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  1. - Top - End - #61
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Heliomance's Avatar

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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Just a note to say I'm not dead! Apologies for the delay, been struggling with executive dysfunction lately. I have 17 messages sitting in my inbox ready to be posted O_o

    However it's now 2.40 am and I'm going to sleep.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalirren View Post
    The only person in the past two pages who has known what (s)he has been talking about is Heliomance.
    Quote Originally Posted by golentan View Post
    I just don't want to have long romantic conversations or any sort of drama with my computer, okay? It knows what kind of porn I watch. I don't want to mess that up by allowing it to judge any of my choices in romance.

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  2. - Top - End - #62
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    MonkGirl

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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    we appreciate your work, Heliomance. Do it as time allows.
    Minister of sarcasm and pragmatism of the Grayview fanclub.

    No, none of us were altering the unimutable laws of physics. That would be wrong.

  3. - Top - End - #63
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    Thumbs up Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Looking forward to the reveal.

    I'm sure mine won't be earth shattering, but I hope at least it looks a little different than the other builds...

  4. - Top - End - #64
    Nerdomancer in the Playground Moderator
     
    DruidGuy

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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Quote Originally Posted by Thurbane View Post
    Looking forward to the reveal.

    I'm sure mine won't be earth shattering, but I hope at least it looks a little different than the other builds...


    that's pretty much what i went for this go around :)

    good luck to you sir!@
    Spoiler: Medals & Current Characters
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nifft View Post
    More sources, more choices, more power. Welcome to D&D.
    Quote Originally Posted by Peelee
    I mean, I have been assuming Jdizzlean looks like Nathan Fillion this whole time to start with...
    The Mod Life Crisis If you need me to address a thread as a Moderator, please include a link

  5. - Top - End - #65
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Here we go!

    Entry number 1

    Quote Originally Posted by Illazil
    Illazil, Entropy's Minstrel
    Spoiler: Stub
    Show
    CN Killoren Bard 7/Warblade 3/Doomblade 10

    Spoiler: Background
    Show
    No one ever thought of Illazil at the Whiteclover Inn. He was just the local minstrel, there every night, singing familiar tunes. Except for when someone wanted to know more about a plant they found growing in their garden or their field, the locals rarely conversed with him, and adventurers passing by quickly learned that he had no interest in travelling far away and braving dangers.
    Until one night, after a long day of hard labor toiling in the field, a fight broke out between a pair of drunk farmers, for reasons unknown, and as drinks spilled and tables were bumped, it erupted into an all-out brawl, unusual in the Whiteclover Inn. As a local constable tried with little success to quell the violence, Illazil kept up his song, but soon stopped as he heard another voice singing, to a different tune. It was soft, but his keen ears could pick it up.
    Illazil turned to the man on his right, a scarred warrior with a falchion leaning against the wall beside him, one of the few in the inn not fighting or trying to put a stop to the brawl. "Do you hear that song?"
    "Yours?" asked to man.
    "No, the other one. It is quieter."
    A smile crept across the man's rough visage. "Beautiful, is it not?" he murmured.
    Illazil nodded. "Who is singing?"
    "The multiverse. It is singing its own requiem. Alas, only a few notes can be heard of this epic piece, and even that is rare."
    "Only a few notes? Perhaps you are not hearing the same thing as me. I can hear a whole verse, though I do not know the language."
    The warrior's eyes widened, and his smile grew. Just as he was about to speak again, a burly half-orc with eyes glazed over, a mercenary, not a local, stumbled towards them, swinging a large ax wildly about. Not sure of what else to do, and with the sharp blade swinging dangerously close, Illazil snatched up the falchion that rested near the man, and met the approaching ax with a swing of his own. The falchion's blade cut into the haft of the half-orc's weapon, and the voice that was singing let out a clear, pure note as the ax blade flew off and buried into a table leg.
    The man laughed as the drunk dropped onto the ground, holding the handle of his broken weapon, and took the falchion out of Illazil's shaking hands.
    "My friend," he said, still grinning broadly, "do you want to learn how to sing this song you hear?"
    Illazil nodded fervently, staring at the ax head buried in the table.
    "Then allow me to help you to learn how, as best as I can. I cannot sing as well as you, but I know a few ways that will help you learn how to know when to listen for it."

    In the years that followed, they traveled together, seeking the song. Illazil's companion, Julius, taught him about the Doomguard, an organization devoted to entropy that spanned worlds. Illazil learned how to wield a sword, how to break any object created by any being, and above all, when to listen for the Song of Dissolution. Julius favored bar fights; as windows, bottles and fingers broke, Illazil would listen to the song, memorizing every note and chord he could. Malicious rumors, spilled food and free drinks would start fights enough, but Julius preferred the spectacular, even once telling Illazil to throw a bag of coins into the middle of a pub, decreeing for all to hear that it was a gift for the last man standing.
    One night, after starting and listening to three fights, one of which ended in spilled blood, Julius took Illazil to the steps of a temple.
    "Is this the temple of the god you worship?" he asked his mentor.
    "No; entropy is my only deity. This, my friend, is your final test." He gestured with a wide sweep of his hand towards the temple, and handed his lantern to Illazil. "Burn it."
    "What?"
    "Burn the temple. Some friends of mine covered it with oil earlier today, it will burn easily. Don't worry, I think that it's the temple of some dark demon-god, it ought to burn anyways."
    Illazil stepped towards the building and threw the lantern towards the doorway. Flames erupted, and in minutes the structure was engulfed. Julius put a strong hand on Illazil's shoulder and they watched the fire lick the sky.
    And above the sound of the roaring flames, above the shouts of the growing crowd, above Julius' laughter and even above the screams of the dying worshipers within, Illazil heard verses, beautiful verses, echoing around him.

    Illazil joined the Doomguard soon after, though he did not travel with Julius anymore. He set out on his own, seeking the Song. He sought out old, abandoned structures above all, the larger the better, bringing with him each time oil, torches, and long scrolls of parchment. And as the flames rose into the sky, he would sit and record the song of the multiverse as it crumbled apart.

    And sometimes, he would sing along.

    Spoiler: Ability Scores
    Show
    (32 point buy)
    Str 16
    Dex 10
    Con 14
    Int 12
    Wis 8
    Cha 16

    4th level and 8th level: bonus to Strength
    12th level, 16th level and 20th level: bonus to Charisma
    In addition +1 Charisma at 14th and 18th level from Body or Soul.

    Spoiler: Build
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    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st Bard 1 +0 +0 +2 +2 Perform (sing) 4, Concentration 4, Use Magic Device 4, Knowledge (nature) 4, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 4, Listen 4, Spellcraft 4 Power Attack Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Countersong, Fascinate, Inspire Courage +1
    2nd Bard 2 +1 +0 +3 +3 Perform (sing) 5, Concentration 5, Use Magic Device 5, Knowledge (nature) 5, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 5, Spellcraft 5 - -
    3rd Bard 3 +2 +1 +3 +3 Perform (sing) 6, Concentration 6, Use Magic Device 6, Knowledge (nature) 6, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 6, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 2 Weapon Focus Inspire Competence
    4th Bard 4 +3 +1 +4 +4 Perform (sing) 7, Concentration 7, Use Magic Device 7, Knowledge (nature) 7, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 7, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 4 - -
    5th Warblade 1 +4 +3 +4 +4 Perform (sing) 7, Concentration 8, Use Magic Device 7, Knowledge (nature) 7, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 7, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 4, Balance 4 - Battle Clarity, Weapon Aptitude
    6th Bard 5 +4 +3 +4 +4 Perform (sing) 9, Concentration 8, Use Magic Device 9, Knowledge (nature) 9, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 8, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 4, Balance 4 Improved Sunder -
    7th Bard 6 +5 +4 +5 +5 Perform (sing) 10, Concentration 10, Use Magic Device 10, Knowledge (nature) 10, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 10, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 4, Balance 4 - Suggestion
    8th Warblade 2 +6 +5 +5 +5 Perform (sing) 10, Concentration 11, Use Magic Device 10, Knowledge (nature) 10, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 10, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 - Uncanny Dodge
    9th Bard 7 +7 +5 +5 +5 Perform (sing) 12, Concentration 11, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 11, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 Combat Brute -
    10th Doomlord 1 +8 +7 +5 +5 Perform (sing) 13, Concentration 11, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 - Entropic Blow 1/day, Healing Resistance
    11th Warblade 3 +9 +7 +6 +6 Perform (sing) 14, Concentration 14, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 - Battle Ardor
    12th Doomlord 2 +10 +8 +6 +6 Perform (sing) 15, Concentration 15, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 Improved Critical (B), Killoren Destroyer Destructive Expertise
    13th Doomlord 3 +11 +8 +7 +7 Perform (sing) 16, Concentration 16, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 - Negative Adaption
    14th Doomlord 4 +12 +9 +7 +7 Perform (sing) 17, Concentration 17, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 - Body or Soul (+1 Charisma)
    15th Doomlord 5 +13 +9 +7 +7 Perform (sing) 18, Concentration 18, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 Staggering Critical Entropic Blow 2/day
    16th Doomlord 6 +14 +10 +8 +8 Perform (sing) 19, Concentration 19, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 Endurance (B) -
    17th Doomlord 7 +15 +10 +8 +8 Perform (sing) 20, Concentration 20, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 - Unmaking Magic
    18th Doomlord 8 +16 +11 +8 +8 Perform (sing) 21, Concentration 21, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 Steadfast Determination Body or Soul (+1 Charisma)
    19th Doomlord 9 +17 +11 +9 +9 Perform (sing) 22, Concentration 22, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 - Disintegrate
    20th Doomlord 10 +18 +12 +9 +9 Perform (sing) 23, Concentration 23, Use Magic Device 12, Knowledge (nature) 12, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5, Listen 12, Spellcraft 5, Tumble 8, Balance 5 Cleave (B) Entropic Blow 3/day

    Spoiler: Spells Per Day
    Show
    Spells per Day
    Level 0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
    1st 2 - - - - - - - - -
    2nd 3 1 - - - - - - - -
    3rd 3 2 - - - - - - - -
    4th 3 3 1 - - - - - - -
    5th 3 3 1 - - - - - - -
    6th 3 4 2 - - - - - - -
    7th 3 4 3 - - - - - - -
    8th 3 4 3 - - - - - - -
    9th 3 4 3 1 - - - - - -
    10th 3 4 3 1 - - - - - -
    11th 3 4 3 1 - - - - - -
    12th 3 4 4 2 - - - - - -
    13th 3 4 4 2 - - - - - -
    14th 3 4 4 3 - - - - - -
    15th 3 4 4 3 - - - - - -
    16th 3 4 4 3 1 - - - - -
    17th 3 4 4 3 1 - - - - -
    18th 3 5 4 4 2 - - - - -
    19th 3 5 4 4 2 - - - - -
    20th 3 5 4 4 3 - - - - -

    Spoiler: Spells Known
    Show
    Casts spells as a 12th level bard.
    0 level: Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Summon Instrument
    1st level: Grease, Lesser Confusion, Silent Image, Tasha's Hideous Laughter
    2nd level: Heroism, Glitterdust, Alter Self, Invisibility
    3rd level: Dispel Magic, Haste, Confusion, Charm Monster
    4th level: Freedom of Movement, Dimension Door, Hold Monster

    Spoiler: Warblade Maneuvers
    Show
    Stances
    Warblade 1: Stance of Clarity (1st)

    Maneuvers
    Warblade 1: Emerald Razor (2nd), Mountain Hammer (2nd), Charging Minotaur (1st)
    Warblade 2: Stone Dragon's Fury (3rd)
    Warblade 3: Ruby Nightmare Blade (4th)

    Spoiler: 5th level
    Show
    At this point, Illazil is a bard with surprising skill with the sword (preferably a falchion, but because of Weapon Aptitude, he can switch his Weapon Focus feat to apply to any weapon). He usually enters melee combat, using the combo of Emerald Razor and Power Attack to deal a large amount of damage, using Mountain Hammer to destroy his enemies' weapons, or bull rushing with Charging Minotaur to reach far away foes.
    His can use Heroism for a nice pre-combat buff on himself or an ally, and Grease and Glitterdust to debuff foes.
    Out of combat, he can use magic items fairly efficiently with Use Magic Device, as well as innate bard casting, as well as take advantage of his bardic music to assist allies. Mountain Hammer, of course, means that he can break most things that need breaking.
    Illazil always is in the Aspect of the Destroyer, allowing him to smite aberrations, constructs, humanoids, oozes, outsiders and undead, all pretty common foes.

    Spoiler: 10th level
    Show
    Illazil has managed to snag his first level of the SI. Not much right now, but he's also picked up Improved Sunder and Combat Brute, as well as the Stone Dragon's Fury Maneuver, meaning that enemy weapons no longer exist. He sunders with ease, and thanks to Sundering Cleave (Combat Brute) can follow up with a melee attack. The other two maneuvers of Combat Brute pair up well with Charging Minotaur. Advancing Blows means that the turn after bull rushing, he deals a small amount of extra damage, and Momentum Swing improves Power Attack after charging. Charging Minotaur followed by Emerald Razor and a full Power Attack is an effective combo.
    Spell-wise, Dispel Magic allows him to fight buffed casters better, and Haste allows him to buff a team effectively, while benefiting greatly from an extra attack himself.
    Out of combat, Invisibility and Alter Self can allow him to snoop around fairly effectively, and his bardic music now gives him Suggestion (which will fall of at later levels, as its DC will not increase except with his Charisma).

    Spoiler: 15th level (also: sweet spot)
    Show
    5 levels into the SI, now Doomlord is giving some value. He has two uses of Entropic Blow per day, and these + smite + high critical chance + Power Attack + Ruby Nightmare Blade = high damage. He hasn't gained any new spell levels, but Confusion works well against large numbers of weak opponents (an ability he otherwise requires UMD to succeed at efficiently). As mentioned above, his latest maneuver, Ruby Nightmare Blade, combines well with Entropic Blow, adding a lot of damage (his preferred weapon now is definitely a falchion, although thanks to Weapon Aptitude he can switch his Weapon Focus and Improved Critical to another type of sword, if needed)and a 15-20 crit range brings the damage to triple instead of double with Ruby Nightmare Blade fairly often. Even if an opponent survives the damage from a critical hit or a smite, they will likely be slowed or dazed, respectively (the former thanks to Staggering Critical, and the latter thanks to Killoren Destroyer, which forces those hit by a smite attack to make a Will save or be dazed for 1 round) preventing an effective response.

    Spoiler: 20th level
    Show
    Secret Ingredient completed. Combat resolves much the same as it has since 5th level, but with stronger and more plentiful Entropic Blows, and a Disintegrate effect to deal with frail foes. His latest spells focus on controlling weak willed opponents in or out of combat (Hold Monster and Charm Monster) and providing escapes from combat(Dimension Door and Freedom of Movement). Steadfast Determination improves Will and Fortitude saves alike, and with a quality Cloak of Resistance Illazil will probably never have to worry about Fortitude saves again.

    Spoiler: Secret Ingredient
    Show
    The high hit dice, Fortitude save, and base attack bonus are very welcome, although the skills are somewhat lacking.
    Entropic Blow: Entropic Blow is a fun ability, shame about the limited uses. It pairs nicely with Ruby Nightmare Blade, doubling already large amounts of damage.
    Healing Resistance: Mostly flavor; it means Illazil will have to spend more on healing.
    Spellcasting: Improves the mediocre bard spellcasting Illazil already possessed, though not at a great rate. Very welcome though.
    Bonus Feats: A limited list, but some nice ones. Improved Critical is a great feat in combination with Entropic Blow, Endurance is a prerequisite for Steadfast Determination (which is a feat I like very much, though I normally despise the prereq), and Cleave is an extra attack or two, though not amazing at the level acquired.
    Destructive Expertise: Improves Illazil's talent of tearing things apart.
    Negative Adaption: Mostly flavor, this will not often see play.
    Body or Soul: Ability bonuses are welcome; bonuses to Charisma are very, very nice for spellcasting (and improve smite and Entropic Blow).
    Unmaking Magic: Illazil's high Charisma means that this is actually useful at the level it is received, and it will definitely take the place of his other source of dispelling.
    Disintegrate: This is dealing 133 damage (average) on a failed save (DC 21) at the time Illazil gets this, so it can be devastating to frail opponents.

    Spoiler: Sources
    Show
    PHB: Bard, skills, most feats, spells
    Races of the Wild: Killoren, Killoren Destroyer
    Tome of Battle: Warblade, stances, maneuvers
    Complete Warrior: Combat Brute
    Drow of the Underdark: Staggering Critical
    Player's Handbook 2: Steadfast Determination
    Planar Handbook: Doomlord
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalirren View Post
    The only person in the past two pages who has known what (s)he has been talking about is Heliomance.
    Quote Originally Posted by golentan View Post
    I just don't want to have long romantic conversations or any sort of drama with my computer, okay? It knows what kind of porn I watch. I don't want to mess that up by allowing it to judge any of my choices in romance.

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  6. - Top - End - #66
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Entry number 2

    Quote Originally Posted by Darin Blightblade
    Darin Blightblade
    Spoiler: Stub
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    NE Illumian Druid 3/Fighter 2/Blighter 6/Doomlord 9
    HP: 9d8+2d10+9d12+20

    Spoiler: Details
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    Illumian (RoD 52): Medium humanoid, speed 30, sigils, glyphic resonance – spells containing glyph, rune, sigil, or symbol, -4 on saving throws against these if level is less than the CL of the spell, but if equal or higher than caster level, immune to effects. Final Utterance, +2 saves vs shadow, Superior Literacy

    Sigils: Krau: +1 to CL for all spells and SLA
    Hoon: +1 on WIS/CON checks and skill checks
    (The power word is useless)

    Point Buy:
    S 13, D 14, C 12, I 10, W 16, C 13
    4-16 into WIS, 20 CHA

    Spoiler: The Story Unfolds
    Show

    Nature is about balance.
    Life and Death, bounty and famine, the rise and the fall. There are many agents of life and light, but few of death and darkness.

    What goes up, must come down as they say.

    I walk the land, one of those rare few who see the truth of all things. Sometimes one or two will walk along with me, but never for very long. For they lack the necessary fortitude to do what must be done. All things wither and die, so what if we nudge them along that path to arrive at the end sooner rather than later. It matters naught if the nudge should come from spell or blade, the hand or from the land. The agony is in the waiting after all, tis a favor done to excise that wound. From life comes death, and from death there is life.

