Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground LXXXV

[Amphetryon]

My idea was not significantly different than one or more submitted builds, so it's probably good for all that I failed to finish it.

[Thurbane]

My honorable mention goes to Willow.

[Inevitability]

That's right: HMs are a thing.

I vote for Willow as well.

[WhamBamSam]

Judging Update: Originality is graded across all builds. I'm hesitant to say that equates to being 1/4 done, as different categories tend to take me different amounts of time. I'm also going to be sidetracked from my internet grading by real world exams that I'll have to grade on Tuesday, but yeah. That's where I am as of right now.

Also, what do people think of Hammer of Moradin as a potential future SI? Its class features do some mildly interesting and largely not terrible things, but its prereqs are just gruesome.

[Amphetryon]

Hammer of Moradin has a handbook kicking around, as I recall. That could make some aspects of Originality potentially dicey.

[Venger]

Hammer of Moradin has a handbook kicking around, as I recall. That could make some aspects of Originality potentially dicey.

if there's a handbook out there, I haven't come across it. it's hard to imagine this class being in such high demand for build advice

[The Viscount]

Those prereqs are really painful, and combined with the features being functional but limited (hit dudes with a hammer better) I struggle to see how we'd be able to make different enough builds for it.

[Venger]

I'm inclined to agree. due to all those reqs I can't see how a chef would have much room to put a thumbprint on it.

[noob]

On the falling object damage on the dmg I believe there is a 20d6 damage cap.
Can anyone find that(if that exists)?

[Inevitability]

On the topic of future ingredients, I'm still holding out for Eunuch Warlock.

[Sian]

I'll call for the old standby of Watch Detective.

Or any self-contained spellcasting Prestige class

[Thurbane]

On the falling object damage on the dmg I believe there is a 20d6 damage cap.
Can anyone find that(if that exists)?

Refer to Dungeon Master's Guide page 303. Check the wording, though, it's a little unclear (IMHO) if the damage cap is a total cap, or only applies to adding damage for distance fallen.

[FunkyGoose]

If we're nominating the next SI, I'd like to throw in a mention for the Maquar Crusader.

[Darrin]

Refer to Dungeon Master's Guide page 303. Check the wording, though, it's a little unclear (IMHO) if the damage cap is a total cap, or only applies to adding damage for distance fallen.

By RAW, the DMG caps falling object damage due to distance fallen at 20d6. Damage due to weight is still uncapped.

The Rules Compendium changed the wording, however, and capped all falling object damage (weight and distance) at 20d6.

[WhamBamSam]

Those prereqs are really painful, and combined with the features being functional but limited (hit dudes with a hammer better) I struggle to see how we'd be able to make different enough builds for it.

I'm inclined to agree. due to all those reqs I can't see how a chef would have much room to put a thumbprint on it.

I can think of a few different ways in and the 9th level ability at least is somewhat unique (Great Flyby Attack works similarly, but depending on the reading, the Hammer of Moradin ability might apply to every throw) while the rest are at least decently useful. But I suppose the prereqs would result in a certain degree of homogeneity and the last few rounds where we were asked to cook Dwarf burgers ended up being very small.

On the topic of future ingredients, I'm still holding out for Eunuch Warlock.

I have a rough skeleton of a stub ready for OA Eunuch Warlock. I do still think it's a bit awkward to use the Dragon 318 update for everything except Eunuch Warlock though. I mean, if we're going to set that precedent, we might as well do the 3.0 OotBI, which is significantly more interesting than the abomination it was updated into.

I'll call for the old standby of Watch Detective.

Or any self-contained spellcasting Prestige class

Oh man, Watch Detective is going to be a blast. I've got two rough ideas, and they're both ridiculous.

I'd love to do Demonologist or Mortal Hunter. Any particular others in mind?

If we're nominating the next SI, I'd like to throw in a mention for the Maquar Crusader.

I'm not as keen on Maquar Crusader as I might once have been. It's basically Devoted Defender except its prereqs are worse and it delays the defensive abilities that are actually interesting in exchange for a crappy Smite. Also the little +1 bonuses that both classes give you at higher levels in lieu of actual class features don't really give a reason to stick around.

And, of course, sing along you know the words. Beast Heart Adept, Rage Mage, Doomlord, Bayushi Deceiver, Oozemaster, etc.

[WeaselGuy]

I was actually bored yesterday and did a write up for a Hammer of Moradin, and now I kinda want to play one...

[The Viscount]

I was actually bored yesterday and did a write up for a Hammer of Moradin, and now I kinda want to play one...

Oh no it's spreading! It's only a matter of time before we all like the class. You're next! You're next!

[Deadline]

Oh no it's spreading! It's only a matter of time before we all like the class. You're next! You're next!

*Dons hipster glasses*

Meh, I was into Hammer of Moradin before it was cool.

[WhamBamSam]

The forums are back! It’s fortunate that I work with so many tabs open. I had the relevant pages of this thread on separate ones from the main one I was using for browsing when the forums went down, and thus was able to complete my judging over the course of last week.

