Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XVIII

[Thurbane]

PerpetuaSkullface vs Tam O_Connor:

"Unseelie fey" is a template that can be added to any living creature type (referred to hereafter as the "base creature"). The creature's type becomes "fey." It uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

I would read that that to include things such as BAB, saves etc. for RHD.

[dextercorvia]

Tamalin vs dextercorvia

I suppose it was the following quote that stuck out in my mind, when I asked the question, what does he want this build to do.

he is essentially the mobile artillery platform at this point

I agree that Tamalin makes a fine scout, and has some modest buff/control abilities. But, as a harrier, or an artillery platform, he just doesn't cut it. I didn't expect charger damage from an archer, but I do expect something other than, "Yeah he can pick up a bow and pling pling after casting Haste on the party."

I was a bit overly harsh on his power score, so I'll award +0.5 in that category.

Ogar vs dextercorvia

First, you claim that "Krau Sigil does not work that way," but I don't see what you mean. The Krau sigil raises your caster level. The Improved Familiar feat checks your caster level. I honestly don't see any other way to read this.

Improved Familiar checks your Arcane Spellcaster Level, which is the sum of your levels in a given arcane spellcasting class with those levels of Prestige Classes which have advanced that class' spellcasting. A character's caster level is usually equal to Arcane Spellcaster level, but changes to CL do not affect Arcane Spellcaster level.

As for being a bear riding a bear, please allow me to direct you to p.80 of the PHB:

If you attempt to ride a
creature that is ill suited as a mount (such as most bipedal creatures),
you take a –5 penalty on your Ride checks.

You do suffer a penalty for riding something the same size as you, but Ogar's Ride check is high enough that the penalty is hardly an issue.

A bear is well suited as a mount (as far as D&D is concerned), so I fail to see how this clause allows you to violate the usual rule. Otherwise, a Titan could ride a pony with only a -5 to his Ride Check.

You are also mistaken in saying that Ogar's new STR score does not give her additional spell slots. There is not, in fact, a general rule stating that temporary ability score boosts do not give extra spell slots. If you look at PHB p.7-8:

It was not just that the bonus was temporary, it was how temporary the bonus was. Ogar gets unreadied spell slots when Raging, or under the effects of Bull's Strength. They can't be used for anything until he readies them, which takes 8 hours and 15 minutes. Hence, my comment that a AeshKrau Druid might have a pretty good argument.

Daily Readying of Spells

Each day, sorcerers and bards must focus their minds on the task of casting their spells. A sorcerer or bard needs 8 hours of rest (just like a wizard), after which he spends 15 minutes concentrating. (A bard must sing, recite, or play an instrument of some kind while concentrating.) During this period, the sorcerer or bard readies his mind to cast his daily allotment of spells. Without such a period to refresh himself, the character does not regain the spell slots he used up the day before.

Finally, Arcane Strike works just as well with natural weapons as it does with manufactured weapons. From Complete Warrior, p.96:

I did miss the pluralization on natural weapons. However I hadn't docked you for it, since as I saw it, Ogar still had full use of Arcane Strike when he wasn't raging

No Change

Skullface vs dextercorvia

While Krenshar gives full BAB, this is because it is a Magical Beast. Unseelie Fey turns the character into a Fey (and does not bestow the Augmented subtype which would indicate that BAB would remain the same), reducing him to half BAB for racial hit dice.

Thanks for clearing that up. Of course I didn't take away points for (what I believed to be) underestimating the BAB.

Also, a dispute on behalf of at least one other build, but potentially for Skullface as well: Arcane Strike explicitly adds damage either to a single weapon, an unarmed strike, or natural weapons plural, so it will apply to all attacks for natural weapon based builds.

That would help, except that with Tainted Scholar online, I assumed that this was a backup plane against Mind-Effecting immune foes. Coupled with the bonus slots that TS provides, even with my mistake, I figured you had enough slots to spread the love to all of Skullface's natural attacks.

No Change

Perpetua vs dextercorvia

While metafaculty comes late in the game and runs a risk of failure against mind blank (et al), I would argue that Perpetua is the only submission in this round that doesn’t suffer a 100% chance of failure against mind blank. I chose to take this power at level 20 because it is a fitting “double capstone,” if you will. The ability is thematically similar to discern location, but much more powerful. Discern location is for daily use, while metafaculty is for the rare cases when your daily Discern Location is thwarted by mind blank. I chose this power because it seemed to provide a boost not only to Power, but to Use of the Secret Ingredient as well.

I’m not sure if you accounted for Perpetua’s chaotic surge when calculating her average damage per round. If I did my math right (and I’m no good with statistics), that class feature brings her average to 80.875 for Energy Ray as a ranged touch attack. Another thing worth noting, though, is that Energy Bolt can dish out the pain to multiple targets in a round. I hope that this may provide a slight boost to Power.

Perpetua's damage I calculated (the lazy way -- I multiplied the result instead of the dice and didn't account for different energy types) as

17*3.5*[0.5+1+1.5+2]/4

As I understand it, Chaotic Surge has her manifesting at 50% damage, full damage, 150% damage, or 200% damage each 25% of the time.

