Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground LVIII

[Biotroll]

The channeled spell affects the next target that the spell sword successfully attacks with his weapon (saving throws and spell resistance still apply). Even if the spell normally affects an area or is a ray, it affects only the target.

I understood this part as in that the first successful hit discharges it. I was thinking of using Whirling Blade spell with Rage Mage to attack a lot of enemies and discharging Baleful Transposition at the caster hiding behind enemy lines to move him into melee but after reading the ability I thought it couldn't be done that way. In the same way, it should discharge at first hit with Whirlwind, or not?

[OMG PONIES]

When I read Whirlwind attack I read " instead make one melee attack at your full base attack bonus against each opponent within reach", roll once hit all that apply, since it hits them simultaneously.

"One melee attack...against each opponent" means you make as many attacks as you have opponents within reach. It's basically one attack per opponent, rather than one attack vs. all opponents.

I understood this part as in that the first successful hit discharges it. I was thinking of using Whirling Blade spell with Rage Mage to attack a lot of enemies and discharging Baleful Transposition at the caster hiding behind enemy lines to move him into melee but after reading the ability I thought it couldn't be done that way. In the same way, it should discharge at first hit with Whirlwind, or not?

Yep, it discharges on "the next target that the spell sword successfully attacks with his weapon." So if you've got a way to make it miss all the other opponents but hit the caster, your idea would work. Otherwise, it would discharge on the first mook you successfully strike en route to the caster.

[WhamBamSam]

"One melee attack...against each opponent" means you make as many attacks as you have opponents within reach. It's basically one attack per opponent, rather than one attack vs. all opponents.

This would be my reading as well for Whirlwind Attack. Great Flyby Attack is similar. Even though it does specify a single melee attack roll used against all opponents (unlike Whirlwind Attack), it goes through some pains to emphasize that you apply separate bonuses as appropriate to each opponent, and suggests strongly that the attacks are separate.

There are ways to channel into multiple people though. War Mind's sweeping strike or similar works by hitting enemies in multiple squares, rather than one enemy and also another, so the target that the spell gets discharged into is every enemy in the area.

Then there's the Steel Wind maneuver, which despite basically being Whirlwind Attack-lite, and explicitly resolves each attack separately has the line "Target: Two creatures" and so might be able to channel into both of them as they are a target you've successfully attacked after all.

Yep, it discharges on "the next target that the spell sword successfully attacks with his weapon." So if you've got a way to make it miss all the other opponents but hit the caster, your idea would work. Otherwise, it would discharge on the first mook you successfully strike en route to the caster.

Whirling Blade is something of a grey area. It does make separate attacks against each target, but it has instantaneous duration, so I'm not sure it hits one enemy nearer to the front of the line "first" or all of them at the same time.

[OMG PONIES]

There are ways to channel into multiple people though. War Mind's sweeping strike or similar works by hitting enemies in multiple squares, rather than one enemy and also another, so the target that the spell gets discharged into is every enemy in the area.

Yeah, I Vizzinni'd myself straight out of War Mind this round, thinking that it would be the go-to method of applying Channel Spell to multiple targets.

Then there's the Steel Wind maneuver, which despite basically being Whirlwind Attack-lite, and explicitly resolves each attack separately has the line "Target: Two creatures" and so might be able to channel into both of them as they are a target you've successfully attacked after all.

This one's interesting; while it would require a permissive DM, due to the wording you mentioned and the fact that it's two separate attacks, you could make a good case that the next "target" you successfully attack with your melee weapon is two creatures.

Whirling Blade is something of a grey area. It does make separate attacks against each target, but it has instantaneous duration, so I'm not sure it hits one enemy nearer to the front of the line "first" or all of them at the same time.

Hmm, another interesting point. I'd still see a DM ruling it only applies on the first hit, but I dig the counterpoint about determining which hit is the first on an instantaneous effect.

[WhamBamSam]

Yeah, I Vizzinni'd myself straight out of War Mind this round, thinking that it would be the go-to method of applying Channel Spell to multiple targets.

There were a few people who used similar things to channel into multiple enemies. Anh uses Master Thrower's Two With One Blow and Giorre uses Area Attack.

This one's interesting; while it would require a permissive DM, due to the wording you mentioned and the fact that it's two separate attacks, you could make a good case that the next "target" you successfully attack with your melee weapon is two creatures.

Yeah, I thought about trying to get clever with that, but Warblade just doesn't play nicely with Spellsword, what with the lack of heavy armor or ranged martial weapon proficiencies.

Hmm, another interesting point. I'd still see a DM ruling it only applies on the first hit, but I dig the counterpoint about determining which hit is the first on an instantaneous effect.

Yeah, magic is weird.

[Tim Proctor]

SCORING ALERT:

All aspects are base 3, if there are any questions, comments, concerns, etc. please let me know.

13.33 Taishi

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.14 Illumian -.14
Classes: -0.08 Wu Jen, Fighter -.33, Spelldancer +.25
Feats: -0.54 Combat Casting -.14, Endurance +.25, Persistent Spell -.24, Skill Focus (perform) +.25, Metamagic School Focus (Trans) +.25, Arcane Strike -.43, Practiced Spellcaster -.48
Skill Sets: Concentration, Tumble, Perform(Dance),
Total: 2.24


Power: 3
Offense 0.84 Max damage 200 (Atk +43/+43/+38/+33 Dmg 1d0(glaive)+40 (assuming arcane strike lvl 6), Init +1
Defense 0.65 AC 21 (+7 Mithril Chain Mail + Mithril Heavy Shield, +1 Haste, -8 Giant Size, +12 Natural Armor, -1 Dex). HP 277.5 (77.5 max 1st avg + 200)
Spell Casting 0.25 2 @ 7
Versatility/Other 0.15 Tumble,
4.89

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1 +1 Spellsword, +.5 Spelldancer, -.5 Fighter dip.
Questionable Rules -0.5 -.25 Metamagic Spell/School Focus, I'm assuming that you mean Metamagic School Focus not Metamagic Spell Focus which requires Spell Focus or specialist Wizard which you don't have. -.25 I don't see how Giant size is effecting your spells per day, I assume it's just from buffs but if you're increasing your INT to get bonus spells it isn't shown on the sheet, furthermore the strenght from Giant size is +32 with 17 or 18 (depending if you look at the 20 at the top or the 19 listed as the sweet spot) would be 49 or 50 not counting bull's strengh which would make is 53 or 54. Either way there are a lot of issues with the build numbers making things very difficult to understand (what spells are known?), in the future you need to explain how something is happening.
Qualification -1 -.5 FtQ Fighter Bonus Feat: Dodge, -.5 Spellsword Bonus Feat:Mobility both required Dex 13.
Other -0.1 Rokugan and Forgotten Realms setting mixing, while the Rokugan is only for storyline issues the Spelldancer is Faerun and deserves a small penalty -0.1
2.4


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus -0.15 15, wish you had 1 more for that 4th attack.
Knowledge (arcana), 0.05 Knowledge (Arcana) 23, isn't used at all.
Spell Level Availability, 0.05 7th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0.15 Not mentioned in the story and the build states "At Level 5, Taisha plays as your basic caster, she has some basic tools at her disposal, mostly using spells such as Magic Missile to do some light damage, and mostly hanging in the back. This is mostly a prepping stage for entry into the two main prestige classes of the build, Spellsword and Spelldancer", going agianst a military foe (for the warlord) Hailscape.com NPC #189786 dies after 20 rounds of combat, they kill you in 30 rounds giving you a winning rate of 1.5.
Armor Use -0.15 Endurance, Evasion can only be used if the spelldancer is wearing light armor or no armor. Can't tumble with reduced speed, so only medium mithril armor can be used. You have two aspects against armor use.
Channel Spell, 0 Arcane Strike is the only aspect that somewhat works with channel spell, but this isn't really mentioned nor used in the build… shame.
Bonus Feats, -0.15 FtQ for the bonus feat, I do like that it was part of a chain of feats but would have liked if you added more to it.
All 10 levels taken, 1 Yes
3.8

15.94 *Aurelius Deadfeather

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Originality: 3
Race/Template 0.25 Lesser Aasimar +.25
Classes: -0.66 Bard -.19, Fighter -.33, Nar Demonbinder -.14
Feats: 0.57 Human Heritage +.25, Iron Will -.24, Spell Focus (conjuration) -.14, Talfirian Song +.25, Exotic Weapon Prof (spiked chain) +.25, Fiendish Bloodline +.25, Versatile Spellcaster -.14
Skill Sets: Knowledge (The Planes), Use Magic Device
Total: 3.16


Power: 3
Offense 0.56 Max damage 80 (Atk +21/+21/+16/+11/+6 Dmg 2d4 +8), Init +3
Defense 0.52 AC 25 (+8 Mithril full plate, +3 dex, +4 nat assuming fiendish dire ape form with fiendish form spell) HP 139.5 (79.5 max 1st + avg + 60)
Spell Casting 0.5 1@8 w/ a small spell list for 4-8 level spells
Versatility/Other 0.3 Use Magic Device, Summoning.
4.88

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1 +.5 Bard, -.5 Fighter, +1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Nar Demonbinder requires 4th level spell only have 3rd level spells at the level taken and are using Heighten Spell to qualify… rather than get into the debate, it's certainly questionable.
Qualification -
Other -
3.75


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0 16
Knowledge (arcana), 0.05 Knowledge (Arcana) 23, isn't used at all.
Spell Level Availability, 0.1 8th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.15 I want to clarify "force of arms alone" means Bard -.19ic music is out. A Justice Archon MM4 80 (say summoned by your evil older brother to make it fight you to the death) wins, you can't even get pass the DR, so from a storyline setting you fail. Versing a lvl 6 kobold warrior NPC #189795. You have a winning rate of 0.4
Armor Use 0 Bards can use light but that doesn't carry over. You're using Mithril Full-Plate and a two-handed weapon which doesn't allow for the shield.
Channel Spell, 0 Signature trick - Channeled Plane Shift to the most horrible plane of existence he can think of. One issue is the focus material and the chairman's ruling that it is required (see the 2nd post) and getting the rod from the 'most horrible plane of existence'.
Bonus Feats, 0.15 Heighten Spell used to grab Talfirian Song, I like the use of it in a chain and used to qualify for Nar Demonbinder (while questionable it does show good use of the bonus feat).
All 10 levels taken, 1 Yes
4.15

12.70 *Meepo

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Originality: 3
Race/Template 0.5 Dragonwrought +.25 Spellhoarding Desert Kobold +.25
Classes: -0.31 Sorcerer -.14, Fighter -.33, Incantatrix +.25, Abjurant Champion -.09
Feats: -0.31 Education +.25, Draconic Ressovoir +.25, Knowledge Devotion -.09, Arcane Thesis, Persistent Spell -.24, Practiced Spellcaster -.48, Practiced Spellcaster (only going to ding you once since you can't use the 2nd feat)
Skill Sets: Knowledge Planes, Religion, Local, Dungeoneering, Nature, Concentration, Spellcraft
Total: 2.88


Power: 3
Offense 0.4 Max damage 50 (Atk +23, + 23, +18, +13, +8 assuming cat's grace and haste Dmg 1d6+4). Init +5 (assuming Cat's Grace).
Defense 0.52 AC 23 (+8 Mithril full plate, +2 Mithril Heavy Shield, +3 dex, +1 nat), HP 158.5 (90.5 max 1st, + 68).
Spell Casting 0 1@7,use of an illegal source for 8th level spells, luckily you get your bonus spell at 20th level otherwise you'd have 6th level spells. Normally I will treat power as if things worked but it was an illegal source so I cannot, sorry.
Versatility/Other 0.15 Practiced Spellcaster "Each time you choose it, you must apply it to a different spellcasting class". You took it once with a single spellcasting class, you wasted a feat. Knowledge.
4.07

Elegance: 3
Tenure 0.25 -.5 Fighter, +1 Spellsword, -.25 Abjurant Champion
Questionable Rules -0.5 -.25 A "spellhoarding dragon prepares and casts spells as a wizard", unfortunately spells known stays the same (it does not state that it does) and you simply know the same amount of spells which means from an literal interpretation that it doesn't circumvent the pentalties at all. '-.25 Having said that you don't list what spells are known which would still need to be listed as a Wizard, in this competition you shouldn't expect to have anythign beyond the bare minimum, even if a Wizard you'd still have spells known per level.
Qualification -
Other -1.75 Rules violation with an illegal source "Dragon magazine is disallowed" using Dragon Magazine. -1 Flaw (also from an illegal source). Where does the 2nd feat at level 15 come from? Practices Spellcaster doesn't increase your spells known/day you have a caster level of 14 (4 Sorcerer, 5 Spellsword, 3 Incantrix, 2 Abjurant Champion), this will reflect your power level.
1


