Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

**quetzalcoatl5** · 2024-02-13, 12:08 AM (ISO 8601)

I'd take another day if possible. Life has gotten in the way of typing it up, but I've got the build mapped out.

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-13, 03:26 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by quetzalcoatl5

I'd take another day if possible. Life has gotten in the way of typing it up, but I've got the build mapped out.

Sure! Deadline extended by one more day.

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-15, 02:57 AM (ISO 8601)

Alright, it's time for the reveal! Please refrain from posting until I give the all-clear.

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-15, 02:58 AM (ISO 8601)

Death is curable: failure is not.

Originally Posted by Simon Tam

Simon Tam

Please imagine this song playing while reading the entry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPwkDF5AxQM

LG Halfling Shaman 5/Swordsage 6/Citadel Elite 5/Swordsage +4
Domains Divination and Healing, traded for healing devotion

Spoiler: Name Explanation

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The theme of healing+Serenity made me think of Serenity’s doctor, Simon Tam, which is the build’s name. I couldn’t make an interesting and at least slightly useful non magical healing build, so the current build bears no resemblance to the actual Simon Tam, but I thought the joke was funny enough to keep. Random other fact, Nyrielle Tam, also known as Thorn from the Thorn of Breland series is another agent of the Citadel. I didn’t know this until I had already made the build, but it’s a funny coincidence.

Spoiler: Stats

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Str 6
Dex 16
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 18
Cha 8
All increases do to wisdom

Spoiler: Story

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Captain Vron, commander of the King’s Dark Lanterns, entered the meeting room. Inside sat Kor ir’Wynarn, his commanding officer and leader of the Citadel.
“Captain,” Kor greeted him.
“Sir,” Vron replied. “There’s a situation along the border. People have been going missing, and our agents have found those responsible. A group of werewolves apparently known as the Dark Pack. We’d lose good agents trying to defeat them, but we can’t let the raids continue.”
“I have just the man to send you,” Kor replied. He slid a piece of paper across the table.
Vron picked it up. Simon Tam: Service Record and Personal Details, it read. He skipped to the missions section. As he read, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“What is wrong here?” he asked. “These numbers are terrible. Five years ago he defeated a rogue dragon with a group of King’s Swords, but he was the only survivor. The next month, he prevented an assassination attempt on one of our diplomats, but three fourths of his force perished. 80% casualties in the next, then 95% against a demon, though he was with regular soldiers at the time. Only survivor of the next, then 113% casualties? How is that even possible?”
Kor laughed. “That’s Simon’s magic. He bears the mark of healing, but he’s not a member of House Jorasco. Despite that, he can bring the dead back to life better than anyone I’ve ever even heard of. Not one of our agents has ever died permanently on a mission he’s been on. I think he might be just the thing for your team.”
“Indeed. Do we know how he gained his magic?”
“That we do. Simon’s not much of a spy, but he’s been loyal to us. He comes from two long family traditions. His mother’s side is a line that split from Jorasco a long time ago and uses their marks to commune with spirits and their ancestors. His father’s family are longtime Brelish patriots. His sister serves in the Citadel as well. The combination was powerful, and Simon took to our combat training better than most. While he could heal before, he only recently gained his new level of power. Have you heard of the Draconic Prophecy?”
Vron shrugged. “I thought it was just a fairytale.”
“Simon disagrees with you. He claims the prophecy powers his magic, that it shows him when it is someone’s proper time to die and lets him bring them back. From a more practical standpoint, he was taught his techniques by a dragon, and while we suspect that he may truly be loyal to the dragons of Argonnessen, he is as loyal as they come so far. He’s dealt with many aberrations and demons before, but lycanthropes should be doable as well. May your team be successful. For Breland!”
“For Breland!” Vron replied.

Spoiler: Level Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Shaman 1	0	2	0	2	Knowledge Arcana 4 (+4), Concentration 4 (+4), Diplomacy 4 (+4), Gather Information 1 (+1) CC, Knowledge Religion 4 (+4), Speak Language (Draconic) 1	Least Dragonmark of Healing (Cure Light Wounds), Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Healing Devotion (B)	Animal Companion
2nd	Shaman 2	1	3	0	3	Knowledge Arcana 5 (+1), Concentration 5 (+1), Diplomacy 5 (+1), Gather Information 1 1/2 (+1/2) CC, Knowledge Religion 5 (+1), Speak Language (Draconic) 1		Spirit Sight
3rd	Shaman 3	2	3	1	3	Knowledge Arcana 6 (+1), Concentration 6 (+1), Diplomacy 6 (+1), Gather Information 2 (+1/2) CC, Knowledge Religion 6 (+1), Speak Language (Draconic) 1	Unlock Dragonmark	Turn Undead
4th	Shaman 4	3	4	1	4	Knowledge Arcana 7 (+1), Concentration 7 (+1), Diplomacy 7 (+1), Gather Information 2 1/2 (+1/2) CC, Knowledge Religion 7 (+1), Speak Language (Draconic) 1	Blind Fight (B)
5th	Shaman 5	3	4	1	4	Knowledge Arcana 8 (+1), Concentration 8 (+1), Diplomacy 8 (+1), Gather Information 3 (+1/2) CC, Knowledge Religion 8 (+1), Speak Language (Draconic) 1		Spirit's Favor
6th	Swordsage 1	3	4	3	6	Knowledge Arcana 9 (+1) CC, Concentration 9 (+1), Diplomacy 9 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8 Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 2 (+2)	Serenity	Quick to Act +1, Discipline Focus Weapon Focus (Shadow Hand)
7th	Swordsage 2	4	4	4	7	Knowledge Arcana 10 (+1) CC, Concentration 10 (+1), Diplomacy 10 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 4 (+2)		AC Bonus
8th	Swordsage 3	5	5	4	7	Knowledge Arcana 11 (+1) CC, Concentration 11 (+1), Diplomacy 11 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 6 (+2)
9th	Swordsage 4	6	5	5	8	Knowledge Arcana 12 (+1) CC, Concentration 12 (+1), Diplomacy 12 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 8 (+2)	Lesser Dragonmark of Healing (Restoration)	Discipline Focus Insightful Strikes (Shadow Hand)
10th	Swordsage 5	6	5	5	8	Knowledge Arcana 13 (+1) CC, Concentration 13 (+1), Diplomacy 13 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 9, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 10 (+2)		Quick to Act +2
11th	Swordsage 6	7	6	6	9	Knowledge Arcana 14 (+1) CC, Concentration 14 (+1), Diplomacy 14 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 12 (+2)
12th	Citadel Elite 1	8	6	6	11	Knowledge Arcana 15 (+1) CC, Concentration 15 (+1) CC, Diplomacy 15 (+1), Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 12	Greater Dragonmark of Healing (Heal)	Citadel Training, Additional Action Points
13th	Citadel Elite 2	9	6	6	12	Knowledge Arcana 16 (+1) CC, Concentration 16 (+1) CC, Diplomacy 16 (+1), Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 12	Dragonmark Visionary (Revivify) (B)	Combat Sense
14th	Citadel Elite 3	10	7	7	12	Knowledge Arcana 17 (+1) CC, Concentration 17 (+1) CC, Diplomacy 17 (+1), Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 12		Diplomatic Protection, Royal Contact
15th	Citadel Elite 4	11	7	7	13	Knowledge Arcana 18 (+1) CC, Concentration 18 (+1) CC, Diplomacy 18 (+1), Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 12	Dragon Prophecier, Prophecy's Hero (B)	Combat Sense (Attack)
16th	Citadel Elite 5	12	7	7	13	Knowledge Arcana 19 (+1) CC, Concentration 19 (+1) CC, Diplomacy 19 (+1), Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 8, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 12		Disciplined Mind, Focused Smite
17th	Swordsage 7	13	7	7	13	Knowledge Arcana 20 (+1) CC, Concentration 20(+1), Diplomacy 20 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 10, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 16 (+2)		Sense Magic
18th	Swordsage 8	14	7	8	14	Knowledge Arcana 21 (+1) CC, Concentration 21 (+1), Diplomacy 21 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 10, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 18 (+2)	Intuitive Attack	Discipline Focus Defensive Stance (Shadow Hand)
19th	Swordsage 9	14	8	8	14	Knowledge Arcana 22 (+1) CC, Concentration 22 (+1), Diplomacy 22 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 10, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 20 (+2)		Evasion
20th	Swordsage 10	15	8	9	15	Knowledge Arcana 23 (+1) CC, Concentration 23 (+1), Diplomacy 23 (+1) CC, Gather Information 3, Knowledge Religion 10, Speak Language (Draconic) 1, Tumble 22 (+2)		Quick to Act +3

Spoiler: Spells and Maneuvers

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Level	Class	Shaman 0th	Shaman 1st	Shaman 2nd	Shaman 3rd	Maneuvers Known	Stances Known	Maneuvers Readied
1st	Shaman 1	3	1+1	-	-			-
2nd	Shaman 2	4	2+1	-	-			-
3rd	Shaman 3	4	2+1	1+1	-			-
4th	Shaman 4	5	3+1	2+1	-			-
5th	Shaman 5	5	3+1	2+1	1+1			-
6th	Swordsage 1	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Drain Vitality, Moment of Perfect Mind R6, Sapphire Nightmare Blade R4, Action Before Thought, Cloak of Deception, Emerald Razor	Child of Shadow	4
7th	Swordsage 2	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Shadow Jaunt R8	Island of Blades	4
8th	Swordsage 3	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Insightful Strike		5
9th	Swordsage 4	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Mind Over Body, Strength Draining Strike	6	5
10th	Swordsage 5	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Hand of Death	Assassin's Stance	6
11th	Swordsage 6	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Obscuring Shadow Veil, Bounding Assault R10		6
12th	Citadel Elite 1	5	3+1	2+1	1+1			6
13th	Citadel Elite 2	5	3+1	2+1	1+1			6
14th	Citadel Elite 3	5	3+1	2+1	1+1			6
15th	Citadel Elite 4	5	3+1	2+1	1+1			6
16th	Citadel Elite 5	5	3+1	2+1	1+1			6
17th	Swordsage 7	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Greater Insightful Strike		6
18th	Swordsage 8	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Shadow Noose, Shadow Blink		7
19th	Swordsage 9	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Quicksilver Motion	Step of the Dancing Moth	7
20th	Swordsage 10	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	Diamond Defense, One With Shadow		8

R# means retrained at level equal to number

Spoiler: Level Breakdown

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Spoiler: 1-5

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Simon starts as a Shaman with a healing focus and a fondness for divination. Healing Devotion and his Mark, currently limited to one/day each, lets him keep healing his party. Spontaneous healing lets him prepare divination spells with most of his slots, letting him leverage both of his main skill sets at the same time. Though most of his spells realistically go to healing, his favorites to memorize are Detect spells and Trance. His skill in melee combat is quite limited, but his badger companion Jayne fights in his stead. Jayne’s burrowing is also useful for breaking into places. Shared spells make healing both easy. At 2nd level, Spirit sight is useful, but not particularly proactive. At 3rd, Turn Undead makes healing devotion better, though his low charisma limits its use for now. 2nd level spells include Commune with Lesser Spirits and Augury from Divination domain, which vastly increase Simon’s information gathering abilities. Know Motivation is also useful in social situations. At fourth level, Jayne is upgraded to a dire badger, and Simon picks up Blind Fight. Fifth level brings Spirit’s Favor, which is dead until sixth, but 3rd level spells include Divination from domain and Speak with Dead, as well as useful status removers like Remove Curse. Fifth level is the last level Simon focuses on spellcasting, instead opting to improve as a fighter. From here on out, his spell memorization, including bonus spells, is as follows:

1st: Detect Evil, Trance, Shield of Faith, Speak with Animals, Identify (D), and an extra Trance after eighth level.
2nd: Augury x2 (D), Commune with Lesser Spirit, Know Motivation, extra Know Motivation after 16th
3rd: Speak With Dead, Remove Curse, Divination (D), extra Speak With Dead once he gets a +8 wisdom bonus.

Spoiler: 6-11

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Now Simon is increasing the spread of things his wisdom can do as a Swordsage. He focuses on Diamond Mind for defense and Shadow Hand for offense and movement. He still struggles to hit in melee, but by now he can hopefully afford an elvencraft weapon, which reverses the issue. His weapon of choice is a dagger, for versatility rather than damage. Child of Shadow makes him harder to hit, and Serenity, online now boosts both his healing abilities with Healing Devotion, and his saves. Simon is still a healer, but now he can survive in melee combat and contribute slightly to damage. His choice maneuvers are Drain Vitality, Action Before Thought, Cloak of Deception, and Sapphire Nightmare Blade. At 7th level he picks up the Swordsage’s AC bonus, significantly augmenting his mediocre AC. 8th brings Insightful Strike, his first real offensive option, allowing him to leverage his concentration skill for damage. 9th improves his Dragonmark options, though the real power is coming later, as well as Discipline Focus in Shadow Hand, boosting the damage of his Shadow Hand strikes. Strength Draining Strike is his new readied maneuver, replacing Sapphire Nightmare Blade in his offensive roster. 10th level brings Assassin’s Stance, giving him a new offensive option, and Hand of Death, a save or lose with a respectable DC given his high wisdom, which fills the new readied maneuver slot. At 11th, Obscuring Shadow Veil replaces Drain Vitality in his roster, allowing for a significant debuff to melee opponents. By now Jayne is pretty much irrelevant, save for his burrowing speed.

Spoiler: 12-16

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Citadel Elite is a weird prestige class with some interesting options, which Simon explores throughout these levels. First off, Greater Dragonmark is always nice with Heal opening up in combat healing again. The 1st level features for the class don’t do a whole lot, but second level brings a decent AC boost and an unrestricted bonus feat, a rare thing in 3.5. Simon puts his towards improving his Dragonmark with an extra heal per day and a SLA revivify, which is a free, costless resurrection as long as the target died within the last round. At 14th, Diplomatic Protection and Royal Contact are both more flavor abilities, but they do contribute some to Simon’s adventure solving abilities which his divinations gave him. They rely on the DM even more than the divinations, though. 15th brings two feats, and a major combo. Dragon Prophecier+ Prophecy’s Hero allow Simon to generate lots of action points, which he can use to fuel his dragonmark via Unlock Dragonmark. Dragon Prophecier can activate several times per day, scaling off of wisdom and hit dice, so Simon can often enter favor and get free resurrections in and out of combat. He can also use Heal and Restoration, if healing damage and conditions is what he needs. This combo, which showed up in E6 in the illusions round, vastly upgrades the potential for his dragonmark. The offensive version of Combat Sense is also nice, potentially giving a significant attack boost.16th level brings some random other stuff, both wisdom focused, adding to Simon’s wis-sad potential. Focused Smite is nice, though only once per day, and Disciplined Mind combos well with Serenity, increasing his fortitude dramatically.

