Iron Chef Optimization Challenge: E6 Appetizer Edition (Round X)

[Zaq]

Welcome back to the Iron Chef Optimization Challenge E6 Appetizer Edition! This is round 10, so we're going to mix things up a bit. This round's ingredient will be genuinely good, but we're going to change how we handle scoring for this round and this round only, so please pay attention!

The form of this challenge is to take a particular D&D 3.5 base class (our "secret ingredient," or SI) and turn it into a functional E6 build, which must feature the SI as heavily as possible. (The only hard rule about this is that you must take at least one level in the SI, though judges are encouraged to look favorably on builds that take all or almost all of their levels in said SI.) Your final build submission should consist of your 6 regular levels and your first 10 epic bonus feats, though providing a snapshot at earlier points through the progression is heartily encouraged. Entries are to be PM'd to the Chair (that would be me!), and they will be posted anonymously; our volunteer judges will then grade each build on a 1-5 point scale in three categories: Power, Elegance, and Use of the Secret Ingredient, and on a 1-10 point scale in Originality. (The change to how Originality is scored shall only apply to round 10!) The builds with the highest three scores will be awarded medals, with the Honorable Mention award going to the non-medaling build that the Chair likes best and/or that receives the most votes for HM in this thread. (HM may not always be awarded, particularly if the number of builds is very small.) And then we all have cake!*

*Note: You must provide your own cake.

This is basically like the regular Iron Chef, and let's be brutally honest with ourselves here: this isn't a gargantuan community, and we basically all know what we're talking about at this point. Make the builds, send 'em in, post some scores, and have fun. If you've got questions, lemme know. Still, let's lay out a few rules!

• Cooking Time: Builds must be submitted via PM to the Chair by 4:59 PM GMT - 8 on Thursday, July 12, 2018 (12:59 AM GMT on Friday, July 13). The reveal shall be on the first evening the Chair has free following the cooking deadline, which is hoped to be that evening or the immediately subsequent one. Judging is then expected (*cough*) to take no more than two weeks, so we'll put the judging deadline at approximately two weeks after that, with adjustments as necessary. (You can do the math yourselves; I don't want to put two dates here and confuse people.) Notice that this is slightly earlier in the day than previous deadlines; the goal is to have the deadline be around the time the Chair gets off of work on that particular day, thereby allowing him to post the builds without having to stay up super late or wait until the next day.
  
• Kitchen: Let's break this one down a bit.
  
  
  Spoiler: Let's talk about sources

  Show

  • ALLOWED: Almost all D&D 3.5 material published by WotC: Core, Completes, monster books, Races Of books, alternate power source books (Expanded Psionics Handbook, Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Battle, Tome of Magic, etc.), Spell Compendium, Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness, Eberron material, Forgotten Realms material, and other WotC-published 3.5 material. (This list is NOT exhaustive and there are many other legal books that I did not mention by name!)
    
  • ALLOWED: Material from the 3.5 archives of the Wizards of the Coast website (including, but not limited to, the Mind's Eye articles). If you use it, link it.
    
  • ALLOWED: Official errata from WotC. If you're relying on this in a material fashion, it's a good idea to link it and to discuss it.
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: Unofficial errata, including "class fixes" (regardless of the source, including from the original author if not published in a WotC book) or fan-created content.
    
  • ALLOWED: Unupdated WotC-published 3.0 material (e.g., Sword and Fist, Masters of the Wild, etc.) except for 3.0 psionics. No 3.0 psionics allowed. If you are using 3.0 material, use the general-purpose skill updates (Wilderness Lore becomes Survival, Innuendo becomes Bluff, etc.) and the general-purpose rules updates (spells with a casting time of "1 action" become "1 standard action," etc.) when appropriate.
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: 3.0 material for which a direct 3.5 update exists. Use the updated material instead.
    
  • ALLOWED: Dragon Compendium and its errata.
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: Content from Dragon Magazine and/or Dungeon Magazine unless said content appears in an otherwise allowed source.
    
  • ALLOWED: Oriental Adventures, including the 3.5 update to Oriental Adventures from Dragon Magazine #318. This is a specific exception to the "no Dragon" rule!
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: Pathfinder content, regardless of whether it is "D&D 3.5 OGL" or not. If it didn't come from WotC, we don't want it.
    
  • ALLOWED: From Unearthed Arcana: racial paragon classes, alternate class features/variant classes, spelltouched feats, and variant races. (Traits and flaws are technically legal, but traits warrant a -0.5 point penalty in Elegance, and flaws warrant a -1 penalty in Elegance.)
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: Other Unearthed Arcana content, including (but not limited to) bloodlines, LA buyoff, fractional BAB/saves, alternate casting systems, alternate skill systems, item familiars, prestigious character classes, generic classes, gestalt, etc.
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: Leadership, regardless of source. Game elements functionally equivalent to Leadership (including, but not limited to, Dragon Cohort, Undead Leadership, and Thrallherd) are similarly banned. (Familiars, Improved Familiar, animal companions, Wild Cohort, psicrystals, elemental envoys, and similar game elements are allowed, and they are not considered to be "Leadership." If the difference isn't obvious, feel free to contact the Chair with specific questions.)
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: Third-party content, homebrew, or other non-WotC content.
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: Epic feats from the Epic Level Handbook. Just because you're "epic" in E6 after 6th level doesn't mean that you're that kind of epic.
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: Any race or template with a level adjustment other than +0. (Or any other source of LA other than a race or template, if any such things exist.)
    
  • NOT ALLOWED: For our judges: penalizing solely based on legal sources used, regardless of whether those sources are plentiful, sparse, common, obscure, or something in between. If the material is legal, then it doesn't matter how many or how few books it came out of.
    
  • ALLOWED: Also for our judges: penalizing for using a source (other than material in Core; don't be vindictive about genuinely obvious stuff) that isn't listed in the build writeup. The chef may choose to present the sources in-line with the text, in a consolidated source list, or somewhere else, but if the source is listed (and is otherwise legal), it counts. If the source is not listed, you may choose to penalize for that.

  
  If you have questions about anything in this section (or hell, in this ruleset), feel free to ask the Chair.
  
  
  
• Character Creation: 32 point buy is assumed. For the purposes of this contest, Level Adjustment greater than +0 is banned. (This may be revised at a later point, but I don't feel that the E6 LA rules are conducive to fun in the context of this contest.) No more than two entries per chef per contest, please; if you submit two builds and somehow are so overcome with inspiration for a third that you can't help yourself, PM me and tell me which two you care about the most.
  
• Speculation: Please do not post any form of speculation before the reveal. Just don't do it, guys. It's not cool. This means NOT posting any of the following or anything substantially similar: what you think is going to be common, significant elements of your planned build or of other potential builds, or anything else that could directly influence someone else's build choices for good or for ill. (It's acceptable to ask for rules clarifications as appropriate, but try to avoid tipping your hand too much.) Speculation is bad because it can discourage people from posting builds and can also "taint the judging pool" when it comes to Originality, so please just try to be aware of how other people might react to your speculation.
  