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.1 17
Knowledge (arcana), 0.15 Education, 23 ranks, Incantatrix, Knowledge Devotion
Spell Level Availability, 0.05 7th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0.3 Without a storyline it was difficult to find an appropriate battle so you got a random NPC #189786, dies after 17 rounds, they kills you in 83 rounds giving you a winning rate of 4.9.
Armor Use 0 You don't have anything that benefits from armor usage and using the updated 3.5 version of incantrix "Armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Sleight of Hand, and Tumble, and double the normal armor check penalty applies to Swim checks" which would double RAW the armor checks, good thing it doesn't say arcane failure.
Channel Spell, 0 You don't list nor mention anything.
Bonus Feats, 0.15 Extend Spell, you build on it with Persistent Spell
All 10 levels taken, 1 Yes
4.75

13.63 Rohlerryn

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Originality: 3
Race/Template 0.5 Steel Dragon +.25 Wyrm of War +.25
Classes: 0.11 Sorcerer -.14, Bloodclaw Master +.25
Feats: 0.39 Flyby Attack +.25, Multiattack +.25, Power Attack -.09, Improved Bull Rush -.09, Shock Trooper +.25, Arcane Strike -.43, Quicken SLA (Channel Spell) +.25
Skill Sets: None listed… too bad too cause you need them to qualify for a bunch of stuff.
Total: 4


Power: 3
Offense 1 I was calculating this like with the other builds but you're an uber charging dragon and you ended up maxizing out the points during the second multiplier.
Defense 0.48 AC 19 (+8 Mithril full plate, +1 size, +3 natural) HP 170.5 (90.5 max 1st, avg + 80)
Spell Casting -0.5 3@4
Versatility/Other 0.15 Flight
4.13

Elegance: 3
Tenure +1 Spellsword, -.5 Bloodclaw Master
Questionable Rules -
Qualification -1 -.5 FtQ Leap Attack requires Jump 8 ranks, '-.5 FtQ Spellsword requires Knowledge (arcana) 6 ranks, '-.5 FtQ Bloodclaw Master requires Jump 9 ranks, since you didn't put skills down it is an FtQ. Also "Skills: Bluff, Craft (any), and Profession (any) are considered class skills for steel dragons" and Jump isn't on the Sorcerer skill list either, you don't have enough tenure in Sorcerer to get up for Knowledge arcana, so I'm going to FtQ all of these.
Other -0.25 In order to get the LA +2 you have to use a Faerun book, while using Eberron's Wyrm of War. You can't cross the streams, didn't we learn that from Ghostbusters? The DoF was printed in 06 so it's the updated version and removes Polymorph (thankfully)
1.75


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus -0.15 15, wish you had 1 more for that 4th attack.
Knowledge (arcana), -0.15 No skills listed
Spell Level Availability, -0.1 4th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0 So this one was tough, because I'm not sure if Dragon's breath would count and what not… but I calculated it with the assumption that it wasn't (since it's not your primary fighting mechanism anyways). Against a level 9 kobold warrior your winning rate is .5, which is surprising because I thought it would be much higher but the mising BAB, and HD really hurt I think.
Armor Use 0 You don't have anything that benefits from armor usage
Channel Spell, 0.3 Arcane Strike, Quicken SLA (Channel Spell)
Bonus Feats, -0.15 FtQ for the bonus feat, I do like that it was part of a chain of feats but would have liked if you added more to it.
All 10 levels taken, 1 Yes
3.75

15.72 Mekihl Krivim tibur Ptahzur

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Originality: 3
Race/Template 0.11 Dragonborn +.25 Illumian -.14
Classes: 0.07 Cleric -.09, Hexblade +.25, Suel Archanamach -.09
Feats: 1.26 Dreadful Wrath +.25, Iron Will -.24, Dragon Tail +.25, Entangling Exhalation +.25, Quicken Breath +.25, Brutal Strike +.25, Netherese Battle Curse +.25
Skill Sets: Spellcraft
Total: 4.44


Power: 3
Offense 0.38 Max damadge 192 (Atk 20/20/20/20/10/7 Dmg 12d8 + 3d6 + 14), Init +0
Defense 0.53 AC 21 (+10 Mithril Mechanus gear, +1 Mithril Light Shield), HP 185.5 (105.5 max 1st, + 80).
Spell Casting -0.5 4@4
Versatility/Other 0.15 Apply conditions
3.58

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1 -.5 Cleric. +.5 Hexblade, +1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Spellsword requires ability to cast level 2 spells, you're circumventing it with Improved Sigil (Krau), just like builds that used heightened spell you're going to get a questionable rules ding.
Qualification -
Other -
3.75


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.2 18
Knowledge (arcana), 0 Know(arcana) 20, and isn't used elsewhere.
Spell Level Availability, -0.1 4th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.15 I want to clarify "force of arms alone" means dreadful wrath, dark minion, etc. are out. Versing a lvl 6 kobold warrior NPC #189795. You have a winning rate of .42
Armor Use 0.3 Suel Archanamach, Hexblade (allows light but doesn't carry over)
Channel Spell, 0 You don't list nor mention anything.
Bonus Feats, 0.3 Power Attack, chained with Brutal Strike and Netherese Battle Curse
All 10 levels taken, 0.4 -0.1; Yes, the not qualifying for it for a level is a whole other issue, but it's being counted here -0.1.
3.95

15.05 Halfdan the Black

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Originality: 3
Race/Template 0.25 Primordial +.25 Half-Giant +.25
Classes: -0.23 Cleric -.09, Nar Demonbinder -.14
Feats: -0.2 Psionic Weapon +.25, Spell Focus (conjuration) -.14, Iron Will -.24, Fey Bloodline -.09, Deep Impact +.25, Arcane Disciple (dom) +.25, Practiced Spellcaster -.48
Skill Sets: Knowledge (planes), spellcraft
Total: 2.82


Power: 3
Offense 0.26 Max Damage 144 (ATK +22/+17/+12/+8, DMG 20d6+28 Crown of Might), Init -1
Defense 0.43 AC 19 (+8 Mithril full plate, +2 Mithril Heavy Shield, +3 Dex, + 2 Natural, +1 Abyssal Might, Fiendform Fiendish Dire Ape), HP 111.5 (91.5 max 1st, + 20).
Spell Casting 0.75 3@8
Versatility/Other 0.15 Stealth (invisibility, silence)
4.66

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1.45 +.7 Cleric, -.25 Nar Demonbinder, +1Spellsword
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 You pick fey bloodline which states "Although folklore often associates fey creatures with the spirits of the dead, this belief could not be further from the truth—in fact, all fey are inherently bound to life. Thus, characters with the Fey Bloodline feat cannot learn or cast spells that create or control undead, and all such spells are removed from the spell lists of all their spellcasting classes" and you have Death Devotion, Worship a god of Death, lose apsects of your Divine Magician since you no longer get those necromancy spells, etc.
Qualification -
Other -0.25 You use Secrets of Xendrik (Eberron) and worship a Faerun/Greyhawk diety, use Nar Demonbinder (Faerun), can't cross the streams that's how bad things happen.
3.95


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0 16
Knowledge (arcana), 0 Knowledge (arcana) 22*
Spell Level Availability, 0.1 8th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.15 I want to clarify "force of arms alone" means Psionic Weapon and other powers is out, you say CR 2 so when you're level ECL 2 and I assume a Young Redcap (Monster Manual III, page 139) sent by your mother to kill you is a good battle. A cleric starts with 125 gp and your axe alone costs 40 so you're stuck with Scale mail as the best armor you can afford. This gives you a winning rate of .28. Versing a lvl 10 Kobold warrior (yeah )you have a winning rate of 0.54, either way you're not as good in combat as you think.
Armor Use 0 You don't have anything that benefits from armor usage
Channel Spell, 0 You mention it and one issue with the low level no-save spells are that the enemies you'd be fighting Fey, Fiends, Celestials, etc. mostly all have decent SR.
Bonus Feats, 0.15 Power attack chained with Deep Impact
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
3.6

15.29 Anti the Kinslayer

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.19 Neraph -.19
Classes: -0.14 Sorcerer -.14
Feats: -0.83 Armor Proficiency (Medium) +.25, Armor Proficiency (Heavy) -.09, Arcane Strike -.43, Blade of Force -.09, Quicken Spell +.25, Practiced Spellcaster -.48, Persistent Spell -.24
Skill Sets: Concentration, Spellcraft
Total: 1.84


Power: 3
Offense 0.4 Max Damage 192 (+27/+22/+17/+12, DMG 1d10+38 (arcane strike 7th)), Init +1 counting persistent Bite of the Werebear
Defense 0.65 AC 28 (Mithril Full Plate +8, Mithril Heavy Shield +2, +8 Bite of the Werebear counting Dex and Nat) HP 213 (thanks for doing the work for me but you left out persistent Bite of the Werebear)
Spell Casting 0.75 3@8
Versatility/Other 0.15 Alter Self into Outsider
4.95

Elegance: 3
Tenure 2 +1.1 Sorcerer, +.9 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -
Qualification -
Other -
5


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.1 17
Knowledge (arcana), 0.05 Knowledge (Arcana) 23, isn't used at all.
Spell Level Availability, 0.1 8th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0 I was looking to make a Neraph NPC but even in the storyline you only made this through a fluke/lucky roll. Against the level 6 Kobold warrior you have a winning rate of 0.7.
Armor Use 0.3 Armor Proficiency (Medium), Armor Proficiency (Heavy)
Channel Spell, -0.15 Arcane Strike, Blade of Force, didn't get multi-channel :(
Bonus Feats, 0.15 Extend Spell, you build on it with Persistent Spell
All 10 levels taken, 0 No, 9 levels
3.6

14.95 Subjugator Sarlagiin

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Originality: 3
Race/Template 0.25 Yak Folk +.25
Classes: 0.16 Soulborn +.25, Suel Archanamach -.09
Feats: 0.33 Power Attack -.09, Iron Will -.24, Combat Casting -.14, Improved Bull Rush -.09 (somehow really fitting for a Yak), Weapon Focus (quarter staff) +.25, Two-Weapon Fighting +.25, Eilservs School +.25
Skill Sets: Concentration, Spellcraft
Total: 3.74


Power: 3
Offense 0.36 Max Damage 120 (27/27/22/22/17/10 1d6 +14), Init + 6
Defense 0.65 AC 33 (+10 Mithril Mechanus gear, +7 Natural, +2 Dex -1 size +4 Shield spell, +1 Haste), HP 157.5 (85.5 + 72)
Spell Casting -0.75 1@3
Versatility/Other 0.3 Body Meld, Command Genie
3.56

Elegance: 3
Tenure 0.75 -.5 Soulborn, -.25 Suel Archanamach, +1 Spellsword, +.5 Yak Folk Racial
Questionable Rules -
Qualification -
Other -
3.75


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.1 17
Knowledge (arcana), 0 Knowledge(Arcana) 21
Spell Level Availability, -0.15 3rd
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0.15 You winning rate against a Noble Djinni is 2. You rate against the Kobold warrior lvl 10 is 1.8.
Armor Use 0.15 Suel Arcanamach for 5%
Channel Spell, -0.15 Stuck using low power spells, shame. Eilservs School is interesting though and combines the arcane/melee aspects.
Bonus Feats, 0.3 Shocktrooper, which finished the chain from Power Attack and Improved Bull Rush
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
3.9

17.65 Lawrence "Curly" Andmo

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Originality: 3
Race/Template 0.25 Synad +.25
Classes: 0.5 Jester +.25, Thrall of Demogorgon +.25
Feats: 1.75 Thrall to Demon +.25, Willing Deformity +.25, Assume Supernatural Ability +.25, Dragon Prophesier +.25, Prophecy's Mind +.25, Prophecy's Shaper +.25, Evil's Blessing +.25
Skill Sets: No non-SI skills 20 or higher.
Total: 5


Power: 3
Offense 0.46 Max Damage 180 (+26/+26/+26/+26/+21/+21/+16/+16/+11/+11 DMG d10+8 w/ Haste, Dual Action, and Polymorph into Sand Giant), Init +5
Defense 0.59 AC 36 (Mithril Full Plate +8, Mithril Heavy Shield +2, +1 Haste, –1 size, +5 Dex, +11 natural) HP 87 (assume polymorph into Sand Giant MMIII 59)
Spell Casting -0.25 2@5
Versatility/Other 0.3 Alter Self into Aberration, Polymorph
4.1

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1.6 +0.6 jester, +1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Assume Supernatural Ability lets you pick a single ability not all nor new one each time, it's static
Qualification -
Other -
4.35


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.2 18
Knowledge (arcana), 0.25 Know: Arcana 23, Prophecy's Shaper, Prophecy's Mind, Dragon Prophesier, and Thrall of Demogorgon
Spell Level Availability, -0.05 5th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0 You rate against the Kobold warrior lvl 10 is .7
Armor Use 0 Jester for light, but that doesn't carry over… other than that nothing for armor.
Channel Spell, 0.15 I understand the Choker's Quickness ability, but I think it's more likely you're going to cast before combat. I'll give you points for the Choker's Quickness ability.
Bonus Feats, 0.15 Combat Panache, which fits the Jester theme. I would have liked to see more.
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
4.2

