Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground LXXX

[Heliomance]

A dimly-lit library. Rows of bookshelves line the walls, and as the camera slowly pans over them, we see that they are filled with gaming books. From the original brown-cover D&D manuals to the newest fifth edition supplements, we are given a brief but breathtaking history of over four decades of gaming in visual form.

A pair of feet, clad in Converse, appear. The camera pans back to reveal the Chairwoman as she strides out into Optimization Stadium. Slowly, she looks around at the battleground. Rapidly, we are shown shots of the gaming materials here assembled: books, miniatures, maps, dice. The Chairwoman reaches down and picks up a twenty-sided die. She rolls it, then turns to the camera... and smiles.

The camera pulls back from the smile to reveal... the Iron Gamers. Row upon row they stand, clad in the uniform of their trade: t-shirts with fantasy images, buttons with obscure quotes from novels and movies, dice bags at the ready. The shot dissolves into flames and the logo:

Iron Gamer

A montage of the contestants plays, with summaries of their optimization triumphs and achievements. Interspersed are brief interviews. Finally, though, the introductions are over. The contestants stand arrayed before the Chairwoman.

Chairwoman: We unveil the ingredient!

Tense music plays as the pedestal containing the mystery ingredient rises from below. Stacked neatly on the pedestal are copies of Complete Adventurer.

Chairwoman: This month's theme is... Master of Many Forms! ALLEZ OPTIMISER!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome, contestants, judges, and guests to Iron Chef LXIX. Here in Optimisation Colosseum, contestants will endeavour to create an optimized and flavourful character using a specified D&D3.5 prestige class as a "Secret Ingredient".

Contestants: You will need to present a full 20-level build for your entry. Also required is a rundown of how your build works at lower levels, to demonstrate that it is a functional character that could be played from 1-20 in a real game. Traditionally contestants give "snapshots" of tactics and abilities at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, as well as a "sweet spot" of their choosing that represents what they believe to be the high point of the build. The purpose of these snapshots is not just to showcase your use of the SI, it is to demonstrate that your character is playable at every level. For this reason, it's still worth giving a snapshot before you have entered the SI.

Menu: The "special ingredient" can be drawn from any legal source. Originally, the plan was to mostly use Core and Completes, but that was a long time ago, and we've started running out of interesting classes to use if we restrict ourselves to those.

32 point-buy is the presumed creation method, but we have generally allowed other levels of point-buy.
If you do use a different point-buy, please make your case for its necessity in your entry. Keep in mind that for using exceptionally large or small point-buys may warrant deductions in elegance and/or power.

Kitchen: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon magazine is disallowed, and Unearthed Arcana is allowed; but see Elegance below. Web-exclusive 3.0 or 3.5 materials by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt or Generic Classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Also, item familiars are forbidden because I hate 'em. Please refrain from using Taint unless it's necessary for the Secret Ingredient.
NB: Official Errata and 3.5 updates to 3.0 content are considered valid regardless of whether their sources would otherwise be legal. This includes the 3.5 update of Oriental Adventures given in Dragon Magazine, and the 3.5 updates of Dragonlance Campaign Setting content given in later third party Dragonlance books.

Cooking Time: Contestants will have until 07:59 GMT on Sunday, Semptember 11th, 2016 to create their builds and PM them to the Chairwoman, Heliomance. Please put the name of your build in the subject line of your PM. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 07:59 GMT on Sunday, September 25th, 2016 to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted.

Judging: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, Use of Secret Ingredient.

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

Elegance could bear a little elaboration. It basically measures how skillfully you put your build together, and whether you sacrificed flavor for power. We're cooking here - if your dish doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter how well-presented it is. Use of flaws is considered in poor taste, and judges are asked to take a dim view of this option, taking it into account while grading. Other things that will cause penalties here are excessive multi-classing, and classes that don't fit the concept - using Cloistered Cleric in a front-line melee fighter, for example, will lose you points.Please note the following change: a legal source's relative obscurity should not be considered as penalizing Elegance, excepting the aforementioned issues with Unearthed Arcana. Using too many sources may result in a penalty to Elegance at the judges' discretion, but a book's relative obscurity may not. In that same vein, drawing solely from the Core 3 (and the d20 SRD) should not be punished for lacking Originality.

