Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground LVIII

[KrimsonNekros]

Dammit now I'm wishing I'd finished my other build. I'd have had originality points for sure :(

[Sian]

quite a few superficially similar builds (including something very close to all 3 of my abandoned builds) ... and at a glance a fair few with build issues

[Muggins]

quite a few superficially similar builds (including something very close to all 3 of my abandoned builds) ... and at a glance a fair few with build issues

With a total of 22 builds this round, I suppose that's to be expected. Not to say that there aren't any surprises.

[Ikeren]

22 builds, eh? I have my work cut out for me.

In the skim: 3 Nar Demonbinders but 0 Sublime Chords strikes me as crazily strange.

The stubs I was loosely playing with before agreeing to judge were:

Bard4/Fighter1/Spellsword5/Sublime Chord 2/Spellsword +5/Abjurant Champion 3
Bard4/Crusader1/Spellsword5/Sublime Chord 2/Spellsword +5/Jade Pheonix Mage 3
Bard4/Fighter1/Spellsword5/Sublime Chord 2/Spellsword +5/Swiftblade 3

Get sublime chord 7 or 8 (8th level spells), 18 BAB

Abjurant Champion: Swift extended 2nd level Abjurations, +3 AC on abjurations
Jade Pheonix mage: Mystic Pheonix Stance, maneuvers, other minor bonuses.
Swiftblade: 30% blur, free action haste, bounding assault.

And then standard "pick a combat style + arcane strike + generic casting feats" style stuff. I'm moderately surprised no super similar builds were posted, but I imagine it to be the Vizzini effect.

[dantiesilva]

Makes me wish I had completed the fluff of my battle sorcerer/paladin/spellsword/war weaver

[OMG PONIES]

Indeed, DeAnno (and others), fear not! I hath risen above the foul waters of Manitoba to redeem mineself!

Glad you're back! As a heads up, it looks like Drylax was posted twice. I just wanted to bring it to your attention in case the 2nd iteration should have been a different build.

[Ingus]

Whoah! Congrats, fellow contenders: all the builds are beautifully crafted and three of them will find room in my plays, one time or another (I won't mention which ones for obvious reasons ).

About Sublime Chord... I had it in mind, but Knowledge prereq means you can take it at 10th level and this means you can't go Spellsword 10.
It has plentry of potential, as you say (and shows), but usually not completing the PrC may hurt elegance or use of secret ingredients, or both.

For my not completed ideas... a couple of them are around, so I'll shut up, but a couple are not.

My first unexpressed idea was to try to fit Ardent as entry. I had a urge to use Magic Mantle to qualify for arcane spellcasting, which was really prone to "this doesn't work like that" and DM fiat.

Moreover, I tried to use a Ardent 1 Wizard 3 Cerebromancer 6 Spellsword 10 with Armor Proficiency (heavy) and Practiced Manifester.
Then I started to evaluate a Elan -> Beholder -> Beholder Mage 2, Ardent 1, [Divine stuff here] 2, Spellsword 10, Ur Priest 4 or Elan -> Beholder -> Beholder Mage 2, Ardent 1, [Divine stuff here] 2, Dweomerkeeper 4, Spellsword 10 and shame hit me really hard (also, Elegance 0 is a bad thing )

Lastly, I tried to add Ardent to [part of a build of another contender].

But eventually I gave up: Ardent could not fit anywere, at least by my capabilities

[Ingus]

Oh, I almost forgot: welcome back Mr Chairman.

@Ponies: it is. I checked and those are different builds / same build with changes

Dammit now I'm wishing I'd finished my other build. I'd have had originality points for sure :(

Tell us :)

[OMG PONIES]

@Ponies: it is. I checked and those are different builds / same build with changes

Good looking out, thanks!

With a total of 22 builds this round, I suppose that's to be expected. Not to say that there aren't any surprises.

21, actually, since the 2 Drylaxes seem to be the same build with additional info appended.

Whoah! Congrats, fellow contenders: all the builds are beautifully crafted and three of them will find room in my plays, one time or another (I won't mention which ones for obvious reasons ).

Tell us after? I'm always interested to see which Iron Chef builds people are inspired to use in actual games.

About Sublime Chord... I had it in mind, but Knowledge prereq means you can take it at 10th level and this means you can't go Spellsword 10.

As Ikeren mentioned previously, you can start Spellsword before entry into Sublime Chord.

Tell us :)

Yeah Krimson, care to share? I always love hearing the awesome stubs that just didn't get fleshed out in time. Also, for those playing along at home...