11.73 *Balthos of Myr

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.24 Human -.24
Classes: 0.66 Sha'ir -.09, Human Paragon +.25, Marshal +.25, Legacy Champion +.25
Feats: 0.29 Extend Spell -.19, Arcane Strike -.43, Least Legacy +.25, Blade of Force -.09, Lesser Legacy +.25, Channel Legacy +.25, Greater Legacy +.25.
Skill Sets: None listed… too bad too cause you need them to qualify for a bunch of stuff.
Total: 3.71


Power: 3
Offense 0.33 Max Damage 148 (ATK +27/+22/+17/+12 DMG 1d0+27 (arcane strike 5th level)) Int +2
Defense 0.49 AC 23 (+8 Mithril Full Plate, +2 Mithril Heavy Shield, +2 Dex, +2 Nat (Righteous Might), -1 Size) HP 139.5 (89.5 + 50)
Spell Casting 0 1@6
Versatility/Other -0.25 Humans gain a bonus feat at level 1 which you don't take, that's an automatic hit because you could have all sorts of stuff from it… shame.
3.57

Elegance: 3
Tenure 0.25 -.25 Sha'ir, -.5 Marshall, +1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Unfortunatley in a competition like this I can't allow the extended Spellsword table as it would be homebrew and illegal material. I attempted to go through an substitute with Sha'ir as placed but then you have 5 feats without any replacement. Had you had substitute feats instead of the legacy ones I would have very much allowed the switch, but it wasn't complete.
Qualification -2 -.5 FtQ Spellsword requires knowledge (arcana) I know you wrote "While it is not clearly stated, it is intended that, other than reaching 6 ranks Knowledge Arcana" but you have to display it. -.5 Legacy Champions requires knowledge (history). -.5 Arcane Strike requires Ability to cast 3rd-level arcane spells, base attack bonus +4 you don't have either at the level. -.5 Practiced Spellcaster requires spellcraft 4. I'm sorry but you have to have a complete entry.
Other -
1


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.1 17
Knowledge (arcana), -0.15 No skills listed
Spell Level Availability, 0 6th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0 Your winning rate against the Kobold warrior at level 6 is .52.
Armor Use 0 You don't have anything that benefits from armor usage
Channel Spell, 0 Arcane Strike, Plane shift, it was expected… you'd probably want to chain it with Suggestion 'you want to go to on vacation' and then the Plane shift.
Bonus Feats, 0 Practiced Spellcaster, nothing is built on to it.
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
3.45

15.05 Anh the Houseless

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.19 Neraph -.19
Classes: -0.17 Fighter -.33, Death Master -.09, Master Thrower +.25
Feats: 0.34 Exotic Weapon Prof (Koa-Tao) +.25, Point Blank Shot -.09, Precise Shot -.09, Power Throw +.25, Death Devotion +.25, Practiced Spellcaster -.48, Rapid Shot +.25
Skill Sets: Spot
Total: 2.98


Power: 3
Offense 0.18 Max Damage 80 (ATK +23/+23/+18/13/8 DMG 1d10 +6) + Enevration, Init +1
Defense 0.49 AC 23 (+8 Mithril Full Plate, +2 Mithril Heavy Shield, +2 Nat Armor, +1 Dex) HP 136.5 (96.5 + 40)
Spell Casting -0.5 2@4
Versatility/Other 0.3 Crowd Control, Spot
3.47

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1.25 -.25 Fighter, +1 Spellsword, +.5 Master Thrower
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Chanel Spell states "At 4th level, a spellsword can channel any spell he can cast into his melee weapon", and the harpoon states "The kuo-toan harpoon is an exotic melee weapon", so good job on that. The Two w/ One Blow is another matter but as mentioned below I'll accept it, but the fact that its questionable.
Qualification -
Other -
4


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.3 19
Knowledge (arcana), -0.15 You took the bare minimum.
Spell Level Availability, -0.1 4th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0.3 Your winning rate against a lvl 5 Kobold warrior is 10.4 (good job)
Armor Use 0.15 Death Master's vial of blood
Channel Spell, 0.3 Enervation, I'll accept that the "channeled spell affects the next target that the spell sword successfully attacks with his weapon" and that it would hit "both opponents at once" allowing for a double use of the channel spell ability.
Bonus Feats, 0.3 Brutal Throw, part of the chain for Power throw, Power Attack.
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
4.6

17.13 *Starshatter

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Originality: 3
Race/Template 0.5 Feytouched +.25 Star Elf +.25
Classes: 0.5 Paladin +.25, Knight of the Weave +.25
Feats: 1.31 Beauty’s Bounty +.25, Skill Focus (Concentration) +.25, Extra Turning +.25, Extend Spell -.19, Divine Metamagic: Reach Spell +.25, Magic Disruption +.25, Law Devotion +.25
Skill Sets: No non-SI skills 20 or higher.
Total: 5


Power: 3
Offense 0.07 Max Damage 36 (ATK+19/14/9/4 DMG 1d8+1) Init +0
Defense 0.56 AC 23 (+8 Mithril Full Plate, +1 Dex, +4 Shield spell) HP 190 (95 + 95)
Spell Casting 0 3@6
Versatility/Other 0.3 Fey Stuff, High Saves
3.93

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1.5 +.5 Paladin, +1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -
Qualification -
Other -
4.5


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.2 18
Knowledge (arcana), 0 Knowledge (Arcana) 13
Spell Level Availability, 0 6th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0 Your winning rate agianst a lvl 9 Kobold fighter is .6
Armor Use 0 Armored Caster too bad it doesn't carry over.
Channel Spell, 0 Nothing really good, dispel magic but I was looking for something really awesome.
Bonus Feats, 0 Reach Spell, isn't added on to anythign.
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
3.70

14.33 Drylax

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.24 Human -.24
Classes: -0.67 Wizard -.25, Fighter -.33, Abjurant Champion -.09
Feats: 0.73 Collegiate Wizarrd -.09, Cloudy Conjuration +.25, Combat Reflexes +.25, Shield Specialization +.25, Active Shield Defense +.25, Robilar's Gambit +.25, Arcane Strike -.43
Skill Sets: Concentration, Spellcraft
Total: 2.82


Power: 3
Offense 0.38 Max Damage 184 (ATK +31/+26/+21/+16 DMG1d8+38 (arcane strike 7th) assuming POA into Marut), Init +1
Defense 0.74 AC 43 (+8 Mithril Full Plate, +4 Shield spell +5 Abjurant Champion, -1 Size, +1 Dex, +16 Natural assuming PAO into Marut) HP 119.5 (79.5 + 40)
Spell Casting 0.75 4@8
Versatility/Other -0.25 Polymorph Any Object a spell you have changes your entire combat output which is a shame cause you wasted a lot of stuff. Yougo down the shield chain with Shield Spec (but your spell is higher AC), and into Active Shield Defense when Deft Opportunist would have saved you a feat. Lots of wasted power here. Improved Buckler Defense w/o Two Weapon Fighting is subpar, etc.
4.62

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1.4 +.6 Wizard 6, -.5 Fighter, +.8 Spellsword, +.5 Abjurant champion
Questionable Rules -
Qualification -
Other -0.25 -.25 Your spells table is messed up, it states "4/6/5/5/5/5/4/4/4/4" which should be 0 level 4/ 1st level 6/ 2nd level 5/ 3rd level 5/ 4th level 5/ 5th level 5/ 6th level 4/ 7th level 4/ 8th level 4/ 9th level 4. It's a table error but it was rather confusing and I had to go and reverse engineer your build to find out what was actually true and what wasn't.
4.15


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.1 17
Knowledge (arcana), 0.05 Knowledge (Arcana) 23
Spell Level Availability, 0.1 8th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.3 Your winning rate against a Kobold warrior level 6 is .11
Armor Use -0.3 Your dex is so high that in order for you to get your max dex your best AC bonus is from Greater Mage Armor and your shield feats which are suprassed by the Shield spell. You POA into a Marut anyways… no reason to have a dex like that… shame.
Channel Spell, 0.3 Arcane strike, PAO
Bonus Feats, 0.3 improved buckler defense, with Shield Specialization and active sheild defense
All 10 levels taken, -0.5 No, 8 levels
2.75

14.55 Balthazar Naught

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.24 Human -.24
Classes: 0.41 Sha'ir -.09, Radiant Servant of Lathander +.25, Sacred Exorcist +.25
Feats: 0.14 Nymph's Kiss +.25, Southern Magician +.25, Planar Touchstone (CoE) +.25, Extend Spell -.19, Persistent Spell -.24, Arcane Disciple (Strength) +.25, Arcane Strike -.43
Skill Sets: 0.15 Concentration, Diplomacy +.15
Total: 3.46


Power: 3
Offense 0.44 Max Damage 168 (ATK +32/+27/+22 (assuming draconic polymorph into Sand Giant MM II 59 and Righteous Might) DMG 3d6+38 (arcane strike lvl 6), Init +5
Defense 0.65 AC 34 (+8 Mithril Full Plate, +2 Heavy Mithri Shield, –2 size, +3 Dex, +13 natural) HP 143.5 (83.5+60)
Spell Casting 0.5 3@7
Versatility/Other 0.15 Diplomacy
4.74

Elegance: 3
Tenure 0.8 +.8 Sha'ir 8, -.5 Radiant Servant of Lathander, -.5 Sacred Exorcist, +1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Sacred Exorcist requires "the sanction of a church or order that ordains sacred exorcists. Only characters judged by their church to be exemplary in faith and devotion, strong of will and upright in morality, are made sacred exorcists", and you keep knowledge religion at a minimum which somewhat represents that lack of 'exemplar' furthermore the lack of taking Dispel Evil or Dismissal as a listed spell (instead of making your Genie get the further reinforces the lack of exemplar, you choose a domain not in Lathander's portfolio, also would have been a good fluff point to add in, etc. '-.25 Catalogues of Enlightenment requires a knowledge debate that you have a super small chance of winning if Arcana your max is 26, Planes 30, Religion 30, Nature 10 (no skills invested therefore 10 is the max) their minimum is 23, I'm not going to calculate the stats on it, but you win rate for that is low.
Qualification -0.5 -.5 Southern Magician requires "ability to cast 2nd-level spells" you don't have until the following level.
Other -0.25 -.25 You attempt to Pestist "Divine Power" through Arcane Disciple, but you pick the Strength domain which doesn't have Divine Power as a spell.
2.8


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus -0.3 14
Knowledge (arcana), -0.15 You took the bare minimum.
Spell Level Availability, 0.05 7th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.15 Your winning rate against a Kobold warrior lvl 10 is .29
Armor Use 0 You don't have anything that benefits from armor usage
Channel Spell, 0.3 Arcane Strike, Arcane Spellsurge and Whirling Blade
Bonus Feats, 0.3 Divine Metamagic (Persistent Spell), chained Persistent Spell and Extend Spell.
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
3.55

14.17 *Naras

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.09 Gray Elf -.09
Classes: -0.33 Fighter -.33, Wizard -.25, Bladesinger +.25
Feats: -0.05 Combat Casting -.14, Weapon Finesse +.25, Combat Expertise +.25, Einhander +.25, Practiced Spellcaster -.48, Single Blade Style +.25, Arcane Strike -.43
Skill Sets: Concentration, Tumble
Total: 2.53


Power: 3
Offense 0.38 Max Damage 160 (ATK 23/23/18/13/8 DMG 1d8+24 arcane strik 6th level and haste), Init +3
Defense 0.51 AC 31 (+5 Mithril Chain Mail +5 Combat Expertise, +2 Narrow Profile, +2 Single Blade Style, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 Bladesong Style, +1 Haste), HP 74 (74 )
Spell Casting 0.5 2@7
Versatility/Other 0.15 Tumble, really wish that you listed out what spells you had I grabbed haste cause it's good but can't add anything else because you didn't list them.
4.54

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1.25 -.25 Fighter, +.6 Wizard, +.9 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -
Qualification -0.5 -.5 FtQ Spellsword requires "Base Attack Bonus: +4" you don't have that until your 1st level of Spellsword.
Other -
3.75


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.1 17
Knowledge (arcana), 0.05 Knowledge (Arcana) 23
Spell Level Availability, 0.05 7th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0 Your winning rate against a Kobold warrior lvl 5 is .71
Armor Use -0.3 Can't tumble with reduced speed, so only medium mithril armor can be used. Einhander, Lesser Spellsong, Single Blade Style, etc. mean you can't use a shield, unfortunately this aspect of the SI is wasted.
Channel Spell, 0.15 Arcane Strike, Lesser Spellsong
Bonus Feats, 0.3 Weapon Focus (Rapier), the entire build is around this with nearly every feat relating to it in one way or another, and an entire class.
All 10 levels taken, 0 No. 9th level
3.35

