Monster Mash XII : A Monster is Born

[Beni-Kujaku]

Monster Mash #12

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: A monster is born

Winter is coming, as they say, and while the presents and obnoxiously catchy songs fill the malls, even monstrous creatures can feel like saints.

• You should be able to cast divine spells, or SLAs explicitly coming from a divine source.
• You should be able to accomplish miracles. Cheating death, feeding thousands of people, appearing in the mind of somebody far away, healing crippled people without the Regenerate spell... Anything that could appear impossible at first and can be witnessed by many people.

To note: casting divine spells by itself can accomplish many things that would have been considered miracles in our world. Having your miracle being reproducible with a common spell that you could cast at the level you start being able to accomplish it should warrant a penalty.

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. If there is an ambiguïty regarding a source, refer to the Iron Chef rules.
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 Saturday 23rd of December 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 Saturday 6th of January 2024 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.
If you need help for judging, do not hesitate to read Inevitability's Build Competition Judging Handbook.

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:

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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
MM7: Monsters through the Snow
MM8: Half-Adventurers Half-Monsters
MM9: Blazing (Mon)Stars
MM10: Buds of a monster flock together
MM11: What a horrible monster to give a curse

And now, time to get mashing!

[Beni-Kujaku]

Q&A for this round:

-

[Inevitability]

Well, it's a broad theme, but I feel like it's asking for the kind of thing I'm pretty good at, so... in to cook!

[loky1109]

Don't have ideas for now, need to think and make some research.

[FactualArcher]

The round theme looks interesting. I'm probably in to cook, and if not, judge.

[loky1109]

I have one very Vizzini idea.

[Inevitability]

Build submitted! How's everyone else coming along?

[FactualArcher]

I’m making solid progress. I will definitely have it in by the deadline, possibly earlier.

[loky1109]

Almost full build is ready. I need to write a good story.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Hi, everybody! Three days before the reveal and I have three entries, is anybody still cooking?

[loky1109]

Hi, everybody! Three days before the reveal and I have three entries, is anybody still cooking?

I actually have one simple idea, but will have about only one day with PC in the next six days. So or I'll make it today, or will not make at all.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Sorry for the delay‚ I'll try to post the entries this afternoon.

[Beni-Kujaku]

A hydra is only LA+2, not LA+3. Maybe it was a pyrohydra ? Or perhaps a 6-headed hydra ? No, it was Agatha all along !

What if...

...Goblin Dan isn't true owner of Goblin Dan's ALL-U-CAN-EAT HYDRA HEAD BBQ HAT?

...and it even wasn't his startup idea.

...he was figurehead for somebody in the shadows.

...there were actual author in plain sight

...it was Agatha all Along!

Spoiler: Agatha

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Agatha is hydra if you still didn't understand.

Spoiler: Stats

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Abilities	Initial	Hydra	Half-Celestial	8th	12th	Total
STR	14	6	4	1	1	26
DEX	14	2	2			18
CON	14	10	4			28
INT	12	-8	2			6
WIS	12		4			16
CHA	14	-2	4			16

Spoiler: Build

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Half-Celestial 5th-Headed Hydra Death Delver 10

ECL	Class	BAB	Fort	Reflex	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
4th	Hydra 1	1	2	2	0	24: {+4 CC} Concentration: 2; {+4 CC} Heal: 2; {+4} Knowledge (local): 4; {+4 CC} Knowledge (religion): 2; {+4} Listen: 4; {+4} Spot: 4;	City Slicker (1), Combat Reflexes (B)	Darkvision 60 ft., fast healing 15, low-light vision, scent
5th	Hydra 2	2	3	3	0	6: Concentration: 2; Heal: 2; {+1} Knowledge (local): 5; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 2.5; {+1} Listen: 5; {+1} Spot: 5; {+2 CC} Tumble: 1;
6th	Hydra 3	3	3	3	1	6: {+2} Concentration: 4; Heal: 2; {+1} Knowledge (local): 6; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 3; {+1} Listen: 6; {+1} Spot: 6; Tumble: 1;	Martial Study (Moment of Perfect Mind) (3)
7th	Hydra 4	4	4	4	1	6: {+2} Concentration: 6; Heal: 2; {+1} Knowledge (local): 7; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 3.5; {+1} Listen: 7; {+1} Spot: 7; Tumble: 1;
8th	Hydra 5	5	4	4	1	6: {+2} Concentration: 8; Heal: 2; {+1} Knowledge (local): 8; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 4; {+1} Listen: 8; {+1} Spot: 8; Tumble: 1;
10th	Half-Celestial	-	-	-	-	-	-	Daylight, DR, immunity to disease, resistance (acid, cold, and electricity) 10, smite evil, spell-like abilities, SR
11th	Death Delver 1	5	6	4	3	1: {+1} Concentration: 9; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;	Death Devotion (6)	Deathsense, rebuke undead
12th	Death Delver 2	6	7	4	4	1: {+1} Concentration: 10; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;		Deadened soul, spontaneous casting
13th	Death Delver 3	7	7	5	4	1: {+1} Concentration: 11; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;		Death ward 1/day
14th	Death Delver 4	8	8	5	5	1: {+1} Concentration: 12; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;	Touchstone (Salt Statuary) (9), Diehard (B)	Diehard
15th	Death Delver 5	8	8	5	5	1: {+1} Concentration: 13; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;		Fear aura
16th	Death Delver 6	9	9	6	6	1: {+1} Concentration: 14; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;		Death ward 2/day
17th	Death Delver 7	10	9	6	6	1: {+1} Concentration: 15; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;	Touchstone (Sunken City of Pazar) (12)	Cheat death
18th	Death Delver 8	11	10	6	7	1: {+1} Concentration: 16; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;		Mantle of life
19th	Death Delver 9	11	10	7	7	1: {+1} Concentration: 17; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;		Death ward 3/day
20th	Death Delver 10	12	11	7	8	1: {+1} Concentration: 18; Heal: 2; Jump: 2; Knowledge (religion): 4; Listen: 8; Spot: 8; Swim: 8; Tumble: 1;	Improved Natural Attack (bite) (15)	Nine lives

Spoiler: Magic

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Spells per Day

ECL	Class	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
11th	Death Delver 1	0+1
12th	Death Delver 2	1+1
13th	Death Delver 3	1+1	0+1
14th	Death Delver 4	1+1	1+1
15th	Death Delver 5	1+1	1+1	0+1
16th	Death Delver 6	1+1	1+1	1+1
17th	Death Delver 7	2+1	1+1	1+1	0
18th	Death Delver 8	2+1	1+1	1+1	1
19th	Death Delver 9	2+1	2+1	1+1	1
20th	Death Delver 10	2+1	2+1	2+1	1

Typical spells:
1: lesser restoration, bless*2
2: bear's endurance, bull's strength, rigor mortis
3: protection from energy*3
4: freedom of movement

Spoiler: Snapshots

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Spoiler: ECL 10

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Half-Celestial 5th-Headed Hydra. You all know why hydra is good. Agatha in addition to this has fly 40, and several useful SLA. How did Agatha get City Slicker? She spent her first years as a little snake in the sewers of a big city raised by sewerms. Being an unusually intelligent hydra she saw many things, heard many things, and understood many things.

Tactics is simple: move/charge and bites.

Spoiler: ECL 11

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First level of Death Delver and Death Devotion (3 times per day with 6 rebukes). Due specific wording of hydra it should apply to all five (or more) bites.
Bless, Aid, Cure, Protection from Evil and some more SLAs.

Spoiler: ECL 14

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Salt Statuary gives Agatha fire resistance 5 in addition to her already existed resistances. Which of course is good for hydra. Fear immunity, free Diehard feat, Death ward are also good. Plus stat buffing spells could help in single battle.
Holy Smite, Remove Disease and Dispel Evil SLAs. Could be useful.

Spoiler: ECL 17

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Sunken City of Pazar not only improves Agatha's damage, but also adds a rare option of +4 to anti-Sunder defense. Fear aura comes too late to be very useful, maybe only occasionally. Protection from energy is natural spell selection for hydra. And Cheat death also is a good ability. 50+ damage is very often a hazard at these levels and there always exists risk to find natural 1. Especially in long lasting fights.
Holy Word SLA.

Spoiler: ECL 20

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FoM is great. Improved Natural Attack means 3d8 damage (with active Sunken City of Pazar's base ability). Unlimited +4 Will for Agatha and all her companions - good. And of course Nine lives! It's limited, but such a powerful ability! Good addition for an already very tenacious creature.
Mass Charm Monster SLA is difficult to overestimate. Also Holy Aura and Hallow.

Spoiler: Round Theme

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1. Agatha casts divine spells and her SLAs looks highly likely divine.
2. Agatha has several options to cheat death: fast healing (and being hydra in general), Cheat death and Nine lives Death Delver's abilities and Rigor Mortis spell. And you know how Agatha is able to feed thousands and thousands people.

Spoiler: Books

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Type	Name	Book	Page
Race	Hydra	Monster Manual	155
Template	Half-Celestial	Monster Manual	144
Prestige Class	Death Delver	Heroes of Horror	93
Feat	City Slicker	Races of Destiny	150
Feat	Combat Reflexes	PHB	92
Feat	Martial Study	Tome of Battles	31
Feat	Death Devotion	Complete Champion	57
Feat	Touchstone	Sandstorm	53
Feat	Diehard	PHB	93
Feat	Improved Natural Attack	Monster Manual	304
Touchstone	Salt Statuary	Sandstorm	58
Touchstone	Sunken City of Pazar	Sandstorm	55
Maneuver	Moment of Perfect Mind	Tome of Battles	64
Spell	Rigor Mortis	Heroes of Horror	132
Spells	All others	PHB	Varies

[Beni-Kujaku]

I will use the power of EEVVVIIIILLLL! To feed everybody !! And reduce child mortality !!! None shall stand in my path !!!!

Things Lost, Things Gained

Spoiler: Abundance

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From "Cities of the Unapproachable East" by Meldo Griffinquill, Chapter 7

...though Brethil is called the Garden City, the meaning of this name was lost on me during my brief visit. Its walls are high and sturdy, yet seemingly far too small for its many denizens, and so hardly any space within the city exists that is not taken up by ramshackle homes or impromptu stalls. Curiously, though the denizens' poverty is apparent, their homes are uniformly colored red, leaving me wondering where they acquire the paints.

Indeed, even the town's inns, supposedly for the benefit of travelers, often find themselves employed as semi-permanent residences for its wealthier newcomers. As such, to find a place to eat and sleep was no small feat, and in the end I found myself forced to enter one of its seedier neighbourhoods, where I at last encountered a small building advertising several vacancies. It looked disheveled, but a warm glow from within implied a well-fed fireplace, which proved more appealing than night's chill (not to speak of night's dangers).

Its name I shall not repeat for you: my visit was one of necessity, not choice, and the inside of this warren boggled the imagination. Filth caked every surface, flies buzzed around mysterious stains, and though I saw none, the chew-marks and droppings of rats revealed that they, too, patronized this innkeep. Still, a roof was a roof and a door was a door, and I, possessed of a sizeable traveler's purse, supposed there existed no foodborne illness that could not be cured by a respectable temple donation. Now the ubiquitous shrines to Talona made sense - presumably, in a city this full of people and their filth, many thought it prudent to appease the goddess of disease.

