Villainous Competition, Or Optimize my BBEG!

[Gwachitallemall]

Heh.. You know, when you give people more options than they normally have, suddenly they have less options than they would otherwise.

[Sam K]

I'm almost wishing I was good enough at optimizing to enter this. For now, I'll just bask in the glory of having inspired the coolest optimization challenge yet. And drinking to forget that Scorp deserves half the credit

[Wacky89]

Why would you use level adjustment for a BBEG. Unless this isn't for a DM npc.
LA buyoff wouldnt matter since you use the +xCR instead of LA

[Gwachitallemall]

Yeah, we're going by ECL, not CR. An error of copy pasta, but by the time it was noticed, I'd already received a few entries. Since I don't want to have to make those competitors rewrite their entire builds (Likely, they could make something more powerful going by CR instead of ECL), we're staying with a PC styled Villain for this round.

[Gwachitallemall]

I have 3 submissions so far, and we have 3 days left. Anyone else thinking about entering?

[Sam K]

I have a pretty good concept, but because my minmax-fu is weak, I dont really know if I can pull it off in time. I'll try to put it together this weekend, though. Unless I get distracted by playing skyrim...

[AirApparent]

I have the full build constructed , but writing the lore and snapshots has fallen to the wayside because of RL. I'll see if I can get it by this weekend.

[Red Fel]

I have 3 submissions so far, and we have 3 days left. Anyone else thinking about entering?

Let me take a shot at getting a few more submissions... Ahem.

YOU! Yes, you! Sitting there, feeling so smug while reading this thread. "I have some ideas," you think, "but what's the point? I'm not one of the big shots on this board, like Red Fel, or Afroakuma, or Red Fel. Why bother?"

Yes, I can read your mind, and I have this to say in response:

Fool! Did you think that great villainy emerged from nothing? Did you honestly believe that the greatest monsters in TTRPG history were created fully-formed from the skulls of great writers, not unlike a creepy Athena? No! Only I, Red Fel, can concoct such diabolical fiends from whole cloth! Most mundane creatures work at it. It is a talent honed over months, perhaps years of practice. One does not start from nothing.

This is your chance to start from nothing. There are those of you, no doubt, who read this thread and think as I have described above. There are others who feel it isn't worth the effort, those who are intimidated by the challenge, those who are simply disinterested. Do not be! This is an opportunity to indulge your creativity, to hone your skills and practice your art, and quite possibly to horrify yourself with how good you are at making monsters. Also, it is your opportunity to entertain me, Red Fel, with your paltry attempts at villainy. Do not disappoint me!

Perhaps you are a big name on these boards, who has taken a back seat and is simply sitting out to watch the fireworks. Set an example, and show these young'uns how the real monsters are made! Perhaps you are a newcomer, intimidated by those who have proven their proficiency before you. (Understandable; I am quite intimidating.) Do not fear; step up and take your shot! Show us the next generation of Evil!

Come, show me what you can do! Summon up your demons! Hit me, fight me! Give me a hug!

... There. That will either encourage people to submit, or cause them to curl up in the fecal position and cry.

[WeaselGuy]

Let me take a shot at getting a few more submissions... Ahem.

YOU! Yes, you! Sitting there, feeling so smug while reading this thread. "I have some ideas," you think, "but what's the point? I'm not one of the big shots on this board, like Red Fel, or Afroakuma, or Red Fel. Why bother?"

Yes, I can read your mind, and I have this to say in response:

Fool! Did you think that great villainy emerged from nothing? Did you honestly believe that the greatest monsters in TTRPG history were created fully-formed from the skulls of great writers, not unlike a creepy Athena? No! Only I, Red Fel, can concoct such diabolical fiends from whole cloth! Most mundane creatures work at it. It is a talent honed over months, perhaps years of practice. One does not start from nothing.

This is your chance to start from nothing. There are those of you, no doubt, who read this thread and think as I have described above. There are others who feel it isn't worth the effort, those who are intimidated by the challenge, those who are simply disinterested. Do not be! This is an opportunity to indulge your creativity, to hone your skills and practice your art, and quite possibly to horrify yourself with how good you are at making monsters. Also, it is your opportunity to entertain me, Red Fel, with your paltry attempts at villainy. Do not disappoint me!

Perhaps you are a big name on these boards, who has taken a back seat and is simply sitting out to watch the fireworks. Set an example, and show these young'uns how the real monsters are made! Perhaps you are a newcomer, intimidated by those who have proven their proficiency before you. (Understandable; I am quite intimidating.) Do not fear; step up and take your shot! Show us the next generation of Evil!

Come, show me what you can do! Summon up your demons! Hit me, fight me! Give me a hug!

... There. That will either encourage people to submit, or cause them to curl up in the fecal position and cry.

I have never, in my whole life (or at least the last year of it that I have spent on this website), wanted so much for there to be a like button for this.

so, instead, have a cookie.

