Iron Chef E6 Appetizer Edition, Round XLVII

[Venger]

Hello, all, from your new Chair. Welcome back to the Iron Chef Optimization Challenge E6 Appetizer Edition! It's time for round forty seven: let's put our best foot forward for an enchanted evening.

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

*Note: You must provide your own cake.

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

• Cooking Time: Builds must be submitted via PM to the Chair by 4:59 PM GMT - 9 on Tuesday, February 20, 2024. The reveal shall be on the first evening the Chair has free following the cooking deadline, which is hoped to be that evening or the immediately subsequent one—I'll do my best, anyway. Judging is then encouraged to go as quickly as possible; if multiple judges volunteer, we'll set about a two-week window, but if we only get one judge, we'll try to wrap up as soon as possible after that judge presents scores. (I will admit that the deadline time may not be an exact science, but don't hide from me and we'll probably be cool.)
• Kitchen: Let's break this one down a bit.
  
  
  Spoiler: Let's talk about sources

  Show

  
  

  • ALLOWED: Almost all D&D 3.5 material published by WotC: Core, Completes, monster books, Races Of books, alternate power source books (Expanded Psionics Handbook, Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Battle, Tome of Magic, etc.), Spell Compendium, Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness, Eberron material, Forgotten Realms material, and other WotC-published 3.5 material. (This list is NOT exhaustive and there are many other legal books that I did not mention by name!)
  • ALLOWED: Material from the 3.5 archives of the Wizards of the Coast website (including, but not limited to, the Mind's Eye articles). If you use it, link it.
  • ALLOWED: Official errata from WotC. If you're relying on this in a material fashion, it's a good idea to link it and to discuss it.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Unofficial errata, including "class fixes" (regardless of the source, including from the original author if not published in a WotC book) or fan-created content.
  • ALLOWED: Unupdated WotC-published 3.0 material (e.g., Sword and Fist, Masters of the Wild, etc.) except for 3.0 psionics. No 3.0 psionics allowed. If you are using 3.0 material, use the general-purpose skill updates (Wilderness Lore becomes Survival, Innuendo becomes Bluff, etc.) and the general-purpose rules updates (spells with a casting time of "1 action" become "1 standard action," etc.) when appropriate.
  • NOT ALLOWED: 3.0 material for which a direct 3.5 update exists. Use the updated material instead.
  • ALLOWED: Dragon Compendium and its errata.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Content from Dragon Magazine and/or Dungeon Magazine unless said content appears in an otherwise allowed source.
  • ALLOWED: Oriental Adventures, including the 3.5 update to Oriental Adventures from Dragon Magazine #318. This is a specific exception to the "no Dragon" rule!
  • NOT ALLOWED: Pathfinder content, regardless of whether it is "D&D 3.5 OGL" or not. If it didn't come from WotC, we don't want it.
  • ALLOWED: From Unearthed Arcana: racial paragon classes, alternate class features/variant classes, spelltouched feats, and variant races. (Traits and flaws are technically legal, but traits warrant a -0.5 point penalty in Elegance, and flaws warrant a -1 penalty in Elegance.)
  • NOT ALLOWED: Other Unearthed Arcana content, including (but not limited to) bloodlines, LA buyoff, fractional BAB/saves, alternate casting systems, alternate skill systems, item familiars, prestigious character classes, generic classes, gestalt, etc. When you're wondering if UA content is allowed, err on the side of caution and don't mess around with it.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Leadership, regardless of source. Game elements functionally equivalent to Leadership (including, but not limited to, Dragon Cohort, Undead Leadership, and Thrallherd) are similarly banned. (Familiars, Improved Familiar, animal companions, Wild Cohort, psicrystals, elemental envoys, and similar game elements are allowed, and they are not considered to be "Leadership." If the difference isn't obvious, feel free to contact the Chair with specific questions.)
  • NOT ALLOWED: Third-party content, homebrew, or other non-WotC content.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Epic feats from the Epic Level Handbook. Just because you're "epic" in E6 after 6th level doesn't mean that you're that kind of epic.
  • NOT ALLOWED: Any race or template with a level adjustment other than +0. (Or any other source of LA other than a race or template, if any such things exist.) However, as a specific exception for round 26, see below.
  • NOT ALLOWED: For our judges: penalizing solely based on legal sources used, regardless of whether those sources are plentiful, sparse, common, obscure, or something in between. If the material is legal, then it doesn't matter how many or how few books it came out of.
  • ALLOWED: Also for our judges: penalizing for using a source (other than material in Core; don't be vindictive about genuinely obvious stuff) that isn't listed in the build writeup. The chef may choose to present the sources in-line with the text, in a consolidated source list, or somewhere else, but if the source is listed (and is otherwise legal), it counts. If the source is not listed, you may choose to penalize for that.