Presentation: Builds will be posted anonymously, in order to avoid the potential of bias towards a particular competitor. For this reason, please don't put your name in the build, as I'm likely to miss it when reviewing the entries!

Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, I'd like everyone to try to use the following table for their entry.

Spoiler

Show

NAME OF ENTRY

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
2nd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
3rd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
4th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
5th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
6th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
7th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
8th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
9th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
10th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
11th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
12th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
13th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
14th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
15th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
16th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
17th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
18th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
19th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
20th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities

Code immediately below (spoiler).

Spoiler

Show

[table="class: head alt1 alt2"]
[tr]
[th][B]Level[/B][/th]
[th][B]Class[/B][/th]
[th][B]Base Attack Bonus[/B][/th]
[th][B]Fort Save[/B][/th]
[th][B]Ref Save[/B][/th]
[th][B]Will Save[/B][/th]
[th][B]Skills[/B][/th]
[th][B]Feats[/B][/th]
[th][B]Class Features[/B][/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]1st[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]2nd[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3rd[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]4th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]5th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]6th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]7th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]8th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]9th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]10th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]11th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]12th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]13th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]14th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]15th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]16th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]17th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]18th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]19th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]20th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

For entries with spellcasting, use the following table for Spells per day and Spells Known. (Spells Known only if necessary, i.e. Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage)

Spoiler

Show

Spells per Day/Spells Known
Spells per Day/Spells Known

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

Code immediately below (spoiler)

Spoiler

Show

[B]Spells per Day/Spells Known[/B]
[B]Spells per Day/Spells Known[/B]
[table="class:head alt1 alt2"]
[tr]
[th][B]Level[/B][/th]
[th][B]0lvl[/B][/th]
[th][B]1st[/B][/th]
[th][B]2nd[/B][/th]
[th][B]3rd[/B][/th]
[th][B]4th[/B][/th]
[th][B]5th[/B][/th]
[th][B]6th[/B][/th]
[th][B]7th[/B][/th]
[th][B]8th[/B][/th]
[th][B]9th[/B][/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]1st[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]2nd[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3rd[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]4th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]5th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]6th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]7th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]8th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]9th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]10th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]11th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]12th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]13th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]14th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]15th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]16th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]17th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]18th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]19th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]20th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list.

Speculation: Please don't post or speculate on possible builds until the "reveal," in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.

Leadership is banned; we're producing a meal, not a seven-course banquet for a hundred diners. If your entry includes a prestige class or ACF that grants Leadership or a Leadership-like ability as a bonus feat, the feat should be ignored and is not eligible to be traded away for another feat or ACF through any means.

So! Who wants to sign up as a contestant, and who wants to sign up as a judge? Looking for as many contestants and judges as feel like playing!

We will award 1st through 3rd places, as well as a shout-out for honourable mention. The honourable mention prize is given to the most daring or unexpected build. Judges, contestants and guests alike are invited to vote for honourable mention via PM. If there are no votes, Honourable Mention will go to the chairwoman's favourite build.

The Builds

Past Competitions

Spoiler: The First Fifty

Show

Iron Chef I: Entropomancer
Iron Chef II: Psibond Agent
Iron Chef III: Cancer Mage
Iron Chef IV: Stonelord
Iron Chef V: War Chanter
Iron Chef VI: Master of Masks
Iron Chef VII: Green Star Adept
Iron Chef VIII: Pyrokineticist
Iron Chef IX: Animal Lord
Iron Chef X: Mythic Exemplar
Iron Chef XI: Blade Bravo
Iron Chef XII: War Mind
Iron Chef XIII: Vigilante
Iron Chef XIV: Seeker of the Song
Iron Chef XV: Drunken Master
Iron Chef XVI: Assassin
Iron Chef XVII: Ardent Dilettante
Iron Chef XVIII: Unseelie Dark Hunter
Iron Chef XIX: Dread Pirate
Iron Chef XX: Incandescent Champion
Iron Chef XXI: Ghostwalker
Iron Chef XXII: Dervish
Iron Chef XXIII: Divine Crusader
Iron Chef XXIV: Tactical Soldier
Iron Chef XXV: Scion of Tem-Et-Nu
Iron Chef XXVI: Shadowdancer
Iron Chef XXVII: Mindbender
Iron Chef XXVIII: Cryokineticist
Iron Chef XXIX: Consecrated Harrier
Iron Chef XXX: Initiate of Pistis Sophia
Iron Chef XXXI: Shadow Sentinel
Iron Chef XXXII: Temple Raider of Olidammara
Iron Chef XXXIII: Drow Judicator
Iron Chef XXXIV: Dragon Disciple
Iron Chef XXXV: Death Delver
Iron Chef XXXVI: Acolyte of the Skin
Iron Chef XXXVII: Justiciar
Iron Chef XXXVIII: Hand of the Winged Master
Iron Chef XXXIX: Renegade Mastermaker
Iron Chef XL: Nightsong Infiltrator
Iron Chef XLI: Geomancer
Iron Chef XLII: Shadowblade
Iron Chef XLIII: Bladesinger
Iron Chef XLIV: Urban Soul
Iron Chef XLV: Talon of Tiamat
Iron Chef XLVI: Cipher Adept
Iron Chef XLVII: Cold Iron Warrior
Iron Chef XLVIII: Shadow Sun Ninja
Iron Chef XLIX: Thrall to Orcus
Iron Chef L: Corrupt Avenger