1. Taishi: Illumian Wu Jen 4/Fighter 1/Spellsword 10/Spelldancer 5
2. Aurelius Deadfeather: Lesser Aasimar Bard 5/Fighter 1/Spellsword 10/Nar Demonbinder 4
3. Meepo: Dragonwrought Spellhoarding Desert Kobold Sorcerer 4/Fighter 1/Spellsword 10/Incantatrix 3/Abjurant Champion 2
4. Rohlerryn: Steel Dragon Wyrm of War Sorcerer 3/Spellsword 10/Bloodclaw Master 1
5. Mekihl Krivim tibur Ptahzur: Dragonborn Illumian Cleric 1/Hexblade 5/Spellsword 10/Suel Archanamach 4
6. Halfdan the Black: Primordial Half-Giant Cleric 7/Nar Demonbinder 2/Spellsword 10
7. Anti the Kinslayer: Neraph Battle Sorcerer 11/Spellsword 9
8. Subjugator Sarlagiin: Yak Folk Soulborn 1/Suel Archanamach 2/Spellsword 10
9. Lawrence "Curly" Andmo: Synad Jester 6/Thrall of Demogorgon 4/Spellsword 10
10. Balthos of Myr: Human Sha'ir 2/Human Paragon 3/Marshall 1/Spellsword 10/Legacy Champion 4
11. Anh the Houseless: Neraph Fighter 2/Death Master 3/Spellsword 10/Master Thrower 5
12. Starshatter: Feytouched Star Elf Paladin 5/Knight of the Weave 4/Spellsword 10
13. Drylax: Human Wizard 6/Fighter 1/Spellsword 8/Abjurant Champion 5
14. Balthazar Naught: Human Sha'ir 8/Radiant Servant of Lathander 1/Sacred Exorcist 1/Spellsword 10
15. Naras: Gray Elf Fighter 2/Wizard 7/Bladesinger 3/Spellsword 8
16. Onnedad Kairdwen: Illumian Factotum 4/Duskblade 1/Chameleon 4/Spellsword 10/Dragon Disciple 1
17. Naphesche Zarna: Human Rogue 3/Fighter 2/Barbarian 1/Swordsage 1/Thayan Slaver 5/Spellsword 8
18. Amueli R'thaceu: Gray Elf Death Master 8/Arcane Archer 2/Spellsword 10
19. Exavier: Fire Elf Wizard 5/Rainbow Servant 5/Spellsword 10
20. Experiment "Novem": Neraph Barbarian 1/Wizard 6/Nar Demonbinder 2/Soul Eater 1/Spellsword 10 (table has Crusader instead of barbarian--which is correct?)
21. Giorre: Human Wizard 6/Ruathar 3/Thrall of Orcus 1/Spellsword 10

[Amphetryon]

22 builds, eh? I have my work cut out for me.

In the skim: 3 Nar Demonbinders but 0 Sublime Chords strikes me as crazily strange.

The stubs I was loosely playing with before agreeing to judge were:

Bard4/Fighter1/Spellsword5/Sublime Chord 2/Spellsword +5/Abjurant Champion 3
Bard4/Crusader1/Spellsword5/Sublime Chord 2/Spellsword +5/Jade Pheonix Mage 3
Bard4/Fighter1/Spellsword5/Sublime Chord 2/Spellsword +5/Swiftblade 3

Get sublime chord 7 or 8 (8th level spells), 18 BAB

Abjurant Champion: Swift extended 2nd level Abjurations, +3 AC on abjurations
Jade Pheonix mage: Mystic Pheonix Stance, maneuvers, other minor bonuses.
Swiftblade: 30% blur, free action haste, bounding assault.

And then standard "pick a combat style + arcane strike + generic casting feats" style stuff. I'm moderately surprised no super similar builds were posted, but I imagine it to be the Vizzini effect.

Past judge's opinions (past performance is no indicator of future success, but. . .) indicate with some consistency that the dips in the above stubs would be costly, and that setting Sublime Chord off of Bard casting could well result in a hit in Power. At the same time, Sublime Chord and Swiftblade are both well-known enough that they could well get dinged for lack of Originality. . . or even "known cheese" - particularly when things are described as "standard 'pick a combat style + arcane strike + generic casting feats.'"

[Piggy Knowles]

Definitely surprised that there weren't a plethora of crusaders.

I thought of putting together a mother-themed entry in honor of sakuuya, but didn't end up with anything I was happy with. It was going to be a Mother Cyst build that channeled necrotic cysts into people to plant her babies. This was the best option I'd ended up with, but I wasn't really interested enough in the build to turn it into a full entry:

Spoiler

Show

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Beguiler 1	+0	+0	+0	+2	Balance 4 ranks, bluff 4 ranks, concentration 4 ranks, diplomacy 4 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, knowledge (religion) 2 ranks, sleight of hand 4 ranks, spellcraft 4 ranks, spot 4 ranks, tumble 4 ranks	Earth Sense, Mother Cyst	Armored mage, trapfinding
2nd	Beguiler 2	+1	+0	+0	+3	Balance 5 ranks, bluff 5 ranks, concentration 5 ranks, diplomacy 5 ranks, forgery 1 rank, knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, sleight of hand 5 ranks, spellcraft 5 ranks, spot 5 ranks, tumble 5 ranks		Cloaked casting (+1 DC), surprise casting
3rd	Beguiler 3	+1	+1	+1	+3	Bluff 6 ranks, concentration 6 ranks, diplomacy 6 ranks, disguise 2 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 6 ranks, sleight of hand 6 ranks, spellcraft 6 ranks, spot 6 ranks, tumble 6 ranks	Heighten Spell	Advanced learning (distract assailant)
4th	Beguiler 4	+2	+1	+1	+4	Bluff 7 ranks, concentration 7 ranks, diplomacy 7 ranks, disguise 4 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 7 ranks, sleight of hand 7 ranks, spellcraft 7 ranks, spot 7 ranks, tumble 7 ranks
5th	Beguiler 5	+2	+1	+1	+4	Bluff 8 ranks, concentration 8 ranks, diplomacy 8 ranks, disguise 6 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks, sleight of hand 8 ranks, spellcraft 8 ranks, spot 8 ranks, tumble 8 ranks	Silent Spell
6th	Beguiler 6	+3	+2	+2	+5	Bluff 9 ranks, concentration 9 ranks, diplomacy 9 ranks, disguise 8 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 9 ranks, sleight of hand 9 ranks, spellcraft 9 ranks, spot 9 ranks, tumble 9 ranks	Practiced Spellcaster	Surprise casting (move action)
7th	Beguiler 7	+3	+2	+2	+6	Bluff 10 ranks, concentration 10 ranks, diplomacy 10 ranks, disguise 10 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 10 ranks, sleight of hand 10 ranks, spellcraft 10 ranks, spot 10 ranks, tumble 10 ranks		Advanced learning (phantasmal strangler)
8th	Beguiler 8	+4	+2	+2	+6	Bluff 11 ranks, concentration 11 ranks, diplomacy 11 ranks, disguise 11 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 11 ranks, sleight of hand 11 ranks, spellcraft 11 ranks, spot 11 ranks, tumble 11 ranks, Conceal Spellcasting skill trick		Cloaked casting (+2 to overcome SR)
9th	Chaotician 1	+5	+2	+4	+6	Bluff 12 ranks, concentration 11.5 ranks, diplomacy 12 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 12 ranks, sleight of hand 12 ranks, spot 12 ranks, Mosquito's Bite skill trick	Eldritch Corruption	Chaotic contagion, scofflaw
10th	Spellsword 1	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8	Bluff 13 ranks, concentration 12.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 13 ranks, spellcraft 12 ranks		Ignore spell failure 10%
11th	Spellsword 2	+7/+2	+5	+4	+9	Bluff 14 ranks, concentration 13.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 14 ranks, spellcraft 14 ranks	Martial Study (Shadow Jaunt)	Bonus feat
12th	Spellsword 3	+8/+3	+5	+5	+9	Bluff 15 ranks, concentration 14.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 15 ranks, spellcraft 15 ranks	Earth Spell	Ignore spell failure 15%
13th	Spellsword 4	+9/+4	+6	+5	+10	Bluff 16 ranks, concentration 15.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 16 ranks, spellcraft 16 ranks		Channel spell 3/day
14th	Spellsword 5	+10/+5	+6	+5	+10	Bluff 17 ranks, concentration 16.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 17 ranks, spellcraft 17 ranks		Ignore spell failure 20%
15th	Spellsword 6	+11/+6/+1	+7	+6	+11	Bluff 18 ranks, concentration 17.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 18 ranks, spellcraft 18 ranks	Extra Slot	Channel spell 4/day
16th	Spellsword 7	+12/+7/+2	+7	+6	+11	Bluff 19 ranks, concentration 18.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 19 ranks, spellcraft 19 ranks, tumble 11.5 ranks		Ignore spell failure 25%
17th	Spellsword 8	+13/+8/+3	+8	+6	+12	Bluff 20 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 20 ranks, spellcraft 20 ranks, Acrobatic Backstab skill trick		Channel spell 5/day
18th	Spellsword 9	+14/+9/+4	+8	+7	+12	Bluff 21 ranks, concentration 20.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 21 ranks, spellcraft 21 ranks	Extra Slot	Ignore spell failure 30%
19th	Spellsword 10	+15/+10/+5	+9	+7	+12	Bluff 22 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 22 ranks, spellcraft 22 ranks, Second Impression skill trick		Multiple channel spell
20th	Chaotician 2	+16/+11/+6/+1	+9	+8	+12	Bluff 23 ranks, concentration 23 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 23 ranks, spellcraft 23 ranks, Spot the Weak Point skill trick		Anarchic grace 1/day

Spoiler: Spellcasting

Show

Spells per Day

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

*Bonus spell slot from Extra Slot.

Final build was Beguiler 8/Chaotician 2/Spellsword 10. Basically, it used Mosquito's Bite and various beguiler abilities to attack and channel a cyst into people without them even noticing, and Eldritch Corruption shenanigans to piggyback up to 9th-level spells. I mean, after all, what's the point of planting cysts in people if you can't make them erupt into undead cyst-babies one day?

(Um, I may have a weird idea of motherhood. Don't tell my wife.)

[Sian]

one of the ideas i had was a Fighter 2 / Conjurer 4 / Spellsword 10 / Fiendbinder 4, based on rapid summoning and Despana School to wade into combat with my private army of summoned minions and bound fiends

Another was eerily close to Halfdan the Black but came to the conclusion that it was likely to have issues in the qualification of Spellsword since it doesn't actually have 2nd level arcane spells

[dysprosium]

First of all I'm glad the Chairman did not get washed away.

The stub I liked the most for myself was called the Herald of Wastri, neraph Wizard 3/Cleric 4/Mystic Theurge 3/Spellsword 10. This one had more fluff thought out than mechanics. I liked the idea of a frog being spreading the word of the Frog God from Greyhawk. Just couldn't get the pieces to fit together better.

I'm going to hazard a guess that the judging deadline will be extended (since it is currently supposed to be due on the 15th). That way I should be able to get judging in for everyone.

[Vaz]

20. Experiment "Novem": Neraph Barbarian 1/Wizard 6/Nar Demonbinder 2/Soul Eater 1/Spellsword 10 (table has Crusader instead of barbarian--which is correct?)

By the looks of the table and the mention of maneuvres, I'd hazard a guess that it looks like it is Crusader. Also, it looks like some of Giorre's entry was included within Novem's write up - but Kuulv did say he was aware that it was slightly messed up.

And yey! Entries. So many, going to waste a few hours reading these.

[Kazudo]

Here's what little I had on a build

Spoiler: St. Sharmanath the Beloved

Show

St. Sharmanath the Beloved
Bard with Healing Hymn + Harmonious Knight Paladin.
Human Saint Healing Hymn Bard 4/Harmonious Knight Paladin of Freedom 2/Spellsword 10/Divine Oracle 2
Feats:
H : Able Learner
1 : Lingering Song
3 : Melodic Casting
6 : Battle Dancer
9 : Nymph's Kiss
12: Hands of a Healer
15: Skill Focus (Knowledge[Religion])
18: Nimbus of Light

Skill requirements:
Knowledge (Arcana) 6 by level 6
Knowledge (Religion) 8 by level 16
Max out Perform and Spellcraft at all times

The build fluff:
Sharmanath was a traveling minstrel who oft traveled alone. Never without his harp, he would visit place to place, sneaking about villages with healers' guilds and providing free-of-charge healing, always with a song. There were times when he'd have to run VERY fast, and times when he'd have to talk his way out of problems that came from undermining one of the larger functions of the great Healer's Guild, but his intentions no matter the outcome were always good.