Ray and Rae – 12.75

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Originality – 4

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I did briefly consider trying shenanigans with Blink when it came up on a search for “Ethereal” in the SRD, but you were the only one to go for it. My own thoughts for Blink-based builds would likely have veered away from Bard as well, despite the BAB advantage, so points for that, especially as it opens up Greater Blink on your 8th caster level, before the Wizard would get a hold of it, as well. Ronin and Windrider are interesting choices, though they feel a little like originality for its own sake, compared to what would seem the natural progression of more Sublime Chord casting. There is a logic behind them though, as the build is a charger with pet-based tactics. I knew we’d see Roof-Jumper on a SI with overlapping prereqs based around environments with weird “falling” rules, though, and indeed there was another build using it among the pack. Still, I think you come out ahead on your list of ingredients. (+0.5)

I’m so far down the 3.5 rabbit hole that I’ve started to become a tad bored with heavy object dropping tactics, and Roof-Jumping. I do like the Blink shenanigans as a means of setting it up though (at least in concept), and being able to share it with your Rhino so that you can both do some approximation of the tactic is pretty cool. (+0.5)

I did like the picture, but I’d like to see a bit more to justify giving you the quarter point for fluff. (0)

Power – 3.5

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Since you take so little Astral Dancer and it doesn’t affect the timing of your Sublime Chord entry, it mostly doesn’t change things for you. You have to sink three feats into entry, but assuming your Blink trick works, those feats are largely worthwhile for Roof-Jumper qualification, and you get what amounts to a pretty strong, somewhat unusual flight ability out of it. Call it a wash. (0)

I’m honestly a little perplexed as to why you wouldn’t just stick with Sublime Chord progression. It probably would have done more for your schitck than Windrider or Ronin. But if I’m going to measure you as a charger, you look okay. You’re slightly harder to cut off than the average ubercharger, and even without pounce your damage output still looks okay with Roof-Jumper combined with weird falling and the rhino dropping. I’d say you come out decently ahead overall. (+0.5)

Elegance – 3.5

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You qualify for everything. (0)

A lot of DMs will take issue with moving by force of will when Blinking. At least they will likely argue that you’re subject to the Material Plane’s gravity as well due to spending half your time there. Force of will movement is fast enough to counteract and overcome the force of gravity (based on the falling rules) however, so your tactic probably works. (-0.25)

More problematic are some of the attempted mount shenanigans. The commonly held interpretation is that additional HD for companions/mounts do not allow you to increase ability scores every 4 HD. This would prevent you boosting it to 3 Int, which for many DMs might be a dealbreaker when trying to give the thing Battle Jump. Maybe pay to have it Chaos Shuffled or PsyRefed? (-0.25)

Even if you can clear that hurdle, it seems to me that deliberately dropping the Rhino (and hence causing it damage) might constitute “intentional mistreatment,” and hence violate the Windrider code of conduct. (-0.5)

You have a few PrC dips, but I don’t see it as being bad enough that reasonable DMs will find fault with your overall progression. (+0.5)

UoSI – 1.75

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You make use of the prereq feats and skills to qualify for Roof-Jumper and can work with the skill list well enough to make it into Sublime Chord on time. (+0.25)

You don’t really have a use for Relative Altitude. (0)

Evasion might work while Blinking, but it’s a little sketchy (Blink already reduced damage from area effects by 50% to account for being Ethereal half the time) and you never get it on the Material or get the Improved version. (0)

I’ll admit to a certain degree of amusement with your Improved Maneuverability Blink flight. (+0.5)

You don’t get Astral Dodge, Astral Agility, or Lightning Speed. (0)

Sir Jasonica Deathbringer – 8.25

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Originality – 1.75

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I’ll admit to not expecting Divine Mind, but you don’t seem to be actually using it for anything except its badness. Still, I can’t say that your ingredient choices are completely stale, if only because most people have the good sense to keep them sealed up. (-0.5)

By design there isn’t anything going on here of mechanical interest. (-1)

At the risk of ruining an intentionally low score, I’ll admit to being amused. Have a quarter point for fluff. (+0.25)

Power – 1

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Between sinking feats into feat taxes and cutting off your power progression just when it starts to pick up, Astral Dancer has managed to do the impossible and make the Divine Mind significantly worse. (-0.75)

This build is, by design, not good at its primary job of melee combat. It dives headlong into bad options and known traps. I’m tempted to leave you short of the score of 1 you so crave just because Improved Initiative isn’t that bad, but I know I wouldn’t do that if the build was serious, so here you go. (-1.25)

Elegance – 4

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Your initiator level is only 0.5 at level 1 and hence you do not qualify for Martial Study (Steel Wind). Fortunately, switching it with Mobility doesn’t result in too much of a problem. (-0.5)

You avoid multiclass penalties. (0)

While some DMs, like the one in your write-up, might take issue with the character, it won’t be on account of his progression on a structural level. 10/10 is nice and clean. (+0.5)

UoSI – 1.5

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You make use of the prereq feats to qualify for Whirlwind Attack and seem to work with the skill list reasonably well. Partial credit. (+0.25)

You make don’t really have a use for Relative Altitude. (0)

You don’t have a means of getting to planes where your Evasion abilities work like many other competitors do, and don’t really have that great a Ref save anyway. (0)

Your speed for force of will movement is pretty low, and by going the Whirlwind Attack route from Spring Attack, you de-emphasize mobility, so I don’t see a lot of value in Improved Maneuverability here. (0)

You don’t really do much with Astral Dodge. (0)

Nor with Astral Agility. (0)

You make it all the way to the capstone for Lightning Speed, so enemies that would bother spending an AoO on you are out of luck, I guess. Partial credit. (+0.25)