    In the grand scheme of all things, a forest turned to wasteland only serves to hasten the inevitable. When forced to visit a township of any size, a city’s park will suffice just the same, it makes no matter. Should a few hovels be destroyed in the process as well, that is just a sweet bonus. It is fallacy and contempt to struggle so endlessly against the forces of fate for naught but a few extra breaths taken. If you won’t accept your fates, you have only your own selves to blame as your teeth gnash together and you let loose your own final utterances.

    In that moment, I strain and listen for the glorious tones that might signal a piece of the Song has been found. The notes were spread across the planes millennia past, and have yet to be assembled in their entirety. When my own time comes to join that glorious chorus, I hope my own contribution is more than a singular note.

    Spoiler: Build
    Show


    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st Druid +0 +2 +0 +2 Concentration 4, Knowledge (Nature) 4, Spellcraft 4, Spot 1, Survival 1, cc-UMD 1 Improved Sigil (Krau) Animal Companion, Nature Sense, Wild Empathy, Spells
    2nd Druid 2 +1 +3 +0 +3 Conc 5, Know 5, Spellcraft 5, Survival 2 - Woodland Stride
    3rd Druid 3 +2 +3 +1 +3 Conc 6, Spot 3, Survival 3 Power Attack Trackless Step
    4th Fighter +3 +5 +1 +3 cc-UMD 2 (B) Improved Sunder -
    5th Fighter 2 +4 +6 +1 +3 cc-UMD 3 (B) Weapon Focus (Great Sword) -
    6th Blighter +4 +8 +1 +5 Conc 7, Know 6, Spellcraft 6, Survival 4 Tomb Tainted Soul Deforestation, Spells
    7th Blighter 2 +5 +9 +1 +6 Conc 8, Know 7, SPot 4, Survival 5 - Blightfire, Sustenance
    8th Blighter 3 +6 +9 +2 +6 Conc 9, Know 8, Spot 5, Survival 6 - Undead Wild Shape 1/day
    9th Blighter 4 +7 +10 +2 +7 Conc 10, Spot 6, cc-UMD 4 Natural Spell Speak w/ Dead Animals, UWS 2/day
    10th Blighter 5 +7 +10 +2 +7 Conc 11, Spot 7, cc-UMD 5 - Contagious Touch, UWS (large)
    11th Blighter 6 +8 +11 +2 +7 Conc 14, Survival 7 - Animate Dead Animal, UWS 3/day
    12th Doomlord +9 +13 +2 +7 Conc 15, Spellcraft 7 Combat Brute Entropic Blow, Healing Resistance
    13th Doomie 2 +10 +14 +2 +7 Conc 16, Spellcraft 8 (B) Improved Critical Destructive Expertise, +1 SC (Blighter)
    14th Doomie 3 +11 +14 +3 +8 Conc 17, Spellcraft 9 - Negative Adaption
    15th Doomie 4 +12 +15 +3 +8 Conc 18, Spellcraft 10 Practiced Spellcaster CHA +1, +1 SC (Blighter)
    16th Doomie 5 +13 +15 +3 +8 Conc 19, Spot 8 - Entropic Blow 2/day
    17th Doomie 6 +14 +16 +5 +10 Conc 20, Spot 9 (B) Cleave +1 SC (Blighter)
    18th Doomie 7 +15 +16 +5 +10 Conc 21, Spot 10 Extra Slot (7th) Unmaking Magic
    19th Doomie 8 +16 +17 +5 +10 Conc 22, Survival 8 - CHA+1, +1 SC (Blighter)
    20th Doomie 9 +17 +17 +6 +11 Conc 23, Survival 9 - Disintegrate
    Spoiler: Feats
    Show



    1- Improved Sigil (krau)
    3- Power Attack
    4- Improved Sunder
    5- Weapon Focus (Great Sword)
    6- Tomb Tainted Soul
    9- Natural Spell
    12- Combat Brute
    13- Improved Critical
    15- Practiced Spellcaster
    17- Cleave
    18- Extra Slot (7th)



    Spoiler: Spells
    Show

    Spells per Day
    Level 0lvl 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
    1st 3 2 - - - - - - - -
    2nd 4 3 - - - - - - - -
    3rd 4 3 2 - - - - - - -
    4th 4 3 2 - - - - - - -
    5th 4 3 2 - - - - - - -
    6th 4 3 - - - - - - - -
    7th 5 4 1 - - - - - - -
    8th 5 4 2 1 - - - - - -
    9th 6 4 3 2 1 - - - - -
    10th 6 4 4 3 2 - - - - -
    11th 6 4 4 4 3 1 - - - -
    12th 6 4 4 4 3 1 - - - -
    13th 6 5 4 4 4 2 1 - - -
    14th 6 5 4 4 4 2 1 - - -
    15th 6 5 5 4 4 3 2 1 - -
    16th 6 6 5 4 4 4 2 1 - -
    17th 6 7 5 5 5 5 3 2 1 -
    18th 6 7 5 5 5 5 3 2 1 -
    19th 6 7 6 5 5 5 4 3 2 1
    20th 6 7 6 5 5 5 4 3 2 1
    CL =
    Druid stacks w/ Blighter for 9 + 2 (Krau) + 4 (Doomlord) + 4 (Practiced Spellcaster) = 19
    possible to add 1 CL from Death Knell spell for 10 mins per HD of animal
    possible to add 1 possible from Improved Sigil

    Fun Fact, Antipathy shows up twice on the Blighter spell list, at 6th, and again at 9th… Since text trumps table, that means you get a 9th level spell available to you at 6th (meaning you can cast it at lvl 13!)

    Fun Fact 2: Improved Sigil lets you cast a spell at 1 level higher than it is. If you cast a 9th level spell with this feat, does it become a mythical 10th level spell and break the game?

    Finding a way to get your WIS up to 28 (+9) would net you total bonus spells of:
    1-3, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-1, 7-1, 8-1, 9-1

    Spoiler: Breakdown
    Show

    5- 3 levels of druid, and 2 of fighter. Nothing overly special so far. The feat taxes for the SI that we’ll get into later have all been paid off. Improved Sigil allows the 2nd level spells of the Druid to be cast as 3rd level spells, which will be very important in the next level. Darin might have taught the druidic language to a few random people at this point, and a great sword is so much better than a measly scimitar…

    10- in this block it’s all Blighter. With access to Large skeletal animal forms (polar bear, giant octopus, rhino, cave triceratops, dire barracuda) through undead wild shape (type is undead, NA bonus of +1 small, +2 medium, +3 large, +2 DEX and –CON, Cold Immunity and DR5/bludgeoning is attached to the animal form) and 4th level spells (or a 5th with Improved Sigil). Blightfire if nothing else is also an every round 5d6 10ft radius blast of fire in combat with a DC 19 REF check attached to it. Tomb Tainted should be obvious, we’re going down the rabbit hole here. Natural spell is just as useful in undead wild shape as any other. Contagious Touch allows for the spreading of disease, another means of causing chaos and hastening all the things off the mortal coil that much faster. Go to spells at this point are ray of enfeeblement, death knell, contagion, desecrate, dispel magic, rusting grasp, animate dead and unhallow for funsies.

    15- Leaving Blighter behind and 4 levels of doomlord now. Animate Dead animal is the beginning of our undead army. Combining it with desecrate, we can create up to 4x our CL in HD in skeletons or zombies as either guards or soldiers in the field, and control them indefinitely. Any others created can simply be let loose upon the world to spread a little joy amongst the people. Entropic Blow can be used just once for now. Healing Resistance is already under control as we don’t like normal healing anyways and if nothing else can just ping ourselves with an inflict spell to regain health. The bonus feats available to us are really quite horrible, but improved critical is just about the best of these options, doubling the threat range to 17-20. Body or Soul grants a bonus to CHA, improving the other abilities of the class. Combat Brute introduces a few tactical maneuvers (that all pair nicely with Entropic Blow) to help our gishiness catch up to our spellslinging, and that is further improved with Practiced Spellcaster. At this point, we’re casting as an 8th level blighter with access to 7th level (8th with imp sigil) spells. The go to’s at this level are antilife shell, create undead, antipathy (LOL), finger of death, harm, control undead, earthquake, firestorm and repulsion. 13 is our sweet spot for obvious reasons.

    20- Finishing off we reach the 9th rank in the SI, top off at CL 19 unaugmented, and have access to 9th level spells. Pick up another +2 to CHA bringing that modifier to +3 for all aspects of the SI to feed off of as well. A 2nd use of entropic blow which now is at +3 to hit for an extra 18 damage. 3 free uses of dispel magic a day, and the capstone for us of Disintigrate. Pairing that with our goto spells at this point of horrid wilter, shambler, mind blank, implosion and storm of vengeance.

    Blighter on its own is generally considered to be a horrific class. However it pairs SO WELL with Doomlord. Both from a thematic as well as a playstyle perspective. Sure we’re losing out on the first 3 levels of class features, but nothing says we can’t just kill our animal companion and come back and animate it later…

    Plus, what does it say about Doomlord that possibly the best way to make it shine is to use Blighter…



    Spoiler: Sources
    Show

    Druid, Fighter, Feats (PHB)
    Skeleton Template (MM 225)
    Blighter, Practiced Spellcaster (CDiv)
    Combat Brute (CWar)
    Doomlord (Planar)
    Illumian, Improved Sigil (RoD)
    Diseases (DMG 292)
    Tomb Tainted Soul (LM)
    Extra Slot (CArc)
    http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm For Undead Type
    http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/animateDead.htm


    Spoiler: Things that would be nice on this build if they weren’t illegal-ish
    Show

    Psuedonatural (MotP 212) -0 LA template: gain True Strike 1/day and ignore miss chance from concealment with it. Abilities based of HD: 1-3 Electricity/Acid Resist 5, 4-7 resists 10 and DR 5/+1, 8-11 resists 15 and DR 5/+2, 12+ resists 20 and DR 10/+3. SR equal to 2xHD (max 25). Alternate Form (Su) at will, take the form of a grotesque tentacle mass as a standard action, other creatures get a -1 morale penalty to their attack rolls.

    Dragon Wild Shape http://web.archive.org/web/200809191...x.php/t-404381

    It’s pretty unclear if Undead Wild Shape qualifies you to take other things that require wild shape (with the exception that Planar Shepard specifically calls out in its text that Blighters sometimes enter it). For the purposes of this competition, I’m assuming not, however if you could, dragon wild shape would have just as much utility for a blighter/doomlord as anyone else, granting immunities, breath weapons, keen senses, and several other utility benefits as well. It’s also unclear if your time in form is level dependent like a druid’s as it doesn’t clearly state it one way or the other, nor what the HD cap is based off of for Undead Wild Shape. The closest thing I’ve found is Corrupted Wild Shape, but there is also no clearly defined things that would relate to the above either… And of course you have no access to Enhance Wild Shape unless you can make the argument that you can cast it from a wand or scroll.

    some notables: wrymling Brown – tremorsense 500ft
    very young silver – alternate form
    young song – true seeing (15ft), tongues, alternate form
    juvenile deep dragon – permanent true seeing
    lung dragons – continuous detect thoughts, at will Invisibility, Alternate Form - small to large humanoid (li lung – earthquake immunity, earthquake 1/day radius 15ft, burrow 5ft), (pan lung – scaly command *as mass charm vs retpiles/fish*)
    juvenile sapphire – sense psychoportation (vs psions)
    wrymling tarterian – freedom of movement
    young styx – disease
    young rust – rusting bite
    juvenile steel – true seeing
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  7. - Top - End - #67
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Entry number 3

    Quote Originally Posted by Sir Dorven
    Sir Dorven the Defiant


    "All things come and pass. Civilizations rise and fall; castles are built and crumble; creatures are born and die. But magic? Magic is eternal - it always endures. Magic must always endure! That is my cause. That is my faith."

    CG Male Human Crusader 1/Fighter 2/Crusader +2/Knight of the Weave 3/Doomlord 10/Abjurant Champion 2

    Starting languages: Common, Draconic

    Deity: Kereska

    Ability Point Buy 4th 8th 12th 16th 20th Final
    Str 14 - - - - - 14
    Dex 14 - - - - - 14
    Con 14 - - - - - 14
    Int 14 - - - - - 14
    Wis 8 - - - - - 8
    Cha 15 +1 +1 +2 +2 +1 22

    Spoiler: Build Table
    Show
    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st Crusader 1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Balance 4, Bluff 2, Concentration 4, Diplomacy 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Listen 2, Spellcraft 2, Spot 2, Use Magic Device 2 Able LearnerB, Weapon Focus (greatsword) Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5
    2nd Fighter 1 +2 +3 +0 +0 Balance 5, Bluff 2, Concentration 5, Diplomacy 5, Intimidate 5, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 2, Spellcraft 2, Spot 2, Use Magic Device 2 Power AttackB Bonus Feat
    3rd Fighter 2 +3 +5 +0 +0 Balance 5, Bluff 2, Concentration 6, Diplomacy 6, Intimidate 6, Knowledge (arcana) 2, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 2, Spellcraft 3, Spot 2, Use Magic Device 3 Combat Casting, Improved SunderB Bonus Feat
    4th Crusader 2 +4 +6 +0 +0 Balance 5, Bluff 3, Concentration 7, Diplomacy 7, Intimidate 7, Knowledge (arcana) 3, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 3, Spellcraft 3, Spot 3, Use Magic Device 3 - Indomitable Soul
    5th Crusader 3 +5 +6 +1 +1 Balance 5, Bluff 4, Concentration 8, Diplomacy 8, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (arcana) 4, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 3, Spellcraft 4, Spot 3, Use Magic Device 4 - Zealous Surge
    6th Knight of the Weave 1 +5 +8 +1 +3 Balance 5, Bluff 4, Concentration 8, Diplomacy 8, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (arcana) 4, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 3, Spellcraft 4, Spot 3, Use Magic Device 9 Practiced Spellcaster (KotW) Detect Magic, Read Magic, Spellcasting
    7th Knight of the Weave 2 +6 +9 +1 +4 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 10, Diplomacy 8, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 3, Spellcraft 4, Spot 3, Use Magic Device 10 - Armored Caster (light)
    8th Knight of the Weave 3 +7 +9 +2 +4 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 11, Diplomacy 8, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 4, Spellcraft 5, Spot 4, Use Magic Device 11 - -
    9th Doomlord 1 +8 +11 +2 +4 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 12, Diplomacy 9, Intimidate 9, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 5, Spellcraft 5, Spot 4, Use Magic Device 12 Battle Caster Entropic Blow 1/day, Healing Resistance
    10th Doomlord 2 +9 +12 +2 +4 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 13, Diplomacy 10, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 10, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 5, Spellcraft 5, Spot 4, Use Magic Device 13 Improved Critical (greatsword)B Bonus Feat, Destructive Expertise
    11th Doomlord 3 +10 +12 +3 +5 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 14, Diplomacy 11, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 11, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 1, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 5, Spellcraft 5, Spot 4, Use Magic Device 14 - Negative Adaptation
    12th Doomlord 4 +11 +13 +3 +5 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 15, Diplomacy 12, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 12, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 1, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 5, Spellcraft 5, Spot 5, Use Magic Device 15 Martial Study (divine surge) Body or Soul (Cha +1)
    13th Doomlord 5 +12 +13 +3 +5 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 16, Diplomacy 13, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 13, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 1, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 6, Spellcraft 5, Spot 5, Use Magic Device 16 - Entropic Blow 2/day
    14th Doomlord 6 +13 +14 +4 +6 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 17, Diplomacy 14, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 14, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 1, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 6, Spellcraft 5, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 17 CleaveB Bonus Feat
    15th Doomlord 7 +14 +14 +4 +6 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 18, Diplomacy 15, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 15, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 1, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 7, Spellcraft 5, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 18 Arcane Strike Unmaking Magic
    16th Doomlord 8 +15 +15 +4 +6 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 19, Diplomacy 16, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 16, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 1, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 7, Spellcraft 5, Spot 7, Use Magic Device 19 - Body or Soul (Cha +1)
    17th Doomlord 9 +16 +15 +5 +7 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 20, Diplomacy 17, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 17, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 1, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 8, Spellcraft 5, Spot 7, Use Magic Device 20 - Disintegrate
    18th Doomlord 10 +17 +16 +5 +7 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 21, Diplomacy 18, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 18, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 8, Spellcraft 5, Spot 8, Use Magic Device 21 Great CleaveB, Martial Stance (press the advantage) Bonus Feat, Entropic Blow (3/day)
    19th Abjurant Champion 1 +18 +16 +5 +9 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 22, Diplomacy 19, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 19, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 1, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 9, Spellcraft 5, Spot 8, Use Magic Device 22 - Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration
    20th Abjurant Champion 2 +19 +16 +5 +10 Balance 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 23, Diplomacy 20, Disable Device 1, Intimidate 20, Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 1, Knowledge (history) 1, Listen 9, Spellcraft 5, Spot 9, Use magic Device 23 - Swift Abjuration

    Spoiler: Spells, Maneuvers, Stances
    Show

    Level CL 1st per day 2nd per day 3rd per day 4th per day 5th per day 6th per day IL Maneuvers Known Stances Known
    1st - - - - - - - 1st 5 1
    2nd - - - - - - - 1st 5 1
    3rd - - - - - - - 2nd 5 1
    4th - - - - - - - 3rd 5 2
    5th - - - - - - - 4th 6 2
    6th 5th 2 (+1) - - - - - 4th 6 2
    7th 6th 2 (+1) - - - - - 5th 6 2
    8th 7th 3 (+1) 2 (+1) - - - - 5th 6 2
    9th 7th 3 (+1) 2 (+1) - - - - 6th 6 2
    10th 8th 3 (+1) 2 (+1) - - - - 6th 6 2
    11th 8th 3 (+1) 2 (+1) - - - - 7th 6 2
    12th 9th 4 (+1) 3 (+1) 2 (+1) - - - 7th 7 2
    13th 9th 4 (+1) 3 (+1) 2 (+1) - - - 8th 7 2
    14th 10th 4 (+1) 3 (+1) 2 (+1) 2 (+1) - - 8th 7 2
    15th 10th 4 (+1) 3 (+1) 2 (+1) 2 (+1) - - 9th 7 2
    16th 11th 4 (+2) 4 (+1) 3 (+1) 2 (+1) 2 (+1) - 9th 7 2
    17th 11th 4 (+2) 4 (+1) 3 (+1) 2 (+1) 2 (+1) - 10th 7 2
    18th 12th 4 (+2) 4 (+1) 3 (+1) 3 (+1) 2 (+1) 2 10th 7 3
    19th 13th 4 (+2) 4 (+1) 4 (+1) 3 (+1) 3 (+1) 2 11th 7 3
    20th 14th 4 (+2) 4 (+2) 4 (+1) 3 (+1) 3 (+1) 3 (+1) 11th 7 3

    Spells Known:
    1st x4 - Charm Person, Lesser Restoration, Magic Missile, Shield
    2nd x4 - Bull's Strength, Eagle's Splendor, See Invisibility, Shield Other
    3rd x4 - Cure Moderate Wounds, Fly, Greater Magic Weapon, Phantom Steed
    4th x3 - Break Enchantment, Death Ward, Restoration
    5th x3 - Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound, Spell Resistance, True Seeing
    6th x3 - Banishment, Greater Dispel Magic, Teleport

    Maneuvers Known:
    1st x5 - Charging Minotaur, Crusader's Strike, Douse the Flames, Stone Bones, Vanguard Strike
    2nd x1 - Mountain Hammer
    4th x1 - Divine Surge

    Stances Known:
    1st x2 - Bolstering Voice, Martial Spirit
    5th x1 - Press the Advantage

    Spoiler: Level Snapshot/Write-ups:
    Show
    ECL 5: Stock standard melee type. Maneuvers and stances add some versatility, but he'll mainly be Power Attacking. A small amount of UMD to back this up. Indomitable Soul boosts Will saves, and Zealous Surge helps with saves in general. Steely Resolve makes him a little more durable. He also has the skills and Charisma to be a face-man.