The innkeep, a brutish man with a couple teeth too few and a couple warts too many, asked what seemed like a pittance for my meal and bed. I paid him thrice that, instructing him to bring me his finest food, as well as a large cask of booze. Truth be told, I had half a mind to eat nothing without first drowning it in ale - better a soggy meal than a worm-ridden one.

But when my host returned, I could hardly believe my eyes. Where I had expected a watery soup with stale bread, perhaps supplied by cheese or dried meat, I was instead treated to a meal that ten times the gold wouldn't have bought me elsewhere. The main dish was a rich stew, prepared with mackerel of all things. When I expressed wonderment at this, the innkeep chuckled that he 'caught it himself', which seemed quite odd to me as we were many days' travel from the ocean. Even so, it tasted wonderful, and I resolved that no trick of preparation could disguise rotten fish as fresh, and so ate it all and asked for more. Along this I was served a small bowl of whitish, watery legs (off-putting at first, but delightful all the same), as well as black pudding and some strange powdery bread with a greenish tint - exotic-tasting, but not unpleasantly so.

I inquired as to the origin of all these delicacies, and my host, being not exceptionally busy, humored me. Scratching a bulging abscess in his neck (which I tried to pay no attention to), he regaled to me the tale of the Garden City's origin, which all children here learn before they are four years of age.

It went thus...

Spoiler: Introduction, intermission

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What is a miracle? The contest theme was annoyingly broad to me, at first. There's no real definition, and a lot of mythological and religious examples are either very unimpressive in D&D, or can be replicated straightforwardly by mid-level spells.

But a very common thread in miracle stories is this: the denial of scarcity. Feed a crowd with five loaves of bread and two fish. Strike a rock in the desert and watch water flow forth. Keep a flame burning for eight days, even though the oil should only last one. Change water into wine. And because D&D is a resource management game at heart, things like this are actually hard to obtain on a large scale!

So all that's left is to actually find the sources of these miracles. A certain high-level spell gets the job done, but of course this is Monster Mash, so it's hard to fit in high-level spells without compromising our monstrosity.

But don't worry: we find a way.

Spoiler: Consumption

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Many, many centuries ago, there was a good and honest man, who lived on a humble farm with his family. But the man's enemies came, and drove him and his kin out, and they were forced to seek refuge in the dark forest where no living soul dared venture.

For three days and three nights they traveled the ever-darkening paths, growing hungry and thirsty and tired, but the righteous man instilled hope and joy in them, and so they persisted until they reached a glade in the forest's deepest heart.

There dwelled a beautiful nymph, who had never seen humans before and was most curious about them. And the man impressed her so with his wisdom and righteousness that she pledged to serve humanity forevermore. And so the nymph provided for the righteous man's needs, calling down manna from heaven to nourish him, wood from the earth to feed his fire, and lore from the past to sate his soul. He built a house then, and made that glade his home, and dwelled there happily for a number of years.

And when the righteous man died, his children built him a great tomb. It is this tomb that was the first building of the Garden City, so called for the natural splendour it was founded among. And though much time has passed, still our immortal protector provides for us, and so every day new souls flock here, eager to share in nature's bounty.

Praise be!

Spoiler: Build Table (1)

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Lorine Verbena

NE Nymph Ex-Druid 1 / SA Fighter 1 / Blighter 3

Point buy: 8 STR / 10 DEX / 14 CON / 12 INT / 18 WIS / 12 CHA
Ability Scores: 8 STR / 16 DEX / 16 CON / 18 INT / 24 WIS / 20 CHA
ASIs (8, 12, 16, 20): All in Wisdom for a final stat of 28.

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
9th	Nymph (6 RHD, 3 LA)	+3	+2	+5	+5	Concentration +3 (3), Craft (Alchemy) +8cc (4), Craft (Woodworking) +8cc (4), Diplomacy +9 (9), Escape Artist +9 (9), Handle Animal +9 (9), Hide +9 (9), Knowledge (Arcana) +8cc (4), Move Silently +9 (9), Sense Motive +9 (9), Spot +9 (9)	Great Fortitude, Spell Focus (Transmutation), Darkstalker	Blinding Beauty, Dimension Door 1/day, Stunning Glance, Unearthly Grace, Wild Empathy, Spells
10th	Ex-Druid 1	+3	+4	+5	+7	Concentration +7 (10), Craft (Alchemy) 4, Craft (Woodworking) 4, Diplomacy 9, Escape Artist 9, Handle Animal 9, Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) +1cc (4.5), Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Spot 9	-	Nature Sense, Spells, Animal Companion, Voice of the City
11th	Sneak Attack Hit-And-Run Fighter 1	+4	+6	+5	+7	Concentration 10, Craft (Alchemy) +1 (5), Craft (Woodworking) +4 (8), Diplomacy 9, Escape Artist 9, Handle Animal 9, Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) +1cc (5), Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Spot 9	-	Sneak Attack +1d6, Hit-And-Run Fighting
12th	Blighter 1	+4	+8	+5	+9	Concentration +2 (12), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (6), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy +3 (12), Escape Artist 9, Handle Animal 9, Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) +1 (1), Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft +1 (1), Spot 9	Craven	Deforestation
13th	Blighter 2	+5	+9	+5	+10	Concentration +1 (13), Craft (Alchemy) +6 (12), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy +1 (13), Escape Artist 9, Handle Animal 9, Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 1, Spot 9	-	Blightfire, Sustenance
14th	Blighter 3	+6	+9	+6	+10	Concentration +1 (14), Craft (Alchemy) +2 (14), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy +1 (14), Escape Artist 9, Handle Animal 9, Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) +4cc (2), Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 1, Spot 9	-	Undead Wild Shape

Spoiler: Depletion

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I hate them.

All of them - crawling through their own filth, loving and laughing and learning nothing, so incredibly wrong about everything, about me. They call me a protector, a provider, a goddess and it makes me want to scream at them, to press them face-first into their own excrement and scream of the trees that used to stand there. But I can't, of course: it'd hurt them.

I'm sure this isn't what you expected. But trust me, it'll make more sense if we just start at the beginning.


Once, I was of the trees.

I did not dwell among them like a man in his house - I was them. I sustained them without thought, without effort, as you sustain your own body through food and drink.

...I don't remember what it was like. I don't remember food and drink either, of course. I can live without them, and the city's many hungry mouths cannot, and thus anything one would offer me, I must at once give up to one who needs it more. Such is the logic of my current existence.

In that distant past came along a man, accompanied by his children; a victim of some greater evil who sought refuge in the forest. They found none with me. The forest-that-was-me was no place for mortals - and if they hadn't bothered to learn that lesson, well, they say pain is the greatest teacher. And I'll grant him one thing; he took the torments well. Well enough for me to actually be impressed, for me to grant him one little last request before I finally snuffed out his life: that his kin would be safe from harm until the last of them set foot outside the forest. An innocent enough boon, or so I thought.

That's the worst part. The realization that I only have myself to blame.

I don't know how that spawn of his learned the exact words of our pact. Maybe she knew, failed to spot her skulking about. Maybe she got lucky. Maybe whatever they fled from was so terrifying she'd rather take her chances with me. But where all the others left, she did not. She stood up to me. Had the gall to order me around: to demand food and a fire to cook it on, to demand shelter and protection.

To my horror, I obeyed.

I was of the forest. I was the-one-who-speaks-for-the-trees. I was my words, as much as I was the forest - more than I was the forest, to my horror. I had made a promise: to keep her from harm. And mortals, well, they're such fragile things: so many ways they could be harmed, so many deprivations they could suffer - so many things the promise made me provide.

And to keep it, I would let the woodcutter's axe claim my body one trunk at a time.

She built herself a cabin, and her father a grand tomb. Then she built storage sheds, a well, a fenced-in farming plot. Travelers came; pilgrims, traders, other lost souls - they left with distorted versions of the truth. More came the following year - some remained. She declared them kin - declared all visitors kin, adopted them into the pact. One year, I was caretaker to one, the next year, to a hundred, then a thousand, then too many to count - each and every one loyal to the woman I loathed so.

She never left, though to her final day I was hoping she would. She died, and was buried next to her father, though by now I think they've lost track of her among all sorts of lesser souls. Maybe someone out there still knows the truth, but I doubt it.

The pact endured - she worded it carefully enough to survive her death - and by now I don't see how it will ever be undone. Everything that once counted as my forest is long dead and gone.

That nearly killed me anyway, you know. Ten, eleven generations in, when their hunger had brought an end to most of my home, when the final great oak had disappeared into some fireplace, when chaff and pig crap choked the dirt, I found myself fading. I was of the forest - how could I possibly survive if it went? I remained sentenced to servitude - but I served knowing my death was near, and that granted me a sort of peace.

If only it had been that easy.

The vermin drinking my blood learned of my decline. Did they change? Reflect on their greed? Of course not, they acted as mortals always do: find some force beyond your ken and make it solve your problems. I never sought out the Forms - but when they made their offer, the curse left me no choice. And so I was remade for a final time, more thoroughly than ever.

My new body was a thing of dead wood and sharp angles, thin, twisted, unstable. Sometimes it collapses for a moment, giving way to the shape of some starving beast - at times even dead ones - but I always return to it. It is no more part of the forest than a chair or table - and no longer dependent on it. When they asked for its last few trees, not the merest spark of self-preservation was there to stop me.

And then? More of the same, of course. Why would the utter desecration of this land matter? Business as usual, now if our Fair Fey Protector would please magic up some more food and firewood? And make it quick!

And so I do - the only way I can. No heavenly ambrosia for you, no straight and proud trees - rains of fish and stinking blood to wash it down, twisted thorny branches that burn with pungent smoke. And disease - the inevitable endpoint of so many souls crammed together. That, at least, I cannot fix, so I simply watch the plagues come and go, watch each new strain reap more than the last. Never enough to kill them all - but enough to provide some glimmer of satisfaction.

Do you know what I do with the bodies? I twist them, infuse them with the last part of me still connected to the green. No plant has survived in this city - none, but the thorny vines I draw from their bodies. They never last long: the mortals always hunger, and my magic requires sacrifice, but I take grim joy in knowing it is them I feed on, in the end.

So welcome to the Garden City - where the only growing things are those that root in human hosts.

Will you be staying long?

