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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Nerdomancer in the Playground Moderator
     
    DruidGuy

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Colorado, USA
    Gender
    Male

    Default Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Welcome to Round 34 of the Villainous Competition!

    Previous Competitions


    We're a little different than most of the optimization threads. We run on CR instead of ECL.

    Contestants:
    You will need to present a write-up of your build with at least one of the following points: 5 CR, 10 CR 15 CR, 20 CR, and a "sweet spot" that you feel is the high point of the build, as well as presenting a fully-fleshed out 20 CR build in the table below. Feel free to present as many of these as you like, and please give a rundown of the build's abilities and playability at all of the levels you didn't show. The rules are as follows:

    Secret Laboratory:
    Competitors will be free to use any official 1st party (WotC) 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon Compendium is allowed, but Dragon magazine is disallowed. Unearthed Arcana is allowed. Unupdated 3.0 materials, as well as web exclusives by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt or Generic Classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Item Familiars and Taint are also banned from the competition. Leadership and all similar abilities are banned for sanity reasons.
    Builds that are fully monstrous are allowed at no penalty. All class levels are to be added on as associated class levels.

    Elite array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) is the assumed ability score generation method.
    THIS ROUND WILL USE THE STANDARD/NON-ELITE ARRAY (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8)
    Some monstrous characters can technically qualify for Epic feats as soon as their ECL is over 20. While regular Epic feats will be allowed, Epic Spellcasting and all other Epic feats that affect spells, psionic powers, or item creation are not permitted. Including these would give an unfair advantage over standard characters. For Incarnum characters, Epic Open Chakra feats are allowed; other Epic Incarnum feats are not. The Essentia Capacity increases for Epic capacity as described on p. 212. For all characters, please note that Racial Hit Dice do not count towards Epic Progression; use the regular progression even if the BAB ends up higher than 20.

    Deadlines:
    Contestants will have until 23:59 MST Thursday October 31st to create their builds and PM them to the Supreme Chancellor. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 23:59 MST Saturday November 16th to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted. Deadlines are subject to extension as/if required.

    Judging:
    Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Build Elegance, Competence and Power, Memorable Villainy.
    Keep these questions in mind when judging each category:
    Originality - Is it unexpected?
    Build Elegance - Is it mechanically pretty?
    Competence and Power - Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is this a powerfully-built character?
    Memorable Villainy - Is this a villain with style? Will it be the BBEG players long to finally kill and then talk about for weeks?
    Unearthed Arcana can be penalized for elegance if the specific feature seems unnecessary or makes the playing field unfair (In this case, you can give a 1 if it makes the field unfair.)
    Power level is up to you. Cheese is acceptable, but should be kept to a sane level unless you're showcasing a new TO build you've discovered. As the Iron Chef competition states, a little cheddar can be nice, but avoid the mature Gruyere unless you're making a cheese fondue.
    You may not judge if you entered the contest, unless you withdraw your submission.

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

    Note:
    There is now a hard limit on two (2) entries per competitor.

    Using the table below, the easiest way to use it is to go to the top left of the private message, and click the little a/A icon. It allows you to see what you're writing.
    Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, I'd like everyone to try to use the following table for their entry.
    Spoiler
    Show
    CR Class Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Skills Feats Class Features
    1 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    2 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    3 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    4 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    5 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    6 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    7 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    8 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    9 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    10 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    11 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    12 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    13 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    14 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    15 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    16 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    17 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    18 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    19 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    20 New Class Level +x +x +x +x Skills Feats New Class Abilities
    Code immediately below (spoiler).
    Spoiler
    Show
    [table="class: head alt1 alt2"]
    [tr]
    [th][B]CR[/B][/th]
    [th][B]Class[/B][/th]
    [th][B]Base Attack Bonus[/B][/th]
    [th][B]Fort Save[/B][/th]
    [th][B]Ref Save[/B][/th]
    [th][B]Will Save[/B][/th]
    [th][B]Skills[/B][/th]
    [th][B]Feats[/B][/th]
    [th][B]Class Features[/B][/th]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]1[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]2[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]3[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]4[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]5[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]6[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]7[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]8[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]9[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]10[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]11[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]12[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]13[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]14[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]15[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]16[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]17[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]18[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]19[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [tr]
    [td]20[/td]
    [td]New Class Level[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]+x[/td]
    [td]Skills[/td]
    [td]Feats[/td]
    [td]New Class Abilities[/td]
    [/tr]
    [/table]

    You can use the table below for Spells.
    Spoiler
    Show

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

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


    Speculation:
    Please don’t post or speculate on possible builds until the reveal, in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.
    Once builds are revealed, please do not comment on errors or rules issues on entries unless you are a judge. If you have such a comment, wait until the final reveal to post it.

