Optimize or Die, Playgrounders! [E6 Balor Challenge Thread]

[Ingus]

Premise: all PCs are made out of 36 point buy.

The Party

Fast and Furious, halfling Fighter 6 (the Warrior)
Relevant Abilities: Dex 18 (20 gloves), Wis 18 (28 spell)
Relevant feats: Improved Initiative, Blooded (PGtF), Yondalla's Sense (RotW), Quick Reconnoiter (CAdv) any eligible luck feat (CSco)
Relevant Spells active: Skittish Nerves (MoF), Sign (SC), Owl's Insight*
Relevant Equipment: +1 Eager Dagger, Gloves of Dex +2, Martial Script: White Raven Tactics
*customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 5 x 20 x 2.000 / 5 = 40.000 Gp
Initiative: +32

Yondallo, halfling Cleric 6 (the Cleric)
Relevant Abilities: Wis 14 (at least)
Relevant Feats: Initiate of Gond
Trait: Spellgifted (Conjuration)
Relevant Spells active: Resist Energy
Relevant Equipment: Ioun Stone, Orange Prism; Scroll of Dimension Door x2; Martial Script: White Raven Tactics (used, active)

Singing Happy Big Guy (SHBG), human Bard 6 (the skill monkey)
Relevant Abilities: Wis 18 Cha 18
Relevant Feats: Skill Focus:UMD, all viable Luck Feats (CSco), Weapon Focus: Touch spells
Relevant Spells Active: Wieldskill (from scroll) (MoF), Eagle's Splendor, Owl's Insight* Moment of Prescience**, Surge of Fortune***, Resist Energy
Relevant Equipment: Otto Irresistible Dance scroll, Maximized Shivering Touch scroll.
Martial Script: White Raven Tactics (used, active)
Relevant Skills: UMD +17 (+29 with Wieldskill and Eagle's Splendor)
*customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 5 x 20 x 2.000 / 5 = 40.000 Gp
**customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 9 x 20 x 2.000 /5 = 72.000
***customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 5 x 20 x 2.000 / 5 = 40.000 Gp
To-Hit, touch: +14

Tremendous the Terribly Tremendous (TTT), halfling Warlock 6 (the Caster)
Relevant Abilities: Cha 18
Relevant Feats: Skill Focus: UMD, all viable Luck Feats (CSco)
Relevant Spells Active: Wieldskill (from scroll), Eagle's Splendor, Moment of Prescience**, Surge of Fortune***
Relevant Equipment: Reality Maelstrom scroll.
Relevant Skills: UMD +17 (+27 with Wieldskill and Eagle's Splendor)
**customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 9 x 20 x 2.000 /5 = 72.000
***customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 5 x 20 x 2.000 / 5 = 40.000 Gp

The Showdown

Initiative roll. Fast and Furious role is to win initiative by more than 4 point from the Balor. Provided an unlikely roll of 20 from the Balor, he wins by more than 4 with a roll of 4 or more, which he can reroll quite a few times with Luck feats. Then his only other task is to use White Raven Tactics to grant Yondallo same initiative -1.
At this point, Yondallo uses his Dimension Door scroll to transport himself and SHBG near the Balor and use White Raven Tactics to grant SHBG the initiative exactly below him. Mind that he has a caster level of 8 for the purpose of conjuration spells, so he doesn't need a CL check.
SHBG uses Wieldskill for the UMD check to use the scroll of Otto Irresistible Dance, Surge of Fortune spell to the to-hit and Moment of Prescience for the SR. With a contact AC of 16 he fails only with a 1 (but with Better Lucky than Good KLuck Feat he can treat it as a natural 20).
Now the Balor is dancing and doesn't really matter who's first among him and TTT.
TTT now waits
(insert before or after the Balor)
Fast and Furious run away.
Yondallo delays to a -2 initiative
SHBG uses the scroll of Shivering Touch to hit the Balor Dexterity (with a +14 to-hit at contact and Better Luck than Good, he hits automatically) and uses White Raven Tactics to grant TTT a -1 rank in initiative.
Yondallo uses the other Dimension Door to bring along SHBG, far away.
TTT now casts Reality Maelstrom (DC 20 Will or Reflex).
The Balor should now have a Reflex save of 3, so there is a likey good bye to another random plane, Balor. If not, add to the build two wish scrolls to force a second roll.

[The Shadowmind]

What about having the healbot cleric use animate dead to make many skeletons, have the skeletons manning several "Catapult, light (550gp each) or Ballistas (500gp)", each catapult "rock" being a bundle of Holy water 2d4 x times or tied to the Ballista bolts, 25gp each per holy water. Have a Tainted Sorcerer necropolitan casting Invisibility on the skeletons, which since you will be over 120ft away the Balor's true seeing won't work. The only trouble is getting the Balor to be still for 1 turn.

[Human Paragon 3]

Updated my post. Strategy no longer requires scroll of Ethereal Jaunt. Also, now the entire party survives the encounter! Hooray!

EDIT: I move that I receive bonus points for beating a balor with a monk. An exalted good Monk! That is all.

[ko_sct]

Never did TO but I started making a group for this challenge.

It’s not finished but so far i can say this: hate those alignment restriction

Thing is that I’m trying to make a group of good-aligned hero who could face a balor in a real fight with only some small ambush and no cheese. And I keep finding things like Deformity (tongue) (wanted to throw in some fog to help in melee) but it’s evil-only

[true_shinken]

And that's why this works.

You don't get my point.
The Balor has Int& Wis 24. If there is a way he could be killed by 'mere mortals' like you pointed, he already knows there is such a way and therefore should act with caution.
Being evil does not mean being stupid. He likes to terrify people. Whatever. The longer he lives, the more people he terrifies.

Initiative roll. Fast and Furious role is to win initiative by more than 4 point from the Balor.

Love your tactics, Ingus. Still, the Balor would probably get a surprise round before initiative was rolled.

[monkey3]

The Ironmen: an all warforged strike team.