• E6: Here's how E6 works for the purposes of this contest. Build your character normally for the first six levels. After you reach level 6, you stop gaining levels and start gaining bonus feats every time you would gain 5,000 XP. Since we aren't actually tracking XP, you'll basically list your first ten epic bonus feats in the order that you take them, and we think of them as being kind of like levels. We will not use the LA-equals-reduced-point-buy rules, instead preferring to just ban races with LA, at least for now. We will not use the "capstone feats"; all feats that you take must be normal legal 3.5 feats, not homebrew E6 ones. You may not use the Epic feats from the Epic Level Handbook, though if for some reason there are non-Epic feats from the ELH that you qualify for, you may take those. (I don't think there are any, but I'm sure someone will prove me wrong.) It is up to the discretion of each judge whether this is a "hard E6" (magic above 3rd level spells is simply beyond mortal reach, items that have a listed CL above 6th are just plain not available, etc.) or a "soft E6" (if you can somehow get the magic on your character, it's yours, regardless of level), though I honestly don't expect it to come up. Don't go crazy with making assumptions about items and we probably won't have to find out.
  
• Presentation: Please use the table found below in the spoiler. List your epic bonus feats (in clear order) after the table. If you find a clever way of formatting that that isn't annoying and that doesn't break anything, have fun; if it's portable, I may steal it for the next round. When sending your build or any disputes to the Chair, clearly include your build's name in the subject of the PM, and please present your build exactly as you want the Chair to copy and paste it into the thread.
  If you're using a picture, cite the source and follow any relevant citation rules. Because we have had issues with this in the past, when listing your skills, please make it very clear how many ranks you have at each level. There are multiple ways to do this and we do not wish to cramp anyone's individual style by dictating exactly how this must look, but make sure that somewhere in your entry there's an explanation of how many actual skill ranks you have. It's still fine to list total skill bonuses, if that's your style, but don't only list bonuses; make sure that there is a clear listing somewhere of your ranks alone.
  Spoiler

  Show

  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

  Code for the table:

  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][/table]
  
  
• Contest houserules: Nearly the same as the main contest's rules here: all creatures are proficient with natural weapons they have or may acquire, bonus feats that are explicitly granted without meeting prereqs are usable even without those prereqs, and feats that affect which skills are class skills for you and/or how you spend your skill points (Able Learner, Martial Study, Truename Training, Apprentice, etc.) apply immediately at the level at which you take them (even though you normally spend skill points before taking a feat).
  
• Judging guidelines: The minimum score in a category is 1, and the maximum is 5 (except in Originality, where for round 10 only, the maximum is 10). Judges are expected to be fair, consistent, and open-minded, and they are expected to make a good-faith effort to engage with any reasonable disputes that arise, especially when RAW is in question. That said, contestants are asked to not dispute more than necessary; let's do everything in good faith and really only dispute when a judge is being inconsistent, being unfair, or is otherwise grossly misinterpreting a build.
  Judges may not penalize Originality solely because a build is a tribute or homage to an existing creative work (in or out of D&D canon; note that this is not the same thing as penalizing Originality for using well-known optimization tactics), nor may judges penalize based solely on sources used (whether those sources are plentiful, sparse, common, obscure, or something in between, you should judge the build elements and how they work together rather than what book or what books they came out of, as long as those books are legal for this contest and are cited in the entry).
  As with the main contest, we will follow the "One Mistake, One Penalty" guideline, and it is very important that the judges adhere to it. I'm going to directly copy and paste this from the main thread, and hopefully the original author won't mind too much:
  
  Spoiler

  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
  • 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.
  
  
• Other bits and bobs: If there's something major and relevant I haven't mentioned, assume that the way I handle it will probably be the same as the main contest unless stated otherwise or unless doing so would be an obviously absurd result. If you've got questions, I'll give you answers.

This round's secret ingredient: the CRUSADER, from Tome of Battle! Allez Optimizer!

Just because I haven't said this enough, FOR THIS ROUND ONLY, JUDGE ORIGINALITY ON A 10-POINT SCALE RATHER THAN A 5-POINT SCALE. Other categories are to be judged as usual.

The Builds:

Name	Alignment/Race	Class Stub	Score	Place	Chef
Cray the Gnarled	LE Krynn Minotaur	Crusader 4 / Cleric 1 / Marshal 1	14.5	Bronze	jdizzlean
Meran 'The Hammer' Torson	CG Maenad	Crusader 5 / Warblade 1	16	Gold	Randuir
Justarius	LN Body Hellbred	Crusader 4 / Divine Mind 1 / Incarnate 1	16	Gold	thorr-kan
Talon	? (nonlawful?) Razorclaw Shifter	Crusader 4 / Barbarian 1 / Berserk 1	10.5	4th	tterreb

Spoiler: Contest History

Show

Round 4: Knight
Round 5: Ninja
Round 6: Racial Paragon Classes
Round 7: Hexblade
Round 8: Shugenja
Round 9: Swashbuckler

Spoiler: Way Old Stuff (2012 and earlier; Amechra's run as Chair)

Show

Round 1: Divine Mind
Round 2: Monk
Round 3: Marshal

[Zaq]

The Crusader is a fantastic class, especially in an E6 environment where martial characters haven't been totally scaled out of relevance yet. It's very easy to make a powerful and fun Crusader.

What's a little tougher is differentiating Crusaders from each other, especially at the level range we're talking about. They have a very high power floor partly because they don't have that many options yet. Most of the options they do have up to level 6 are pretty good! But your challenge is not just to make something good. Your challenge is to make something unique. What makes your Crusader different from the next one? How do you stand out from the pack?

Originality is now weighted higher than the other categories, but of course, it's not the only category. The other three combined are still worth more than Originality alone. But the point of this round is to pay special attention to Originality and to really encourage you to show off how you can make something special even when playing in a similar space to everyone else.

Round 11 will be scored normally, with each category being the usual 1-5 point scale. But let's have some fun going a little bit sideways here.

As a reminder, we'll also always need judges!

[Long_shanks]

Oh wow! It,s been a long time since I've delved in ToB (and when I do it's almost always for Warblade or Swordsage, my absolute favorite class). Let's see if I can unearth something fun for the crusader.

[jdizzlean]

maybe for me.

it's not a reflection on the SI, but that my brain is so toast from trying to figure out my current Hoardstealer build.

[MinimanMidget]

I have an idea for this, I'll try to get a build in.

[WhamBamSam]

I'll be getting something in for this. I've already got one idea. Whether it's considered original will depend largely on the judge, but that's often the way of things.

[DeTess]

Heh, this is indeed an unambiguously good ingredient. I've got one idea already, but Vizzini probably has a thing or two to say about this one.

[Hish]

This round I should be able to put together a build. I've got some ideas brewing now.

[Zaq]

How’s everyone doing?

[tterreb]

How’s everyone doing?

I'm almost done with a build that I think should get me at least a solid 9. Hopefully. We'll see how it goes.

[DeTess]

I'm pretty much done. I want to slightly refine my fluff a bit more, and then it's just formatting. I expect to send it in today or tomorrow.

[Long_shanks]

Work hit me hard for the last days/weeks. Plus, I read and re-read Crusader, all the maneuvers, and just drew a complete blank on doing something original.

[MinimanMidget]

My idea 100% did not pan out.

[RaiKirah]

First off, I want to apologize for disappearing off the face of the Boards for the last month when I had promised judging for Round 9; that was Not Cool, and I'm sorry. Real life got a little hectic, but I should still have taken a moment to log on and let you all know I would not be able to judge.