Willow – 16.5

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Originality – 4.5

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A Wispling Jester you say? I mucked around with a lot of Alter Self/Assume Supernatural Ability chicanery, but not knowing about the Ether Scarab, I wasn’t really considering Outsider typing. Good on you for getting within a size category of Tiny as well. And hey, you’re using Jester’s unique features for something so it’s not just trying to milk originality from something that might as well have been a Bard. Very nice. You do have a few popular and obvious choices like Shi’quos School, but on the whole, I’m very intrigued. (+0.75)

Goading enemies through portals to the Ethereal created via the form of a monster I’ve never heard of? Very nifty indeed. (+0.75)

I need to see a little more before I hand out the quarter point for fluff. (0)

Power – 3.5

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While more Jester casting would have been nice, Astral Dancer does seem to be helping your schtick more than hurting it. (+0.5)
Not qualifying for Warshaper (see Elegance) hurts, especially as it makes you more fragile, but on the whole you look okay at drawing enemies and weathering their assaults to lead into Shi’quos School and Combat Panache making them look foolish. As entertaining as the tactics are, however, I’m not convinced they stack up well against more conventional goad/lockdown builds (say, a mid-op Knight). You have a little spellcasting to fall back on, but they’re low level, and aside from Alter Self (and again, see Elegance on Assume Supernatural Ability), I don’t know what your spells known might be, so it’s difficult to say how much it can do for you. Call it a wash. (0)

Elegance – 4

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Change Self appears to be the 3.0 version of Disguise Self and not the Change Shape special ability, and is therefore insufficient to qualify for Warshaper, and Alter Self does not grant subtypes, so you cannot gain the Shapechanger subtype that way. Even if you found a form which qualified via Assume Supernatural Ability (but see below), Warshaper is a Complete Warrior PrC, so you would disqualify yourself when in any other form. (-0.5)

I think it’s pretty clear that Assume Supernatural Ability (unlike, say, Metamorphic Transfer) only allows you to gain a single (Su) ability from a single specified form, as opposed to an ability from each form you assume. I didn’t mark you up in Power for added forms though, so I’ll just assume that you have Assume Supernatural Ability (Ether Scarab’s Planar Rip) and let that be that. (0)

You avoid multiclass penalties. (0)

At a glance (ignoring the above qualification issues), I can’t see a reasonable DM taking issue with your level progression. (+0.5)

UoSI – 4.5

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You make use of the prereq feats to qualify for Shi’quos School and Sidestep Charge, and the skill list is a smooth transition for you. Spring Attack gives you a limited means by which to not provoke AoOs when entering opposing squares while in Tiny sized Ether Scarab form. (+0.75)

You make use of Relative Altitude via Shi’quos School. (+0.5)

Planar Rip gives you a route to a suitable plane to ensure that your Evasion abilities work in the levels prior to when they work in all environments, and you have a decent Ref Save. (+0.5)

Improved Maneuverability helps you to to position yourself more precisely for Combat Panache. Not prioritizing Int as much as other builds makes you a bit slower, but I’d say you at least do well enough for partial credit. (+0.25)

Astral Dodge synergizes with Sidestep Charge and helps you to survive your tactic of goading enemies into your Planar Rips. (+0.5)

Astral Agility to set enemies up for Combat Panache is pretty fun. More Int would have been nice, but the class level bonus should be sufficient most of the time. (+0.5)

You make it all the way to the capstone for Lightning Speed, and as you spend a lot of time Tiny, you benefit from another way of entering opponents’ squares without provoking. (+0.5)

Cheth Deppard – 12.75 *My Vote For Honorable Mention*

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Originality – 4.25

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I thought we’d see some Planar Bubble chicanery and that someone might go Planar Shepherd to get it. I’ve never seen anyone actually go Talaire over taking Hidden Talent, though, so that’s sort of unique. Abolisher over standard Druid entry to Planar Shepherd is something. Roof-Jumper was somewhat expected and used by another entry this round, but Psionic Charge and Fleet of Foot offer something a bit more novel. You come out looking pretty good, on the whole. (+0.5)

Planar Shepherd is known cheese in generality, so that’s going to hurt you, and you weren’t the only one to try pulling subjective gravity Roof-Jumper shenanigans, but beyond that things are largely positive. I didn’t know there was a “late bloomer” option for Talaire, so that’s a pretty nifty trick to nab a free-ish PLA and more importantly psionic-ness from an otherwise useless bonus feat. Even if it’s a fairly small thing, it’s a small thing that I will be making note of for potential future use, so it does well for you here. I also really like the charge redirecting in conjunction with subjective gravity rules and particularly the hole regarding charging in the list of things that reduce an Astral Dancer’s maneuverability for weirder and more broadly applicable Roof-Jumper charges. (+0.75)

No fluff. Cool picture though. (0)

Power – 3.25

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When the base of your dish is effectively Druid/Planar Shepherd (albeit with a few wrinkles), Astral Dancer is going to be like garnishing with sawdust, especially as the Astral Plane lacks magical beasts. I appreciate the mention of other possible planes for subjective gravity Planar Bubble, but that then exacerbates the problem of the comparative value of another level of Wild Shape progression being so much more valuable than anything Astral Dancer gives you, to say nothing of spellcasting progression. That said, the hole in the wording of Improved Maneuverability with regard to charging does seem to offer you something fairly unique, so that keeps you from hitting rock bottom. (-0.5)