Wizard role: Necron
Cleric role: Doomsday
Rogue role: Geryon
Fighter Role: Kane, Using Astral construct
This strike team can take most anything at a rate of 1/day and then sleeping it off underground.

1) Necron: Wizard 5 / Mindbender 1
Feats Mindsight, Arcane Disciple (Undeath domain)
Items: Burrowing Saddle,
Skills: Ride (cc)

2) Doomsday: Telepath Psion 6
Power: Ego Whip, Clairvoyant Sense
Feats: Psicrystal Affinity, Meditation, Burrowing Power, Clairvoyant Sense (extra power), Power Penetration, Greater Power Penetration Body Fuel
Items: Burrowing Saddle
Skills: Max Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive, Ride (cc)

3) Geryon: Seer Psion 6
Power: Ego Whip, Clairvoyant Sense
Feats: Psicrystal Affinity, Meditation, Burrowing Power, Power Penetration, Greater Power Penetration Body Fuel
Items: Burrowing Saddle
Skill: Max listen, spot, Ride (cc)

4) Kane: Shaper Psion 6
Power: Ego Whip, Clairvoyant Sense, Power Penetration, Greater Power Penetration
Feats: Psicrystal Affinity, Meditation, Burrowing Power , Astral construct, Body Fuel
Items: Burrowing Saddle
Skill: Max listen, spot, Ride (cc)

Int stat for all: 18 start, +1 lvl, + 6 for headband, + 5 for Tome of Mighty Intellect. = 30

Items for all Psionics: Third Eye Penetrate: grants the wearer a +2 bonus on manifester level checks to overcome a creature’s power resistance 8K. Also pile on +Psicraft items for Burrowing power.

Overcoming SR 28 (power resistance): Our psions are level 6 and have +10 (Power Penetration, Greater Power Penetration, Third Eye Penetrate) to their ML, so they need to roll a 12+ each time. They fail on 11-. So all psionic damage should be multiplied by .45 to get average damage.

Using the Undeath domain, Necron creates (Animate Dead) a Desecrated (+2hp/hd not that it matters) Skeletal Bullet. The gang rides on the inside (fluff), but I paid for the burrowing saddles to mitigate any crunch concerns.

Tactics:

The party rides their undead Bullet under ground to within 100' of the Balor. They don't need to breathe since they are warforged, so they can take their time getting there.

Necron pin-points location using Mindsight and communicates location to party via telepathy (Necron's or the telepaths doesn't matter). Each Psion casts a Burrowed Clairvoyant Sense to get a visual on the target. Then they cast Ego whip each round until they fall over

The 3 Psions have to remain 5' under ground where they are safe from everything the Balor does, including death throws. Necron is expendable after the beginning, so he can surface somewhere (the next room) and throw summoned targets at the Balor to keep it busy, and just keep figuring out what is going on.

Ego Whip does 2.5 damage per cast (1-4), will half. with int 30, it has a DC of 22
Accounting for SR: 2.5 * 45% = 1.125
Will +19 save for half: 1.125 * 55% (balor saves on a 3) = .7
3 caster: .7 * 3 = 2.1
Total round to kill balor: 26 chr / 2.1 = 12.3

Dead balor in 13 rounds max :)

Power required: 5 (burrowing + Ego whip) * 13 + 5 (Clairvoyant + burrowing) = 78
Power points for lvl 6 psion: 35 + 30 (int) = 65
Use Body Fuel, and power batteries to make up for the deficit.

I can add more detail, and cut down the #round required by boosting the DC, and increasing the ML to overcome SR, but I have spent way too much time already :)

I was toying with the idea of calling the teal the I-Team and the Bullet the I-Team Van.

[Glimbur]

It’s not finished but so far i can say this: hate those alignment restriction

An alternate way of dodging death by blasphemy instead of being Evil is being inside a Silence. Creatures have to hear the word to be affected, so you could instead Deafen your party. The 20% failure chance on spells with verbal components would be painful, but with enough feats you can probably power your way through to Silent Spell everything.

[ko_sct]

I already know about silence, I intend all my character to be under the spell, then boost my caster level by one and cast 10 or so useless buff so they get dispelled first. Thing is that I wanted to get quite a few willing deformity on all of my character but cant.

Also, sudden silent spell, with 35+ feats someone can take it 5-7 time for the duration of the fight.


Now I got a question concerning Necropolitans, can I have one of my caster take a bunch of corpse crafter feats and transform the rest of the group in super-Necropolitans ? I find the description quite unclair on who can be the creator and who can’t.

[Ingus]

Edited.

Cancellations in barred, addictions in italics

[QUOTE=Ingus;8972682]Premise: all PCs are made out of 36 point buy.

The Party

Fast and Furious, halfling Fighter 6 (the Warrior)
Relevant Abilities: Dex 18 (20 gloves), Wis 18 (28 spell)
Relevant feats: Improved Initiative, Blooded (PGtF), Yondalla's Sense (RotW), Quick Reconnoiter (CAdv) any eligible luck feat (CSco)
Relevant Spells active: Skittish Nerves (MoF), Sign (SC), Owl's Insight*
Relevant Equipment: +1 Eager Dagger, Gloves of Dex +2, Martial Script: White Raven Tactics
*customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 5 x 20 x 2.000 / 5 = 40.000 Gp
Initiative: +32

Yondallo, halfling Cleric 6 (the Cleric)
Relevant Abilities: Wis 14 (at least)
Relevant Feats: Initiate of Gond
Trait: Spellgifted (Conjuration)
Relevant Spells active: Resist Energy
Relevant Equipment: Ioun Stone, Orange Prism; Scroll Stone of Dimension Door x2*°; Martial Script: White Raven Tactics (used, active)
[I]*°**** customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 4 x 7 x 2.000 / 5 = 10.800