In partial reparations (and because there really isn't time to build a good entry at this point any more), I would like to offer my services judging for this round. If that's acceptable, let me know. Looking forward to what y'all come up with!

~RaiKirah

[Zaq]

First off, I want to apologize for disappearing off the face of the Boards for the last month when I had promised judging for Round 9; that was Not Cool, and I'm sorry. Real life got a little hectic, but I should still have taken a moment to log on and let you all know I would not be able to judge.

In partial reparations (and because there really isn't time to build a good entry at this point any more), I would like to offer my services judging for this round. If that's acceptable, let me know. Looking forward to what y'all come up with!

~RaiKirah

Water under the bridge, friend. We look forward to your judgments!

[Zaq]

Friendly reminder: fewer than 72 hours remain!

[RaiKirah]

Hello Folks!

I figure that it might behoove us all if I post some thoughts on my intended judging criteria. As this is my first time judging, these criteria are somewhat preliminary, and definitely malleable – part of the hope from posting these is to get feedback on any area that seems poorly defined or inconsistent with the spirit/law of the judging aspect of these competitions. My approach to judging is going to be more qualitative rather than quantitative, and certainly not granular on the level of some I’ve seen (.25 points will be vanishingly rare, and most likely only show up in disputes). This might change in future as I get a better sense of what specifically I’m looking for.

A general note on build write ups: Please be as clear and obvious as possible with any and all tricks/combos/cool things you’re including in your build. While you may be able to clearly see a four part combo and all of its implications clearly, I may not be able to do so. The clearer and more specific you are the more I can appreciate and award the awesomeness you have put together.

With the various disclaimers out of the way, let’s take a look at the categories.

Spoiler: Originality

Show

This category is difficult to define normally, and with its double weighting in this round it becomes more so. Seeing as Originality is the focus of this round, a neutral build will be scored lower than it might in a regular round. For example, a Human Crusader 6 with only Fighter Bonus feats – which might be considered neutral in a regular round – will get a solid “meh” and be scored as a 3-4. Lower scores will happen based on over-used optimization staples without a twist (Power Attack/Leap Attack/Shocktrooper as your only trick would fall under this category, but if it happens to be an aspect of your build I’m not going to penalize it), blatant Originality grabs without a thematic or mechanical reason, and obvious build plagiarism. An example of a 1 might be an Aquatic Necropolitan Anthropomorphic Bat Crusader wielding a Sugiin (why yes, I have been researching for the Junkyard Wars competition). On the other end, scores go up as my interest/surprise/curiosity go up. Getting a reaction of ‘hmmm’ might get into the 4-5 realm, ‘oh, interesting’ could be 4-6, ‘wait, you did what now?’ might be ~7-8, etcetera. A note on backstory: I will never penalize for backstory, unless it breaks forum rules or is clear plagiarism (of the verbatim type). Homages and parodies are certainly welcome. A particularly excellent backstory might net a point, but it almost certainly won’t do more than that. That said, backstory can turn an originality grab type choice into a positive score modifier, as I can then follow the reasoning.

Spoiler: Power

Show

To me, Power has two primary axis upon which to judge; Power with respect to the class’ baseline competence, and Power with respect to the overall game mechanics. The first is fairly straightforward: the Crusader is a primary melee combatant, which means all builds will be judged on their ability do combat. If you make your build stronger than a standard Crusader you’ll get a bump. If you somehow manage to make your build weaker in combat than a standard Crusader, you better believe you’ll get a scoring demerit. The second realm of power judging comes with respect to the holistic game system. When you break it down, DnD gameplay roughly falls into three categories: combat, social, and what I’ll call utility (skillmonkey, knowledge bank, etc.). Crusaders are designed to be good in combat, so any true competence in the other realms that come without expense to fighting will be rewarded. True competence that comes at the expense of combat capability will also be rewarded, though the lack of combat capability will be penalized as above. So, to summarize, if you can strike a pose and crack the world in two with your muscles, you’ll be getting a 5. Similarly, if you can rule the battlefield, ballroom, and have a solution to ‘that,’ whatever ‘that’ may be, you’ll also get a 5. On the other end of the spectrum if your character spends his time alone in a sickbed unable to do anything at all you’ll get a 1. A final note: Power will be judged as if all prerequisites have been met, and where mechanics are questionable tie goes to the Chef. These issues will be covered in Elegance.

Spoiler: Elegance

Show

As with Power, Elegance has two primary aspects on which I will judge; a mechanical one, and – for lack of a better term – a metaphysical one. Mechanical is pretty straightforward: if prereqs are missed and/or there are errors in the build you’ll get dinged for that. If everything is copacetic you get a baseline score here (3). The second aspect is where things get subjective. You’ll get points for particularly interesting usages and mechanical interactions, whereas you’ll lose points for questionable/misinterpreted rules and clunky mechanics. This one may be fairly opaque in my awarding of points, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and I’m willing to discuss with you.

Spoiler: Use of SI

Show

This category is also fairly nebulous. I am not going to make any hard rules about how many levels of the SI you should use; that’s dependent on your build, and I will judge based on how integral the SI is to what you’re doing. That said, you should probably have a really good reason to use only one or two levels of Crusader. Taking levels in the class is not going to be enough by itself of course, as if you don’t use the class features you’re not going to get full marks. You do not have to showcase everything, but you should be showcasing some of it, otherwise why bother with Crusader? A score of 5 will incorporate enough Crusader to be unquestionably one in play, utilize most if not all of the class features in important and interesting ways, and have that certain je ne c'est qua and eau de Crusader. I suspect 5s will be rare, but 4s will not be.

Spoiler: On the Matter of Disputes

Show

One of the reasons I’ve avoided judging in the past is that the dispute process can get very personal and vitriolic (I myself have been guilty of this) and that is rather off-putting. I would like to take a moment to ask you all to be gracious and kind in your communications to all the judges and in return we (or at least I) will attempt to do the same. In addition, as you may have noticed from my descriptions above, quite a lot of my judging is going to be gut based. If you have a dispute that is based on a difference of opinion we have, please try to refrain, unless you believe that it has its roots in a genuine misunderstanding on my part. In which case, point it out and its applicability, and I’ll reevaluate. If you also tell me I’m wrong and an idiot, I’m probably going to ignore you. For purely mechanical disputes please speak up. I don’t want to shortchange your build; I think these competitions are awesome and I love seeing builds succeed. My goal is to appreciate what you’ve built, not tear into it’s failings.

Please let me know if you have any issues/questions/concerns with anything I’ve put here. Looking forward to the builds!

~RaiKirah

[DeTess]

That seems like a fair approach, RaiKirah. Don't worry about using your gut for a lot of judgings, just about everyone does that for the more nebulous categories, afaik. The only things you can judge 100% mathematically are build mistakes, everything else require some subjective interpretation ('Hmmm, build A has more Power than Build B, but is it 0.5 points stronger, or maybe a full point?').

[jdizzlean]

I only just now have time to devote to this, and the deadline being tomorrow means either i rush something in, or don't partake this round.

I have 11 hours right now to decide either way..