Spoiler: Build Table (2)

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The Provider

NE Splinterwaif Knave Ex-Druid 1 / SA Fighter 1 / Blighter 3 / Shaper of Form 3 / Shapeshifter 3 / Talontar Blightlord 3

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
6th	Splinterwaif Knave (6 RHD, +0 LA)	+3	+2	+5	+5	Bluff +9 (9), Climb +6 (6), Concentration +6cc (3), Craft (Alchemy) +8cc (4), Craft (Woodworking) +8cc (4), Diplomacy +9 (9), Hide +9 (9), Knowledge (Arcana) +8cc (4), Move Silently +9 (9), Sense Motive +9 (9), Tumble +9 (9)	Great Fortitude, Spell Focus (Transmutation), Darkstalker	Splinterspit, Camouflage, Call Brambles, Sneak Attack 4d6, Transformation, Superior Woodland Stride
7th	Ex-Druid 1	+3	+4	+5	+7	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +7 (10), Craft (Alchemy) 4, Craft (Woodworking) 4, Diplomacy 9, Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) +1cc (4.5), Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Tumble 9	-	Nature Sense, Spells, Animal Companion, Voice of the City
8th	Sneak Attack Hit-And-Run Fighter 1	+4	+6	+5	+7	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration 10, Craft (Alchemy) +1 (5), Craft (Woodworking) +4 (8), Diplomacy 9, Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) +1cc (5), Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Tumble 9	-	Sneak Attack +1d6, Hit-And-Run Fighting
9th	Blighter 1	+4	+8	+5	+9	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +2 (12), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (6), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy +3 (12), Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) +1 (1), Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft +1 (1), Tumble 9	Craven	Deforestation
10th	Blighter 2	+5	+9	+5	+10	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (13), Craft (Alchemy) +6 (12), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy +1 (13), Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 9	-	Blightfire, Sustenance
11th	Blighter 3	+6	+9	+6	+10	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (14), Craft (Alchemy) +2 (14), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy +1 (14), Hide 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) +4cc (2), Move Silently 9, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 9	-	Undead Wild Shape
12th	Shaper of Form 1	+6	+11	+6	+12	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (15), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (15), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy 14, Hide +2cc (10), Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Move Silently +2cc (10), Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 9	Mother Cyst	Like Begets Like, Modify Self (Renaissance)
13th	Shaper of Form 2	+7	+12	+6	+13	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (16), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (16), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy 14, Hide +2cc (11), Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Move Silently +2cc (11), Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 9	-	Fortify Item, Polymorph 1/day
14th	Shaper of Form 3	+7	+12	+7	+13	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (17), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (17), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy 14, Hide +2cc (12), Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Move Silently +2cc (12), Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 1, Tumble 9	-	Polymorph 2/day
15th	Shapeshifter 1	+7	+14	+9	+15	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (18), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (18), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy +4 (18), Hide 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Move Silently 12, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft +2 (3), Tumble 9	Natural Spell	Wild Shape (3/day)
16th	Shapeshifter 2	+8	+15	+10	+16	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (19), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (19), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy +1 (19), Hide 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Move Silently 12, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft +5 (8), Tumble 9	-	-
17th	Shapeshifter 3	+9	+15	+10	+16	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (20), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (20), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy +1 (20), Hide 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Move Silently 12, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft +5 (13), Tumble 9	-	Wild Shape (Large)
18th	Talontar Blightlord 1	+9	+17	+10	+18	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (21), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (21), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy 20, Hide +4 (16), Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Move Silently 12, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 13, Tumble 9	Savage Grapple	Blightbringer Domain, Blightblood
19th	Talontar Blightlord 2	+10	+18	+10	+19	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (22), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (22), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy 20, Hide +2 (18), Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Move Silently 12, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft +2 (15), Tumble 9	-	Illmaster
20th	Talontar Blightlord 3	+11	+18	+11	+19	Bluff 9, Climb 6, Concentration +1 (23), Craft (Alchemy) +1 (23), Craft (Woodworking) 8, Diplomacy 20, Hide +2 (20), Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (Nature) 1, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Move Silently 12, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft +2 (17), Tumble 9	-	Blight Touch 1/day

(if you hold 'profession skill must be herbalist' to also mean 'you must have at least one rank in profession herbalist', then assume we invest a cross-class rank during our RHD and end up with two fewer points of sense motive)

(also if you want to be strict about us taking Natural Spell at the level we get wildshape, just move the shapeshifter level ahead by one - I would fix these table errors but c'mon this is a build with two spellcasting tables and two class tables, I have filled in too many boxes to go back and change everything again and it all works out either way)

Spoiler: Spellcasting

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Druid
Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
9th	6	6	5	3	2
10th	6	6	5	4	3
11th	6	6	5	3	2

Druid spellcasting is lost at Shaper of Form 1.

Blighter
Spells per Day/Spells Known

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

Typical Spells Prepared:
0 - Detect Magic (3), Ghost Sound (2), Read Magic
1 - Endure Elements (3), Necrotic Awareness (2), Ray of Enfeeblement (3)
2 - Chill Touch (2), Darkness, Necrotic Cyst (2), Necrotic Scrying
3 - Deeper Darkness, Desecrate, Protection from Energy (2), Stinking Cloud (2)
4 - Animate Dead, Death Ward (2), Necrotic Domination, Transmute Mud to Rock, Transmute Rock to Mud
5 - Antilife Shell (2), Create Undead, Necrotic Burst, Power Leech, Repel Wood
6 - Acid Fog, Finger of Death, Fire Seeds, Harm
7 - Chain of Sorrow, Control Undead, Necrotic Tumor
8 - Evil Weather, Mind Blank
9 - Implosion

Spoiler: Spotlights (10, 15, 12, 15, 20)

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ECL 10
Compared to a regular druid, we're behind a spell level and lack wild shape, but we possess a very potent at-will save-or-lose and insane boosts to all defenses, plus some great stats and a very nasty anti-humanoid tool in Blinding Beauty. Voice of the City is mostly taken to avoid having redundant wild empathy. Great Fortitude shores up our weakest save, Spell Focus Transmutation helps out here or there, and Darkstalker is surprisingly useful thanks to Hide and MS being nymph class skills (note that Obscuring Mist is a solid spell that works great here).

ECL 15
Our druid powers are lost as we cease to properly respect nature. This makes us an ex-druid (obviously) who was previously capable of casting 3rd-level druid spells (we still are, but that's irrelevant) - lastly the BAB requirement is covered by a level of SA fighter. During the rough first levels of blighter, when normal builds would've been five or six levels behind, we actually do decently well on the casting front, and at any rate still have our nymph defenses and stunning glance. Undead Wild Shape gives us the first bit of shapechanging this build is going to have; we'll be favoring big cats throughout the build, and that's true already - skeletal leopards bring 21 dexterity, pounce, improved grab, and two rakes: win initiative, charge something, and hit five attacks that deal 1d6+12 sneak attack damage each. Don't forget the fighter dip is also giving us our dexterity to damage and +2 to initiative!

We can also look into corrupt spells to enhance the blighter's lackluster spell list a bit, which creates an interesting rules interaction that I think merits a closer look.

Spoiler: On Two Wrongs And What They Make

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What happens when an undead casts a corrupt spell? There are two RAW-supported views, as far as I'm concerned.

In the first, undead can cast the spell and are immune to the corruption cost, making corrupt spells virtually free for them.

In the second, undead cannot cast corrupt spells at all, because the corruption cost is a component and 'A spell’s components are what you must do or possess to cast it' (PHB). Undead cannot take ability drain, so they cannot cast spells that include ability drain among their components.

In either of those interpretations, we get to cast corrupt spells without having to pay those costs.

Read the rules for corrupt spells in the BoVD: corruption costs are paid once the spell's duration expires, not as part of the casting. That means we can cast a corrupt spell with non-instantaneous duration (possible in both of the interpretations), use Undead Wild Shape before the duration expires, and then be immune to the ability cost when it is inflicted, again in accordance with both interpretations. We always have the ability to take ability drain at the moment of casting, and we always have immunity to it at the moment the cost is incurred, making us a better user of corrupt spells than purely mortal or purely undead casters.

Anyway, once we've got the blighter casting to meet the casting requirement, we enter Shaper of Form to grab Like Begets Like (discussed in the next spoiler), as well as Modify Self to pick up Renai-

ECL 12
-ssance.

With blighter our new casting class of choice, why bother keeping those druid spells around? We change our race from nymph to splinterwaif (normally not an option for being a race with a level adjustment, but Monster Mash rules take care of that), explicitly keeping our sky-high nymph stats (as well as our 'previously capable of casting 3rd-level druid spells' status), but gaining a shiny new set of racial traits to go with it.

(by the way, note that I asked the chair, and he suggested I recalculate RHD skills when I change race - so that's what I did)

Camouflage is nice - it's concealment coupled with a big +10 to Hide (on top of our new +10 racial), great for our sneak attacking ambush-loving self, and as a (Su) it sticks around when we're wildshaped. Splinterspit gives our animal forms a ranged attack, our natural speed rockets up to an impressive 50 with a climb speed to match, we get Improved Initiative (hello, flat-footed enemies) and Weapon Finesse (hello, extra-accurate leopard pounces and melee touch spells) as bonus feats, and our sneak attack goes up by 4d6, for a final 5d6+12. That's not much worse than what the rogue is doing at this ECL, with considerably better forms to do it with. Moreover, Blighter casting is up to 4ths, closing most of the gap between us and a full caster when combined with our reduced ECL. Animate Dead doesn't have the greatest capacity, but via a desecrated area you can still end up with something on par with a druid's animal companion.

Also, Mother Cyst is a very multifunctional (and flavorful!) feat that massively expands our spell list, eventually letting us scry, dominate creatures permanently, massively buff ourselves, and ultimately destroy souls in a way even Wish cannot undo.

ECL 15
More Shaper of Form gets us Polymorph twice per day, at an unspecified CL that thus defaults to our HD. I don't need to tell you how good the spell is - go turn into a hydra or dragon and go to town. This also qualifies us for Shapeshifter, giving us proper druid-standard Wild Shape back, except now it's at our character level rather than tied to a particular class, letting us get choice PrC benefits and max out our form access. For now, consider MM2's Legendary Eagle (30 dexterity, 100 ft. speed, 3 attacks), or Legendary Ape (30 strength, rend), with various burrowing and aquatic forms for utility.

ECL 20
More spell advancement lets us eke out 9ths on a build with about 2/3rds of the sneak attack damage of an at-level Craven Rogue (fun fact: Mind Blank foils divinations that would break our stealth) and wild shape forms up to and including the dire tiger (which is everything we want in a combat form: fast, good stats, three attacks plus two rakes, pounce, and improved grab). This unique suite of abilities makes us one of those rare builds that can use Savage Grapple, adding our sneak attack to grapple check damage (which we can try up to 3 times a round and which uses grapple checks rather than attack rolls). Grappling itself of course remains a very potent way to shut down casters and their ilk.

Talontar Blightlord rounds out the build (thanks to the glaive proficiency we obtained way back when), giving us extra spells known and another source of minions via Blight Touch (which inflicts a disease that turns low-cha sufferers into blightspawned creatures that we can then rebuke - note the synergy with Chain of Sorrow). Furthermore, when said blightspawned creatures inevitably succumb to the illness, they become Juju Zombies, which we can still control thanks to Command Undead (not to mention mundane diplomacy if the base creature was intelligent). All these minions can be used to carry the holly berry bombs that Fire Seeds creates, allowing for extra damage once they die.

And well, with how transmissible the disease is, and how easy it should be to take some high-value low-cha animals captive, and how easy a time we have conjuring up the food for them all... getting a large reserve of rebuke fodder going shouldn't be hard at all. Druids need to summon their minions first? Who's got time for that?