Singing Happy Big Guy (SHBG), human Bard Sorcerer 6 (the skill monkey Caster)
Relevant Abilities: Wis 18 Cha 18
Relevant Feats: Skill Focus:UMD, all viable Luck Feats (CSco), Weapon Focus: Touch spells, Sudden Maximize spell (CAr), Sudden Empower spell (CAr)
Relevant Spells Active: Wieldskill (from scroll) (MoF), Eagle's Splendor, Owl's Insight* Moment of Prescience**, Surge of Fortune***, Resist Energy
Relevant Equipment: Otto Irresistible Dance scroll, Maximized Shivering Touch scroll. Sphere of Reality Maelstrom (PlH)*****, Belt of Battle
Relevant Spells: Shivering Touch
Relevant possessions: Contingency item (CDiv): Wish
Martial Script: White Raven Tactics (used, active)
Relevant Skills: UMD +17 (+29 with Wieldskill and Eagle's Splendor)
*customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 5 x 20 x 2.000 / 5 = 40.000 Gp
**customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 9 x 20 x 2.000 /5 = 72.000
***customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 5 x 20 x 2.000 / 5 = 40.000 Gp
To-Hit, touch: +14
**** customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 8 x 15 x 2.000 / 5 = 48.000
*****customary item: use activated, 1/day, charges 1 charge. Price: (spell Lvl x inc. Lvl x 2.000) / 2 / 50 x 20 = 7 x 13 x 2.000 / 5 = 36.400

Re-edit. If the fourth group member is compulsory, then...
Elan, Bard 6 (the skill monkey)
He does nothing, but he looks soooooo cute


The Showdown

Initiative roll. Fast and Furious role is to win initiative by more than 3 point from the Balor. Provided an unlikely roll of 20 from the Balor, he wins by more than 3 with a roll of 3 or more, which he can reroll quite a few times with Luck feats. Then his only other task is to use White Raven Tactics to grant Yondallo same initiative -1.
At this point, Yondallo uses his Dimension Door scroll boots to transport himself and SHBG near the Balor and use White Raven Tactics to grant SHBG the initiative exactly below him. Mind that he has a caster level of 8 for the purpose of conjuration spells, so he doesn't need a CL check.
(Edited since now)
SHBG goes with a touch attack for a Maximized, Empowered Shivering Touch, using Surge of Fortune for the to-hit (nat. 20) and Moment of Prescience for the SR (no failure). The Balor's Dexterity should now be below 0. In case this would trigger the Balor's explosion, the Contingent Wish would come in action and SHBG will wish the teleportation of all the party in the best tavern of their world. If not, they still have a way.
SHBG uses Belt of Battle to have another standard action, then he uses the Reality Maelstrom sphere (Will, then Reflex or throw in a random plane) to put away the Balor. In the same time, the contingent Wish activates itself and see above.

Shifted in a random plane is, I guess, like overcomed.

Note: the Contingency Item activation should be "just a moment before I'm going to suffer a phisical or psichical harm, or being teleported or shifted to another plane of existence without my consent

[Malakar]

And that's why this works. In a setting where the DM cares whatsoever about the verisimilitude of his game universe and doesn't just play a tactical wargame against his players where the bad guys always take the tactically optimal solution, this plan fails. I do not believe that setting is what is intended. I believe the DM running the Balor would take its cruelty, its malice, and its will to inflict suffering into account when running the monster. What better way to inflict fear on an adventurer than to treat them the same way they've treated legions of weaker foes before? He'll do it kick in the door-style. And it's that very psychological predilection of the creature that, in my submission, I exploit.

See, that's where you are wrong. Verisimilitude A) involves a Blaor making reflex saves when standing on a salve of slipperiness. B) is something that varies from person to person.

In an e6 world, Pit Fiends still exist, and can set traps, so there is no reason for a Balor to act any less careful than any other situation.

So just saying arbitrarily that your strategy would work if a DM cared about Verisimilitude is wrong, and insulting. There are lots of reasons that it might fail, like that the Balor decides to fly around the building pulling the walls down one by one laughing and taunting his enemies.

[true_shinken]

Stuff

Wish? Contingency? This is E6 O.o

[Another_Poet]

/CONTEST CLOSED/

/CONTEST CLOSED/

/CONTEST CLOSED/

We have enough submissions now. If you have already begun to post one, or posted one and were asked (or promised) to make changes or add more detail, you may still do so.

I will edit the first post too!

@monkey3: Is Kane named after the bad guy from Robocop II?

[Lans]

I just started building my party is it okay if I finish it?
Fighter 4/ psychic Warrior 2
Battle Sorcerer 6
Scout 5/Incarnate1
Other

Idea was 4 people deep impacting with thrown weapons to dazelock it, so it had to kill all of them in 1 round to avoid death

[Ernir]

Looks like I'm late to the party (****ing internet, sure picked a good time to go down... ), but I had a question I hope I wasn't the only one to have...

How exactly does taking a race with LA affect the character? As in... how many (bonus) feats and what point buy is a LA+X character supposed to have/use? The way I am looking at it in the original post, any LA at all above 0 costs a flat six feats, which can't be right.

[Ingus]

Wish? Contingency? This is E6 O.o

From the first post:
"Gear built with 4th level spells or higher OR CL7+ costs 20x the listed price because it takes 20 mages to enchant it."
So, it is possible to craft items with higher level requirements.
The Craft Contingency Item feat allows you so. That's it

[true_shinken]

From the first post:
"Gear built with 4th level spells or higher OR CL7+ costs 20x the listed price because it takes 20 mages to enchant it."
So, it is possible to craft items with higher level requirements.
The Craft Contingency Item feat allows you so. That's it

Well, it's the OP's fault, then ^^
Silly, silly ruling. No point in E6 then...