[Zaq]

I don’t have enough builds yet, and I’ve been asked for an extension. I’ll be busy tomorrow and Wednesday, so how about a 72-hour extension? Builds are due at the same time on Thursday. I’ll go update the OP. Go make more Crusaders!

[DeTess]

I don’t have enough builds yet, and I’ve been asked for an extension. I’ll be busy tomorrow and Wednesday, so how about a 72-hour extension? Builds are due at the same time on Thursday. I’ll go update the OP. Go make more Crusaders!

That's surprising. I had enough inspiration for 4 distinct builds, and I'm not generally that inspired. If I've got time I'll finish my secondary build.

[thorr-kan]

Huh. I thought I had a few more hours. Musta messed the GMT conversion up.

Oh, well. Submission sent. It will make the new deadline.

[Zaq]

Huh. I thought I had a few more hours. Musta messed the GMT conversion up.

Oh, well. Submission sent. It will make the new deadline.

You did have a few more hours. The original deadline is in about 5 hours. The new deadline is 3 days after that.

The time is supposed to be 5 PM US Pacific time. Pretty sure I got the GMT calculations right for that. But if you’re in the States or close enough to recognize the time zones, that’s what I’m aiming for.

[jdizzlean]

thanks for the extension, finalized and submitted!

[Falontani]

Now I have no excuse not to get one in, other than I thought I might judge

[Zaq]

Deadline’s in about four hours! I have things to accomplish tonight so I won’t be heading STRAIGHT home from work, but I do plan to post the builds pretty soon after I get home for the night. If you’ve got anything else to submit, get it in ASAP!

[Zaq]

"You approach the crowd. What do you do?"

I tell them that I'm definitely good at allocating my time and at figuring out how long things will take me!

"Okay, roll Bluff."

I got a 12. I'm pretty sure they'll buy it.

You're buying it, right? You're totally buying it.

Builds incoming!

[Zaq]

Things are getting a little bit cray-cray.

Cray the Gnarled

Spoiler: stub

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LE Krynn Minotaur crusader 4/cleric 1/marshal 1

Spoiler: race/class and pt buy

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Krynn Minotaur
+4 STR, -2 DEX/INT/CHA
Medium, +2 NA, Gore attack 1d6+STR (on a charge, 2d6+1.5x STR)(as secondary attack at -5 penalty ½ STR), +2 intimidate/swim/use rope. May take Scent special ability as a feat. Common/Kothian.

Blasphemous Incantation ACF (Cleric 1): evil alignment. Lose Rebuke Undead, gain Blasphemous Incantation (Su) 3+CHA/day. All good aligned in a 30ft radius must succeed on DC 10+1/2 char lvl+CHA FORT (17) or become sickened for CHA rounds. If 5 ranks in Know Rel, DC increases by +2. (19)
Elder Evil Devotion – Sertous (grants all domains) +2 vile feats
Pt buy:
S 13, D 12, C 14, I 12, W 11, C 16

Racial:
S 17, D 10, C 14, I 10, W 11, C 14
level up into Cha

4d10+2d8+12 HP

Spoiler: Maneuvers/Spells

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Maneuvers/Stances (IL = 5, so 3rd lvls granted)
1- Crusaders Strike, Charging Minotaur (exchange for Mountain Hammer at 4th), Vanguard Strike, Douse the Flames, Leading the Attack
1- Martial Spirit Stance
2- Mountain Hammer, Tactical Strike
3- Revitalizing Strike
3- Thicket of Blades Stance

Pestilence Domain (SpC 278):
GP: immunity to all diseases
1- Doom

Cleric Casting: from 2nd lvl on: 0-3, 1-1+1

A few lvl 1 cleric spells we might use:
Angry Ache, Bane, Blade of Blood, Curse Water, Protection from Good, Sorrow

Spoiler: Cray The Gnarled’s Story

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The Wise One often spoke out against the so-called Gods. These supposed super beings who held sway over all things. Malarkey and poppycock, all swirled into a swill that the weak consumed to give their lives meaning. True Power, and True Strength only came from one place, within yourself.

I once stood in a shrine, which honored one of these so-called Gods. I shattered the stone likeness some weakling had put up to pay homage to this being into a thousand thousand pieces. I called for the god to show himself, and prove his might. Of course nothing happened, because the Gods are just the lie fed to the weak to keep them servile. One of their priests sent a vision to attack me. After laughing it off, I slew that priest and wore his head afterwards as a trophy for a 50-day.

The Wise One spoke of the great Sertous, who cast down the Gods and showed them all for what they really are, charlatans of the highest order. The wheat was separated from the chaff that day. A pile of useless peons lay by the wayside, shorn free from all their petty misconceptions about their sundry paltry religions.

The Way was merely the obvious extension to this. Only through inner study and reflection, and the application of force could one become stronger. The means by which one chose in life to either lead or follow was set forth. I marked myself, not only once, but twice. My black fur, and blacker eyes and mane bore into the strong and weak alike. The Way allowed me to stand steadfast, to equally absorb and deal out pain.

The Wise One gifted me with the Touch shortly after. I took its power into myself, and again grew stronger still. Now the weak recoil by my mere presence. My voice, my being, my strength, my power, all these things manifest to cause them pause. I feast on their horror, and strike them all down. I revel in their inability to stand up, and so I help to keep them knocked down.

One day perhaps, one among them will find the strength within to fight back. On that day, I will meet them with horn and pike and hoof in glorious battle. I cannot wait.

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Crusader	+1	+2	+0	+0	Balance 4, Concentration 4, Inimidate 4, Knowledge Religion 4	Extra Granted Manuever, (B) Willing Deformity	Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5, Manuevers, Stance
2nd	Cleric	+1	+4	+0	+2	Conc 5, Know Rel 5	(B) Healing Devotion	Blasphemous Incantation ACF, Spells
3rd	Crusader 2	+2	+5	+2	+2	Balance 5, Conc 6, Intim 5, Know Rel 6	Blessing of the Godless	Indomitable Soul
4th	Crusader 3	+3	+5	+3	+3	Conc 7, Intim 7, Know Rel 7	-	Zealous Surge
5th	Crusader 4	+4	+6	+3	+3	Balance 6, Conc 8, Intim 8, Know rel 8	(B) Willing Deformity: Tall	Steely Resolve 10
6th	Marshal	+4	+8	+3	+5	Conc 9, Intim 9, Never Outnumbered	Otherworldly Countenance	Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Minor Aura (Motivate CHA)

Epic Feats:
1- Adaptive Style
2- Live My Nightmare
3- Daunting Presence
4- Power Attack
5- Intimidating Strike
6- Reckless Charge
7- Force of Personality
8- Stench of the Dead
9- Powerful Charge
10- Greater Powerful Charge

Spoiler: Misc build stuff

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Total Intimidation Check:

9 skill ranks
3 from Willing Deformity
1 from Deformity: Tall
2 from Minotaur
2 from CHA
2 from Motivate CHA
3 from Skill Focus (in most cases, evil characters will exchange Diplomacy for Intimidate)
2 possibly from Doom
3 possibly from Sorrow
2 possibly from Shaken condition
2 possibly from Sickened condition

19-31 total depending on situational bonus’s.