16.05 Onnedad Kairdwen

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.14 Illumian -.14
Classes: 1 Factotum +.25, Duskblade +.25, Chameleon +.25, Dragon Disciple +.25
Feats: 1.41 Able Learner -.09, Improved Sigil (Krau) +.25, Earth Sense +.25, Heighten Spell +.25, Earth Spell +.25, Sanctum Spell +.25, Minor Shapeshift +.25
Skill Sets: 0.15 Disable Device +.15, Search, Tumble, Use Magic Device
Total: 5


Power: 3
Offense 0.23 Max Damage 65 (ATK 25/25/20/15/10 DMG 1d6+7 assume polymorph Sand Giant, haste), Init +5
Defense 0.62 AC 33 (+5 Mithril Chain Mail, +2 Heavy Mithril Shield, +11 Nat, +5 Dex, +1 Haste, -1 Size, assuming polymorph into Sand Giant MM II 59) HP 135.5 (95.5 + 40), Transcend Mortality
Spell Casting 1 1@9
Versatility/Other 0.45 Trapfinding, Polymorph, Use Magic Device, -.025 Missing Chameleon 2 Feat
5

Elegance: 3
Tenure 0.25 -.25 Factotum 2, +1 Spellsword 10, -.5 Dragon Disciple
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Heighten, Krau, Sanctum, etc. to get a 9th level spell slot is questionable… highly questionable. Also this built reeks of cheese IMO and I would never allow the compounding metamagic feats for qualification purposes or to grab a permenant 9th level spell slot.
Qualification -
Other -
3


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.1 17
Knowledge (arcana), 0 Knowledge (arcana) 8
Spell Level Availability, 0.15 9th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.3 Your winning rate agianst a lvl 9 Kobold fighter is .11
Armor Use -0.15 Armored Mage (Light), too bad it doesn't stack. Can't tumble with reduced speed, so only medium mithril armor can be used.
Channel Spell, 0 Arcane Channeling
Bonus Feats, 0 Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Whip, nice stand alone but it doesn't add to anything.
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
3.3

14.96 Naphesche Zarna

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.24 Human -.24
Classes: 0.67 Rogue +.25, Fighter -.33, Barbarian +.25, Swordsage +.25, Thayan Slaver +.25
Feats: 1.41 Able Learner -.09, Sickening Strike +.25, Shadow Blade +.25, Martial Stance (Assassin's Stance) +.25, Staggering Strike +.25, Craven +.25, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting +.25
Skill Sets: 0.6 Appraise +.15, Hide +.15, Listen +.15, Move Silently .15, Spot, Use Magic Device
Total: 5


Power: 3
Offense 1 Max Damage 584 (ATK 22/20/20/16/16/11/11/6 DMG 8d6 + 25, w/ poison), Init +5
Defense 0.41 AC 20 (+5 Mithril Chain Mail, +5 Dex) HP 110.5 (90.5 + 20)
Spell Casting -0.5 1@4
Versatility/Other 0.3 Stealth, Use Magic Device
4.21

Elegance: 3
Tenure 0.05 -.25 Fighter, -.5 Barbarian, -.5 Swordsage , +.5 Thayan Slaver, +.8 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -
Qualification -
Other -
3.05


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0 16
Knowledge (arcana), -0.15 You took the bare minimum.
Spell Level Availability, -0.1 4th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0.3 Your winning rate against a lvl 10 Kobold Fighter is 5.4
Armor Use -0.15 Your dex is higher than 3 so you have to wear lesser armor for max dexterity and AC penalty. You don't have anything that benefits from armor usage
Channel Spell, 0 Enervation
Bonus Feats, 0.3 Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, chained with Two-Weapon Fighting and Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
All 10 levels taken, -0.5 No, 8th level
2.7

15.92 *Amueli R'thaceu

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.09 Gray Elf -.09
Classes: 0.16 Death Master -.09, Arcane Archer +.25
Feats: 0 Point Blank Shot -.09, Precise Shot -.09, Weapon Focus (Longbow) +.25, Armor Proficiency (Heavy) -.09, Practiced Spellcaster -.48, Travel Devotion +.25, Corpsecrafter +.25
Skill Sets: Concentration, Spellcraft, Knowledge (Religion,(The Planes)
Total: 3.07


Power: 3
Offense 0.08 Max Damage 40 (ATK +19/+19/+14/+9/+4 DMG d6+2), Init +0
Defense 0.42 AC 22 (+10 Mithril Mechanus Gear, +2 Dex, staying way the F' back and shooting) HP 94.5 (94.5)
Spell Casting 0.5 1@7
Versatility/Other 0.3 Ranged attacks, Summoning enhanced Undead in an area from Range sounds decent to me.
4.3

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1.55 +.8 Death Master, -.25 Arcane Archer, +1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Elvencraft bows state "Magical enhancements to an elvencraft bow only affect its use as a bow. Enhancements to the melee capabilities of the weapon must be added separately.", meaning that RAI and RAW they are separate meaning. Basically you'd have to channel the arrow not the bow, if it were a thrown weapon I'd allow it but it's different when using ammunition.
Qualification -
Other -
4.3


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0.2 18
Knowledge (arcana), 0.05 Knowledge (Arcana) 23,
Spell Level Availability, 0.05 7th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0 Your winning rate against a lvl 10 Kobold Fighter is .9, that's counting giving you two rounds before they got in range. Your low HP really did you in, a Con bonus would have helped a lot.
Armor Use 0.3 Armor Proficiency (Heavy), Death Master's vial of blood
Channel Spell, 0.15 You can read the elegance statement above, but I want to point out that as far as attempting to use the SI is different than application. You did try to circumvent the rules (which will cost you -.15), you have a build built around getting the Channel Spell aspect of the SI (Imbue Arrow, all the archery feats, etc.) onto the target so +.3.
Bonus Feats, 0 Rapid Shot
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
4.25

13.75 *Exavier

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Originality: 3
Race/Template 0.25 Fire Half-Elf +.25
Classes: Wizard -.25, Rainbow Servant +.25
Feats: -0.75 Collegiate Wizarrd -.09, Extend Spell -.19, Persistent Spell -.24, Arcane Disciple (War) +.25 they ask War what is it good for and in D&D Divine Power, Split Ray +.25, Insightful Reflexes +.25, Arcane Strike -.43, Versatile Spellcaster -.14
Skill Sets: Concentration, Knowledge (the planes), Spellcraft
Total: 2.5


Power: 3
Offense 0.42 Max Damage 212 (ATK 43/38/33/28 DMG 2d6+41 [assume Draconic Polymorph into a Young adult Gold Dragon, Divine Power, Arcane Strike @ 6]), Init +0
Defense 0.63 AC 37 (+8 Mithril Full Plate, +2 Mithril Heavy Shileld, -2 Size, +19 natural, [Draconic Polymorph into a Young adult Gold Dragon, Divine Power]) HP 102 (69 + 33)
Spell Casting 0.5 Your belief in your spells is wrong you cast as a 13th level Wizard with 5 from Wizard, 5 from Spellsword, and 3 from Rainbow Servant. This gives you access to 7th level spells not 9, which destroys your Perssitent Spell tricks and means you don't qualify for Spellsword. 2@7.
Versatility/Other 0.15 Draconic Polymorph
4.7

Elegance: 3
Tenure 2 +.5 Wizard, +.5 Rainbow Servant, +1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -0.75 -.25 You state "-gate: Gate in creatures that can cast wish as a (su) ability and make them give you free wishes", I LOL'd as you don't have any diplomacy and a low Charisma so you aren't even going to be able to word it correctly and a DM will kill your character off. '-.25 Rainbow Servant requires "Must find the hidden jungle temples of the couatls" but you don't have anything to help you find it, no spell listed, knowledge geography, survival, nothing. '-.25 You attempt to Persisten Divine Power for BAB requirement entry into the SI, it's questionable at most. Arcane Disciple requires "alignment matches your deity's alignment", and yours is LN whils Tyr's is LG, not you can talk about whether or not it's Asgardian or Faerun but you'd get questioned on it as you're demanding a non-standard setting. You state to "Turn yourself into a gold dragon and gain its int score plus everything else" but with Polymorph the "subject gains the Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores of the new form but retains its own Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores" but even if you did why would you change your Int of 19 for an 18?
Qualification -0.5 -.5 FtQ Spellsword, requires BAB 4 which you try to Divine Power (4th level spell) when you only have acces to 3rd, shame. Spellsword also requires Weapon and Armor proficiency, which I don't see being gained anywhere.
Other -0.25 -.25 Generalist Wizard states "This substitution feature replaces the standard wizard’s ability to specialize in a school of magic", Domain Wizard states "A domain wizard cannot also be a specialist wizard; in exchange for the versatility given up by specializing in a domain instead of an entire school, the domain wizard casts her chosen spells with increased power" you trade away the same thing twice.
3.5


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus -0.3 14, while Divine Power will increase it, it isn't something I am considering for UotSI.
Knowledge (arcana), 0.1 Knowledge (arcana) 23, Rainbow Servant,
Spell Level Availability, 0.05 7th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.3 You're not proficient with weapons, armor, low HP 22.5 @ level 6 and has a winning rate against the Kobold warrior of 0.04.
Armor Use 0 You are not even proficient in armor.
Channel Spell, 0 Arcane Strike
Bonus Feats, 0 Chain spell, without anything added to it.
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
3.05

10.98 Experiment "Novem"

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.19 Neraph -.19
Classes: 0.11 Crusader +.25, Wizard -.25, Nar Demonbinder -.14. Soul Eater +.25
Feats: -1.27 Iron Will -.24, Spell Focus (conjuration) -.14, Versatile Spellcaster -.14, Arcane Strike -.43, Practiced Spellcaster -.48, Craft Contingent Spell +.25, Fey Bloodline -.09
Skill Sets: 0.15 Concentration, Intimidate .15
Total: 1.8


Power: 3
Offense 0.33 Max Damage 175 (ATK 27/27/22/17/12 DMG d8+27 [haste, arcane strike lvl 7]), Init -1
Defense 0.45 AC 20 (+8 Mithril Full Plate, +2 Heavy Mithril Shield, -1 Dex, +1 Haste) HP 141.5 (81.5 + 60)
Spell Casting 0.75 1@8
Versatility/Other 0.15 Intimidate
4.68

Elegance: 3
Tenure 0.35 -.5 Crusader, +.6 Conjurer, -.25 Nar Demonbinder, -.5 Soul Eater, +1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Nar Demonbinder requires 4th level spell only have 3rd level spells at the level taken and are using Heighten Spell to qualify… rather than get into the debate, it's certainly questionable.
Qualification -1 -.5 FtQ Nar Demonbinder, using heighten spell without a 4th spell slot or way to reduce the cost doesn't work. '-.5 FtQ Craft Contingent Spell requires caster level 11, your Nar Demonbinder is 2 +5 from spellsword and you didn't have spellsword increase your wizard so you FtQ.
Other -1.25 -1 Flaw - Poor Reflexes, -.25 lots of table errors the list says Barbarian table says Crusader with Tome of Battle mising from the referrences list but the Fluff states Crusader, I went with Crusader. You state "verything else explicitly mentioned should be in the SRD. Note however that there are a number of useful spells and creatures printed in other books, or the books mentioned, which Giorre would likely use in an actual game. The Wizard spell list and list of potential forms for Polymorph are both quite large" which means the other one is your build too even listed some of their fluff, etc. and somehow they got messed up, I'm blaming the table errors 2 source lists, etc. on that. In short it's super confusing and difficult to understand. -.5 Dependancy on Items "The only one actually required is the Fiendish Jaw to qualify for Weapon Focus"
1


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0 16
Knowledge (arcana), -0.1 You took the bare minimum, Soul Eater.
Spell Level Availability, 0.1 8th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.15 Your winning rate against a lvl 10 Kobold Fighter is .46
Armor Use 0 You don't have anything that benefits from armor usage
Channel Spell, 0 Arcane Strike
Bonus Feats, 0 Power Attack with no add ons
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
3.35

14.39 Giorre

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Originality: 3
Race/Template -0.24 Human -.24
Classes: 0.5 Wizard -.25, Ruathar +.25, Thrall of Orcus +.25
Feats: 0.68 Spell Focus (Necromancy) +.25, Knowledge Devotion -.09, Practiced Spellcaster -.48 (Wizard), Black Lore of Moil +.25, Arcane Thesis (Enervation) +.25, Area Attack +.25, Empower Spell +.25
Skill Sets: 0.45 Knowledge Religion, The Planes, Local .15, Dungeoneering .15, Nature .15, Spellcraft, Concentration
Total: 4.39


Power: 3
Offense 0.25 Max Damage 124 (ATK 29/24/19/14 DMG 3d6+13 [Knowledge Devotion + Draconic Polymorph into an Adult Green Dragon]), Init 0
Defense 0.65 AC 37 (+8 Mithril Full Plate, +2 Mithril Heavy Shileld, -2 Size, +19 natural, [Draconic Polymorph into an adult Green Dragon]) HP 111.5 (71.5 + 40)
Spell Casting 0.75 1@8
Versatility/Other 0.15 Draconic Polymorph
4.8

Elegance: 3
Tenure 1.1 +.6 Wizard, -.5 Thrall of Orcus, +.1 Spellsword
Questionable Rules Doesn't Atrophus already have a minion who worked for Orcus (Gorguth)? How would Orcus feel about someone dedicated to Atrophus becoming his Thrall? Can you serve two masters?
Qualification -
Other -3.1 Bonus feats for being dedicated to elder evils are like a flaw and without them there are FtQ issues so I can't ignore them.
1


Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus 0 16
Knowledge (arcana), 0.15 Knowledge (Arcana) 23, Knowledge devotion, Arcane Thesis
Spell Level Availability, 0.1 8th
Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0.15 Your winning rate against a Kobold warriors level 9 is 1.2
Armor Use 0 You don't have anything that benefits from armor usage
Channel Spell, 0 Area Attack
Bonus Feats, 0.3 Power Attack, Area Attack, Beloved of Demons
All 10 levels taken, 0.5 Yes
4.2

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[Ingus]

I checked all the entries with attention, but it seems I lost plentry of tiny little details.
Thank you Tim for all the work, which should have been alot, and for giving me the excuse to backcheck all the entries in a day I'm home from work

By the way: glad to see that at least one of my favourites is in the top 5. To the other two characters: don't be afraid, I'll use you in my game none the less

[OMG PONIES]

Thanks for judging, Tim! I noticed that some builds were marked with asterisks; was there any secret meaning behind that? Also, could I encourage you to add some more extensive commentary to your numbers? Otherwise, people may not know why a particular score was given and may submit disputes that would otherwise be unnecessary.