[Lhurgyof]

Marley, Thogg, Ith, and Lars are gathered at a table, in a basement where they lured the Balor. The Balor pops in and goes on his evil rant, but is shushed by Lars. Astounded, the Balor decided to watch them. They have sheets of parchment with off numbers and symbols, and are rolling dice, while Lars spins a great tale...
"What's an AC, mortal?" asks the Balor, and Lars grudgingly explains to the Balor what's going on.
Oh, the stories Lars tells, and the way the others interact. It's quite thrilling, and grabs the attention of said Balor. After a while, he asks to "make a character". "Fine", Lars says.
And then the Balor is enveloped into the game and slowly forgets about killing the mortals.
He goes back home and tries to play with the other fiends, who mock him and his guts. The Balor's self confidence hits an all time low and ends up begging the mortals to let him play.

Party: 1. Balor: 0.

Best thing that I could come up with that doesn't involve marbles. xD

[Vulaas]

Damn.

I had a very RPG-ish idea.

Commoner - The Pokemon Trainer Protagonist
Seer - The Wise Man Who Tells You The Main Plot
Commoner - Another Yokel Caught Up In Your Shenanigans
Bard - Comic Relief

[Lhurgyof]

Commoner - The Pokemon Trainer Protagonist

BEHIR! USE THUNDERSHOCK!

[monkey3]

[SIZE="6"]
@monkey3: Is Kane named after the bad guy from Robocop II?

All the characters are names after my ex-characters.

The original Kane was named after a fantasy novel protagonist (like Conan). In the series Kane pissed off some god, and the god cursed him such that Kane could not die unless it was in a really gruesome battle. Well, that's the same thing as being ageless; so Kane goes through life fighting so much and gaining levels so much that is is nigh-invulnerable...

[dextercorvia]

I'm out. I had ideas for toning it down this morning to fit with the new cheese limits, but I'm focusing my free time on getting my submission in to Iron Chef.

[Eronai_Jantig]

(Edit during mid-build: I just saw the post that said the contest was closed, I understand if you wish to ignore this post, however, I've put quite a bit of work into it thus-far and would at lest like to post it for analyses from bored readers. Also since it's closed I won't bother to finish the last three characters, just give an idea of what they're built towards for sake of discussion.)
(Second Edit: Exchanged Easy Metamagic with Practical Metamagic (Assuming a Dragonwrought Kobold qualifies, which would be downright amazing if it didn't))

Aw, heck, might as well try just for fun. These guys are made assuming 32-point buy. I doubt I've covered every contingency, but I'm attempting it without cheesing up the place to the highest levels, although I'll admit, I've used some cheesy things here (Loredrake Dragonwrought Kobold and DMM) albeit, not to their most optimized.

Everyone is buffed with Protection from Evil, Protection from Fire 120, Death Ward, Skittish Nerves, and Displacement (So if the Balor turns off his True Seeing, and decides to melee, he'll have a harder time taking things down instantly.)

Caster:

One-Whose-Magic-Supersedes-Comprehension
Loredrake Dragonwrought Venerable Earth Kobold (Evil)
(-2 STR, -2 Con)
Sorcerer 6 (Effective Sorcerer Level 9)
STR: 6 DEX: 26 CON: 16 INT: 12 WIS: 12 CHA: 24

To-Hit on Rays: 24 (+3 BaB, +8 Dex, +1 Size, +12 from Inspire Courage) (Hits on a 2)
Initiative: 31 (Wins on a 1, should by all means kill the Balor before it can act)
HP: 38

Initiative:
Dex: +8
Imp: +4
Skittish: +5 (Untyped)
Primal Instinct: +5 (Comp)
Sign: +4 (Untyped)
Warning Dagger: +5 (Insight)

Persisted Spells:
Chained Skittish Nerves (Lvl: 4) (Cast By OWMSC)
Primal Instinct (Not Persisted, duration is simply 24 hours)

Feats:

1. Dragonwrought
2. Arcane Thesis: Skittish Nerves
3. Arcane Thesis Scorching Ray
4. Reserves of Strength
5. Spell Focus: Evocation
6. Metamagic School Focus: Evocation
7. Spell Focus: Transmutation
8. Metamagic School Focus: Transmutation
9. Spell Penetration
10. Greater Spell Penetration
11. Twin Spell
12. Practical Metamagic: Twin
13. Energy Substitution: Cold
14. Energy Admixture: Cold
15. Practical Metamagic: Energy Admixture: Cold
16. Repeat Spell
17. Practical Metamagic: Repeat Spell
18. Chain Spell
19. Arcane Thesis: Ruin Delver's Fortune
20. Practical Metamagic: Quicken Spell
21. Maximize Spell
22. Empower Spell
23. Fortify Spell
24. Ocular Spell
25. Extend Spell
26. Persist Spell
27. Practical Metamagic: Persist Spell
28. Split Ray
29. Improved Initiative
30. Ability Training: Dex
31. Ability Advancement: Dex
32. Ability Training: Con
33. Ability Advancement: Con
34. Improved Toughness
35. Lightning Reflexes
36. Metamagic Vigor
37. Winter's Blast
38. Extra Spell

Items:
+6 Dex Gloves: 720,000
+6 Con Neck: 720,000
+4 Charisma Cloak: 320,000
+5 Vest of Resistance: 500,000
Ring of Evasion 500,000
Terran Brandy 1,000
+1 Warning Dagger: 8,000

Main Damage Output:

First round:
Assay Spell Resistance

4 Scorching Rays (Cast at CL 19, CL 35 for SR Checks)
These are Ocular Spells, and I used Reserves of Strength (+3) on them to break standard CL restrictions on the spell.

Modified With:
Energy Substitution (Cold) +0
Energy Admixture (Cold) +1
Twin Spell +1
Repeat Spell +0
Fortify Spell +0 (+2 to SR checks)
Ocular Spell +0
Maximize Spell +0
Empower Spell +0
Split Ray +0

24 Rays First Round, Each Dealing: 34 Cold Damage (Includes his resistance)
24 Rays Second Round Each Dealing: 34 Cold Damage (Includes his resistance)

Assuming they all hit, the second round will kill him as it all totals to 1632 Cold damage from this character alone, however, we all know that he can roll some 1s, so it's not a guaranteed victory, but thats what we have 3 other friends for. For the following rounds he will cast Scorching Ray with Twin, Repeat, Fortify, Maximize, Empower, EnSub, EnAd. He can do this for approximately 4 rounds before running out of higher level spells and moving to others. Assuming the Sorcerer goes first, he needs to hit/make the caster level checks (Should auto-make depending on if Assay works with the Ocular Spells, if it doesn't he'll wait to set it up at 130 distance.) of at least 14 rays.