Iron Chef LI: Black Flame Zealot
Iron Chef LII: Anointed Knight
Iron Chef LIII: Zerth Cenobite
Iron Chef LIV: Osteomancer
Iron Chef LV: Mountebank
Iron Chef LVI: Dwarven Defender
Iron Chef LVII: Darkrunner
Iron Chef LVIII: Spellsword
Iron Chef LIX: Fleet Runner of Ehlonna
Iron Chef LX: Lasher
Iron Chef LX(II): Acolyte of the Ego
Iron Chef LXII: Dungeon Lord
Iron Cheff LXIII: Witchborn Binder
Iron Chef LXIV: Slime Lord
Iron Chef LXV: Thunder Guide
Iron Chef LXVI: Dwarven Chanter
Irogn Chef LXVII: Gnome Giant Slayer
Iron Chef LXIX: Fang of Lolth
Iron Chef LXIX: Shiba Protector
Iron Chef LXX: Order of the Bow Initiate
Iron Chef LXXI: Silver Key
Iron Chef LXXII: Spellfire Channeler
Iron Chef LXXIII: Flux Adept
Iron Chef LXXIV: Crinti Shadow Marauder
Iron Chef LXXV: Thief of Life
Iron Chef LXXVI: Legacy Champion
Iron Chef LXXVII: Great Rift Skyguard
Iron Chef LXVIII: Risen Martyr
Iron Chef LXXIX: Black Blood Hunter

[Heliomance]

FAQ:
Q: What's this even about?
A: I'm glad you asked, actually...

Q: Is Dragon Compendium Allowed?
A: Yes (as well as its Errata), but individual issues of Dragon Magazine are not.

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

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

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

Q: Where's the line drawn with "acceptable/unacceptable" for Unearthed Arcana? This will likely vary a bit from Chairman to Chairman. Item Familiars and Gestalt have always been verboten, since before IC migrated to GitP; don't expect that to change. Flaws have similarly always been noted as warranting a deduction; while I am Chairman, I'm extending that to Traits, though they warrant 1/2 the penalty in Elegance that a Flaw would because they're roughly 1/2 as useful. Alternate spell systems, alternate skill systems and alternate crafting rules all create an uneven playing field, and as such, will be disallowed for as long as I am Chairman. In a similar vein, LA buyoff and fractional BAB are also disallowed. Bloodlines and the Retraining options presented in the PHB2 are ripe for abuse, and will be strongly discouraged as long as I am Chairman. Note that judges are allowed to look askance at any use of Unearthed Arcana not specifically mentioned above, at their discretion, and otherwise penalize Elegance according to their preference.

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

Q: What's the minimum score in a category?
A: Assuming an entry is legal, the minimum score in any category is 1. If a judge is convinced that an entry is mechanically illegal by the RAW, the judge may give the build a score of 0 in Elegance, and proceed to judge the entry as if the offending material was not included. Failing to meet a special requirement for a prestige class does not merit a 0, but may qualify for a penalty, at the judge's discretion. Because this contest focuses on Player Characters, an entry that is not technically allowed for a PC, but is viable as an NPC, counts as a legal entry, but may receive a minimum score at the judges' discretion.