Spoiler: Cookie

Show

[WhamBamSam]

I have a build tabled out and more or less holding together, though I'm split as to whether some of the individual ideas might be better off as separate builds. I still plan on submitting something, but I think I'm going to fool around with stuff a bit more first.

Also, just to complain for complaining's sake, the inability to dip classes that get 9th level spells, per the strict letter of competition rules, is turning out to be a huge pain in basically every idea I come up with.

[WeaselGuy]

I have a build tabled out and more or less holding together, though I'm split as to whether some of the individual ideas might be better off as separate builds. I still plan on submitting something, but I think I'm going to fool around with stuff a bit more first.

Also, just to complain for complaining's sake, the inability to dip classes that get 9th level spells, per the strict letter of competition rules, is turning out to be a huge pain in basically every idea I come up with.

I'm pretty sure that the issue regarding spells was clarified on the first page.

Am I allowed to use classes that can get 9th level spellcasting as long as I don't advance high enough in that class to get 9th level spells?

to which Gwachitallemall said:

You may, but judges are free to score this at their discretion.

seems like you can dip, just don't end with 9's, or be a super dedicated caster.

[Gwachitallemall]

I was about to respond with the same reply again. I'm not positive, but I imagine the judges would be okay, seeing a build getting 3rd or 4th, or even 6th from sorcerer or wizard, but probably not 8th. Now, this is up to the judges discretion, judges, don't take my words here as law.

I could've instead worded it this way: 9th Level spells and manifesting are disallowed. Higher level spells are discouraged.

But I didn't want to word it that way, because that's not the exact intent I was going for. Judges, if you wish to chime in on how you will rule it, that would be okay.

Also, a scoring guideline may help some people who haven't yet made their builds chime in, like a criteria of what you expect, if you're going to judge. All is possible.

Bring in some new views, let me see some blood flow! Get those creative juices going!

[Vhaidara]

Spoiler: spoilered for the weak

Show

Let me take a shot at getting a few more submissions... Ahem.

YOU! Yes, you! Sitting there, feeling so smug while reading this thread. "I have some ideas," you think, "but what's the point? I'm not one of the big shots on this board, like Red Fel, or Afroakuma, or Red Fel. Why bother?"

Yes, I can read your mind, and I have this to say in response:

Fool! Did you think that great villainy emerged from nothing? Did you honestly believe that the greatest monsters in TTRPG history were created fully-formed from the skulls of great writers, not unlike a creepy Athena? No! Only I, Red Fel, can concoct such diabolical fiends from whole cloth! Most mundane creatures work at it. It is a talent honed over months, perhaps years of practice. One does not start from nothing.

This is your chance to start from nothing. There are those of you, no doubt, who read this thread and think as I have described above. There are others who feel it isn't worth the effort, those who are intimidated by the challenge, those who are simply disinterested. Do not be! This is an opportunity to indulge your creativity, to hone your skills and practice your art, and quite possibly to horrify yourself with how good you are at making monsters. Also, it is your opportunity to entertain me, Red Fel, with your paltry attempts at villainy. Do not disappoint me!

Perhaps you are a big name on these boards, who has taken a back seat and is simply sitting out to watch the fireworks. Set an example, and show these young'uns how the real monsters are made! Perhaps you are a newcomer, intimidated by those who have proven their proficiency before you. (Understandable; I am quite intimidating.) Do not fear; step up and take your shot! Show us the next generation of Evil!

I have never, in my whole life (or at least the last year of it that I have spent on this website), wanted so much for there to be a like button for this.

so, instead, have a cookie.

Spoiler: Cookie

Show

You fool! He wants not your baked goods! Have a sacrificial Goat!

Spoiler: GOAT

Show

Come, show me what you can do! Summon up your demons! Hit me, fight me! Give me a hug!

It makes me so happy that you referenced this. I make sure to reference it daily.

EDIT: As far as scoring,
Power: I will primarily be looking at how good of a boss fight the character would be, so a description of his lair/arena could be helpful (mechanical obstacles). Otherwise, I am forced to assume the traditional featureless plain. I will be lenient on this, since I know people have already submitted. But for future rounds, this will be a big deal on my judging.

Originality: I'll be taking a leaf out of the book of my high school english teachers. Google random lines of your backstory/build, see if you copied them. Otherwise, it will be based on how much I like what you produce. Remember, look through Red Fel's post history for how I think evil should be done.

Elegance: Again, this is a bit of a by since we aren't using CR, but I will use Iron Chef standards here. More than two "half X" templates? Better explain. Worth noting that if the backstory can explain it, then it actually will become a bonus to elegance (for example, if a half-dragon makes a deal with Asmodeus and gains the half-fiend template, that is a beautiful mixing of fluff and crunch). Also, I do allow for reflavoring of things (Goliaths or half giants can just be really big humans), though that's a personal thing, so you may lose points with other judges on this. I'm okay with it here because, as a BBEG, this is an NPC run by the GM. Who makes these calls.

