a ghost as a restless spirit[…] The ghosts described in this book are not that kind of ghost.[…] Whenever this book refers to a “ghost,” it is not talking about a Monster Manual ghost. ». So, you don’t qualify for Eidolon. Even if youd did qualify for Eidolon, you forget one tiny line from Ghostwalk (p. 10): « if the ghost gains levels, these levels must be in the eidolon or eidoloncer class—see later in this chapter ». Either you consider yourself a ghost, and you can’t advance in any other class, or you don’t. There’s no cherry-picking.

Power 1.5/5: In a word, doesn’t work. So many things do not work in that build that I don’t know where to start. Divine Disciple was updated in Player’s Guide to Faerun and doesn’t give a new domain before level 4. Rashemi Elemental Summoning explicitly only works with spells. Final Strike doesn’t work if your HP doesn’t reach -10 (and undead cannot die either, they are destroyed). Summon the Entombed cannot fuel Summon Elemental, as it’s not a spell, but a spell-like. And the fact that nothing in your build is legal makes it hard to judge this in good faith. You lose almost everything that Incarnate Astral Construct gives you.

Monstrosity 1.75/5: Why the hell are you an Astral Construct ? Why are you Incarnate ? Why are you Unseelie ? Why are you a ghost ? Your race and your classes have little to no synergy. Compared to a halfling, an Incarnate Astral Construct only has +6 Str and +2 Dex, and some NA. Both Str and NA are lost when you become incorporeal. Having an extremely illegal build isn’t worth +2 Dex. Unseelie Fey doesn’t give you anything more than it would have given anyone else. You try to do things with ghost (Weapon Specialization, Final Strike, Eidolon), and though it doesn’t work, I can give you a few points for it.

Total 5.25/20 :
Sorry to say that, but was making all the most egregiously inelegant choices on purpose ? I didn’t like that entry. Please read the books before choosing your ingredients.

Spoiler: Lachlan, 14

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Originality 2.5/5: War Mind is very far from unoriginal, and the way you combine Sweeping Strike with your maneuvers is also nice. Warblade isn’t the most unexpected thing, neither are your choice of maneuvers, but I didn’t expect to see the Psionic Fist line here. Interesting ingredients, but the basic idea is pretty basic.

Elegance 4.5/5: Everything is where it should, I know why you took each thing you took, and what is your goal from the beginning to the end. Your whole build tends towards attacking with the highest damage bonus, the highest number of times possible, and two enemies each time. You seem to achieve it readily. I like the « infinite healing trick » of summoning the ember, which goes well with the creature’s diet too. The only slight ding is that you don’t quite finish your prestige classes. Really a well put together build.

Power 3.5/5: You’re definitely not weak, and 7th level maneuvers with so much strength are going to kill their fair share of enemies, especially while reducing their speed to 0 or dazing them. But you’re a bit one-dimensional. Flying and fast enemies will run circles around you and you don’t have a way in your build to protect yourself from enemies kiting you. Still, your saves are not bad, you protect yourself from your weakness, you have undead immunities and bleakborn immortality, and your skills are nice out of combat. That’s more than decent. I still think you would better have some weapon, at least a one-handed one before you have Avalanche of Blades, and Psionic Meditation instead of Greater Psionic Fist would probably be good too. Especially with so much strength, being sure to hit three more times per day is generally better than adding 2d6 basically once per encounter.

Monstrosity 3.5/5: The bleakborn’s strength is obviously important to the build, and you improve on its Contingent Healing by dealing lots of slam damage and summoning the ember out of combat. Your whole build focuses on dealing cold damage. Still, I feel like a similar enough character could have been built without being a bleakborn. A worse one, granted, with notably less healing and immunities, but hitting several times hard, and adding maneuvers on top of that, isn’t the most unattainable goal.

Total 14/20 : The build looks simple, but all choices are good. I very much appreciate that.

Spoiler: Ysbrand, 13.75

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Originality 3.5/5: Acolyte of the Skin is a class that hasn’t been used by anybody in the last 20 years or so, and I didn’t even know about Devoted Defender. I like how you do caster things without having a level in a caster class, and the main attraction (Horned harbinger) is definitely interesting. Devotion feats are far from unexpected, and « boost Charisma, then figure out what to do with it » isn’t new either. Entangling Exhalation is overhyped, but that only makes it that much more frequently picked.

Elegance 2.25/5: The build is a bit messy, especially with the several dips in the end. You have a few unused abilities (caster level boost from AotS, Tribal Frenzy), and you have a lot of abilities that are mostly stand-alones and don’t feel like they work to a greater goal (Poison, entangling exhalation, Strength Devotion). The four final level look a bit like an afterthought (« I have four levels left, what PrC do I qualify for ? Sure, those will do. »)There are two parts to your build (undead, and melee) and they really only interact through Animal Devotion, which is a bit disappointing. Still, the flavor of your choice of class is great, your skills are well organized, and the way you qualify for Soul Eater is interesting (though I’m not convinved that you qualify for Warchief, since your undead are not really a tribe, the class mentions « tribe of humanoids » and Tribal Frenzy seems to assume that the tribe must comprise some creatures of the Warchief’s race).