At all levels, we will engage in a duel of wills in order to gain an advantage over our enemies in combat. (ToB 27). At 2nd level trade out the healing domain for healing devotion to grant fast healing 1 for 1 min. At 3rd, Blessing of the Godless grants Class level x number of participants (up to 6 including yourself) in reserved hit points that lasts 24 hours. Each participant can pull their class level in HP’s from this pool as an immediate action. At 5th, having combined Willing Deformity (+3 Intimidate) and Willing Deformity: Tall, while still technically Medium, can threaten as though Large (10ft reach). At 6th, Otherworldly Countenance both grants another +1 to Intimidate, but also as a full round action you can distract any target w/in 30ft by forcing a Will DC 10+1/2 char lvl + CHA (17) or be sickened as long as the target remains in sight of you.

Adaptive Style allows for rearranging our readied maneuvers, and pairs with extra granted to allow more choices earlier in the fight.

Live my Nightmare sends a phantasmal killer back at anyone foolish enough to cast divinations against you. DC Will 14+CHA (18) to disbelieve, followed by DC Fort 14+CHA (18) to avoid dying from fear. Even if the Fort save succeeds, the subject will still take 3d6 damage.

Daunting Presence is a standard action Will DC 10 +1/2 char lvl+Cha (17) or be shaken for 10 mins

Intimidating strike is power attack for intimidate, causing a successful hit to make opponent shaken for the duration of the encounter.

Force of Personality stacks the CHA bonus onto will saves, which doubles up on the Indomitable Soul class ability. Meaning the total bonus to will saves is now +8. If that doesn’t fly, replace this with Frightful Presence which would force yet another Will save, DC 10+1/2 char lvl+CHA (17) or become shaken. In a long term E6 game, this might lose functionality as you won’t be facing to many things that have less HD/Levels than you, meaning Improved Initiative might be a good option for this slot.

Stench of the Dead causes anything around you to make a FORT DC 10+CHA (14) or become sickened as long as it remains adjacent to you, and for 1d4 rounds thereafter. This dovetails nicely into your charging maneuver, and the charging feats that follow as anyone you charge past, or attack must also make this additional save every time.

Reckless charge means a -4 AC and a +4 to attack. Powerful Charge adds an additional 1d8 damage, Greater PC increases that to 2d6.
To maximize damage, of course either use a 2h weapon, or a 1h weapon w/ 2 hands. Every attack is accompanied by a bonus Gore attack, albeit at a -5 to hit, or as a charge at 2d6+6.

Any magic gear should be +CHA if possible to increase the DC’s of all these abilities accordingly.

Spoiler: sources

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Complete Adventurer – Force of Personality
Complete Scoundrel – Never Outnumbered
Dragonlance Campaign Setting – Krynn Minotaur
Elder Evils- Sertous, Vile Feats
Exemplars of Evil – Blessing of the Godless
Fiendish Codex 1- Otherworldly Countenance
Heroes of Horror – Willing Deformity Line
Miniatures Handbook – Daunting Presence, Greater/Powerful/Reckless Charge, Marshal
Player’s Handbook – Cleric, Power Attack
Player’s Handbook 2 – Intimidating Strike
Tome of Battle – Adaptive Style, Crusader, Extra Granted Maneuver, Maneuvers, Stances
Unearthed Arcana – Live my Nightmare, Stench of the Dead

[Zaq]

This kind of thing is why I get scared using kashi bachi. That's meaningful to someone who isn't me, right? Oh, just look at the build already.

Meran 'The Hammer' Torson

Spoiler: Introducing the legend

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Host: Welcome back to Valhalla live! We’ve got a lot of exciting features, previews and reviews planned for you tonight. But first, to talk about his new album, we’ve got the legendary drummer of Valkyrie’s hammer, Meran ‘The Hammer’ Torson!

*Applause as the man himself strides onto stage, opening of his ‘new song ‘Drums of War’playing in the background*

Host: It’s great to have you here, Meran! Now, before we get to the new Album, I’ve got a question for you. We’d originally arranged for the entirety of ‘Valkyrie’s Hammer’ to join us here. Unfortunately, the rest had to cancel at the last minute, something related to Cormok the Craven having escaped from the Abyss again. What’s the story behind this, Meran?

Meran: Oh, that poser. He’s this minor Demon that we encountered during our first tour. He’s a real bore, didn’t accept our challenge to a Metal showdown and proceeded to try to kill the owner of the venue we were playing at. We dealt with him right quickly then, but he keeps coming back for more, and he gets meaner every time. We make it a point to hunt him down immediately whenever we hear he’s on the prowl again these days. The guy’s weak though, the boys’ll hardly need my help putting him down.

Host: Sticking to conventional Bardic wisdom for returning villains, I see.

Meran: Yep, kill the ****ers before they do something you’ll have to make tem regret.

Host: Not quite how I’d have worded it, but quite true nonetheless. It’s probably for the best that you haven’t all joined us here as there’s apparently a local law against more than two of you being on a show like this at the same time. Anyway, back to why you’re here in the first place. Your new album, Stomrlord’s fury, is set to release next week and is already getting great reviews.

Meran: As it should, this is a chronicle of our finest hour. Got our inspiration right from where it matters most, the path of adventure.

Host: Right, it’s clear from every song that you aren’t just singing about heroic deeds and adventure, you’ve lived it. The 5-star review given to your album by the temple of Thor mentioned that the hammer on the cover bears a striking resemblance to Mjölnir, and there’s been rumours that it’s the real thing ever since. Care to comment on that?

Meran: There’s a bonus track on the album that we’ve kept under wraps so far that should answer that particular question. *grins*

Host: I’m looking forward to hearing it. I’ve got time for one last question, and it’s about a rumour that has dogged you for the last couple of years. Is it true that you go through drums at an alarming rate?

Meran: They don’t build them like they used to. My first set lasted a couple of years until that demon trashed it out of spite. These days I count myself lucky if they last through a single gig.

Host: You’re sure it’s the drums, and not you?

Meran: Nah, they just build them to crappy standards these days. Any other object can withstand a proper solo, it’s just the man trying to weasel more money out of honest musicians. Watch!

*Meran proceeds to pound a surprisingly decent sounding rhythm out of the table between him and the host. The table promptly collapses on the final blow.*

Meran: …That proves nothing.

Host: I’m sure it doesn’t. Thanks for being on the show today, and all you folks back home and in the audience can pick up Valkyrie’s hammer’s next album, fury of the Stormlord, in your local store on July 16!