For those curious about Tim's scoring criteria, he gave us a glimpse into his treatment of Use of the Secret Ingredient upthread:

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Well it's not quite that, but the 7 criteria for Use of the Secret Ingredient are:

1. Base Attack Bonus, I'm looking for actual use of the BAB mechanism broken into scoring bands which correlate to number of attacks a character has.
2. Knowledge (arcana), I'm looking to see if it's carried through and maxed at each level, if it stops, how many feats or other classes require it. Is the skill sitting there or is it built into an important part of the build.
3. Spell Level Availability, the SI required the ability to cast 2nd level spells, I'm interested to see how high people got it to. I'm not looking for 9s but I am rewarding for getting it certain levels.
4. Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, I'm going to compare the build at the level mentioned to a CR appropriate monster to see if the build could 1v1 w/o spells on average. The more likely the chance of success, the better off the score.
5. Ignore Spell Failure, I'm looking to see how much armor/shields you can put on without any chance of spell failure.
6. Channel Spell, I'm looking for cool interactions, deadly interactions, etc. with this ability.
7. Bonus Feats, I'm looking to see what other fighter/metamagic feats you too, if it's part of a chain, if it's just sitting there alone, etc.

Standings After One Judge

Entry	Place	Total	Average
Lawrence "Curly" Andmo	Gold	17.55	4.3875
Starshatter	Silver	17.08	4.27
Onnedad Kairdwen	Bronze	16.45	4.1125
Amueli R'thaceu	Fourth	16.27	4.0675
Aurelius Deadfeather	Fifth	15.94	3.985
Anti the Kinslayer	Sixth	15.79	3.9475
Mekihl Krivim tibur Ptahzur	Seventh	15.51	3.8775
Subjugator Sarlagiin	Eighth	15.35	3.8375
Naphesche Zarna	Ninth	14.96	3.74
Halfdan the Black	Tenth	14.94	3.735
Anh the Houseless	Eleventh	14.9	3.725
Balthazar Naught	Twelfth	14.75	3.6875
Drylax	Thirteenth	14.67	3.6675
Naras	Fourteenth	14.57	3.6425
Giorre	Fifteenth	14.39	3.5975
Exavier	Sixteenth	13.95	3.4875
Rohlerryn	Seventeenth	13.73	3.4325
Taishi	Eighteenth	13.43	3.3575
Meepo	Nineteenth	12.95	3.2375
Balthos of Myr	Twentieth	12.13	3.0325
Experiment "Novem"	Twenty-First	10.83	2.7075

[sideswipe]

yeh, as it is my first round cooking i had no real clue what the numbers meant, but im happy with my score none the less

[Amphetryon]

We got scores? Nifty. My entry didn't get 1's across the board? Niftier.

[Tim Proctor]

Thanks for judging, Tim! I noticed that some builds were marked with asterisks; was there any secret meaning behind that? Also, could I encourage you to add some more extensive commentary to your numbers? Otherwise, people may not know why a particular score was given and may submit disputes that would otherwise be unnecessary.

Yeah, I put brief commentary in where I felt needed, the schedule change (delay) is interferring with school so I had to get them done and out or it wouldn't have happened, sorry for the brevity.

Originality is concerned about how many time you and fellow competitors did the same thing. This round had a couple things that a lot of people did, and if the crowd all does the same thing it certainly isn't original. Like buying an Anarchist shirt at Hot Topic in the mall, nothing wrong with it, but doesn't speak highly to the desire to refuse and resist. So the numbers varied based on popularity with flat bonuses. The feats evaluated where the ones picked from levels, bonus feats awarded from classes are part of the class and evaluated under their originality, when not defined I chose the first feat listed. If anyone takes anything away from my judging in this area it would be to do something crazy and dig deep with feat chains cause most people wont follow you down that rabbit hole.

Power was broken into four segments, the first is martial prowess where I used a formula to calculate max damage and initiative (if your party is dead by the time it becomes your turn there are issues), I tried to incorporate up to two buffs but if they weren't list or something it became hard to do. Martial defense was the second aspect based on with AC using the max armor for the build and HP. Spellcasting was simple and went by spell level. Versatility was something that wasn't a big part of the SI but gives an advantage. If anyone takes anything away from my judging in this area it would be that you have to make things easy for judges to judges, list your spells, explain how things interact, talk about your numbers.

Elegance was about tenure, questionable rules, failure to qualify, and other stuff that doesn't sit right. This section is explained with fairly good commentary so any questions on this please let me know. If anyone takes away anything from my judgings of this it would be avoid dips, double check qualifications, stay within contest rules, etc.

UotSI, this got explained earlier so I wont harp on it, but again if you are going to take anything away from this please take all the levels in the SI, the bonus to power you get generally wont be enough to offset the scores lost here.

[OMG PONIES]

Like buying an Anarchist shirt at Hot Topic in the mall, nothing wrong with it, but doesn't speak highly to the desire to refuse and resist.

Unless they refuse to accept the paradigm that an individualist should not shop at large chains and they resist the anti-mainstream label that has been foisted upon them. Meta-punk: so punk rock that it's not .

[Tim Proctor]

Unless they refuse to accept the paradigm that an individualist should not shop at large chains and they resist the anti-mainstream label that has been foisted upon them. Meta-punk: so punk rock that it's not .

*mind-blown*

I'm guessing the flooding is effecting disputes too, so those that want to poke my eyes out with hot irons you may want to consolidate them and email them to the Chairperson in a single PM so that his inbox doesn't get flooded like his land. too soon?

[dysprosium]

Moving is a pain in the you know what.

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.

Glad to see my prediction came true. Now I hope that I can finish what I started.

[Ingus]

/.../ so those that want to poke my eyes out with hot irons /.../

You may be glad to know that I started with a very long remark and, while I was engaged in demonstrating that you were wrong, I found that I was.
So you're spared, at least from me.

...at least for this time

[Tim Proctor]

You may be glad to know that I started with a very long remark and, while I was engaged in demonstrating that you were wrong, I found that I was.
So you're spared, at least from me.

...at least for this time

Thanks, I almost want to put that quote in my spoiler but my ego is already too inflated.

[Kuulvheysoon]

And with scores, Tim, we get the inevitable disputes!

Hi, I just wanted to state a single comment on the current judging of Taishi.

Taishi gains her bonus spells through her illumian power sigils which allow her to base bonus spells per day off of her strength score, which i apparently forgot to list . Please assume that Taishi has the Aesh and Krau power sigils.

Thanks,
The Chef

Hi Tim, thanks for judging. I normally wouldn't really bother, but it feels like I've been penalised so many time for the same thing it does begin to feel unfair.

In power, you say I have 1 spell at 8th. I have 2, even without items, thanks to Versatile spellcaster. You also state max power assuming spells are in play. I have a ton of natural attacks courtesy of my grafts, as well as the normal attack routine from BAB and weapons - 3 additional pairs of arms is 30K, meaning I have 6 claw attacks, 1 gore and 4 from full BAB (although at the level it's relevant, +6 BAB). All of these benefit from Arcane Strike, and I have access to sequester later on, which is first target hit takes a no save, just unconcious for day/level (without CL boosters, at ECL 20, this is 17 days unconcious). In regards to Versatility, in addition to Wizard spells, my graft actually replace any need for the polymorphing that other characters rely on, and recieve benefit for, as do my Contingencies, and ability to get Planar Binding down from 10 minutes to a Standard+Free+Move Action.

Nar Demonbinder requires the ability to cast 4th level spells. Versatile Spellcaster allows you to use Heightened spells - the FAQ even says so, IIRC. Hence, 2 3rd level spells equals 1 4th level spell, which in accordance with the chairman's ruling allows qualification for PrC's. As such I do qualify, and it's not questionable - it's pretty much the exact reason as to why that feat is there, to cast metamagic'd spells. The one error I made regarding Barbarian is only at the top - it is not mentioned anywhere else, and Crusader is mentioned at EVERY single other reference, whether it's in the table, or write up - "lots of table errors" - where? There are none.

The chairman must have made an error when transposing some of the posts into this format - however, after hearing about the situation in Canada, I decided against adding to his problems by asking him to do a little bit of fiddly editing - I assumed, wrongly, apparently, that the judges would be able to see that Giorre and the appropriate Items/Adaptations would be ignored due to that. I do not have access to polymorph, as it's a 4th level spell, and unless the DM rules favourably to how Wizard's wierd spells known interaction with Versatile spellcaster, it's unlikely I can use it - not that I'd really want to, as then (I'd assume) I'd lose my grafts. It's not confusing when you actually look at what's written and say "he doesn't have any of this, ah, it's a bit further down, and it's copied from the next entry." In regards to qualification for Craft Contingent Spell, you add your Wizard level to your Nar Demonbinder - so 6 from Wizard, 4 from Practised Spellcaster, 2 from Nar Demonbinder, and 3 from spellsword = 15.

And Tome of Battle IS mentioned inside the source list. "ToB - Crusader". Regarding the spell-list, I've already provided the information. I'm a freaking wizard, for crying out loud. Even in core I have the strongest list necessary. "Spell-lists are from various sources, but can change depending on campaign. If it's imperative you need to know, I can list them, but with the exception of the Core Planar Binding line and the Fey Bloodline, most are completely interchangeable." Planar Binding AND Fey Bloodline all list spells from the SRD, so my spell list can be completely core. The ones listed are irrelevant, really, or are in any of the other books that I actually used, with the exception of possibly including the Spell Compendium. I shouldn't be penalised for someone else's error.

UoSI - I get a zero for being able to get the magical BAB of 16+? I wouldn't have achieved this without the full BAB of the PrC. Spell Availability? 2 level 8's, or 1 level 9 with items. Not exactly sure how a Kobold Fighter is able to win 54% of the time. Can you show me the maths, please? A Kobold Fighter 1 versus a Neraph Crusader 1, who can ignore Dex to AC, take more damage, and heal it back? Against a level 10 Kobold fighter, I'd be interested to see, considering I have access to Arcane Strike with 6 burned spell slots, the ability to deal negative levels, and multiple natural attacks from my grafts (which I gain by Planar Binding), all of which benefit from Arcane Strikes attack and damage bonuses, meaning I have an attack bonus higher than my actual level, and higher than what the Fighter can bring, while Abrupt Jaunt means that the typical shocktrooper power attack would miss, as well as a level 8 . Armour Use? You mean aside from being a frontline fighter with spellcasting and no penalty to casting? What? Bonus Feats - not sure where you're getting at "no add-ons" to Power Attack. I have truestrike or wraithstrike benefitting. Taking anything else would have lead to an originality penalty for taking a well known attack routine with leap attack etc, while the typical end-game, Shock Trooper, would have functionally a similar role to what a couple of 1st or 2nd level spells can do. 0 for Channel Spell? Urm, Planar Binding/Sequester/Irresistable Dance ring a bell? I specifically made mention of these because of this reason. Arcane Strike is there to help me get some frontline power to defeat a typical fighter. It can be used otherwise if I need it, but really, if I'm saving Channel Spell for something like Planar Binding or a no-Save, no-SR 17 day coma, then by all means, is there a need for Arcane Strike to take precedence?

I'm kind of sorry I've had to question nearly every single one of your scorings, but as you can see, it feels as if you've barely understood what I took a fair bit of time over to ensure that such didn't happen. Nearly everything I've written here explaining is already in my entry's description.

First, thank you for judging. That is an incredible amount of work done in a very short time.