    ECL 10: Here's where things start getting interesting. UMD is now a class skill and can be pumped up to more useful levels. Detect Magic and Read Magic at will are handy, especially for scrolls. He's got a small repertoire of spells, mainly focused on utility and buffing. Healing Resistance is a pain, but Crusader's Strike and Martial Spirit help with this. Entropic Blow helps with damage output in melee. Battle Caster means he can wear mithril full plate or similar without worrying about ASF.

    ECL 15: More spells are coming online, including gems like Fly, Phantom Steed and Death Ward. UMD keeps going up, making higher level scrolls and such viable. Divine Surge is a great boost to melee damage, along with Arcane Strike and an extra use of Entropic Blow (some of these can be used in combo). Dispel Magic as an SLA comes online pretty late, but can be useful in some situations.

    ECL 20: Spellcasting hits it's peak. Essential spells like True Seeing, Teleport Greater Dispel Magic become available. UMD is through the roof - there aren't many items he can't use. He is also a consummate face-man for the party. Disintegrate 1/day isn;t all that impressive at this level, but adds another ranged attack option for when Fly doesn't cut it. Press the Advantage adds some battlefield mobility. Great Cleave and another use of Entropic Blow add to damage output. Abjurant Champion allows Shield, Shield Other and Spell Resistance to be doubled in duration (Shield can be cast as a swift action). With near full BAB, spells, maneuvers and stances, very strong Diplomacy, Intimidate and UMD, he has plenty to do contribute in and (to a lesser degree) out of combat.



    Size/Type: Medium Humanoid (Human)
    Hit Dice: 5d10+3d8+10d12+2d10+40
    Initiative: +2
    Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
    Base Attack/Grapple: +19/+21
    Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
    Special Attacks: entropic blow, furious counterstrike, maneuvers, spell-like abilities, spells
    Special Qualities: armored caster, destructive expertise, healing resistance, indomitable soul, negative adaptation, stances, steely resolve, zealous surge
    Saves: Fort +18, Ref +7, Will +15
    Abilities: Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 22
    Skills: Balance +7, Bluff +11, Concentration +25 (+29 to cast defensively), Diplomacy +28, Disguise +6 (+8 to act in character), Disable Device +3 (+8 to disable or take apart objects), Intimidate +28, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (architecture & engineering) +3 (+8 to disable or take apart objects), Knowledge (history) +3, Listen +8, Spellcraft +9 (+11 to decipher scrolls), Spot +8, Use Magic Device +29 (+31 related to scrolls)
    Feats: Able LearnerB, Arcane Strike, Battle Caster, CleaveB, Combat Casting, Great CleaveB, Improved Critical (greatsword)B, Improved SunderB, Martial Stance, Martial Study, Power AttackB, Practiced Spellcaster, Weapon Focus (greatsword)
    Challenge Rating: 20
    Treasure: WBL (760,000 gp)
    Alignment: Chaotic Good
    Level Adjustment: +0

    Sources:
    Champions of Valor: Knight of the Weave
    Complete Arcane: Battle Caster, Practiced Spellcaster
    Complete Mage:
    Abjurant Champion
    Complete Warrior:
    Arcane Strike
    Planar Handbook:
    Doomlord
    Races of Destiny: Able Learner
    Tome of Battle: Crusader, Martial Stance, Martial Study, maneuvers, stances
    Daniel Kamadurin: art
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalirren View Post
    The only person in the past two pages who has known what (s)he has been talking about is Heliomance.
    Quote Originally Posted by golentan View Post
    I just don't want to have long romantic conversations or any sort of drama with my computer, okay? It knows what kind of porn I watch. I don't want to mess that up by allowing it to judge any of my choices in romance.

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  8. - Top - End - #68
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Entry number 4

    Quote Originally Posted by Archimede
    Spoiler: Imagine this, but with armor, and a greatsword instead of a mace.
    Show


    Lord Archimede ir'Souffrance, the Grim Doom of Karrnath
    Race: Human
    Build Stub: Barbarian 1 / Cleric 4 / Crusader 1 / Deadgrim 5 / Doomlord 9
    Multiclass Penalty: No (Favored Class Any: Cleric)
    Languages: Common
    Alignment: CN

    Spoiler: Ability Scores (32pt-buy)
    Show

    Ability Base 4th 8th 12th 15th* 16th 19th* 20th Total
    Str 14 - - - - - - - 14
    Dex 10 - - - - - - - 10
    Con 14 - - - - - - - 14
    Int 10 - - - - - - - 10
    Wis 15 - +1 +1 - +1 - +1 19
    Cha 15 +1 - - +1 - +1 - 18
    *Increases at 15th and 19th are from the Body or Soul class feature.


    Spoiler: Level Progression
    Show

    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st Barbarian 1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Gather Info* 4, Intimidate 4, Listen 4, Tumble* 4, Sense Motive* 4 Power Attack, Human: Weapon Focus (Greatsword) ACF: Whirling Frenzy 1/d, ACF: Spirit Lion Totem: Pounce, Illiteracy, Skilled City Dweller ACF
    2nd Cleric 1 +1 +4 +0 +2 Know (Arcana) 1, Know (Religion) 2 - Lose Illiteracy, Domain: Travel, ACF: Divine Magician (CM), Turn Undead 3+ChaM/d
    3rd Cleric 2 +2 +5 +0 +3 Concentration 1, Know (Religion) +2 (4) Travel Devotion -
    4th Cleric 3 +3 +5 +1 +3 Concentration +2 (3), Know Religion +1 (5) - -
    5th Cleric 4 +4 +6 +1 +4 Concentration +2 (5), Know Religion +1 (6) - -
    6th Crusader 1 +5 +8 +1 +4 Balance 4, Tumble +1 (5) Improved Sunder Furious Counterstrike, Steely Resolve 5
    7th Deadgrim 1 +6 +8 +1 +6 Balance +1 (5, 2cc), Intimidate +1 (5), Spot 2 - Deadened Flesh, Extra Spells, Improved Turning, Voice of the Damned
    8th Deadgrim 2 +7 +8 +1 +7 Know (Religion) +1 (7), Listen +1 (5), Sense Motive +1 (5), Spot +2 (4) - Deadened Flesh +2, Favored Enemy (Undead) +2
    9th Deadgrim 3 +8 +9 +2 +7 Know (Religion) +1 (8), Listen +1 (6), Sense Motive +1 (6), Spot +2 (6) Martial Study (Stone Dragon: Balance, Stone Dragon's Fury) Deadgrim Soul (Immunities)
    10th Deadgrim 4 +9 +9 +2 +8 Know (Religion) +2 (10), Listen +1 (7), Sense Motive +1 (7), Spot +1 (7) - Deadened Flesh +4
    11th Deadgrim 5 +10 +9 +2 +8 Listen +1 (8), Sense Motive +1 (8), Spellcraft 2, Spot +1 (8) - Deadgrim Soul (Can be turned), Favored Enemy (Undead) +4, Undead Slayer; Lose Turn Undead, Gain Rebuke Undead
    12th Doomlord 1 +11 +11 +2 +8 Concentration +1 (6), Disable Device 1, Know (Arch/Eng) 1 Combat Brute Entropic Blow 1/d, Healing Resistance
    13th Doomlord 2 +12 +12 +2 +8 Concentration +1 (7), Listen +1 (9), Spot +1 (10) B: Cleave Bonus Feat, Destructive Expertise
    14th Doomlord 3 +13 +12 +3 +9 Concentration +1 (8), Listen +1 (9), Spot +1 (10) - Negative Adaptation
    15th Doomlord 4 +14 +13 +3 +9 Concentration +1 (9), Spellcraft +2 (4) Practiced Spellcaster (Cleric) Body or Soul: +1 Cha
    16th Doomlord 9 +15 +13 +3 +9 Concentration +1 (10), ST: Nimble Charge - Entropic Blow 2/d
    17th Doomlord 6 +16 +14 +4 +10 Concentration +1 (11), Listen +1 (11), Spot +1 (11) B: Improved Critical (Greatsword) Bonus Feat
    18th Doomlord 7 +17 +14 +4 +10 Concentration +1 (12), Listen +1 (12), Spot +1 (12) Craft Contingent Spell Unmaking Magic (Sp) 3/d
    19th Doomlord 8 +18 +15 +4 +10 Concentration +1 (13), Listen +1 (13), Spot +1 (13) - Body or Soul: +1 Cha
    20th Doomlord 9 +19 +15 +5 +11 Concentration +1 (14), Listen +1 (14), Spot +1 (14) - Disintegrate (Sp) 1/d


    Spoiler: Special Abilities
    Show

    Spoiler: Spells
    Show

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

    Spells Added to My Cleric Spell List
    Spell Level Source: Divine Magician ACF Source: Deadgrim Extra Spells
    0th - Disrupt Undead
    1st Shield Chill Touch
    2nd Spectral Hand Command Undead, Ghoul Touch
    3rd Shivering Touch Halt Undead, Vampiric Touch
    4th Enervation -
    5th Magic Jar -
    6th Antimagic Field -


    Spoiler: Crusader Maneuvers and IL Math
    Show

    Maximum Maneuver Level @ 6:
    IL 1/2*(5) +1 = 2+1 = 3, Highest Maneuver level known: 2; #known: 5 maneuvers, 1 stance

    Maximum Maneuver Level @ 9:
    IL 1/2*(8) +1 = 4+1 = 5, Highest Maneuver level known: 3

    School Crusader at 6, Stance Name (Level) Crusader at 6, Maneuver Name (Level) Martial Study at 9, Maneuver Name (Level)
    Devoted Spirit Martial Spirit (1) Vanguard Strike (1) -
    Stone Dragon - Charging Minotaur (1), Mountain Hammer (2) Stone Dragon's Fury (3)
    White Raven - Leading the Attack (1), Battle Leader's Charge (2) -

    Maneuvers Readied @ 6: All
    Maneuvers Readied @ 9: All except Vanguard Strike



    Spoiler: Backstory
    Show

    Spoiler: Eberron Primer: On Karrnath
    Show
    This is a brief primer for any judge who knows nothing about the Eberron setting.

    Eberron's main campaign is on the continent of Khorvaire, with five nations historically fighting for control over centuries. Karrnath is one of those nations; it's in the north and center of the continent. The largest and most recent world-changing event in the Eberron books is The Last War, which took place a couple hundred years ago. During this war, Karrnath, while under siege and famine, made a pact with the Blood of Vol (a cult that venerates blood and, secretly, Undeath) and raised armies of the dead to fight for them. Since the end of The Last War, Karrnath has slowly tried to extricate itself from relations with the Blood of Vol, but the country is still under martial law and is still creating (and storing in underground warehouses) hoards of undead soldiers in case war comes again. Big secrets in the country: (1) The Blood of Vol is an undead worshiping cult and is led by the lich Vol. (2) The current king of Karrnath is a vampire (the king during The Last War 200 years ago) masquerading as his own grandson; he was created by Vol, and has been trying to take control of his country back from the Lich. Historically, Karrnath worships the Sovereign Host, and the Blood of Vol Cult has a lesser following, which has waned as the king made their open worship illegal.

    tl;dr: Karrnath is ruled by martial law and has a 200-year history with evil undead.


    Youth:
    Archimede was born the child of a Warlord of House Souffrance, one of the lesser nobles in Karrnath. During The Last War, his father disgraced his house (and destroyed much of his own holdings) by "allowing" his undead troops to escape the control of the house necromancer and run loose in his town. Stripped of titles and destitute, the family planned to move closer the the front lines to regain some prestige in combat. On the way to Fort Bones, their caravan was waylaid by bandits. Attracted by the stationary crowd, a group of undead abominations from the Mournland attacked. Troops from Fort Bones made it just in time to save Archimede, but not his family. Now a war orphan, Archimede is taken by a travelling Host cleric to Korth, where he grew into a young man.

    Career:
    As an orphan child of a discredited house, Archimede hated martial law and undead. His lashing out and rage against the cruelty of guards and caretakers alike landed him in a brig with a one-way ticket back to Fort Bones, where any past can be forgiven but only strength of arms will save you from joining Karrnath's ranks of undead soldiers. Archimede threw himself into the grim work of fending off undead and Valenar elf raids with gusto. While at Fort Bones, the travelling cleric from his childhood, Orson, meets him again and offers to train him to be a man of the cloth back in Korth. Archimede accepts, and spends many years learning to read the Host's prayerbook and spread its' word in Korth's Cathedral as an acolyte.

    Rising in the ranks, Archimede begins to travel for the Host to spread blessings to smaller villages. While travelling, agents of the Emerald Claw, under orders from the Blood of Vol, try to assassinate him. (Actual clerics of any kind are rare in Karrnath because they are often killed.) He survives the attempt and decides, upon returning to the Cathedral, to dedicate himself to destroying undead and their influences in Karrnath, becoming a crusader. While travelling on another mission for the Host, Archimede is approached by a recruiter for the Red Watch, a newly formed organization focused on hunting and destroying intelligent undead (see MoE). Archimede leaves the church in good standing to join the Red Watch in the service of Karrnath.

    Not many Deadgrim exist in the Red Watch, let alone Eberron, and Archimede sets off down this path by accident when joining the Watchers and training under Taark Half-Ear.However, instead of Taark's focus on wilderness tracking, Archimede specializes in the urban battleground, finding Emerald Claw and Blood of Vol activity in cities and slowly routing them. Upon full apotheosis, Archimedes became a formiddable foe of the Blood of Vol, and to throw him off their trail (and attempt to break his will), Vol herself seeds evidence of the King's true form for Archimede to find in a raid near Lakeside.

    It destroys Archimede's purpose to discover the king he serves is a vampire. While sulking in a tavern, a Doomlord overhears Archimede exclaiming drunkenly, "What's the point? It's undeath all the way up." This Doomlord takes Archimede under his wing and convinces him to listen for the Song of Dissolution. Archimede used his skill with sundering to demolish an underground warehouse of Karrnathi undead in Lakeside, and leaves for Sigil to (escape the Karrnathi law and) finish his Doomlord training.

    When he returns to Karrnath to confront the king, the battle will be glorious, but for now, Archimede must hear more of the Song to master his new destructive powers. He wants to be there when Karrnath falls to hear the sweet music.

    Spoiler: Mechanics
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    Spoiler: Levels 1-5
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    These levels are the foundation of a destructive divine gish, so they aren't anything ultra-fancy.
    1: This is a typicial optimized barbarian (Whirling Frenzy + Pounce), weilding a greatsword to typical effect. We also use feats here to knock out some pre-reqs. A city barbarian makes a lot of sense in Karrnath as an angry person who hates martial law. We take Skilled City Dweller for every skill possible because our eventual purpose in life is to hunt intelligent, cosmopolitan undead in Eberron's Karrnath region (light rail and city living makes Gather Info, Sense Motive, and Tumble better than Handle Animal, Survival, and Ride).
    2: Cleric starts here. The dip gets rid of our Illiteracy. As a cleric of the Sovereign Host, we definitely turn undead. Travel Domain is pure power. The Divine Magician ACF allows us to add a bunch of powerful spells to our list as we level. For now, Shield is a very useful choice.
    3: We take Travel Devotion here for our Turn Undead use outlet. We all know how good Travel Devotion + Pounce is.
    4: Our second Divine Magician spell is granted along with 2nd spells; we take Spectral Hand for touch spell delivery. This gives the ability to become an angry mailman later, delivering Bestow Curse, Chill Touch, and Inflict spells. For now, we can use it to heal allies at range when Travel Devotion is off. The Ability Score buff goes to Charisma for a potential extra use of Travel Devotion per day.
    5: This level ups all the numbers (BAB, saves, spell slots, ect) but is otherwise not noteworthy.
    Sweet Spot: Level 4 has the most features and (with the proper preparation) is a proper Swiss Army Knife.


    Spoiler: Levels 6-10
    Show

    Here come the power spikes!
    6: The second dip of this build is into Crusader. Here, we dedicate ourself to destroying undead. Improved Sunder is one way to do this (undead are objects, and so are phylacteries). We gain a lot of maneuvers here. Charging Minotaur is chosen for (ab)use of Combat Brute later. Leading the Attack qualifies us to take Battle Master's Charge. Martial Spirit is free, no-action, non-(conjuration [healing]) healing. Furious Counterstrike can almost make up for the one point of BAB lost in taking levels in Cleric, and Steely Resolve is always useful. We also set ourselves up to take Martial Study later for the only maneuver that allows for Sunder attacks (see 9). We finally get ranks in Balance here. This level also provides us the final point of BAB to qualify for our chain of PrCs, which makes it pretty essential.
    7: We enter Deadgrim and get several tasty benefits. We gain almost all benefits of Extra Spells immediately; Chill Touch and Ghoul Touch are good vs the living, all the X Undead spells help our cause, and we'll gain the 3rd spells next level when we gain some 3rd level slots. Deadened Flesh is just a disguise penalty for now. Stacking Deadgrim with Cleric for Turning level means this normal use of the class feature doesn't have to be abandoned; we're only two levels behind. Voice of the Damned stacks with our ranks in Intimidate, the preferred method of persuasion in Karrnath.
    8: Deadgrim 2. Deadened Flesh now gives a bonus to a bunch of saves, which (with our better-than-normal Fort) makes us nearly immune to a lot of them. Did I mention 3rd level spells? Yes. Vampiric Touch (from Deadgrim's Extra Spells) is nice. So is (Divine Magician ACF's) Shivering Touch, especially with Spectral Hand for delivery. Favored Enemy (Undead) +2 continues the theme of stacking for social skills.
    9: Deadgrim 3. More spell slots is gravy, but do you see the list of immunities here?! Sleep is fine, but energy drain and death effects? So tasty. Also, Martial Study for Stone Dragon's Fury here is great. The extra 4d6 damage on a sunder attack should scare away all but the most adamantine of gear. Speaking of which, by now, we would like to have spent some of our WBL on a +1 Adamantine Greatsword. I'll explain why the fact that the sword is actually adamantine instead of using a magical effect to mimic it later.
    10: Deadgrim 4. Higher Save bonuses for Deadened Flesh is fine. 4th spells is better. (Divine Magician ACF's) Enervation is on theme and powerful vs living foes. Favored Enemy (Undead) increases to +4 for more social skill stacking.
    Sweet Spot: Definitely level 9 in this bracket. Those immunities are beautiful.