Spoiler: 17-20

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With his healing fully online, Simon works on his offense, gaining Greater Insightful Strike, and later Shadow Noose. At 18th, he also gains Intuitive Attack allowing him greater freedom in weapon choice and letting him add wisdom to even more crap. By now he adds wisdom to saves, fort and will twice, attacks, sometimes twice with Focused Smite, damage on some Strikes, AC, bonus spells and DCs and saves against his maneuvers. Obviously, he wants as many wisdom boosting items as possible. Shadow Blink and Quicksilver Motion increase his maneuverability nicely, and Diamond Defense and One with Shadow at 20th increase his defense. Evasion and Defensive Discipline Focus also help Simon become a healing juggernaut who can do enough melee damage on his own to not discount entirely.

Spoiler: Sources

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Tome of Battle: Swordsage, maneuvers
Oriental Adventures: Shaman, Shaman Domains, Shaman spells
Sharn City of Towers: Citadel Elite
Eberron Campaign Setting: Dragonmark Least-Greater
Dragonmarked: Unlock Dragonmark, Dragonmark Visionary
Magic of Eberron: Dragon Prophecier, Prophecy’s Hero
BoED: Intuitive Attack
Dragon Compendium: Serenity

Spoiler: Three weeks later

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Simon entered the meeting room. Captain Vron and Kor ir’Wynarn were already seated.
“Captain, Commander.” He greeted them.
“Please, sit down,” Kor commanded.
Simon sat.
“How did the mission go?” Captain Vron asked.
“Successfully, though it was bloodier than expected. The werewolves hid among the populace of border towns. They were able to infect more people than we expected, drawing on the power of something called the Wild Heart. Still, the twelve of us were able to find most of them and drive the rest off. The spirits of the area helped me isolate the cursed from the innocent, minimizing the number of civilian casualties. We killed about seventy of them, and though there were thirty four fatalities on our side, none lasted. The threat should be ended for now, though I would recommend sending a force to investigate rumors of this Wild Heart.”
“Thank you for your report,” Kor replied. “You have done us a great service. Is there anything you would ask of us?”
“Permission to assemble a team to learn about and defeat Wild Heart?” he asked. The signs for the meeting had been good, but sometimes the spirits were wrong. If his officers didn’t grant permission, he would have to go on his own.
The two officers looked at each other. “Permission granted.” Kor replied at last. “Go assemble your team.”
Inwardly, Simon smiled. Victory was within his grasp. “When the Wild Heart beats again, it will take the sky. But the Heart can be stilled by the Captain, the Healer, the Broken One, the Companion, the Shepherd, the Fixer, the Warrior, the Helmsman and the First Mate.” That was the verse of the prophecy he was trying to bring about. The Chamber was pretty sure he was the Healer, and that his sister was the Broken One, but the rest he would have to find. Still, with the Citadel on his side, he could do it. Wild Heart must be stopped.

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-15, 03:01 AM (ISO 8601)

He's got a BOGO deal going on: come in to have an arm fixed and get a new one for free!

Originally Posted by Meepo 7.5.A

Spoiler: Build stub

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NE Necropolitan kobold shaman 6 - mystic wanderer 4 - fleshwarper 10

Spoiler: Abilities

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	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
Base	10	8	10	16	18	10
Kobold	-4	+2	-2
Necropolitan			--
Level					+5
Total	6	10	--	16	23	10

Spoiler: Table

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Meepo version 7.5.A

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Shaman 1	+0	+2	+0	+2	28: conc 3, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 2, diplomacy 4, heal 4, knowledge arcana 4, knowledge nature 3, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 1	Apprentice spellcaster, Improved unarmed strike	Unarmed strike, Animal companion, Domains: Kobold, Spell, darkvision, light sensitivity, slight build, necropolitan
2nd	Shaman 2	+1	+3	+0	+3	7: conc 3, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 2, diplomacy 5, heal 5, knowledge arcana 5, knowledge nature 3, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 2	-	Spirit Sight
3rd	Shaman 3	+2	+3	+1	+3	7: conc 5, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 2, diplomacy 6, heal 6, knowledge arcana 6, knowledge nature 3, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 4	Craft wondrous item	Rebuke undead
4th	Shaman 4	+3	+4	+1	+4	7: conc 5, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 7, diplomacy 7, heal 7, knowledge arcana 7, knowledge nature 3, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 4	Iron will	Bonus feat
5th	Shaman 5	+3	+4	+1	+4	7: conc 6, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 7, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 8, knowledge arcana 8, knowledge nature 3, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 5	-	Spirit’s favor
6th	Shaman 6	+4	+5	+2	+5	7: conc 6, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 7, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 9, knowledge arcana 8, knowledge nature 3, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 5, UMD 6	Serenity	--
7th	Mystic wanderer 1	+4	+5	+4	+7	5: conc 6, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 7, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 10, knowledge arcana 8, knowledge nature 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 5, Spot 1, UMD 6	--	glory of the divine, sleep
8th	Mystic wanderer 2	+4	+5	+5	+8	5: conc 7, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 7, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 11, knowledge arcana 8, knowledge nature 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 6, Spot 1, UMD 8	--	Familiar, lore of nature
9th	Mystic wanderer 3	+5	+6	+5	+8	5: conc 8, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 7, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 12, knowledge arcana 8, knowledge nature 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 7, Spot 1, UMD 10	Graft flesh	Gem magic
10th	Mystic wanderer 4	+6	+6	+6	+9	5: conc 9, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 7, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 13, knowledge arcana 8, knowledge nature 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 8, Spot 1, UMD 12	Brew potion	Brew potion
11th	Fleshwarper 1	+6	+8	+6	+9	7: conc 10, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 7, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 14, knowledge arcana 8, Knowledge dungeoneering 1, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 2, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 9, Spot 1, UMD 12	--	Aberrant familiar: amorphous, graft reserve
12th	Fleshwarper 2	+7	+9	+6	+9	7: conc 11, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 7, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 15, knowledge arcana 8, Knowledge dungeoneering 2, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 2, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 10, Spot 1, UMD 15	Touch of healing	Elder secret: secret of the beholder
13th	Fleshwarper 3	+7	+9	+7	+10	7: conc 12, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 8, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 16, knowledge arcana 9, Knowledge dungeoneering 3, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 11, Spot 1, UMD 16	--	Graft mastery: fiendish
14th	Fleshwarper 4	+8	+10	+7	+10	7: conc 14, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 8, craft woodcarving 2, diplomacy 8, heal 17, knowledge arcana 9, Knowledge dungeoneering 3, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 13, Search 1, Spot 1, UMD 17	--	Aberrant familiar: wings
15th	Fleshwarper 5	+8	+10	+7	+10	7: conc 15, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 8, craft woodcarving 5, diplomacy 8, heal 18, knowledge arcana 9, Knowledge dungeoneering 3, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 15, Search 1, Spot 1, UMD 17	Profane lifeleech	elder secret: secret of the Ettercap, graft mastery: beholder
16th	Fleshwarper 6	+9	+11	+8	+11	7: conc 16, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 10, craft woodcarving 6, diplomacy 8, heal 19, knowledge arcana 9, Knowledge dungeoneering 3, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 15, Search 1, Spot 1, UMD 19	--	Rapid grafting
17th	Fleshwarper 7	+9	+11	+8	+11	7: conc 17, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 10, craft woodcarving 6, diplomacy 8, heal 20, knowledge arcana 9, Knowledge dungeoneering 3, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 20, Search 1, Spot 1, UMD 19	--	Aberrant familiar: size increase, graft mastery: silthilar
18th	Fleshwarper 8	+10	+12	+8	+12	7: conc 17, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 10, craft woodcarving 6, diplomacy 8, heal 21, knowledge arcana 9, Knowledge dungeoneering 7, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 21, Search 1, Spot 1, UMD 20	Wyrmgrafter	Elder secret: secret of the destrachan
19th	Fleshwarper 9	+10	+12	+9	+13	7: conc 21, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 10, craft woodcarving 6, diplomacy 8, heal 22, knowledge arcana 9, Knowledge dungeoneering 7, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 21, Search 1, Spot 1, UMD 22	--	Graft mastery: aboleth
20th	Fleshwarper 10	+11	+13	+9	+13	7 conc 21, craft alchemy 3, craft trapmaking 10, craft woodcarving 9, diplomacy 8, heal 23, knowledge arcana 9, Knowledge dungeoneering 7, knowledge nature 3, Knowledge religion 1, Knowledge the planes 3, Listen 1, perform ridicule 2, profession herbalist 3, Spellcraft 23, Search 1, Spot 1, UMD 23	--	Aberrant apotheosis, aberrant familiar: scales

Spoiler: Spells per day

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

Spoiler: Good Grafts

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Aboleth tentacle (aboleth), Fiend folio p208
Buffeting wings (draconic): Races of the dragon p 127
Charming eye (fiendish): Fiend folio p 210
Eye stalk (fiendish): Fiend Folio p209
Fearsome eye (fiendish): Fiend Folio p 210
Gazing eye (beholder): Fiend Folio p 209
Healing blood (silthilar): Lords of madness p216
Metabolic fire (draconic): Races of the dragon p 129
Mucus projector (aboleth): Lords of Madness p 215
Stone spittle (maug): Fiend Folio p214
Third eye (beholder): Fiend Folio p 209

Spoiler: Overview

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Spoiler: Level 1-5

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Being the runt in the litter of an overcrowded kobold warren was fabulous, absolutely fabulous. Really…Bah, who am I kidding. It meant being pushed around, being bitten, scratched, beaten, spat and shat upon. It meant eating the dregs of the scraps. It was hell and I hated my frail body for failing at its job.
Meeting Chuckles while following the voices in my head was a definite point of light in my otherwise dark and miserable existence. Nothing says “**** off!” as an hyena biting off an idiot’s arm. Yet inherently nothing changed. I remained the weakling. There had to exist a way to toughen up.
I knew I wouldn’t find it in this inbreeding cesspit of a pustule on Kurtulmak’s bony arse, so Chuckles and I rode out into the sunset after giving the biggest bully of the heap a severe case of filth fever off course. Too bad I wouldn’t be there to see her **** her intestines out. You win some, you lose some.
We passed through a village of Deadites. They looked hardy, so I thought I’d give it a try. Found out too late that it makes you mouth taste like an otyugh on a warm day. Not exactly what I was looking for? Plus, my scales got all flaky? A tad miffed, Chuckles and I rode on. I could swear the bloody beast snickered for the next hour.
So Meepo starts as an ordinary shaman. Kobold domain is chosen for flavor and the trap angle. Since the other racial domains are available for shamans, I reason that this one also is. Spells domain will become clear later. His animal companion is an hyena. It seemed to fit Meepo’s cynical side and it can serve as a meat shield.
Apprentice spellcaster is chosen for the skills: knowledge nature and UMD.
The necropolitan level is for increased hardiness. It fits with his urge for a better body.
Craft wondrous item allows Meepo to craft magical traps.
Iron will serves as a prereq for Mystic Wanderer.
And finally, he gets spirit’s favor: divine grace but in name.
For now Meepo can heal through:
- Cure (and later) inflict spells
- Mini-trap of those spells as a necklace on his skin for continuous healing.
- Other healing spells include: lesser restoration, remove paralysis/blindness/deafness/curse/disease.

Spoiler: Level 6-10

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On his quest for self-improvement the kobold continued to wander, picking up odd titbits here and there. Some stray cat adopted Meepo and completely ignored Chuckles’ growling. The occasional adventuring – money had to come from somewhere- showed the kobold the potential that the monsters held. He could use that.
The choice for shaman 6 over mystic wanderer 5 is purely one for higher BAB and saves. Mystic wanderer is chosen for the familiar – a prerequisite for fleshwarper. Plus it can deliver touch spells.
Serenity adds Wis to saves. Graft flesh is another prerequisite for Fleshwarper.
So for healing we’ve got:
- Cure and inflict spells
- (lesser) restoration, remove almost everything
- Mini-traps of said spells.
- Brew potion of said spells
- Gem magic of said spells.

Spoiler: Level 11-15 Sweet spot

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Self-improvement is a costly affair. All those life coaches cost an arm and a leg -sometimes literally. Crafting can get expensive, both gold as XP-wise. So it is time to set up a steady income: a hospital/surgery. There is no need to inflict disease/pain upon others. People need no help to do that. So there is a constant need for medical attention. Meepo is just responding to the market here and he can go under market price by creating reusable items/traps with healing/restoring spells.. And a good businessman never let’s a resource go unused. And with the amount of pain that permeates a hospital it would be stupid not to use it.
So every treatment room has several traps of liquid pain (cast with greater anyspell), accumulating enough XP to graft everything. The only adventuring is to acquire the necessary donor-organs from their not so-willing donors.
On top of the list is Silthilar blood, because it grants fast healing. Because a necropolitan can heal naturally, I think he can gain fast healing.
Ways of healing:
- Spells
- Traps, potions, gems of spells,
- Fast healing
- Profane lifeleech
- Touch of healing

Spoiler: Level 16-20

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Meepo finishes fleshwarper. Wyrmgrafter is taken because deep down every kobold wants to be dragon.
No new healing ways are introduced, they just get more powerful.

Spoiler: Sources

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Shaman: oriental adventures p 22
Mystic Wanderer: magic of Faerun p 35
Fleshwarper: Lords of madness p 189
Necropolitan: Libris mortis p 114
Kobold domain http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a
Serenity: Dragon compendium p 106
Graft Flesh: libris mortis p 27
Touch of healing: Complete champion p62
Profane lifeleech: Libris mortis p 29
Wyrmgrafter: Races of the dragon p101

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-15, 03:03 AM (ISO 8601)

A Hamilton reference in 2024? What'd I miss?