Power 3.75/5: Yeah, the army of undead is cool. Not quite as cool as you seem to think, since Create (Greater) Undead doesn’t give you control, so most of your horde will be just regular zombies and skeletons and you’ll have at most 16 Shadows, or 6 before level 15. Still, that’s a lot of undead, and you can use them for many things, in and out of combat. I appreciate the resources invested in UMD and the great resilience through a fighting day. I’m a bit unconvinced by the efficiency of your melee side. 4 to 5 attacks with 10 Str and 14 BAB isn’t really impressive, especially if you count on inflicting negative levels to the opponent. You only have Animal Devotion to boost your to-hit (and flanking I guess), so you’ll probably find your fair share of enemies that you’ll have a hard time hitting (with Animal Devotion, a +6 Belt and flanking, you have only +23 to hit at level 20, less than a human warrior with 18 Str, and hitting a Pit Fiend only 20% of the time). That, or only hitting once (I don’t think you can make a full attack with touch attacks like the Soul Eater’s). In that condition, Strength Devotion seems superfluous. I would have liked to see another use of your dozens of Turn attempts. Something like Law or Destruction devotion, to either make sure you can hit your opponents, or make sure your whole horde can hit the opponent.

Monstrosity 4.25/5: You summarized very well how the build centers around the race almost as much as it does around Horned Harbinger. Being an Ice Mephit is what starts the build and it improves it well. Not a perfect score because « in retrospect, the undead creation overshadows the rest », and you don’t create undead much better than a regular human (still a bit better, but being able to create a devourer isn’t worth much when you can’t control it, and Entangling Exhalation not working on skeletons is quite a bit niche).

Total 13.75/20 : That was a very enjoyable read. I liked the result, though I feel like it could be a bit more focused.

Spoiler: Morty, 15.5

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Originality 2/5: Using ways to gain several bites, notably Thayan Gladiator, with Wendigo is a well-known technique used even in « standard » competitions. Warblade as well as most of your feats are expected and well-known. Combining two initiator classes is something not seen everyday. Blazing berserker on non-bear totem barbarian are fun.

Elegance 4/5: Everything is legal and clear-cut. Your whole build builds towards one goal, it shows, and it’s beautiful. I appreciate the knowledge that your intelligence is still 3 even when rolling an 8. A few dips, and your class summary doesn’t match your leveling table make you lose a few points.

Power 4.5/5: You are… Disturbingly strong. The speed, reach, and ability to trigger fourteen tripping attacks of opportunity if opponents move, cast or attack your allies is frankly terrifying. Not even counting the fact that your bites deal deadly dazing critical hits ALL the time (per round, or per attack of opportunity, that’s an average of 4.2 save-or-stun, or 99.3% of dealing at least one crit). High Str and BAB mean you’ll probably hit most of these too (with a +6 Belt and raging, you have +31 to hit at ECL 20, or more than 50% chance to hit a pit fiend. Before Blood in the Water !). I’d say nuke it with fireballs or Will-targetting spells, but you’re immune to lethal damage, your speed means a would-be sniper only gets one chance, while Moment of Perfect Mind means that this chance will probably fail. Sadly, the second Dominate Monster will get you (or other SoL that prevent you from using IHS, but realistically nothing under 7th level). With FoM and Mind Blank, you’re really damn near invincible in combat, though not really useful outside.
As a minuscule ding, I’m not convinced by the last level of Thayan Gladiator. Your strength is moving then making a flurry of too many attacks, you’re probably never gonna use either a full attack. In fact, I probably would have shuffled the last levels a bit, with TG3 earlier, and Fighter much later (you care very much more about hitting your opponents that increasing your already colossal damage, so Power Attack doesn’t seem essential to the build).

Monstrosity 5/5: I have nothing to say here. Nothing in the build is even remotely possible without the monster race, and it improves the already very good choice of template/monster combination perfectly. Congratulations.

Total 15.5/20 : An impressive entry, and everything I hoped for in this competition, without feeling too contrived. The ingredients are pretty standard, but well-cooked.

For the next comp, do you have any theme idea? Having a few propositions would make next round that much more enjoyable.

[loky1109]

For the next comp, do you have any theme idea? Having a few propositions would make next round that much more enjoyable.

I like the Unholy Scion idea. (I had some bare bones for that)
Or we could go into some in some unusual environment: underwater, air, thickness of the earth's crust, elemental/energy plane. (Maybe isn't the best after Snow themed round)
Or reborn in more or less broad sense. (I see several opportunities here)

Disputes. We should put them here or send you PM?

And the table:

Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Beni-Kujaku	Judge 2	Judge 3	Total	Place
Harbinger of Eternal Winter	CE Frostfell Ghost Unseelie Fey Incarnate Construct 1st-Level Astral Construct	Duskblade 3/Fighter 1/Warblade 2/Eidolon 1/Divine Crusader 1/Winterhaunt of Iborighu 9/Divine Disciple 1		5.25			5.25	4th
Lachlan the Frozen	NE Bleakborn	Psychic Warrior 1/War Mind 5/Warblabe 6		14.00			14.00	2nd
Ysbrand	NE Ice Mephit	Acolyte of the Skin 2/Horned Harbinger 10/Soul Eater 1/Dragon Devotee 1/Devoted Defender 1/Warchief 2		13.75			13.75	3rd
Morty	CE Wendigo 7-Headed Hydra	Barbarian 2/Crusader 1/Fighter 1/Thayan Gladiator 5/Warblade 1		15.50			15.50	1st

[Beni-Kujaku]

Disputes. We should put them here or send you PM?

PM‚ as usual. After all‚ I know the cooks‚ but they have not been formally revealed yet (although they are fairly obvious).