Taken as a charger, however, you start to look a lot better. Your mobility tricks allow you to charge along routes that are much harder to cut off, and moreover, they let you “fall” further for Roof-Jumper purposes more reliably which increases your damage output. You can get pounce through Wild Shape as well, though your uses/day are limited (I suppose you’re already limited to about the span of a single Wild Shape by Planar Bubble anyway), even if your DM lets Planar Shepherd stack with Abolisher (which I feel they should, to be clear), and you have to burn them to fuel Cheetah’s Speed (meaning you can only do the nova damage from Cheetah’s Sprint charging once per day if you want to use a Wild Shape use actually Wild Shaping). And that’s assuming nothing goes amiss with your Planar Bubble. Note that Swift Concentration is only usable for one round out of a given encounter, after which it is unusable for the remainder by the rules for skill tricks. You’re not quite down to a 15 minute adventuring day, but I could see Cheth running out of juice when the rest of his party wants to keep going. That stops you short of as good a score as you could have, though having 7th level Druid casting to fall back on cushions the blow slightly. (+0.75)

Elegance – 2.5

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You don’t qualify for Martial Study (Steel Wind) at 1st level, as your initiator level is only 0.5. Fortunately, it appears this issue can be fixed by switching it with Mobility and rejiggering skill points a bit. (-0.5)

Since Player’s Guide to Faerun is more recent than Complete Warrior you qualify for Fleet of Foot even when not Wild Shaped. (0)

You avoid multiclass penalties. (0)


You avoid multiclass penalties. (0)

You are significantly dippier than the rest of the competition. I try not to be too punitive of such things, but you’re starting to get into the territory where less enlightened DMs are going to start looking askance at your build (even if straight Druid would beat all the dipping). (0)

You take a flaw. (-1)

UoSI – 2.75

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You benefit from a variant version of Dodge, and cushion the feat tax with bonus feats, as well as making use of the prereq feats and skills to qualify for Roof-Jumper. (+0.75)

You don’t really have a use for Relative Altitude. (0)

Planar Bubble (and to a lesser extent, Plane Shift) keeps you in position to use Evasion when it only works in certain environments. Your Ref Save isn’t very good, but that actually makes Improved Evasion more worthwhile, so you at least get partial credit. (+0.25)

Improved Maneuverability’s lack of verbiage regarding charges combined with various methods of direction changing on a charge for oddball Roof-Jumper charging is great. Full marks. (+0.75)

You don’t really have much synergy with Astral Dodge, and don’t get the upgrade to it at 10th level. (0)

You don’t really use Astral Agility. (0)

You don’t get Lightning Speed. (0)

The Quiet One – 17.75

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Originality – 4.5

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To the extent that Astral Dancer can be said to be a class for anyone it’s a Monk class, and Shi’quos School was very popular this round for obvious reasons. Everything else is golden though. I have to admit, Buomman flew under my radar when I thought about Planar Bubble tricks. And Word Given Form? Tell me more. No, seriously, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen more than one or two vague asides to it before. Savant as a route to Truespeak which also opens up Craven and Staggering Strike is also cool and the sort of thing you don’t see often, as is the use of a Truebond ritual to mitigate item reliance somewhat. (+0.75)

Total concealment you say? Well, that is interesting. The prereqs are steep, but yeah. Word Given Form is very cool indeed. It’s perhaps not the most off-the-wall thing conceptually, in the sense that it’s just buffing expected Spring Attack tactics, but it’s hard to turn one’s nose up at “Stealth Hit and Run in Space.” (+0.75)

No real fluff to speak of, no pun intended. (0)

Power – 4.5

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Working from a Monk/Savant base means that you aren’t giving much up by bailing out into a PrC, even one like Astral Dancer. Moreover, your fighting style gels well with the emphasis on mobility. If there’s a build that can be said to really want this PrC, it looks a lot like this one. (+0.75)

I’m a little worried about your statline. Low Str and not great BAB might cause you some difficulty when it comes to actually hitting things on your Spring Attack runs. Total Concealment to deny Dex to AC and only worrying about an attack at your full BAB help though. Your damage output is also rather low, but Shi’quos School+Staggering Strike is a pretty good lockdown combination while the enemy is whittled away. You also have some added utility as a sneak and trapmonkey, and are quite difficult to kill between your stealth/concealment, AC bonuses, Spell Reflection, and Evasion. I’m not completely blown away, but I like what I see. (+0.75)

Elegance – 4

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You qualify for all non-SI things. (0)

With Monk as the favored class for Buommans, you avoid multiclass penalties. (0)

I don’t see any issues with your general level progression. (+0.5)

While I appreciate that you spend a feat and go through the Truebond Ritual, and consequently did not ding your Power score for item reliance, I do have a slight issue with requiring a custom use-activated item of Planar Bubble. I doubt I’d have too much issue with it as a DM, especially if you went through the trouble of a Truebond Ritual to self-craft it, but it is still something that requires custom item rules, and hence additional DM approval. (-0.25)

Some people will balk at the use of Desert Wind Dodge to activate Word Given Form. I’m personally on your side, and would argue that it is in this case counting as Dodge for the purpose of a special ability, but they would argue (and do, whenever such a tactic is proposed in a thread) that only applies to qualifying to have the ability and not its use, so it’s still a questionable interpretation for our purposes, in that it may make the build harder to bring to a table. (-0.25)

