Base Class Contest XXXVI Voting Thread

[Temotei]

Welcome to the voting thread for Base Class Challenge XXXVI, Contest Under Construction (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?503609-Base-Class-Contest-XXXVI-Contest-Under-Construction)! Voting will consist of each voter giving a first, second, and third place vote for three separate base classes. Anyone can vote, and in fact, entrants must vote to qualify for victory.

A first place vote is worth three points, a second place vote is worth two points, and a third place vote is worth one point. You may not vote for your own class.

You are encouraged to include reason with your votes, though this is not absolutely required.

The class that ends up with the most points wins the challenge contest. Voting starts now and will continue until 23:59 (Central Standard Time USA/Canada; GMT-6) on December 21st.



Base Class
Author
1st
2nd
3rd
Total Points


Mechanical Warrior (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21318113&postcount=5)
Jormengand
1
1
1
6


Cyborg (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21318505&postcount=8) (Class Skills (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21457588&postcount=1166))
Lanth Sor
0
0
0
0


Psiforged Paragon (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21322090&postcount=9)
sengmeng
0
1
3
5


Imagineer and Animatronic Models (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21324778&postcount=10) (Animatronic Models II (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21324783&postcount=11), Animatronic Evolution (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21324792&postcount=12), Feats (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21324794&postcount=13))
sirpercival
3
2
0
13


Incarnate Mechanus (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21396552&postcount=17)
Xanyo
0
1
1
3


Self-Made Man (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21455952&postcount=18)
bekeleven
2
1
1
9

[Xanyo]

First Place Vote: Imagineer
Second Place Vote: Psiforged Paragon
Third Place Vote: Self-Made Man

[sirpercival]

This is a tough vote, partially because almost every class uses some variation on the same theme (modular upgrades FTW apparently). However, there were some standouts.

1st: Self-Made Man by bekeleven. This was far and away my favorite exposition on the "modular upgrades" theme. I also love that it isn't a straightforward combat class. It could use a bit more fleshing out of the fluff, which was minimal, but I think the class has a lot going for it.

2nd: Incarnate Mechanus by Xanyo. Before this contest, I'd never seen a base class which was restricted so heavily by race. Is that a thing? Aren't those restrictions more appropriate for PrCs? That being said, I really love the idea of combining Mechanus & Incarnum. My biggest beef with this class is that I don't understand why it learns Totemist soulmelds. It seems the like the least thematically related of the three core soulmeld lists, and there are tons and tons of homebrew soulmelds out there which would have worked better. I have a proposal for you: For a while, I've been kicking around the idea of creating incarnum classes and/or soulmelds for most or all of the creature types, to go along with Totemist for Magical Beasts and Incarnate for Outsiders. I've already done Plant (Green Man) and Aberration (Warpsoul). Once this contest is over, post the class in its own thread, and I'll write construct-themed soulmelds for it in the same vein as the others. Sound good?

3rd: Psiforged Paragon by sengmeng. Another class which is race-specific, which really bothers me. I also think that the class features could use a bit of development & fleshing out in terms of wording. It was slightly opaque. All that being said, I like the way the class is implemented, particularly that there's a built-in means of overhauling previous choices.

[Temotei]

Votes tallied.

[Morphic tide]

My votes, with reasonings:

1st: Imagineer, because it does some rather interesting things by having the character use Manoeuvres on top of minion making in a way that encourages rather complicated planning (and vast amounts of gold spending) to get the most out of it. Granted, in most situations, players would likely go for just one or two Animatrons to have the costs in actions, gold and bookkeeping be manageable, but the option to have a large group of things that can be used as a well-made squad is rather useful.

2nd: Self-made-man, because it is built on simple effects that are often seen as Ex or Su instead of piling up normally-magical stuff. I would put it in for my 1st place vote, but it has some issues with being able to have massive bonuses to skills and the precedent that modules have to be associated with a skill. For example, getting a bonus to... well, anything, equal to your level is just two modules. Skill chip and whatever the module for the skill is.

3rd: Psiforged Paragon. I'd put it in 2nd, but it's got rather unnecessary Crafting bonuses with little need for them and Paragon classes are usually PRCs. The reason it's here is because my issues with it are basically all fluff, and it's inherently broken as a Psionic class without list restrictions. Some of those things are NOT meant to combo together, and the Bestow Power loop just gets more insane with access to the bundles of stuff from non-Psion power lists. Great idea, somewhat bad execution.

[neriractor]

1st place: imagineer

2nd place: Mechanical warrior

3rd place: incarnate mechanus

[Temotei]

Votes tallied.

[sengmeng]

1) self made man

2) imagineer

3) mechanical warrior

[Temotei]

Votes tallied.

[bekeleven]

Sorry, everyone, my month has been hectic. Just moved houses. As a result I didn't get a chance to do much theorycrafting and character building with the classes this time.

My vote feels at best half-informed, but I'm going to go with:

1 - Mechanical Warrior

2. Imagineer

3) Psiforged Paragon

Honorable: Cyborg.

[Temotei]

Votes tallied and voting closed.