Spoiler: Facts, figures and heavy metal

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Meran 'The Hammer' Torson, CG Crusader 5/Warblade 1
race: Maenad
Ability scores (number in brackets is points spend from point-buy)
str 16 (10)
dex13 (includes +1 at level 4) (4)
con 14 (6)
int 14 (6)
wis 8 (0)
cha 14 (6)

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Crusader 1	+1	+2	+0	+0	Perform(drums) 4, diplomacy 4, intimidate 4, balance 4, concentration 4, martial lore 4, ride 2 (note that apprentice: entertainer adds 2 skill-points to spend on diplomacy or perform)	Apprentice: entertainer	Furious counterstrike, steely resolve 5
2nd	crusader 2	+2	+3	+0	+0	Perform(drums) 5, diplomacy 5, intimidate 5, balance 5, concentration 5, martial lore 5, ride 2	-	Indomitable Soul
3rd	Crusader 3	+3	+3	+1	+1	Perform(drums) 6, diplomacy 6, intimidate 6, balance 6, concentration 6, martial lore 6, ride 2	Combat Expertise	Zealous surge
4th	Crusader 4	+4	+4	+1	+1	Perform(drums) 7, diplomacy 7, intimidate 7, balance 7, concentration 7, martial lore 7, ride 2	-	steely resolve 10
5th	crusader 5	+5	+4	+1	+1	Perform(drums) 8, diplomacy 8, intimidate 8, balance 8, concentration 8, martial lore 8, ride 2	-	-
6th	Warblade 1	+6	+6	+1	+1	Perform(drums) 9, diplomacy 9, intimidate 9, balance 9, concentration 9, martial lore 9, ride 2	Ironheart Aura	battle clarity, weapon aptitude

Feats
stormguard warrior
martial stance(thicket of blades)
power attack
riposte
extra granted maneuver
dodge
karmic strike
stone power
improved unarmed strike
snap kick

Spoiler: Maneuvers and stances

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Crusader
Maneuevers
Crusader's strike
battle leader's charge
stone bones
mountain hammer
douse the flames
leading the attack
defensive rebuke

stances
Iron guard's glare
martial spirit
Thicket of Blades

Warblade
Maneuevers
disarming strike
moment of perfect mind
action before thought

stances
Punishing stance

Other numbers
HP:22+4d10+1d12

Spoiler: How to be legendary

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You've got a lot of ways to trigger AoO's against opponents (thicket of blades let you hit them even if they 5-foot step away, karmic strike lets you hit them if they hit you, and riposte lets you hit the first guy to miss you (if you use combat expertise, which you should for a single point in most situations). Make sure to not take any of the AoO's so you can do some massive damage on the next turn.

On your own turn, cash in on your bonus from channel the storm with a strike or normal attack. If you've got a big channel the storm bonus, use snap kick to add to the pain, otherwise use it (and any iterative you might be able to use) to load extra damage on your main attack by making touch attacks to fuel combat rythm.

Defensively, you've got a strike and stance that restores health, another one that gives DR, stone power allows you to gain some temporary hp by sacrificing BaB (Balance this with power attack and combat expertise as the situation demands). Two of your maneuvers from warblade allow you to replace one of your weak saves with a concentration check and as you should be psionically focused at the start of each battle (Meran's race is psionic, after all), you can take 15 on one of these per battle, which should guarantee success in most cases.

Spoiler: Sources and Inspiration

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Expanded psionics handbook: Maenad
DMG2: Apprentice: entertainer
ToB: Crusader, Warblade, all maneuvers and stances, feats: martial stance, ironheart aura,s otrmguard warrior, stone power, snap kick, extra granted maneuver
PHB: improved unarmed strike, snap kick, power attack, combat expertise, dodge
dragon compendium: riposte
complete warrior: karmic strike

This magnificent Iron Chef build Inspired the general idea for this builds background, and therefore deserves a shout-out.

[Zaq]

"Squandered knowledge for power"? Now I want to build a character based off of Fossik. (I'm just chock-full of references no one else will get today! WhamBamSam should get it, at least.)

Spoiler: The Character

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Justarius, Paladin of Wee Jas

He was a phenomenal archmage. He commanded legions of undead, summoned hellish hordes, and charmed armies. His soul was a trifle for the power he commanded. Justarius remembers that.

Justarius also remembers the moment the paladin's blade mortally wounded him.

There was no recovering from that divine judgement. But in his final minutes, a priest of Wee Jas from among his victorious opponents took time to comfort the fallen mage and offer him counsel. Justarius had been granted great gifts by the Ruby Sorceress, but he had squandered knowledge for power. His lone pursuit of temporal power meant everything he had accomplished, everything he had learned, was lost to the sands of time. Justarius wishes he could remember the priest's name.

Justarius took heed of the priest's words, repented his actions, squarely faced his consquences, and died.

But even Death may be defeated.

Justarius awoke in his funeral crypt. He was alive, body strengthened but mind scoured. His beloved magic was no longer his to command. No matter; second chances were so rarely granted. Remembering the paladin's blade, Justarius picked up a sword and sought the nearest temple of Wee Jas. It was time to make amends.

Lacking any remaining facility for arcane magic and having no inclination for divine magic, his death by the blade seems to have awoken an ability with the blade. Ironically, Justarius has been trained in blade magic. As his training progressed, he continued unlocked powers of the mind and powers of the soul. Justarius has begun fusing his teachings and abilities into some new, something powerful, something completely new to the church.

This time, the knowledge will not be lost. The church will have his legacy, the Ruby Goddess will have a champion, and Justarius may just have his soul.

Justarius stands 5'7" and weighs 165#. He has black hair, olive skin, pleasing but not striking features, and well muscled and balanced. But his eyes, his red, red, eyes, hint that the man before is not quite as plain as he seems. He is dressed in darkened chainmail, decorated with the holy symbol of Wee Jas and is holding a well cared-for falchion.