And so we present the final build: a highly capable minionmancer pulling in undead, plant, and tumor-controlled minions, with access to a wide variety of forms, a bunch of sneak attack that a regular druid has no hopes of obtaining, and a natural form that lets all our animal bodies double as stealthy snipers - as well as a miracle worker who can ensure food, water, and protection for literal millions. Not too shabby!

Spoiler: Miracles

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Unlimited Food
A single casting of Evil Weather at CL10 covers 314 square miles (10 mile radius circle), or about 350 million 5-ft squares. Assume that for the 3d6 (10) minutes the spell last, every square is struck at least once by one fish per round. This comes out to 350 billion fish conjured per casting. Each must weigh at least 1 pound, per the falling object rules, so that's 350 billion pounds of biomass. Actually, let's halve that, because falling damage is linear and these fish only deal 1d3 instead of the 1d6 you'd expect, so 175 billion pounds.

Per casting.

I cannot properly stress how insane this is: the total animal biomass in our world is 13 billion tonnes; these fish would be 0.6 percent of that.

So what's that mean in terms of mouths fed? Give your 314 square miles a population density comparable to Kowloon Walled City, which comes down to 1.5 billion denizens. They would each receive 232 pounds, per person, per day. It doesn't matter how watery or bony that fish is, it doesn't matter how big or dense your city gets: these people are getting fed. In a medieval-esque setting, where famines and food insecurity are undeniable dangers, this alone is going to attract a lot of people to your territory.

The only concern is micronutrients, though a lot of micronutrients might be covered by the blood rain option (blood, almost definitionally, contains whatever an animal body needs to survive). Assume an inch of rain over the area, that's about 5 billion gallons of blood per casting.

And, of course, blood also neatly takes care of hydration, if filtered. Our inability to capture it all doesn't really matter - blood is 50% water, and that water needs to go somewhere - once the ground is inundated, evaporation is the only option. (if necessary, we can induce evaporation artificially with Blightfire)

Keeping the fire going
As a splinterwaif, we can create one Medium-sized branch per turn. Assume this has half the volume of a human, or about 30000 cubic centimeters. That's a 10-20 kg branch! If we work for 8 hours and produce 10 x 60 x 8 = 4800 branches, that's over 50000 kg of wood. This isn't quite as world-shaking as our food production values, but it's still enough to keep tens of thousands of people warm and should form a notable decrease in the overall need for firewood. We can also use this as a corpse disposal service, by using Transformation to turn humanoid bodies into medium-sized brushes that we can then be harvested and burned without the need for burial or cremation. Also, presumably even thorny branches can be used for more than firewood.

More stuff from heaven
A sort of combination of the above two points lies in a second use of Evil Weather: Plague of Nettles, which creates choking weeds across the whole area. It's not our favorite tool - the hungry plant creatures that pop up as a side effect are just too annoying to deal with, but it's worth noting that some of the named creatures make for pretty nice Command Plants/Blightblood infection fodder - and that as a blighter, we can use the plants to fuel our casting while also creating deforested zones where they won't grow.

Anyway, the 'choking weeds' are still plants and can presumably be processed somehow, even if it's just as animal fodder or fertilizer. Skeleton harvesting crews shouldn't draw the attention of carnivorous monsters.

Redeforestation
As a blighter, a notable weakness is our reliance on Deforestation to regain slots every day. Being a splinterwaif, we can turn corpses into plants, at which point the area has vegetation and can thus be an eligible deforestation target. Even if we're not fighting humanoids or fey, dragging their bodies along (in zombie form if need be) is considerably easier than keeping plants alive to kill.

Plague of Nettles is another last-ditch effort to create vegetation to desecrate - the spell is unclear about its effects when cast in a plant-unfriendly environment, but given the ridiculous growth rate of the conjured seeds I somehow suspect that a mere desert environment won't stop the seeds from taking root.

Transubstantiation
Shaper of Form is a balanced prestige class, exhibit 2: Like Begets Like.

Like yeah, no real limits on what you can do with that ability. Make a big cube out of your gold and turn it into a bigger cube of gold to up its value by 50%. Create plants with unique properties or useful fruits (plants are nonmagical objects!). Instantly create stuff with your craft skills. Make sure to Wildshape when needed, because the effect is based on your own size and thus becomes more powerful if you're Large. It's just a poorly-written ability with utterly busted applications, and it fits our miracle theme extremely well. It's also worth seeing if you can use this to create more useful minions: you can't affect creatures, but can you turn a corpse into another corpse? An ostrich egg into a dragon egg? The seed of a plant creature into a different species? The closest spell to this effect is PAO, which is notably broken, doesn't show up until higher levels, and has some tighter restrictions on what can be turned into what.

Spoiler: Sources

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Nymph - MM1
Splinterwaif Knave - MM3
Legendary Eagle/Ape - MM2

Druid - PHB (Voice of the City - Cityscape Web Enhancement)
Fighter - PHB (Sneak Attack Fighter - UA, Hit-And-Run Fighter - DotU)
Blighter - CDiv
Shaper of Form - DComp
Shapeshifter - OA + D318 update
Talontar Blightlord - UE

Darkstalker - LoM
Mother Cyst - LM
Savage Grapple - CAdv

Cyst Spells - LM
Corrupt Spells - mostly BoVD
(Chain of Sorrow from HoH)

[Beni-Kujaku]

Oh, trust me, this pie is worth selling your soul for...

Gor'on is a faithful Asmodeus's servant. He was sent to the Material plane to spread his word and faith in him to his leading glory. He is a very specific kind of Baatezu and he chooses very specific ways of influence. Everybody wants to eat and he is happy to offer them food. Body food and spiritual food. He thought it's best to hide in the bright light and he founded the cult called Hell's Kitchen where he teaches cooking, but also corrupts souls with his unsurpassed pies! He became very famous, people began to literally worship his culinary skills. That's how it all happened.

LE Pie Fiend Fiend of Blasphemy 6

Spoiler: Love your pie as yourself

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Abilities	Initial	Pie Fiend	16th	Total
STR	14	14		28
DEX	14	2		16
CON	12	10		22
INT	12	10		22
WIS	12	10		22
CHA	15	8	1	24

Spoiler: Enough for every day of their cake

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ECLLA +1	Class	BAB	Fort	Reflex	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
2nd	Outsider HD 1	1	2	2	2	56: {+4} Bluff: 4; {+4} Concentration: 4; {+4} Craft (baking): 4; {+4} Diplomacy: 4; {+4} Disguise: 4; {+4} Gather Information: 4; {+4 CC} Heal: 2; {+4} Hide: 4; {+4} Intimidate: 4; {+4 CC} Knowledge (religion): 2; {+4} Listen: 4; {+4} Move Silently: 4; {+4} Sense Motive: 4; {+4} Spot: 4;	Mindsight1	Animate pie, heatwall, make into pie, easy as pie, spell-like abilities, waves of contentment, DR 5/-, immune to fire and poison, see in darkness, SR 26, telepathy
3rd	Outsider HD 2	2	3	3	3	14: {+1} Bluff: 5; {+1} Concentration: 5; {+1} Craft (baking): 5; {+1} Diplomacy: 5; {+1} Disguise: 5; {+1} Gather Information: 5; {+1 CC} Heal: 2.5; {+1} Hide: 5; {+1} Intimidate: 5; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 2.5; {+1} Listen: 5; {+1} Move Silently: 5; {+1} Sense Motive: 5; {+1} Spot: 5;
4th	Outsider HD 3	3	3	3	3	14: {+1} Bluff: 6; {+1} Concentration: 6; {+1} Craft (baking): 6; {+1} Diplomacy: 6; {+1} Disguise: 6; {+1} Gather Information: 6; {+1 CC} Heal: 3; {+1} Hide: 6; {+1} Intimidate: 6; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 3; {+1} Listen: 6; {+1} Move Silently: 6; {+1} Sense Motive: 6; {+1} Spot: 6;	Brand of the Nine Hells (Asmodeus)3
5th	Outsider HD 4	4	4	4	4	14: {+1} Bluff: 7; {+1} Concentration: 7; {+1} Craft (baking): 7; {+1} Diplomacy: 7; {+1} Disguise: 7; {+1} Gather Information: 7; {+1 CC} Heal: 3.5; {+1} Hide: 7; {+1} Intimidate: 7; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 3.5; {+2 CC} Knowledge (the planes): 1; Listen: 6; Move Silently: 6; {+1} Sense Motive: 7; {+1} Spot: 7;
6th	Outsider HD 5	5	4	4	4	14: {+1} Bluff: 8; {+1} Concentration: 8; {+1} Craft (baking): 8; {+1} Diplomacy: 8; {+1} Disguise: 8; Gather Information: 7; {+1 CC} Heal: 4; Hide: 7; {+1} Intimidate: 8; {+2 CC} Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 4; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Listen: 7; {+1} Move Silently: 7; {+1} Sense Motive: 8; {+1} Spot: 8;
7th	Outsider HD 6	6	5	5	5	14: {+1} Bluff: 9; {+1} Concentration: 9; {+1} Craft (baking): 9; Diplomacy: 8; Disguise: 8; {+1} Gather Information: 8; {+1 CC} Heal: 4.5; {+1} Hide: 8; {+1} Intimidate: 9; {+2 CC} Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 4.5; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Listen: 8; {+1} Move Silently: 8; {+1} Sense Motive: 9; {+1} Spot: 9;	Leadership6
8th	Outsider HD 7	7	5	5	5	14: {+1} Bluff: 10; Concentration: 9; Craft (baking): 9; {+1} Diplomacy: 9; {+1} Disguise: 9; {+1} Gather Information: 9; {+1 CC} Heal: 5; {+1} Hide: 9; {+1} Intimidate: 10; {+2 CC} Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1 CC} Knowledge (religion): 5; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Listen: 9; {+1} Move Silently: 9; {+1} Sense Motive: 10; {+1} Spot: 10;
9th	Outsider HD 8	8	6	6	6	14: {+1} Bluff: 11; Concentration: 9; {+1} Craft (baking): 10; {+1} Diplomacy: 10; {+1} Disguise: 10; {+1} Gather Information: 10; {+1 CC} Heal: 5.5; {+1} Hide: 10; {+1} Intimidate: 11; {+2 CC} Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; Knowledge (religion): 5; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Listen: 10; {+1} Move Silently: 10; {+1} Sense Motive: 11; {+1} Spot: 11;
10th	Outsider HD 9	9	6	6	6	14: {+1} Bluff: 12; {+1} Concentration: 10; {+1} Craft (baking): 11; {+1} Diplomacy: 11; {+1} Disguise: 11; {+1} Gather Information: 11; {+1 CC} Heal: 6; {+1} Hide: 11; {+1} Intimidate: 12; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 6; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Listen: 11; {+1} Move Silently: 11; {+1} Sense Motive: 12; {+1} Spot: 12;	Knowledge Devotion (religion)9
11th	Outsider HD 10	10	7	7	7	14: {+1} Bluff: 13; {+1} Concentration: 11; {+1} Craft (baking): 12; {+1} Diplomacy: 12; {+1} Disguise: 12; {+1} Gather Information: 12; {+1 CC} Heal: 6.5; {+1} Hide: 12; {+1} Intimidate: 13; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 7; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Listen: 12; {+1} Move Silently: 12; {+1} Sense Motive: 13; {+1} Spot: 13;
12th	Outsider HD 11	11	7	7	7	14: {+1} Bluff: 14; {+1} Concentration: 12; {+1} Craft (baking): 13; {+1} Diplomacy: 13; {+1} Disguise: 13; {+1} Gather Information: 13; {+1 CC} Heal: 7; {+1} Hide: 13; {+1} Intimidate: 14; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 8; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Listen: 13; {+1} Move Silently: 13; {+1} Sense Motive: 14; {+1} Spot: 14;
13th	Outsider HD 12	12	8	8	8	14: {+1} Bluff: 15; {+1} Concentration: 13; {+1} Craft (baking): 14; {+1} Diplomacy: 14; {+1} Disguise: 14; {+1} Gather Information: 14; {+1 CC} Heal: 7.5; {+1} Hide: 14; {+1} Intimidate: 15; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 9; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Listen: 14; {+1} Move Silently: 14; {+1} Sense Motive: 15; {+1} Spot: 15;	Mark of Nessus12
14th	Outsider HD 13	13	8	8	8	14: {+1} Bluff: 16; {+1} Concentration: 14; {+1} Craft (baking): 15; {+1} Diplomacy: 15; {+1} Disguise: 15; {+1} Gather Information: 15; {+1 CC} Heal: 8; {+1} Hide: 15; {+1} Intimidate: 16; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 10; Knowledge (the planes): 1; {+1} Listen: 15; {+1} Move Silently: 15; {+1} Sense Motive: 16; {+1} Spot: 16;
15th	Fiend of Blasphemy 1	13	10	10	10	8: {+1} Bluff: 17; {+1} Concentration: 15; Craft (baking): 15; {+1} Diplomacy: 16; {+1} Disguise: 16; Gather Information: 15; {+1 CC} Heal: 8.5; Hide: 15; Intimidate: 16; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 11; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Listen: 15; Move Silently: 15; {+1} Sense Motive: 17; {+1} Spot: 17;		Blood oath, locate cultist, undetectable alignment, domains (Diabolic, Evil)
16th	Fiend of Blasphemy 2	14	11	11	11	8: {+1} Bluff: 18; {+1} Concentration: 16; Craft (baking): 15; {+1} Diplomacy: 17; {+1} Disguise: 17; Gather Information: 15; {+1 CC} Heal: 9; Hide: 15; Intimidate: 16; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 12; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Listen: 15; Move Silently: 15; {+1} Sense Motive: 18; {+1} Spot: 18;	Ability Focus (Mark of Nessus)15	Transfer Spell-like ability
17th	Fiend of Blasphemy 3	15	11	11	11	8: {+1} Bluff: 19; {+1} Concentration: 17; Craft (baking): 15; {+1} Diplomacy: 18; {+1} Disguise: 18; Gather Information: 15; {+1 CC} Heal: 9.5; Hide: 15; Intimidate: 16; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 13; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Listen: 15; Move Silently: 15; {+1} Sense Motive: 19; {+1} Spot: 19;		Sponsor worshiper
18th	Fiend of Blasphemy 4	16	12	12	12	8: {+1} Bluff: 20; {+1} Concentration: 18; Craft (baking): 15; {+1} Diplomacy: 19; {+1} Disguise: 19; Gather Information: 15; {+1 CC} Heal: 10; Hide: 15; Intimidate: 16; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (religion): 14; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Listen: 15; Move Silently: 15; {+1} Sense Motive: 20; {+1} Spot: 20;		Scry on cultist, torture cultist
19th	Fiend of Blasphemy 5	16	12	12	12	8: {+1} Bluff: 21; {+1} Concentration: 19; Craft (baking): 15; {+1} Diplomacy: 20; {+1} Disguise: 20; Gather Information: 15; Heal: 10; Hide: 15; Intimidate: 16; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+2} Knowledge (religion): 16; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Listen: 15; Move Silently: 15; {+1} Sense Motive: 21; {+1} Spot: 21;	Graft Flash18	Mind shielding
20th	Fiend of Blasphemy 6	17	13	13	13	8: {+1} Bluff: 22; {+1} Concentration: 20; Craft (baking): 15; {+1} Diplomacy: 21; {+1} Disguise: 21; Gather Information: 15; Heal: 10; Hide: 15; Intimidate: 16; Knowledge (arcana): 1; Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1; Knowledge (local): 1; Knowledge (nature): 1; {+2} Knowledge (religion): 18; Knowledge (the planes): 1; Listen: 15; Move Silently: 15; {+1} Sense Motive: 22; {+1} Spot: 22;		Kill cultist