It wasn't long after one trek through the small hamlet of Veldeville that the Guild finally pinned him down. Several paid thugs cornered him and forced him to drink a strange concoction which robbed him of his voice. Seeing him cower before them, they laughed. All but one left. Finding a sword just within reach, Sharmanath drew himself up and attempted to leave. The thug forced him back. Without his music or his magic, Sharmanath looked down at his feet. For the first time he was stuck. Bound by those who would strip him of his power and his freedom. And for the first time, Sharmanath was angry. He drew back with the blade and lunged it into the thug's chest, rendering him gravely wounded. Sharmanath fell to his knees, binding the man in ropes to keep him bound. Upon finding that the two of them were alone, Sharmanath found a curative vial on the thug and downed it, regaining his voice. He began to sing to the man as he lay there bleeding, his voice forcing the man's wounds to knit and his life energy to return. When the man awoke in Sharmanath's lap, he was unsure how to proceed. Why would he save him! For a brief moment the thug and his prey met eyes and saw each other as they truly were without the interference of their own personal lives.

Sharmanath and the thug, whose name he learned was Rael, traveled together from that point on. As Rael taught Sharmanath the ways of Pelor, Sharmanath equated it to being "brought home", and felt an inner calling. The kind of calling that only happens to a few and very rarely at that. At once, Sharmanath made his pilgrimage to a holy site of Pelor and professed his faith in the Sun God; opting to take on his mantle as a symbol that the sun's warmth and healing cannot be contained by those who would wish to withhold it from those who need it. Bolstered by his divine faith, Sharmanath went on a great journey, Rael by his side. It was on this great journey that Sharmanath began to work not only on his holy mission of healing, but remembering his original passion: his music and the magic it weilded. As the two of them traveled, Rael taught him swordsmanship while his music taught him magic. His zeal to help and protect kept him fueled as he learned to bind his paladin's training, his bardic grace, and his love of humanity together.

It was on this journey that he and Rael grew close. There wasn't a moment when Rael would fail to spare a longing, wayward glance at the handsome Sharmanath, sighing. One night, Sharmanath was granted a vision of the future by Pelor. The future showed Rael's untimely demise upon the two agreeing to love each other forever. Sharmanath was upset by this, he felt the loving bond between the two and had become romantically attached to him. Putting his full trust in his deity, however, he awoke and began to pack his things. Rael then confessed his love to Sharmanath as he saw him awake. Sharmanath, feeling as though a dagger had entered his heart, refused to confess his feelings and merely scoffed, telling Rael that they would never be together. Heartbroken, he ran weeping into the night until his legs would no longer carry him and he collapsed on a grassy hilltop. Covered in an almost majestic glow, Pelor wrapped him in power and sainted him then and there to be the vessel of his loving healing from then on.

It was soon that Sharmanath and Rael came back to one another. Rael had never forgiven Sharmanath for his unwillingness to yield. The two were able to reconcile, but their love was forever shattered. Sharmanath continued serving Pelor, allowing his good deeds to seal the hole left in his heart by his fate.

The Build Crunch:
From levels one through four, Sharmanath is primarily a skill monkey. INT and CHA are his big stats, with DEX following. No, he isn't really good at combat. That's arguably not his part in all of this yet. By this point though a common thing to do would be locate individuals who need help (like wounded teammates, NPCs who are just down and destitute due for whatever reasons, etc.) and use Healing Hymn (one usage of Bardic Music, of which he should have several) to bolster the effects of any Conjuration (Healing) abilities that he uses (cure light wounds primarily by this point). Upon obtaining Melodic Casting, he's even able to use any spells while Inspire Courage is active. This isn't necessarily making him better in combat, but every little bit helps. He's a squishy little bard at the moment.

Level five is when he gets Harmonious Knight Paladin of Freedom. That's quite a mouthful, but it works. Essentially it permits him to keep his Chaotic Good alignment while granting the armor and weapon proficiencies that will make him better at what he does. In addition, he also gets his (rather nice) CHA bonus to saves as well as Lay on Hands. Harmonious Knight also helps further the Bardic Music aspect of the Bard. Picking up battle dancer gives the build some mobility as long as you're performing. As a bard, it's never a bad idea to inspire courage in yourself and battle dancer increases its effectiveness. Now, Bard already doesn't suffer penalties in light armor, but medium armor is really the concern with the Spellsword build as far as I can tell. Paladins are good with the armor, so it really comes down to Arcane Spell Failure chance. By 10th, you've gotten some of that percentage alleviated, but not enough for it to really matter. You're also introducing more casting (albeit limited) to the Bardic list, which is nice since the build isn't designed to be a primary combat specialist, but rather grant a few buffs here and there and basically just assist in a few ways.

Level 11 through 16 finishes off Spellsword, which gives some nice stuff and progresses casting. Divine Oracle, which is picked up at 17 and 18 also advances spellcasting, grants some bennies to combat that make it REALLY nice (such as Evasion in heavier armors, etc), and generally just wrap the build up two levels early to make way for the Saint template which is really fluff input.