Originally Posted by Alexander Parsnips

Alexander Parsnips

Alexander Parsnips…
His name is Alexander Parsnips…
There’s a million beers he’s yet to drink…
But just you wait…
Just you wait…
WHERE’S MY PINT AGAIN???!!

Human
Swordsage 4 / Cloistered Cleric 1 / Ruby Knight Vindicator 2 / Holy Vindicator 4 / Ruby Knight Vindicator 4 / Swordsage 1 / Ruby Knight Vindicator 4

Spoiler: Story

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In his day, Alexander Parsnips was known to those far and wide as a man of adventure and a dry wit honed through a thousand drunken debates. Though most would hesitate to admit it, but all men wanted in their heart of hearts to be Alexander Parsnips, and nearly as many women wanted to be with him.

He was a student dedicated to the art of the sword nearly as long as he lived, taking to it to repel bullies who picked on him. He studied relentlessly, some may say with a hyperfocus, until in his teen years hit mates took him out to get pissed for his sixteenth birthday. That night, he saw god… A god that is. Cayden Cailean to be precise. You see, the young lad found himself in the corner of a bar fight (and who could say why?) and his ability to defend himself and the meekest among the people caught in the crossfire impressed the lord of swashbucklers. The Daring Drunken Deity appeared to lad, though his friends would swear Parsnips was blacked out at the time, and told him to defend the weak in his name. From that day forward, Parsnips, after vigorous studying and obtaining a sommelier certification, became an avenger of the night, with a two drink minimum.
In his adventures, Parsnips found his way amongst a variety of companions. Mages, knights, rangers, and the like. As long as they stood for the freedom and justice his lord requested, Parsnips called them an ally. He made sure those who sought to enshackle men would know his vindication! He would liberate all who were put to the chain!

Spoiler: TABLE

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Swordsage	0	0	2	2	24: {+4} Concentration: 4; {+4} Hide: 4; {+2 CC} Diplomacy: 1; {+3} Intimidate: 3; {+4 CC} Knowledge (Religion): 2; {+2 CC} Knowledge (Nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 1; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 1; {+3} Sense Motive: 3;	"Martial Study, (Human) - Martial Stance, 1 (Swordsage) - Weapon Focus (Diamond Mind): Rapier "	Quick to act +1, discipline focus (Weapon Focus)
2nd	Swordsage	1	0	3	3	6: {+1} Concentration: 5; {+1} Hide: 5; Diplomacy: 1; {+1} Intimidate: 4; {+2 CC} Knowledge (Religion): 3; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 1; Knowledge (Local): 1; {+1} Sense Motive: 4;		AC bonus
3rd	Swordsage	2	1	3	3	6: {+1} Concentration: 6; Hide: 5; {+2 CC} Diplomacy: 2; Intimidate: 4; {+2 CC} Knowledge (Religion): 4; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 1; Knowledge (Local): 1; {+1} Sense Motive: 5;	Weapon Finesse
4th	Swordsage	3	1	4	4	6: Concentration: 6; {+1} Hide: 6; Diplomacy: 2; {+1} Intimidate: 5; {+2 CC} Knowledge (Religion): 5; Knowledge (Nature): 1; {+1} Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; Knowledge (Local): 1; {+1} Sense Motive: 6;		Insightful Strikes
5th	Cloistered Cleric	3	3	4	5	6: Concentration: 6; Hide: 6; {+1} Heal: 1; {+1} Diplomacy: 3; Intimidate: 5; {+3} Knowledge (Religion): 8; {+1} Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; Knowledge (Local): 1; Sense Motive: 6;	"Cloistered Cleric - Travel Devotion, Cloistered Cleric - Knowledge Devotion: Knowledge (Arcana) "	Turn or rebuke undead, Domains: Good, Travel (traded), Knowledge (traded)
6th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	4	3	4	7	4: Concentration: 6; Hide: 6; Heal: 1; {+2} Diplomacy: 5; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (Religion): 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; Knowledge (Local): 1; {+2} Sense Motive: 8;	Iron Will
7th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	5	3	4	8	4: Concentration: 6; Hide: 6; Heal: 1; {+2} Diplomacy: 7; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (Religion): 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; Knowledge (Local): 1; {+2} Sense Motive: 10;		Divine recovery
8th	Holy Liberator	6/1	5	4	8	2: {+1} Concentration: 7; Hide: 6; {+1} Heal: 2; Diplomacy: 7; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (Religion): 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; Knowledge (Local): 1; Sense Motive: 10;		Aura of good, detect evil, smite evil 1/day
9th	Holy Liberator	7/2	6	4	8	2: {+1} Concentration: 8; Hide: 6; {+1} Heal: 3; Diplomacy: 7; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (Religion): 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; Knowledge (Local): 1; Sense Motive: 10;	Battle Blessing	Remove fatigue
10th	Holy Liberator	8/3	6	5	9	2: {+1} Concentration: 9; Hide: 6; {+1} Heal: 4; Diplomacy: 7; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (Religion): 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; Knowledge (Local): 1; Sense Motive: 10;		Aura of resolve
11th	Holy Liberator	9/4	7	5	9	2: {+1} Concentration: 10; Hide: 6; {+1} Heal: 5; Diplomacy: 7; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (Religion): 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; Knowledge (Local): 1; Sense Motive: 10;		Break enchantment 1/week, divine grace
12th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	10/5	8	6	9	4: Concentration: 10; Hide: 6; Heal: 5; Diplomacy: 7; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (Religion): 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; {+2} Knowledge (Local): 3; {+2} Knowledge (History): 2; Sense Motive: 10;	Serenity
13th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	11/6/1	8	6	10	4: Concentration: 10; Hide: 6; {+2} Heal: 7; Diplomacy: 7; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (Religion): 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 1; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 2; {+1} Knowledge (Local): 4; {+1} Knowledge (History): 3; Sense Motive: 10;
14th	Swordsage	11/6/1	8	6	10	6: {+2} Concentration: 12; {+1} Hide: 7; Heal: 7; Diplomacy: 7; Intimidate: 5; Knowledge (Religion): 8; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; {+2} Knowledge (Nature): 3; {+1} Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 3; Knowledge (Local): 4; Knowledge (History): 3; Sense Motive: 10;		Quick to act +2
15th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	12/7/2	8	6	10	4: Concentration: 12; Hide: 7; {+1} Heal: 8; {+1} Diplomacy: 8; Intimidate: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 9; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 3; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 3; Knowledge (Local): 4; {+1} Knowledge (History): 4; Sense Motive: 10;	Touch of Healing	" Armored stealth"
16th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	13/8/3	9	7	11	4: Concentration: 12; Hide: 7; {+1} Heal: 9; {+1} Diplomacy: 9; Intimidate: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 10; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 3; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 3; Knowledge (Local): 4; {+1} Knowledge (History): 5; Sense Motive: 10;
17th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	14/9/4	9	7	11	4: Concentration: 12; Hide: 7; {+1} Heal: 10; {+1} Diplomacy: 10; Intimidate: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 11; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 3; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 3; Knowledge (Local): 4; {+1} Knowledge (History): 6; Sense Motive: 10;		Divine impetus
18th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	15/10/5	9	7	12	4: Concentration: 12; Hide: 7; {+1} Heal: 11; {+1} Diplomacy: 11; Intimidate: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 12; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 3; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 3; Knowledge (Local): 4; {+1} Knowledge (History): 7; Sense Motive: 10;	Spontaneous Healer
19th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	16/11/6/1	10	8	12	4: Concentration: 12; Hide: 7; {+1} Heal: 12; {+1} Diplomacy: 12; Intimidate: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 13; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 3; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 3; Knowledge (Local): 4; {+1} Knowledge (History): 8; Sense Motive: 10;		Divine fury
20th	Ruby Knight Vindicator	17/12/7/2	10	8	13	4: Concentration: 12; Hide: 7; {+1} Heal: 13; {+1} Diplomacy: 13; Intimidate: 5; {+1} Knowledge (Religion): 14; Knowledge (Arcana): 1; Knowledge (Nature): 3; Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty): 3; Knowledge (Local): 4; {+1} Knowledge (History): 9; Sense Motive: 10;

Spoiler: Abilities

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Spoiler: Simple View

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Abilities	Initial	Race / Template	4th	8th	12th	16th	20th
STR	10
DEX	16		1	1
CON	12
INT	10
WIS	16				1	1	1
CHA	12

Spoiler: Expanded View

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Level \ Abilities	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1st	10	16	12	10	16	12
2nd	10	16	12	10	16	12
3rd	10	16	12	10	16	12
4th	10	17	12	10	16	12
5th	10	17	12	10	16	12
6th	10	17	12	10	16	12
7th	10	17	12	10	16	12
8th	10	18	12	10	16	12
9th	10	18	12	10	16	12
10th	10	18	12	10	16	12
11th	10	18	12	10	16	12
12th	10	18	12	10	17	12
13th	10	18	12	10	17	12
14th	10	18	12	10	17	12
15th	10	18	12	10	17	12
16th	10	18	12	10	18	12
17th	10	18	12	10	18	12
18th	10	18	12	10	18	12
19th	10	18	12	10	18	12
20th	10	18	12	10	19	12

Spoiler: Feat

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Spoiler: List

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1 - Martial Study
1 (Human) - Martial Stance
1 (Swordsage) - Weapon Focus (Diamond Mind): Rapier
3 - Weapon Finesse
5 Cloistered Cleric - Travel Devotion
5 Cloistered Cleric - Knowledge Devotion: Knowledge (Arcana)
6 - Iron Will
9 - Battle Blessing
12 - Serenity
15 - Touch of Healing
18 - Spontaneous Healer

Spoiler: Breakdowns

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1 - Martial Study

Look… I want this vibe of a healer swashbuckler to come through from level 1 and this will certainly create that vibe if basically every combat he gets a free cure light wounds off.

1 (Human) - Martial Stance

Doubling down on that whole healer swashbuckler thing here, plus IÃ‚Â’ll need both the maneuver and the stance to qualify for RKV, so why wait?

1 (Swordsage) - Weapon Focus (Diamond Mind): Rapier

This is free with the class, but it does force me to pick a Diamond Mind Maneuver to have on me. Fortunately, Sapphire Nightmare Blade is quite nice. I almost went shortsword, but, I mean, it’s a worshiper of Cayden Cailean… I gotta go Rapier.

3 - Weapon Finesse

Basically required to go a swashbuckler type, so much so that I almost dipped Swashbuckler instead of Swordsage 5, but the trade off wasn’t worth it.

5 Cloistered Cleric - Travel Devotion (traded from Travel Domain)

Considering that at high levels, Parsnips will have swift actions to burn, this will be nice to have, but with a high reliance on strikes this is not nearly as crucial as it would be on a more typical martial character. If this wasn’t free, I wouldn’t have it in the build.

5 Cloistered Cleric - Knowledge Devotion (traded from Knowledge Domain)

Look… it’s free here and does way more for you than the domain would. It fits the character ok, but prerequisites make it hard to invest a ton of ranks in Knowledge skills. Still, it’s a nice buff even with barely any bonuses.

6 - Iron Will

A prerequisite for Holy Liberator. Makes Diamond Mind counters less useful. I mean, this is a wisdom based build, it’s nice to have but I was expecting to make most will saves anyway.

9 - Battle Blessing

SO! There’s some debate about if this applies to Holy Liberators, but I would wager that most DMs would allow “casting from the Paladin spell list” as “casting Paladin spells”. There’s only this and the Pious Templar that benefit from this and I doubt anyone is beating down the doors to minmax off these two. This is the crux of the late game swift action economy game that Ruby Knight Vindicators love, allowing Parsnips to fill any round with either a maneuver or a spell as a swift action, and then at the highest levels getting extra swift actions! Also, Cayden Cailean preserve us, if only Soldier of Light used the Paladin list instead of having a Paladin-like list. It would have been so much simpler for this build with only 2 non initiator levels.

12 - Serenity

At this level, Serenity is as good as Extra Turning, plus it gives a huge boost to all of your saves. Smite Evil will rarely come up, but it’s nice to have the big bonus to hit in your back pocket.

15 - Touch of Healing

Infinite healing up to half hp is very good. You might as well keep a cure in your back pocket to keep this up.

18 - Spontaneous Healer

So… does this play nice with Touch of Healing? Even if it doesn’t, it lets you prep more combat spells and swap for cures when essential. If it does play nice with Touch of Healing, then this makes the feat almost independent of your spells prepared and that is excellent!

Spoiler: Maneuvers

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Maneuvers:
SS 1 (6) Blistering Flourish, Clinging Shadow Strike, Shadow Blade Technique, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Distracting Ember, Mighty Throw
1 - Martial Study (+1) Crusader Strike
SS 2 (+1) Burning Blade
SS 3 (+1) Shadow Jaunt
SS 4 (+1) Cloak of Deception
SS 4 (Trade 1) Clinging Shadow Strike for Drain Vitality
RKV 2 (+1) Revitalizing Strike
RKV 4 (+1) Radiant Charge
SS 5 (+1) Shadow Stride NOTE: Taking this one late, because it’s that good.
RKV 6 (+1) Rallying Strike
RKV 8 (+1) Enervating Shadow Strike
RKV 10 (+1) Strike of Righteous Vitality

Stances:
SS 1 (1) Child of Shadows
1 - Martial Stance (+1) Martial Spirit
SS 2 (+1) Stance of Clarity
RKV 1 (+1) Assassin’s Stance
SS 5 (+1) Step of the Dancing Moth
NOTE: There was incredible competition for this one, but the idea of skipping over water felt so high level swashbuckler to me. Imagine him running across the water, appearing to dance off barrels and fish, to catch a damsel!
RKV 6 (+1) Aura of Triumph

Spoiler: Skills

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Spoiler: Basic Chart

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Abilities	Initial	Race / Template	4th	8th	12th	16th	20th
STR	10
DEX	16		1	1
CON	12
INT	10
WIS	16				1	1	1
CHA	12

Spoiler: Expanded Chart

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Level \ Abilities	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1st	10	16	12	10	16	12
2nd	10	16	12	10	16	12
3rd	10	16	12	10	16	12
4th	10	17	12	10	16	12
5th	10	17	12	10	16	12
6th	10	17	12	10	16	12
7th	10	17	12	10	16	12
8th	10	18	12	10	16	12
9th	10	18	12	10	16	12
10th	10	18	12	10	16	12
11th	10	18	12	10	16	12
12th	10	18	12	10	17	12
13th	10	18	12	10	17	12
14th	10	18	12	10	17	12
15th	10	18	12	10	17	12
16th	10	18	12	10	18	12
17th	10	18	12	10	18	12
18th	10	18	12	10	18	12
19th	10	18	12	10	18	12
20th	10	18	12	10	19	12

Spoiler: Spells!