Spoiler: I have not come to bring famine, but the muffin

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ECL 14
Just a regular Pie Fiend now. With mighty cleaver, a bunch of SLAs and an infinite amount of pies! Armed and ready to set up a cooking school.
For tactics, look at the monster's description. Only significant improvement is Mark of Nessus - good defending addition and extra +1d6 hellfire damage.

Spoiler: Everyone who looks at the cookie with desire, already delight with it in the heart

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ECL 15
"Hell's Kitchen" cooking school is open now! Everybody is welcome! We invite you to our open lesson. At the two-hour lesson you will learn the preparation of several dishes of freshest meat and our chief will give you some personal advice during a ten-minute conversation.

For now only the only notable tactics changing factor is spells.

Spells.
1st: 2+1; typical memorize: shield of faith, bless, protection from good (D).

Spoiler: Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Torte is coming

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ECL 16
"Hell's Kitchen" became very famous and popular. Many people are graduates and students of this school. Some of them are able to make true miracles in the kitchen. But chief, of course, still is unsurpassed.

Transfer Spell-like ability, second level spells and +2 DC for Mark of Nessus. These are changes.
Transfer SLA while decreasing numbers of uses, still has combo potential. If Gor'on grants all his Heatwall for five party members and he himself, meanwhile, uses on the enemy Make Into Pie they together will cause 145 points of damage. Transfering alter self, improved invisibility, greater dispel magic or greater teleport also could be useful.

Spells.
1st: 3+1; typical memorize: add bane;
2nd: 2+1; typical memorize: bull’s strength, bear’s endurance, desecrate (D).

Spoiler: Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever makes donut is the servant of donut

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ECL 17
"Hell's Kitchen" isn't just cooking school now, it's something more. It's almost a cult! Graduates and students literally worship the chief and his cooking art. Somebody works miracles with his name!

Sponsor worshiper and spells of 3rd level. Sponsor worshiper is a great ability if you have low to middle level clerics in your party. Asmodeus domains selection isn't something mind-blowing (Baator, Diabolic, Evil, and Law), but all has its price.

Spells.
1st: 3+1; the same;
2nd: 3+1; add another bull’s strength;
3rd: 2+1; bestow curse, deeper darkness/prayer, devil’s ego (D).

Spoiler: And you will have knowledge of what is biscuit, and that will make you free

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ECL 18
"Hell's Kitchen" became a serious organization. They have their own districts in several towns, their own bank, and their own small army with great discipline. It's the true cooking guild now. And the chief is leading.

Scry on cultist, torture cultist, new spell level.
With scry and greater teleport SLA Gor'on could appear before any cult-member at any moment and offer the necessary help or punishment.

Spells.
1st: 3+1; the same;
2nd: 3+1; the same;
3rd: 3+1; add invisibility purge;
4th: 2+1; lesser planar ally, death ward, hellfire (D).

Spoiler: To him who has cruller more will be given

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ECL 19
"Hell's Kitchen's" influence became great. Chief became a counselor to the mayor and then to the king. With his councils the whole country has undergone tremendous changes for the better. There is enough food for everybody for free. Crippled people received help and some of them, as they say, even new legs and arms! It’s time for prosperity!

Graft Flash, Mind shielding and last spell level. Mind shielding is mostly flavor ability, but still is useful in social interactions. Graft Flash is another matter. It's a real way to get devoted followers. You just need to find somebody useful for you, who missed a body part and offer him a new one instead. Somebody will reject your offer, but most will agree with joy and gratitude.

Spells.
1st: 4+1; add doom;
2nd: 3+1; the same;
3rd: 3+1; the same;
4th: 3+1; add spell immunity;
5th: 2+1; plane shift, true seeing, dispel good (D).

Spoiler: To him that smiteth thee on the cheek offer a brownie

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ECL 20
"Hell's Kitchen" shows explosive expansion. It's not a cult now, it's a full-fledged religion and full-fledged state. Its members want to put the chief on the throne as an upholder of the whole world!

Kill cultist also is more flavor ability than useful.

Spells.
1st: 4+1; the same;
2nd: 4+1; add another bear’s endurance;
3rd: 3+1; the same;
4th: 3+1; the same;
5th: 3+1; add slay living.

Spoiler: Dough was made for man, not man for the dough

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Type	Name	Book	Page
Race	Devil, Pie Fiend	April Fools	Monster Mayhem: Pie Fiend
Prestige Class	Fiend of Blasphemy	Fiend Folio	200
Feat	Mindsight	Lords of Madness	126
Feat	Brand of the Nine Hells	Fiendish Codex II	81
Feat	Leadership	Dungeon Master's Guide	106
Feat	Knowledge Devotion	Complete Champion	60
Feat	Mark of Nessus	Fiendish Codex II	84
Feat	Ability Focus	Monster Manual V	204
Feat	Graft Flash	Lords of Madness/Fiend Folio	216/207
Skill Trick	Second Impression	Complete Scoundrel	88
Spell	Devil’s Ego	Fiendish Codex II	101

[tr][td] Spell [/td][td] Hellfire [/td][td] Fiendish Codex II [/td][td] 101 [/td][/tr][/table]
[tr][td] Spells [/td][td] All others [/td][td] Players Handbook [/td][td] Varies [/td][/tr][/table]

[Beni-Kujaku]

At least this Unholy Scion is actually born.

Fercin Garrux

CG Azurin Unholy Scion Rogue 2/Spellthief 8/Death Delver 1/Fiend of Corruption 1/Fiend of Blasphemy of the Traveler 2/Mystic Theurge 3

Domains: Celerity Travel

Str 12 Dex 12+2 Con 14 Int 14+6 Wis 14+2 Cha 14+4
Increase Dex at 4th. Cha at 8th and Wis at 12th and 16th.