This guy has been designed to be the main hitter, and the surviver of the party, and as such most of the party channels it's money into items for him. He does use Wings of Cover whenever possible to block incoming spells to the party, how he uses it depends on how the DM decides the Balor is found more specifically than assuming buff rounds. Typically the party would summon the wolves, buff up, let the wolves and pet charge in with an Invisible Fog Cloud active, and then the Sorcerer would walk up adjacent to the Cleric and Druid until the druid gets close enough to charge/the sorcerer gets close enough to unleash his ocular spells.

To survive the death throws he uses an Extended Ruin Delvers Fortune+ Wings of Cover for a total reflex bonus of 28, The cleric uses Alter Fortune if the Sorcerer rolls a 1, and the Sorcerer has a Ring of Evasion to negate all damage.


Support:

Cleric 6 (Neutral)
Lesser Aasimar
(+2 Wis, +2 Cha)
STR: 8 DEX: 8 CON: 8 INT: 8 WIS: 20 CHA: 18

Initiative: +4

Main role is to cast Protection from Energy (for it's full 120 reduction, which will save us from the Fire Storm), Death Ward (via Versatile Spell caster and delayed prep), Protection from Evil (To protect against Dominate and maybe Insanity) chained via DMM or normal means.

Feats (38):
Versatile Spellcaster
Chain Spell
DMM: Chain Spell
Extra Turning
34x Extra Slot

Warrior:

Druid 6
Venerable Lesser Aasimar (Evil)
(-6 Str, -6 Dex, -6 Con, +3 Int, +5 Wis, +5 Cha)
Stats: STR: 2 DEX: 2 CON: 2 INT: 19 WIS: 23 CHA: 18
Stats in Fleshraker form: STR: 17 DEX: 19 CON: 15 INT: 19 WIS: 24 CHA: 18

Initiative: +8

Meant to be a distraction, uses summons/shapeshift to distract the Balor to attack them on the first round, or at least cast a Blasphemy/Firestorm Combo.

Casts Invisible Fog Cloud to confuse the Balor for a short period of time, this is an attempt at getting him to cast his AoE spells and not have LoE for something like Telekinesis, Insanity, Implosion.

All extra spell slots are dedicated to having the highest summoning spells he has availible (Nothing above SM4 though) and an equal number of Greater Magic Fangs.

Feats (38):

Spell Focus: Conjuration
Augment Summoning
Natural Spell
Invisible Spell
Empower Spell
Maximize Spell
Ashbound
Imbue Summoning
Arcane Thesis: Summon Monster 4
Metamagic School Focus Conjuration
Versatile Spellcaster
Improved Initiative
27x Extra Slot



Skill Monkey:

Donac Blonard (Good)
Silverbrow Human

When Polymorphed into a Centaur and with Bulls Strength Active:
STR: 22 DEX: 14 CON: 15 INT: 16 WIS: 14 CHA: 18

HP: 126

Mostly just optimizes Inspire Courage up to about +12. He doubles up with Dragonfire Inspiration: Sonic and normal Inspire Courage. He will also be using a whip to attempt to trip the Balor. His to-hit bonus is 23. Strength Check: +14

Feats (39):
Words of Creation
Song of the Heart
Dragonfire Inspiration
Lindering Song
Improved Toughness
Combat Expertise
Improved Trip
Toughness x27
Ability Training: Con
Ability Advancement: Con
Bardic Inspiration
Skill Beyond Your Years
Green Ear


Items:
Badge of Valor
Masterwork Instrument
Harmonizing Whip +3

1 Fleshraker Pet
Yet to be stated, isn't really necessary unless I get challenged to play.

8 Greenbound Dire Wolves (Summoned by the Druid)

Size/Type: Large Plant (Augmented Animal)
Hit Dice: 6d8+18 (57 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 21 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +9 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+31
Attack: Bite +31 melee (1d8+29+12d6 Sonic)
Full Attack: Bite +31 melee (1d8+29+12d6 Sonic)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Trip
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, DR 10/Magic and Slashing, Fast Healing 3, Grapple Bonus +4, Resistance to Cold and Electricity 10, Tremorsense 60', Plant Qualities (Immune to Crits, All Mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning.
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +6
(When Buffed with Bulls Strength):
Abilities: Str 39, Dex 17, Con 25, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 14

Trip (Ex)
A dire wolf that hits with a bite attack can attempt to trip its opponent (+18 check modifier) as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the dire wolf.

Skills
A dire wolf has a +2 racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot checks.

*It also has a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.

[dextercorvia]

Stuff

I noticed you used Easy Metamagic. Dragon Mag is out.

[Human Paragon 3]

What's the status of my entry? I don't see it on your entries spoiler. I'm rather proud of my monk-based strategy!

[Eronai_Jantig]

I noticed you used Easy Metamagic. Dragon Mag is out.

Thought Easy and Practical were the same, so I typed Easy because it had less characters, I have subbed in Practical, however if Dragonwrought doesn't qualify, I'm not sure how to get around it without Sanctum spell cheese, which I abhor.

[JeminiZero]

Guardian of Wings
How to kill a Balor without using any spell above level 3, AND a well rounded party. Note that the scheme described below is the "Bare Minimum" required for the plan to work. More tweaks are described in the "From Minimum to Dedication" section at the end.

Edit: Added Initiative Boosters
Edit 2: Added tweaks for more dedicated parties.

Party Setup
The following party outlines how to survive a Balor for several rounds. Only the Meatshield, Skill Monkey and Healbot are built according to anything resembling strict guidelines. The Arcanist can be anything that can bring the Balor down in one round. Previous posters have used Enervation, Shivering Touch and the like. For this exercise I will be using that crowd pleaser, mass explosive runes.