Concerning Spellsword:
The Secret Ingredient this time was really awkward. The expected entry method was probably Duskblade, but it's pretty much half the Duskblade that Duskblade can be, and it's even half of a Warmage. Couldn't enter that way, and losing caster levels for a primary caster would be unoptimized in this chef's opinion. That left Bard, and since this is a halfway decent SI, I put it together with a halfway decent build and I believe synergized it quite well. What you have is a mobile (not heavily armored) combat capable (but not heavily armed) casting (but not incredibly well) combatant with a bit of out of combat ability.

I couldn't finish it though. I don't know why, but I just kept feeling like I was messing up.

[OMG PONIES]

Definitely surprised that there weren't a plethora of crusaders.

I thought of putting together a mother-themed entry in honor of sakuuya, but didn't end up with anything I was happy with. It was going to be a Mother Cyst build that channeled necrotic cysts into people to plant her babies. This was the best option I'd ended up with, but I wasn't really interested enough in the build to turn it into a full entry:

Spoiler

Show

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Beguiler 1	+0	+0	+0	+2	Balance 4 ranks, bluff 4 ranks, concentration 4 ranks, diplomacy 4 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, knowledge (religion) 2 ranks, sleight of hand 4 ranks, spellcraft 4 ranks, spot 4 ranks, tumble 4 ranks	Earth Sense, Mother Cyst	Armored mage, trapfinding
2nd	Beguiler 2	+1	+0	+0	+3	Balance 5 ranks, bluff 5 ranks, concentration 5 ranks, diplomacy 5 ranks, forgery 1 rank, knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, sleight of hand 5 ranks, spellcraft 5 ranks, spot 5 ranks, tumble 5 ranks		Cloaked casting (+1 DC), surprise casting
3rd	Beguiler 3	+1	+1	+1	+3	Bluff 6 ranks, concentration 6 ranks, diplomacy 6 ranks, disguise 2 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 6 ranks, sleight of hand 6 ranks, spellcraft 6 ranks, spot 6 ranks, tumble 6 ranks	Heighten Spell	Advanced learning (distract assailant)
4th	Beguiler 4	+2	+1	+1	+4	Bluff 7 ranks, concentration 7 ranks, diplomacy 7 ranks, disguise 4 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 7 ranks, sleight of hand 7 ranks, spellcraft 7 ranks, spot 7 ranks, tumble 7 ranks
5th	Beguiler 5	+2	+1	+1	+4	Bluff 8 ranks, concentration 8 ranks, diplomacy 8 ranks, disguise 6 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks, sleight of hand 8 ranks, spellcraft 8 ranks, spot 8 ranks, tumble 8 ranks	Silent Spell
6th	Beguiler 6	+3	+2	+2	+5	Bluff 9 ranks, concentration 9 ranks, diplomacy 9 ranks, disguise 8 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 9 ranks, sleight of hand 9 ranks, spellcraft 9 ranks, spot 9 ranks, tumble 9 ranks	Practiced Spellcaster	Surprise casting (move action)
7th	Beguiler 7	+3	+2	+2	+6	Bluff 10 ranks, concentration 10 ranks, diplomacy 10 ranks, disguise 10 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 10 ranks, sleight of hand 10 ranks, spellcraft 10 ranks, spot 10 ranks, tumble 10 ranks		Advanced learning (phantasmal strangler)
8th	Beguiler 8	+4	+2	+2	+6	Bluff 11 ranks, concentration 11 ranks, diplomacy 11 ranks, disguise 11 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 11 ranks, sleight of hand 11 ranks, spellcraft 11 ranks, spot 11 ranks, tumble 11 ranks, Conceal Spellcasting skill trick		Cloaked casting (+2 to overcome SR)
9th	Chaotician 1	+5	+2	+4	+6	Bluff 12 ranks, concentration 11.5 ranks, diplomacy 12 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 12 ranks, sleight of hand 12 ranks, spot 12 ranks, Mosquito's Bite skill trick	Eldritch Corruption	Chaotic contagion, scofflaw
10th	Spellsword 1	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8	Bluff 13 ranks, concentration 12.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 13 ranks, spellcraft 12 ranks		Ignore spell failure 10%
11th	Spellsword 2	+7/+2	+5	+4	+9	Bluff 14 ranks, concentration 13.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 14 ranks, spellcraft 14 ranks	Martial Study (Shadow Jaunt)	Bonus feat
12th	Spellsword 3	+8/+3	+5	+5	+9	Bluff 15 ranks, concentration 14.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 15 ranks, spellcraft 15 ranks	Earth Spell	Ignore spell failure 15%
13th	Spellsword 4	+9/+4	+6	+5	+10	Bluff 16 ranks, concentration 15.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 16 ranks, spellcraft 16 ranks		Channel spell 3/day
14th	Spellsword 5	+10/+5	+6	+5	+10	Bluff 17 ranks, concentration 16.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 17 ranks, spellcraft 17 ranks		Ignore spell failure 20%
15th	Spellsword 6	+11/+6/+1	+7	+6	+11	Bluff 18 ranks, concentration 17.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 18 ranks, spellcraft 18 ranks	Extra Slot	Channel spell 4/day
16th	Spellsword 7	+12/+7/+2	+7	+6	+11	Bluff 19 ranks, concentration 18.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 19 ranks, spellcraft 19 ranks, tumble 11.5 ranks		Ignore spell failure 25%
17th	Spellsword 8	+13/+8/+3	+8	+6	+12	Bluff 20 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 20 ranks, spellcraft 20 ranks, Acrobatic Backstab skill trick		Channel spell 5/day
18th	Spellsword 9	+14/+9/+4	+8	+7	+12	Bluff 21 ranks, concentration 20.5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 21 ranks, spellcraft 21 ranks	Extra Slot	Ignore spell failure 30%
19th	Spellsword 10	+15/+10/+5	+9	+7	+12	Bluff 22 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 22 ranks, spellcraft 22 ranks, Second Impression skill trick		Multiple channel spell
20th	Chaotician 2	+16/+11/+6/+1	+9	+8	+12	Bluff 23 ranks, concentration 23 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 23 ranks, spellcraft 23 ranks, Spot the Weak Point skill trick		Anarchic grace 1/day

Spoiler: Spellcasting

Show

Spells per Day

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

*Bonus spell slot from Extra Slot.