    Get ready to share those Evil thoughts. This edition’s villain is:

    Old School Sword and Board


    Limitations


    • Must be a non-caster (no psionics, no spellcasting, no sla's/pla's)
    • Tome of Battle is banned
    • in the interest of doing more with less, this round will use the non-elite array, read above
    • this round, originality will be a 10 point scale
    • Must be Evil


    We will award 1st through 3rd places, and a possible Honorable Mention.
    So, start your evil plotting!

    Submission:
    To standardize Entries, please use this format when sending it in:

    PM: Jdizzlean
    Subject: Villainous Competition 34, Name of your Entry
    For Revisions and disputes, do the same thing. It makes it easier for me finding the entries in my mail box.
    More questions? PM me with Villainous Competition 34 Questions in the header.

    Tips for submitting your entry, provided by Weaselguy:
    - Use capitalization and punctuation, correctly.
    - Make good use of Spoilers, for cleanliness.
    - Don't forget your sources. If it's something that can be found in the contents section, then book title seems to be fine. Obscure stuff, may want to include page number too.
    - DeviantArt has about 9 billion pictures that you can reference, I can almost guarantee you can find one there to fit your character.
    - Make good use of tables. In addition to the Build table and the Spells table, I like doing on e for my Ability Scores, just to keep it neat.
    - Do a build stub at the top of your Build Table, something like Wizard 2/Fighter 3/Abjurant Champion 5/Eldritch Knight 10


    As always: let's keep it nice.

    I'll mention that again - LET'S KEEP IT NICE! Bickering, name calling and nasty comments on the entries or other forum members are not tolerated.


    New competition rule: if I feel an individual has been overly disruptive during the course of competition discussion, I will not be accepting and revealing any entries from that individual, and they will also not be allowed to judge. Any judging they enter will not be taken into account for the final tally.

    Spoiler
    Show
    It's sad that it had to come to this, but here's a list of permanently banned (from this Villainous Competition) members:

    Novolin
    Yklikt
    Last edited by jdizzlean; 2019-12-27 at 03:55 PM.
    Spoiler: Medals & Current Characters
    Show

    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

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Nerdomancer in the Playground Moderator
     
    DruidGuy

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Colorado, USA
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Clarifications

    Unearthed Arcana variant rules are limited: The variant character options (such as Wildshape Ranger and Thug Fighter) should not be penalized. Flaws and traits may be penalized by judges, whereas item familiars, gestalt, alternate skill systems, alternate magic systems, alternate crafting rules, generic base classes, LA buyoff, fractional saves/BAB, and bloodlines are banned. Anything not mentioned here is up to individual judges.

    d20 Rokugan is not allowed material.

    The Dragon Magazine update for Oriental Adventures is in use.

    Leadership is banned. Any material that grants you leadership without you specifically taking it should be ignored and may not be traded away for another feat or ACF. Undead Leadership and Dragon Cohort are likewise banned. Wild Cohort and Obtain Familiar are allowed. If you are not sure if a specific feat violates the 'no leadership' rule, err on the side of caution, or ask me.

    However, Leadership may be taken to qualify for another feat or class (such as the Great Captain feat or Legendary Leader prestige class), though a character still doesn't get its usual benefit in those cases. This is to allow characters to access unproblematic material that'd otherwise be made unavailable because of the Leadership ban.

    On the subject of messaging the chair (me), a few guidelines:
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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Ouch. Hard reqs. Especially the no SLAs - rules out a lot of beatstick monsters right there. The no ToB hurts even more.

    If inspiration strikes, I'm down to cook.

    After last round, if I don't get an entry in, I'll try to commit to judging (real life commitments notwithstanding).

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Not sure if it was intentional or not, but there is no limitation that requires the use of a shield.
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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Intriguing, while the restrictions appear rather harsh, the wording it just loose enough that even off the top of my head there's a good handful of corner cases that should probably be clarified

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Hmm, I might actually have an idea for this one. Quick question, though: if a creature posseses racial hit dice, but advanced by character class like, say, a Mind Flayer, is that allowed? It's fine either way for me, but I was curious.

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Quote Originally Posted by BioCharge View Post
    Hmm, I might actually have an idea for this one. Quick question, though: if a creature posseses racial hit dice, but advanced by character class like, say, a Mind Flayer, is that allowed? It's fine either way for me, but I was curious.
    Yep, that's definitely fine. Many previous entries do exactly this. Each class level added adds +1 CR, as per the competition rules.

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Quote Originally Posted by Thurbane View Post
    Yep, that's definitely fine. Many previous entries do exactly this. Each class level added adds +1 CR, as per the competition rules.
    Awesome, so further clarification (which I guess I should have put in the first post), does racial hit dice count as class levels for this purpose? Or does it scale as traditionally for the game (e.g. 2 HD for 1 CR for Outsidere, 3 for Magical Beasts, etc.)?