    Spoiler: Levels 11-15
    Show

    The midgame simmer. Doomlord tempers the blade of Deadgrim and prevents it from going full 9ths, while also providing some tricks. The true power of this build is in the next bracket.
    11: Deadgrim 5. The transformation is now complete. Deadgrim Soul now makes us the closest a mortal can be to undead without actually becoming one; we can be turned (as an undead of our HD, the only real downside of Deadgrim), and we're healed with negative energy. This allows us to take full advantage of Doomlord. Also, the last paragraph of Deadgrim Soul is very important; we're allowed to change from spontaneously casting Cure to Inflict here (to continue being able to self-heal), which also changes our Turn Undead to Rebuke Undead. Undead Slayer allows us to crit Undead with our greatsword when we want.
    Note: When constructing this build, my only real choice was between Deadgrim 5 and Doomlord 10; I'm sure you can understand why I didn't finish Doomlord on comparison.
    12: Doomlord 1. Healing Resistance is a nice thing to have when you're harmed by conjuration (healing) spells, eh? Entropic Blow is nice to use for sundering, but its usefulness builds over time. Combat Brute is fully usable: Advancing Blows can be triggered with Charging Minotaur, Sundering Cleave with Stone Dragon's Fury (or Imp Sunder), and Momentum Swing is basically Always On with Pounce + Travel Devotion.
    13: Doomlord 2. 5th level spells here, so we gain (Divine Magician ACF's) Magic Jar. This is very useful for stealing the body of a mook and infiltraiting undead cults. Combine with a Bag of Holdng for your body, and you've got a great disguise. Cleave is the most useful bonus feat from our list. Destructive Expertise is a free bonus to our new class skills, but continuing to stack social skills and perception is more valuable. The cowlick ranks here are for access to the class feature, as both skills are trained only.
    14: Doomlord 3. Negative Adaptation allows us to live without penalty on the demi-planes of our enemies.
    15: Doomlord 4. For Body or Soul, we take Charisma for more Rebuke Undead uses and to increase the bonus and save DCs on current (Entropic Blow) and future (Unmaking Magic, Disintegrate) class abilities. Practiced Spellcaster (Cleric) is necessary by now to make up for our missing CLs. Also, more spell slots is nice.
    Sweet Spot: 13 and 15 are best in this bracket, but the build at the moment is a simmer instead of the fire from the last bracket.


    Spoiler: Levels 16-20
    Show

    It's time for the late-game power spike.
    16: Doomlord 5. Our second use of Entropic Blow comes online at +10 dmg per use. Not much else here, though.
    17: Doomlord 6. Our second Bonus Feat goes to Imp Crit: Greatsword. Now we can crit some undead with impugnity. Also, 6th spells come online, so it's time for the star of the show: (Divine Magician ACF's) Antimagic Field. This is why we wanted a real adamantine (or hopefully by now, starmetal) greatsword: so we could use Antimagic Field to turn off the enhancement bonus to Hardness and HP for being a magic item and sunder to our heart's content. However, this is a prelude to the final act. It gets worse.
    18: Doomlord 7. It's time! We gain Craft Contingent Spell, and use it to create an Antimagic Aura contingency: Put your hand on your heart and say, "Bustin' makes me feel good," and Antimagic Field is cast on you as a free action, then charge and Sunder (or Stone Dragon's Fury if available; it's (EX)) your biggest threat's prettiest toy. Spellbook? Shredded. Magic Weapon of your enemy fighter? In chunks on the ground. Everything except things made of adamantine? Laughed at. Also, we have Unmaking Magic now, so we don't have to resort to the Contingent Antimagic Field unless we're fighting a T1 caster. And since Antimagic Field is dismissable, we can turn it off when it's beneficial to do so.
    19: Doomlord 8. Again, we choose +1 Cha here. More spell slots mean more antimagic shenanigans... or harms cast on ourselves. Also, we should have a Contingent Harm by now; I would set it to saying, "Oh, I am slain," so we can sarcastically say, "Not!" when we heal back to full HP.
    20: Doomlord 9. Disintegrate 1/d is pretty cool, especially if you like breaking things. Also, Entropic Blow dmg is +18 now.
    Sweet Spot: 18, because Craft Contingent Spell + Antimagic Field lets us become the true Sunder monster we were always meant to be; we break all the things we always wanted to Sunder but couldn't before.


    Overall Build Sweet Spots: 9 and 18. See appropriate brackets.


    Spoiler: Citations
    Show

    PHB: Barbarian, Cleric, Spells, Feats
    ToB: Crusader, Martial Study, Maneuvers
    ECS: Fluff
    MoE: Deadgrim, Fluff
    PlH: Doomlord, Fluff
    SpC: Spells
    UA: ACF: Whirling Frenzy
    CC: ACF: Spirit Lion Totem, Travel Devotion
    Cityscape Web Enhancement 1: ACF: Skilled City Dweller
    CM: ACF: Divine Magician
    Frost: Shivering Touch
    CWarr: Combat Brute
    CArc: Practiced Spellcaster, Craft Contingent Spell
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  9. - Top - End - #69
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Entry number 5

    Quote Originally Posted by Roderick Rabelais
    Roderick Rabelais, Voice of the Common Man

    LE Human Holy Warrior Paladin of Tyranny 6/Blackguard 1/Doomlord 10/Blackguard 4
    Stats
    Spoiler
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    Str 16
    Dex 10
    Con 14
    Int 10
    Wis 14
    Cha 14 (increases here)

    Build
    Spoiler
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    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st Paladin of Tyranny 1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Knowledge (Relgion) 4, Diplomacy 4, Tumble 4 Power Attack, (B)Weapon Focus (Greatsword) Aura of Evil, Detect Good, Smite Good 1/day, Skilled City Dweller (Ride to Tumble)
    2nd Paladin of Tyranny 2 +2 +3 +0 +0 Knowledge (Religion) 5, Diplomacy 5, Tumble 5 Divine Grace, Deadly Touch
    3rd Paladin of Tyranny 3 +3 +3 +1 +1 Diplomacy 6, Sense Motive 1, Tumble 6 Martial Study (Shadow Blade Technique) Aura of Despair, Divine Health
    4th Paladin of Tyranny 4 +4 +4 +1 +1 Hide 3 (B)Cleave Turn Undead, Bonus Feat
    5th Paladin of Tyranny 5 +5 +4 +1 +1 Hide 5, Tumble 7 Smite Good 2/day, Charging Smite
    6th Paladin of Tyranny 6 +6/+1 +5 +2 +2 Diplomacy 7, Tumble 9 Improved Sunder Cause Disease 1/week
    7th Blackguard 1 +7/2 +7 +2 +2 Diplomacy 9, Tumble 10 Aura of Evil, Detect Good, Poison Use
    8th Doomlord 1 +8/+3 +9 +2 +2 Concentration 1, Disable Device 1, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 1 Entropic Blow 1/day, Healing Resistance, Skilled City Dweller (Survival to Sense Motive)
    9th Doomlord 2 +9/+4 +10 +2 +2 Concentration 4 Tomb-Tainted Soul, (B)Improved Critical Bonus Feat, Destructive Expertise
    10th Doomlord 3 +10/+5 +10 +3 +3 Concentration 7 Negative Adaptation
    11th Doomlord 4 +11/+6/+1 +11 +3 +3 Concentration 10 Body or Soul (+1 Cha)
    12th Doomlord 5 +12/+7/+2 +11 +3 +3 Concentration 13 Bind Vestige Entropic Blow 2/day
    13th Doomlord 6 +13/+8/+3 +11 +4 +4 Concentration 16 (B)Great Cleave Bonus Feat
    14th Doomlord 7 +14/+9/+4 +11 +4 +4 Concentration 17, Sense Motive 3 Unmaking Magic
    15th Doomlord 8 +15/+10/+5 +12 +4 +4 Concentration 18, Sense Motive 5 Awesome Smite Body or Soul (+1 Cha)
    16th Doomlord 9 +16/+11/+6/+1 +12 +5 +5 Concentration 19, Disable Device 3 Disintegrate
    17th Doomlord 10 +17/+12/+7/+2 +13 +5 +5 Disable Device 6 (B)Toughness Bonus Feat, Entropic Blow 3/day
    18th Blackguard 2 +18/+13/+8/+3 +14 +5 +5 Diplomacy 11, Tumble 11 Persistent Refusal Dark Blessing, Smite Good 1/day
    19th Blackguard 3 +19/+14/+9/+4 +14 +6 +6 Diplomacy 13, Tumble 12 Command Undead, Aura of Despair
    20th Blackguard 4 +20/+15/+10/+5 +15 +6 +6 Diplomacy 14, Tumble 14 Sneak Attack +1d6

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

    Backstory
    Spoiler
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    “Gather round, gather round! There’s plenty of space for all, and I’m always welcome to meet more salt of the earth honest folk like yourselves. Now don’t get the wrong idea about my garb here. I have to dress in this imposing armor to protect myself from attacks, because there are people out there who don’t like what I say, especially them, and I think we all know who I’m talking about. The tin men and the walking dead. The soldiers that Karrnath pulled back from beyond to inflict terror on us all. The endless tireless robots that the Cannith stuffed shirts churned out right up until the end of the war. And they’ll deny it if you ever ask them, but there’s talk that Cannith didn’t turn off all their forges after the treaty. Typical marked house behavior, thinking they’re above us all. But the war’s over, and yet these soldiers didn’t go away! No, they stayed around, and now what are they supposed to do? Those rotting corpses can’t live in our cities, fouling up our water and food with the vermin and disease that crowd around them. And what about the Warforged? I’m sure they spent plenty of time programming in combat maneuvers and formations, but do you think they ever taught those hulking brutes how to obey the laws of a fine city such as this?

    But of course the Houses don’t care about stuff like that. They just see the bottom line, and they know that these things can work long shifts without getting tired like any normal person. And I’ve seen it in a number of cities, and I’m starting to see it in this one. How many of you have lost a job at the foundry to one of those unnatural things?”

    At this easily half the crowd raised their voices in angry confirmation.

    “It’s worse than I feared. They can work longer than you or I, but what about the quality of the work? Take a look at this sword.”

    At this he drew a plain longsword from its scabbard and held it up to the crowd.

    “Good grip, decent balance, and sold for a fair price. But just look at how poorly it stands up to use!”

    With this he brought his dark gauntlet down against the flat of the blade, and it shattered with an echoing clang.

    “Have one of your blades ever broken so easily? I should think not. Something is up, and I think we all know what it is. Forces in our city have taken the wealth away from good folk like you and moved it to the stuffed shirts and the artificial mockeries of life. But if we work together we can restore this city to its right and proper order, and you’ll soon see money pouring into your hands!”

    At the end of this statement he dug into a sack at his feet and flung the contents out toward the crowd with both hands. They greedily reached for the gold coins raining down around them. When he had finished with his show of generosity and the crowd’s attention turned back from the last few coins toward the stage, he began once more.

    “If we want change to last we have to show them that we mean business. If the foundry thinks it’s too good for us, we need to show them that honest folk built this foundry and honest folk can tear it down! Now who’s with me?!”

    At this the crowd’s roiling discontent boiled into riotous fury, and they surged to the foundry with their charismatic speaker leading the way. They set upon it with picks and hammers until the building collapsed.

    It was some time before the dust settled, and by then Roderick Rabelais was working on his second ale when the Doomguard representative sat down at his table.

    “I’ll admit you’re the first person I’ve ever witnessed try fulfilling all three tasks in a single sitting.”

    “Well I’m nothing if not efficient. I noticed you said ‘try’ there. Do you have reservations?”

    “I’m not so sure about destroying the building, is all.”

    “Well it’s destroyed, isn’t it? And certainly if it wasn’t for me it would still be standing.”

    “Well applicants are usually more directly responsible for the destruction.”

    “Oh I was in the mix. I’m pretty sure I was the one that smashed the cornerstone. That really brought the thing down.”

    “Good enough. Welcome to the Doomguard, Mr. Rabelais.”

    “Wonderful. I’m so glad you see things my way. Do we get jackets?”

    Level 5
    Spoiler
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    Welcome to the wild and wonderful world of being an evil paladin. We’re going to set things up to enter Paladin of Tyranny’s cool older brother, Blackguard. To that end we’re going to invest our feats into its prerequisites, which will also go towards satisfying Doomlord’s prerequisites. Power attack is appreciated on any frontline melee character, and Weapon Focus’s +1 counts for more than you might think at level 1. Martial study provides us with Hide as a class skill to get in on time, and shadow blade technique lets you roll attack twice, so even if you don’t get the bonus damage you still have the benefit of picking the higher roll. To qualify on time we’ve traded our spellcasting with PoT’s rather small list for a bonus feat to nab Cleave so we’re prepared. We’ll also be swapping our mount for Charging Smite, as we won’t be focusing on mounted combat, and we are more interested in smiting. Cause Disease can be used to further your campaign against undead, while your own divine health protects you. Your aura of Despair debuffs enemies for this and other effects. Divine Grace will keep you protected on a more general scale. Diplomacy helps further your goals, and Tumble gives you some freedom to move on the battlefield.

    Blackguard opens up a bit of a gray area for us. It offers bonuses based on how many paladin levels you have, the fluff explanation being that evil forces like rewarding fallen paladins. As a result, some DMs may not let you reap the beneifts (2 extra uses of smite good, 1d6 sneak attack, and lay on hands). The build works just fine without them, but if your DM approves then you’ll get use out of 2 more smites.

    Lawful evil may seem a bit odd for Doomlord, but after all don’t they call it the Law of Entropy? (ba dum tss) But anyway, the class allows any alignment, and Lawful alignments are more well fitting for organizations such as the doomguard, and the diplomacy it grants is useful for orchestrating mob violence.

    Level 10
    Spoiler
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    After we finish Paladin of Tyranny, we’re off to a quick level of Blackguard to get some spellcasting up and running before we enter the SI. We also have poison use for when we like. Poison’s always fun.

    Now for the SI. Entropic Blow is another smite of sorts to throw damage onto your foes, especially the hated undead and constructs. Destructive expertise will make you competent at dismantling objects now that you’ve sunk the rank to make it trained. I’ll invest into this more than Knowledge (architecture and engineering) because it has better explained DCs and examples. We’ll use the first bonus feat for Improved Critical, as it’s a nice way for some more damage with your greatsword. At this point we have a feat we don’t have to spend on prerequisites, so we can buy tomb-tainted soul. This lets us turn PoT’s deadly touch into healing for ourselves, as well as any inflicts from Blackguard. This does make you vulnerable to being harmed by healing like undead. Luckily for you, Doomlord provides you with resistance to such healing.

    On Eberron certain locations can allow coterminous planes to seep through in manifest zones, and that means that areas of Khorvaire can gain negative dominant traits, such as the Gloaming when Mabar is close. Doomlord will protect you against such areas on your adventures.

    Level 15
    Spoiler
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    More SI, more features, more Blackguard casting. A boost to Cha is welcome on top of our leveling boost since our features from all our classes have Cha dependence. Since we’ve already bought Cleave, we can use our bonus feat on Great Cleave, and with improved critical and your smites going on, you can increase your chances of smashing through enemies. Dispel Magic has all the general uses of stripping enemies of their buffs, and also has use in rendering objects nonmagical before you sunder them.

    Awesome Smite gives you options to make your smite attacks hit harder while power attacking. I’m especially fond of Overwhelming smite to trip enemies for free.
    Bind Vestige can help us get better at destroying objects by binding Aym. Her benefit is to make your attacks deal double damage against objects, which makes you more effective at sundering and gives your entropic blow extra value.

    Level 20
    Spoiler
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    We finish the SI, so it’s time to return to Blackguard to wrap things up. We’ll finish up with effective 9th level casting, so we have access to 4ths. Dark blessing means we now have double Cha to saves, which comes out to +10 at this point without any items. More smite good lets you use Awesome Smite and Charging Smite more. Aura of Despair from Blackguard further debuffs your enemies, and sneak attack is a nice bonus whenever you’re flanking or going first. Command undead can be used to make undead cower before you and your mob, but it also has a use in fueling Persistent Refusal to shake off anything that gets past your saves, and with your hefty modifiers, I like your odds of making it the second time.

    Sources
    Spoiler
    Show
    Tomb-Tainted Soul: Heroes of Horror
    Holy Warrior Paladin ACF, Awesome Smite: Complete Champion
    Charging Smite ACF: Players Handbook 2
    Martial Study, Shadow Blade Technique: Tome of Battle
    Bind Vestige: Tome of Magic
    Persistent Refusal: Fiendish Codex II
    Skilled City Dweller: Cityscape Web Enhancement
    Paladin of Tyranny, Blackguard, Power Attack, Improved Sunder, Cleave, Weapon Focus, Great Cleave, Diehard, Improved Critical: srd
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalirren View Post
    The only person in the past two pages who has known what (s)he has been talking about is Heliomance.
    Quote Originally Posted by golentan View Post
    I just don't want to have long romantic conversations or any sort of drama with my computer, okay? It knows what kind of porn I watch. I don't want to mess that up by allowing it to judge any of my choices in romance.

    Avatar by Rain Dragon

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  10. - Top - End - #70
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Entry number 6

    Quote Originally Posted by Katu d'Xen'Drik
    Katu d’Xen’drik

    CN Primordial Half-Giant Marshal 1/ Dungeon Crasher Fighter 2/Stalwart Battle Sorcerer 4/Spellsword 2/Doomlord 10

    Spoiler
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    “Even the sale of seemingly harmless contraband can threaten the safety of our fair city.”

