Zinc Saucier XXII: Holy Cow!

**dysprosium** · 2014-02-25, 10:00 AM (ISO 8601)

Welcome one and all to the twenty second Zinc Saucier challenge, where Playgrounders come to test their skill in the art of beautiful and bizarre (and bizarrely beautiful) builds, summoning a savory dish of superb swordplay and sublime sorcery.

The challenge? To come up with a build that has the same abilities and feel as the Secret Ingredient WITHOUT actually using it!

For the twenty second challenge, get ready to emulate a class with hardly any class features, from the Player's Handbook it's the Cleric

Our challengers will have about 2 weeks to build a complete build up to Effective Character Level 20 using a 32 point buy and all official WOTC D&D 3.5 materials (excluding dragon magazine, but including any WOTC online enhancements) with the abilities and feel of a Cleric without actually using any levels in it.

Entries must be submitted by Sunday, 11:59pm GMT, 9 March, 2014. As usual, please submit your entries via private message to the chairman, so as not to influence the other sauciers.

Judges will then have until Sunday, 11:59pm GMT, 23 March, 2014, to post scores for all dishes.

Contestants will be judged and awarded a score out of 5 in each of 4 categories;

* Innovation (Uniqueness in character concept, race, class, etc)
* Power (How powerful and versatile it is compared to the base class)
* Elegance (What can only be described as how well the build "flows", i.e not using lots of 1-2lv dips, sacrificing flavour for power or using flaws)
* Ingredient (How well the build captures the abilities and feel of the base class)

Presentation would be best in the style of how the iron chef does their presentations, however any style is allowed so long as it is clear on how the build was made.

Recommended style (at least until the code change):

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NAME OF ENTRY
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|New Class Level|

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|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities[/table]

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[b]NAME OF ENTRY[/b]
{table=head][b]Level[/b]|[b]Class[/b]|[b]Base Attack Bonus[/b]|[b]Fort Save[/b]|[b]Ref Save[/b]|[b]Will Save[/b]|[b]Skills[/b]|[b]Feats[/b]|[b]Class Features[/b]

1st|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

2nd|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

3rd|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

4th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

5th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

6th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

7th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

8th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

9th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

10th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

11th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

12th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

13th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

14th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

15th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

16th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

17th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

18th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

19th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities

20th|New Class Level|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|[center]+x[/center]|Skills|New Feats|New Class Abilities[/table]

For entries with spellcasting, use the following table for Spells per day and Spells Known. (Spells Known only if necessary, i.e. Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage). For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list, similar to this:

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Spells per day/Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

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[b]Spells per day/Spells Known[/b]
{table=head][b]Level[/b]|[b]0lvl[/b]|[b]1st[/b]|[b]2nd[/b]|[b]3rd[/b]|[b]4th[/b]|[b]5th[/b]|[b]6th[/b]|[b]7th[/b]|[b]8th[/b]|[b]9th[/b]

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Please do not post details of your build on the board before it is ready, so as not to spoil the surprise for others.

Sauciers may submit as many builds as they want but please don't use leadership, as we don't want to overfeed the judges.

Previous challenges;

* Classes marked with an asterisk have had their original posts updated to reflect the final results.

This competition is inspired by the Playground Iron Chef Competitions and uses mostly identical rules.

Also it comes with double prize money. Why? Because we care!

Allez Sauciers!

**dysprosium** · 2014-02-25, 10:01 AM (ISO 8601)

A few administrative notes:

Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon magazine is disallowed, and Unearthed Arcana is allowed; but see Elegance below. Web-exclusive 3.0 or 3.5 materials by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Also, item familiars are forbidden because I hate 'em.

Power level is up to you. Cheese is acceptable, but should be kept to a sane level unless you're showcasing a new TO build you've discovered. In the words of one of my predecessors, a little cheddar can be nice, but avoid the mature Gruyere unless you're making a cheese fondue.

Elegance could bear a little elaboration. It basically measures how skillfully you put your build together, and whether you sacrificed flavor for power. We're cooking here - if your dish doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter how well-presented it is. Use of flaws is an automatic loss of one point per flaw in this category. Other things that will cause lost points here are excessive multiclassing, and classes that don't fit the concept - using Cloistered Cleric in a front-line melee fighter, for example, may lose you points. Please note the following: a legal source's relative obscurity should not be considered as penalizing Elegance, excepting the aforementioned issues with Unearthed Arcana. Using too many sources may be an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion, but a book's relative obscurity may not.

What's the minimum score in a category? Assuming an entry is legal, the minimum score in any category is 1. If a judge is convinced that an entry is illegal by the RAW, the judge may give a 0 or decline to score a given entry. Because this contest focuses on Player Characters, an entry that is not technically allowed for a PC, but is viable as an NPC, counts as a legal entry, but may receive a minimum score at the judges' discretion.