UoSI – 4.75

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You pick up the prereqs as bonus feats, swap out Dodge for a variant which is superior for your tactics while also using a class ability for a small increase in the bonus it grants, and make further use of the prereq feats to qualify for Shi’quos School and Word Given Form. (+0.75)

You make use of Relative Altitude via Shi’quos School. (+0.5)

Planar Bubble helps you keep your Evasion abilities working at lower levels before they work in all environments, and you use the fact that you’re getting Evasion later to trade it out for Spell Reflection at Monk 2. (+0.75)

You make a point of pumping Int so you can move faster through force of will movement and use your movement to activate Desert Wind Dodge and in turn Word Given Form. I’d say you’re getting pretty good mileage out of Improved Maneuverability. (+0.75)

While I disagree with the notion that Astral Dodge could be used to trigger Word Given Form by itself (identical means identical, and neither Dodge nor any of its variants grant their dodge bonus under the same circumstances as Astral Dodge), you do make a point of stacking other bonuses and miss chances on top of it, and have Spell Reflection to punish those that miss you with spells. (+0.75)

You don’t appear to have much use for Astral Agility. (0)

You make it all the way to the capstone for Lightning Speed, and at least move around enough to potentially get some use out of it (assuming you couldn’t just avoid AoOs anyway with your speed, maneuverability, and Tumble skill). That’s at least good enough for partial credit. (+0.25)

Ellie – 10.5

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Originality – 2.5

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Jaunter was popular this round, but Shadowlord was unique. Barbarian and Fighter are vanilla enough that I’m not going to make too much of a stink over them showing up in multiple builds, and Crafty Hunter is a little-used variant. We’ll call it a wash. (0)

Pretty much everything here apart from the stapled on Astral Dancer levels is standard fare for a Shadowlord build though, the sort of thing that a handbook or your average forum-goer would proscribe. Lucid Dreaming to help meet the Jaunter fluff prereq is sort of interesting, but cheese involving the skill is also quite popular in forum discussions. (-0.5)

Fluff is a little short of what I’m looking for. (0)

Power – 2

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Apart from the corresponding prereqs, I don’t see a lot of reason for Astral Dancer to be here. As a Shadow Pouncer you prefer teleportation to mucking around with weird gravity movement, hiding places aren’t exactly abundant on the Astral, and there are many avenues that look more appealing to a Shadow Pouncer. (-0.5)

This isn’t really up to the standard I expect for a Shadow Pouncer. You’re only putting out one full attack per round, and needing to teleport into melee range actively works against your desire to make ranged attacks (I expect some DMs to take issue with the notion that teleportation doesn’t constitute movement for the purpose of determining whether you can take a 5-ft step and many enemies will have the reach to AoO you anyway). Just getting Quicken Spell-Like Ability (Benign or Baleful Transposition) or Martial Study (Shadow Stride) over Practiced Spellcaster would have helped a lot, but as is, I see problems here. You do at least get to your 4th iterative, which helps somewhat, but I’m fairly unimpressed on the whole. (-0.5)

Elegance – 3.75

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Your write-up mentions taking Spring Attack at 4th level with your Fighter Bonus Feat, and that causes far fewer problems, so I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you meant to put that in your table instead of Weapon Finesse. (0)

Your initiator level is only 4.5 at the time you take Martial Stance (Assassin’s Stance), so you don’t qualify. This would also mean that you don’t qualify for Telflammar Shadowlord, but again, I’m going to throw you a bone and not double dip you. (-0.5)

You arguably do not qualify for Craven, as it requires the Sneak Attack class feature, and you’re getting Sneak Attack from Assassin’s Stance. (-0.25)

The above are issues, but zooming out, I don’t have any real issues with your overall progression. (+0.5)

UoSI – 2.25

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You make use of the prereq feats to qualify for Jaunter and Telflammar Shadowlord, and seem to work reasonably well within the class skill list. (+0.5)

You don’t really seem to do much with Relative Altitude. (0)

Jaunter helps you to reach planes where your Evasion abilities work, and you have a good Ref save. (+0.5)

Seems to me that you’d rather teleport than mess around with no gravity or subjective gravity movement, even with Improved Maneuverability. (0)

You don’t appear to have much of a use for Astral Dodge. You have some AC to stack with it from prioritizing Dex, which actually seems to compare reasonably with the AC boosting that others are doing in other ways. However, you don’t get the boost to the ability at 10th level, so I think you should only get partial credit. (+0.25)

You don’t seem to be doing anything with Astral Agility. (0)

You don’t get Lightning Speed. (0)

Samuel Windsinger – 15.75

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Originality – 4

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Despite improved mobility being the closest the SI comes to doing anything, Scout was unique and caught me a little by surprise. Jaunter and Shi’quos School were popular, however, and Pouncebarian is an old standby. Raptoran and Plane of Air are interesting choices however, so I’d say you come out a little ahead. (+0.25)

I have some concerns about their actual effectiveness (see other categories), but I like where you’re going with your various subjective gravity movement tricks to trigger Skirmish. (+0.5)

Your fluff made for an enjoyable read. I could see using Samuel as an NPC in an actual game. (+0.25)

Power – 3.5

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As a Scout, mobility is important to you, and your tactics involve a means of taking your enemies into an environment where the SI can do what passes for its thing. You could probably do more for your damage output with less Astral Dancer, but it looks like a reasonable direction for this build to go in. (+0.5)