    Guardsman Teka leaned against a shanty checking an unusually ornate pocket watch for one in his humble station and paying little mind to the magic mouth on the street corner, or indeed to the robed figure selling black onyx across the street.

    “The foundations of society are important. When they erode, the greater structure is at risk of collapsing as well.”

    The people on the street similarly showed little interest in the public address as they went about their day.

    “We must all strive to do our part to maintain order.”

    Suddenly a shower of gold coins appeared seemingly out of thin air above the street. This succeeded in drawing the attention of the crowds, who scrambled to grab all that they could off the ground. Teka moved to draw his sabre, but before it had even fully left the scabbard it was shattered by an enormous greatsword that had spun out from the throng, and continued on to strike Teka himself and drive him into the wall he had been leaning on.

    “What starts with one broken law can spiral out of control into total anarchy before you know it.“

    Slumped against the quavering structure of the building and bleeding from a grievous wound across his torso from hip to shoulder, Teka looked up to see a woman that he was certain had not been there before towering over the crowd. As the shanty collapsed on top of him, she turned toward the black onyx salesman, inclined her head, and then vanished.

    “So remember, if you see something, say something.”


    [spoiler]Ability Scores
    Spoiler
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    Point Buy: 16 Str, 10 Dex, 12 Con, 8 Int, 8 Wis, 18 Cha
    After Racial Adjustments: 14 Str, 8 Dex, 12 Con, 12 Int, 8 Wis, 22 Cha
    Increase Cha at all opportunities.


    Build Table
    Spoiler
    Show
    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st Marshal 1 +0 +2 +0 +2 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 4, Intimidate 4, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 2 Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Power Attack Minor Aura (Art of War)
    2nd Fighter 1 +1 +4 +0 +2 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 5, Intimidate 5, Bluff 4.5cc, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Improved Bull RushB -
    3rd Fighter 2 +2 +5 +0 +2 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5cc, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knockback Dungeon Crasher
    4th Sorcerer 1 +2 +5 +0 +4 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 3, Concentration 2 Weapon Focus (Greatsword) Stalwart Sorcerer ACF, Battle Sorcerer ACF, Metamagic Specialist ACF
    5th Sorcerer 2 +3 +5 +0 +5 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Concentration 4 - -
    6th Sorcerer 3 +4 +5 +1 +5 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Concentration 6 Tomb-Tainted Soul -
    7th Sorcerer 4 +5 +5 +1 +6 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 8 - -
    8th Spellsword 1 +6 +7 +1 +8 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 11 - Ignore Spell Failure 10%
    9th Spellsword 2 +7 +8 +1 +9 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 12 Improved Sunder, Combat Brute -
    10th Doomlord 1 +8 +10 +1 +9 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 13 - Entropic Blow 1/day, Healing Resistance
    11th Doomlord 2 +9 +11 +1 +9 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 14 Cleave Destructive Expertise
    12th Doomlord 3 +10 +11 +2 +10 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 10, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 15 Shock Trooper Negative Adaptation
    13th Doomlord 4 +11 +12 +3 +11 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 16 - Body or Soul (Cha +1)
    14th Doomlord 5 +12 +12 +3 +11 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 14, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 17 - Entropic Blow 2/day
    15th Doomlord 6 +13 +13 +4 +12 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 16, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 18 Corpsecrafter, Great Cleave -
    16th Doomlord 7 +14 +13 +4 +12 - Unmaking Magic
    17th Doomlord 8 +15 +14 +4 +13 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 20, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 20 - Body or Soul (Cha +1)
    18th Doomlord 9 +16 +14 +5 +14 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 4.5cc, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 21, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 21 Destructive Retribution Disintigrate
    19th Doomlord 10 +17 +15 +5 +14 Diplomacy 4, Craft (Weaponsmithing) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 5cc, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) 22, Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Concentration 22 Improved Critical Entropic Blow 3/day


    Sorcerer Spellcasting
    Spoiler
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    Spells per Day/Spells Known
    ECL 0lvl 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
    5th 4/3 2/1 - - - -
    6th 5/4 3/1 - - - -
    7th 5/4 4/2 - - - -
    8th 5/5 5/2 2/1 - - -
    9th 5/5 5/3 3/1 - - -
    12th 5/6 5/3 4/1 2/1 - -
    14th 5/6 5/4 5/2 3/1 - -
    16th 5/7 5/4 5/2 4/1 2/1 -
    18th 5/7 5/4 5/3 5/2 5/1 -
    20th 5/8 5/4 5/3 5/2 4/1 2/1
    Does not count bonus spell slots from high Cha.

    Spells Known
    0th level: Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Message, Mending, No Light, Read Magic, Preserve Organ
    1st level: True Strike, Benign Transposition, Sticky Floor, Unseen Servant
    2nd level: Whirling Blade, Bladeweave, Glitterdust
    3rd level: Haste, Undead Lieutenant
    4th level: Animate Dead
    5th level: Wall of Stone

    Spells known are listed in the order they are learned at each spell level.


    Spoiler
    Show
    ECL 5
    Spoiler
    Show
    In exchange for a point of LA, Primordial Half-Giant gives us Powerful Build to qualify for Knockback, assistance in cranking Katu’s Cha score as high as it’ll go, and at-will Invisibility as a little bonus. A level in Marshal for the Art of War Minor Aura adds her ginormous Cha mod to both Bull Rush (and later on Sunder and Trip) attempts, and Dungeon Crasher Fighter adds a little bit of oomph to her Bull Rushing. Invisibility may afford her a buff round to cast True Strike before the start of combat, which helps her work around her mediocre Str score at these levels where it’s still relevant, and will tie into other tricks later on.

    ECL 10
    Spoiler
    Show
    Stalwart Battle Sorcerer pays the Weapon Focus feat tax and keeps Katu’s BAB up until she qualifies for Spellsword, while getting some spellcasting to later progress with Doomlord and supply critical components of what will become Katu’s combat tactics going forward. One of those components is Whirling Blade, which allows her to replace Str with Cha on attack and damage rolls as well as make attacks against multiple opponents from further away. She can make a sunder attempt in place of such an attack, adding her Cha to the attack roll again thanks to Art of War, and if she successfully sunders the opponent’s weapon, Combat Brute’s Sundering Cleave allows her to make an attack against the opponent wielding it at the same attack bonus (including the +4 from using a two-handed weapon, the size bonus from Powerful Build, and the Cha bonus from Art of War and potentially True Strike). Stacking high attack bonuses means the freedom to Power Attack harder (possibly bolstered by Momentum Swing if she spent the prior round on a charge instead of flinging a Whirling Blade). Since Whirling Blade makes melee attacks, it also affords more opportunities to Knockback, and potentially Dungeon Crash opponents.

    ECL 15
    Spoiler
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    We’re finally into the SI. Katu’s usage of Whirling Blade makes Cleave more viable, as killing a far off enemy can transition to cleaving into an adjacent one. Like Sundering Cleave, Cleave uses the same attack bonus as the previous attack to maintain Whirling Blade’s replacement of Str with Cha (and indeed if a Sundering Cleave attack ends up dropping an enemy, the Cleave attack will maintain the bonuses to the initial sunder attack). While Tomb-Tainted Soul is a bit redundant with Negative Adaptation, it offers an alternative by which to bypass Healing Resistance. In fact, Healing Resistance goes from being a liability to in fact reducing the damage she would ordinarily take from Conjuration (Healing) spells due to Tomb-Tainted Soul.

    ECL 20
    Spoiler
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    We finish off Doomlord with some Necromantic fun. Katu can place her own Animated Dead in the area of her Whirling Blade (or have one stand adjacent to her and Cleave into it) to get more opportunities to use Great Cleave. Katu can produce quarterstaves for her undead to carry for free, then sunder them and Sundering Cleave the undead to gain her sunder bonuses on the Cleave attack (in fact, she can increase those bonuses further by animating the bodies of smaller creatures) without having to destroy valuable loot that she doesn’t want to (even accounting for the component cost from Animate Dead, this defrays her expenses a bit). Undead in the path of a Whirling Blade can also be knocked into enemies to trip them with Domino Rush, again, boosted by Art of War. Whenever one of her undead is destroyed, it blows up thanks to Destructive Retribution, dealing a bit of damage to enemies and/or healing Katu if she’s in range. She also has more uses of Entropic Blow and a respectable dispel check for Unmaking Magic thanks to her huge Cha score.


    Spoiler
    Show
    Book of Vile Darkness: No Light, Preserve Organ
    Complete Mage: Stalwart Sorcerer
    Complete Warrior: Combat Brute, Shock Trooper, Spellsword
    Dungeonscape: Dungeon Crasher Fighter
    Libris Mortis: Tomb-Tainted Soul, Corpsecrafter, Destructive Retribution
    Miniatures Handbook: Marshal
    Planar Handbook: Doomlord
    Player’s Handbook II: Metamagic Specialist
    Races of the Dragon: Sticky Floor
    Races of Stone: Knockback
    Spell Compendium: Benign Transposition, Bladeweave, Undead Lieutenant, Whirling Blade
    Everything else is in the SRD
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalirren View Post
    The only person in the past two pages who has known what (s)he has been talking about is Heliomance.
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  11. - Top - End - #71
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Entry number 7

    Quote Originally Posted by Caleb Praedo
    Caleb Praedo

    Spoiler: Background
    Show
    The tortured shriek of unused hinges cuts through words of the sermon being given to the packed cathedral as the massive main doors opens for the first time in decades. A large man could be seen in the doorway, simple robes backlit by the early morning sun shining off his bald pate and the pommel of a sword strapped to his back. His serene face showed no sign of what must have been an incredible strain despite the deeply corded muscles visible as he pushed open the great stone doors. The priest’s exhortation faded into silence as the man crossed the threshold and stopped, surveying the cathedral’s interior for a long moment. His eyes swept over the pews filling the nave, pausing briefly on the ornate stained glass lining the aisles depicting the lives and deeds of gods and saints, until his gaze come to rest upon the enormous statue in the transept crossing. The statue depicted a man of noble mien standing braced holding up the enormous dome of the cathedral, face slightly raised to behold the heavens depicted therein.
    “Magnificent.”
    The man began to walk down the main aisle, his deceptively slow gait covering the distance swiftly. Trailing in his wake came a pair of guards, not yet sure of how to deal with his interruption. When he showed no indication of stopping his approach the priest gathered himself and addressed the man.
    “The Temple of Divine Succor is indeed magnificent, and welcomes all supplicants regardless of the path that brings them. Please join us that we may continue….”
    “Do you know the history of this building?” the sonorous voice of the man once more cut across and silenced that of the Priest. “Begun some seven hundred years ago, the cathedral was completed in a mere half a century, and stood unbowed for half a millennia. It truly was an incredible monument to the ingenuity of its parishioners and the endurance of faith.”
    By this point the man had reached the feet of the statue poised at the crossing of the nave and transept, and here he stopped, gazing up at the stony features set in concentration as powerful arms and shoulders seemed to hold the roof and very heavens in their place.
    “Around a century ago it was discovered that the great Temple was failing; the dome had proved too great a match for the mighty columns that held it. Cracks had sundered the very pillars upon which it rested; time had begun to undo the works of man as it always does. Unwilling to let their monument go the faithful constructed this effigy to hold up the failing work of their forefathers, where it has stood ever since. A remarkable achievement.”
    At this the man’s gaze descended from the statue and swept across the congregation.
    “They should have let it fall.”
    The man whirled back to the statue, massive arms and shoulders reaching up, higher than any man could possibly do so as his very form seemed to warp and grow to monstrous proportions until his hands came to rest on the right knee of the Divine. A scowl of concentration crossed his features as his muscles bunched in extreme effort and with an enormous crack his hands sheared through the statue’s leg.
    Screams accompanied the shattering of the statue’s limb; fear from the parishioners, dismay from the priest, and anger from one of the guards. Braver than his fellow the young temple guard lunged forward with a yell and buried his blade in the giant now standing by the statue’s remaining leg. The man turned, his motion dislodging the guard’s sword from his flesh and regarded the young man.
    “Brave.”
    With a nonchalant gesture the man unsheathed his blade and swept it through that of the young guardsman. The shards clattering to the ground silenced the crowd’s screams as disbelief momentarily overcame fear.
    “But foolish. Run, all of you; there is no point is falling with the Temple.”
    Slowly at first, then in a flood of bodies the crowd pushed its way out the doors until just the priest remained, looking back at the giant of a man standing once more regarding broken statue. The priest heard another crack as the second leg was sundered, and fled as the building began to shake, crumble, and fall.
    Minutes passed, and at last the Temple stopped crumbling; little was left of what had once been a magnificent building. As the dust began to clear the massive form of the man who had brought down the Temple could be seen standing in the shattered doorway, coated in stone dust but otherwise unharmed. In his arms he carried the coffers of the Temple of Divine Succor, a chest overflowing with copper, silver and gold. With a grunt the man emptied the chest on the remains of the cathedral’s steps, and his voice broke out over the last rumblings of the Temple’s fall.
    “Go now and remember; seek not to hold back the inexorable march of time. All things must fall.”


    Spoiler: Ability Scores
    Show
    Ability Score Final
    Strength 18 23
    Dexterity 10 10
    Constitution 14 14
    Intelligence 10 10
    Wisdom 8 8
    Charisma 14 16
    Inherent Bonuses to STR, Doomlord Bonuses to CHA


    Spoiler: Build Progression
    Show

    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st Barbarian +1 +2 +0 +0 Balance 2(4cc), Intimidate 4, Jump 3, Know. Art & Arch 2(4cc), Tumble 1 Extra Rage; Hidden Talent (B) Illiteracy, Rage 1/Day, Pounce (Lion Spirit Totem ACF)
    2nd Monk +1 +4 +2 +2 Balance 5(3), Jump 4(1), Intimidate 4, Know. Art & Arch 2, Tumble 1 Power Attack (B) Flurry of Blows (-2/-2), Unarmed Strike, Overwhelming Attack ACF (Bonus Feat = Power Attack)
    3rd Monk +2 +5 +3 +3 Jump 6(2), Know. Art & Arch 3(2cc), Balance 5, Intimidate 4, Tumble 1 Shape Soulmeld (Mauling Gauntlets); Improved Bull Rush (B) Evasion, Overwhelming Attack ACD (Bonus Feat = Improved Bull Rush)
    4th Fighter +3 +7 +3 +3 Intimidate 6(2), Balance 5, Jump 6, Know. Art & Arch 3, Tumble 1 Weapon Focus (Greatsword) (B) Bonus Feat
    5th Fighter +4 +8 +3 +3 Intimidate 8(2), Balance 5, Jump 6, Know. Art & Arch 3, Tumble 1 - Dungeon Crasher ACF
    6th Fighter +5 +8 +4 +4 Intimidate 9(1), Jump 7(1), Balance 5, Know. Art & Arch 3, Tumble 1 Improved Sunder Dead Levels Supplement (Applied Force)
    7th Fighter +6 +9 +4 +4 Intimidate 10(1), Jump 8(1), Balance 5, Know. Art & Arch 3, Tumble 1 Combat Brute (B) Bonus Feat
    8th Fighter +7 +9 +4 +4 Intimidate 11(1), Jump 9(1), Balance 5, Know. Art & Arch 3, Tumble 1 - Dead Levels Supplement (Applied Force)
    9th Fighter +8 +10 +5 +5 Intimidate 12(1), Jump 10(1), Balance 5, Know. Art & Arch 3, Tumble 1 Destructive Rage Dungeon Crasher ACF
    10th Marshal +8 +12 +5 +7 Intimidate 13(1), Know. Art & Arch 6(3), Balance 5, Jump 10, Tumble 1 Skill Focus (Diplomacy) (B) Minor Aura (Motivate Strength)
    11th Doomlord +9 +14 +5 +7 Intimidate 14(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 - Entropic Blow 1/day; Healing Resistance
    12th Doomlord +10 +15 +5 +7 Intimidate 15(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 Focused Sunder; Cleave (B) Bonus Feat, Destructive Expertise, +1 Spellcasting
    13th Doomlord +11 +15 +6 +8 Intimidate 16(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 - Negative Adaptation
    14th Doomlord +12 +16 +6 +8 Intimidate 17(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 - Body or Soul (+1 Charisma), +1 Spellcasting
    15th Doomlord +13 +16 +6 +8 Intimidate 18(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 Shock Trooper Entropic Blow 2/day
    16th Doomlord +14 +17 +7 +9 Intimidate 19(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 Great Cleave (B) Bonus Feat, +1 Spellcasting
    17th Doomlord +15 +17 +7 +9 Intimidate 20(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 - Unmaking Magic
    18th Doomlord +16 +18 +7 +9 Intimidate 21(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 Snap Kick Body or Soul (+1 Charisma), +1 Spellcasting
    19th Doomlord +17 +18 +8 +10 Intimidate 22(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 - Disintegrate 1/day
    20th Doomlord +18 +18 +8 +10 Intimidate 23(1), Balance 5, Jump 10, Know. Art & Arch 6, Tumble 1 Improved Critical (Greatsword) Bonus Feat, Entropic Blow 3/day, +1 Spellcasting

    ACFs:
    Spirit Lion Totem (Barbarian):
    @ 1st Level: Lose Fast Movement, get Pounce

    Overwhelming Attack (Monk):
    @ 1st Level: +2 bonus to Intimidate; Bonus Feat is Power Attack
    @ 2nd Level: Bonus Feat is Improved Bull Rush

    Dungeon Crasher (Fighter):
    @2nd Level: +2 competence on save and AC when attacked by traps; +5 to strength checks to break doors, walls, similar; +4d6+2*STR when bull rush into an obstacle.
    @ 6th Level: Bonuses increase to +2; +10; +8d6+3*STR.

    Dead Levels Supplements (Fighter)
    Applied Force: The fighter gets a +1 untyped bonus to strength checks made to break or burst items. This bonus stacks with itself each time it is chosen.



    Spoiler: Build Write-up
    Show
    Ah, the Doomlord. I found this class so remarkably uninspiring that the part that stuck out for me the most was the fluff requirements, specifically the requirement that the aspiring Doomlord destroy a building while being observed. That is a cool idea, and what the first half of this build is all about. If you look up the rules for breaking stuff, you quickly discover that for an optimized melee character breaking things is rather trivially easy if you just go after the hit points (3’ stone walls only have 450 hp and hardness 8, where a normal building’s masonry walls have only 90 hp and 8 hardness) – indeed an Ubercharger can probably Kool-Aid Man a bank rather easily, and a Hulking Hurler could probably take down the Pyramid of Giza with a well-placed boulder. However, if you look at simply bursting things with a strength check, your job becomes markedly harder. The idea of dude casually shoving his arm through a load-bearing pillar and walking away as the building falls was too cool to pass up, so by the time Caleb enters the Doomlord class at level 11, he can make a DC 50 strength check to do just that. Let’s dive into how.