A minor quibble under Elegance:
Combat Focus is one of the options under Chameleon's Aptitude Focus, +2 competence bonus to attack/damage and Fort/Will saves (hopefully this helps against the Kobold). I didn't realize it might get confused with the PHBII feat of the same name, and I apologize for not making this clearer.

Another quibble under UoSI:
"Channel Spell, 0" I'm puzzled why Amueli gets +.3 points here for a similar trick (Channel/Imbue Arrow vs Channel/Personal spells... well, okay, similar in my mind at least). Even if you disallow the Transcend Mortality capstone, I thought turning any creature into a fish/spider/wolf/tree with no save/no SR was a novel use of the SI's signature ability. However, I can see I'm not alone in getting a goose egg on this particular criteria.

Again, if I didn't make this clear before, thank you for all the time and effort that went into this. It is greatly appreciated.

@tim proctor

Originality
Can you explain these scores please and why several rated a negative?
Feats: -0.75
Collegiate Wizarrd -.09
Extend Spell -.19
Persistent Spell -.24
Arcane Disciple (War) +.25 they ask War what is it good for and in D&D Divine Power
Split Ray +.25
Insightful Reflexes +.25
Arcane Strike -.43
Versatile Spellcaster -.14
Skill Sets: Concentration, Knowledge (the planes), Spellcraft

Elegance: 3
Tenure 2 +.5 Wizard, +.5 Rainbow Servant, +1 Spellsword
*EHH hey Judge What is this ("Tenure") ? have you got incorrect -can you explain?

Questionable Rules -0.75 -.25 You state "-gate: Gate in creatures that can cast wish as a (su) ability and make them give you free wishes", I LOL'd as you don't have any diplomacy and a low Charisma so you aren't even going to be able to word it correctly and a DM will kill your character off.

*Ehh hey Judge What is this - Wizard spells <<this is by no means a complete list but gives an idea of spells on any given basis>> was stated as an explaination of what you could do with the SPELL

"Must find the hidden jungle temples of the couatls" but you don't have anything to help you find it
* Certainly did use a suitable explanation of how the temple was found in the background information. -please Re-Read it Judge
The couatls watched as the brawl entered their temple grounds when it ended,

Arcane Disciple requires "alignment matches your deity's alignment", and yours is LN whils Tyr's is LG
*Actually Judge I never stated my Alignment period if you presumed my alignment to be LN then your incorect..
BUT as your assigning the alignment of LN to my build please reference the appropriate that I used in my build and certainly does not rate any cross setting BS.
(d&d p195) Deity: Tyr's alignment: is LN


Generalist Wizard states "This substitution feature replaces the standard wizard’s ability to specialize in a school of magic"
Domain Wizard states "A domain wizard cannot also be a specialist wizard; in exchange for the versatility given up by specializing in a domain instead of an entire school, the domain wizard casts her chosen spells with increased power", you trade away the same thing twice

*Since the Domain Wizard ability is not actually an ACF (it just says that it cannot be applied to a Specialist Wizard) they are compatible. -then I add the feat Collegiate Wizard for even more free spells

Use of the Secret Ingredient: 3
Base Attack Bonus -0.1 14, while Divine Power will increase it, it isn't something I am considering for UotSI

* you should as it rates the build a BAB 20/15/10/5 at 20th level for 48 hours if persisted

Thanks for judging, Tim! I have a few quick disputes on Lawrence's score:

Regarding Defensive power, you wrote:

Defense 0.59 AC 36 (Mithril Full Plate +8, Mithril Heavy Shield +2, +1 Haste, –1 size, +5 Dex, +11 natural) HP 87 (assume polymorph into Sand Giant MMIII 59)

A few things were missed. I'm not using Mithril Full Plate or a Mithril Heavy Shield, but Blended Quartz Twilight Githcraft Feycraft Mountain Plate and a matching Tower Shield. Along with Jester's Audacity and Scaly Flesh, this adds +3 (+2 Mountain Plate, +2 Tower Shield, +2 Jester's Audacity, -5 Max DEX, +2 scaly flesh). Also, Evil's Blessing allows Larry to add his CHA to saves (with the possibility to add 2x CHA to saves when attacking goodie-goodies). I know that you're not considering save bonuses under Defense and that Larry doesn't have the most HP, but he's got the highest AC in this round of competition. I don't normally like to crunch the numbers this much on my builds, but if it's how they're being scored I want to make sure nothing is missed.

Regarding Questionable Rules (under Elegance), you wrote:

Assume Supernatural Ability lets you pick a single ability not all nor new one each time, it's static

However, I only take the feat to snag the Choker's Quickness ability. What follows is the extent of what I wrote about the feat:

But the real star of the show at this level is the feat Assume Supernatural Ability, which allows you to take on the Supernatural (Su) abilities of your Alter Self forms. This will come in handy since you're an aberration and you can change shape into a choker. Snag the choker's quickness, and you can take an extra standard or move action each round!

The first sentence was meant as a broad introduction to the feat for those who may not be familiar. In the following sentences, I'm explaining how I'm specifically using the feat. Nowhere in the build did I make the claim that you obtain all of your new form's (Su) abilities or that you have the option to change the selected ability.

Regarding Use of the Secret Ingredient, you wrote:

Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0 You rate against the Kobold warrior lvl 10 is .7

Can you please provide clarity as to what this rate means and what kind of scale this .7 is measured against? For instance, a .7 on a scale of 0 to 1 is much better than a .7 on a scale of 0 to 10 .

Armor Use 0 Jester for light, but that doesn't carry over… other than that nothing for armor.

Can you please expand on what the above comment means? Jesters receive proficiency in light armor, but cannot ignore Arcane Spell Failure in light armor like a bard can; it's actually one of the reasons the Jester gets so many jeers. This is one of the reasons Thrall of Demogorgon (for proficiency in heavier armor) and Spellsword (for reduction of ASF) are important to the build. Also, the criteria you set out for armor use is:

Ignore Spell Failure, I'm looking to see how much armor/shields you can put on without any chance of spell failure.

Following that criteria, I presented the following in my build, under Use of the Secret Ingredient:

Ignore Spell Failure: Over the course of 10 levels, you get to remove 30% of your arcane spell failure. This is a decent way to add the ability to cast in light armor to the jester--something the class was sorely missing vs. its big brother the bard. However, I wasn't content to stop at 30%. I challenged myself to find an armor/shield setup that had more than a 100% arcane spell failure and bring it to 0%. I present to you--Mountain Plate with a Tower Shield! Starting arcane spell failure for the combo is 110%, lowered to 80% by our Secret Ingredient. Making both from Blended Quartz (A&EG) brings each down by 20% for a 40% total. Using the twilight enhancement brings both down by a further 10% each, for a total ASF of 20%. Lastly, the feycraft and githcraft item templates from the DMGII will lower the ASF of each by another 5% per template...but you can actually use both if the items are made by a gith under the effects of fey magic! That brings our ASF down by the final 20%, allowing us to be a mechwarrior with 0% arcane spell failure.

Thus Larry can don a suit of armor and a shield that usually incurs a 110% Arcane Spell Failure with a 0% ASF...the greatest reduction presented in all the builds. Instead, others received points for spending feats on armor proficiencies that Lawrence received via Thrall of Demogorgon or using the Death Master's "vial of blood" component even though it obviates the need to reduce Arcane Spell Failure in the first place. Please re-evaluate in light of your presented criteria.

Also, I have two general consistency disputes:

• 7 builds with a BAB of 17 got +0.5 in Use of Secret Ingredient, while builds with a BAB of 18 received only +0.1. Anh, with a BAB of 19, only got a +.15 boost. Was there a typo on the builds with a 17 BAB, or was that deemed to be the "Sweet Spot" for some reason that deserved a larger point bonus?
• Different bonuses or penalties are given to builds with the same number of ranks in Knowledge: Arcana. For consistency's sake, please re-evaluate.

Thanks for taking the time to judge Tim. I have a few minor items:

Offense 0.29 Max damage 72 (Atk 20/20/20/20/10/7 Dmg 4d10 + 3d6 + 14), Init +0

I see how you got your numbers, but I always have Greater Mighty Wallop active which changes the 4d10 to 12d8 and I have a quickened breath weapon of 7d8 every 1d4+4 rounds. Depending on how you read Strength devotion my tail attack might be improved to 2d6, but even if you don't read the feat that way I should get an extra +2 damage with my tail. This also doesn't take into account any use of power attack against reduced ACs due to Destruction devotion and being entangled with my breath weapon, but I realize that is hard to quantify. So potentially 192 (7d8 + 12d8 + 4d6 + 16) + Power Attack.

Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.15 I want to clarify "force of arms alone" means dreadful wrath, dark minion, etc. are out. Versing a lvl 6 kobold warrior NPC #189795. You have a winning rate of .42
...
Channel Spell, 0 You don't list nor mention anything.

This one is very minor and wouldn't have bothered if I didn't have other items. I would like to understand your reasoning behind not having the use of Dreadful Wrath during the one on one battle? I see not being able to use the Devotion Feats because they are spell-likes and Dark Companion because it is treated as a spell, but Dreadful Wrath is an extraordinary moral effect. Would a Barb not be able to use rage during this encounter, a Paladin use Smite, or a Knight use Fighting Challenge? The Reqs only stipulate that force of arms alone is without recourse to spellcasting which might leave supernatural abilities on the table too and Hexblade's Curse is Supernatural.

I did mention channel spell in at least three places in my writeup (Level 15, Level 20, and Put it all together). Even though my spells have a lowish DC they still have a good chance to land due to beneficial stacking order of my debuffs and because usually one of the channeled spells reduces Spell Resistance.

Tiny nitpick on Starshatter:

Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, 0 Your winning rate agianst a lvl 9 Kobold fighter is .6

I see nothing in spellsword that requires the defeat of a foe through force of arms alone to occur at any particular level. A level 1 paladin would defeat foes through force of arms alone, almost by necessity of the chassis.

[Tim Proctor]

Alright, let me see if I can address these properly.

Taishi - no change

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Sorry, but I can't assume in hindsight that you have anything on the build that isn't listed.

Experiment "Novem" - no change*

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I can't give you credit for any grafts, that's dependence on items at the rate of -1 to power per, which would drop it to a 1 instead of a 4.68, which is pretty high as it is, I think your build is better that I pretend they don't exist.

As far as heighten + versatile and the FtQ, sure I'll bite. It's still questionable, and everyone who attempted and early entry got hit for it, know it could easily been 'known cheese' since it is all over the interwebz. As you'll notice your massive amount of table errors, the flaw, and dependency on items actually cost you -1.75 and you were only dinged -1.25 because you bottomed out at 1. So if I give you the .5 back for the FtQ the other -.5 falls right in line and you still end up with a 1 elegance.

You have two builds spilling into your listing, you only received a -.25 scoring penalty for it, it's a fact that you have these errors with wrong reference tables, wrong descriptions, etc. You can say that they don't exist, that barbarian isn't an issue, etc. but it's there.

BAB, you say you only got that because you took 10 levels in the SI, and that's my point you didn't do much to build on it. That's why you got a 0.

You only have 1 8th level spell, you have the ability to trade for more but as is you only have 1.

Regarding the Kobold, you don't have access to Arcane Strike, buffs or anything but 'force of arms alone' in my calculations (nor do you have grafts).

Also it was a warrior the wimpier version of a Fighter. Armor use, you don't have anything to add on to armor use other than what the SI provided, you don't.

Bonus feat is referencing feats and classes which build onto it, not spells which are dime a dozen. Saying that you hit harder because you can Power Attack is like saying that Combat Expertise helps your high AC.

Yeah, channel spell is a 0 because you only have arcane strike. I don't care what spell you cast with it, but what aspect you used to make the arcane/martial strike better.

Again, I was looking for above and beyond not status-quo for rewards.

*Mr. Chairman can you corroborate that you "must have made an error when transposing some of the posts into this format", if so then I'll give them the .25 points I took away since it's not their fault.

Onnedad - no change

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Okay I crunched the numbers with the Combat Focus class ability, but it doesn't bring it up to the .25 probability in order to get to the next band, sorry.

Channel Spell IMO is about the mix of martial/arcane not the spells used but class features, feats like arcane strike, razing strike, area attack, etc.

Exavier - no change

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Originality is gauged by popularity and the amount is the percentage of contestants that did the same thing.

Tenure is 'time in class', you maxed it out good job. You got the base 3 in Elegance and 2 in Tenure for having 5 in classes, just like I said in the thread.

Gate... In a competition like this you should use complete lists that explain everything, attempting to Gate/Wish chain without a Diplomancer/Malconv

Hidden Temple... the randomly found it, my opponent tripped and fell on his own sword, etc. is a cheesy way to qualify for something. You took a .25 penalty instead of a .5 penalty for FtQ. Just don't try to cheese stuff in.

Regarding alignment, you certainly do list your deity and alignment in the first parts of 'exavier's info'. Furthermore, the penalty of .25 is for both the setting/alignment issue and the gold dragon issue.

Again you're cheesing multiple things with the Wizard ACF + class variant, and trading the same thing away twice.