You can move and full attack with pounce, but a lot of your other tactics for triggering Skirmish restrict you to a single attack. Also, I’m pretty sure that Astral Agility counts as movement for the purposes of whether or not you can take a 5-ft step, and even if it doesn’t, messing around with a Duom conflicts with TWFing with Rapier and Shortsword. The Footbow solves or at least mitigates this problem with regard to your high level tactic, but even then, you’re only making a single attack on about half your turns. I think that’s a little below the Iron Chef standard for a skirmisher, but the ability to debuff with Shi’quos School and teleportation utility from Jaunter that most Scout builds wouldn’t get cushion the blow. (0)

Elegance – 4.25

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You qualify for all non-SI things, and avoid questionable rules interpretations (besides the 5-ft step thing which already factored into your Power score). (0)

A Raptoran’s favored class is Cleric, so you incur multiclass penalties from level 6 onward if you’re unfortunate enough to be playing at a table that enforces them. (-0.25)

At a reasonable table, however, I doubt you’d raise any eyebrows. (+0.5)

UoSI – 4

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You pick up Mobility as a bonus feat and make use of the prereq feats to qualify for Jaunter and Shi’quos School. The SI makes Bluff (a critical skill for you) a class skill where it wasn’t before. (+0.75)

You make use of Relative Altitude via Shi’quos School. (+0.5)

Jaunter gives you (and your marks) a route to a place where your Evasion abilities work even at lower levels, and you have an excellent Ref save. (+0.5)

While regular Raptoran flight would work on the Elemental Plane of Air, Improved Maneuverability does offer a better option. You want to move around a lot to trigger Skirmish, so even with a lower Int score (and hence slower speed) than much of the competition, you certainly do well enough for partial credit. (+0.25)

Astral Dodge synergizes with the AC bonus for Skirmish, and you prioritize Dex more than most, so I’d say you do well enough for credit. (+0.5)

I’d say that the rules for 5-ft steps pretty clearly prevent you from taking one in the same round you use Astral Agility. A part of me would like to give you partial credit for trying, but ultimately, I think that sets a bad precedent. (0)

You make it all the way to the capstone for Lightning Speed, and your Improved Skirmish tactic could conceivably provoke when you fly away from your mark (even if you’re plenty fast to just tumble out of their threatened area at half speed). I’d say that’s enough for credit. (+0.5)

Zonda Yant – 12

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Originality – 3.25

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I did a lot of mucking about with Trapsmith, but not as a route into Swiftblade. I thought we’d see more Factotum due to force of will movement and Astral Agility keying off Int, and more little flourishes of Incarnum to get more out of the Dodge prereq, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Master Pickpocket is always fun to see. I’d say you come out a little bit ahead. (+0.25)

Nothing strikes me as particularly outside the norm for a Factotum tripper or Spring Attack build here. (-0.25)

I did enjoy the read of your fluff, and the depiction of combat in subjective gravity, though I was a little disappointed that the Xorvintaal reference didn’t pan out to anything in the crunch. (+0.25)

Power 1.5

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More Trapsmith and Swiftblade would not only net you the last few levels of casting progression, but seem to compare favorably to Astral Dancer on non-casting features alone, as does more Factotum. As a Swiftblade you have some focus on mobility and Spring Attacking, but not that much, and while the use of tripping over Shi’quos School is a bit more unique this round, it also takes one more thing off the short list of reasons for why a character would be an Astral Dancer if the contest weren’t forcing them to be one. (-0.75)

Sphinx Claws very explicitly only allows for pouncing with natural weapons, and you don’t have any. They, along with Brains Over Brawn, do improve your trip checks, but you seem to be missing a lot of things one would generally expect a lockdown tripper to have. You have some casting and skills to broaden your scope and boost you back up a bit, and Swiftblade Haste makes up for losing your last iterative, but I still think you’re falling behind the curve. (-0.75)

Elegance – 4.25

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It is often argued that Trapsmith 1 is insufficient for Swiftblade entry due to the lack of 3rd level spell slots to restrict to casting Haste. I’m pretty comfortable with treating that as tautologically having used all of your nonexistent 3rd level slots to cast it, but I still have to ding you for a questionable rules interpretation. (-0.25)

You do not incur multiclass penalties. (0)

I’ve no objections to your overall progression. (+0.5)

UoSI – 3

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You take a Dodge variant which benefits your tactics, and use Dodge and Mobility to qualify for Swiftblade, which in turn gives you Spring Attack. The SI compresses your skill list compared to your Factotum base, but you seem to handle it with relative grace. (+0.5)

You don’t really have much use for Relative Altitude. (0)

You can’t really get yourself to suitable planes to use your Evasion abilities at lower levels the way other builds can, though you do have quite a good Ref save, boosted by Swiftblade and in a pinch, Factotum. Good enough for partial credit at least. (+0.25)

You can move faster than pretty much anyone in no gravity or subjective gravity between your Int focus and Haste, which I’d say makes for a solid use of Improved Maneuverability. (+0.5)

Astral Dodge stacks with Swift Surge and Cunning Defense when you can spare the inspiration point. You typically drop the AC boost from Midnight Dodge to boost Sphinx Claws instead, but the miss chance from Blurred Alacrity more than makes up for it. (+0.5)

You pump the check for Astral Agility pretty well, but you don’t seem to actually do much with it. I thought about using it to move enemies into Trapsmith traps, but that would require more levels of Trapsmith than you’ve invested. (0)

You make it all the way to the capstone for Lightning Speed. That’s enough for partial credit even though I don’t see it doing much for you. (+0.25)

Thanks to my real life students from last semester, the bar for what I consider a frivolous grading dispute is considerably lower than it might otherwise have been, so have at it.