    Spoiler: Level 5:
    Show
    The first five levels of the build are bog-standard melee optimization fare: Pounce-barian is basically required for a primary melee, Overwhelming Attack Monk gives a couple of nice bonus feats, and Fighter for bonus feats as well. We start specializing on Breaking Stuff Real Good (BSRG) with the Dungeon Crasher ACF for Fighter level 2, which gives a +5 untyped bonus to BSRG (probably doesn’t apply to ropes and the like, but we don’t really care for our purposes). Hidden Talent at level 1 gives us access to Expansion 1/day (more when we buy Manifester Shiruken later), which is useful for getting additional strength and size, both of which contribute to BSRG. The pickup of Mauling Gauntlets at level 3 gives us a +4 morale bonus on Strength Checks (1 Essentia from being Azurin invested), which is useful for Bull Rushes and BSRG. At this point we’re a primary melee who’s lost 1 BAB, but when raging and Expanded has a Strength score of 25 and a total modifier on strength checks for BSRG of +21 (+7 STR +5 Dungeon Crasher +1 Applied Force + 4 Mauling Gauntlets +4 Size). Ability checks follow the same rules as skills for taking 10 and 20, so if you’re not being shot at you can take 10 for a +31 modifier, which is enough to muscle open a 2’ thick Iron Door. Not too shabby. In fact, the only wall-like objects that have DCs listed in the PHB (165) that you can’t break at level 5 are 1’ Masonry Walls (DC 35) and 3’ Hewn Stone (DC 50).

    Spoiler: Level 10:
    Show
    At this point Caleb is a virtuoso of Breaking Stuff Real Good. Four more levels of Fighter lets us pick up the second installment of Dungeon Crasher as well as another point from Applied Force for a total of +12 to BSRG from Fighter levels. The level of Marshal gives the minor aura Motivate Strength to add Charisma to Strength checks and Skill Focus (Diplomacy) which we will beg our DM to allow us to swap out for Skill Focus (Intimidate). The acquisitions of Improved Sunder and Combat Brute at levels 6 and 7 allow Caleb to extend his predilection for destruction into his fighting style. He now has two primary combat maneuvers: bull rushing people into walls for 8d6+3*STR damage (with a Bull Rush Modifier of +2 charging, +4 size, +4 Mauling Gauntlets, + 8 STR + 2 Motivate Strength = +20 assuming raging and expanded one size), and Sundering the items of the opponent. Sundering is generally frowned upon, but we’re really good at it, and when we break someone’s weapon or shield the Combat Brute feat’s Sundering Cleave maneuver allows us to hit the opponent using the same roll (which is modified by all our juicy Sundering bonuses which starts at +STR, + 4 Improved Sunder, +4 Two Handed Weapon, and which arguably could include + 4 Mauling Gauntlets, +2 Applied Force, + 4 Size, +2 Motivate Charisma). But let’s get back to why we’re here: Breaking Stuff Real Good. The last feat we picked up is solely for this purpose. Destructive Rage gives an untyped +8 bonus to breaking doors and immobile objects (read: walls). So now let’s take a look at our Breaking Stuff Real Good bonus:

    BSRG = +8 (26 STR with Rage and Expansion to Large) + 8 Destructive Rage + 10 Dungeon Crasher + 4 Mauling Gauntlets + 2 Applied Force + 2 Motivate Strength = +34

    With Taking 10 we can hit a DC 44 Strength Check. Sadly we’re just shy of breaking the highest DC object in the game, so let’s see what we can do. We can reasonably expect to have a friend cast both Bull’s Strength and Eagle’s Splendor for +4 enhancement bonuses to STR and CHA, which gives an additional +4 to our strength check (+2 from STR, +2 Motivate Strength), allowing us to beat a DC 48 BSRG check without rolling. Almost there. Some research reveals a lot a fairly cheap items that increase Strength checks, but most of them are swift action activation and last for a single round. However, we can pick up the Armbands of Might (MIC) for an untyped +2 bonus at a steal for 4.1K, a mere 8.4% of WBL and we can make a DC 50 strength check to break down that 3’ Hewn Stone Wall.

    Spoiler: Level 15:
    Show
    We’ve taken the first five levels of the SI and we…like it? Sure, we like it. We’re already happy with the full BAB chassis for our regularly scheduled beatsticking (Shock Trooper comes on line late, but it’s there), and Entropic Blow is pretty excellent. We’re already planning to put some emphasis on Charisma to fuel our Strength checks, so that pairs well with the Smite analog. The fact that it also ignores hardness is great for when we’re Sundering in combat, and at 2/day this means we can break things with impunity in combat at least three times without breaking a sweat when combined with Focused Sunder, which allows us to burn our Psionic Focus to ignore half of hardness while Sundering. Focused Sunder also helps with our Raison d'être of Breaking Stuff Real Good, as it also allows us to ignore half the hardness of objects and walls while destroying them (by RAW does nothing for breaking DCs, but talk to your friendly neighborhood DM) if we’re doing hp damage to break something (not sure why, but whatever). The other class features are sorta meh for us except for the Body or Soul bonus to Cha, which feeds back into damage and BSRG through Entropic Blow and Motivate Strength. Healing Resistance is unfortunate but so be it, the bonus feat list is a little underwhelming, but we’ll take Cleave thank you very much, and Destructive Expertise is entirely useless as we started on a chassis that couldn’t take Know. Art&Architecture or Disable Device (besides, if there’s a device out there we can’t already break I would love to see it). I may or may not have forgotten that this class gives 5/10 spellcasting progression while I was building this….

    Spoiler: Level 20:
    Show
    Well, we’ve finished the SI and I’ll be honest, it doesn’t really do a whole lot for us. Body or Soul does give a nice little boost to Cha which helps our combat potential by boosting both our Bull Rush and Sunder checks, as well as helping out Entropic Blow which can now be used 3/day. Snap Kick was picked up at lvl 18 to help offset the fact that two of our primary combat tactics only involve a single attack (though Sundering is a rider to a regular attack, rather than a special attack and therefore might be doable in a full attack for iteratives). The two additional bonus feats gave Great Cleave and Improved Critical, which are useful I suppose. Unmaking Magic is actually pretty good, and the ability to add Charisma to the check is not too shabby. Disintegrate is sadly only 1/day, but a melee character can always find a use for a ray of facemelting, and it can help in the exceedingly rare cases when we can’t bust something open ourselves.

    Spoiler: Conclusion:
    Show
    All said and done we’re a fairly capable primary melee character that can break any damn wall in the game. Doomlord is useful for this, but is somewhat ancillary; I built this dish around being able to realistically meet the fluff requirements without DM fiat. I don’t expect to score all that well, but I had enough fun building this guy that I thought I would submit it anyways. Thanks for sticking with it!




    Spoiler: Sources
    Show
    Magic of Incarnum (MoI) – Azurin (p7), Shape Soulmeld (p40), Mauling Gauntlets (p78)
    Complete Warrior (CW) – Extra Rage (p98), Combat Brute (p110), Destructive Rage (P97), Shock Trooper (p112)
    Expanded Psionics Handbook (XPH) – Hidden Talent (p67), Focused Sunder (p46)
    Unearthed Arcana (UA) – Overwhelming Attack (p52),
    Complete Champion (CC) – Lion Spirit Totem (p46)
    Dungeonscape (Du) – Dungeon Crasher (p10)
    Web – Dead Levels I
    Miniatures Handbook (MH) – Marshal (p11)
    Planar Handbook (PlH) – Doomlord (p47)
    Tome of Battle (ToB) – Snap Kick (p32)

    Items not called out are either in the PHB or sub-items of higher level callouts (e.g. Warlock Invocations)
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  12. - Top - End - #72
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Entry number 8

    Quote Originally Posted by Mikhail the Liberator

    Mikhail the Liberator
    CG Human, Unarmed Swordsage 2/Fighter 2/Crusader 1/Human Paragon 3/Apostle of Peace 2/Doomlord 10

    Revolution requires extensive and widespread destruction, a fecund and renovating destruction, since in this way and only this way are new worlds born…

    -Mikhail Bakunin


    Spoiler: Build Details
    Show

    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features Vow of Poverty bonuses
    1st Unarmed Swordsage 1 +0 +0 +2 +2 Concentration 4 ranks, intimidate 4 ranks, diplomacy 2 ranks (cc), balance 4 ranks, knowledge (architecture & engineering) 2 ranks (cc), bluff 2 ranks (cc), autohypnosis 1 rank (cc), heal 1 rank, tumble 1 rank, jump 4 ranks Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty Quick to act, discipline focus (weapon focus) - stone dragon, unarmed strike AC bonus +4
    2nd Fighter 1 +1 +2 +2 +2 Concentration 5 ranks (+1, cc), intimidate 5 ranks (+1), bluff 2.5 ranks (+.5, cc) Vow of NonviolenceP, Power AttackF Bonus feat Bonus exalted feat
    3rd Fighter 2 +2 +3 +2 +2 Concentration 6 ranks (+1, cc), intimidate 6 ranks (+1), bluff 3 ranks (+.5, cc) Favored, GoadF Bonus feat AC bonus +5, endure elements
    4th Unarmed Swordsage 2 +3 +3 +3 +3 Concentration 7 ranks (+1), intimidate 7 ranks (+1), balance 5 ranks (+1), diplomacy 3 ranks (+1, cc), knowledge (architecture & engineering) 3 ranks (+1, cc), jump 5 ranks (+1) Vow of PeaceP AC bonus Exalted strike +1 (magic), bonus exalted feat
    5th Crusader 1 +4 +5 +3 +3 Concentration 8 ranks (+1), intimidate 8 ranks (+1), diplomacy 5 ranks (+2), knowledge (architecture & engineering) 4 ranks (+1, cc) Furious counterstrike, steely resolve 5 Sustenance
    6th Human Paragon 1 +4 +5 +3 +5 Concentration 10 ranks* (+2), intimidate 9 ranks (+1), diplomacy 7 ranks (+2), knowledge (architecture & engineering) 5 ranks (+1), bluff 4 ranks (+1) Primary Contact, Intuitive AttackP Adaptive learning (intimidate) AC bonus +6, deflection +1, bonus exalted feat
    7th Apostle of Peace 1 +4 +7 +5 +7 Intimidate 10 ranks (+1), diplomacy 9 ranks (+2), knowledge (architecture & engineering) 7 ranks (+2), bluff 5 ranks (+1) Turn undead Resistance +1, ability score enhancement +2
    8th Human Paragon 2 +5 +7 +5 +8 Concentration 11 ranks (+1), intimidate 11 ranks (+1), diplomacy 11 ranks (+2), knowledge (architecture & engineering) 9 ranks (+2) Frightful PresenceB, Gift of DiscernmentP Bonus feat Natural armor +1, mind shielding, bonus exalted feat
    9th Human Paragon 3 +6/+1 +8 +6 +8 Concentration 12 ranks (+1), intimidate 12 ranks (+1), diplomacy 12 ranks (+1), knowledge (architecture & engineering) 10 ranks (+1), Never Outnumbered skill trick Improved Sunder Ability bonus (+2) AC bonus +7
    10th Apostle of Peace 2 +7/+2 +9 +7 +9 Concentration 13 ranks (+1), intimidate 13 ranks (+1), diplomacy 13 ranks (+1), knowledge (architecture & engineering) 13 ranks (+3) Nimbus of LightP Pacifying touch Exalted strike +2 (good), damage reduction 5/magic, bonus exalted feat
    11th Doomlord 1 +8/+3 +11 +7 +9 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 14 ranks (+1), concentration 14 ranks (+1), intimidate 14 ranks (+1), diplomacy 13.5 ranks (+.5, cc) Entropic blow 1/day, healing resistance Ability score enhancement +4/+2
    12th Doomlord 2 +9/+4 +12 +7 +9 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 15 ranks (+1), concentration 15 ranks (+1), intimidate 15 ranks (+1), diplomacy 14 ranks (+.5, cc) Healing Devotion, CleaveB, Nymph’s KissP Bonus feat, destructive expertise AC bonus +8, deflection +2, greater sustenance, bonus exalted feat
    13th Doomlord 3 +10/+5 +12 +8 +10 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 16 ranks (+1), concentration 16 ranks (+1), intimidate 16 ranks (+1), diplomacy 15 ranks (+1, cc) Negative adaptation Resistance +2, energy resistance 5
    14th Doomlord 4 +11/+6/+1 +13 +8 +10 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 17 ranks (+1), concentration 17 ranks (+1), intimidate 17 ranks (+1), diplomacy 16 ranks (+1, cc) Holy RadianceP Body or soul (Cha +1) Exalted strike +3, freedom of movement, bonus exalted feat
    15th Doomlord 5 +12/+7/+2 +13 +8 +10 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 18 ranks (+1), concentration 18 ranks (+1), intimidate 18 ranks (+1), diplomacy 17 ranks (+1, cc) Brutal Strike Entropic blow 2/day AC bonus +9, ability score enhancement +6/+4/+2, damage reduction 5/evil
    16th Doomlord 6 +13/+8/+3 +14 +9 +11 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 19 ranks (+1), concentration 19 ranks (+1), intimidate 19 ranks (+1), diplomacy 18 ranks (+1, cc) Improved Critical (unarmed strike)B, Exalted TurningP Bonus feat Natural armor +2, bonus exalted feat
    17th Doomlord 7 +14/+9/+4 +14 +9 +11 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 20 ranks (+1), concentration 20 ranks (+1), intimidate 20 ranks (+1), diplomacy 19 ranks (+1, cc) Unmaking magic Exalted strike +4, resistance +3, regeneration
    18th Doomlord 8 +15/+10/+5 +15 +9 +11 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 21 ranks (+1), concentration 21 ranks (+1), intimidate 21 ranks (+1), diplomacy 20 ranks (+1, cc) Martial Study (leaping flame), Sanctify Martial StrikeP Body or soul (Cha +1) AC bonus +10, deflection +3, true seeing, bonus exalted feat
    19th Doomlord 9 +16/+11/+6/+1 +15 +10 +12 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 22 ranks (+1), concentration 22 ranks (+1), intimidate 22 ranks (+1), diplomacy 21 ranks (+1, cc) Disintegrate Ability score enhancement +8/+6/+4/+2, damage reduction 10/evil
    20th Doomlord 10 +17/+12/+7/+2 +16 +10 +12 Knowledge (architecture & engineering) 23 ranks (+1), concentration 23 ranks (+1), intimidate 23 ranks (+1), diplomacy 22 ranks (+1, cc) Great CleaveB, Gift of FaithP Bonus feat, entropic blow 3/day Exalted strike +5, energy resistance 15, bonus exalted feat

    *Bonus skill rank due to Primary Contact feat

    Spoiler: Apostle of Peace Spells
    Show

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


    Alternate class feature: unarmed swordsage (lose armor proficiency, gain monk’s unarmed strike progression)

    Spoiler: Stats
    Show

    Starting stats:Str 14/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 12/Wis 14/Cha 14
    Level 4: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 12/Wis 14/Cha 15
    Level 7: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 12/Wis 16/Cha 15
    Level 8: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 12/Wis 17/Cha 15
    Level 9: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 12/Wis 19/Cha 15
    Level 11: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 12/Wis 21/Cha 17
    Level 12: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 12/Wis 22/Cha 17
    Level 14: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 12/Wis 22/Cha 18
    Level 15: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 16/Int 12/Wis 24/Cha 20
    Level 16: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 16/Int 12/Wis 25/Cha 20
    Level 18: Str 14/Dex 12/Con 16/Int 12/Wis 25/Cha 21
    Level 19: Str 14/Dex 14/Con 18/Int 12/Wis 27/Cha 23
    Level 20: Str 14/Dex 14/Con 18/Int 12/Wis 28/Cha 23


    Spoiler: Maneuvers and Stances
    Show

    Swordsage maneuvers/stances known (listed in order of acquisition):
    Distracting ember, mighty throw, stone bones, wind stride, counter charge, clinging shadow strike, child of shadows (s), clever positioning, step of the wind (s), leaping flame

    Crusader maneuvers/stances known:
    Crusader’s strike, leading the attack, douse the flames, mountain hammer, vanguard strike, martial spirit (s)



    Spoiler: Broken
    Show

    To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it. In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt.

    -Mikhail Bakunin

    The guard was panting. He raised his scourge. “Enough,” he said, flecks of spittle escaping his heavy lips. Three of the huddled slaves shrank even smaller, pulling away from the guard’s raised arm. The fourth, a boy of perhaps fourteen years, hesitated. “Back in line,” the guard wheezed, and one of the others grabbed the back of the boy’s tattered robes, tried to pull him back.

    “Stop - please stop,” the boy murmured, taking a step back. “We were just… I’m sorry.”

    A voice rang out from behind the guard. “Why should he be forced to apologize for your sins?” The guard turned his head, scourge still raised above his head. “What great falsehoods must we swallow to believe that such a great gulf lies between that boy and you, that his humanity is somehow less than yours?” A figure stepped forward, barefoot, white robes long stained gray by city-dust. “They are falsehoods, you know. All the social mores that say that those of one caste must behave and those of another must lead, that two men separated only by a handful of years may somehow be such different creatures that one must cower and beg while the other raises a weapon… they are false.” He stepped closer.

    “Back up,” said the guard, his posture shifting so he now faced the slender man before him. The man wore no weapons, no armor, looked barely better equipped than the slaves behind him. “This is no business of yours.”

    “And why is it not?” Another step forward. “Why should these four creatures live their lives in fear of you? Did they commit some sin, some great mistake that forfeited their lives?” Another step. The rest of the crowd backed away, leaving a half-circle between the young man and the guard. “What sin could be great enough? What sin could be so unforgivable that it could wash away the far greater sin of you abusing these poor souls, restricting their freedom and their very humanity?”

    “Walk away, little man,” the guard growled. “Walk away now or you’ll get the same as them.”

    “Will I? Perhaps,” he said. “You have behind you the authority of society, I am sure, of that nebulous beast that serves to lock us into castes. There are invisible lines, I am sure, that marks those four as slaves and you as master. This entire city rose up on those invisible lines, locking us in, drawing us apart.” He took yet another step closer. Now they were only a few feet apart, the guard’s face growing red with rage. “But cities fall. Buildings crumble. And slaves revolt. The fiction that you are a greater man than those you beat is mere paper, ready to be torn away. Do you know what really separates you from those four behind you? The one true difference between you and them?”