Is Dragon Compendium Allowed? Yes, but individual issues of Dragon Magazine are not.

What about 3.0 materials? 3.0 materials, whether online or in printed form, are allowed unless they've been officially updated to a 3.5 edition.

Are Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, or Kingdoms of Kalamar allowable sources? The Dragonlance Campaign Setting is allowed, but the subsequent books for Dragonlance are considered 3rd party, and are therefore not eligible, despite the "WotC approved" status of those books. The same holds for Oriental Adventures (1st party) and the subsequent Rokugan books (3rd party). Materials from Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, and Kingdoms of Kalamar are considered 3rd party for purposes of this contest, and are therefore not allowed.

What about online sources in general? If the online source is a) published by WotC, and b) not replaced by an updated version at a later time, it is eligible. Use it, link it.

Where's the line drawn with "acceptable/unacceptable" for Unearthed Arcana? This will likely vary a bit from Chairman to Chairman. Variant class features and variant character classes are espressly permitted. Item Familiars and Gestalt have always been verboten, since before IC migrated to GitP; don't expect that to change. Flaws have similarly always been noted as warranting a deduction; while I am Chairman, I'm extending that to Traits, though they warrant 1/2 the penalty in Elegance that a Flaw would because they're roughly 1/2 as useful. Alternate spell systems, alternate skill systems and alternate crafting rules all create an uneven playing field, and as such, will be disallowed for as long as I am Chairman. Bloodlines are ripe for abuse, and will be discouraged as long as I am Chairman. Note that judges are allowed to look askance at any use of Unearthed Arcana not specifically mentioned above, at their discretion, and otherwise penalize Elegance according to their preference.

What, exactly, does the ban on Leadership mean? As folks have started to try to work around the edges of this one, I'm forced to spell it out more plainly. No Leadership, Draconic Cohort, or Feats that grant a similar ability are allowed EXCEPT Wild Cohort while I am chairman. Any PrC you choose with Leadership or a Leadership-analog has that ability entirely ignored for this contest, as it may neither be used nor traded away via any means whatsoever.

What's the minimum score in a category? Assuming an entry is legal, the minimum score in any category is 1. If a judge is convinced that an entry is illegal by the RAW, the judge may give a 0 or decline to score a given entry. Because this contest focuses on Player Characters, an entry that is not technically allowed for a PC, but is viable as an NPC, counts as a legal entry, but may receive a minimum score at the judges' discretion.

How the heck do I even do this? Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to select a combination of race, templates, classes, alternate class features, prestige classes, skills, and feats, meld them into a single character that progresses from ECL 1 to ECL 20, that is as close as possible to the secret ingredient as possible in look, feel, class features. How you do it is up to you, I recommend you read previous competitions if you are interested in seeing how others have done it before you. Capture the essence!

A thread for your amusement/edification:

Handy Tips for the Iron Chef in the Playground Noob

**Sian** · 2014-02-25, 10:34 AM (ISO 8601)

Cleric eh?

**dysprosium** · 2014-02-25, 11:06 AM (ISO 8601)

In a word: Yes.

I was going to mirror the Iron Chef ingredient Osteomancer but considered against it for this round instead going with a core base class.

I think this is an easy and difficult ingredient at the same time and am curious to see what everyone can do!

**WhamBamSam** · 2014-02-25, 11:24 AM (ISO 8601)

I was sorta hoping Artificer would be the next T1 we did, but ah well. I've got a couple good ideas for this one. I'm judging IC this round, but I'll be on Spring Break next week, so I'll take a crack at submitting both of them.

**Nightraiderx** · 2014-02-25, 11:53 AM (ISO 8601)

posting interest to participate. shouldn't be too bad.

**Vaz** · 2014-02-25, 12:07 PM (ISO 8601)

I already know the build I'm entering. Anyhow...

**Sian** · 2014-02-25, 12:24 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by WhamBamSam

I was sorta hoping Artificer would be the next T1 we did, but ah well. I've got a couple good ideas for this one. I'm judging IC this round, but I'll be on Spring Break next week, so I'll take a crack at submitting both of them.

even without knowing the first thing about them i allready know for sure how to do this ... while being setting specific without Eberron

also have a very good idea for how i'll do a 'cleric' without cleric ... trying to find a fancy way of tweaking it for fun and profit.

Is there going to be bonus points if going Minotaur (as a Holy half-cow) ?

**Zaq** · 2014-02-25, 02:05 PM (ISO 8601)

Very interesting. The difficult part is almost more in avoiding the obvious answers than in mirroring the abilities, no? Interesting choice of ingredient.