Final build was Beguiler 8/Chaotician 2/Spellsword 10. Basically, it used Mosquito's Bite and various beguiler abilities to attack and channel a cyst into people without them even noticing, and Eldritch Corruption shenanigans to piggyback up to 9th-level spells. I mean, after all, what's the point of planting cysts in people if you can't make them erupt into undead cyst-babies one day?

(Um, I may have a weird idea of motherhood. Don't tell my wife.)

That's it, folks; go home. The internet's over; Piggy Knowles wins.

[WhamBamSam]

I had a few ideas left on the cutting room floor myself.

One was a Human Sha'ir 7/Sacred Exorcist 2/Prestige Paladin 1/Spellsword 10, using Southern Magician and Sha'ir being a divine spellcasting class to qualify for and advance casting with Prestige Paladin. Feats besides Southern Magician would have involved a bunch of Martial Study/Martial Stance to get Leading the Charge and at high levels, Bounding Assault, plus any of the usual Spirited Charge stuff I could fit, as I already needed Mounted Combat for Prestige Paladin. The basic schtick was to let the mount move him and channel with his move/hit with his standard or use Bounding Assault's double move (two move actions) to channel or multiple channel and hit with a high damage charge attack in a single round. I scrapped it in favor of the ideas I actually ended up using because it was too nova reliant and came up short of the 4th iterative without fractional BAB, which didn't sit right even if he wouldn't be full attacking that often.

My other abandoned build (well, more build I came up with too late, but whatever) is similar enough to someone else's submitted entry and in thought process similar enough to one of my entries that I'll hold off on discussing it until after the final reveal.

[Ingus]

@Piggy Knowles: remember me to never ask you to honor me, much less help me (I fear I'll end devastatingly crippled, in a spectacuarly humiliating way).

@Ponies: I'll do after the reveal in public. Since we're both contestants, I see no harm in tell you privately my favourite builds

@dysposium: just one question: why Cleric 4 instead of 3?

[Piggy Knowles]

@Piggy Knowles: remember me to never ask you to honor me, much less help me (I fear I'll end devastatingly crippled, in a spectacuarly humiliating way).

I hope it doesn't come off as humiliating; I've got nothing but respect for mothers and motherhood (and my wife and I are expecting our first child in a couple of weeks). After saakuya had announced the birth of her child, someone had made a joke about pregnancy via channel spell, and that got the gears in my head turning... I meant no disrespect toward her or anyone else (quite the opposite, in fact). If folks think the build is in poor taste, I'll of course remove it.

[dysprosium]

@dysposium: just one question: why Cleric 4 instead of 3?

Well that was part of the build's problem. Cleric 4 gave me another BAB needed to qualify for Spellsword as early as possible. (Mystic Theurge 1 of course does not give BAB at level 1.) The major idea I was running with was the fact that Spellsword doesn't specify arcane spells in its channel ability. I was looking for Cleric spells to channel along with Wizard spells. I got too caught up in the Spell Compendium to concentrate on the build's flawed mechanics.

And of course I'm late to the party but congratulations to Sakuuya for her new bundle of joy and to Piggy for his future bundle of joy!

[KrimsonNekros]

Just didn't get the write up done in time ><

Spoiler: Meepo, Mystra's Hunter

Show

Kobold, LN, Ranger 7/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Spellsword

Abilities:

Spoiler

Show

Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma	Reason
4	15	8	18	14	9	32-point buy
4	16	8	18	14	9	4th
4	17	8	18	14	9	8th
4	18	8	18	14	9	12th
4	19	8	18	14	9	16th
4	20	8	18	14	9	20th

Build:

Spoiler

Show

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Ranger	1	2	2	0	Concentration (Con) 4, Handle Animal (Cha) 4, Hide (Dex) 4, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 2, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 2, Listen (Wis) 4, Move Silently (Dex) 4, Search (Int) 4, Spot (Wis) 4, Survival (Wis) 4, Use Rope (Dex) 4	Track, Weapon Finesse	Favored Enemy (Humanoid (goblinoid)) +2, Wild Empathy
2nd	Ranger	2	3	3	0	Concentration (Con) 5, Handle Animal (Cha) 5, Hide (Dex) 5, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 3, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 2, Listen (Wis) 5, Move Silently (Dex) 5, Search (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 5, Survival (Wis) 5, Use Rope (Dex) 5	-	Combat Style (TWF)
3rd	Shooting Star Ranger	3	3	3	1	Concentration (Con) 6, Handle Animal (Cha) 6, Hide (Dex) 6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 4, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 2, Listen (Wis) 6, Move Silently (Dex) 6, Search (Int) 6, Spot (Wis) 6, Survival (Wis) 6, Use Rope (Dex) 6	Combat Casting	Weavespeak
4th	Ranger	4	4	4	1	Concentration (Con) 7, Handle Animal (Cha) 7, Hide (Dex) 7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 2, Listen (Wis) 7, Move Silently (Dex) 7, Search (Int) 7, Spot (Wis) 7, Survival (Wis) 7, Use Rope (Dex) 7	-	Animal Companion (Wolf)
5th	Ranger	5	4	4	1	Concentration (Con) 8, Handle Animal (Cha) 8, Hide (Dex) 8, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 3, Listen (Wis) 8, Move Silently (Dex) 8, Search (Int) 8, Spot (Wis) 8, Survival (Wis) 8, Use Rope (Dex) 8	-	Favored Enemy (Humanoid (goblinoid)) +4, Favored Enemy (Humanoid (human)) +2
6th	Ranger	6/1	5	5	2	Concentration (Con) 9, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 9, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Sword of the Arcane Order	Improved Combat Style
7th	Abjurant Champion	7/2	5	5	4	Concentration (Con) 9, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 3, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 3, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 9, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
8th	Abjurant Champion	8/3	5	5	5	Concentration (Con) 10, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 9, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Swift Abjuration, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
9th	Spellsword	9/4	7	5	7	Concentration (Con) 12, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 11, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Somatic Weaponry	Ignore spell failure 10%, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
10th	Spellsword	10/5	8	5	8	Concentration (Con) 13, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 13, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Martial Study	-
11th	Abjurant Champion	11/6/1	9	6	8	Concentration (Con) 14, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 14, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
12th	Spellsword	12/7/2	9	7	8	Concentration (Con) 15, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 6, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 15, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Martial Stance	Ignore spell failure 15%, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
13th	Spellsword	13/8/3	10	7	9	Concentration (Con) 16, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 6, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 16, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Channel spell 3/day
14th	Abjurant Champion	14/9/4	10	7	10	Concentration (Con) 17, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 7, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 17, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Arcane Boost, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
15th	Spellsword	15/10/5	10	7	10	Concentration (Con) 18, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 8, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 18, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Shadow Blade	Ignore spell failure 20%, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
16th	Spellsword	16/11/6/1	11	8	11	Concentration (Con) 19, Handle Animal (Cha) 10, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 9, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 19, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Channel spell 4/day
17th	Abjurant Champion	17/12/7/2	11	8	11	Concentration (Con) 20, Handle Animal (Cha) 10, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 10, Spellcraft (Int) 10, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 20, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Martial Arcanist, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
18th	Spellsword	18/13/8/3	11	8	11	Concentration (Con) 21, Handle Animal (Cha) 10, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 10, Spellcraft (Int) 11, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 21, Use Rope (Dex) 10	Staggering Stike	Ignore spell failure 25%, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
19th	Spellsword	19/14/9/4	12	8	12	Concentration (Con) 22, Handle Animal (Cha) 10, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 12, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 10, Spellcraft (Int) 12, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 22, Use Rope (Dex) 10	-	Channel spell 5/day
20th	Ranger	20/15/10/5	12	8	12	Concentration (Con) 23, Handle Animal (Cha) 15, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 12, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 13, Search (Int) 10, Spellcraft (Int) 12, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 23, Use Rope (Dex) 10	-	Woodland Stride

[OMG PONIES]

I hope it doesn't come off as humiliating; I've got nothing but respect for mothers and motherhood (and my wife and I are expecting our first child in a couple of weeks). After saakuya had announced the birth of her child, someone had made a joke about pregnancy via channel spell, and that got the gears in my head turning... I meant no disrespect toward her or anyone else (quite the opposite, in fact). If folks think the build is in poor taste, I'll of course remove it.

What the what?! Congrats!

Just didn't get the write up done in time ><

Spoiler: Meepo, Mystra's Hunter

Show

Kobold, LN, Ranger 7/ Abjurant Champion 5/ Spellsword

Abilities:

Spoiler

Show

Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma	Reason
4	15	8	18	14	9	32-point buy
4	16	8	18	14	9	4th
4	17	8	18	14	9	8th
4	18	8	18	14	9	12th
4	19	8	18	14	9	16th
4	20	8	18	14	9	20th

Build:

Spoiler

Show

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Ranger	1	2	2	0	Concentration (Con) 4, Handle Animal (Cha) 4, Hide (Dex) 4, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 2, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 2, Listen (Wis) 4, Move Silently (Dex) 4, Search (Int) 4, Spot (Wis) 4, Survival (Wis) 4, Use Rope (Dex) 4	Track, Weapon Finesse	Favored Enemy (Humanoid (goblinoid)) +2, Wild Empathy
2nd	Ranger	2	3	3	0	Concentration (Con) 5, Handle Animal (Cha) 5, Hide (Dex) 5, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 3, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 2, Listen (Wis) 5, Move Silently (Dex) 5, Search (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 5, Survival (Wis) 5, Use Rope (Dex) 5	-	Combat Style (TWF)
3rd	Shooting Star Ranger	3	3	3	1	Concentration (Con) 6, Handle Animal (Cha) 6, Hide (Dex) 6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 4, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 2, Listen (Wis) 6, Move Silently (Dex) 6, Search (Int) 6, Spot (Wis) 6, Survival (Wis) 6, Use Rope (Dex) 6	Combat Casting	Weavespeak
4th	Ranger	4	4	4	1	Concentration (Con) 7, Handle Animal (Cha) 7, Hide (Dex) 7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 2, Listen (Wis) 7, Move Silently (Dex) 7, Search (Int) 7, Spot (Wis) 7, Survival (Wis) 7, Use Rope (Dex) 7	-	Animal Companion (Wolf)
5th	Ranger	5	4	4	1	Concentration (Con) 8, Handle Animal (Cha) 8, Hide (Dex) 8, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 3, Listen (Wis) 8, Move Silently (Dex) 8, Search (Int) 8, Spot (Wis) 8, Survival (Wis) 8, Use Rope (Dex) 8	-	Favored Enemy (Humanoid (goblinoid)) +4, Favored Enemy (Humanoid (human)) +2
6th	Ranger	6/1	5	5	2	Concentration (Con) 9, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 9, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Sword of the Arcane Order	Improved Combat Style
7th	Abjurant Champion	7/2	5	5	4	Concentration (Con) 9, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 3, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 3, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 9, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
8th	Abjurant Champion	8/3	5	5	5	Concentration (Con) 10, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 9, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Swift Abjuration, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
9th	Spellsword	9/4	7	5	7	Concentration (Con) 12, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 6, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 11, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Somatic Weaponry	Ignore spell failure 10%, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
10th	Spellsword	10/5	8	5	8	Concentration (Con) 13, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 13, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Martial Study	-
11th	Abjurant Champion	11/6/1	9	6	8	Concentration (Con) 14, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 5, Spot (Wis) 9, Survival (Wis) 14, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
12th	Spellsword	12/7/2	9	7	8	Concentration (Con) 15, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 4, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 9, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 6, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 15, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Martial Stance	Ignore spell failure 15%, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
13th	Spellsword	13/8/3	10	7	9	Concentration (Con) 16, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 9, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 6, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 16, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Channel spell 3/day
14th	Abjurant Champion	14/9/4	10	7	10	Concentration (Con) 17, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 9, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 7, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 17, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Arcane Boost, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
15th	Spellsword	15/10/5	10	7	10	Concentration (Con) 18, Handle Animal (Cha) 9, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 8, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 18, Use Rope (Dex) 9	Shadow Blade	Ignore spell failure 20%, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
16th	Spellsword	16/11/6/1	11	8	11	Concentration (Con) 19, Handle Animal (Cha) 10, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 9, Spellcraft (Int) 9, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 19, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Channel spell 4/day
17th	Abjurant Champion	17/12/7/2	11	8	11	Concentration (Con) 20, Handle Animal (Cha) 10, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 10, Spellcraft (Int) 10, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 20, Use Rope (Dex) 9	-	Martial Arcanist, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
18th	Spellsword	18/13/8/3	11	8	11	Concentration (Con) 21, Handle Animal (Cha) 10, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 10, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 10, Spellcraft (Int) 11, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 21, Use Rope (Dex) 10	Staggering Stike	Ignore spell failure 25%, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
19th	Spellsword	19/14/9/4	12	8	12	Concentration (Con) 22, Handle Animal (Cha) 10, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 12, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 10, Search (Int) 10, Spellcraft (Int) 12, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 22, Use Rope (Dex) 10	-	Channel spell 5/day
20th	Ranger	20/15/10/5	12	8	12	Concentration (Con) 23, Handle Animal (Cha) 15, Hide (Dex) 10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) 12, Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int) 5, Knowledge (nature) (Int) 5, Listen (Wis) 10, Move Silently (Dex) 13, Search (Int) 10, Spellcraft (Int) 12, Spot (Wis) 10, Survival (Wis) 23, Use Rope (Dex) 10	-	Woodland Stride

Interesting. A second kobold named Meepo in the same round would have been hilarious, but makes me think there's some kind of reference I'm missing...

[KrimsonNekros]

Interesting. A second kobold named Meepo in the same round would have been hilarious, but makes me think there's some kind of reference I'm missing...

He was an npc the party could pick up in The Sunless Citadel module

[Ikeren]

Past judge's opinions (past performance is no indicator of future success, but. . .) indicate with some consistency that the dips in the above stubs would be costly, and that setting Sublime Chord off of Bard casting could well result in a hit in Power. At the same time, Sublime Chord and Swiftblade are both well-known enough that they could well get dinged for lack of Originality. . . or even "known cheese" - particularly when things are described as "standard 'pick a combat style + arcane strike + generic casting feats.'"

Yeah, which is pretty much why I didn't bother submitting. I'd call Abjurant Champion just as or more well known than Swiftblade though --- and lots of people went with that.

[DeAnno]

Yeah, which is pretty much why I didn't bother submitting. I'd call Abjurant Champion just as or more well known than Swiftblade though --- and lots of people went with that.

It's a little weird; I would say Abj Champ is canonically "well known" at any number of levels, but amounts of Swiftblade other than Swiftblade 9, exactly 9, are fairly rare due to the caster level losses and the strong feature peak at 9.

Thou shalt have nine levels of Swiftblade in thy final build if thy have any at all. Thou shalt not have ten, nor eight. Thou might have none, but should thou have any thou must have exactly nine.

[AvatarVecna]

Thou shalt have nine levels of Swiftblade in thy final build if thy have any at all. Thou shalt not have ten, nor eight. Thou might have none, but should thou have any thou must have exactly nine.

Of course, a similar commandment is "Thou shalt not build a character with more than a single level of spellsword, lest ye offend the gods of character optimization", yet here we are.

[OMG PONIES]

Of course, a similar commandment is "Thou shalt not build a character with more than a single level of spellsword, lest ye offend the gods of character optimization", yet here we are.

I've always considered us the Ur-Priests of Optimization, spitting in the face of the so-called gods as we wield our unholy magic.

[AvatarVecna]

I've always considered us the Ur-Priests of Optimization, spitting in the face of the so-called gods as we wield our unholy magic.

That actually makes a lot of sense: with the Tippy/Batman/God wizards running around, someone has to optimize the tier 5 PrCs, and we're just the group of obsessive weirdos dedicated heroes to do it.

[Deadline]

A second kobold named Meepo in the same round would have been hilarious, but makes me think there's some kind of reference I'm missing...

Meepo is the 3.5 iconic kobold. He even shows up in D20 Modern.

[Kazudo]

tier 5 PrCs

Depending on the SI, that might be very generous.