Spoiler: Story

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“They say Fercin Garrux was born near Stormreach, where legend has it the Traveler bled during the war against the giants.” began the storyteller. “He was the son of Marica Garrux, the most powerful crime lady in the city, and one of the Lords of Dust. Marica tried to make an alliance that the other crime lords would fear, and fear it they did. After a few years of Marica dominating Stormreach, her decision making started to slip. Rumors spread that she was giving power to her very young son. It seems hard to believe that a woman as cunning as Marica had made such a foolish decision, but it was enough to end her dominance of the crime world. The leaders of the Bilge Rats had her assassinated and kidnapped Fercin. Their leader, a master pickpocket named Regan, decided to keep the boy, young Fercin, alive to legitimize their takeover. Regan took a liking to the young boy, particularly when another aspect of his inborn power manifested itself: gloves made of soulstuff that let him pinch things others couldn’t. Regan taught Fercin his skills, and before long the boy was a gifted thief. Several years later, the two had a falling out. Though Fercin had inherited his mother’s skill as a thief and his father’s magic, he hadn't inherited their ruthlessness. When called upon to kill, he refused. Regan cast Fercin out, and he fled. Observing this, agents of his father sought him out. In disguise as mortal businessmen, they taught him how to use his natural gifts to steal magic as well as purses, working for various merchant companies to sabotage their rivals. He soon gained a reputation for impossible heists and daring escapes. His seemingly miraculous escapes from death left Fercin with an obsession with it, propelling him to greater heists.
In the last year of the war, Fercin finally caught on, but to the surprise of the fiend asked to continue serving. Delighted, Fercin’s father took over his training, teaching him to corrupt mortals and draw magic from the Dark Six. Unbeknownst to his father, Fercin still desired to do good and sought to steal the secrets of the fiends to use against them. Still, he took to the training, showing an affinity for the Traveler due to his birthplace. During his training, he learned a terrible secret. In the pact that gave him his powers and cemented his mother’s alliance with the fiends, she had traded away his soul to the fiend. Fercin’s soul magic came from that bargain, but he himself lacked a soul. After learning the basics of fiendish magic, he left, his discovery giving him an idea. He became determined to steal back his soul. Now, rumor has it that he's looking for a crew to pull the greatest heist of all time: stealing a soul from the Lords of Dust.”
The storyteller finished, to wild applause. At the back of the inn, Xicyr pulled up her hood. Rumors of Fercin’s plan had spread throughout the underworld, and she had traced the source here. The audacity of the heist appealed to her, but more importantly, she could use this to free her brother’s soul. Hopefully Fercin knew what he was doing. She walked backstage, where the storyteller was sipping a cup of wine. As she entered, he looked up.
“Liked my story?” he asked. “There’s more where that came from.”
“Cut the crap,” she whispered. “You’re Fercin, right?”
At this, the man’s face shifted to reveal piercing blue eyes and skin tinged with orange stripes.
“That's me,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”
“I want in."
“What’s a pretty girl doing trading away her soul?”
Xicyr snorted. “It’s my idiot brother’s soul I’m after. And you’ll need my help. You might have heard of me as the Midnight Shadow.”
“I was hoping the shadow would sign on,” Fercin replied. “Welcome aboard.”
He snapped his fingers and the backroom shifted. Xicyr saw other figures fade appear: a dwarf in chainmail, a gnome wearing a belt covered in machines, and a fur covered humanoid, presumably a shifter.
“Team, welcome our newest member aboard,” Fercin pronounced. “Now who’s ready to steal back some souls?”

Spoiler: Concept Explanation

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I thought it would be fun to make a build that could steal anything. Originally, the concept was a lot more complicated and could theoretically steal way more things, but it wasn’t related to the theme, and so I changed to this build, which can’t steal as much, but is more divine oriented. One note: Unholy Scions are all supposed to be evil, but Eberron relaxes those rules, and I’m not using Fercin’s alignment for anything. A lawful evil Fercin works the exact same. In terms of UotSI, Fercin’s miracles are combining Feign Death with Fast Healing to “rise from the dead,” using Master Pickpocket and Sleight of Hand to do things like stealing a wizard’s spell component pouch mid combat, and using his large number of stealth abilities to break into places that logically shouldn’t be penetrable. In general, Fercin is designed to be a thief first and a fighter second, but he excels outside of combat.

Spoiler: Level Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features	SLAs
1st	Rogue 1	0	0	2	0	Sleight of Hand 4 (+4), Hide 4 (+4), Move Silently 4 (+4), Bluff 4 (+4), Disguise 4 (+4), Knowledge Religion 2 (+2), Knowledge Arcana 2 (+2), Sense Motive 4 (+4), Appraise 4 (+4), Tumble 4 (+4), Gather Information 4 (+4), Open Lock 4 (+4), Disable Device 4 (+4), Search 4 (+4)	Able Learner, Shape Soulmeld (Theft Gloves) (Bonus)	Sneak Attack +1d6, Antiquarian	Charm Person 3/day
2nd	Rogue 2	1	0	3	0	Sleight of Hand 5 (+1), Hide 5 (+1), Move Silently 5 (+1), Bluff 5 (+1), Disguise 5 (+1), Knowledge Religion 2, Knowledge Arcana 2, Sense Motive 5 (+1), Appraise 5 (+1), Tumble 5 (+1), Gather Information 5 (+1), Open Lock 5 (+1), Disable Device 5 (+1), Search 5 (+1), Clever Improviser		Feign Death
3rd	Spellthief 1	1	0	3	2	Sleight of Hand 6 (+1), Hide 6 (+1), Move Silently 6 (+1), Bluff 6 (+1), Disguise 6 (+1), Knowledge Religion 3 (+1), Knowledge Arcana 3 (+1), Sense Motive 6 (+1), Appraise 5, Tumble 6 (+1), Gather Information 6 (+1), Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 6 (+1), Clever Improviser	Godsblood Spelltheft (Travel)	Sneak Attack 2d6, Steal Spell (0 or 1), Trapfinding	Desecrate
4th	Spellthief 2	2	0	3	3	Sleight of Hand 7 (+1), Hide 7 (+1), Move Silently 7 (+1), Bluff 7 (+1), Disguise 7 (+1), Knowledge Religion 3, Knowledge Arcana 5 (+2), Sense Motive 7 (+1), Appraise 5, Tumble 7 (+1), Gather Information 7 (+1), Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 7 (+1), Clever Improviser		Detect Magic, Spellgrace +1, steal spell effect
5th	Spellthief 3	3	1	4	3	Sleight of Hand 8 (+1), Hide 8 (+1), Move Silently 8 (+1), Bluff 8 (+1), Disguise 8 (+1), Knowledge Religion 4 (+1), Knowledge Arcana 6 (+1), Sense Motive 8 (+1), Appraise 5, Tumble 8 (+1), Gather Information 8 (+1), Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 8 (+1), Clever Improviser		Steal energy resistance 10	Enervation, Protection from Good 3/day
6th	Spellthief 4	4	1	4	4	Sleight of Hand 9 (+1), Hide 9 (+1), Move Silently 9 (+1), Bluff 9 (+1), Disguise 9 (+1), Knowledge Religion 4, Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 9 (+1), Appraise 5, Tumble 9 (+1), Gather Information 9 (+1), Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 9 (+1), Heal 1 (+1), Concentration 1 (+1), Clever Improviser	Master Pickpocket	Steal Spell (2)
7th	Spellthief 5	4	1	4	4	Sleight of Hand 10 (+1), Hide 10 (+1), Move Silently 10 (+1), Bluff 10 (+1), Disguise 10 (+1), Knowledge Religion 5 (+1), Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 10 (+1), Appraise 5, Tumble 10 (+1), Gather Information 10 (+1), Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 10 (+1), Heal 2 (+1), Concentration 1, Clever Improviser		Sneak Attack 3d6, Steal Spell like Ability	Major Image 3/day, Poison
8th	Spellthief 6	5	2	5	5	Sleight of Hand 11 (+1), Hide 11 (+1), Move Silently 11 (+1), Bluff 11 (+1), Disguise 11 (+1), Knowledge Religion 5, Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 11 (+1), Appraise 5, Tumble 11 (+1), Gather Information 11 (+1), Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11 (+1), Heal 2, Concentration 1, Clever Improviser,		Steal Spell (3)
9th	Spellthief 7	6	2	5	5	Sleight of Hand 12 (+1), Hide 12 (+1), Move Silently 12 (+1), Bluff 12 (+1), Disguise 12 (+1), Knowledge Religion 6 (+1), Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 12 (+1), Appraise 5, Tumble 11, Gather Information 11, Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11, Heal 2, Concentration 5 (+4), Clever Improviser, Conceal Spellcasting, Mosquito's Bite	Bonus Essentia	Absorb spell	Dominate Person, Baleful Polymorph
10th	Spellthief 8	7	2	5	6	Sleight of Hand 13 (+1), Hide 13 (+1), Move Silently 13 (+1), Bluff 13 (+1), Disguise 13 (+1), Knowledge Religion 6, Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 12, Appraise 5, Tumble 11, Gather Information 11, Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11, Heal 2, Concentration 8 (+3), Clever Improviser, Conceal Spellcasting, Mosquito's Bite, Assume Quirk		Steal Spell (3)
11th	Death Delver 1	7	4	5	8	Sleight of Hand 14 (+1), Hide 14 (+1), Move Silently 14 (+1), Bluff 13, Disguise 13, Knowledge Religion 10 (+4), Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 12, Appraise 5, Tumble 11, Gather Information 11, Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11, Heal 2, Concentration 3, Clever Improviser, Conceal Spellcasting, Mosquito's Bite, Assume Quirk		Deathsense, Rebuke Undead	Animate Dead, True Seeing 3/day
12th	Fiend of Corruption 1	7	6	7	10	Sleight of Hand 15 (+1), Hide 15 (+1), Move Silently 15 (+1), Bluff 15 (+2), Disguise 15 (+2), Knowledge Religion 10, Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 12, Appraise 5, Tumble 11, Gather Information 11, Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11, Heal 2, Concentration 3, Clever Improviser, Conceal Spellcasting, Mosquito's Bite, Assume Quirk	Leadership	Alternate Form, Fiend's Favor
13th	Fiend of Blasphemy 1	7	8	9	12	Sleight of Hand 16 (+1), Hide 16 (+1), Move Silently 16 (+1), Bluff 16 (+1), Disguise 16 (+1), Knowledge Religion 10, Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 12, Appraise 5, Tumble 13 (+2), Gather Information 11, Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11, Heal 2, Concentration 3, Clever Improviser, Conceal Spellcasting, Mosquito's Bite, Assume Quirk	Travel Devotion (B)	Blood Oath, Locate Cultist, Undetectable Alignment	Unholy Aura 3/day, Unhallow
14th	Fiend of Blasphemy 2	8	9	10	13	Sleight of Hand 17 (+1), Hide 17 (+1), Move Silently 17 (+1), Bluff 17 (+1), Disguise 17 (+1), Knowledge Religion 10, Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 12, Appraise 5, Tumble 13, Gather Information 11, Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11, Heal 2, Concentration 3, Clever Improviser, Conceal Spellcasting, Mosquito's Bite, Assume Quirk, Acrobatic Backstab		Transfer Spell Like Ability
15th	Mystic Theurge 1	8	9	10	15	Sleight of Hand 18 (+1), Hide 18 (+1), Move Silently 18 (+1), Bluff 18 (+1), Disguise 18 (+1), Knowledge Religion 10, Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 12, Appraise 5, Tumble 13, Gather Information 11, Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11, Heal 2, Concentration 3, Clever Improviser, Conceal Spellcasting, Mosquito's Bite, Assume Quirk, Acrobatic Backstab, Back on Your Feet	Darkstalker		Harm
16th	Mystic Theurge 2	9	9	10	16	Sleight of Hand 19 (+1), Hide 19 (+1), Move Silently 19 (+1), Bluff 19 (+1), Disguise 19 (+1), Knowledge Religion 10, Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 12, Appraise 5, Tumble 13, Gather Information 11, Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11, Heal 2, Concentration 3, Clever Improviser, Conceal Spellcasting, Mosquito's Bite, Assume Quirk, Acrobatic Backstab, Back on Your Feet, Collector of Stories
17th	Mystic Theurge 3	9	10	11	16	Sleight of Hand 20 (+1), Hide 20 (+1), Move Silently 20 (+1), Bluff 20 (+1), Disguise 20 (+1), Knowledge Religion 10, Knowledge Arcana 6, Sense Motive 12, Appraise 5, Tumble 13, Gather Information 11, Open Lock 5, Disable Device 5, Search 11, Heal 2, Concentration 3, Clever Improviser, Conceal Spellcasting, Mosquito's Bite, Assume Quirk, Acrobatic Backstab, Back on Your Feet, Collector of Stories, Second Impression			Gate