Concept: Goes hand in hand with originality. Make me swoon.

[Troacctid]

As a judge, I'd be comfortable with spells up to 4th level before I start raising one eyebrow at you. That's what a Ranger or a Paladin would get, and they're quite firmly in the martial category, I think. I don't actually expect anyone to go higher than that; I probably wouldn't penalize you for 6th level spells on a non-fullcasting class, but given the premise of this round, I'd be surprised if anyone went that route.

[WhamBamSam]

That simplifies things for me considerably, and makes it possible for me to submit a build that's less of a mess for my main idea. I probably won't have time for a second, and there's a bit of overlap which might hurt my originality score anyway.

[AvatarVecna]

Ah, screw it. I'll judge; my build just doesn't want to come together.

[Gwachitallemall]

Exactly 1 Day left (I'll be ending it at this time (well, at 6:00, so in 5 more minutes from this post) tomorrow), I still only have 3 entries. Come on, looks like we have 4-5 judges.

[WeaselGuy]

Yeah, ICITP only had 6 entries this go round, with half of them being submitted in the last 12 hours of the competition

[AirApparent]

I'm just not going to finish, so I'll just tell you guys what I wanted to do afterwards.

Can't wait to see the submitted characters though

[WhamBamSam]

I'm mostly done. I'll most likely finish later tonight after I get through running my roll20 game.

[Livius]

I just sent in one entry. I've got another already statted out, and I know what the fluff is, but I'm having a hard time writing it.

[Sam K]

Sorry, the sun was shining this weekend. I prioritized cruising in the Jag over making warlords. Partly because I get confused about putting everything in tables; making up characters is confusing enough, worrying about formats just depresses me! I'm not very lawful.

[AvatarVecna]

Sorry, the sun was shining this weekend. I prioritized cruising in the Jag over making warlords. Partly because I get confused about putting everything in tables; making up characters is confusing enough, worrying about formats just depresses me! I'm not very lawful.

My problem with putting things in tables is that I'm not particularly computer savvy; if there was some sort of software tool that would let me type everything into a visible table (ala Excel/Google Spreadsheet) and would then turn it into the HTML code, I would be so much happier in general. I'm pretty sure such a thing exists, but other than my very first attempt at the Iron Chef Optimization Competition (the Dwarven Defender round), I've never come close enough to finishing an entry for the tedious task of entering everything into the table code to really sink in. Sure, it bothered me the one time I actually managed to complete an entry, but I got over it.

That said, if anyone knows where online I could find a tool like that, and could either mention a site name or provide a link, I'd be most appreciative. Thanks!

[WeaselGuy]

My problem with putting things in tables is that I'm not particularly computer savvy; if there was some sort of software tool that would let me type everything into a visible table (ala Excel/Google Spreadsheet) and would then turn it into the HTML code, I would be so much happier in general. I'm pretty sure such a thing exists, but other than my very first attempt at the Iron Chef Optimization Competition (the Dwarven Defender round), I've never come close enough to finishing an entry for the tedious task of entering everything into the table code to really sink in. Sure, it bothered me the one time I actually managed to complete an entry, but I got over it.

That said, if anyone knows where online I could find a tool like that, and could either mention a site name or provide a link, I'd be most appreciative. Thanks!

Actually, when you enter the table using the table tool, if you look up, there's a button that has a small A with a / and then a larger A... this enables WYSIWYG mode (What You See Is What You Get). There's also an online tool that someone linked in a past competition I worked on, I'll find it in a bit when I have more time.

[AvatarVecna]

Actually, when you enter the table using the table tool, if you look up, there's a button that has a small A with a / and then a larger A... this enables WYSIWYG mode (What You See Is What You Get). There's also an online tool that someone linked in a past competition I worked on, I'll find it in a bit when I have more time.

Thanks for the advice! Of course, I didn't quite believe I'd been that imperceptive until I actually started this reply and saw the button. I'll be sure to make good use of that button in the future .

[WeaselGuy]

Thanks for the advice! Of course, I didn't quite believe I'd been that imperceptive until I actually started this reply and saw the button. I'll be sure to make good use of that button in the future .

Here's that other link I promised you, courtesy of sideswipe.

[MorgromTheOrc]

I did really want to enter but I had the same problem with trouble using the table as I've never used anything like that before. But I might make a post about what my idea was after the winners are posted.

[LooseCannoneer]

I was going to enter, but I just noticed my entire build was based around a feat I missed the prereqs for.

[Sam K]

Ok, so the sun wasn't shining this evening. Entry mailed to the supreme chancelor.

I'm such a geek.

[Aka-chan]

I've never done one of these before, but I really like the idea and I had some extra time due to the ongoing snowpocalypse keeping me out of work, so I sent something in.