Q: Creatures and templates with no listed LA are playable, right?
A: No. No listed LA is equivalent to LA: -. It is not suitable for PCs. If you use it, expect judges to look extremely disfavourably on it.

Q: So what's the deal with equipment, anyway?
A: There is no official policy on how much equipment you should list. Historically, judges have frowned upon "item dependent" builds, but unfortunately the definition of that has been applied to mean anything from builds that don't function if you remove one very specific item, to builds that so much as mention a particular weapon. Builds that don't list gear should be assumed to buy useful generics - items to boost their primary stats, cloaks of resistance, appropriate magical weapons and armour, and so forth. If a build would find particular items useful, they should be listed, but experience suggests that the more generic you keep them, the more favourably judges are likely to look upon them, as a build being shut down because the Thundering Bagpipes of Urist McTrumpetbritches were unavailable is considered a weakness. Similarly, requiring items in order to be able to qualify for things tends to be frowned upon.

Q: Do you have any other rules and guidelines on how to judge?
A: We do, actually, designed to try and avoid unpleasantness we've encountered in past contests. The things we've come up with to avoid repeating this are given below.

Spoiler

Show

One Mistake, One Penalty

Spoiler: What does this mean?

Show

Judges are only allowed to penalise once for a given mistake. If someone messes up their skills and doesn't qualify for a PrC, ding them as hard as you like. Once. In one category. You don't then get to declare that because they didn't qualify for that PrC, they don't get those levels, and thus don't qualify for anything else. If Ranger is a common ingredient, ding them for Originality. Once. Don't also take off points for Two-Weapon-Fighting being a common ingredient.

Non-exhaustive list of examples:

Skills

Allowed:

• Giving a penalty for miscalculating the number of skill points gained
• Giving a penalty for not having enough ranks to meet a prerequisite
• Increasing the harshness of a skill miscalculation penalty if it affects critical skills including prereqs

Not allowed:

• Giving separate penalties for miscalculating skill points and for non-qualification where the non-qualification is solely caused by the miscalculation

Prereqs

Allowed:

• Giving a penalty for not meeting prereqs
• Scaling the penalty depending on how important the item that the build failed to qualify for is
• Giving minimum score in UotSI for not qualifying for the SI
• (Trial, may be disallowed later)Not giving credit for (note: not the same as penalising for) tactics using feats or classes other than the SI that were not qualified for (but see below)

Not Allowed:

• "Cascading" failures to qualify - declaring that because a build doesn't qualify for a feat, for example, it also doesn't qualify for anything using that feat as a prereq
• Treating a build as having fewer levels than it does because of FtQ for classes

Other general things that are no longer allowed:

• Penalising because someone has chosen to build a tribute to an existing creative work
• Deciding that a backstory has not met a fluff prerequisite well enough, or because its method of meeting it is "unrealistic". You may penalise if a fluff prereq is not addressed at all, but not for how well it is addressed.

Note that these are protections, not licenses. Deliberately taking a feat that you know you don't qualify for hoping to just suck up the judging penalty for a feat that you couldn't normally take is not okay, and may lead to your build being disqualified.

Q: Do you have any contest house rules or clarifications to ambiguous rules?
A: Some that have come up in previous contests and needed answers to:

• All creatures are proficient with any natural weapons they may have or acquire.
• Bonus feats that are granted even if you do not meet the prerequisites do not require you to meet the prerequisites in order to use.
• Able Learner's benefit applies to the level you take it.

[Sian]

This is going to be interesting

Edit:

Question ... How much is dependent on the cooks ability to find particularly good monsters to wildshape into

[Troacctid]

Question! Master of Many Forms requires the wild shape class feature, yes? So gaining it via a race or template doesn't work?

Question ... How much is dependent on the cooks ability to find particularly good monsters to wildshape into

If it's a trick that every build has access to, you shouldn't gain a power advantage over them for it. If you have some special way to abuse a particular form that the other entries don't, then I could see giving extra points for it.

[Heliomance]

Question! Master of Many Forms requires the wild shape class feature, yes? So gaining it via a race or template doesn't work?

I'm going to be permissibe. If it's called Wild Shape, it works.

[Thurbane]

Interesting. A PrC with a high op ceiling. Hmm...