Spoiler: Spelltable

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Level	Class	Spellthief 1st	Spellthief 2nd	Spellthief Known	Blasphemy 1st	Blasphemy 2nd	Blasphemy 3rd	Blasphemy 4th	Blasphemy 5th	Death Delver
3rd	Spellthief 1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	Spellthief 2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	Spellthief 3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	Spellthief 4	0	-	Invisibility, Swift (1st), Instant Locksmith (1st)	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	Spellthief 5	0	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	Spellthief 6	1	-	Instant Search (1st)	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th	Spellthief 7	1	-		-	-	-	-	-	-
10th	Spellthief 8	1	0	Chain of Eyes (2nd), Mirror Move (2nd), Remove Scent (1st)	-	-	-	-	-	-
11th	Death Delver	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	0
12th	Fiend of Corruption 1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	0
13th	Fiend of Blasphemy 1	1	0		0+1	-	-	-	-	0
14th	Fiend of Blasphemy 2	1	0		1+1	0+1	-	-	-	0
15th	Mystic Theurge 1	1	0		1+1	1+1	0+1	-	-	0
16th	Mystic Theurge 2	1	1	Steal Size (2nd)	1+1	1+1	1+1	0+1	-	0
17th	Mystic Theurge 3	1	1		2+1	1+1	1+1	1+1	0+1	0

]

Spoiler: Tactics

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Spoiler: Levels 4-9

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Fercin suffers heavily from level adjustment towards the beginning. His rogue skills are behind, and his crappy damage reduction doesn’t really make up for his very low hit points. Charm Person, from Unholy Scion works well because of his high charisma. Immunity to poison and mind affecting, from the template, are always nice. His second level of rogue brings one trick that will be quite useful for him. Feign Death can be activated as an immediate action, which gives Fercin a way to avoid getting killed- after getting injured, activate Feign Death and then lie on the ground for a bit, pretending to be dead while Fast Healing kicks in. This is his first “miracle." He looks dead according to divination magic, but can get back up on his own.

Spellthief levels add sneak attack and limited spell stealing ability. Fercin’s favored weapon is a Poison Ring, from Dragon Compendium, which lets him make touch attacks to deliver poison and sneak attacks, ameliorating his terrible BAB. He also gets Godsblood Spelltheft which grows in power over time. At ninth level he gets Master Pickpocket, weak spellcasting, and the ability to steal second level spells. One spell slot stinks, but Fercin can probably ‘borrow’ some to power Swift Invisibility and Instant Locksmith, both of which help with breaking into places. Master Pickpocket is a fun feat that makes it way easier to grab your opponent's things as a free action. With the free action penalty reduced to minus 10, Fercin has +5 or +15 without it, enough to pickpocket plenty of people. While there’s no limit to the amount of times Fercin can do this, to avoid slowing the game down too much I suggest limiting it to once per round. Stealing second level spells makes Fercin’s regular routine a little more useful. By now, Fercin also has Desecrate, Enervation, and Protection from Good from Unholy Scion. Protection from Good and Desecrate stink, but Enervation is a nice offensive spell.

Spoiler: ECL 10-15

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In these levels, Fercin’s tactics stay basically the same. Stealing spell-like abilities is nice, and means that Fercin can sacrifice multiple sneak attack dice to steal multiple things. If he lands a sneak attack on a creature with spells, SLAs, and resistances, he could steal all three by giving up all three SA dice. At higher levels, Bonus Essentia makes the gloves better, and Fercin learns how to steal higher level spells. His new spellthief spells all either make getting in or running away easier. He also has some shiny new spell likes: Major Image, Poison, Dominate Person, and Baleful Polymorph, all of which are pretty useful.

At ECL 13, Fercin gets second level spellthief spells. Mirror Move adds to the “can steal anything” idea, letting him copy other people’s abilities. Chain of Eyes is great for breaking into places as it lets you scout via body jumping. By now, Fercin can steal level 4 spells, which include Dimension Door and Fly thanks to Godsblood Spelltheft, expanding his maneuverabiliy. At ECL 14, Fercin takes a level in Death Delver, which doesn’t do a whole lot right now, but at will Deathwatch can be somewhat useful. Death Delver spellcasting is super lame, but Fercin probably memorizes Hide from Undead. This level also brings Animate Dead and True Seeing from Unholy Scion SLAs. ECL 15 brings a dip in Fiend of Corruption which gives a few handy abilities. Fiend’s Favor is a nice buff. Fercin usually uses it to buff his wisdom once he gets Fiend of Blasphemy casting and Charisma before then. At will Alternate Form is nice, giving him a nice way to blend into places and lets him turn into the famous Mutant Gargoyle from Tomb of Horrors if he needs to smash some faces. As per the contest rules, Leadership is taken to qualify for Fiend of Blasphemy and then forgotten about. At ECL 15, Fercin’s Sleight of Hand is +25 or +15 as a free action, allowing him to reliably grab stuff and run.

Spoiler: ECL 16-20

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Fercin’s divine abilities become stronger with Fiend of Blasphemy, a weird fast progression prestige class only open to fiends. First level brings some lame spells, but more importantly class abilities. By using the domain equivalencies rule and trading Celerity in for Travel Devotion, Fercin can essentially double down on Travel. With Rebuke Undead from Death Delver, Fercin has enough Travel Devotion uses for 4 battles a day. This allows him to run in, take a stab, swipe something and run away all on the same turn, which should limit the number of deaths he has to fake. In this stretch of levels, Fercin takes a ton of Skill Tricks which don’t bring a ton of raw power, but make his rogue abilities better. Blood Oath and Locate Cultist are both obviously meant to make cults, but they work fine for keeping an eye on members of your thief crew. Fiends of Blasphemy (FoB) also gives Undetectable Alignment at will, nice for avoiding detection and fooling fiends. First level FoB spells are pretty weak, but bless is okay. 13th level/16 ECL also unlocks a new tier of SLAs; including Unholy Aura, which still works okay against evil targets.

Next level has Transfer SLA, which lets Fercin gives his SLAs to allies, improving action economy. In terms of spells, Fercin can use Bull’s Strength on himself and Silence is great for sneaking into places. Next Fercin goes into mystic theurge because the other class abilities of FoB are crap. He gets Harm as an SLA at this level, and improvements in Spellthief and FoB. His 3rd level spell of choice is Magic Circle, though he memorizes invisibility purge if he suspects there will be invisible creatures ahead. Steal Size, Fercin’s new spellthief spell, adds to the “can steal anything” theme, though it’s fairly weak. 4th level FoB spells are better than earlier levels. Death ward is always fine, and Tongues and Spell Immunity help Fercin break into places by impersonating the locals and bypassing detection spells. 20th level is more improvements to what Fercin already does. Gate, from Unholy Scion, is obviously powerful, and Teleport from Travel Domain and Plane Shift from FoB let Fercin run away much more effectively. For this whole last stretch of levels, Fercin mainly uses hit and run tactics in battle, aiming to rob his enemies rather than do damage. His sleight of hand modifier is +32/+22, making lifting an object automatic for him and potentially allowing some of the epic uses.

Spoiler: Sources

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Heroes of Horror: Unholy Scion, Death Delver
Magic of Incarnum: Azurin, Theft Gloves, Shape Soulmeld, Bonus Essentia
Complete Adventurer: Spellthief, Swift Invisibility, Instant Locksmith, Instant Search
Spell Compendium: Chain of Eyes, Remove Scent
Races of the Dragon: Steal Size
Web: Godsblood Spelltheft https://web.archive.org/web/20201111.../frcc/20070606 Mirror Move https://rpg.nobl.ca/dnd.php?x=dnd/sb/sb20000901a
Fiend Folio: Fiend of Corruption, Fiend of Blasphemy
Eberron Campaign Setting: The Traveler
City of Stormreach: Master Pickpocket
Races of Destiny: Able Learner
Lords of Madness: Darkstalker
Complete Champion: Celerity Domain, Travel Devotion, domain equivalencies
Dragon Compendium: Poison Ring

[Beni-Kujaku]

Thank you for these four entries ! Do we have somebody willing to judge ?

[loky1109]

#	Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Total	Place
1	Agatha all Along	?? Half-Celestial 5th-Headed Hydra	Death Delver 10
2	Things Lost, Things Gained	NE Nymph/Splinterwaif Knave	Ex-Voice of the City Druid 1/Sneak Attack Hit-And-Run Fighter 1/Blighter 3/Shaper of Form 3/Shapeshifter 3/Talontar Blightlord 3
3	Gor'on Ram'zziis	LE Pie Fiend	Fiend of Blasphemy 6
4	Fercin Garrux	CG Unholy Scion Azurin	Antiquarian Feign Death Rogue 2/Spellthief 8/Death Delver 1/Fiend of Corruption 1/Fiend of Blasphemy 2/Mystic Theurge 3

[loky1109]

We have two Fiends of Blasphemy and two Death Delvers among four entries. Funny.

I like Things Lost, Things Gained very much!

UPD: Beni, your signature is obsolete.

[Inevitability]

Do we have a judge for these four entries?

[Beni-Kujaku]

Bumping this thread, does anybody want to judge? Don't be shy, there aren't many entries, even if you have never judged!

[loky1109]

Jedges? Anybody.

[Inevitability]

We've got only four entries: are there really no interested judges?

[Beni-Kujaku]

If nobody steps up‚ I will judge those next week (I have a few things going on this week).

[Beni-Kujaku]

After too long a delay, here is the judgement for our miraculous contestants !

The « miracles » received points based on how impossible they look at first glance. Simply using the ability of a common monster will be penalized, using spells or abilities in weird or unexpected ways will be rewarded beyond Originality.

Spoiler: Agatha : 11/20

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Spoiler: Originality: 2.5/5

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Death Delver is kind of expected in a « cheat death » round, but it’s still a very obscure prestige class. No positive or negative there. The Hydra with SLAs is slightly original, but your feats really aren’t.

Spoiler: Elegance: 3.25/5

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Slight issue in your table (Hydra is LA+2, Half-Celestial is LA+3, not the opposite), but otherwise the build seems legal. I don’t know your domains. I don’t really see any good synergy between the parts of your build. I’m not sure why Rigor Mortis is there. I assume you thought it would help to feign death, but since it requires a standard action it’s not useable in combat. Also, see Power for casting spells. Rebuke Undead is pretty useless. You’re generally gonna have more than enough Death Devotion with the feat alone, since it lasts one minute and you don’t gain any additional benefit from using it several times in a fight.