[Heliomance]

Just a heads up: I'm on a training course this week so I'm likely to not be around much.

[The Viscount]

Much obliged, Sam.

[Heliomance]

Right, sorry for the delay! We have one singular dispute, so hopefully we can wrap this up quickly and get on to the next round!

The forums are back! It’s fortunate that I work with so many tabs open. I had the relevant pages of this thread on separate ones from the main one I was using for browsing when the forums went down, and thus was able to complete my judging over the course of last week.

Huzzah! I spent the last week wondering, "Did WhamBamSam have those pages saved somewhere? Maybe I can dig up Helio's email from somewhere and she can email him the entries while the forum is down? Will PMs work without the foru-- uh, nope." You, my good sir, are the very essence of awesomesauce.

I think most of my objections here would be considered "frivolous grading quibbles", but after going through a week forum withdrawal, I guess I'm in a frivolous mood.

Note that Swift Concentration is only usable for one round out of a given encounter, after which it is unusable for the remainder by the rules for skill tricks.

The text in Complete Scoundrel is ambiguous, so I assumed that using Swift Concentration was an ongoing effect so long as I'm trying to maintain concentration over multiple rounds on a single effect. Nothing in the text for Swift Concentration or the Skill Trick rules specifies a particular duration, outside of the "once per encounter" or "once per minute" limitation. Swift Concentration says:

"Benefit: You can maintain concentration on a spell or similar effect as a swift action."

Since maintaining concentration is something you generally do over several rounds, I assumed the skill trick could be used for multiple rounds, so long as you're maintaining a single concentration effect for that encounter and have a swift action available every round. My evidence here is the benefit text and the fluff about "maintain your mental focus while
attending to another task" appear to be talking about an activity that takes multiple rounds... but it's mostly appearance. However, on the other side of the argument... I don't see anything explicitly in the text that says Swift Concentration only lasts a single round.

And on the gripping hand... I'm not sure I lost any points for this, so I'm not entirely sure why I'm arguing about this, other than for the sake of argument.

You don’t qualify for Martial Study (Steel Wind) at 1st level, as your initiator level is only 0.5. Fortunately, it appears this issue can be fixed by switching it with Mobility and rejiggering skill points a bit. (-0.5)

While I can't really argue with the RAW here (yes, 0.5 IL rounds down to zero at level 1), this is a dysfunction that I'd be more inclined to handwave than stick to the RAW.

Mostly I'm still peeved that after all those dips, I couldn't find any other way to get Balance as a friggin' class skill.

Since Player’s Guide to Faerun is more recent than Complete Warrior you qualify for Fleet of Foot even when not Wild Shaped. (0)

Huh? Why would Fleet of Foot (CW version) only work when Wild Shaped?

As far as the PGtF version goes, I'd prefer to treat these two feats as separate feats from different sources rather than the PGtF version superceding the CW version. If the PGtF version takes precedence, then I don't qualify for Fleet of Foot because regional feats can only be taken at 1st level (along with some other racial/regional requirements), and 2) it has a different benefit that has nothing to do with changing direction during a charge. So... again, not sure why I'm arguing here, because you didn't assess a penalty, or maybe I'm trying to make you penalize me for not qualifying for the FR version? Do I even understand the purpose of these disputes...? No? Well. My point, if I have one, is while I'm normally a big fan of establishing the rules provenance of which text takes precedence over what, I think the CW version's ability is unique enough (outside of Psionic Charge/Twisted Charge) that it should still be available as an option.

[WhamBamSam]

The text in Complete Scoundrel is ambiguous, so I assumed that using Swift Concentration was an ongoing effect so long as I'm trying to maintain concentration over multiple rounds on a single effect. Nothing in the text for Swift Concentration or the Skill Trick rules specifies a particular duration, outside of the "once per encounter" or "once per minute" limitation. Swift Concentration says:

"Benefit: You can maintain concentration on a spell or similar effect as a swift action."

Since maintaining concentration is something you generally do over several rounds, I assumed the skill trick could be used for multiple rounds, so long as you're maintaining a single concentration effect for that encounter and have a swift action available every round. My evidence here is the benefit text and the fluff about "maintain your mental focus while
attending to another task" appear to be talking about an activity that takes multiple rounds... but it's mostly appearance. However, on the other side of the argument... I don't see anything explicitly in the text that says Swift Concentration only lasts a single round.

And on the gripping hand... I'm not sure I lost any points for this, so I'm not entirely sure why I'm arguing about this, other than for the sake of argument.

It might have bumped you up a quarter point (and if so, even squeezing in some Uncanny Trickster to be able to do it twice per encounter would have been sufficient), but I still think my reading is right by the RAW. For Swift Concentration to apply to the spell as a whole, I feel it would have to be phrased differently. As it is, I read it as applying to the discrete action of maintaining concentration on a given round. No change

While I can't really argue with the RAW here (yes, 0.5 IL rounds down to zero at level 1), this is a dysfunction that I'd be more inclined to handwave than stick to the RAW.

Mostly I'm still peeved that after all those dips, I couldn't find any other way to get Balance as a friggin' class skill.