Spoiler: The Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features	Maneuvers	Stances	Psionic Powers	Soulmelds
1st	Crusader 1	+3	+4	+1	+1	(Skill points, ability bonuses, and racial bonuses, 4+1/level/crusader) Concentration (Con) +6, Diplomacy (Cha) +6, Intimidate (Cha) +8, Knowledge (religion) (Int) +5, Martial Lore (Int) +5	Simple Weapon Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (all), Armor Proficiecy (light, medium, heavy), Shield Proficiency (all), Adaptive Style (1st), Devil's Favor (bonus feat)	Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5	Maneuvers (5) - Crusader's Strike (1st), Vanguard Strike (2nd), Leading the Attack (3rd), Douse the Flames (4th), Charging Minotaur (5th)	Stances (1) - Iron Guard's Glare (1st)
2nd	Crusader 1/Divine Mind 1	+3	+6	+1	+3	(Skill points, ability bonuses, and racial bonuses, 4+1/level/crusader, 2+1/level/divine mind) Autohypnosis (Wis) +2, Concentration (Con) +6, Diplomacy (Cha) +6, Intimidate (Cha) +8, Knowledge (psionics) (Int) +2, Knowledge (religion) (Int) +5, Martial Lore (Int) +5, Use Magic Device (Cha) +3	Simple Weapon Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (all), Armor Proficiecy (light, medium, heavy), Shield Proficiency (all), Adaptive Style (1st), Devil's Favor (bonus feat), Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon, bonus feat)	Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5, Mantle (Magic), Psychic Aura 5', Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon)	Maneuvers (5) - Crusader's Strike (1st), Vanguard Strike (2nd), Leading the Attack (3rd), Douse the Flames (4th), Charging Minotaur (5th)	Stances (1) - Iron Guard's Glare (1st)	Psionic Powers (1) - Metaphysical Weapon
3rd	Crusader 2/Divine Mind 1	+4	+7	+1	+3	(Skill points, ability bonuses, and racial bonuses, 4+1/level/crusader, 2+1/level/divine mind) Autohypnosis (Wis) +4, Concentration (Con) +7, Diplomacy (Cha) +7, Intimidate (Cha) +9, Knowledge (psionics) (Int) +2, Knowledge (religion) (Int) +6, Martial Lore (Int) +6, Use Magic Device (Cha) +3	Simple Weapon Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (all), Armor Proficiecy (light, medium, heavy), Shield Proficiency (all), Adaptive Style (1st), Devil's Favor (bonus feat), Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon, bonus feat), Psychic Renewal (3rd)	Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5, Indomitable Soul, Psychic Aura 5', Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon)	Maneuvers (5) - Crusader's Strike (1st), Vanguard Strike (2nd), Leading the Attack (3rd), Douse the Flames (4th), Charging Minotaur (5th)	Stances (2) - Iron Guard's Glare (1st), Bolstering Voice (2nd)	Psionic Powers (1) - Metaphysical Weapon
4th	Crusader 3/Divine Mind 1	+5	+7	+2	+4	(Skill points, ability bonuses, and racial bonuses, 4+1/level/crusader, 2+1/level/divine mind) Autohypnosis (Wis) +4, Concentration (Con) +8, Diplomacy (Cha) +8, Intimidate (Cha) +10, Knowledge (psionics) (Int) +2, Knowledge (religion) (Int) +7, Martial Lore (Int) +7, Use Magic Device (Cha) +3	Simple Weapon Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (all), Armor Proficiecy (light, medium, heavy), Shield Proficiency (all), Adaptive Style (1st), Devil's Favor (bonus feat), Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon, bonus feat), Psychic Renewal (3rd), Devil's Stamina (bonus feat)	Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5, Indomitable Soul, Zealous Surge, Psychic Aura 5', Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon)	Maneuvers (6) - Crusader's Strike (1st), Vanguard Strike (2nd), Leading the Attack (3rd), Douse the Flames (4th), Charging Minotaur (5th), Foehammer (6th)	Stances (2) - Iron Guard's Glare (1st), Bolstering Voice (2nd)	Psionic Powers (1) - Metaphysical Weapon
5th	Crusader 3/Divine Mind 1/Incarnate 1	+5	+9	+2	+6	(Skill points, ability bonuses, and racial bonuses, 4+1/level/crusader, 2+1/level/divine mind, 2+1/level/incarnate) Autohypnosis (Wis) +4, Concentration (Con) +9, Diplomacy (Cha) +8, Intimidate (Cha) +10, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) +2, Knowledge (psionics) (Int) +2, Knowledge (religion) (Int) +7, Knowledge (the planes) (Int) +2, Martial Lore (Int) +7, Use Magic Device (Cha) +3	Simple Weapon Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (all), Armor Proficiecy (light, medium, heavy), Shield Proficiency (all), Adaptive Style (1st), Devil's Favor (bonus feat), Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon, bonus feat), Psychic Renewal (3rd), Devil's Stamina (bonus feat)	Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5, Indomitable Soul, Zealous Surge, Psychic Aura 5', Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon), Aura, Detect Opposition	Maneuvers (6) - Crusader's Strike (1st), Vanguard Strike (2nd), Leading the Attack (3rd), Douse the Flames (4th), Charging Minotaur (5th), Foehammer (6th)	Stances (2) - Iron Guard's Glare (1st), Bolstering Voice (2nd)	Psionic Powers (1) - Metaphysical Weapon	Soulmelds (2) - Airstep Sandals (1st), Astral Vambraces (2nd)
6th	Crusader 4/Divine Mind 1/Incarnate 1	+6	+10	+2	+6	(Skill points, ability bonuses, and racial bonuses, 4+1/level/crusader, 2+1/level/divine mind, 2+1/level/incarnate) Autohypnosis (Wis) +4, Concentration (Con) +10, Diplomacy (Cha) +9, Intimidate (Cha) +11, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) +2, Knowledge (psionics) (Int) +2, Knowledge (religion) (Int) +8, Knowledge (the planes) (Int) +2, Martial Lore (Int) +8, Use Magic Device (Cha) +3	Simple Weapon Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (all), Armor Proficiecy (light, medium, heavy), Shield Proficiency (all), Adaptive Style (1st), Devil's Favor (bonus feat), Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon, bonus feat), Psychic Renewal (3rd), Devil's Stamina (bonus feat), Blade Meditation (6th)	Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 10, Indomitable Soul, Zealous Surge, Psychic Aura 5', Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Weapon), Aura, Detect Opposition	Maneuvers (6) - Crusader's Strike (1st), Vanguard Strike (2nd), Leading the Attack (3rd), Douse the Flames (4th), Charging Minotaur (5th), Foehammer (6th)	Stances (2) - Iron Guard's Glare (1st), Bolstering Voice (2nd)	Psionic Powers (1) - Metaphysical Weapon	Soulmelds (2) - Airstep Sandals (1st), Astral Vambraces (2nd)

Spoiler: The Result

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LN Humanoid (Hellbred (Body))
Crusader 4/Divine Mind (Wee Jas)1/Incarnate 1
S-14
D-12
C-15 (+1 at 4th level)
I-12
W-12
Ch-14

HP: 44 (10 +12(Con bonus) +(3.5*3(Cru) + 3.5*1(DivMind) +3.5*1(Inc)) +4 (Devil's Stamina))
AC: 16 (chainmail+Dex), flat-footed 10, touch 11
Init: +1
Damage: 2d4+3 (falchion, two-handed)
Initiator Level: 5
Manifester Level: 4
Power Points: 2
Meldshaper Level: 1
Essentia Pool: 3
Essentia Capacity: 1

(Skill points, ability bonuses, and racial bonuses, 41 (4+1/level/crusader, 2+1/level/divine mind, 2+1/level/incarnate))
Autohypnosis (Wis) +4, Concentration (Con) +10, Diplomacy (Cha) +9, Intimidate (Cha) +11, Knowledge (arcana) (Int) +2, Knowledge (psionics) (Int) +2, Knowledge (religion) (Int) +8, Knowledge (the planes) (Int) +2, Listen (Wis) +1, Martial Lore (Int) +8, , Search (Int) +1, Spot (Wis) +1, Use Magic Device (Cha) +3

(Feats, in order granted and sources)
1 - Cr1 - Adaptive Style (1st), Devil's Favor (bonus feat)
2 - DM1 - Hidden Talent for Wild Talent ACF (bonus feat)
3 - Cr2 - Psychic Renewal (3rd)
4 - Cr3 - Devil's Stamina (bonus feat)
5 - Inc1 - N/A
6 - Cr4 - Blade Meditation
Epic (10) - Instant Clarity, Vital Recover, Open Least Chakra (hands), Psionic Meditation, Psionic Weapon, Practiced Manifester, Devoted Bulwark, Speed of Thought, Open Least Chakra (feet), Bonus Essentia

Adaptive Style, Tome of Battle, p28
Devil's Favor, Fiendish Codex 2, p81
Hidden Talent, Expanded Psionics Handbook, p67
Psychic Renewal, Tome of Battle, p32
Devil's Stamina, Fiendish Codex 2, p83
Blade Meditation, Tome of Battle, p28

Instant Clarity, Tome of Battle, p31
Vital Recover, Tome of Battel, p33
Open Least Chakra (hands), Magic of Incarnum, p39
Psionic Meditation, Expanded Psionics Handbook, p50
Psionic Weapon, Expanded Psionics Handbook, p50
Practiced Manifester, Complete Psionics, p57
Devoted Bulwark, Tome of Battle, p29
Speed of Thought, Expanded Psionics Handbook, p51
Open Least Chakra (feet), Magic of Incarnum, p39
Bonus Essentia, Magic of Incarnum, p35