UotSI is about what you're doing to build onto the build and a spell that changes something simply doesn't.

Lawrence - no changes*

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If I accept that you're using different armor than the prescribed for everyone else you'd take a -1 penalty in power for reliance on items.

You wrote "Assume Supernatural Ability, which allows you to take on the Supernatural (Su) abilities of your Alter Self forms." which isn't true, it allows you to take a single one from a single form, which is why there was the ding.

Your build has a .7 probability (70% chance) of winning the match.

Dependency on items isn't an acceptable UotSI, it's not sorry. Feats, class abilities, etc. are.

*As far as general consistency errors, I appreciate pointing them out. UotSI BAB was banded with +.3 for 19, +.2 for 18, +.1 for 17, 0 for 16, -.15 for 15, and -.3 for 14. I have updated the scores on the original sheet and table below to reflect appropriately, I am sorry about the inconvenience. Regarding Knowledge (arcana) the scoring bands were +.25 for 23 + 4 feats/class, +.15 for 23 +2, +1 for 23 +1, +.05 for 23, 0 for 8-23, -.1 for minimum +1, and -.15 for minimum. There were two errors with Knowledge Starshatter and Amueli who have been updated in the table below and on the original sheet.

Mekihl Krivim tibur Ptahzur +.11

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I've updated your offense for the additions 56 points of damage, which increased it by .11

In all honesty Dreadful Wrath wasn't calculated as along with all the other things, because it was way to hard to normalize the data, so all the situationally dependent aspects were removed in all but 1 build which relied on range (and scored low anyways). The equation is really simply (probability to hit * average damage)/enemy HP and then the ratio of you killing them before they killed you so 6 rounds/ 14 rounds.

UotSI is about feats and class abilities to build on it, not really the spells that is what is referred to in that section.

Starshatter - no change

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Everyone is judged at the level before entry into the SI.

Standings After One Judge after some disputes I didn't update the average.

Entry	Place	Total	Average
Lawrence "Curly" Andmo	Gold	17.65	4.3875
Starshatter	Silver	17.13	4.27
Onnedad Kairdwen	Bronze	16.05	4.1125
Aurelius Deadfeather	Fourth	15.94	3.985
Amueli R'thaceu	Fifth	15.92	4.0675
Mekihl Krivim tibur Ptahzur	Sixth	15.72	3.8775
Anti the Kinslayer	Seventhth	15.39	3.9475
Anh the Houseless	Eighth	15.05	3.725
Naphesche Zarna	Ninth	14.96	3.74
Subjugator Sarlagiin	Tenth	14.95	3.8375
Halfdan the Black	Eleventh	14.94	3.735
Balthazar Naught	Twelfth	14.55	3.6875
Giorre	Thirteenth	14.39	3.5975
Drylax	Fourteenth	14.27	3.6675
Naras	Fifteenth	14.17	3.6425
Exavier	Sixteenth	13.75	3.4875
Rohlerryn	Seventeenth	13.63	3.4325
Taishi	Eighteenth	13.33	3.3575
Meepo	Nineteenth	12.70	3.2375
Balthos of Myr	Twentieth	11.73	3.0325
Experiment "Novem"	Twenty-First	10.98	2.7075

[Vaz]

Trying to think of nice things to say... Um, It's a good job that the world is full of different viewpoints, I'll go with.

I know I've said in the past "it's only a game", but for whatever reason, I can't explain, this has upset me a little bit. I think it's worth pointing out that ignoring entire bits of someone's build simply because you don't feel like factoring it in is a disservice to whoever spent the time building that.

I'll make it clear that I honestly couldn't care any less about the rankings or where I am in the table. It's just that I feel that the judging is... dare I say... subpar, this time? Maybe I'm used to seeing Piggy's or OMG's, and that's spoiled me.

I've also weighed in a couple of times in favour of a more stringent dispute process, which ironically would have prevented me from disputing had it gone ahead. I was in two minds over whether to dispute or not, but I did, in the end. And it does feel like it has been slightly abused on the other side of the fence. While appreciate it takes a lot of time and effort to judge, I personally do not agree with this style of judging - where "crunching the numbers" comes across as shifting the blame, especially when half of those numbers were ignored in the first place.

If anything, the number of disputes shows that I can't be alone in feeling somewhat similar towards the initial judging.

Before I say too much, I'm going to go off and sulk before oooh butterflies.

There aren't any personal attacks here, and it's probably me whining from too little sleep and all other sorts of stuff, so please don't take it personally, just... like I said, I was peed off enough to post. That's me done.

[Kazudo]

Take from this what you will, next round I dedicate myself to judging. There's a possible chance I might be handing off Junkyard Wars after this (with a strong recommendation that it continue to attempt to adopt, adapt, and improve) episode. I'll judge next round. This round it isn't happening.

[Tim Proctor]

ignoring entire bits of someone's build simply because you don't feel like factoring it in is a disservice to whoever spent the time building that.

This isn't the case. Items/Grafts/Illegal Materials and such were not ignored and were factored in with penalties where appropriate. Also they were done so in a manner to allow for the maximum scoring of the builds, rather than RtJ. Some aspects were not calculated because it distorts the playing field as much as using alternative rules or systems would. A judge can't honestly compare a build that relies on external forces and one that doesn't, the only fair way to compare builds is to remove all their equipment and buffs.

"crunching the numbers" comes across as shifting the blame, especially when half of those numbers were ignored in the first place.

The only numbers ignored were regarding situational dependencies in a faux battle to get a judgement on the martial capabilities of a build. Those were removed for a number of reasons, #1 to ensure the battlefield was even, and 2# to prevent people complaining about the situational circumstances of the battle (My character would have snuck up on him while they were sleeping, or my character got initiative and so I power attacked and rolled a crit, etc.). I used numbers to define my scores rather than arbitrary statements which I feel shift the blame more, it is a lot easier for me to say you build feels strong and a lot harder to prove it.

[Ingus]

I know I've said in the past "it's only a game", but for whatever reason, I can't explain, this has upset me a little bit.

I can say I had the same reaction seeing my build... let's say underperforming (obviously in my point of view).
Eventually, I got better, so I'm sure you'll do too

@Lawrence: I can't say exactly what our judge did to give the against-kobold rate.
I can, though, say what I did to try (failing) to dispute his judgement.

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I took an average kobold, with X levels in fighter. I calculated his to-hit, AC and hp, then I did the same with my build.
Then I calculated average damage per hit and per turn and just calculated which hp ended first.
My result was not exactly in line with Tim, but it was also so slightly better that pointing it out seemed to me like whining

@Tim: you can put it in your signature, if you want. But doing so will grant you an evil twin / recurring villain (and, to make things worst, you'll be the air-headed one)

[Rama]

Just to give y'all an update, I'm most of the way done with judging; I expect I will be presenting the results Sunday or Monday.

I am taking an extra day (otherwise I'd present tomorrow) to review everything again. My scores are coming in unusually low across the board (mostly due to disqualifications for not meeting pre-reqs, which appears to be a major problem this go-round), and I want to double check everything to make sure I'm not overlooking anything.

[Vaz]

I can say I had the same reaction seeing my build... let's say underperforming (obviously in my point of view).
Eventually, I got better, so I'm sure you'll do too

Oh absolutely. It hasn't been the first time though. It's fair enough having a tough referee, but when the referee is refereeing hockey while you're playing football...-

[Ikeren]

I am still working on judging. I seriously intend to get it in. I'm currently at 18 out of 21.

Looks like Sunday or Monday finish for me.

[Kuulvheysoon]

I am still working on judging. I seriously intend to get it in. I'm currently at 18 out of 21.

Looks like Sunday or Monday finish for me.

Good to hear. While we wait, I've got a few (half dozen) more disputes for you, Tim.

Just to say he has my "shield spell" to AC as +4 but if he is only taking power at top levels then it would be +9 from abjurant champion.

Well, since everyone else is doing it...

First of all, thanks as always for taking the time to judge, Tim. I appreciate the feedback. I had a few questions regarding some of my scores, however.

Offense 0.26 Max Damage 144 (ATK +22/+17/+12/+8, DMG 20d6+24 Crown of Might), Init -1

This offense figure seems to be ignoring channeled offensive spells, boosted stats from my fiendform, and the fact that I'll be doubling up on attacks by fighting alongside my fiendform-boosted familiar, as referenced in his level-by-level snapshots. As you included polymorphed forms in your damage calculations on other builds, I don't know why this wasn't considered valid for Halfdan. Also, this does not seem to include Power Attack.

Defense 0.41 AC 19 (+8 Mithril full plate, +2 Mithril Heavy Shield, -2 Dex, +1 Abyssal Might, ), HP 111.5 (91.5 max 1st, + 20).

Again, these numbers seem to ignore fiendform shapes, despite the fact that for builds with polymorph you judged them based on their polymorphed forms. For example, a bearded devil gives Halfdan +7 natural armor and a +2 Dexterity bonus. Also, this ignores such boosts as false life, as well as the dweomer of transference trick to literally become immune to magic.

Versatility/Other 0.15 Stealth (invisibility, silence)

Other builds were given boosts for things like summoning (Aurelius Deadfather) and polymorph/alter self (several builds), but Halfdan was not given this same boost despite mentioning summoning, binding and fiendform uses in his tactics.

Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 You pick fey bloodline which states "Although folklore often associates fey creatures with the spirits of the dead, this belief could not be further from the truth—in fact, all fey are inherently bound to life. Thus, characters with the Fey Bloodline feat cannot learn or cast spells that create or control undead, and all such spells are removed from the spell lists of all their spellcasting classes" and you have Death Devotion, Worship a god of Death, lose apsects of your Divine Magician since you no longer get those necromancy spells, etc.

Fey Bloodline does NOT restrict you from using necromancy spells, but rather spells that create or control undead. None of Halfdan's abilities create or control undead, nor is Memnor a god associated with undead. (He is the giant god of death and magic, but not of undead.) I have difficulty seeing how this is at all a questionable rule - Fey Bloodline is pretty clear on what it restricts ("characters with the Fey Bloodline feat cannot learn or cast spells that create or control undead"), and Halfdan does not cross that line.

Defeating a foe through force of arms alone, -0.15 I want to clarify "force of arms alone" means Psionic Weapon and other powers is out, you say CR 2 so when you're level ECL 2 and I assume a Young Redcap (Monster Manual III, page 139) sent by your mother to kill you is a good battle. A cleric starts with 125 gp and your axe alone costs 40 so you're stuck with Scale mail as the best armor you can afford. This gives you a winning rate of .28. Versing a lvl 10 Kobold warrior (yeah )you have a winning rate of 0.54, either way you're not as good in combat as you think.

Fair enough, I suppose, although I do think it's worth pointing out that the average HP for a CR 2 enemy is 20.55. Even assuming no Psionic Weapon or Death Devotion, Halfdan deals an average of 14.5 damage per swing at ECL 2 (and a CR 2 enemy is considered an appropriate encounter for an entire party at ECL 2). The redcap is a notoriously under-CR'd enemy, thanks to powerful build, high HP and DR that is hard to pierce at that level (seriously, it has its own entry in the "What were they thinking?" thread, and was only bumped out at that CR because that's also the same book that houses the fleshraker).

Armor Use 0 You don't have anything that benefits from armor usage

I was a little confused here. Nar Demonbinder spells need the ASF reduction in order to function in heavy armor, which is an integral part of Halfdan's defenses. Why did Mekihl and Anti get a boost here, but not Halfdan?

Channel Spell, 0 You mention it and one issue with the low level no-save spells are that the enemies you'd be fighting Fey, Fiends, Celestials, etc. mostly all have decent SR.

First, you gave Anh a boost for using this alongside enervation, but did not give that same boost to Halfdan despite him mentioning using it alongside channel spell.

Second, you seem to be ignoring Halfdan's primary tricks with Channel Spell:

However, there are some other key spells that Halfdan can channel, and some of them are not offensive. You see, as a cleric, Halfdan the Black has access to one of the most powerful defensive spells in existence. I'm speaking of the oft-overlooked dweomer of transference. This spell converts any spells cast at him into harmless psionic energy. That's right - ANY spell, regardless of whether it allows SR, actually just feeds power points into Halfdan. This even includes area spells and effect spells. With dweomer of transference, you can become functionally IMMUNE TO MAGIC.

So why isn't this spell used more often? Well, it can only be cast on a naturally psionic creature, and it has a minute-long casting time and a relatively short duration of one round per level. Halfdan the Black, however, can circumvent both of these restrictions. As a half-giant, he is a psionic creature, and thanks to Channel Spell, he can channel the spell into a gauntlet as a move action, and strike himself to activate it in combat.

...

Thanks to the Domination domain granted by Memnor, mage-god of the giants, he learns one of the most powerful enchantments in existance: geas. This spell compels an enemy to do your bidding with no chance for a saving throw. While ordinarily the ten minute casting time keeps this spell from being used in combat, Halfdan the Black can channel it through his greataxe as a move action, allowing him to geas a foe mid-combat.