As a DM, I'd be willing to houserule IL to minimum 1 so people could qualify for Martial Study at 1st level, but it would clearly be a houserule.

I'm surprised there isn't a listed Apprentice option that gives Balance. I sympathize with your situation, but you still did technically fail to qualify for a feat. No change

Huh? Why would Fleet of Foot (CW version) only work when Wild Shaped?

As far as the PGtF version goes, I'd prefer to treat these two feats as separate feats from different sources rather than the PGtF version superceding the CW version. If the PGtF version takes precedence, then I don't qualify for Fleet of Foot because regional feats can only be taken at 1st level (along with some other racial/regional requirements), and 2) it has a different benefit that has nothing to do with changing direction during a charge. So... again, not sure why I'm arguing here, because you didn't assess a penalty, or maybe I'm trying to make you penalize me for not qualifying for the FR version? Do I even understand the purpose of these disputes...? No? Well. My point, if I have one, is while I'm normally a big fan of establishing the rules provenance of which text takes precedence over what, I think the CW version's ability is unique enough (outside of Psionic Charge/Twisted Charge) that it should still be available as an option.

Because the CW version of Fleet of Foot requires Dex 15, and Cheth only has 14 Dex in his natural form.

I actually only checked the PGtF version at a glance for prereqs. Upon rereading, I'd actually agree with you that the CW and PGtF feats should be treated as distinct. You got the benefit of a rushed reading on my part which gave you the benefit of the CW version with the PGtF prerequisite allowing you to qualify for it by being human (or at least Humanoid (Human)), instead of having the actual requirement of Dex 15. Since the mistake worked out to your benefit, I'm not going to go back and penalize you over it. No change

[Darrin]

My HM vote goes to Sir Jasonica Deathbringer. The tone was absolutely perfect... although I couldn't help but hear every line in the voice of T. J. Miller.

[Bucky]

Did all the chefs consider Acorn of Far Travel to be too cheesy to use?

[Venger]

Did all the chefs consider Acorn of Far Travel to be too cheesy to use?

I don't think its use is cheesy, especially when you have a location-based restriction on your class features, but I feared I'd be slammed by judgings, so I left that in the pantry.

I'm HMing jasonica as well for the above reasons. great job.

[The Viscount]

I will second the HM for Sir Jasonica Deathbringer. I couldn't help but smile.

As for acorn of far travel, it would require you be able to grow and oak tree on the Astral Plane or similar, which isn't exactly easy since most of them don't seem to have ground. Furthermore, you'd have to be able to get there in the first place, and return to refresh the duration. This combination of factors would mean either heavily leaning on other factors or having enough power yourself to circumvent it. At least that's why I didn't

[danielxcutter]

Jumping on the bandwagon for Deathbringer as HM, because LOL

[Darrin]

Just in case Helio was waiting for a table...

Stellar Terpsichoreology

Entry	Alignment/Race	Stub	Schtick	Score	Rank
The Quiet One (link)	L? Buomman	Savant 1/Monk 6/Savant +3/AD 10	Word Given Form/Planar Bubble Sneakery	17.75	Gold
Willow (link)	CE Whisperling	Jester 6/Warshaper 3/AD 10	Planar Rip Hoodwinkery	16.5	Silver
Samuel Windsinger (link)	NE Raptoran	Scout 5/Barbarian 1/Jaunter 4/AD 10	Flying Skirmisher	15.75	Bronze
Ray and Rae (link)	CN Human	Bard 7/AD 3/Sublime Chord 1/Ronin 2/Windrider 7	Rhino Bombing	12.75	4th (Tie)
Cheth Deppard (link)	NG Tailare	Druid 2/Barbarian 1/Fighter 2/AD 1/Abolisher 1/Planar Shepherd 5/AD +8	Supersonic Roof-Jumping	12.75	4th (Tie)
Zonda Yant (link)	TN Human	Factotum 5/Trapsmith 1/Swiftblade 1/AD 10/Swiftblade +3	Embrace the Haste	12	6th
Ellie (link)	? Human?	Barbarian 3/Fighter 1/Jaunter 4/Telflammar Shadowlord 4/AD 8	Shadow Pouncing Backstabbery	10.5	7th
Sir Jasonica Deathbringer (link)	L? Human	Divine Mind 10/AD 10	Bloviational Awesomeness	8.25	Honorable Mention

[WhamBamSam]

As for acorn of far travel, it would require you be able to grow and oak tree on the Astral Plane or similar, which isn't exactly easy since most of them don't seem to have ground. Furthermore, you'd have to be able to get there in the first place, and return to refresh the duration. This combination of factors would mean either heavily leaning on other factors or having enough power yourself to circumvent it. At least that's why I didn't

Druid 5 or Wild Shape Ranger 8 with Dragon Wild Shape can get to a subjective gravity plane and cast Acorn of Far Travel.

Turn into some flavor of Gem Dragon (Crystal Wyrmling is 5 HD and small size) which lets you Plane Shift to the Inner Planes at will. You can bring as much non-living dirt with you as you need, so find a minor positive dominant patch of the Positive Energy Plane and plant your tree there. Getting the actual tree there and/or growing it in a reasonable amount of time might be a little trickier, but should be within the realm of possibility for your magic.

Subjective directional gravity + Acorn of Far Travel is actually sort of intriguing, as being "under" the tree might change meaning depending on which direction you designate for gravity.