Meatshield:

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Race: Any
Alignment: Any Evil
Class: 1 Marshal / 5 Other Warrior Class (probably Crusader, Cleric or Favored Soul for Cha synergy)
Point Buy: Aim for at least 14 Cha, to Motivate Dexterity for Initiative
Feats:
-Extra Favored Class Marshal (if not human)

Items:
-Contingent Spell: If I am subject to a targetted attack while flat-footed, trigger Wings of Cover (2 SL x 3 CL x 100 gp = 600 gp).
-Potion of Eagle Splendour (SL 2 x CL 3 x 25 gp = 150 gp)

Skill Monkey:

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Race: Any
Alignment: Any Evil
Class: Beguiler
Point Buy: Aim for at least 14 Dex
Feats:
-Dragon Touched (Gain Dragonblood subtype)
-Extra Spell Known: Wings of Cover
-Arcane Thesis: Wings of Cover (+2 to CL)
-Invisible Needle OR Blade of Force (+1 CL to force spells)
-Arcane Mastery

-Improved Initiative (+4)
-Spell Focus Divination
-Insightful Divination (Complete Mage: Gain spell level + 1 bonus to initiative for 24 hrs)
-Quick Reconnoiter (Complete Adventurer: Spot + Listen as free actions, +2 to initiative)
-Danger Sense (Complete Adventurer: reroll Initiative 1/day)

Items:
-Contingent Spell: If I am subject to a targetted attack while flat-footed, trigger Wings of Cover (2 SL x 3 CL x 100 gp = 600 gp).
-Custom Item of Command Word: Dimension Step at will (SL 3 x CL 6 x 1,800 gp = 32,400 gp)
-Custom Item of Constant Nerve Skitter (SL 1 x CL 1 x 2,000 gp x 4 (duration in rounds) = 8,000 gp)
-Potion of Sign [Spell Commpendium] (SL 1 x CL 1 x 25 gp = 25 gp)
-Potion of Cat's Grace (SL 2 x CL 3 x 25 gp = 150 gp)

Initiative:
+4 (14 base dex + 4 Cat's Grace)
+4 (Improved Initiative)
+5 (Nerve Skitter)
+4 (Sign)
+4 (Insightful Divination)
+4 (Marshal's Motivate Dexterity)
+2 (Quick Reconnoiter)
= 27 (Balor has initiative of +11 for a max of +31. Can beat Balor's Initiative with a 4 and can Roll twice and take the better of the 2)

Healbot:

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Race: Any
Alignment: Any Evil
Class: Any Full Caster
Point Buy: Aim for at least 14 Dex
Feats:
-Dragon Touched (Gain Dragonblood subtype)
-Extra Spell Known: Wings of Cover
-Arcane Thesis: Wings of Cover (+2 to CL)
-Invisible Needle OR Blade of Force (+1 CL to force spells)
-Magical Training (grants a couple of Wiz/Sorc cantrips, and used to qualify for...)
-Arcane Mastery


-Improved Initiative (+4)
-Spell Focus Divination
-Insightful Divination (Complete Mage: Gain spell level + 1 bonus to initiative for 24 hrs)
-Blooded or Thug (both from Players Guide to Faerun)
-Danger Sense (Complete Adventurer: reroll Initiative 1/day)

Items:
-Contingent Spell: If I am subject to a targetted attack while flat-footed, trigger Wings of Cover (2 SL x 3 CL x 100 gp = 600 gp).
-Custom Item of Command Word: Dimension Step at will (SL 3 x CL 6 x 1,800 gp = 32,400 gp)
-Custom Item of Constant Nerve Skitter (SL 1 x CL 1 x 2,000 gp x 4 (duration in rounds) = 8,000 gp)
-Potion of Sign [Spell Commpendium] (SL 1 x CL 1 x 25 gp = 25 gp)
-Potion of Cat's Grace (SL 2 x CL 3 x 25 gp = 150 gp)

Initiative:
+4 (14 base dex + 4 Cat's Grace)
+4 (Improved Initiative)
+5 (Nerve Skitter)
+4 (Sign)
+4 (Insightful Divination)
+4 (Marshal's Motivate Dexterity)
+2 (Blooded Or Thug)
= 27 (Balor has initiative of +11 for a max of +31. Can beat Balor's Initiative with a 4 and can Roll twice and take the better of the 2)

Arcanist:

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Race: Any
Alignment: Any Evil
Class: Wizard or Sorcerer
Feats:
-Spell Penetration
-Greater Spell Penetration
-Arcane Mastery

Items:
-Contingent Spell: If I am subject to a targetted attack while flat-footed, trigger Wings of Cover (2 SL x 3 CL x 100 gp = 600 gp).
-Contingent Spell: When I say <something>, cast Dimension Step (SL 3 x CL 6 x 100 gp = 1,800 gp)
-Riverine Book: To hold Explosive Runes. Riverine (Stormwrack) is a special material rather than an enchanted item, so it shouldn't count against the contest limits. We use Riverine as it is indestructable, so the Balor can't sunder it.
-Handy Haversack: To hold the Book, so that the Balor doesn't dispel it with his area Greater Dispel. Normally 2,000 gp, but since the CL is 9, now costs x20 = 40,000 gp.

Spells:
-Must be able to cast Explosive Runes (Either as Spell Known, or from custom Runestave 4 x 4 x 400 gp = 6,400 gp)
-True Casting: +10 to CL for penetrating SR on next spell cast (Can be obtained from either own spell slots or through eternal wand)
-Adept Spirit: +1 to CL for 1 minute. (Can be obtained from either own spell slots or through eternal wand)

Setup:
-Trigger Adept Spirit (+1 CL)
-Cast True Casting (+10 CL to overcome SR)
-Cast Explosive Runes in book. Effective caster level is: 6 base + 1 (adept spirit) = 7. Against SR, add +10 from true casting and +4 from spell penetration for a total of 21. Arcane Mastery lets him take 10 on caster level checks so that he can automatically overcome the Balor's SR 28.
-When he wants to set off the bomb, he (or the Beguiler) can do so by casting dispel magic on the book. Even without autofail shenanigans, they can intentionally lower the dispel CL to 5, and then take 10 on the dispel roll for a total of 15. Because the Explosive Runes are cast at CL 7 (Dispel DC of 18), they will automatically fail to be dispelled and explode.
-The Book of Explosive Runes is stored in the Hand Haversack. As it is held in an extradimensional space, the Balor's Area Dispel cannot reach it. As the Handy Haversack is a magic item, it is also not subject to Area Dispels.