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Spoiler: Cleric

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Level	Class	0th	1st	2nd
1st	-
2nd	-
3rd	-
4th	-
5th	Cloistered Cleric	3	1+1
6th	-
7th	-
8th	-
9th	-
10th	-
11th	-
12th	-
13th	-
14th	-
15th	-
16th	-
17th	-
18th	-
19th	Ruby Knight Vindicator (Cloistered Cleric)	4	2+1
20th	Ruby Knight Vindicator (Cloistered Cleric)	4	2+1	1+1

Spoiler: Holy Liberator

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Level	Class	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1st	-
2nd	-
3rd	-
4th	-
5th	-
6th	-
7th	Holy Liberator	0	-	-	-
8th	Holy Liberator	1	-	-	-
9th	Holy Liberator	1	0	-	-
10th	Holy Liberator	1	1	-	-
11th	Ruby Knight Vindicator (Holy Liberator)	1	1	0	-
12th	Ruby Knight Vindicator (Holy Liberator)	1	1	1	-
13th	-
14th	Ruby Knight Vindicator (Holy Liberator)	2	1	1	-
15th	-
16th	Ruby Knight Vindicator (Holy Liberator)	2	1	1	1
17th	Ruby Knight Vindicator (Holy Liberator)	2	2	1	1
18th	Ruby Knight Vindicator (Holy Liberator)	2	2	2	1
19th	-
20th	-

Spoiler: Overview

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Spoiler: 1-5

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Alexander Parsnips starts strong here, as you’d expect from a Swordsage build. The Cleric dip at 5 was necessary and as much for the skills as the Turn Undead, so Cloistered Cleric made sense. It’s the handbook-y option, but why not? Knowledge Devotion is always appreciated even with limited knowledge ranks and Travel Devotion is appreciated even if it’s more circumstantial than it would be on another martial. From 1-5, he’s a warrior able to heal regularly while still making the standard offensive that a martial should.

Spoiler: 6-10

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Here we have the build take shape. Ruby Knight Vindicator really plays well with a more roguish holy warrior and, hey, swashbucklers get mixed up with rogues a lot! Holy Liberator is a solid enough prestige class and in this run we get Divine Grace, the key class ability for this build. Parsnips might be a light armored divine Gish, but a divine Gish he still is and the Holy Liberator plays very nicely in that mix.

Spoiler: 11-15

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It makes me sick to cut off a Holy Liberator build before level 6, where they get their amazing CHARACTER LEVEL scaling Celestial Companion, but that’s not what this build is about. This is about a warrior who duels the daring duels with a drunkard's dare! Parsnips at this point is just doing more of what he’s been good at, getting better maneuvers and more maneuverability (no pun intended). Alexander Parsnips is able to move around, hit hard, and keep a steady flow of healing that doesn’t impact his action economy much, if at all. Out of combat, Touch of Healing makes him the team favorite.

Spoiler: 16-20

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As with the last five levels, Parsnips is just getting better and better at what he was good at. I think he peaks when Divine Impetus comes online, especially when combined with Serenity on a build that loves Wisdom so much, but it never stops contributing to the party!

Spoiler: Sources

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Swordsage - Tome of Battle
Cloistered Cleric - Unearthed Arcana
Ruby Knight Vindicator - Tome of Battle
Holy Liberator - Complete Divine
Serenity - Dragon Compendium
Battle Blessing - Complete Champion
Devotion Feat and Domain Trading Rules - Complete Champion
Spontaneous Healer - Complete Divine
Touch of Healing - Complete Champion
Cayden Cailean - Pathfinder Campaign Setting (but this was built according to 3.5 rules)

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-15, 03:08 AM (ISO 8601)

Barbarian/Binder bat brutally butchered, brought back, bitten by beast, becomes beatific bear. Blessed blood bubbles bountifully, betters blisters, bumps, bruises.

Originally Posted by Nameless One

Sadly I cannot refine my entry further as I don't see myself getting anymore free time the next week. Feel free to edit out the PM or parts of the PM you don't want to share. Thanks again for the roll.

Nameless One - Ilmater's Blood Champion

Raining blood
From a lacerated sky
Bleeding its horror
Creating my structure
Now I shall reign in blood

CG Anthropomorphic Bat Barbarian 1 Binder 1
-> Reincarnated Mongrelfolk +2 LA afflicted Lycanthrope 6 HD Animal (brown bear) LG Martyred Champion of Ilmater 7 Death Delver 3

Abilities	Initial	Anthropomorphic Bat	Reincaranted Mongrelfolk	Werebear	4th	8th	12th	16th	Final
STR	16	-4 (erased after Reincarnation)		+16					32
DEX	12			+2					14
CON	16		+4	+8	1	1	1	1	32
INT	12								12
WIS	12	+6		+2					20
CHA	8	-2							6

Level	Class	BAB	Fort	Reflex	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Spiritual Totem (Lion) Barbarian	1	2	0	0	Knowledge (religion) 2, Heal 2, Concentration 2, Survival 4, Listen 4	Good Karma	Rage, Pounce
2nd	Binder	1	4	0	2	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 2, Concentration 3, Survival 4, Listen 4		Soul binding
8th	Werebear (6 Animal HD)	5	9	5	4	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 2, Concentration 6, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 9	3rd HD: Nimbus of light), 6th HD: Stigmata Iron Will (B), Endurance(B), Run (B), Track (B)	-
9th	Martyred Champion of Ilmater	5	9	7	4	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 3, Concentration 7, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 10	Healing Devotion	Diehard, unarmed strike 1d6
10th	Martyred Champion of Ilmater	6	9	8	4	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 4, Concentration 8, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 11	Tempting Fate (B)	Fear immunity
11th	Martyred Champion of Ilmater	7	10	8	5	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 6, Concentration 8, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 12		Greater endurance
12th	Martyred Champion of Ilmater	8	10	9	5	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 8, Concentration 8, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 13	Serenity (B), Instantaneous Rage	Divine Grace, unarmed strike 1d8
13th	Martyred Champion of Ilmater	8	10	9	5	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 10, Concentration 8, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 14		Holy suffering
14th	Death Delver	8	12	9	7	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 10, Concentration 10, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 15		Deathsense, Rebuke undead
15th	Death Delver	9	13	9	8	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 10, Concentration 12, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 16	Power Attack	Deadened soul, spontaneous casting
16th	Death Delver	10	13	10	9	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 10, Concentration 14, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 17		Death ward 1/day
17th	Martyred Champion of Ilmater	11	14	11	10	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 12, Concentration 14, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 18		+ 1 level of Death Delver casting
18th	Martyred Champion of Ilmater	12	14	11	10	Knowledge (religion) 4, Heal 14, Concentration 14, Survival 4, Listen 4, Control Shape 19	Reckless Rage	Damage reduction 10/evil
19th	LA afflicted Lycanthrope
20th	LA afflicted Lycanthrope

My sorry excuse of an write up
Around 2010 a friend of mine decided to run Red Hand of Doom for our 3.5 / PF group. I rolled a druid for that campaign. At some point in that campaign, we camped amidst hundreds of friendly NPCs whom we trusted with our lives. For the first and last time in our whole roleplaying career, we decided to no set up our own guards. Instead, we all slept in our tent. You probably can imagine the rest:
An extremely skilled assassin ambushed us and killed one of us (Coup de Grace) before we could overwhelm him. Now, the victim was an Elf and since we had no other resources at hand, we decided to use the spell “reincarnate” which would place the soul of our dear friend in a new body. Back then, the DM rolled dwarf and our Elf found himself awake again in the body of a quite charismatic and very stout dwarf. What has this to do with this round?
Martyred Champion of Ilmater has this peculiar prerequisite: Must have died in heroic sacrifice and been returned to life. So I thought of using the spell reincarnate. I sent a pm to the chair asking for a roll on the reincarnate table and here is what happened:

Originally Posted by Inevitability

Originally Posted by me

Could you roll a d100 on the reincarnate table and send me the result? I may build something using Martyred Champion of Ilmater, which has this special clause:
Must have died in heroic sacrifice and been returned to life.

I think reincarnate could be fun for that.

Thanks in advance.

Oh, that's a fun idea! Sure, let me just...

Well then. I swear that was my first roll.

This puts us into quite a bind, doesn't it? I could just tell you to pick any humanoid not listed on the table, but I suspect you'd have liked a more concrete listing than 'anything noncore'. If that sounds good to you, then feel free to do so.

I did a reroll, just in case: the result is 1171296 / (3 * 3984) so feel free to compute that if you want to know the number and pretend that was your first roll all along.

So that indeed left me baffled because I had somewhat hoped to find some more inspiration in the random race but I decided to go with the first result and I chose Mongrelfolk, which is the most optimized humanoid race for the purposes of the build.
Stigmata + Holy Suffering (Martyred Champion of Ilmater 5) was a note I found in one of my digital sketchbooks for these contests. I cannot even remember when I initially stumbled across it but it did fit this contest very well: Martyred Champion of Ilmater has Divine Grace as a class feature and Stigmata is a very interesting way of healing people.
Stigmata used to the extreme usually means that the character hos almost no HP and no Constitution left. A useful “panic button” for such situations is Tempting Fate. Tempting Fate + Diehard is another combination of feats that I wanted to use for quite some time.
All this “nearly committing suicide” with Tempting fate and Stigmata led to the addition of Healing devotion to the build. It relies on turn (or rebuke) attempts and triggers automatically when you drop below 0 hit points. Since Serenity bases the number of turn attempts of Wisdom, Healing devotion really fits well into the theme of the round.
Good Karma also carries double duty: it is a prerequisite for Tempting fate (1 luck feat) and it is a mechanical possibility to fulfill the heroic sacrifice which Martyred champion of Ilmater asks for.
As an initial race, I chose the highest possible wisdom bonus: Anthropomorphic bat. Conveniently, the mental attributes do not get lost when reincarnated but the physical do, which erases a -4 Strength penalty and adds a +4 Constitution bonus.
I chose the classic Pounce Barbarian to start the build because Rage is another great tool to use after using Tempting Fate or Stigmata to regain Constitution for a short time.
Adding Binder for Naberius is almost a given: After 1 hour of bleeding (which cannot be stopped according to the Stigmata feat) Naberius conveniently restores our body 1 Constitution per round and Stigmata can be used multiple times per day.
To not lose Constitution on death but rather XP our hero dies at level 2 and reincarnates as a Mongrelfolk. Changed by the experience he converts to the church of Ilmater and seeks out a Werebear to be bitten by him and become an afflicted Lycanthrope.
This changes his alignment to lawful good and has the added benefits of tons of Constitution, Strength and very useful combat forms to change into. On top of that, the change adds 4 free feats and 6 HD of the animal type.
After this change, our hero is able to enter Martyred Champion of Ilmater. The last addition to the build is Death Delver, which adds rebuke undead attempts fueling Healing Devotion, minor casting abilities and two very useful “healing” abilities: Deathsense and Deathward.

All the healing:
ECL 1: Good Karma is a way of "healing" allies by taking damage for them.

ECL 10 Die Hard + Tempting Fate + Good Karma + Healing Devotion:
If an attack would kill you or you heroically take an attack for an ally which deals 50% more damage using Good Karma and this would kill you, tempting fate activates spending a luck reroll and leaving you behind with -9 HP and already stable. This condition triggers Healing Devotion, if you have an activation left (which you always should), starting a one-minute fast healing process, all while you can act unimpeded thanks to Die Hard. Healing Devotion is fueled by rebuke undead of Death Delver later on which uses the Serenity feat. There is also the chance that the attack dealt more than 50 damage and triggers Holy Suffering.
ECL 12: Stigmata+ Instantaneous Rage:
Spend four points of constitution to heal people and use an immediate action to regain it for a short time if needed. Later improved by Reckless Rage to regain six points of constitution.

ECL 13: Stigmata + Holy Suffering (MCoI 5)+Heal skill:
Sacrificing 30 points of Constitution in Hybrid Form leaves our hero with 1 point of Constitution. Healing 15 allies for 15*HD and allowing everyone touched to roll a new saving throw against a disease with a sacred bonus of +15.
Stigmata deals CON damage and therefor HP damage. Going over the Threshold of 50 to trigger Holy Suffering is trivial at 13 HD. 15*13=195, which confers a sacred bonus of +19 on attack rolls, saves and skill checks for 5 rounds to our hero (MCoI levels).
A niche use for this combination is to treat poison (heal skill): whenever an ally makes a saving throw against poison (which Stigmata sadly does not help with), our hero can replace his saving throw with the result of a Heal check. At ECL 13 this would be 1d20 + 10 + Wisdom bonus + 19 (Holy Suffering).

ECL 15+: Death Delver casting + spontaneous casting
Very late but something that our nameless hero was not able to do before. 1st and later on 2nd level spells which include: delay poison, remove paralysis and lesser restoration.

Sources:
Antropomorphic Bat: Savage Species
Mongrelfolk: Races of Destiny
Lycanthrope (Werebear): Monster Manual I
Barbarian: PHB
Binder: Tome of Magic
Martyred Champion of Ilmater: Player's Guide to Faerun (p. 184)
Death Delver: Heroes of Horror p. 93
Good Karma, Tempting Fate: Complete Scoundrel, p. 77 + p. 80
Nimbus of Light + Stigmata: Book of Exalted Deeds
Healing Devotion: Complete Champion
Instantaneous Rage: Complete Warrior
Reckless Rage: Races of Stone

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-15, 03:12 AM (ISO 8601)

Well, great medical advances are often built on the back of dead rats...

Originally Posted by Moravin Dahl

Moravin Dahl

NG Middle-Aged Human Archivist 6/Sacred Exorcist 1/Archivist +4/Witch Hunter 1/Contemplative 6/Archivist +2
Moravin grew up to firsthand knowledge of the consequences of letting evil run unchecked. Born in the slums of a middling trade city, work was hard to find, especially for one such as him lacking in physical gifts. Living a harsh existence in vermin-infested hovels had many effects on his worldview, among them a lifelong hatred of rats. Such experiences could make a man bitter, and to an extent it did, but he reserved the bulk of his hatred to those selfish individuals who let the potential of so many around them waste away due to deprivation and disease. He knew that those problems were solvable, and deep down, he cradled hope of fixing them.