[Kelb_Panthera]

Holy crap, really? MoMF? This could really be something to see.

[MisterKaws]

I have some ideas, but I think I'll just sit back and watch. I'm not very good at optimizing classes that have Ultimate Cosmic Power™ as a class feature.

[WhamBamSam]

Huh. Well then. I worry that the ground is pretty well-trodden with regard to MoMF optimization, but whatever. I'm down.

Speaking of well-trodden ground, I don't think we need to be too worried about speculation in regard to this rules argument (it was part of an early draft of Pun-Pun, so it's pretty well known). The racial Wild Shape ability that Troacctid is referring to is called "[Adjective] Wild Shape" rather than "Wild Shape," but does have a line of text saying that it's identical to a Druid's Wild Shape ability, which might be enough to qualify it even if racial abilities wouldn't ordinarily work.

[KrimsonNekros]

So close and yet so far, ah well lets make the best of it.

[Heliomance]

Huh. Well then. I worry that the ground is pretty well-trodden with regard to MoMF optimization, but whatever. I'm down.

I did wonder about that, but I'm hopeful that the fine minds of Iron Chef can rise to the occasion.

[Deadline]

I did wonder about that, but I'm hopeful that the fine minds of Iron Chef can rise to the occasion.

Well, as pointed out, this ingredient is pretty much an already solved equation. I'm sure a few entries might surprise me, but Originality is certain to suffer heavily.

I'm tentatively in to judge on this one, but that's only because the four builds that immediately sprung to mind are either well-known, or contain well-known parts.

[Sian]

Well Deadline, I'm cautiously optimistic that I've found a path that aren't as weltrodden as most ...

[Zaq]

Oh dear. I was hoping to enter this round (I've been on the sidelines for the last, um, several), but this may be too rich for my blood, if you know what I mean. Druid-like things are pretty scary in my book. I'll think about this, but I'm already kind of intimidated.

It's interesting what MoMF doesn't advance, though. Unless I'm misreading it, MoMF doesn't increase the duration of Wild Shape (a relatively small concern given how many uses you get), and it also doesn't increase the HD limit on Wild Shape. The HD limit seems like a bit of a problem at higher levels. I'm sure that there are ways around it, but it's probably something that shouldn't be ignored outright, unless I'm missing an important clause somewhere.

The fact that this is a well-known and high-powered ingredient means that it's likely that there will be more entries than I am comfortable judging, but regardless of who ends up serving as our judge(s), might I be so bold as to request/recommend that entries be as specific as possible with regard to their tactics and their favored forms? The SI is necessarily extremely open-ended, so as Sian and Troacctid have already touched on, there's a danger of me-tooism if the entries aren't relatively specific about what they plan to shape into. It would be doing the class a disservice to expect or require that every single possibility be accounted for, but I think you can see what I'm talking about.

If nothing else, this should be fun to watch.

[WhamBamSam]

It's interesting what MoMF doesn't advance, though. Unless I'm misreading it, MoMF doesn't increase the duration of Wild Shape (a relatively small concern given how many uses you get), and it also doesn't increase the HD limit on Wild Shape. The HD limit seems like a bit of a problem at higher levels. I'm sure that there are ways around it, but it's probably something that shouldn't be ignored outright, unless I'm missing an important clause somewhere.

It does increase the HD limit, per the last line of Improved Wild Shape, but you seem to be right about duration.

[Deadline]

Well Deadline, I'm cautiously optimistic that I've found a path that aren't as weltrodden as most ...

I eagerly await being surprised, so do your best. Goodness knows that the absolute craziest builds I've seen were in the Cipher Adept round, which featured an ingredient that no one would use because it was mostly powerless and bland. Maybe a fully featured and powerful ingredient will yield similar results? Here's hoping!

But there are very limited methods for entry, and the topic of what forms are best is very well covered. So you certainly have your work cut out for you. I'll post up my judging criteria later today.

[Zaq]

It does increase the HD limit, per the last line of Improved Wild Shape, but you seem to be right about duration.

I don't see that at all. Was there errata? Here's what my copy of CAdv says on pg. 59:

"Improved Wild Shape (Su): A master of many forms kknows how to use her wild shape ability to assume a wider range of forms. At 1st level, she can assume a humanoid form with wild shape. She later gains the ability to assume the form of a giant (at 2nd level), a monstrous humanoid (at 3rd level), a fey (at 4th level), a vermin (at 5th level), an aberration (at 6th level), a plant (at 7th level), an ooze (at 8th level), an elemental (at 9th level), and a dragon (at 10th level).