Combat Plan
Before the Fight:

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Buff all members with the following spells at the following CLs. We intentionally lower some of the CLs so that when hit with Area Greater Dispel Magic, the less important "buffer" spells which were given higher CLs are checked first. As NONE of these spells are above CL6/SL3, you should alternatively be able to purchase them quite cheaply through scrolls/wands/potions, letting you access spells from classes which are not in your party.

CL 6 (Buffer Spells)
-Mage Armor [Force] (Benefits from Reserve Feats if any)
-Endure Elements
-Healing Rest (Druid 1, 24 hrs CAdv 151)
-Anticipate Teleport (Important! Sorc/Wiz 3, 24 hrs, SpC)
-etc (any hours/level or 24 hours spell will do)

CL 5 (Important Spells)
-Protection from Energy [Fire]: To protect against Firestorm. This can be cast from a wand
-Mass Energy Resistance [Fire]: Backup protection against Firestorm.
-Fly: To be able to maneuver up to the Balor. This can be cast from a wand.

Others
-While not strictly necessary, the Party can agree before hand to take certain actions when one of them shouts some key phrase (E.g. Activating Plan 2B). This lets them communicate their actions while keeping the Balor in the blind about what they are planning to do.
-The entire party should be disguised as holy warriors, to encourage the Balor to waste actions casting Blasphemy on them.
-Entire Party should drink their listed potions. The Beguiler and Healbot should cast any level 3 Divination spell to gain +4 Insight to Initiative from Insightful Divination.

Luring the Balor
In order to lure the Balor to our Infinite Featureless Plain, we first need to let him know where and when to meet us. Sending is too high level, so we instead use Animal Messanger. Presumably, we know where the Balor's sanctum normally is, so telling the Messenger where to find the Balor wouldn't be a problem.

"We know way out, with Bag of Holding and Portable Hole. Items not with us. Meet us this sunday at noon to talk."

We send this out on Monday, so that even if the Balor happens to go out for a few days, he will still be able to see the message and respond on Sunday. Of course, if we want to be sure he gets the message, we can spam Animal Messenger, several times per day, and on all the days leading up to Sunday. Since this is a written note, there should be no bluff check involved. We also tell the Balor that the items are not with us, so he doesn't get it in his head to kill us first and then try and loot the stuff from our corpses.

Engaging the Balor

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Surprise Round
It is now Sunday. The Party is waiting in the middle of an infinitely large featureless plain. Who gets the Surprise round will depend on how the Balor tries to get in.

Fly/Walk In: The most straighforward thing to do, if the Balor is coming in to talk. Of course the Balor will be aware of where the Party is standing, and will immediately defend himself if they try to take any hostile actions, so there will be no surprise round.

Greater Teleport (within 30 ft of party): This will trigger Anticipate Teleport, and the Balor will be delayed for 1 full round. Party can act as normal/ready actions against the Balor, thereby *effectively* gaining the Surprise Round.

Greater Teleport (outside 30 ft of party): This is outside the range of Anticipate Teleport, so he will not be delayed. In all likelihood, the Balor gains the Surprise Round.

Surviving the Surprise Round
The Balor can only take 1 standard action during his surprise round. If he uses any Area attack, we have defences against them as follows:
-Blasphemy: Entire Party is evil, so this will have no effect
-Greater Dispel Magic (Area): We have buffer spells that are at a higher CL and will be checked first. The Balor's CL is 20, vs Dispel DC of 17 for our buffer spells, so they will be automatically removed first before the important spells are checked.
-Firestorm: We have Protection from Energy [Fire] up and this will absorb the first 60 points of damage. Since Firestorm does 70 damage on average, the Party should have no problems surviving the remaining 10+ damage (which could then be further absorbed by Mass Energy Resistance [Fire]). Furthermore he can only do this once, so after Protection from Energy has been used up, they party shouldn't need it anymore.

If he uses any Targetted Attack, it will trigger the Wings of Cover Contingency Spell we have given all our party members (best 600 gp ever spent). Unlike Immediate Actions, which cannot be taken while flat-footed, Contingent Spells can trigger regardless of the state of the carrier- even if he is dead.

Action Denial: The Wings of Cover Shuffle
Once the Surprise Round is over, it goes down to Initiative. The Beguiler and the Healbot have both been optimized to win initiative, and it highly likely they will do so. Whatever Action they take doesn't really matter, so long as they retain their swift/immediate action. They could just shoot weak Arrows at the Balor, while shouting praises to Good Gods as befits their "Holy Warrior" disguise. The important thing is that they are no longer flat-footed and can take immediate actions outside their turn.

The Balor can take 2 actions in his round. He will always cast quickened Telekinesis, since he has nothing else to do with his swift action. At this point, the Healbot can immediately counter with Wings of Cover. Because his CL has been boosted to 9 (6 base + 2 Thesis + 1 Blades of Force), and he has the Dragonblood subtype, his WoC can protect additional allies (one per 3 caster levels, for a total of 3) effectively shielding the rest of the party. The Balor finds that Telekinesis cannot do anything against the total cover provided by WoC, and so he wastes his action.

Next the Balor could try any of his targetted SLAs (Targetted Dispel, Insanity, Dominate, Implosion etc) or charge with a melee attack. This time round, the Beguiler can intervene with HIS Wings of Cover, which again has been boosted to CL 9 and can cover the whole party, thus effectively wasting the Balor's action again. Alternatively, he may try to use an Area attack, and our defence against that has been outlined above.