Teaching himself to read and write eventually let him find work as a scribe, and he ended up employed in a temple to Taiia. The dualistic deity was difficult for Moravin to understand, but the faith’s acceptance of the harshness of life seemed a believable foundation, and the value placed on each person’s agency struck a chord. In time, he was invited to study the articles of the faith more deeply.

As he mastered the fundamentals of divine casting, Moravin began to note certain possibilities amidst the knowledge he could access. With those possibilities came hope for more. And so Moravin eventually bid a not-so-fond farewell to the city he’d called home, in search of experience, opportunities to aid others, and ultimately, he dared to dream, the power to heal the world…

Note: Initial values are without buffs, values in parentheses are with buffs, unless otherwise noted.

Spoiler: Stats (NI means Nigh-Infinite)

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Level	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1	7	8	12	18	18	9
4	7	8	12	18	19	9
8	7	8	12	18	20(22)	9(11)
12	7(>=61)	8	12	18(20)	21(25)	9(11)
16	7(NI)	8(10)	12(20)	18(22)	27(NI)	9(11)
20	7(NI)	8(16)	12(28)	23(31)	28(NI)	9(15)

Spoiler: Level Table (NI means Nigh-Infinite)

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Level	Class	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1	Archivist	+0	+3	-1	+6	Concentration 4, Heal 4, Spellcraft 4, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 4, (Dung., Geo, History, Local) 1	Extend Spell, Track	Dark knowledge (tactics) 3/day, Scribe Scroll
2	Archivist	+1	+4	-1	+7	Concentration 5, Heal 5, Spellcraft 5, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 5, (Dung.) 2, (Geo, History, Local) 1		Lore Mastery
3	Archivist	+1	+4	+0	+7	Concentration 6, Heal 6, Spellcraft 6, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 6, (Dung.) 3, (Geo, History, Local) 1	Chain Spell	Dark knowledge 4/day
4	Archivist	+2	+5	+0	+8	Concentration 7, Heal 7, Spellcraft 7, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 7, (Dung.) 4, (Geo, History, Local) 1		Still mind
5	Archivist	+2	+5	+0	+8	Concentration 8, Heal 8, Spellcraft 8, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 8, (Dung.) 4, (Geo, History, Local) 1, Craft(Drawing) 1		Dark knowledge (puissance)
6	Archivist	+3	+6	+1	+9 (10)	Concentration 9, Heal 9, Spellcraft 9, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 9, (Dung.) 4, , (Geo, History, Local) 1, Craft(Drawing) 2	Persistent Spell	Dark knowledge 5/day
7	Sacred Exorcist	+3	+6	+1	+9 (10)	Concentration 10, Heal 10, Spellcraft 10, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes) 10, (Nature) 9, (Dung.) 4, , (Geo, History, Local) 1, Craft(Drawing) 2		Exorcism, Turn undead
8	Archivist	+4	+6	+1	+11 (12)	Concentration 11, Heal 11, Spellcraft 11, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 11, (Dung.) 4, , (Geo, History, Local) 1, Craft(Drawing) 2		Lore mastery
9	Archivist	+4	+7	+2	+11 (12)	Concentration 12, Heal 12, Spellcraft 12, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 12, (Dung.) 4, , (Geo, History, Local) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3	Divine Metamagic (Persistent Spell)	Dark knowledge (foe)
10	Archivist	+5	+7	+2	+12 (13)	Concentration 13, Heal 13, Spellcraft 13, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 13, (Dung.) 4, (History) 2, (Geo, Local) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3		Dark knowledge 6/day
11	Archivist	+5	+8	+2	+12 (13)	Concentration 14, Heal 14, Spellcraft 14, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, Nature) 14, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Geo, Local) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3	Ocular Spell (bonus)	Bonus feat
12	Witch Hunter	+6	+13 (16)	+8 (11)	+13 (22)	Concentration 15, Heal 15, Spellcraft 15, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion) 15, (Planes, Nature) 14, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Local) 4, (Geo) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3	Serenity	Detect evil, Kami’s grace
13	Contemplative	+7	+14 (18)	+8 (12)	+13 (24)	Concentration 16, Heal 16, Spellcraft 16, Knowledge (Religion) 16,(Arcana) 15, (Planes, Nature) 14, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Local) 4, (Geo) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3, Sense Motive 2		Bonus domain (Earth), Divine health
14	Contemplative	+7	+14 (36)	+8 (27)	+16 (55)	Concentration 17, Heal 17, Spellcraft 17, Knowledge (Religion) 17,(Arcana) 15, (Planes, Nature) 14, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Local) 4, (Geo) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3, Sense Motive 4	Iron Will(Otyugh Hole)	Slippery mind
15	Contemplative	+8	+14 (NI)	+9 (NI)	+16 (NI)	Concentration 18, Heal 18, Spellcraft 18, Knowledge (Religion) 18,(Arcana) 15, (Planes, Nature) 14, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Local) 4, (Geo) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3, Sense Motive 6	Reserves of Strength	Divine wholeness
16	Contemplative	+8	+18 (NI)	+12 (NI)	+20 (NI)	Concentration 19, Heal 19, Spellcraft 19, Knowledge (Religion) 19,(Arcana) 15, (Planes, Nature) 14, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Local) 4, (Geo) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3, Sense Motive 8
17	Contemplative	+9	+18 (NI)	+12 (NI)	+20 (NI)	Concentration 20, Heal 20, Spellcraft 20, Knowledge (Religion) 20,(Arcana) 15, (Planes, Nature) 14, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Local) 4, (Geo) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3, Sense Motive 10		Divine body
18	Contemplative	+9	+18 (NI)	+13 (NI)	+21 (NI)	Concentration 21, Heal 21, Spellcraft 21, Knowledge (Religion) 21,(Arcana) 15, (Planes, Nature) 14, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Local) 4, (Geo) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3, Sense Motive 12	Divine Metamagic (Chain Spell)	Bonus domain (Healing)
19	Archivist	+10	+19 (NI)	+14 (NI)	+21 (NI)	Concentration 22, Heal 22, Spellcraft 22, Knowledge (Religion) 22,(Arcana) 21, (Planes, Nature) 14, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Local) 4, (Geo) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3, Sense Motive 12		Dark knowledge (dread secret)
20	Archivist	+10	+20 (NI)	+16 (NI)	+23 (NI)	Concentration 23, Heal 23, Spellcraft 23, Knowledge (Religion. Arcana) 23, (Planes, Nature) 16, (Dung.) 4, (History) 3, (Local) 4, (Geo) 1, Craft(Drawing) 3, Sense Motive 12		Dark knowledge 7/day

Spoiler: Spells/Day (Including Long-Duration Bonuses, NI means Nigh-Infinite)

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

Spoiler: Levels 1-8

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Any goal worth having requires preparation. In his initial travels, Moravin had much to focus on, but he never forgot his long-term goals, and thus he studied the metamagic he knew he would need, sought out references to the spells he would need to acquire, and began tracking down the items he would need to buy. He also took every available opportunity to form connections with others who struggled against the pervasiveness of greed and apathy. Though his physique remained… suboptimal, his status as a gifted magic user opened many doors. Crucially, he was able to track down an order of Sacred Exorcists and master their ability to channel the divine energy to turn undead. His drive to struggle against the shadow of evil found common ground amongst the other members, and he departed ready to take the first true steps along his path…

Tactics:
At these levels, Moravin is mostly a normal Archivist, somewhat hindered by a focus on metamagic that has limited use until later, and low physical stats. He can still support the party with a range of battlefield control and buff spells, so he has no difficulty contributing.

Relevant Items: Periapt of Wisdom +2 (4000gp, lvl 6), Ankh of Ascension (9000gp, lvl 8)

Spoiler: Levels 9-11

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Moravin had always hated rats. The way they lived for nothing but breeding and consumption, stifling the light of life under a hollow existence… felt like the antithesis of a life well lived. He knew the satisfaction he would get from killing so many of them was perhaps not entirely healthy. But if he was to heal the world, it would need to be done.

As his efforts started to bear fruit, Moravin’s resolve redoubled. He made sure to take opportunities to help where he could, knowing that the habits he formed then would persist for far longer than the spells he cast. His limited ability to solve larger problems weighed on him, but with regard to that, he had a plan…

Spoiler: Technique #1: Persistent Consumptive Field

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Caster level is a foundation of a spellcaster’s power, and Consumptive Field is great at boosting it. Though the spell is [Evil], Moravin is an Archivist, not a Cleric, and so he can still cast it. The first step in casting a Consumptive Field is to booster the starting CL as much as possible. At level 9, Moravin can sacrifice a 4th-level slot to the Ankh of Ascension to add +4 CL to the field, cast Adept Spirit for +1 CL and cast Death Knell and kill a rat to add +1 CL. He can now cast Consumptive Field at CL 15, and apply Persistent Spell with Divine Metamagic (since Consumptive Field is fixed-range). Next, he kills some rats.

Moravin’s rat cages are comprised of closely-spaced bars with just enough space to allow, food, water, and spikes to pass through. They are large enough to contain breeding populations, contain slits for dividers (to section off the rats being culled), and come with a few grids of spikes to impale all the rats in an isolated section.

For now, since the current Consumptive Field can add up to +7 CL, Moravin kills 7 rats, in the process getting a +14 strength bonus and 7d8 temporary HP. All these bonuses will last for the next 24 hours. When the Death Knell and Adept Spirit wear off, he has a CL of 16 for that entire time. Meanwhile, the strength bonus will help with carrying all the rat cages around.
When he casts Consumptive Field the following day, it is even better. With the previous day’s bonus, he can cast the next Field at CL 22, and after killing 10 rats, the new bonus is +11 CL, leaving him at CL 20 for the rest of the day.

Optionally, he can use Anyspell to cast Magic Tattoo beforehand, a spell with 100gp material component costs to add another +1 CL for the rest of the day – if so, he will need to cast Divine Insight first and take 10 in order to make the Craft check to draw the tattoo. With a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend, he can increase the duration to two days, halving the ongoing material component costs (thus, the rod pays for itself in about two months).

Each casting of Consumptive Field will be boosted by the previous, capping out at a CL bonus one lower than the CL the spell would be cast at without prior Field bonuses. Thus, if the Magic Tattoo is not being used, the bonus caps out at +15 CL, and if it is, it caps at +16 CL. Thus, Moravin’s day-long CL will be 24 if the tattoo is not being used and 26 if it is.

Since Moravin has 5th-level slots, he can Persist an Extended Consumptive Field instead. Extend will increase the duration to 2 days, letting Moravin rotate in another Extended spell to Persist (such as Mass Lesser Vigor) in-between. If Moravin will be entering a population center, the hazards of being surrounded by a spell that kills most people at 0 or fewer HP are too high, so a Metamagic Rod – Sculpting can be used to apply Sculpt Spell, anchoring the spell to a location (with warning signs).

At level 11, he gets more options: the Bead of Karma adds another +4 CL while he is preparing the day’s Consumptive Field, and he can use Greater Anyspell to cast both Spell Enhancer for another +2 CL on the Field and Hymn of Praise for +2 CL on all spells in the next few rounds. This means his day-long CL is now 35 without the tattoo, and 37 if he has it.

Tactics:
Although Moravin can only apply one DMM Persist per day, with Extend Spell increasing the duration to two days, he can alternate persists between two different spells – Mass Lesser Vigor is a good second spell, providing ongoing healing to party members and anyone else fortunate enough to be nearby.

With a caster level that rises from 26 to 37, Moravin now has a few additional options. Black Tentacles (available as a 3rd level spell from the Blackwater domain) has a grapple bonus equal to CL+8, Divine Retaliation is an alternate option for Extend + DMM Persist if Moravin expects to be repeatedly attacked over the next two days, applying his CL toward its attack bonus and 1.5 times his Consumptive Field-inflated Strength bonus toward its damage, which is dealt whenever he is attacked. Though most other spells have caps on CL bonuses, the duration boost can help, particularly for minute/level spells during a dungeon crawl.

Chain spell can be used to apply 1st - 3rd level spells to dozens of targets, which is situational, but can come in handy when helping lots of supporting NPCs.
As a more unusual option, Moravin’s massive strength boost and large temp HP reserve mean he can actually deal decent damage with a two-handed weapon like a greatsword, despite lacking proficiency. Not what you’d imagine the seemingly fragile Archivist doing, but Moravin is a practical sort.

Incidentally, another uncapped spell is Create Food and Water – Moravin can now easily feed dozens, and also supply emergency rat food.

Relevant Items: Cloak of Charisma +2 (4000gp, lvl 9), Nightstick (7500gp, lvl 9), Custom rat cages (100? gp, lvl 9), Metamagic Rod – Sculpting (11,000 gp, lvl 10), Lesser Metamagic Rod – Extend(3,000 gp, lvl 11), Bead of Karma (20,000gp, lvl 11)
Persisted Spells: Extended Sculpted Consumptive Field, Extended Mass Lesser Vigor OR Extended Divine Retaliation

Spoiler: Levels 12-13

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Moravin knew that healing the world could not be achieved without pain. He knew it, and had planned for it. And, though the pain was great, he remained focused on all the suffering he could prevent, if only he persevered. Helping him through that pain were the teachings of the Witch Hunter order he had been seeking out for their critical techniques. The mentor he found for his struggle against evil had much in the way of advice, and the sense of serene focus he was taught bolstered both his ability to channel divine energy and his ability to resist the powers of darkness.

Though difficult to bear, Moravin reflected that the pain might help keep him grounded in the end. If his calculations were correct, he would soon gain much power, and he knew that power without cost led to dangerous detachment. Instead, Moravin sought to share in the joy of those to whom he could now render aid.

Spoiler: Technique #2: Persistent Extended Suffer the Flesh

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With the ability to heal permanent ability damage, Moravin can now cast Suffer the Flesh (via Anyspell) at the cost of 250 gp of components, using his Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend to double the duration, applying DMM Persist, taking 10 Con damage, and getting a +5 CL bonus for the next two days. He can then cast Heal to remove the Con damage.