The size limit of the shapes she can assume also increases as she gains levels. At 2nd level, she can assume the form of a Large creature; at 4th level, a Tiny creature; at 6th level, a Huge creature; at 8th level, a Diminutive creature; and at 10th level, a Gargantuan creature.

A master of many forms also gains one additional daily use of her wild shape ability per class level gained."

Nothing about increased HD. I see additional legal types, I see additional legal sizes, and I see increased daily uses, but I don't see an increase in HD. Am I looking at the wrong thing?

[WhamBamSam]

It's possible I was the one looking at the wrong thing. A certain website adds the following line to its MoMF entry.

The master of many forms' class levels stack with other class levels that grant wild shape for the purpose of determining the maximum Hit Dice of a form.

Complete Adventurer doesn't seem to have any such language though, so unless there was errata or an update somewhere, that seems to just be wishful thinking on someone's part.

[Sian]

I don't see that at all. Was there errata?

Yes, the Errata states that it stacks for HD

meanwhile the FAQ (p32), which is of a newer date than the Errata suggests that the RAI is that it should stack for Duration as well.

That calls for a Chair ruling

[GnomishPride]

Much better than the last one. I feel an idea coming on!

[Heliomance]

Yes, the Errata states that it stacks for HD

meanwhile the FAQ (p32), which is of a newer date than the Errata suggests that the RAI is that it should stack for Duration as well.

That calls for a Chair ruling

Think I'm going to be strict on this one - errata is in effect, but the FAQs aren't. Duration does not increase.

[The Viscount]

Not sure that I'll be able to make something worthwhile but i'm very interested in what this lot can do

[daremetoidareyo]

Is it weird that I'm just not that interested in this one?

[Thurbane]

I have some ideas, but I think I'll just sit back and watch. I'm not very good at optimizing classes that have Ultimate Cosmic Power™ as a class feature.

That's pretty much where I'm sitting.

If I do get an entry in, it'll either be a comedic value entry, or try to do something so bizarre with the ingredient it'll at least score originality points.

[Deadline]

Is it weird that I'm just not that interested in this one?

Well, part of the challenge of Iron Chef to me has always been trying to make something good out of something terrible. But even in our competition's namesake show, every once in a while they'd get an actual good ingredient.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't think it's weird, as I like working with the bad ingredients more than the good. If you are having a hard time drawing inspiration, might I suggest stepping up to judge?

Speaking of which:

Judging criteria:

Spoiler

Show

I'm going with the rather standard 3 point BASELINE in each category, adjusted up or down based on your dish choices. I'm going to judge dishes with the same sort of eye I would GM for them.

Keep in mind that multiclassing penalties are a thing that exist in the RAW, so they will be factored into my judging.

IMPORTANT: This particular SI is well tread ground for optimization. There are well known builds and forms for getting the most power out of this SI. I will be using said builds when gauging power, but keep in mind that if you use those builds (whole or in part), that will likely tank your originality score. I guess what I'm saying is either be different (but still reasonably powerful), or execute the well-known ground as perfectly as possible (to make up for the loss in Originality you'll suffer). On the flip side, you can expect to do well in Originality if you use an entry method that isn't common (there are 3 common entry methods), and you use uncommon yet reasonably powerful forms.

You may find a number of commonalities with other judges' criteria here, and that's because I'm a terrible, terrible plagiarist.

Originality

Spoiler

Show

What is it that you've chosen for your dish? Is it surprising, does it do things I haven't seen before? Did you use something completely off-the-wall or unexpected? Did you use a well known trick in a new or different way? All of these things will generally warrant an increase to your score. Well known tricks (I dont' care if you invented it 2 years ago, it's still a 2 year old trick), expected elements, using a well-known build, or using a build very similar to the example build for the SI will generally warrant a decrease in score. Using expected elements in your dish will generally warrant a decrease in score, unless those elements are required by the SI.

All of that said, the general rule of thumb for scoring well in this category is "do something new or fresh with your approach".

And now for the plagiarism. I liked this "Baseline build" section so much, I'm stealing it. Word for word.