**relytdan** · 2014-02-25, 02:09 PM (ISO 8601)

ok I put this in ic what plans in works to deal with the table changes the admin says are coming?
and
CLERIC
okay I will think on it

**dysprosium** · 2014-02-25, 02:49 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Zaq

Very interesting. The difficult part is almost more in avoiding the obvious answers than in mirroring the abilities, no? Interesting choice of ingredient.

It was definitely something I was thinking of when I chose it.

Originally Posted by relytdan

ok I put this in ic what plans in works to deal with the table changes the admin says are coming?
and
CLERIC
okay I will think on it

After reading the full thread about the changes to be made, I will worry about how it can be done on a grander scale after the changes go live.

As it is now, I believe I should be able to edit the post entries myself for the Rounds that I have been Chairman for.

**Jurai** · 2014-02-25, 03:31 PM (ISO 8601)

I have a pernicious idea.

**Humble Master** · 2014-02-25, 05:09 PM (ISO 8601)

How are we going to handle domains?

Also, I will definitely be judging. Lots of life stuff in the near future means not enough time to put together a decent build.

**Sian** · 2014-02-25, 05:50 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Humble Master

How are we going to handle domains?

What do you mean?

**Vaz** · 2014-02-25, 06:57 PM (ISO 8601)

I think he means that some classes have access to set/defined/limited domains, others have access to all.

That is the problem of the chef to discover; whether the originality/elegance/power of the build is lost/gained over particular classes.

As a guide, don't build what the judges want (outside of trying to check the boxes) but what you want it to. It's a hobby, not a job.

**Kuulvheysoon** · 2014-02-25, 07:45 PM (ISO 8601)

If I was judging (and I might), I'd probably go by 'do they have access to domains at all'.

**TerrickTerran** · 2014-02-25, 07:57 PM (ISO 8601)

Cool to see these are still going. I may not be able to participate or judge but I love reading them.

**Humble Master** · 2014-02-25, 11:00 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Kuulvheysoon

If I was judging (and I might), I'd probably go by 'do they have access to domains at all'.

Or could they emulate the abilities domain's grant? That was more of my question: Should I look for people getting domains or getting the effects of domains? (Of course for the effects it would probably need to be a lot of domain abilities to emulate the variety Clerics have.)

Edit: sorry for the question, I'm new to this judging business.

**Svata** · 2014-02-26, 12:06 AM (ISO 8601)

Might try somthing for this one. Got an idea or two, even if they might not be the most original.

**Techwarrior** · 2014-02-26, 01:31 AM (ISO 8601)

...

I have an idea.

*commences plotting*

**dysprosium** · 2014-02-26, 10:00 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Humble Master

Or could they emulate the abilities domain's grant? That was more of my question: Should I look for people getting domains or getting the effects of domains? (Of course for the effects it would probably need to be a lot of domain abilities to emulate the variety Clerics have.)

Edit: sorry for the question, I'm new to this judging business.

I think different judges are going to look at in their own way. If you feel that the entry needs a domain to be more cleric-y than just getting a similar effect, that is your decision as a judge.

**Humble Master** · 2014-02-26, 04:16 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by dysprosium

I think different judges are going to look at in their own way. If you feel that the entry needs a domain to be more cleric-y than just getting a similar effect, that is your decision as a judge.

Alright, I'll think about it. Guess it is my job as a judge to decide.

**Segev** · 2014-02-26, 04:34 PM (ISO 8601)

I know I've seen some contests around here where it was impossible to please two judges in the same entry; they looked for opposed things. It happens.

**Jurai** · 2014-02-27, 11:13 AM (ISO 8601)

Why are we on third page?

Your chairpersonshiplinessosity, I have submitted my dish!

**dysprosium** · 2014-02-27, 12:59 PM (ISO 8601)

And just like that we have two entries!

This ingredient has the potential to be as large as the Ranger round.

**relytdan** · 2014-03-01, 03:01 PM (ISO 8601)

2 entries in already - nice
lets see if this breaks 3...

**Inevitability** · 2014-03-02, 07:23 AM (ISO 8601)

I think I'm gonna try to participate in this.
This is my first time, so this is not as much a serious attempt to be chosen best as it is a try-out to see if I'd participate more often in this.

**Jormengand** · 2014-03-02, 12:12 PM (ISO 8601)

I've got a pretty decent idea for this one, too. Bombs away!

**dysprosium** · 2014-03-03, 09:49 AM (ISO 8601)

About a week to go and good traffic so far.

Lots of new faces too!

**Inevitability** · 2014-03-05, 03:16 AM (ISO 8601)

Can we also give WBL-approciate gear to our builds, or not?

Thread: Zinc Saucier XXII: Holy Cow!

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