Spoiler: Power: 1.75/5

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Hydras have a really good offense with some support (and INA is nice for it). However, ten levels of defensive abilities don’t make for good contribution to the party. Not dying is good, and your fast healing means you’re right back up when Nine Lives triggers, but it’s still an emergency ability that shouldn’t trigger often. You don’t have that good of a BAB (your to-hit is the same as a fighter with Str 10), and Death Devotion cannot deal more than 3 negative levels due to your LA. You are pretty weak to DR (especially without Power Attack) and your spells don’t help much in combat. Shape Soulmeld (Flame Cincture) is a better choice than the Salt Statuary, giving Fire Resistance 10 rather than 5 (itself not that good, nobody actually cuts a hydra’s heads), Sunken City of Pazar doesn’t work for you (it allows you to wield bigger weapons but does not increase the damage of your natural attacks).

More generally, you’re a Hydra without Surrogate Spellcasting, which means you can’t cast your spells, which is bad.

Spoiler: UoSI: 3.5/5

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Very self-centered miracles, so not really something that many people can see and be impressed by, but you really have many ways to cheat death, including the quintessential « you thought I was dead » ability in Nine Lives. Feeding thousands of people also qualifies, but it’s not that fast nor is it too easy for you to do since you need somebody else to cut your heads and distribute the food. Mechanically, the build does rely on the hydra’s abilities, but it could be anything else with several natural attacks with little issue. Death Devotion and Improved Natural Attack do build on your natural abilities, but the rest of the build do not require you being a hydra.

Spoiler: Total: 11/20

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This build feels like there wasn’t really a global idea or theme, and you added things that you found here and there that you thought was cool, and the result is middling.

Spoiler: The Provider : 18/20

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Spoiler: Originality: 4/5

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Actually using Renaissance is extremely unique. Blighter is so widely known as bad that it is basically never used. Seeing it here is a breath of fresh air. Seeing it well-used is even better. Using Evil Weather to feed a city is incredible. Recreating vegetation from corpses yourself to fuel deforestation is something I’ve never seen before. Using Undead Wild Shape to avoid corruption cost is also unique. The first feats and Fighter ACF are must-have in a SA buils, but Savage Grapple is a great feat that I didn’t even know existed. Great build.

Spoiler: Elegance: 4/5

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I am going to say that I adore this backstory with all of my heart. It fits extremely well the mechanical evolution, and a nymph forsaking nature and being forced to help people but choosing to do it in the most destructive way possible is incredible. The build is slightly messy (going towards sneak attack and disease and spells and wild shape and minionmancy…) and the two sources of Wild Shape, though both serving a different purpose, feel a bit redundant. Still, the build is perfectly legal, and everything goes together nicely.

Spoiler: Power: 5/5

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9th level spells, access to a wide variety of transformation and powerful sneak attack potential, both through the « I’m a stealthy hydra » route and through Savage Grapple. The fact that you cannot use Craven while in Undead Wild Shape and that your regular Wild Shape is not only restricted to 3x3hrs/day but that you regularly switch from regular to Undead Wild Shape to cast your corrupt spells may mean you’ll be out of tiger at the end of the day, but your Polymorph and many minions make up for that. You do a lot of things, and you do it all very well, especially for a Blighter, while keeping some resources for making your miracles. Impressive.

Spoiler: UoSI: 5/5

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A billion-people city in the middle of the desert is about as much of a miracle as I could hope for. Philosopher’s stone-style transmutation, infinite wood and unlimited red paint (what ? How is the city going to entertain itself if it cannot paint its minis ?) are just icing on the cake. You very much have divine magic, and do impressive things helping people on such a large scale that nobody could deny that they are miracles. Even entering Blighter relies heavily on your first race while recharging its abilities requires the splinterwaif’s special attack. Perfect Monstrosity.

Spoiler: Total: 18/20

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Wow. That was great. Thank you for this one, and I’ll keep it for one of my games (though instead of reforesting to recharge its powers, the splinterwaif will try to make its original deal moot. There can be no human in the forest if there is no forest. Thus the Provider uses Blight to destroy its own forest while the humans keep planting and tending to what little forest is left to keep being fed. The role are then reversed : the nymph that protected the forest out of love now tries to destroy it out of sadness and hatred, while the humans who exploited the forest out of greed now work together to protect it out of fear and solidarity.). I’m still surprised such an oathbound creature isn’t Lawful.

Spoiler: Gor’on Ram’sizz : 15/20

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Spoiler: Originality: 3/5

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Most of your build is your race and a generally original class but one that is kinda expected on an Evil outsider, but there are a few good feats (Mark of Nessus, Graft Flesh), and a few well-known ones (Ability Focus, Mindsight, Knowledge Devotion). Overall ? Middle of the road.

Spoiler: Elegance: 4.5/5

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Simple, legal build, with a fluff concept that is very much achieved. Slightly too many cross-class skills and a few non-sequitur feats (no real synergy with Graft Flesh, btw Flesh not Flash, and Knowledge Devotion with no in-class Knowledge skill still seems weird, though I understand it was necessary for FoB).

Spoiler: Power: 3.5/5

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I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actual build with that many skill points. Heck, I’ve seen builds with less points at lv 20 than Gor’on has at 1st level. Then again, you didn’t really improve that much on the original monster, apart from the Mark of Nessus. Fiend of Blasphemy gives very flavorful and out-of-combat abilities, but if giving new domains and one of your SLAs significantly improves the abilities of a level 12 cleric in an ECL 20 environment, then that cleric shouldn’t be here in the first place. Still, the spells are good, and give a bit more oomph to the Pie Fiend chassis, for a pretty versatile and powerful result. Still, the overall spell level is a bit low, compared to what other classes can reach at that point, and your offense may be a bit lacking. You also have several « wasted » feats that you don’t really use but are necessary for FoB (obviously Leadership, but also Knowledge Devotion, despite your incredible number of skills).

Spoiler: UoSI: 4/5

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At will pie is better than a hydra cutting its heads to giving them as food but it’s still not that large-scale or unique. Still, good « divine » casting, and I appreciate the cult creation, which can be considered a miracle on its own.

Spoiler: Total: 15/20

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It’s a very simple build based on a very self-contained monster and a class that fits the round theme on top of it. The feats don’t really do anything here except patching up the defenses (though they do a good job at it). Overall good, nothing exceptional.

Spoiler: Fercin Garrux : 10/20

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I’m pretty sure the picture is of a drow, not an azurin.

Spoiler: Originality: 2.5/5

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Another fiend of blasphemy ? And another Death Delver. But only dips of each. Okay. Once again, the « Fiend of » classes are neither original nor unoriginal on a fiend. Spellthief is rarely seen, but some feats you chose definitely are (Able Learner, Travel Devotion, and Darkstalker), as well as the use of a Poison Ring. Godsblood spelltheft is a great feat and a very obscure one too. The build has both sides of originality.

Spoiler: Elegance: 1.5/5

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There are several dips or almost-dips here, combined with high multiclass penalties between rogue and spellthief, and a wrong skill count at levels 11 and 12 (somehow you take 2 skill tricks without paying for them). It’s also a bit hard to see an overarching theme, and the Unholy Scion/FoB/FoC seem slightly out of place with no real interaction with the Spellthief part of the build. Finally, domain equivalencies are presented as an option for DMs and the given equivalencies as examples rather than a hard rule, thus some DMs may not use them, which warrants an Elegance penalty.

Spoiler: Power: 3.75/5

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Animate Dead and Gate as SLAs are obviously good, and FoB spells are also quite good, especially with your kinda good Cha and Wis. Feign Death is generally worse than Evasion, since it only allows you to escape a fight. Only 3 ranks in Concentration does not bode well for melee casting, but it is offset by Conceal Spellcasting. A sneak attack Harm at the beginning of the fight may be a game changer, especially with Swift Invisibility for following rounds. In combat, you do pretty well, though I don’t see any show-stopping ability, either in terms of high DpR or high-DC save-or-lose. Out of combat, I feel like you’re going to make all the skill checks (though your magic has overall little out of combat utility), and to be very annoying by constantly asking if that one NPC has something shiny to steal (which is a good thing in these comps).

Spoiler: UoSI: 2.25/5

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Where is the miracle here ? Being able to feign death ? You have a few divine spells, but really nothing awe-inspiring or particularly unique. You do use the type, subtype and one of your monstrous template’s SLAs to enable your classes, but the abilities it gives you aren’t very synergistic with the rest of the build.

Spoiler: Total: 10/20

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I would have liked to see the full concept of « can steal anything », especially with the « let’s steal a soul » premice.

If you have questions and disputes, just send them directly to me.

[Inevitability]

Thank you for stepping in to judge; no disputes.

[FactualArcher]

Thanks for judging. No disputes from me.

[loky1109]

No disputes from me, either.

And the Table!

#	Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Beni-Kujaku	Total	Place
1	Agatha all Along	?? Half-Celestial 5th-Headed Hydra	Death Delver 10		11.00	11.00	3rd
2	Things Lost, Things Gained	NE Nymph/Splinterwaif Knave	Ex-Voice of the City Druid 1/Sneak Attack Hit-And-Run Fighter 1/Blighter 3/Shaper of Form 3/Shapeshifter 3/Talontar Blightlord 3		18.00	18.00	1st
3	Gor'on Ram'zziis	LE Pie Fiend	Fiend of Blasphemy 6		15.00	15.00	2nd
4	Fercin Garrux	CG Unholy Scion Azurin	Antiquarian Feign Death Rogue 2/Spellthief 8/Death Delver 1/Fiend of Corruption 1/Fiend of Blasphemy 2/Mystic Theurge 3		10.00	10.00	4th

[Beni-Kujaku]

Thank you for the quick no-dispute confirmations.

#	Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Beni-Kujaku	Total	Place
1	Agatha all Along	?? Half-Celestial 5th-Headed Hydra	Death Delver 10	loky1109	11.00	11.00	3rd
2	Things Lost, Things Gained	NE Nymph/Splinterwaif Knave	Ex-Voice of the City Druid 1/Sneak Attack Hit-And-Run Fighter 1/Blighter 3/Shaper of Form 3/Shapeshifter 3/Talontar Blightlord 3	Inevitability	18.00	18.00	1st
3	Gor'on Ram'zziis	LE Pie Fiend	Fiend of Blasphemy 6	loky1109	15.00	15.00	2nd
4	Fercin Garrux	CG Unholy Scion Azurin	Antiquarian Feign Death Rogue 2/Spellthief 8/Death Delver 1/Fiend of Corruption 1/Fiend of Blasphemy 2/Mystic Theurge 3	FactualArcher	10.00	10.00	4th

Congratulations to all entrants, especially to Inevitability who takes gold once again! Next theme will be One-Punch Man, one that has been asked for for quite a long time now.

[Inevitability]

Congratulations to Loky and FactualArcher, and another thanks for our chair! Lorine/The Provider/TLTG is a build I'm pretty proud of, and I'm glad to see it judged at last.

Do we have any ideas for the next round? I think quite a few got shared in past threads.