    The guard gripped his scourge tighter and pulled back his arm, ready to strike. The small man stood stock-still, waiting. Even as the scourge fell, he seemed to barely move, yet the barbed ends of it met only air. The guard pulled back again, readying another strike, as the man stepped even closer.

    “It is that weapon you carry,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “That scourge in your hand and the armor you wear—these are the only things that separate you from them.” The guard snarled and moved to swing again, and the man struck, palm out, hitting not the guard but the scourge itself. The wooden grip cracked and the weapon fell apart, scattering onto the street’s dusty cobblestones. “Without them, you are no different, no better, than the slaves you threaten.”


    Spoiler: Build details
    Show

    EARLY LEVELS:
    I know, I know, Vow of Poverty is a trap. The returns it gives aren’t worth giving up items in the long run. Except that in the early levels, this is very much not true. As an unarmed swordsage, Mikhail is giving up very little: he fights with his fists and the additional protection granted by the feat works well alongside his unarmored fighting style. It also works nicely alongside his focus on destruction: Mikhail the Liberator never needs to worry about sundering potential treasure, because he has no need for such worldly goods.

    (A note about unarmed swordsage: this build is assuming that it, you know, functions. Yes, technically the description of the alternative class does not say it gains Improved Unarmed Strike, just the unarmed strike progression of a monk. That is almost certainly an oversight, and literally every table I have ever played in or seen considers IUS a part of the unarmed strike ability. If you truly believe that an unarmed swordsage cannot actually fight unarmed without penalty despite gaining the monk’s unarmed strike, please consider Mikhail to have taken the Shaky flaw to gain Improved Unarmed Strike and give him the according -1 elegance penalty.)

    Swordsage gives Mikhail a lot of nice kung-fu to use alongside his unarmed strike, and he focuses primarily on mobility and repositioning rather than high-damage maneuvers. Discipline focus in the Stone Dragon discipline gives him the benefits of Weapon Focus for unarmed strikes as well as greatswords, allowing it to both boost his strikes at early levels and later allow him to qualify for Doomlord.

    Vow of Nonviolence may seem restrictive, but in reality, it is fairly easy to manage. As an unarmed fighter, Mikhail can choose to deliver nonlethal damage to all living foes without the usual penalty, and none of his abilities focus on things that would violate the vow. In return, the +4 bonus to save DCs on non-damaging spells and effects is a considerable boost for things like the clever positioning maneuver, his Goad feat, the calming aura of his Vow of Peace and his Frightful Presence. He later will get even more mileage out of it as Apostle of Peace comes online, but for now, even just these benefits are significant. And the opponents that are immune to things like Goad or his calming aura? Well, luckily these opponents tend to be constructs or undead, and therefore do not violate his vows to attack or destroy…

    Anyhow, Mikhail fights as a typical unarmed swordsage, using Goad to draw enemies in so that he can sunder their weapons or force them into his calming aura. He ends up significantly bulkier than the typical Swordsage thanks to Fighter and Crusader levels, which add on a fair bit of longevity while still fitting with his preferred fighting style. Favored and Primary Contact fit well thematically with this devotee of the Doomguard, give him some very nice in-game bonuses and also provide the extra skill rank (which explicitly breaks the skill rank cap) necessary to qualify for…

    MID LEVELS
    ...Apostle of Peace! Just as Mikhail’s martial prowess starts to stutter a bit, he gets the significant kick-start from Apostle of Peace. Turn undead and pacifying touch give him two new offensive tools in his arsenal (with pacifying touch being especially potent), but the real draw here is the spellcasting. By level 10 Mikhail is casting fourth level spells, giving him incredibly significant flexibillity, defensive stability and offensive prowess. Apostle of Peace also has a specific exception to Vow of Poverty, allowing Mikhail to use and benefit from defensive magical items, and between this and the formidable spellcasting it offers, the drawbacks to Vow of Poverty all but disappear.

    Mikhail also picks up Frightful Presence in these levels. This is a passive debuff with a surprisingly strong DC (scales up to DC 30, making it decent even at high levels), and can be used alongside demoralization for fear escalation tactics. While it may seem odd to have fear effects alongside calm emotions effects, they work together nicely: Mikhail can use fear and intimidation to debuff crowds of enemies, then pacify key foes. The penalties they receive due to fear makes them easier to pacify, while the calm emotions side effect of pacifying touch dispels the fear so that Mikhail can attempt to sway them earnestly.

    Doomlord comes online in the mid-levels as well. Entropic blow gives him a powerful attack for the types of enemies immune to things like his pacifying touch or his nonlethal attacks, and also helps him easily destroy weapons and structures. He keeps his knowledge in architecture and engineering high so that he can destroy buildings as quickly as possible, and maintain an understanding of how they will collapse so that he can eliminate collateral damage. While his healing resistance would seem to reduce his longevity, Crusader maneuvers and Healing Devotion still work well to keep him healthy. Body and Soul helps keep his Charisma up to par despite his lack of items (and he has several abilities that run off of Charisma). Meanwhile, the negative energy adaptation and his access to plane shift means that he can freely enter the Citadel Exhalus or travel to other negative-dominant planes in his search for prisons to demolish.

    HIGH LEVELS
    As Mikhail progresses through his Doomlord levels, he also keeps up his Apostle of Peace casting, eventually ending with 9th-level spells from a modified cleric list. This includes many of the most important spells, including what are arguably the two most powerful spells in the game, miracle and gate. While access to high level spells do tend to eclipse most other things, Mikhail’s Doomlord abilities definitely do not go amiss. Unmaking magic works well alongside his secondary Charisma focus to serve as a strong dispel (the low caster level of Apostle of Peace means the dispels he uses from his spellcasting levels will be significantly less likely to be successful). Disintegrate is a fantastic dual use spell-like ability that does not exist on his Apostle of Peace casting list: he can use it to further destroy buildings and structures, or as a powerful direct damage spell against undead or construct enemies that are immune to some of his other spells and effects. Beyond his Doomlord levels, he also picks up leaping flame via Martial Study so that he can instantly teleport to anyone attempting to evade his Goad ability by using ranged attacks and sunder their weapon or otherwise disable them.

    In the end, Mikhail ends up with 9th-level spells off of a very strong spell list, +17 BAB, 5th-level martial maneuvers and several interesting offensive and defensive abilities.


    Spoiler: Scattered
    Show

    We exhort the compromisers to open their hearts to truth, to free themselves of their wretched and blind circumspection, of their intellectual arrogance, and of the servile fear which dries up their souls and paralyzes their movements.

    Let us therefore trust the eternal Spirit which destroys and annihilates only because it is the unfathomable and eternal source of all life. The passion for destruction is a creative passion, too!

    -Mikhail Bakunin

    “Mikhail, you strike me as a good man,” the councilman said. “And the people seem to like you. You hear them outside our doors? You have their hearts. You are not like the others in your... organization. You have a heart.”

    “And what is heartless about the Doomguard?” Mikhail asked. His dirty robes seemed out of place in among the panelled wood and thick carpets of the councilman’s chambers. “They seek to break the rock of authority, to see it crumble to dust. I seek the same.”

    “Come now, man,” the councilman said. “It is not the same. You want to help people. They just want to see things burn.”

    “Why do you assign such value to the things the Guard wishes to strike down? A wall is not a thing to be protected, to be worshipped. The song of dissolution that sings out when a building falls is a song of freedom, of hope.”

    “Enough of this talk. I didn’t bring you here to listen to platitudes. I wanted to talk about the Elmina Fortress.” Mikhail’s face darkened. “Don’t give me that look, Mihail,” the councilman said. “The fortress construction will be completed, regardless of what you think. I have you here because I want to compromise. You have the public ear. What can I do to make you walk out and tell them to stand down, to stop barring with its construction? What assurances can I give you?”

    “Assurances?”

    “Yes, Mikhail, assurances,” he said. “Look, you have grown popular railing against slavers and bountymen. I agree with you. I am on your side. I have the support in the council to ensure that the Elmina Fortress never houses a single slave. But the fortress will be built, with my support or without it. Compromising with me here means it will house only lawbreakers, prisoners, murderers. Come, man, you cannot tell me that such a thing is evil.”


    “All prisons are evil,” Mikhail scowled. “You say Elmina Fortress will house no slaves? Every man, woman and child who enters its doors under threat of violence and coercion is a slave, and if you support them, you are just another slaver.”

    The councilman reached under his oaken desk, pulled out a large silk pouch. “Mikhail, I am trying to be reasonable. Here, a gesture of good faith. Consider it a… donation. That’s gold in there, man, not silver, and if we reached a reasonable solution, there can be many more donations like it. Think what you could do with such gold. Think how many slaves you could free.”

    Mikhail pulled the pouch in, opened it, sifted through it. “This is generous,” he said slowly. The pouch was heavy in his hands.

    “It is,” the councilman said, visibly relaxing. “It is, and there is more where that came from. I am on your side, Mikhail. I wish to help the people.”

    “You wish to help the people? Very well then,” Mikhail said, and quickly got up, pouch in hands. He stormed through the chamber doors down the hallway, and out the front door. The councilman got up and chased after him.

    “These are the people you wish to make slaves,” Mikhail shouted from the steps, waving his arm toward the gathered crowd. “You want to help them? How does giving me gold help them? How will it help them when the laws of your council wrap around their throats like a noose and drag them to the prison you are building?” He reached into the large pouch and began pulling out fistfuls of gold and tossing them to the crowd. “These men and women, councilman, are the ones who need your gold. Not me. Never me.” Handful after handful of gold coins glinted in the sun as the crowd surged forward. “You think gold is the mortar that will hold the bricks of your abomination together. You think gold will buy my silence, will pacify the people, will allow you to quietly profit from your fortress, your chapel to the cruel gods of Carceri and Tartarus. Mark my words, councilman: if that prison goes up, in a year’s time, not a stone will remain standing, and with it your house will fall. This city will shudder and rumble and cast off its oppressors. There is no compromise. There is only destruction, and the song of freedom it carries with it.”


    Spoiler: Sources
    Show

    Tome of Battle: Unarmed Swordsage, Crusader, Martial Study, all maneuvers and stances
    Book of Exalted Deeds: Apostle of Peace, Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, all Exalted feats
    Cityscape: Favored, Primary Contact, guild and organization rules
    Complete Champion: Healing Devotion
    Player’s Handbook II: Brutal Strike
    Draconomicon: Frightful Presence
    Complete Adventurer: Goad
    Player’s Guide to Faerun: Gift of Discernment, Gift of Faith


    Spoiler: Collapsed
    Show

    All exercise of authority perverts, and submission to authority humiliates.

    -Mikhail Bakunin

    The sky seemed to dim as the shower of arrows arced upwards and then down, pointed toward the small figure of Mikhail the Liberator. He stood his ground, and those that met their mark shattered against his skin. Mikhail moved forward. The archers readied another volley, but soon he was sheltered by the great stone walls of the Elmina Fortress. Mikhail could hear the ringing of boots on stone as guards poured down the stairs, ready to defend their new prison from the rage of the Doomguard.

    Mikhail smiled. He placed a hand on one of the cornerstones of the fortress, considered it briefly. Then he struck, and struck hard. The stone, far larger than Mikhail, shattered like glass before his fist.

    The building shivered and one great corner lurched, but stood. A cloud of dust rose up. “Free yourselves,” Mikhail shouted to the stumbling guards as they fled the quaking building. “Come out and strike me if you must, but leave this unholy prison. I have no desire to see your blood on my hands this day. This building will fall, but you will live on as free men. If you wish to fight, then come out and fight! I am here, and I am alone. If you do not wish to fight, then stand beside me and watch the walls come tumbling down. But come out! This prison is no place for you.”

    He struck again, and the whole building shuddered. Mikhail’s voice was clear and strong. “Come out! Before the sun sets this building will have turned to dust. Leave this dark place and join me in the sunshine. Join me, and together we will dance to the music of these falling walls!”
    Quotebox
    Spoiler
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalirren View Post
    The only person in the past two pages who has known what (s)he has been talking about is Heliomance.
    Quote Originally Posted by golentan View Post
    I just don't want to have long romantic conversations or any sort of drama with my computer, okay? It knows what kind of porn I watch. I don't want to mess that up by allowing it to judge any of my choices in romance.

    Avatar by Rain Dragon

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  13. - Top - End - #73
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Entry number 9

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom's Character
    Toms' Character

    This whole entry is of course more joke than serious but after coming up with the idea and seeing how everything fits nicely together I decided to submit. Hope you have a little chuckle and please spare everybody from actually running this build at any table - not even as an NPC.


    Race
    :Goliath
    Alignment: Chaotic Good
    Class Levels:
    +1 LA/Ranger 1/Fighter 2/Paladin of Freedom of Kord 2/Warblade 1/Ranger 1/Divine Crusader of Kord 1/Doomlord 10/ Crusader 1
    Languages: Common, Gol-Kaa, Giant, Dwarven

    Attributes

    Base Racial Final
    Strength 15 +4 (+4 by class levels) 19 (23)
    Dexterity 12 -2 10
    Constitution 12 +2 14
    Intelligence 14 14
    Wisdom 8 8
    Charisma 16 16





    Spoiler: build table
    Show

    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st + 1 LA - - - - - - -
    2nd Trap Expert Wild Shape Ranger +1 +2 +2 +0 Climb 4, Concentration 4, Disable Device 4, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Search 4, Survival 4, Swim 4 Weapon Focus (Greatsword) Wild Empathy, Fast Movement (+10 ft.), Trapfinding, Favored Enemy (Undead)
    3rd Fighter +2 +4 +2 +0 Climb 4, Concentration 4, Disable Device 5, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Search 5, Survival 4, Swim 4 Power Attack (B) -
    4th Fighter +3 +5 +2 +0 Climb 4, Concentration 4, Disable Device 6, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Search 6, Survival 4, Swim 4 Sacred Vow, Improved Sunder (B) -
    5th Paladin of Freedom of Kord +4 +7 +2 +0 Climb 4, Concentration 4, Disable Device 7, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Search 7, Survival 4, Swim 4 - Aura of good, detect evil, smite evil 1/day
    6th Paladin of Freedom of Kord +5 +8 +2 +0 Climb 4, Concentration 4, Disable Device 7, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 8, Survival 4, Swim 4 - Divine grace, lay on hands
    7th Warblade +6 +10 +2 +0 Climb 4, Concentration 4, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 7, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 9, Survival 4, Swim 4 Vow of Nonviolence Battle clarity (Reflex saves), weapon aptitude
    8th Trap Expert Wild Shape Ranger +7 +11 +3 +0 Climb 4, Concentration 8, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 10, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 10, Survival 4, Swim 4 - -
    9th Divine Crusader of Kord +7 +13 +3 +2 Climb 4, Concentration 10, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 10, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 11, Survival 4, Swim 4 - Aura
    10th Doomlord +8 +15 +3 +2 Climb 4, Concentration 11, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 12, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 12, Survival 4, Swim 4 Heretic of the Faith (Charm Domain) Entropic Blow 1/day, healing resistance
    11th Doomlord +9 +16 +3 +2 Climb 4, Concentration 13, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 13, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 13, Survival 4, Swim 4 Endurance (B) destructive expertise
    12th Doomlord +10 +16 +4 +3 Climb 4, Concentration 14, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 14, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 14, Spellcraft 1, Survival 4, Swim 4 - Negative adaptation
    13th Doomlord +11 +17 +4 +3 Climb 4, Concentration 15, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 15, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 15, Spellcraft 2, Survival 4, Swim 4 Vow of Peace Soul (Cha +1)
    14th Doomlord +12 +17 +4 +3 Climb 4, Concentration 16, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 16, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 16, Spellcraft 3, Survival 4, Swim 4 - Entropic blow 2/day
    15th Doomlord +13 +18 +5 +4 Climb 4, Concentration 17, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 17, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 17, Spellcraft 4, Survival 4, Swim 4 Diehard (B) -
    16th Doomlord +14 +18 +5 +4 Climb 4, Concentration 18, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 18, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 18, Spellcraft 5, Survival 4, Swim 4 Subduing Strike Unmaking magic
    17th Doomlord +15 +18 +5 +4 Climb 4, Concentration 19, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 19, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 19, Spellcraft 6, Survival 4, Swim 4 - Soul (Cha +1)
    18th Doomlord +16 +18 +6 +5 Climb 4, Concentration 20, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 20, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 20, Spellcraft 7, Survival 4, Swim 4 - Disintegrate
    19th Doomlord +17 +19 +6 +5 Climb 4, Concentration 21, Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 21, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 21, Spellcraft 8, Survival 4, Swim 4 Practiced Spellcaster, Improved Critical: Greatsword (B) entropic blow (3/day)
    20th Crusader +18 +21 +6 +5 Climb 4, Concentration 22, Diplomacy 5, Disable Device 22, Handle Animal 4, Jump 4, Knowledge(Religion) 2, Search 22, Spellcraft 8, Survival 4, Swim 4 - Furious counterstrike, steely resolve 5


    Spoiler: Maneuver and Spells
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    Maneuver:
    Warblade:
    7th level (IL 3):
    Stance: Punishing Stance
    Maneuvers known: Moment of Perfect Mind, Action before Thought, Mountain Hammer

    Crusader:
    20th level (IL 10):
    Stance: Thicket Blades
    Maneuvers known: Crusader's Strike, Tide of Chaos, Defensive Rebuke, Douse the flame, White Raven Tactics


    Spells:
    Spells known: Level 9: Strength Domain at level 10 and afterwards Charm Domain; Table doesn't include Bonus spells.
    Spells per day:
    1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9 0
    10 0
    11 1 0
    12 1 0
    13 2 1 0
    14 2 1 0
    15 2 2 1 0
    16 2 2 1 0
    17 3 2 2 1 0
    18 3 2 2 1 0
    19 3 3 2 2 1 0
    20 3 3 2 2 1 0


    Spoiler: Write up
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    Tom is that one mate. We all know Tom and we all like Tom because he is a great guy when not playing DnD. At the table though Tom is challenging to put it mildly. This is Tom's character for an upcoming campaign focused around an Undead Slaver, who is the main villain. His concept is a Goliath Pacifist, who thinks that the only feasible way of living is to free and protect all living things and destroy all non living things (including traps). The character is yet to be named either Ron Swanson or Lorenzo van Matterhorn. Of course the rest of the group neither knew about the pacifist thing nor the incoming shattering of loot.
    Early levels 1-6:
    Tom's early career focuses around killing Undead and Constructs, sundering the weapons of living enemies when possible and grapple them afterwards, using his Greatsword to deal non lethal damage (simply accepting the penalty of -4) and searching and disabling traps. Of course Tom wants an Adamantine Greatsword as soon as possible. Until ECL 6 Reflex and Will saves are very low but Divine Grace lifts them a little. Annoyance level to the rest of the table: decent. Ron or Lorenzo or whatever he is called does his job of finding traps and be the primary melee. The sundering of weapons the rest of the party wanted is acceptable at this point.
    Mid levels 7-9:
    Tom's playgroup has hope. Vow of Non Violence was expected and the group learns to deal with it quickly. Moment of Perfect Mind and Action before Thought help Tom's character a lot and Divine Crusader is a solid choice for a casting class. Strength Domain offers some nice buffs in the long run although so far Tom's character only has level 1 spells. The group is pretty happy. Annoyance level to the rest of the table: still decent.
    High levels 10-20:
    Just when everything seemed fine Tom strikes and strikes hard: the first level of Doomlord gives healing resistance and Tom has no intent whatsoever to go for a workaround of that. Out of combat healing just got twice as expensive. Strike two: Heretic of the faith: Tom decides everybody needs to be his friend and switches to the Charm Domain. Charming actually works pretty well for Tom's character thanks to Vow of Nonviolance and the domain power of the charm domain. Entropic Blow adds further to the slay Undead and Constructs theme and helps shattering more weapons. Tom progresses further into Doomlord and adds Vow of Peace to finalize the weapon shattering Pacifist concept. Calm emotions can really be annoying. Subduing Strike and Practiced Spellcaster are almost a normal choice considering Tom's usual feat choices. Unmaking magic and Disintegrate help getting rid of magical traps or prison walls (or really any wall). The last level of Crusader is just icing on the cake.