BASELINE BUILD: A build that steers clear of known cheese and standard build elements, but doesn't necessarily make me sit up and go "wow." Builds that involve new combinations or focus on unexpected elements will score higher here, while builds that utilize known cheese or that are pretty much stock builds will score lower.

Power

Spoiler

Show

When shooting for power, the main focus is on how well you perform your intended role, how versatile you are with your various tricks, how solid your power is from 1-20, and what happens to you if some or all of your tricks are rendered irrelevant.

Spells are not the only measure of power, and perhaps more importantly, I'll be looking at your dish over its various level breakpoints to determine power. If you can't punch a hole in a wet paper bag from levels 1-19 but gain the power of a 20th level wizard at 20th level, you may get less of an increase than someone who had a solid power curve all the way to 20, assuming you both ended in a similar level of power at 20. As I said earlier, power will be a function of how well you perform your intended role. What tricks are you throwing out, how potent are they, and how do you handle hard counters to your tricks?

WBL Item dependent power will generally mean a decrease here. Everyone gets better with items, I'm interested in what your dish can do without them. That said, if you want to point out where a specific item would enhance one of your tricks beyond the obvious, feel free to point it out. It's not going to be worth anything on its own, but it could be the favorable last straw to tip something in your favor.

More plagiarism! Word for word save for an extra sentence at the end.

BASELINE BUILD: A build that can meaningfully contribute to a party in most CR-appropriate encounters. Builds that can't, either because their overall power is too low or because they only function in very specific situations, will score lower here. Builds that are particularly proficient or useful, or that can meaningfully contribute even in over-CR'd encounters, will score higher. Builds that maintain a solid power curve over their 1-20 progression will score higher here.

Elegance

Spoiler

Show

[Citation Needed] - Seriously, don't make me dig through books or guess at what minute detail you used from some obscure source. At the very least, please indicate what came from where. I'm generally familiar with the Completes, Core/SRD, and the Spell Compendium. Beyond that, it would be nice to have an indicator that "Black Blood of the Earth" is a feat from the Complete Guide to Big Trouble in Little China. Especially if this competition churns out 20+ entrants.

Like other judges, I'm not a huge fan of smashing multiple setting specific material together, UNLESS we are talking about something in the Planescape setting. Basically, if it's an obvious power grab that slaps the setting material in the face, you'll probably get points in power, but lose points here.

Did you qualify for everything you took? Does everything flow together well? Did you avoid random dips? Does your fluff justify anything that needs to be justified? These will all generally get you an increase.

Alignment shift shenanigans may result in a decrease here.

Entering the SI as early as possible is generally looked favorably upon. When you enter the SI may result in a score modification.

Your presentation is important here. Is everything clean and easy to read? Did you keep your fluff skirt length (this is not a prose contest)?

I mentioned it earlier, but it bears repeating. I'm judging these entries with the same eyes I'd use if I were GMing. So heavy cheese and questionable tricks may score points in originality and power, but those same tactics may cost you here. Since it has been mentioned multiple times in this thread, I'll go on the record as being one of those people who believe that when you don't meet the prerequisites of X, you no longer benefit from X. Feats, prestige classes, etc. And don't try to get smug and ask me what happens to Dragon Disciples with the capstone, I'll do the same thing I'd do at my table - tell you they still work fine and throw a book at your head.

That said, I'm not opposed to your dish being awesome, just to questionable interpretations of the rules. Pure RAW leaves a hilariously unplayable game, so breaking your character with RAW will cost you here (and remember that power can only go to a maximum of 5). As time goes on, I'll try to list out in my future criteria any things that come up in which I'll side against, but given the enormous amount of options out there, I'll only be able to add to this list as I come across them.

Plagiarism Parrot says that this baseline build paragraph is awesome! Raaawwwk!

BASELINE BUILD: A build that you can pick up and walk over to almost any table, and it won't raise any eyebrows. Builds that are DM-dependent or questionable rules-wise will score lower here, as will builds that are clunky and messy. Builds that are a thing of beauty will score higher here - ones that make even the stuffiest DM sit up and say, hey, that's awesome, I'd love to have you in our group.