Since Suffer the Flesh increases the starting CL at which further Consumptive Fields are cast, the bonus from the Field ultimately rises by another +5, leaving Moravin’s day-long CL +10 CL higher than otherwise.

The serenity he learned had unexpected consequences when a practice meditation saw him touching the essence of Taiia’s divinity. His sense of a world engulfed in darkness was… expanded, and he saw forces of darkness and light warring across the land, with the worthier of both sides tipping the balance one way or the other. Worthiness was proven by no more or less than one’s own ability. As the vision ended, Moravin resolved to meditate on what he had seen, and to become worthy to make a lasting difference.

Spoiler: Technique #3: Earth Domain for More Turn Undead

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Contemplative 1 adds the Earth domain, which lets Moravin “turn or destroy earth creatures as a good cleric turns undead… use these abilities a total number of times per day equal to 3 + Cha modifier.” Since this is described to function like a cleric’s Turn Undead, one can conclude that it works with both Divine Metamagic and Serenity, giving Moravin another turning pool to use for Persistent Spell.

Tactics:
With enough turn attempts to run four to six Extended Persistent spells, Moravin’s ability to boost himself and his allies is considerably expanded. Black Tentacles grows even stronger with his further CL increases, and he can now gain long-lasting immunity to many effects.

Much to his chagrin, Moravin has to acknowledge that his ability as a melee fighter might sometimes be the optimal use of his skills. With over 61 strength and a large amount of temporary HP from Consumptive Field bonuses, martial weapon proficiency from Witch Hunter, Divine Power, and 16d6 to 17d6 Sneak Attack damage from Hunter’s Eye, his damage with a 2-handed weapon is… embarrassingly considerable. At least he can use his ever-expanding assortment of spells to heal and render aid outside of combat.

A significant hazard to Moravin is the Antimagic Field – since he depends so much on buffs, having them all suppressed is a major problem. As a countermeasure, he can deploy the “tinfoil hat” trick, getting Shrink Item from the Urban Druid list, casting it on a body-covering cone, shrinking it to hat size, and then wearing it. If he ends up in an AMF, the Shrink is suppressed and the cone expands to full size, covering Moravin and blocking him from the Field’s effect, letting him deploy an escape option.

Relevant Items: Headband of Intellect +2(4000gp, lvl 12), Periapt of Wisdom +4 -> +6(16,000gp, lvl 12, 36,000gp lvl 13), Orange Ioun Stone(30,000gp, lvl 13)
Persisted Spells: Extended Sculpted Consumptive Field, Extended Suffer the Flesh, Ocular Favor of the Martyr, Extended(rod) Nerveskitter(Anyspell), Extended Divine Retaliation, Extended Death Ward, Extended Divine Power, Extended Hunter’s Eye and/or Extended Mass Lesser Vigor

Spoiler: Level 14

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True power. For so long, Moravin had marshalled his strength, doing what he could to ease the world’s pains, but now, finally, he could start changing things on a national scale. With one word, he could strike down the mightiest of evildoers. With his growing arsenal of magical knowledge, he could traverse the planes, seeking out the rarest of divine scrolls to further grow his might. And when faced with catastrophe, be it natural or manmade, he could draw upon his massive pool of spells to be the hand that saved. And he also got to regularly kill a lot of rats, starting at 31 every other day…

Spoiler: Technique #4: Ocular Owl’s Insight

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Owl’s Insight is an interesting spell. For 1 hour, it adds half your CL as an insight bonus to Wisdom. In order to Persist it, Moravin must first apply Ocular Spell, giving it a fixed range and making it require a 7th level slot. This technique could theoretically be employed as early as level 11 if Moravin manages to commission or obtain a custom Metamagic Rod of either Reach or Ocular Spell for 32,500 gp (the limit being his ability Extend Owl’s Insight so that it can be alternated with Consumptive Field), but since those would be custom items, I’m assuming Moravin is limited to applying Ocular Spell the usual way.

Now able to cast it at level 14, Moravin can cast shortly after that day’s Consumptive Field using Death Knell, Adept Spirit, Hymn of Praise, the Magic Tattoo, Ankh of Ascension, the Karma Prayer Bead and another Spell Enhancer to cast at CL 67, adding a +33(insight) bonus to Wisdom for the next 24 hours (after directing the Ocular Spell at a visible part of his own body). Since this lasts through the time that Moravin rests and prepares spells, it bolsters his daily bonus spells to extremely high levels, along with increasing his saves and available turn attempts.

Since an Ocular Spell can be applied to others, Moravin can also use this to massively empower other Wisdom-based casters.

But Moravin knew he could do more, and so, embracing the suffering that was now his regular companion, he sought out the location of an Otyugh Hole to further harden his will. With the aid of knowledge bolstered by Divine Insight, and his plane-traversing spellcasting capability, he was able to locate such a place and spend a week in its depths. As someone who subjected his body to excruciating ravages every other day to further his power to aid others, the challenge was one of endurance rather than extremity, but it molded him nonetheless, and he emerged with a resolve that was fit to push his casting beyond mortal limits, and in so doing, reshape the world…

Tactics:
I’ll say the obvious one: Holy Word. With a CL of 53, Moravin can kill any non-Good creature of 43 HD or less within 40 feet, unless they have incredibly good spell resistance. Beyond that, he now has a massive number of spells per day, can run up to 8 Extended Persistent spells (beyond the Consumptive Field, Suffer the Flesh, and Owl’s Insight on himself), and can travel to places like Sigil looking to purchase rare divine scrolls to further expand his repertoire. Need more be said?

Relevant Costs: Otyugh Hole Visit (3000gp)
Persisted Spells: Extended Sculpted Consumptive Field, Extended Suffer the Flesh, Ocular Owl’s Insight, Bite of the Werebear(stats), Extended Primal Instinct(+5 Init), Extended Ocular Shield of Warding(+5 AC, reflex(sacred) on shield), Greater Anyspell Dragonsight(6) (Darkvision 10*CL ft, blindsense 5*CL, 50% spot distance penalties), Extended Ocular Magic Vestment(+5 AC(enhancement) on armor/clothes), Extended Ocular Favor of the Martyr(immunities), Extended Ocular Death Ward, Extended Ocular Delay Death, Extended Ocular Sheltered Vitality(immunities), Extended(rod) Nerveskitter(Anyspell), Extended Divine Retaliation, Extended Death Ward, Extended Divine Power, Extended Hunter’s Eye, Extended Mass Lesser Vigor, and/or Ocular Owl’s Insight on others.
Other Spells: Alter Self(Alteration domain, hides effects of Bite of the Werebear), Extended Favorable Sacrifice(spell resist = CL, costs 250 GP), Mind Blank

Spoiler: Levels 15-20

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For Moravin Dahl, the cost of unlimited power is pain. Every other day, he ravages his body with increasingly destructive methods, and every day, he sees the result – a world where people can flourish unhindered by the selfishness of the powerful. To him, it is worth it. As for the millions of rats he sacrifices on an industrial scale to fuel this state of affairs, well… he deserves a guilty pleasure.

With virtually unlimited spell slots and the ability to spread bonuses lasting days to surrounding populations, Moravin has struck fear into the hearts of selfish rulers everywhere, and empowered people the world over to learn and grow without fear of disease, war, or deprivation. Through it all, Taiia watches. Occasionally, Moravin catches a hint of… admiration.

Spoiler: Technique #5: Reserves of Strength

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No more limits! The Reserves of Strength feat lets Moravin increase his CL when casting a spell by 3 at the cost of 5d6 damage, and lets him “exceed the normal fixed limits of a spell”. Notably, Suffer the Flesh is limited to providing +5 CL at the cost of 10 Con damage for a CL 10+ caster. Without this limit… things start to get truly overwhelming…

Moravin will first need to get some bonus to Con so that the Con damage doesn’t kill him (ability damage can’t drop a base score below 0, so as long as there is a bonus, the total score is above 0). Since he is running Persistent Bite of the Werebear, this suffices. A Persistent Delay Death also helps.

Starting with a +5 CL bonus from the ongoing Suffer the Flesh and a +39 CL bonus from the ongoing Consumptive Field, Moravin uses his items, Death Knell, Adept Spirit, Magic Tattoo, Greater Anyspell(Spell Enhancer), Greater Anyspell(Hymn of Praise), and Reserves of Strength to cast a new Persistent Extended Suffer the Flesh (through Anyspell and a Lesser Rod of Extend) at CL 76, increasing the bonus from +5 to +38, He then uses all of those bonuses to cast a new Persistent Extended Sculpted Consumptive Field at CL 109, increasing the bonus from +39 to +54. Finally, he casts Heal on himself to fix the Con damage and the HP loss from Reserves of Strength (if it wasn’t absorbed by the temp HP from the previous Consumptive Field).

The next time he does a round of casting, the Suffer the Flesh bonus increases to +62 and the Consumptive Field bonus increases to +74. The time after that they go up to +84 and +95. Then +105 and +116. Then +126 and +137. This can continue indefinitely – it is a nigh-infinite loop limited only by the number of rats you can pass into a Sculpted Consumptive Field and kill over a 48 hour period. While the value might technically not be “nigh-infinite” (NI) like I indicated on the stat pages, it is still very, very large.

With Owl’s Insight, Moravin now has virtually unlimited spells. With Kami’s Grace and Serenity, he has unlimited save bonuses and turn attempts. Removing limits has other effects – Mass Cure Light Wounds can add massive amounts of HP, Shapechange can let Moravin turn into practically anything, and Ocular Magic Vestment can add a colossal AC. Also, with his massive CL, Favorable Sacrifice provides an unbeatable amount of spell resistance.

Eventually, Persistent Spell becomes unnecessary for many things he casts; at CL 1,440, minute/level spells last all day, at CL 14,400, round/level spells pass that threshold. At that point, Persistent is only needed for fixed-duration spells like Suffer the Flesh and Owl’s Insight.

By providing (Extended Persistent Ocular) Owl’s Insight to select other divine casters, he can greatly amplify his own influence, ensuring that his healing will can properly spread throughout the world and beyond…

Tactics:
It might seem a bit redundant to talk about tactics for someone with virtually unlimited spells who can do things like spam Time Stop for hours or Shapechange into epic monsters. The only worry is that someone who can bypass Foresight manages to get Moravin within an Antimagic Field and kill him before he can act. Even for that, Miracle gives access to Contingency to give him a way to respond before the Field is triggered.

One thing worth noting is how Persistent Extended Ocular Divine insight allows Moravin to empower large numbers of divine casters to aid his mission of bettering the world. These casters will get effectively unlimited slots for each spell level they can cast, and equally massive save DCs. When DMM(Chain Spell) is achieved at level 18, these bonuses can be applied on an even wider scale. Making sure these subordinates are aligned with Moravin’s goals is no issue – with training in Sense Motive and a massive Wisdom bonus, he can be extremely confident about what they want.

At this point, one might as well focus on Moravin’s actual goal – aiding the world. Massively empowering large numbers of low-to-mid-level divine casters is already a massive change, but his ability to threaten any rulers who don’t treat their population well with certain removal is obviously also a big deal. DMM Chain Miracle enables Moravin to mass-apply any 7th-level or lower ranged, single-target effect to every desired individual within 30 feet of the initial target, with effectively uncapped durations. For 7th- level or lower divine effects with touch range, Ocular Spell allows them to be Chained as well.

Supporting all of this is Moravin’s rat supply. With easy long-distance travel and, at level 18, access to Genesis, Moravin can create a secure facility to breed the massive number of rats his abilities require without fear of any escaping. If he wants, he can accelerate his speed of CL increase by recasting Suffer the Flesh and Consumptive Field multiple times each day – he’ll just need an adequate supply of rubies (for Suffer the Flesh) and rats.

Relevant Items: Tome of Understanding +5(137,500gp, lvl 16), Headband of Intellect +6 (36,000gp, lvl 18), Tome of Clear Thought +5(137,500gp, lvl 19)
Persisted Spells: Extended Sculpted Consumptive Field, Extended Suffer the Flesh, Ocular Extended Owl’s Insight, Greater Visage of the Deity(stats), Ocular Aura of Vitality(stats), Extended Bite of the Werebear(stats), Extended Primal Instinct(+5 Init), Extended Ocular Shield of Warding(NI AC on shield), G.Anyspell Dragonsight(6) (NI darkvision & blindsense, 50% spot distance penalties), Extended Ocular Magic Vestment(NI AC(enhancement) on armor/clothes), Extended Ocular Favor of the Martyr(immunities), Extended Ocular Death Ward, Extended Ocular Delay Death, Extended Ocular Sheltered Vitality(immunities), Extended(rod) Nerveskitter(Anyspell), Extended Divine Retaliation, Extended Death Ward, Extended Divine Power, Extended Hunter’s Eye, Extended Mass Lesser Vigor, and/or Ocular Extended Owl’s Insight on others.
Other Spells: Shapechange, Foresight, Extended Favorable Sacrifice(spell resist = CL, costs 250 GP), Mind Blank

Spoiler: Reference for CL and Wisdom by Level (NI means Nigh-Infinite)

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Level	CL	WIS	Turn Attempts	Persists
9	26	20(22)	2(7)	1
10	28	20(22)	2(7)	1
11	37	20(22)	2(7)	1
12	47	21(25)	8(14)	2
13	51	21(27)	16(26)	3
14	53	21(60)	16(44)	6
15	NI	21(NI)	16(NI)	NI
16	NI	27(NI)	26(NI)	NI
17	NI	27(NI)	26(NI)	NI
18	NI	27(NI)	26(NI)	NI
19	NI	27(NI)	26(NI)	NI
20	NI	28(NI)	28(NI)	NI

Spoiler: Sources:

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Heroes of Horror: Archivist
Complete Divine: Sacred Exorcist, Contemplative, Divine Metamagic, Mass Lesser Vigor, Greater Visage of the Deity
Oriental Adventures: Witch Hunter
Deities and Demigods: Taiia
Complete Arcane: Sculpt Spell, Persistent Spell, Chain Spell, Metamagic Rod - Sculpting
Lords of Madness: Ocular Spell
Dragon Compendium: Serenity, Urban Druid(Shrink Item)
Dragonlance Campaign Setting: Reserves of Strength, Alteration domain
Complete Scoundrel: Otyugh Hole
Stormwrack: Blackwater domain
Races of Faerun: Southern Magician
Libris Mortis: Nightstick
Magic Item Compendium: Ankh of Ascension
Player’s Handbook II: Divine Retaliation, Hunter’s Eye
Spell Compendium: Anyspell, Greater Anyspell, Consumptive Field, Divine Insight, Create Magic Tattoo, Favor of the Martyr, Owl’s Insight, Spell Enhancer, Bite of the Werebear, Shield of Warding, Dragonsight, Delay Death, Sheltered Vitality, Favorable Sacrifice, Aura of Vitality
Magic of Eberron: Suffer the Flesh
Magic of Incarnum: Adept Spirit
Complete Adventurer: Hymn of Praise
Dragon Magic: Primal Instinct

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-15, 03:18 AM (ISO 8601)

And lastly, the chair's exhibition entry! Judges are free to share their thoughts but aren't obligated to include it in their judgements.