    Spoiler: Sources
    Show

    Warblade, Crusader, all maneuvers: Tome of Battle
    Trap Expert Ranger: Dungeonscape
    Paladin of Freedom, Wild Shape Ranger: Unearthed Arcana
    Divine Crusader, Practiced Spellcaster: Complete Divine
    Heretic of the faith: Power of faerun
    Saced Vow, Vow of Nonviolence, Vow of Peace, Subduing Strike: Book of Exalted Deeds
    Charm Domain: Spell Compendium
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalirren View Post
    The only person in the past two pages who has known what (s)he has been talking about is Heliomance.
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    And that's all! Go on, get judging!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalirren View Post
    The only person in the past two pages who has known what (s)he has been talking about is Heliomance.
    Quote Originally Posted by golentan View Post
    I just don't want to have long romantic conversations or any sort of drama with my computer, okay? It knows what kind of porn I watch. I don't want to mess that up by allowing it to judge any of my choices in romance.

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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    That is certainly a lot to take in, my idea that I couldn't get to float was a disable device expert that used several precarious wording situations to disable magical items with disable device, and then sunder them.
    Quote Originally Posted by Zaq View Post
    I feel like telling the ghost of Gary Gygax to hold your beer is a good way to suddenly stop being the GM, but I have to admit that this would probably be remarkably effective. At what, I dunno, but effective.
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    I am continually astounded by how new you are here in contrast to how impressive your mind is.

  16. - Top - End - #76
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    "Song of Dissolution: A singular sound can sometimes be heard here and there, if briefly, among the many planes. When a mirror shatters, the note might be discerned. When a wall collapses, the ringing of the tone is somewhat stron- ger. When a city burns, the notes form a chord. And when a continent sinks beneath the waves, the song of dissolution plays out loud and strong—for those with the ears trained to hear. This mythical melody is something all Doomguard are eager to hear. Some theorize that should the tones ever be correctly recorded and formulated, a faction member with that song ringing in her body would have unparalleled power—his every utterance a curse, his every sword-stroke a killing blow, and his very presence, anathema."

    I was going to use this quote from the Doom guard entry in the plainer handbook, on a rilkan sorcer with precocious Apprentice to get crystalline memories. Then I was going to take a bunch of listen based feats and skill tricks, on top of truenamer levels, and two levels of savant to pick up the memory eater feet from Lords of Madness as a prerequisite ignoring bonus feat.

    Then all I had to do was Bear witness to tons of Destruction or eat things that witnessed said destruction. Then I could create a song made out of Destruction noises and make a mega mix in my crystalline memory crystals. This leads me to believe that every utterance would become a curse a la the song of dissolution, my every Sword stroke would become a killing blow, and if I picked up some yuanti template, I would be considered an anathema.

    Between the Rilkins racial memory and the ability to eat memories, it seems like it could have worked
    Last edited by daremetoidareyo; 2018-08-20 at 10:18 AM.

  17. - Top - End - #77
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Looking forward to reading everything. A brief scan shows some interesting entries.

    I tried really hard to get a Hellbreaker build to work. I had the idea of a build that offensively used plane shift to send foes to a negative energy-dominant plane, and then the Hellbreaker's stowaway ability to hitch a ride and join them. Doomlord's negative energy adaptation would keep my Hellbreaker safe while the enemy was slowly drained into nothingness and wight-ified by the planar surroundings.

    Unfortunately I found it near impossible to meet Hellbreaker's qualifications, get a good number of uses of plane shift at a decent DC *and* get into Doomlord in a timely manner. The very best I could do was Duskblade 3/Spellthief 1/Rogue 1/Ur-Priest 1/Hellbreaker 4/Doomlord 10, which required a flaw and Otyugh Hole to get all of the qualifying feats together, and even then only ended up with two uses of plane shift a day.

    On the build I ended up going with, I actually had a much sillier idea in mind originally, but some aspects just wouldn't pan out. I won't go into details until after the reveal, since doing so would likely give away my current build, but it definitely involved bears.
    Optimization Showcase in the Playground

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  18. - Top - End - #78
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    I'm glad to see (1) a lot of my discarded (not enough time to submit multiple builds) ideas used in builds here and (2) also no Vizinnis.
    I'm kinda sad no one did Hexblade 5 / Abjurant Champion 5 / Doomlord 10; that was one of my top three build ideas.

  19. - Top - End - #79
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Here's a quick base class usage table. The only thing heavily used is fighter; no surprise there, given the fighter feats required to enter the SI.

    Entry Barbarian Bard Cleric Crusader Druid Fighter Marshal Monk Paladin Racial Paragon Ranger Sorceror Swordsage Warblade
    1st - X - - - - - - - - - - - X
    2nd - - - - X X - - - - - - - -
    3rd - - - X - X - - - - - - - -
    4th X - X X - - - - - - - - - -
    5th - - - - - - - - X - - - - -
    6th - - - - - X X - - - - X - -
    7th X - - - - X X X - - - - - -
    8th - - - X - X - - - X - - X -
    9th - - - - - X - - X - X - - X
    TOTAL 2 1 1 3 1 6 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 2

  20. - Top - End - #80
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    Thumbs up Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Once again I had to fight my first urge with any half-caster PrC to go for an Ur Priest build.

    Some nice entries in there - well done to all entrants.

    Entry Chef Description First Judge Score Total Score
    Illazil ??? CN Killoren Bard 7/Warblade 3/Doomblade 10 - -
    Darin Blightblade ??? NE Illumian Druid 3/Fighter 2/Blighter 6/Doomlord 9 - -
    Sir Dorven ??? CG Human Crusader 1/Fighter 2/Crusader +2/Knight of the Weave 3/Doomlord 10/Abjurant Champion 2 - -
    Archimede ??? CN Human Barbarian 1/Cleric 4/Crusader 1/Deadgrim 5/Doomlord 9 - -
    Roderick Rabelais ??? LE Human Holy Warrior Paladin of Tyranny 6/Blackguard 1/Doomlord 10/Blackguard 4 - -
    Katu d'Xen'Drik ??? CN Primordial Half-Giant Marshal 1/ Dungeon Crasher Fighter 2/Stalwart Battle Sorcerer 4/Spellsword 2/Doomlord 10 - -
    Caleb Praedo ??? (?) Human (?) Barbarian 1/Monk 2/Fighter 6/Marshal 1/Doomlord 10 - -
    Mikhail the Liberator ??? CG Human Unarmed Swordsage 2/Fighter 2/Crusader 1/Human Paragon 3/Apostle of Peace 2/Doomlord 10 - -
    Tom's Character ??? CG Goliath Ranger 1/Fighter 2/Paladin of Freedom of Kord 2/Warblade 1/Ranger 1/Divine Crusader of Kord 1/Doomlord 10/ Crusader 1 - -

  21. - Top - End - #81
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    This is what I had come up with prior to work sucking me in.

    Spoiler: Build table
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    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st Barbarian +1 +2 +0 +0 - Power Attack Fast movement, illiteracy, rage 1/day
    2nd Barbarian +2 +3 +0 +0 - - Uncanny dodge
    3rd Battle Sorcerer +2 +3 +0 +2 - Combat Casting Summon Familiar, Arcane Spell Casting
    4th Battle Sorcerer +3 +3 +0 +3 - - -
    5th Battle Sorcerer +4 +4 +1 +3 - - -
    6th Battle Sorcerer +5 +4 +1 +4 - Weapon Focus (Greatsword) -
    7th Rage Mage +5 +6 +1 +4 - - Spell rage 1/day
    8th Rage Mage +6/+1 +7 +1 +4 - - Overcome spell failure, +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    9th Rage Mage +7/+2 +7 +2 +5 - Improved Sunder Rage +1 use/day
    10th Doomlord +8/+3 +9 +2 +5 - - Entropic blow 1/day, healing resistance
    11th Doomlord +9/+4 +10 +2 +5 - Endurance Destructive expertise, +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    12th Doomlord +10/+5 +10 +3 +6 - Arcane Strike Negative adaptation
    13th Doomlord +11/+6/+1 +11 +3 +6 - - +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    14th Doomlord +12/+7/+2 +11 +3 +6 - - Entropic blow 2/day
    15th Doomlord +13/+8/+3 +12 +4 +7 - Diehard, Extra Rage +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    16th Doomlord +14/+9/+4 +12 +4 +7 - - Unmaking magic
    17th Doomlord +15/+10/+5 +13 +4 +7 Balance 5
    Concentration 15
    Intimidate 12
    Jump 5
    Listen 11
    Tumble 9
    - +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    18th Doomlord +16/+11/+6/+1 +13 +5 +8 Balance 5
    Concentration 17
    Intimidate 12
    Jump 5
    Listen 11
    Tumble 9.5
    Intimidating Rage Disintegrate
    19th Doomlord +17/+12/+7/+2 +14 +5 +8 Balance 5
    Concentration 19
    Intimidate 12
    Jump 5
    Listen 11
    Tumble 10
    Cleave Entropic blow 3/day, +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    20th Racial LA - - - - - - -
    Iron Chef in the Playground LXVI - Honorable Mention : Azalin Stonecutter

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  22. - Top - End - #82
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    I had zero ideas related to actually optimizing the class. My entry was just going to be an elaborate series of escalating puns.

    You see, he was going to start as a nobody whose job was mostly sweeping and cleaning up, and he was going to be known as the Broomlord.

    He was going to learn Druid magic and become known as the Bloomlord.

    I had an episode planned out where he became the leader of a tribe of myconids and became the Shroomlord (or, if you wanna get some Mario up in here, the Goomlord, because myconids are goombas and you will never convince me otherwise).

    He would start as illiterate (start as Barbarian) and eventually learn about grammar with a level of Truenamer, becoming the Whomlord.

    He would have taken up Craft: Weaving and become the Loomlord.

    After gaining a marked speed increase, he would take up the mantle of the Zoomlord.

    He was going to start digging up bodies and become the Exhumelord. Perhaps the very bodies that he buried as the Entomblord.

    After he took up anonymous writing, he became known as the Nom-de-plumelord.

    Upon getting married, of course, he was the Groomlord.

    When the SI gave him resistance to negative energy, he would spend some time sulking on the NEP and become the Gloomlord.

    (He might, in preparation, spend some time prepping for that last one as the Tomblord.)

    At the levels where the SI gives a CHA increase? Say hello to the Va-va-voomlord!

    After learning Fireball or a few other blast spells, he would be known as the Kaboomlord. (Not to be confused with his stint as the Boomlord, when he mostly focused on sonic damage.)

    He would perhaps be a raptoran, and upon gaining his true flight, he would be known as the Plumelord.

    He would learn about alchemy and make gaseous grenades, as is appropriate for the Fumelord. (Though he may create more pleasant things under the title of the Perfumelord.)

    He would return to something he started earlier, as he is, after all, the Resumelord.

    A few ranks in Profession: Peanut Farmer are necessary for anyone who wishes to become the Legumelord.

    If we could swing polymorphing into a barghest, we could get away with being the Consumelord. (Or perhaps the Subsumelord?)

    Some clever tactics with channeling water would net him the title of the Flumelord.

    The pièce de résistance, of course, is found here:
    Spoiler
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    (Link if imgur doesn't want to be imgur: https://i.imgur.com/Rjc5E5G.gif Please, please click on this if you can't see the image. It's important.)

    Pictured: a man running out of uses of Entropic Blow.

    . . . Why yes, this is the Roomlord.


    I gave up on "Womblord" because I knew that there was absolutely no joke that could be made there that wouldn't be offensive in some way, shape, or form.

    Oh, and the character's name was going to be Hookline. Geddit? Geddit? Hookline the Sinker? I kill me!
    Last edited by Zaq; 2018-08-21 at 01:21 AM.
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  23. - Top - End - #83
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Quote Originally Posted by Zaq View Post
    I had zero ideas related to actually optimizing the class. My entry was just going to be an elaborate series of escalating puns.
    *SNIP*

    thats hillarious.
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    I mean, I have been assuming Jdizzlean looks like Nathan Fillion this whole time to start with...
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Dishes have been added to the ICO Spreadsheet for this cook.

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    Thumbs up Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Quote Originally Posted by KrimsonNekros View Post
    This is what I had come up with prior to work sucking me in.
    Spoiler
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    Spoiler: Build table
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    Level Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1st Barbarian +1 +2 +0 +0 - Power Attack Fast movement, illiteracy, rage 1/day
    2nd Barbarian +2 +3 +0 +0 - - Uncanny dodge
    3rd Battle Sorcerer +2 +3 +0 +2 - Combat Casting Summon Familiar, Arcane Spell Casting
    4th Battle Sorcerer +3 +3 +0 +3 - - -
    5th Battle Sorcerer +4 +4 +1 +3 - - -
    6th Battle Sorcerer +5 +4 +1 +4 - Weapon Focus (Greatsword) -
    7th Rage Mage +5 +6 +1 +4 - - Spell rage 1/day
    8th Rage Mage +6/+1 +7 +1 +4 - - Overcome spell failure, +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    9th Rage Mage +7/+2 +7 +2 +5 - Improved Sunder Rage +1 use/day
    10th Doomlord +8/+3 +9 +2 +5 - - Entropic blow 1/day, healing resistance
    11th Doomlord +9/+4 +10 +2 +5 - Endurance Destructive expertise, +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    12th Doomlord +10/+5 +10 +3 +6 - Arcane Strike Negative adaptation
    13th Doomlord +11/+6/+1 +11 +3 +6 - - +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    14th Doomlord +12/+7/+2 +11 +3 +6 - - Entropic blow 2/day
    15th Doomlord +13/+8/+3 +12 +4 +7 - Diehard, Extra Rage +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    16th Doomlord +14/+9/+4 +12 +4 +7 - - Unmaking magic
    17th Doomlord +15/+10/+5 +13 +4 +7 Balance 5
    Concentration 15
    Intimidate 12
    Jump 5
    Listen 11
    Tumble 9
    - +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    18th Doomlord +16/+11/+6/+1 +13 +5 +8 Balance 5
    Concentration 17
    Intimidate 12
    Jump 5
    Listen 11
    Tumble 9.5
    Intimidating Rage Disintegrate
    19th Doomlord +17/+12/+7/+2 +14 +5 +8 Balance 5
    Concentration 19
    Intimidate 12
    Jump 5
    Listen 11
    Tumble 10
    Cleave Entropic blow 3/day, +1 level of Sorcerer spellcasting
    20th Racial LA - - - - - - -
    That looks like a solid build.

    I know the feeling when you get the basics all done, but the real world eats up the time you need to format and finish off your entry.

    ...hope you get one in sometime soon.

  26. - Top - End - #86
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    the idea I wanted to run with was something like

    silverbrow human warlock 1/cc1 strength devotion,war, knowledge devotion, pouncebarb 1, totemist x, doomlord x, warblade 1 somewhere where I can get 3rd level maneuvers

    I wanted psionics as well, trying to find all the things that break stuff. bind vestige aym for double dmg to objects, shape soulmeld astral vambraces, and using pounce and a bunch of soulmelds to go with sundering cleave and do my best to wreck everything someone has in a round then dismantle them. spell component pouch only have held item a.c. so they easy to break. get shatter invocation for ranged stuff.

    there was a consumptive field esque near gish I considered using planar bubble as well, but work ot got the best of me.

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    Question Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Just a general question for future rounds: the rules clearly state no Dragon magazine materials (except Compendium and the OA update).

    Say there is a cleric domain in a rule-book that is an accepted source (SC or similar), but the only place a particular deity is listed as having access to that domain is in Dragon magazine....would that be kosher for IC or not? I'm assuming no, but thought it was worth checking.

  28. - Top - End - #88
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Quote Originally Posted by Thurbane View Post
    Just a general question for future rounds: the rules clearly state no Dragon magazine materials (except Compendium and the OA update).

    Say there is a cleric domain in a rule-book that is an accepted source (SC or similar), but the only place a particular deity is listed as having access to that domain is in Dragon magazine....would that be kosher for IC or not? I'm assuming no, but thought it was worth checking.
    That one seems like it goes to the judges...

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    Female

    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Quote Originally Posted by daremetoidareyo View Post
    That one seems like it goes to the judges...
    I would think so, yes. I wouldn't have a problem with it, what with concept-worship being a thing, but individual judges might.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalirren View Post
    The only person in the past two pages who has known what (s)he has been talking about is Heliomance.
    Quote Originally Posted by golentan View Post
    I just don't want to have long romantic conversations or any sort of drama with my computer, okay? It knows what kind of porn I watch. I don't want to mess that up by allowing it to judge any of my choices in romance.

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  30. - Top - End - #90
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
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    Secret Lair on Sol c
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    Default Re: Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIV

    Except for in Forgotten Realms (and even then, theres a way or two) concept cleric’s are perfectly valid build options, as long as you don’t use a deity specific prc

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