    Sorry for the questions; this is the first question I actually have a decent idea for and don't want to mess it up!

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    Quote Originally Posted by BioCharge View Post
    Awesome, so further clarification (which I guess I should have put in the first post), does racial hit dice count as class levels for this purpose? Or does it scale as traditionally for the game (e.g. 2 HD for 1 CR for Outsidere, 3 for Magical Beasts, etc.)?

    Sorry for the questions; this is the first question I actually have a decent idea for and don't want to mess it up!
    No problem. You start with the base CR of the monster; RHD add CR as per normal guidelines (as you say, 1/2 for Outsiders, 1/3 for Magical Beasts); then add +1 CR for each class level added.

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Quote Originally Posted by Thurbane View Post
    No problem. You start with the base CR of the monster; RHD add CR as per normal guidelines (as you say, 1/2 for Outsiders, 1/3 for Magical Beasts); then add +1 CR for each class level added.
    Awesome! Thank you Thurbane! I expected as much, but I wanted to be totally sure. Now to cooking...

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    The ToB ban hurts, but I'll give it some thought.

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    I've actually got a couple of ideas for this one. One of them's a little sketchy rules-wise, though, and I don't have any brilliant ideas for fluff for either idea yet...
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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    This round's exactly what I thought it'd be.

    And now I really want to do it.

    Originality 10, huh? Yep, I can probably squeeze another 10h rush-build.
    Quote Originally Posted by noob View Post
    Honestly the fastest way to make a paladin fall is to cast the grease spell or to trip the paladin.

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    As said above the name of this competition is sword and board, but there are no specific requirements to use a shield or sword. So does that mean there is no hard rule that you have to go with a one handed weapon and a shield but it might effect your score if you don't?

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Quote Originally Posted by liquidformat View Post
    As said above the name of this competition is sword and board, but there are no specific requirements to use a shield or sword. So does that mean there is no hard rule that you have to go with a one handed weapon and a shield but it might effect your score if you don't?

    If I were judging (which I will NOT be dojn g, I am burned out regarding that ... see last comp^^) I would add a bonus of about a half point to Elegance for doing that. But only penalize not doing it if it was without any connection to the theme.


    Also, ouch. Really tough limitations.

    I dont know if inspiration wills trike, but given my hours I doubt it....
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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    I've got some interesting prospects to consider, so I may join, depending on what comes of the clarifications.

    been awhile since I looked at one of these, we use standard NPC WBL if we add class levels, right? I don't see anything in the rules which specifies, so I just wanna make sure.
    A neat custom class for 3.5 system
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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    no you aren't required to use a shield, or that would be a limitation as well.

    removing ToB seemed the most obvious thing to make this more than just crusader 20 :)

    just channel your conan the destroyer, and you should be sufficiently inspired, that was essentially the thought behind this round.

    Quote Originally Posted by zlefin View Post
    I've got some interesting prospects to consider, so I may join, depending on what comes of the clarifications.

    been awhile since I looked at one of these, we use standard NPC WBL if we add class levels, right? I don't see anything in the rules which specifies, so I just wanna make sure.
    most judges penalize for equipment lists, but not all do. if your build hinges on specific equipment, it's liable (but not automatically) to incur a penalty. it all depends on who judges. you're building a monster, not a PC. of course there has to be some equipment in a round like this, so there's likely to be some leeway, but again, taht is up to the judge(s) themselves
    Last edited by jdizzlean; 2019-10-10 at 03:17 PM.
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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    why would they penalize for equipment lists when a monster given class levels would, by RAW, have some appropriate amount of gear?
    A neat custom class for 3.5 system
    http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94616

    A good set of benchmarks for PF/3.5
    https://rpgwillikers.wordpress.com/2...y-the-numbers/

    An alternate craft point system I made for 3.5
    http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...t-Point-system

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Quote Originally Posted by jdizzlean View Post
    of course there has to be some equipment in a round like this
    COWARDS. REAL MEN WOULD ENGAGE GRENDEL ON HIS OWN TERMS. seriously tho equipment is for cowards who can't get by with nothing more than what the good lord gave 'em
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    Last edited by AvatarVecna; 2019-10-10 at 03:34 PM.


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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Okay, now that I'm finally done with my Junkyard Wars build... back to the books! Time to create a nightmare!
    Quote Originally Posted by Darths & Droids
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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    If the creature you are planning to use happens to have SLAs, can you just choose to ignore or remove those from the statblock?
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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Quote Originally Posted by zlefin View Post
    why would they penalize for equipment lists when a monster given class levels would, by RAW, have some appropriate amount of gear?
    I can only speak from my experience both as a participant and a judge.