Use of Secret Ingredient

Spoiler

Show

First and foremost, if you don't qualify for the SI, you get a 1 here (1 is the minimum score in a category, right?). Make sure your dish qualifies for the SI. Also, given the nature of this contest and its rules, I'm fairly certain I'd be justified in giving you a 1 if you use no levels of the SI. If you want to submit a dish that mimics the SI, that's what the Zinc Saucier competition is for.

Using less than the full 10 levels of the SI will usually result in a decrease. Exceptions can be made here, but the dish had better really represent the SI.

For the most part, the way to score high here is to make sure your dish really embodies the SI. Have you used all parts of the SI to good effect? Did you really use the SI's abilities, or just "get" them? As an example, Talon of Tiamat gained an immunity to a chosen element at a certain level. Had that been the SI, did you find a way to use that other than, "I took immunity to fire because it's the most common element."? Finding a way to showcase all parts of the SI in an interesting manner will be the path to scoring highly here. Make the SI the focus of your dish, and enhance it. If you overpower the SI with abilities or features from other elements, I'm going to ask the question, "Why did you use the SI, instead of more of that?" That question will cost you points.

Be sure to read the fluff for the SI, because that will be guiding my judgment when I look at these entries. Does your dish feel like the SI?

Plagiarizers gonna plagiarize.

BASELINE BUILD: A build that manages to use the secret ingredient without crying out to me, "HEY, this is only here because of a stupid contest, OK!" Builds that utilize all of the SI's abilities to good effect, and who really sell the idea that only the SI would have worked here, will score higher. Builds that don't really get any use out of the class features or pre-reqs, or that would really obviously just do better with another option, will score lower.

[Zaq]

Yes, the Errata states that it stacks for HD

meanwhile the FAQ (p32), which is of a newer date than the Errata suggests that the RAI is that it should stack for Duration as well.

That calls for a Chair ruling

Think I'm going to be strict on this one - errata is in effect, but the FAQs aren't. Duration does not increase.

That makes it simultaneously more interesting (in that it enables way the hell more tricks) and less interesting (in that we won't see people scrambling to try to find Gargantuan forms with 5 HD). At least this way there's likely to be less rules squabbling once the judges get a-judgin'.

Is it weird that I'm just not that interested in this one?

Not weird at all. I'm feeling the same way. The problem isn't just that the power level is too high—the problem is that the class doesn't really ask you to do anything in order to access a crazy variety of powerful options. (Which, indeed, is something that it shares with Druid as a whole, but in the context of Iron Chef, that's kind of frustrating.) Contrast with Master Transmogrifist, which at least requires you to pick a handful of specific shapes that give you the greatest benefit—a generous handful, to be sure, but the difference between two Master Transmogrifists is determined by more than just which of the two MTs did more book-diving during their write-up.

It's really interesting to see how difficult this is, because it's kind of the exact opposite of what we often complain about for ridiculously restrictive ingredients. I've whined more than once about SIs that give primarily passive abilities, since they're really hard to proactively show off—MoMF gives pretty much entirely active abilities (or at least features that modify a very active ability), but it gives you so much cool stuff that it threatens to overshadow any unique features of your specific build, and since everyone has the same cool features from MoMF, that makes it differently really hard to show off what makes you unique. We normally have to worry that the rest of the build doesn't overwhelm the SI, but now it's going to take some real work to make sure that the SI doesn't render the differences between builds trivial.

I do have one fairly stupid idea, but it's going to take a crowbar to actually make all of the elements fit in before they scale out of relevance, so I'm likely to have to scrap it. (And the bulk of the build's power would still come from stuff that any MoMF could do.)

[MisterKaws]

Hmm... I think I might actually compete in this round.

[Skirch]

Never been a part of this before, so I'll try out my optimization ideas

[KrimsonNekros]

Got my build done and working on getting everything formatted and written up now.

[Macabaret]

I'm going to be permissibe. If it's called Wild Shape, it works.

New question: What about a class feature that functions as Wild Shape, but is called something different. For example (and trying not to step on anyone's possible build), Blighter (Complete Divine) has a class feature called Undead Wild Shape. It functions almost exactly as Wild Shape (it even includes the line: "Undead wild shape functions like the druid’s wild shape ability, except..."), and yet, by RAW, it isn't Wild Shape.

For the purpose of this competition, are we allowed to use Wild Shape-like class features in order to fulfill the Wild Shape requirement of entering Master of Many Forms?