Really failing to live up to that 'first, do no harm' bit...

Originally Posted by Inevitability

Sulphurclaw, Who Dreams Prophecies

LE Greenspawn Zealot Psychic Warrior 2 / Blackguard 10

"Where five became four the door to blood has re-opened, and so should the griffin's house not uncover their traitor, the weavers of stone will bring death to the ursine realm... such intricate connections, so plain to see!"

Spoiler: Description

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The spawn of tiamat are well known in the realm called Eberron. Created in profane rituals enacted by the tainted dragons that serve her, they represent an utter corruption of anything dragons stand for. Some are little more than mindless beasts that serve her cultists as attack dogs and mounts - others, like the greenspawn zealots, are lieutenants and chaplans, second only to the draconic leaders. Sulphurclaw, at first, seems like a typical example of his kind: fiercely devoted to ensuring his mother's freedom, strong in battle, with an interest in the draconic prophecy and some ability to tell its signs.

...and yet things are not that simple. What to think of the flashes of psionic talent shown by the greenspawn? What to think of the fact that its prophecized rambles seem ever-so-slightly wrong? And what to think of the fact that its actions, though perfectly explicable as deeds in Tiamat's service, always seem to advance Riedran interests as well?

Some whispered voices speak of Inspired programs that breed twisted shining dragons, flawless as gems and armed with powers of the mind (DoE page 109). If so, Sulphurclaw represents a truly terrifying possibility: that the quori know of the Pit of Five Sorrows, and intend to use Tiamat as their tool to visit long-awaited revenge upon the dragons. Sulphurclaw himself most likely does not even know of their manipulations: to him, the flawed prophecy his mind accesses is simply the only correct one.

Spoiler: Build Table

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Ability scores: 16/12/12/12/15/10
Post-racial: 22/12/18/12/17/12
All ASIs (8,12,16) into wisdom for a final 20 wisdom.

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
6th	Greenspawn Zealot	+6	+2	+5	+5	Hide +8cc (4), Knowledge (Arcana) +4cc (2), Knowledge (Religion) +4cc (2), Listen +3 (3), Sense Motive +4 (4), Spot +4 (4)	Draconic Prophesier, Power Attack, Cleave	Tiamat's Grace, Zealotry, Favored Enemy Humans, Touch of Tiamat, Acid Immunity
7th	Psychic Warrior 1	+6	+4	+5	+5	Autohypnosis +1 (1), Hide +2cc (5), Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	Improved Sunder^B	Manifesting
8th	Psychic Warrior 2	+7	+5	+5	+5	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +3 (3), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Religion) 2, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	Prophecy's Mind^B	-
9th	Blackguard 1	+8	+7	+5	+5	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +1 (4), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (Religion) +2 (4), Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	Spontaneous Wounder	Aura of Evil, Detect Good, Poison Use
10th	Blackguard 2	+9	+8	+5	+5	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +1 (5), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) +2cc (3), Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	-	Dark Blessing, Smite Good 1/Day
11th	Blackguard 3	+10	+8	+6	+6	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +1 (6), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) +2cc (4), Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	-	Command Undead, Aura of Despair
12th	Blackguard 4	+11	+9	+6	+6	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +3 (9), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	Serenity	Sneak Attack +1d6
13th	Blackguard 5	+12	+9	+6	+6	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +1 (10), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) +2cc (5), Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	-	Fiendish Servant, Smite Good 2/day
14th	Blackguard 6	+13	+10	+7	+7	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +1 (11), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) +2cc (6), Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	-	-
15th	Blackguard 7	+14	+10	+7	+7	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +3 (14), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	Prophecy's Shepherd	Sneak Attack +2d6
16th	Blackguard 8	+15	+11	+7	+7	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +3 (17), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	-	-
17th	Blackguard 9	+16	+11	+8	+8	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +1 (18), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) +2cc (7), Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	-	-
18th	Blackguard 10	+17	+12	+8	+8	Autohypnosis 1, Concentration +1 (19), Hide 5, Knowledge (Arcana) +2cc (8), Knowledge (Religion) 4, Listen 3, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4	Craven	Sneak Attack +3d6, Smite Good 3/day

Spoiler: Fiendish Servant

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"Little Dragon"
Fiendish Bat (8 HD)
Feats: Darkstalker, Martial Study (Clinging Shadow Strike), Martial Stance (Island of Blades)
All 11 skill points in Hide for a final +25 Hide before items and boosts.

Spoiler: Manifesting and Casting

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Suphurclaw has 1 power point at level 7, 5 at level 8, and 6 at level 16.
Powers known are Expansion and Call Item.

This is an exhibition entry so I'm just giving typical spells prepared at level 20:
1: Divine Sacrifice, Divine Sacrifice, Divine Sacrifice, Inflict Light Wounds
2: Demoncall, Inflict Moderate Wounds, Soul of Shadow
3: Demon Wings, Inflict Serious Wounds, Mass Resurgence
4: Summon Undead IV, Revenance
Note that 5/day we can convert a prepared spell into an Inflict of equivalent level thanks to Spontaneous Wounder.

Spoiler: Writeup

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6 HD
I won't lie: this build has a rough early game. Slightly better saves and stats are the main thing separating you from a warrior, so just charge ahead, power attack with a two-hander, and hope you face a lot of humans. Once per day you can hurt a creature with a touch and heal yourself for the same amount, which is alright. I mean, it's not like you could craft an entire build around that, right?

10 HD
Psychic Warrior lets us squeeze in the final blackguard prerequisite feat, as well as Prophecy's Mind, which can save you from death once per battle. The class also gives the ever-great Expansion and Call Item for utility.

Spontaneous Wounder isn't that good yet, though your high wisdom at least grants a lot of uses. Use poison to shore up your damage, maybe sunder some holy symbols or component pouches, and use what little magic blackguard gives you where it counts. Divine Sacrifice is notable for adding a ton of damage, and if you stick it onto an ILW touch attack, you heal back its 10 HP cost and more thanks to Touch of Tiamat.

15 HD
Here's where everything starts to come together. Prophecy's Shepherd lets you cast quickened Inflict spells for multiple rounds in a row (including the round you enter prophetic fervor). Touch of Tiamat turns all these spells into an equal amount of healing for you. Sneak Attack further ups the damage dealt by those touch attacks, as does Smite Good if you're so inclined. You also now possess a fiendish bat servant, which can act as short-range enemy radar and which allows you to consider your foes flanked if it's adjacent to the same enemy as you. It's also a pretty solid scout thanks to Darkstalker.

Serenity switches our Dark Blessing from charisma to wisdom, massively upping the save bonus. This neatly synergizes with our racial Zealotry: the higher our save bonuses, the bigger the chance a reroll actually matters when used. RAW, it doesn't affect our Command Undead, Tiamat's Touch, or Smite Good, but a permissive DM (or one running Sulphurclaw as an NPC) might switch those over to wisdom as well, given how clearly they're patterned on Turn Undead, Lay on Hands, and Smite Evil.

Demoncall squeezes some use out of your anemic knowledge ranks (and if it's not useful for the day, just convert it to an inflict spell). Soul of Shadow is a nice long-duration buff to your inflicts that can also remove fatigue from you. Note that all those inflict spells may be low-level, but saves against them (and your allies' spells) are rolled at a -2 penalty thanks to a blackguard's Aura of Despair. Also note Mass Resurgence, which synergizes great with your high saves: you're likely to succeed on your save against most AoE effects and can then proceed to grant everyone who failed a reroll with only a single action.

18 HD
Craven (much less painful with our Will save so high) massively ups the damage of your inflict spells, and thus supercharges the healing received. Sneak attack itself increases as well: even a simple Inflict Light Wounds now deals 1d8+5+3d6+18, for an average of 38 damage and 38 points of healing to you (or a nearby dragonblooded ally). Not bad for something you can do alongside your regular full power attacks! If you go all-out and drop an Inflict Critical Wounds, that's 4d8+10+3d6+18, or 56 damage, again healed in full.

The nice thing about this is how well it works with Prophecy's Mind: if you're in a state of fervor and would drop to -10, you can instead drop to 0, cast an inflict spell with your next action, and heal yourself while hopefully killing whatever is beating your face in. Someone without healing would be forced to stumble away, someone with healing would still have to hope they don't just get downed again next turn, but you can keep attacking when you'd normally have been dead.

Summon Undead IV gets you allips in all their terrifying goodness (or ghouls, who can spread ghoul fever and give you permanent minions to command), and Revenance lets you, however temporarily, heal even death. Note that the resurrected ally is at half health, making them a convenient target for your healing if they happen to be dragonblooded.

Spoiler: Sources

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Greenspawn Zealot - MMV
Psychic Warrior - XPH
Draconic Prophesier, Prophecy's Mind, Prophecy's Shepherd - MoE
Craven - CoR
Serenity - DComp
Spontaneous Healer - CDiv

Divine Sacrifice, Mass Resurgence, Revenance, Summon Undead IV - SComp
Demoncall, Demon Wings - FCI
Soul of Shadow - DrM

Call Item - Psionic Potpourri

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-15, 03:20 AM (ISO 8601)

And that's it! Five (plus one) serene sawbones for you to admire!

I think Poetic expressed some interest in judging: did anyone else? Once more a reminder that judges get a lot of influence in determining the next round's theme!

Speaking of which, Poetic, do you already have some elements or general themes you'd like to see, so I can account for that while drafting up options? I was personally thinking of doing something with a 5-level PrC, so if there's one you really like, do mention that!

**NotInventedHere** · 2024-02-15, 08:39 PM (ISO 8601)

A lovely array of different takes on the concept. I particularly like the touch in the Martyred Champion build of asking the chair to roll on the Reincarnate table.

As promised last page, my two poor un-named build stubs:

Feral Water Orc Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian 2 / Fighter 4 / Champion of Gwynharwyf 10 / Bear Warrior 1 / Fighter 5-6

Spoiler: Feats

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1: Righteous Wrath
3: Knight of Stars
3 (F): Power Attack
4 (F): Combat Focus
6 (F): Combat Stability
6: Intimidating Rage
9: Combat Vigor
12: Serenity
15: Imperious Command
18: Instantaneous Rage
19 (F): Leap Attack

The trick with this one was combining Feral's fast healing and the PHB2 Combat Form feats' Combat Vigor fast healing to heal the damage done by using Champion of Gwynharwyf's Divine Sacrifice and 'of the Martyr' spells, while using Righteous Wrath to enable Combat Vigor to work (since Righteous Wrath notes that 'While raging, you maintain clarity of mind unusual among barbarians.', and since the Combat Form feats aren't in the list of feats that don't work in rage - in fact, the described 'fear and pain ebb away' and 'mind and body become one' sound very much like a barbarian deep in their rage). Plus I liked the overall thematic line of a feral barbarian learning to maintain clarity of mind while unleashing their fury. And having good Wisdom helps with Serenity, Champion of Gwynharwyf spells and Combat Focus prerequisites all at once.

Lesser Aasimar Shaman 6 / Lion of Talisid 10 / Shaman 7-10

Spoiler: Feats

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1: Apprentice (Woodsman)
3: Companion Spellbond
4 (B): Combat Reflexes
6: Favoured of the Companions
9: Natural Spell
10 (B): Exalted Companion
12: Serenity
15: Ashbound
18: Greenbound Summoning
18 (B): Iron Will

I noticed Lion of Talisid while going through the Book of Exalted Deeds working on the Champion of Gwynharwyf build, and it's just a very nice prestige class for a Shaman. Very little in the way of entry requirements, full spellcasting advancement, full animal companion advancement, and gives the Shaman access to Wild Shape and Pounce. No fancy tricks here, just a full caster with wild shape, turn undead and domain access. I set this one up as a summoner but the turning could also be used to fuel all sorts of cheese.

**quetzalcoatl5** · 2024-02-15, 09:07 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by NotInventedHere

A lovely array of different takes on the concept. I particularly like the touch in the Martyred Champion build of asking the chair to roll on the Reincarnate table.

As promised last page, my two poor un-named build stubs:

Feral Water Orc Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian 2 / Fighter 4 / Champion of Gwynharwyf 10 / Bear Warrior 1 / Fighter 5-6

Spoiler: Feats

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1: Righteous Wrath
3: Knight of Stars
3 (F): Power Attack
4 (F): Combat Focus
6 (F): Combat Stability
6: Intimidating Rage
9: Combat Vigor
12: Serenity
15: Imperious Command
18: Instantaneous Rage
19 (F): Leap Attack

The trick with this one was combining Feral's fast healing and the PHB2 Combat Form feats' Combat Vigor fast healing to heal the damage done by using Champion of Gwynharwyf's Divine Sacrifice and 'of the Martyr' spells, while using Righteous Wrath to enable Combat Vigor to work (since Righteous Wrath notes that 'While raging, you maintain clarity of mind unusual among barbarians.', and since the Combat Form feats aren't in the list of feats that don't work in rage - in fact, the described 'fear and pain ebb away' and 'mind and body become one' sound very much like a barbarian deep in their rage). Plus I liked the overall thematic line of a feral barbarian learning to maintain clarity of mind while unleashing their fury. And having good Wisdom helps with Serenity, Champion of Gwynharwyf spells and Combat Focus prerequisites all at once.