    In both cases assuming "adequate/Appropiate" equipment is always done.
    But if you list specific equipment, that is not required for the Class (like say a Legacy Weapon for Legacy Champion) or assume a certainw eakness is removed by equipment (say in this round, a flying Item ^^) it narrows the usability of the build by a bit to massively AND also gives it an easy weakness to exploit (get rid of Item X and your enemy loses Power IS after all a Trope for a reason^^).

    So my suggestion to be on the safe side would be: Post a "has equipment similar to This" List, and dont use anything without which you would lose power massively, and you should be fine.
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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Fun fact: Even though feats are (Ex), Shape Soulmeld is banned, because Soulmelds are (Sp). Thus Airstep, the easiest solution to the aerial movement conundrum, is out.
    Quote Originally Posted by noob View Post
    Honestly the fastest way to make a paladin fall is to cast the grease spell or to trip the paladin.

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    the No Sla's are actually rather on the annoying side, since i have a very interesting idea that, even-though it wouldn't lose anything significant by ignoring them, picks up a handful of sla's along the way

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Quote Originally Posted by Sian View Post
    the No Sla's are actually rather on the annoying side, since i have a very interesting idea that, even-though it wouldn't lose anything significant by ignoring them, picks up a handful of sla's along the way
    The thing that keeps getting on my nerves is that this is a beatstick round, and dragons are phenomenal beatsticks, and their super-high stats in basically everything counteracts the limited array we have this round, but...even Sovereign Archetypes can't get rid of your casting completely, they just maybe remove some of the options for spells known you had. I guess you could try, and then convince the judges that your dragon refuses to use their casting for some reason (or maybe build in some mechanical thing that makes them basically incapable of using it? Or make it all utility stuff that doesn't affect how people fight you and hope that's sufficiently useless to not get you disqualified?), but then it's sorta like playing a [apologies, pretty blatant speculation here] but then it's like "yeah sure buddy you're not a caster I believe you".

    EDIT: I almost forgot that one of the Sovereign archetypes does let you get rid of your actual spells slots one by one...the archetype that lets you trade slots for ToB maneuvers, the other thing this contest doesn't allow!
    Last edited by AvatarVecna; 2019-10-12 at 07:51 AM.


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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Quote Originally Posted by AvatarVecna View Post
    The thing that keeps getting on my nerves is that this is a beatstick round, and dragons are phenomenal beatsticks, and their super-high stats in basically everything counteracts the limited array we have this round, but...even Sovereign Archetypes can't get rid of your casting completely, they just maybe remove some of the options for spells known you had. I guess you could try, and then convince the judges that your dragon refuses to use their casting for some reason (or maybe build in some mechanical thing that makes them basically incapable of using it? Or make it all utility stuff that doesn't affect how people fight you and hope that's sufficiently useless to not get you disqualified?), but then it's sorta like playing a [apologies, pretty blatant speculation here] but then it's like "yeah sure buddy you're not a caster I believe you".

    EDIT: I almost forgot that one of the Sovereign archetypes does let you get rid of your actual spells slots one by one...the archetype that lets you trade slots for ToB maneuvers, the other thing this contest doesn't allow!
    There is a way to remove dragon spellcasting without adding maneuvers... but it also gives you SLAs in the process :P
    Quote Originally Posted by noob View Post
    Honestly the fastest way to make a paladin fall is to cast the grease spell or to trip the paladin.

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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Quote Originally Posted by MisterKaws View Post
    There is a way to remove dragon spellcasting without adding maneuvers... but it also gives you SLAs in the process :P
    Figures lol


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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    Personally, I think the level of difficulty of these restrictions is just right. I just now have to find the time to make my ideas come to life...

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    Quote Originally Posted by EndlessKng View Post
    Personally, I think the level of difficulty of these restrictions is just right. I just now have to find the time to make my ideas come to life...
    I know I've certainly found some interesting stuff to do this time around.


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    Default Re: Villainous Competition XXXIV: Sword and Board

    ...I am probably going to pass on this round.

    Those restrictions as written hardly leave any room for inspiration. In particular the zero spellcasting requirement. That eliminates, unintentionally in my opinion, a great deal of classic sword and board tropes including all versions of paladin, all clerics, blackguard as well as hexblade and most of the prestige classes in Complete Warrior including Drunken Master, Cavalier, Hunter of the Dead, and Stonelord.

    It also eliminates a great many interesting templates, and well as a number of base races include things like core gnomes and drow.

    You could probably get some unusual henchman out of these requirements. But a villain? The centerpiece of a campaign? No way. Unless it's for a zero-magic game.
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