Spoiler: HELLBRED RACIAL TRAITS

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All hellbred share the following racial traits:
• Humanoid (Hellbred): Hellbred are humanoid creatures, despite their monstrous appearance.
• Infernal Mien (Ex): Hellbred have a sinister presence. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks.
• Evil Exception (Ex): Regardless of alignment or class restrictions, a hellbred can cast spells with the evil descriptor and never gains negative levels while wielding evil magic items, such as unholy weapons or demon armor. This ability does not shield a hellbred from losing access to class features if he violates a class’s code of conduct. For example, using a +1 unholy longsword to slay orcs would not violate a hellbred paladin’s code of conduct, though using the weapon to kill another paladin would.
• Hellbound (Su): A devil has a claim on a hellbred’s soul. As a result, a hellbred can be restored to life only by a resurrection spell or greater magic.
• Devil’s Favor: A hellbred gains Devil’s Favor as a bonus feat for which it does not need to meet the prerequisite. See the new feats section later in this chapter for information on devil-touched feats.
• Infernal Aspect: Upon completing the Scourging, a hellbred chooses one of the following aspects to manifest. Once the choice is made, it cannot be changed.
Body (Ex): A hellbred who chooses body as his infernal aspect gains a +4 bonus on saves against poison. In addition, he gains a +2 bonus to Constitution and takes a –2 penalty to Intelligence. The process of the Scourging strengthens his body but weakens his mind.
At 4 HD, he gains a bonus devil-touched feat.
• Automatic Languages: Infernal. Hellbred gain the ability to speak Infernal upon their transformation, but they do not lose the ability to speak languages they previously knew before the Scourging.
• Favored Class: Paladin. A multiclass hellbred’s paladin class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing. Furthermore, hellbred paladins can leave that class and return to it without penalty.

Spoiler: Powers

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Spoiler: Maneuvers and Stances

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Discipline: Devoted Spirit, Stone Dragon, White Raven
Key Skill: Intimidate, Balance, Diplomacy
Associated Weapons: falchion, greatclub, longsword, maul; greatsword, greataxe, heavy mace, unarmed strike; longsword, battleaxe, warhammer, greatsword, halberd

Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike (1st), Vanguard Strike (2nd), Leading the Attack (3rd), Douse the Flames (4th), Charging Minotaur (5th), Foehammer (6th)

Stances: Iron Guard's Glare (1st), Bolstering Voice (2nd)

Spoiler: Psionic Powers

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Expanded Classes, Part Four - Divine Mind - http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?
x=dnd/psm/20070629a
Hidden Talent
If your campaign has an established history of psionics, you can replace the Wild Talent bonus feat with the Hidden Talent feat (see page 67 of the Expanded Psionic Handbook).
Replaces: You lose the free Wild Talent feat at 1st level.
Benefits: You gain the Hidden Talent feat, but with the following modifications. The 1st-level power gained must come from your first mantle's list and the power is manifested using your Wisdom instead of your Charisma.

Mantle:
Magic
Manifester Level: 4 (Divine Mind level - 4 + 4 (Practiced Manifester)
Psychic Auras (Complete Psionic, p10): Attack, Defense, Perception, Magic: Weapons treated as Magic for overcoming DR.
Granted Ability (Complete Psionic, p70): You gain Use Magic Device as a class skill. If you purchased ranks in Use Magic Device or Use Psionic Device at the cross-class rate, you get additional ranks in Use Magic Device or Use Psionic Device as if it had always been a class skill for you. In addition, you always treat magic and psionics as identical. Therefore, powers such as dispel psionics work for both magic and psionics. Most campaigns already treat them in this manner, so this mantle is most useful in campaigns where they are considered different systems.
Power: (Expanded Psionic Handbook, p118)
Metaphysical Weapon
Metacreativity
Level: Divine Mind 1
Display: Auditory
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Weapon touched
Duration: 1 min./level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless, object)
Power Resistance: Yes (harmless, object)
Power Points: 1
Metaphysical weapon gives a weapon a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls. (An enhancement bonus does not stack with a masterwork weapon’s +1 bonus on attack rolls.)

Alternatively, you can affect up to fifty arrows, bolts, or bullets. The projectiles must be of the same type, and they have to be together (such as in the same quiver). Projectiles, but not thrown weapons, lose their enhancement when used. (Treat shuriken as projectiles, rather than thrown weapons, for the purpose of this power.)

You can’t manifest this power on most natural weapons, including a psychic warrior’s claw strike. This power does work on a weapon brought into being by the graft weapon power.

Augment
If you spend 4 additional power points, this power’s duration increases to 1 hour per level.

In addition, for every 4 additional power points you spend, this power improves the weapon’s enhancement bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls by 1.

Spoiler: Soulmelds

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Airstep Sandals - Magic of Incarnum, p55.
Descriptors: None
Chakra: Feet
Saving Throw: None
You shape incarnum into a pair of sky-blue sandals. They surround your feet without quite touching them, fitting over any boots or shoes you wear. When you use the flight ability of the sandals, you leave a faint trail of blue vapor behind you, which disperses after a few seconds.

Many creatures have the gift of flight, and with this soulmeld, you channel soul energy derived from such creatures to borrow that gift. The rilkan incarnate Davi the Trickster was rarely seen without this soulmeld shaped, and she claimed that she could communicate with the djinn whose soul energy she borrowed to form it.
While worn, the airstep sandals allow you to fly up to 10 feet (good maneuverability) as a move action once per round. You must end the flight solidly supported or you fall.
Essentia: Every point of essentia you invest in your airstep sandals increases the distance you can fl y by 10 feet.

Chakra Bind (Feet)
Your airstep sandals merge into your feet, turning your legs sky blue from your knees down to your toes. You become capable of aerial acrobatics, turning on a dime in midair with a soft burst of pale blue mist.

You fly with perfect maneuverability. In practical terms, this means that you can reverse direction without paying a movement cost, you can turn freely without spending any extra movement, and you can ascend at full speed.

Astral Vambraces - http://archive.wizards.com/default.a.../psm/20060217a
Descriptors: None
Classes: Incarnate, soulborn
Chakra: Arms or hands
Saving Throw: None

You form vambraces from ectoplasm, and their shimmering silver color is highlighted with glints of azure blue.

Your astral vambraces infuse you with the fortitude of an astral construct, granting you damage reduction 2/magic.

Astral vambraces are not affected by dismiss ectoplasm.

Essentia: Every point of essentia you invest in your astral vambraces increases the damage reduction by 2.

Chakra Bind (Hands)

The vambraces extend down and cover your hands in ectoplasm.

You gain two slam attacks, which act as primary natural weapons. The slam attacks deal 1d4 points of damage if you are Small, 1d6 points of damage if you are Medium, or 1d8 points of damage if you are Large, plus your Strength bonus. If you use a weapon in one hand, you can use your other hand to deal a slam attack as a secondary natural weapon (with a -5 penalty on the attack roll and applying only half your Strength bonus on your damage roll).