Lesser Aasimar Shaman 6 / Lion of Talisid 10 / Shaman 7-10

Spoiler: Feats

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1: Apprentice (Woodsman)
3: Companion Spellbond
4 (B): Combat Reflexes
6: Favoured of the Companions
9: Natural Spell
10 (B): Exalted Companion
12: Serenity
15: Ashbound
18: Greenbound Summoning
18 (B): Iron Will

I noticed Lion of Talisid while going through the Book of Exalted Deeds working on the Champion of Gwynharwyf build, and it's just a very nice prestige class for a Shaman. Very little in the way of entry requirements, full spellcasting advancement, full animal companion advancement, and gives the Shaman access to Wild Shape and Pounce. No fancy tricks here, just a full caster with wild shape, turn undead and domain access. I set this one up as a summoner but the turning could also be used to fuel all sorts of cheese.

Yo!!! I played with those exact builds for both the Champion of Gwyn/Bear Warrior and Shaman/Lion! Great minds!

**loky1109** · 2024-02-15, 10:24 PM (ISO 8601)

I had several bare bones, but don't have time to combine them.
1) Broken One Monk with Azure Touch and I'm sure there is feat that lets use Wholeness of Body on others, don't remember name.
2) Spellfire Wielder.
3) Warforged Divine Mind.

I also looked at Diablo II Paladin. He has some healing options, but not enough and it'd look very similar to my IC E6 entry in Fire round.

I'll make table tomorrow.
At this moment I'm judging IC, but when I'll finish I could judge this round as well.

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-16, 05:19 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by NotInventedHere

As promised last page, my two poor un-named build stubs

I rather like those two! Nice to see a CoG build, I was kind of expecting one.

Originally Posted by loky1109

I had several bare bones, but don't have time to combine them.
1) Broken One Monk with Azure Touch and I'm sure there is feat that lets use Wholeness of Body on others, don't remember name.
2) Spellfire Wielder.
3) Warforged Divine Mind.

I also looked at Diablo II Paladin. He has some healing options, but not enough and it'd look very similar to my IC E6 entry in Fire round.

I'll make table tomorrow.
At this moment I'm judging IC, but when I'll finish I could judge this round as well.

There's a Wholeness of Others ACF in Dragon Magazine 346, could that be what you were thinking of? Functions just like WoB but can target anyone but yourself instead of only yourself. I'm also curious what that divine mind idea would've looked like - I presume warforged for the creation aura? That's quite creative.

Anyway, great to hear you might judge as well! I'll get some ideas whipped up for the next round - from what I recall you were interested in a Weapon Specialization - Fighter round, or something with one of the Thrall Of PrCs? I could include one among the next voting slate.

**quetzalcoatl5** · 2024-02-16, 09:16 AM (ISO 8601)

I like weapon specialization minus fighter!

**loky1109** · 2024-02-16, 09:55 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Inevitability

There's a Wholeness of Others ACF in Dragon Magazine 346, could that be what you were thinking of? Functions just like WoB but can target anyone but yourself instead of only yourself.

Hmm... Maybe, I don't sure. I remember feat, but I could misremember.

I'm also curious what that divine mind idea would've looked like - I presume warforged for the creation aura? That's quite creative.

Exactly.

Anyway, great to hear you might judge as well! I'll get some ideas whipped up for the next round - from what I recall you were interested in a Weapon Specialization - Fighter round, or something with one of the Thrall Of PrCs? I could include one among the next voting slate.

Weapon Specialization + Bond with weapon - Fighter, yes. )
Thralls round also sounds fun, but less fun.

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-16, 12:01 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by loky1109

Weapon Specialization + Bond with weapon - Fighter, yes. )
Thralls round also sounds fun, but less fun.

I'm not sure about having 'Bond with weapon' as the second ingredient.

A Weapon Specialization - Fighter round will always demand some number of invested class levels - there's no way to cheese your way into counting as a fighter without putting some levels into one of a handful of classes. Adding 'Bond with Weapon' would introduce a second list of classes, then demand the builds invest in both (and their requirements). That doesn't leave a lot of class and feat space to actually synergize with the ingredients, which leaves me fearing that the builds will all feel rather samey. The fact that martial builds will typically have a few feats locked in by default (archers being all but forced to take PBS and Precise Shot, two-handed warriors needing Power Attack, dexterity builds needing Weapon Finesse) exacerbates the issue in this particular case.

If we're doing a Weapon Specialization - Fighter round, I would really like to have the second ingredient not restrict class levels or feats that much. Instead, I'd like a broad game element or tactic (things like 'flight' or 'spell-like abilities' or 'fear' or 'incarnum'), a particular skill (bluff, diplomacy, tumble, concentration, perform, etc), maybe even an entire sourcebook (PHBII is pretty diverse).

**loky1109** · 2024-02-16, 12:32 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Inevitability

I'm not sure about having 'Bond with weapon' as the second ingredient.

A Weapon Specialization - Fighter round will always demand some number of invested class levels - there's no way to cheese your way into counting as a fighter without putting some levels into one of a handful of classes. Adding 'Bond with Weapon' would introduce a second list of classes, then demand the builds invest in both (and their requirements). That doesn't leave a lot of class and feat space to actually synergize with the ingredients, which leaves me fearing that the builds will all feel rather samey. The fact that martial builds will typically have a few feats locked in by default (archers being all but forced to take PBS and Precise Shot, two-handed warriors needing Power Attack, dexterity builds needing Weapon Finesse) exacerbates the issue in this particular case.

If we're doing a Weapon Specialization - Fighter round, I would really like to have the second ingredient not restrict class levels or feats that much. Instead, I'd like a broad game element or tactic (things like 'flight' or 'spell-like abilities' or 'fear' or 'incarnum'), a particular skill (bluff, diplomacy, tumble, concentration, perform, etc), maybe even an entire sourcebook (PHBII is pretty diverse).

I see how "bond" is class levels, but also I see enough options how "bond" is feat. Or class which synergies with WS.

**PoeticallyPsyco** · 2024-02-16, 12:45 PM (ISO 8601)

Should be able to start on the judgments this weekend.

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-16, 01:12 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by loky1109

I see how "bond" is class levels, but also I see enough options how "bond" is feat. Or class which synergies with WS.

Would you mind PMing me some ways you see? I can think of one non-class method, and it's not a particularly elegance-friendly way.

Beyond that: it's not just the competition for build resources, it's also the issue of sameness. As I said, a lot of weapon bonds are just +X damage, and I really don't want to run a round where multiple's people entire UoSI is going to come down to 'I swing for 5 extra damage on all my greatsword attacks'.

Again: I'm more than willing to put 'bond with weapon' on the list for a future round! I just don't think it's distinct enough from Weapon Specialization to warrant using for this specific competition.

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-16, 01:36 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by PoeticallyPsyco

Should be able to start on the judgments this weekend.

Great! I'll be writing up the slate of future round ingredients, anything you'd like to see in there?

**PoeticallyPsyco** · 2024-02-16, 04:24 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Inevitability

Great! I'll be writing up the slate of future round ingredients, anything you'd like to see in there?

Well... one I've wanted to see is Symbiotic Creature required, Cheese forbidden. Might need the cred from judging multiple rounds to afford that one, though!

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-16, 04:49 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by PoeticallyPsyco

Well... one I've wanted to see is Symbiotic Creature required, Cheese forbidden. Might need the cred from judging multiple rounds to afford that one, though!

...y'know what, give me a few months to hammer out a set of rules that makes that template not innately broken and I'll get back to you on that one.

**Morphic tide** · 2024-02-16, 06:16 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Inevitability

...y'know what, give me a few months to hammer out a set of rules that makes that template not innately broken and I'll get back to you on that one.

Could make it Gestalt and stick the ECL of each component on a different side. Much more complex building, but shrugs off the issue. Same goes for Tauric and Emancipated Spawn.

Does seem to be "off-theme" for famously trivial to abuse things being in Junkyard Wars unless you make the main point a terrible candidate thematically linked to Symbiotic.

**loky1109** · 2024-02-16, 07:37 PM (ISO 8601)

Table

#	Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels
1	Simon Tam	LG Halfling	Shaman 5/Swordsage 10/Citadel Elite 5
2	Meepo 7.5.A	NE Necropolitan Kobold	Shaman 6/Mystic Wanderer 4/Fleshwarper 10
3	Alexander Parsnips	CG Human	Swordsage 5/Cloistered Cleric 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10/Holy Liberator 4
4	Nameless One	CG→LG ~~Anthropomorphic Bat~~ Were-Brown Bear Mongrelfolk	Lion Spiritual Totem Barbarian 1/Binder 1/Martyred Champion of Ilmater 7/Death Delver 3
5	Moravin Dahl	NG Human	Archivist 12/Sacred Exorcist 1/Witch Hunter 1/Contemplative 6
6	Sulphurclaw, Who Dreams Prophecies	LE Greenspawn Zealot	Psychic Warrior 2/Blackguard 10

**Battlechaser** · 2024-02-17, 02:59 AM (ISO 8601)

Thanks for the table.

**PoeticallyPsyco** · 2024-02-17, 03:41 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Morphic tide

Does seem to be "off-theme" for famously trivial to abuse things being in Junkyard Wars unless you make the main point a terrible candidate thematically linked to Symbiotic.

That's why the forbidden ingredient would be Cheese. Using Symbiotic Creature at all requires a hefty dose of the honor system, but that way you'd have most of a category devoted to how honorable the contestants were about using it. Best case scenario, it becomes a balancing act, with everyone trying to come up with something creative and clever that nonetheless falls within acceptable power bounds.

**Prime32** · 2024-02-17, 03:50 PM (ISO 8601)

I toyed with a few build concepts but wasn't happy with any of them

Soldier of Light^D&D/Purifier of the Hallowed Doctrine^HoH - Probably the best one, applying Serenity to both Divine Grace + Lay on Hands, and having the ability to cure taint
Dvati Electrokineticist/Lasher - Gimmicky hyperspecialised support build that hangs around groups of mechantrices and shambling mounds and spams lightning whips at them whenever they move
Divine Mind/Sangehirn - They qualify for Serenity, sure, but there's zero reason to enter as a divine mind rather than a member of another class
Undead Meldshaper + Lifebond Vestments - I don't even remember where I was going with this

Originally Posted by Inevitability

...y'know what, give me a few months to hammer out a set of rules that makes that template not innately broken and I'll get back to you on that one.

I interpret Symbiotic as "two creatures, each with LA +1", making it illegal unless the player can supply a second character under their control which is able to receive a Level Adjustment (i.e. cohorts and thralls work, familiars and animal companions don't). One-time removal of the Leadership ban?

Spoiler: As an aside

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There's a passage on DMG p200 where the DM can rule that your cohort won't be present this session (e.g. if there's an extra player and they want to limit party size); on those times you instead gain the benefit of a different feat, chosen when you gained Leadership. This feat can't be used to meet prerequisites.

I don't think I've ever seen this rule used or brought up, but it's a legal way to gain an extra feat in situations like contests where you can't benefit from Leadership.

For round suggestions... what about "at-will spell-like abilities, minus invocations"? Or a round where you must use taint, but your taint score is fixed at 1?

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-18, 08:13 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Prime32

I interpret Symbiotic as "two creatures, each with LA +1", making it illegal unless the player can supply a second character under their control which is able to receive a Level Adjustment (i.e. cohorts and thralls work, familiars and animal companions don't). One-time removal of the Leadership ban?

Y'know, I was going to say that this reading of Symbiotic is completely foreign to me but... I get it? Especially when contrasted with Tauric, the wording on symbiotic really -does- imply that the two creatures are still in some way separate, and my only counterargument is the deeply broken bugsucker sample creature, which I don't think counts for much.

But if that's the case, and both sides of the creature need an ECL, then size and typing restrictions mean getting an actually legal build is going to be a giant headache: and not in a fun way.

Like, your options for good honest unambiguously qualifying creatures are:

Spoiler: Speculation on possible entries for a possible symbiotic round

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-Something involving a high-LA and weaksauce template
-One of the very few playable plants that's not small or medium
-Hornhead Saurial
-Hairy Spider

And that's actually just it! Any symbiotic creature where both sides are legal characters is going to need to involve one of those, because no animals have a LA, only one vermin does, and only one humanoid is a size other than small or medium!

And for most of those, symbiotic does not have actual synergy, so the glaringly obvious thing to do is to declare that you're splitting yourself in two and abusing the action economy at which point we're not having a symbiotic round, we're having a cohort round with weird restrictions. And I don't know, I can't say that particularly excites me, especially not considering the amount of extra work competitors would have to put in and the temptation to go optimize the leadership unban instead of the actual ingredients.

...on that thought, how about a Tauric round? "HD of the two creatures mixed together, LA of the base creature plus two" is still abusable, but it's a lot clearer on how it actually works (though maybe we should fix the wonky base save calculation method).

Originally Posted by Prime32

For round suggestions... what about "at-will spell-like abilities, minus invocations"? Or a round where you must use taint, but your taint score is fixed at 1?

The taint idea seems interesting, especially if we just ban the taint casters or limit it somehow.

I've been thinking about SLAs - Invocations for a while: I don't know about having the at-will restriction explicitly in there. If a build is chiefly doing other stuff but tries to squeeze by with a handful of 1/day SLAs, it'll get hammered in UoSI regardless, and on the flip side if a build manages to stretch limited-use SLAs into all day usefulness, I think that accounts for the spirit of the competition.

There's a few other classes that primarily deal in SLAs and a handful that get them as side benefits, but only one that I'd actually consider an obvious path, which we can make less attractive by tweaking the third ingredient. And to restore some of the restrictiveness, let's make sure there's a decent investment of feats or levels mandated.

Just to give a couple random ways to fill in this concept:

SLAs + Any DoTU Style Feat (Despana School, Vae School, etc) - Invocations
SLAs + Any Type-Changing Class (that is, any class that changes a character's type) - Invocations
SLAs + Whirlwind Attack - Invocations
SLAs + Outcast Champion - Invocations
SLAs + Ambush Feats - Invocations
SLAs + RHD - Invocations
SLAs + Savvy Rogue (if you can force 10 levels of a PrC why not 10 levels of a base class) - Invocations
SLAs + Deepstone Sentinel - Invocations

Do any of these seem interesting?

**Inevitability** · 2024-02-24, 01:40 PM (ISO 8601)

The reveal was about a week ago - Poetic and loky, you both expressed interest in judging, right? Any updates on that front?

If anyone has any suggestions for future ingredients or combinations, now's the time to get them in - I'll put a slate up for voting tomorrow.

Thread: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

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Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

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Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

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Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

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Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

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Re: Junkyard Wars XLV: Serenity + Healing - Paladin

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