Taking her mobility into account, Perpetua can line up two or more foes if they exist. I'll relax a little on Metafaculty and I was a bit overly harsh on UoSI, there.

Power +0.25
UoSI +0.5

The Scores Updated

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Scores
{table=head]\|Skullface|The Creeper|Perpetua|Reek|Tamalin|Faltino|Ogar|Tamlaine|Servant
Originality |4 |2 |3 |4 |2 |3 |1.5|2.5|4

Power |3 |1 |3.25 |3 |2|2 |2 |2 |4

Elegance |1.5|2 |2.5|2.5|1 |2.5|1.5|3.5|3.5

Use of Secret Ingredient|3 |3 |2.5 |5 |3 |3 |3.5|3 |3.5

Total |11.5|8 |11.25|14.5|8|10.5|8.5|11|15
[/table]

[Talbot]

Turns out I have pink eye. I can barely read the entries at this point. I'm really sorry, but I'm going to have to withdraw as a judge. Did not plan it this way.

[Tam_OConnor]

Perpetua vs Tam O_Connor:

I would read that that to include things such as BAB, saves etc. for RHD.

Wait, what? I don't recall any comments about the Unseelie Fey template (besides my internal rambling that it's stupid, but I assume the boards can't read my mind).

[dextercorvia]

Wait, what? I don't recall any comments about the Unseelie Fey template (besides my internal rambling that it's stupid, but I assume the boards can't read my mind).

I think he is referring to a comment Skullface made to me.

[Thurbane]

Yes indeed, sorry. Was meant to read Skullface, not Perpetua.

[true_shinken]

I missed a dispute.
Faltino vs dextercorvia

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Bolded for emphasis:

Faltino

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One of my two thoughts for Unseelie Dark Hunter involved a totemist, so it wasn't completely unexpected, but at least it isn't more ranger. So you have a charger/light magic gish. 13 BAB is low for a Gish. The totemist entry, while awesome for this Secret Ingredient, is hard on BAB. Normally, the Totemist gets around this by using Natural Weapons, but you are relying on a lance for your Sprited Charge. Also, without Pounce, you aren't taking advantage of your iteratives either. You would likely have been better to Bind Girallon Claws and Sphinx Claws for 4 attacks at x2 damage rather than one at X3.

Anyspell will not help you since you do not have a domain slot in which to prepare your Sorcerer/Wizard spell. Also, it is only of marginal benefit since you have had the ability as a Chameleon to prepare any arcane spell you would have used for Anyspell since level 6.

Chameleon, by the way, has some steep RP prereq's, which you seemed to have missed in your backstory. I get the dual 'allegiance' thing, but no mention of your training.

Dexter seems to have missed the parts of Faltino's entry that talk about how he gains Pounce through repeated use of the Lion's Charge spell, and how he can't use the Arcane Focus of Chameleon because he always uses the Divine Focus of Chameleon (for Lion's Charge and for Wisdom synergy).

[dextercorvia]

Faltino

Dexter seems to have missed the parts of Faltino's entry that talk about how he gains Pounce through repeated use of the Lion's Charge spell, and how he can't use the Arcane Focus of Chameleon because he always uses the Divine Focus of Chameleon (for Lion's Charge and for Wisdom synergy).

Yes, indeed I missed that part.

At Level 6, Faltino has amassed the necessary spying skills to become a Chameleon. He can pick Wild Focus just to thematically continue his Wild Empathy; or he can pick Arcane Focus to collect various useful low-level arcane spells into his spellbook; but really on any normal day he will pick Divine Focus for some useful spellcasting and a healthy boost to his Will Save (and his already-good Fortitude save). His tactic is still mostly double-damage charging with a lance from horseback, but I'm sure there's some good divine buffs to supplement this tactic, such as Knight's Move.

You still may not benefit from Anyspell since you don't have a 3rd level domain slot. You do get to use Lion's Charge up to 3/day (I'm not counting items, since I didn't for any other build.) That is better than nothing, but not really reliable pounce. I'll add 0.25 to your Power score.

Edit: Updated my score table.

The Scores Updated

Spoiler

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Scores
{table=head]\|Skullface|The Creeper|Perpetua|Reek|Tamalin|Faltino|Ogar|Tamlaine|Servant
Originality |4 |2 |3 |4 |2 |3 |1.5|2.5|4

Power |3 |1 |3.25 |3 |2|2.25 |2 |2 |4

Elegance |1.5|2 |2.5|2.5|1 |2.5|1.5|3.5|3.5

Use of Secret Ingredient|3 |3 |2.5 |5 |3 |3 |3.5|3 |3.5

Total |11.5|8 |11.25|14.5|8|10.75|8.5|11|15
[/table]

[OMG PONIES]

Tallies after Two Judges (including disputes)

{table=head]ENTRY|PLACE|TOTALS|AVERAGE
The Loyal Servant|GOLD|28|3.5
Reek|SILVER|27|3.375
Perpetua|BRONZE|23.25|2.90625
Skullface|Fourth|22.5|2.8125
Tamlaine|Fourth|22.5|2.8125
Faltino|Sixth|22.25|2.78125
Ogar|Seventh|22|2.75
The Creeper|Eighth|19|2.375
Tamalin|Eighth|19|2.375[/table]

[true_shinken]

OK, guys. So we are out of judges. If no one else steps up for this, I'll have to close the contest as is.
Also, sorry about the trophies, but we're having problems with Jumilk's flash. If anyone knows of a freeware alternative for flash/fireworks that could run on a netbook, I'd be very grateful.