Party's Turn:
The Balor has used up his actions which have had no effect on the party. At this point the Balor might be either nearby (if he moved in, or failed a charge). Or still remaining where he was at the start (~50 ft away). Our Beguiler and Healbot activate their custom items of Dimension Step. Either can teleport up to 2 willing allies a distance equal to their move speed (60 ft fly with the fly spell active), so between the 2 of them, they can move the entire party. Ideally, we want to be always 30+ ft from the Balor. This is so as to prevent him from making a full attack which can overwhelm Wings of Cover. He is therefore stuck with making at most 1 melee attack on a charge (or any other actions listed above). With this, the Meatshield, Healbot and Beguiler can keep spamming WoC and Dimension Step every turn, so long as their WoC spell slots hold out, essentially shutting down anything the Balor might try to do, and they have a thick layer of buffer spells that can absorb his area GDMs for several rounds.

As mentioned above, this entire setup requires only 2 party members (Beguiler and Healbot), leaving the Arcanist and Meat Shield free to kill the Balor however they want.


Explosive Runes Nuke:
So by now I should have shown how the party can survive the Balor, but how might they kill it and survive the Death Throes?

0. Rather than giving the Custom item of Dimension step to the Beguiler, we give it to the Meat Shield (who at present isn't doing anything useful). This is to free the Beguiler to use his standard action to cast Dispel Magic later on.

1. On their turns, the Meatshield and Healbot, rather than using Dimension Step to teleport the whole party, only teleport themselves and the Beguiler, leaving the Arcanist behind. They can cover 120 ft with 2 move actions, which should be enough to put them outside of the Balor's Death Throes, but still within range to fire off a Dispel Magic (medium range, 160 ft).

2. The Arcanist now proceeds to blow up the Balor:
-Move Action: Draw Book of Explosive Runes from Handy Haversack.
-Free Action: saying <something> (talking is a free action) which triggers his Contingent Dimension Steps, bringing him close to the Balor. If you don't think this should be a free action, the Arcanist does not have any use for his standard action so he can use that instead.

3. The Beguiler has not used his standard action yet. He casts dispel magic on the book of explosive runes. The Balor (and Arcanist) drop dead.


Surviving Death Throes In More Limited Space:
The above schema works because there is space to keep away from the Balor, while he blows up. In the event that the fight occurs in more space limited environs, we may instead opt to survive Death Throes by using Time Hop.

A Psionic Tattoo of Timehop (750 gp) will keep a party member safe and sound outside of the timestream for a few rounds, during which the rest of the party can blow up the Balor (and die violently in the process). But as long as 1 party member survives, we win!

From Minimum to Dedication

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Note that the scheme described above is the "Bare Minimum" required for the plan to work. Further tweaking can improve the Party's chance of success against the Balor, but at the cost of decreasing their overall performance against other monsters (keeping in mind that the task is supposed to be done by a *Real* party).

Although I did not do so, note that the Arcanist could also grab Wings of Cover and Optimize Initiative. In which case as long as 2 of the 3 WoC casters win initiative, they can cast it twice to block the Balor's first attacks. In fact the Meat Shield could also be a caster (E.g. Wild shaping Druid) grab WoC/optimize initiative, then as long as any 2 of the 4 party members win intiative, they can block off the balor. (Although if all 4 party members win initiative, they can just set off the Explosive Runes Nuke without waiting for the Balor to go first).

The races of the party members are not specified here. But if forced to fight an actual match, there are strong advantages to having them all be Undead (probably Necropolitan) most notably immunity to Mind Affecting from Power Word Stun, Insanity and Dominate.

While only the Arcanist carries the bomb in the scheme above, it is quite possible to purchase 4 seperate handy haversacks for each Party Member. That way, should one fall, the remaining 3 can still execute the Teleport Away-Draw Rune Book-Dispel combo to blow up the Balor. In fact, if you gave them all Craft Contingent spells of Dimension Step (so that the Dispeller can teleport away as a free action) you just need 2 people left to execute the combo. (In which case you can just pull the entire thing off provided that any 2 win initiative and pull it all off before the Balor even acts.)

[Eronai_Jantig]

To JeminiZero

Very well thought out, I attempted low level spell use however mostly just ended with heavily metamagiked low level spells. You however did a very great job, awesome idea with the Explosive Runes, I never realized that you could area dispel the book and choose to fail the checks so you could activate them all at once.

[Malakar]

Jemini, Great Flaw in your plan: Cannot cast immediate actions when you are flat footed.

As far as I can tell your Init is not impressive, the Balor will usually win Init, and then proceed to kill someone.

Also, if he AoE dispels, the book of nukes is actually higher CL than anything else, and so by any interpretation of it, it gets dispelled first.

Resulting in teh boom boom.

[Another_Poet]

Lans & Eronai, your entries can still count since you started before the closing. Lans, please post yours!

Eronai - please post yours just because I want to see a Pokemon entry!!

Gaurd Juris and anyone else - I will do the final update to the submissions list tomorrow and your entries should appear on the list then.

You guys rock.... there are some fun entries here.

Sorry to those who didn't like my rulings on how to apply E6. I didn't want to totally disallow items with higher level spells because those spells are available, in a way, in E6. But normal pricing and availability with 20th level gold would make the contest moot. So I had to balance it out as best as I could.

ap

[JeminiZero]

As far as I can tell your Init is not impressive, the Balor will usually win Init, and then proceed to kill someone.

I'll figure that bit out later. The party so far is a massive blank slate with just a few feats and items, shouldn't be hard to amp up init.

Also, if he AoE dispels, the book of nukes is actually higher CL than anything else, and so by any interpretation of it, it gets dispelled first.

Resulting in teh boom boom.

Re-read it all, the book is stored in a Handy Haversack, and only taken out just before the nuke trigger. Since it is in an extradimensional space, it is not subject to area dispel.