Thanks again for taking the time to judge and to review disputes!

Amueli's about 0.2 points out of 3rd place, and this dispute is potentially worth 0.4, so I feel it's worth airing.

Questionable Rules -0.25 -.25 Elvencraft bows state "Magical enhancements to an elvencraft bow only affect its use as a bow. Enhancements to the melee capabilities of the weapon must be added separately.", meaning that RAI and RAW they are separate meaning. Basically you'd have to channel the arrow not the bow, if it were a thrown weapon I'd allow it but it's different when using ammunition.

Armor Use 0.3 Armor Proficiency (Heavy), Death Master's vial of blood
Channel Spell, 0.15 You can read the elegance statement above, but I want to point out that as far as attempting to use the SI is different than application. You did try to circumvent the rules (which will cost you -.15), you have a build built around getting the Channel Spell aspect of the SI (Imbue Arrow, all the archery feats, etc.) onto the target so +.3.

Magical enhancements are a Defined Game Thing and Channel Spell is not applying one. For all other purposes the Elvencraft Bow's melee and ranged aspects are part of a unified weapon. A channeled spell affects the next target successfully attacked with the weapon, and someone being shot in the face clearly fits the bill.

Onnedad - no change
Okay I crunched the numbers with the Combat Focus class ability, but it doesn't bring it up to the .25 probability in order to get to the next band, sorry.

You list a -0.25 penalty in Elegance for mentioning a feat (Combat Focus) that was not listed in the level breakdown. However, I was referring to the Chameleon's Combat Focus option under Aptitude Focus, which is mentioned on the level breakdown. I did not think it necessary to list every possible option available under Aptitude Focus. Does this -0.25 penalty still apply?

One more nitpick regarding the Kobold: do my soulmelds (which are permanent until unshaped), such as the Natural Armor +2 from Wormtail belt, help any? I'm not sure I agree with your methodology on the Kobold match-up, but so long as it was applied consistently to each entry, I'm not sure I can complain much more than that.

Channel Spell IMO is about the mix of martial/arcane not the spells used but class features, feats like arcane strike, razing strike, area attack, etc.

Well, I do have access to Arcane Strike via the Chameleon floating feat (along with any other feat that might help Channeling), but I didn't mention this in the build, so I can't imagine that helps me any.

I'd prefer to let my disputes be "once and done," but the responses from Tim seemed to speak to a larger issue of consistency. For that reason, I'd like to respond:

If I accept that you're using different armor than the prescribed for everyone else you'd take a -1 penalty in power for reliance on items.

I'm puzzled by how you determined the prescribed armor for all the builds. Looking through, I find:

• 2 Mithril Chain Mail & Heavy Shield
• 2 Mithril Chain Mail & no shield
• 4 Mithril Full plate with no shield
• 10 Mithril Full plate & heavy shield
• 1 Mithril Mechanus Gear & light shield (Mekihl Krivim tibur Ptahzur)
• 2 Mithril Mechanus Gear & no shield (Subjugator Sarlagiin, Amueli R'thaceu)

This, then, becomes a question of consistency. Assuming the prescribed armor/shield combo is "the heaviest mithril armor in which you have proficiency," I understand the variance in chain mail/full plate and no shield/heavy shield. Why, though, are 3 builds allowed the use of exotic armor made of a special material without being docked for reliance on items but I'm being told that judging Larry as presented would result in a deduction? I'd ask you to re-evaluate your response, please.

You wrote "Assume Supernatural Ability, which allows you to take on the Supernatural (Su) abilities of your Alter Self forms." which isn't true, it allows you to take a single one from a single form, which is why there was the ding.

I don't want to get into a grammar dispute, but the introductory sentence I wrote was correct. When you select the feat, you can choose any one Supernatural ability of any one form you can take on magically. Thus, generally speaking, you can take on the Su abilities of your Alter Self forms; if one form has Su abilities A, B, and C while another form has abilities D, E, and F, you can choose any one of the six. My statement is accurate, and nowhere did I assert that I could take more than one or switch my selection. I then go on to specify the one ability of the one form that we're using the feat for in this build. There is no questionable rules interpretation at play, though I agree there would be if I was attempting to use the feat outside of its self-imposed limitations. Please re-evaluate.

Your build has a .7 probability (70% chance) of winning the match.

Now I'm more confused...I see other builds with "Rates" of over 1 (up to a max of 10.4 for Anh). Are you saying Anh has a 1,040% chance of success? Also, Anti received the same "rate" as me but saw a bonus under this criteria whereas I did not. For consistency's sake, please re-evaluate.

Dependency on items isn't an acceptable UotSI, it's not sorry. Feats, class abilities, etc. are.

My point was that other builds who use death master weren't reducing Arcane Spell Failure--they were making Arcane Spell Failure reduction a useless class feature of the Spellsword. However, they received a bonus in Use of the Secret Ingredient while I did not receive a bonus because I chose to use gear to supplement the class feature rather than rendering it meaningless. Please re-evaluate.

In all honesty Dreadful Wrath wasn't calculated as along with all the other things, because it was way to hard to normalize the data, so all the situationally dependent aspects were removed in all but 1 build which relied on range (and scored low anyways). The equation is really simply (probability to hit * average damage)/enemy HP and then the ratio of you killing them before they killed you so 6 rounds/ 14 rounds.

First I don't see a way to look at the particular NPCs you are using on hailscape.com, so I can't tell what AC/hps I'm fighting against. Regardless I have got to be missing something. I get a .42, but Ahn gets 10.4 when she has only +2 better to hit (relative to level) due to Weapon focus and STR, and a slightly better AC due to Natural Armor, and less damage per hit. Does she get use of her undead minion? Then there is Taisha that has -1 to hit (relative to level) compared to me and is probably wearing no armor but gets 1.5? I'm just not seeing any consistency in the metrics.

*Casts Revivify*

[Tim Proctor]

@Drylax +.07

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You are right, my apologies, +.07

Halfdan the Black + .11

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Regarding fiendform, you are right, I am sorry that I missed the spell +.11 (scores are +.07 to defense and +.02 to offense).

Polymorph and Alter self (into outsider or aberration) are significantly more useful than fiendform from a utility standpoint, that is why those points where awarded. Basically the options with fiendform are very limited.

Regarding Fey Bloodline, this is an elegance ruling about what I would expect a reasonable DM to rule on, and I think they would have problems with the 'spirit' of the rules. There was no deduction to power or an FtQ but simply a 'questionable' aspect. It's not a literal RAW disagreement, but a RAI disagreement/question.

Regarding the Foe, I didn't score for the Redcap but the Kobold and wanted to point out the issues with the storyline as written, and I agree that is why I used a kobold warrior instead of something stupid.

Regarding armor use, Antil got a bonus because they spent 2 feats for armor use, Mekihl got an award for Suel Archanamach adding +10%, this build didn't 'add' anything to the SI and while I understand the dependency on it, it's not the same as 'adding on it'.

Regarding Channel Spell, Anh got points for getting two people with a channel spell via the Master Thrower trick, not because the spell used. As you can see in the other disputes this section wasn't about what spell you used but adding to the spirit of the ability. Again, this is about feats, class abilities and such that 'add on', instead of the spell used, the spell used is calculated in power with the spell level available.

@Amueli - no changes

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I agree that the RAW say the bow trick works, but a reasonable DM would say no or that it's questionable, that is why you got a Questionable Rules instead of an FtQ or negative on the UotSI (where you got points). It's questionable... against RAI and that is where it is at. There are more judges and I hope to see a tight race so good luck.

Onnedad +.25

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Regarding the feat/ability focus issue, you are right in a sense that it's a misplaced scoring issue, you still missed a feat for Chameleon 2 (the bonus feat isn't listed anywhere) which is a -.25 penalty (see Balthos of Myr) which your power score can actually take the hit on because you were over the maximum 5 and is an effective +.25.

@Larry "Curly" Anmoe - no changes

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Mechanus Gear nor is Heavy Armor an exotic armor it's heavy, and everyone got Mithril. Looking at the books I see no indication that either are exotic.

Regarding grammar you literally wrote "Assume Supernatural Ability, which allows you to take on the Supernatural (Su) abilities of your Alter Self forms." As written and as read means 'all', had you written it appropriately you wouldn't have got dinged.

Regarding defeating a foe, you're right Antil shouldn't have gotten the +.0.05, bonuses were reserved for winning rates of 1 or higher, that was an error.

Regarding ASF, Death peeps ignore it and you are relying on items for it. They have a class feature that allows them to function with armor and cast spells... you don't.

Anti the Kinslayer - 0.05 via table error

@Mekihl Krivim tibur Ptahzur - no changes

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You're right there isn't a way to look them up, too bad because that's why I recorded the ID numbers.

But lets have an example here is one that I pulled up.

NPC #190503
Ouchef, male kobold War6; CR 6; HD 6d8+12; hp 40; Init +2; Spd 20 ft; AC 22/20, touch 13, flat-footed 20/18 (+1 size,+2 Dex,+1 nat,+5 armor,+1 armor enh.,+2 shield); BAB +6; Melee heavy pick +10/+5 two-handed (1d6+4/x4), or punching dagger +10/+5 light (1d4+2/x3); Ranged composite shortbow +11/+6 (1d6+2/x3); SQ darkvision 60', light sensitivity; AL NG; SV Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +1; Str 15(+2), Dex 15(+2), Con 14(+2), Int 9(-1), Wis 9(-1), Cha 6(-2).

Your build has 46 HP at level 6, and an AC of 15 (Mithril chain so you can tumble and a two-handed weapon meaning no shield)the build also has an ATK of +7 and deal 7.5 damage on average. Against the kobold above your hit rate is .3 and gives you a average damage per round of 2.25 (with such a low hit rate you probably don't want to power attack), so the foe dies after 18 rounds. They have an average damage per round against you of 6.075 and they kill your character after 8 rounds, giving you winning rate .25 against this foe, so we can assume the other one was weaker than this one.

Also Taishi wears mithril chain and can carry a shield which is more armor than you. But if you're interested in other people's builds then I'd suggest judging.

These have already been updated on the original sheet.

[Vaz]

'Also Taishi wears mithril chain and can carry a shield which is more armor than you. But if you're interested in other people's builds then I'd suggest judging.'

This is unnecessary. People want fair judging, something that is apparent not.

I am not continuing my dispute with your judging because quite honestly it is clear you don't have a clue what you are talking about. Other people choose to dispute your judging because of this, and because you were incapable of being able to come up with a build, you voluntarily judged, much like people voluntarily enter. Asking to be judged equally with someone else does mot reserve the comment that in essence says 'if you can do it better, do so'.

[Tim Proctor]

Vaz, I don't know what upset you so much, but I'm sorry. I also don't like the personal insults, no one has been insulting anyone else this round I don't know why you want to start.

I put the comment in because the builder keeps referencing other builds without understanding what the other builds actually have. Actually judging would force them to actually dig deep into the builds and evaluate them instead of making incorrect and arbitrary statements.

First I don't see a way to look at the particular NPCs you are using on hailscape.com, so I can't tell what AC/hps I'm fighting against. Regardless I have got to be missing something. I get a .42, but Ahn gets 10.4 when she has only +2 better to hit (relative to level) due to Weapon focus and STR, and a slightly better AC due to Natural Armor, and less damage per hit. Does she get use of her undead minion? Then there is Taisha that has -1 to hit (relative to level) compared to me and is probably wearing no armor but gets 1.5? I'm just not seeing any consistency in the metrics.

Ahn has more than a "slightly better AC due to Natural Armor" because they can wear full-plate and a shield giving them an AC of 23 which is significantly higher than 15 (50% higher in fact). So Ahn has 37 HP, a much higher AC, and hits more often for more damage (1d10+3 average of 8.5) and was against a CR 5 foe.

The builder again goes to incorrectly compare to another build, Taisha without understanding and accurately realizing what the build is capable of doing.

So while I may 'not have a clue' of what I'm doing I've actually crunched the numbers to prove what I'm doing.

[Vaz]

Where did i insult you? I am not insulting you by stating you don't have a clue. You are ignoring feats, and the written intended use of characters, in favour of your own.

What you are doing is ignoring how something is intending to be played, and putting your own interpretation on it. For example, stating it is irrelevant what spells you use for the channel spell, and ignoring things like arcane strike for X purposes amd counting it for y purposes.

Stating you only fight in a particular style against that opponent you made up, and able to measure each one to at least 0.02, so each encounter you ran 50 times? Ignoring how peoples builds actually use their abilities 'to keep it fair' using an example that was out of the question, when D&d is anything but fair, when PC's are either overpowerful for their opponents or underpowered when fighting... if a stealth character was going to fight, you are basically saying it would not be able to use hide, sneak attack, or its alchemical devices it has made itself in character, because it would not be fair.

I say again, the wierd little mathematics game you play is not d&d, as it was envisaged, written, intended, or actually played by any of the people i have come across on this board, or any ptf the other boards i visit/read. So the point stands, you don't seem to know what you are talking about.