[kestrel404]

Gimp claims to be able to do the same stuff as Adobe Fireworks, but as I've never used either one you should take that with a grain of salt. As for getting it running on a netbook, you can probably find a dozen different stripped-down or specialized build of it (even for windows) if you go looking, since it's open source.

[Amechra]

Remind me, how many Honorable Mentions are there, after it all?

And I would judge, but I'm in the competition. Oh well.

[BobVosh]

OK, guys. So we are out of judges. If no one else steps up for this, I'll have to close the contest as is.
Also, sorry about the trophies, but we're having problems with Jumilk's flash. If anyone knows of a freeware alternative for flash/fireworks that could run on a netbook, I'd be very grateful.

I will, but I warn you it is probably Sunday or Monday that I will post. However 2 judges seems very light. Although I will try to shoot for Saturday morning, if that means anything. So if you guys let me know I'll get to judging today.

[kestrel404]

Oh, good. I was really hoping for at least 1 more judge to weigh in. I don't think there's ever been a competition with fewer than 3 judges.

[gbprime]

I will, but I warn you it is probably Sunday or Monday that I will post. However 2 judges seems very light. Although I will try to shoot for Saturday morning, if that means anything. So if you guys let me know I'll get to judging today.

Yay!

[Amphetryon]

I will, but I warn you it is probably Sunday or Monday that I will post. However 2 judges seems very light. Although I will try to shoot for Saturday morning, if that means anything. So if you guys let me know I'll get to judging today.

Do eet!

[Tam_OConnor]

Judge their socks off!

[true_shinken]

I will, but I warn you it is probably Sunday or Monday that I will post. However 2 judges seems very light. Although I will try to shoot for Saturday morning, if that means anything. So if you guys let me know I'll get to judging today.

Welcome aboard, BobVosh

[BobVosh]

2 down, then my interbutt died. I have returned triumphantly though.

Criteria, btw:

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Originality
How unique is your build compared to the others, and most commonly stated builds to go into the class. Do you use your SI in a unique, unexpected way? Do you enter the SI in an equally interesting way?

Power
Within the same type of classes, how do you compete? (Casters vs Casters, etc) Are there levels where you simply do not function, or function quite poorly? Do you rely on a caster to give a buff, or does your equipment with WBL allow you to take of most needs? Please feel free to explain any combos that the character relies on.

Elegance
Flaws are a required -1 point here, as per the rules. I don't care how many sources you go with to make your build, I won't count the number of books. However if you simply splash around for small level dips that look fishy, expect a little off. Do you exploit or use known cheese in order to do what it is you do? Are some levels weak, or pointless?

Use of secret ingredient
Did you take the SI as far as possible, if not is there a good reason? Does the SI add or subtract from the actual effectiveness of the character? Does the fluff support the character? This section will basically combine the other three categories in terms of the SI only.

I crossed off the splash thing since it is a personal quirk, and I don't feel its fair to the contenders to have stuff like that after they submitted.

[gbprime]

The obligatory 60 hour BUMP...

[kestrel404]

How goes the judging?

[BobVosh]

Update: 2 left, about to sleep. Should post before, or just after starting to work tomorrow. (I spend most of my time on these forums at work :D)

[kestrel404]

Hey, if you hold off until Friday, judging will have taken a full month!
...
Just kidding, judge in your own time.

(Dodges thrown objects.)

[gbprime]

Hey, if you hold off until Friday, judging will have taken a full month!

[dextercorvia]

It seems to me that any of the contestants that are patient enough to wait 2-4 weeks for a judging, after being persistent enough to enter, would probably make for a pretty good PbP group.

[gbprime]

It seems to me that any of the contestants that are patient enough to wait 2-4 weeks for a judging, after being persistent enough to enter, would probably make for a pretty good PbP group.

Yeahbut... could any GM handle that many optimized PC's ?

[dextercorvia]

If the DM required everyone to build in a 10 level crappy PrC's like IC, then the optimization level could be high, while the overall power level wouldn't get too bad.

[Amphetryon]

If the DM required everyone to build in a 10 level crappy PrC's like IC, then the optimization level could be high, while the overall power level wouldn't get too bad.

Are you thinking of running a game?

[Waker]

I'm just thinking what kind of ridiculous group it would be if the party all had to abide by the same kinda stuff found in the IC competitions.

[dextercorvia]

I'd love too, but I'm pretty rusty. I haven't run a game in 4 years. My games tend to be pretty cliche, anyway. For some reason, I'm much more creative as a player, but I can't get it to back translate.

Edit @Waker: Getting assigned XP penalties for solving the problem the expected way, or for there being two Anthropomorphic Bat Druids in the party...