  
  If you have questions about anything in this section (or hell, in this ruleset), feel free to ask the Chair.
  
• Character Creation: 32 point buy is assumed. For the purposes of this contest, Level Adjustment greater than +0 is banned. (This may be revised at a later point, but I don't feel that the E6 LA rules are conducive to fun in the context of this contest.) No more than two entries per chef per contest, please; if you submit two builds and somehow are so overcome with inspiration for a third that you can't help yourself, PM me and tell me which two you care about the most.
• Highlighted because of past issues: It is not enough for your build to end with a level adjustment of +0. You must be +0 from start to finish. No using ANY build elements with a level adjustment above +0, even if they then get mitigated or reduced somehow. However, note that a special exception is in place for round 26...
• Speculation: Please do not post any form of speculation before the reveal. Just don't do it, guys. It's not cool. This means NOT posting any of the following or anything substantially similar: what you think is going to be common, significant elements of your planned build or of other potential builds, or anything else that could directly influence someone else's build choices for good or for ill. (It's acceptable to ask for rules clarifications as appropriate, but try to avoid tipping your hand too much.) Speculation is bad because it can discourage people from posting builds and can also "taint the judging pool" when it comes to Originality, so please just try to be aware of how other people might react to your speculation.
• E6: Here's how E6 works for the purposes of this contest. Build your character normally for the first six levels. After you reach level 6, you stop gaining levels and start gaining bonus feats every time you would gain 5,000 XP. Since we aren't actually tracking XP, you'll basically list your first ten epic bonus feats in the order that you take them, and we think of them as being kind of like levels. We will not use the LA-equals-reduced-point-buy rules, instead preferring to just ban races with LA, at least for now. We will not use the "capstone feats"; all feats that you take must be normal legal 3.5 feats, not homebrew E6 ones. You may not use the Epic feats from the Epic Level Handbook, though if for some reason there are non-Epic feats from the ELH that you qualify for, you may take those. (I don't think there are any, but I'm sure someone will prove me wrong.) It is up to the discretion of each judge whether this is a "hard E6" (magic above 3rd level spells is simply beyond mortal reach, items that have a listed CL above 6th are just plain not available, etc.) or a "soft E6" (if you can somehow get the magic on your character, it's yours, regardless of level), though I honestly don't expect it to come up. Don't go crazy with making assumptions about items and we probably won't have to find out.
• Presentation: Please use the table found below in the spoiler. List your epic bonus feats (in clear order) after the table. If you find a clever way of formatting that that isn't annoying and that doesn't break anything, have fun; if it's portable, I may steal it for the next round. When sending your build or any disputes to the Chair, clearly include your build's name in the subject of the PM, and please present your build exactly as you want the Chair to copy and paste it into the thread.
  If you're using a picture, cite the source and follow any relevant citation rules. Because we have had issues with this in the past, when listing your skills, please make it very clear how many ranks you have at each level. There are multiple ways to do this and we do not wish to cramp anyone's individual style by dictating exactly how this must look, but make sure that somewhere in your entry there's an explanation of how many actual skill ranks you have. It's still fine to list total skill bonuses, if that's your style, but don't only list bonuses; make sure that there is a clear listing somewhere of your ranks alone. You are allowed, but not required, to use this extremely spiffy tool that mattie_p cooked up (thanks, mattie_p!).
  Spoiler

  Show

  Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
  1st	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  2nd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  3rd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  4th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  5th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
  6th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities

  Code for the table:

  Spoiler

  Show

  [TABLE="class: head alt1 alt2"]
  [TR]
  [TH][B]Level[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Class[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Base Attack Bonus[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Fort Save[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Ref Save[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Will Save[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Skills[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Feats[/B][/TH]
  [TH][B]Class Features[/B][/TH]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]1st[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]2nd[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]3rd[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]4th[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]5th[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [TR]
  [TD]6th[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Level[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]+x[/TD]
  [TD]Skills[/TD]
  [TD]Feats[/TD]
  [TD]New Class Abilities[/TD]
  [/TR]
  [/TABLE]
• Contest houserules: Nearly the same as the main contest's rules here: all creatures are proficient with natural weapons they have or may acquire, bonus feats that are explicitly granted without meeting prereqs are usable even without those prereqs, and feats that affect which skills are class skills for you and/or how you spend your skill points (Able Learner, Martial Study, Truename Training, Apprentice, etc.) apply immediately at the level at which you take them (even though you normally spend skill points before taking a feat). When taking Open Minded as an epic feat, any skill that has ever been a class skill for you (including through your class, your race, your feats, or similar game elements, though please don't muck around with retroactively making something stop being a class skill for some stupid reason) is a class skill when determining how the 5 granted skill points may be spent. All usual rules about HD-related skill caps apply. When taking Open Minded as a non-epic feat, treat it as normal; the class skills of the class you took at the level you gained Open Minded (plus race, feats, etc.) are your class skills for those skill points, similar to if Open Minded's skill points came straight from your class.
• Judging guidelines: The minimum score in a category is 1, and the maximum is 5 (except in high-Originality rounds, wherein the maximum in Originality is 10). Judges are expected to be fair, consistent, and open-minded, and they are expected to make a good-faith effort to engage with any reasonable disputes that arise, especially when RAW is in question. That said, contestants are asked to not dispute more than necessary; let's do everything in good faith and really only dispute when a judge is being inconsistent, being unfair, or is otherwise grossly misinterpreting a build.
  Judges may not penalize Originality solely because a build is a tribute or homage to an existing creative work (in or out of D&D canon; note that this is not the same thing as penalizing Originality for using well-known optimization tactics), nor may judges penalize based solely on sources used (whether those sources are plentiful, sparse, common, obscure, or something in between, you should judge the build elements and how they work together rather than what book or what books they came out of, as long as those books are legal for this contest and are cited in the entry).
  As with the main contest, we will follow the "One Mistake, One Penalty" guideline, and it is very important that the judges adhere to it. I'm going to directly copy and paste this from the main thread, and hopefully the original author won't mind too much:
  
  Spoiler

  Show

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

  Allowed:
  

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

  
  
  Not allowed:
  

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

  
  Prereqs

  Allowed:
  

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

  
  
  Not Allowed:
  

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

  
  Other general things that are no longer allowed:
  

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

  
  
  Note that these are protections, not licenses. Deliberately taking a feat that you know you don't qualify for hoping to just suck up the judging penalty for a feat that you couldn't normally take is not okay, and may lead to your build being disqualified.
• Dispute guidelines (NEW, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION): Disputing is long, annoying, and emotional. It's also sometimes necessary, but it's often not actually something that makes everyone have more fun. Let's go into a little more detail here.
  
  Spoiler

  Show

  • Do NOT dispute to make an argument that goes fundamentally beyond what's in your write-up. It is the responsibility of the chef to make sure that the write-up is complete and contains their best arguments for what the build does and why it's awesome. If you didn't explain your tactics well or didn't spell out something that a judge misses, just do better next time. Don't drag it out after the fact.
  • Do NOT dispute just to be clever or witty or cheeky. Please. We're all adults here and so I assume you know what that means. Don't treat the build as a setup and your oh-so-clever dispute as the punchline. It's not as funny as it is in your head. Trust me. I've been down that road.
  • Do NOT dispute just to say "oh yeah, my bad, I missed that" or some equivalent. If you're not directly challenging the judge, save the commentary until after the reveal. I 100% get that the urge to respond to commentary is very strong, but type it out and sit on it for a while if you've gotta.
  • Do NOT dispute just to try to wheedle more points out of the judge. Note that this is different from saying that the judge is being truly unfair or is being truly wrong by black-and-white RAW. A dispute is NOT the place to try to scrape together a few last quarter-points. If you didn't put it in your write-up, that's on you. This also means that a dispute is really not the place to have long back-and-forth tit-for-tat arguments. That's a surefire way to get people grumpy. It's a contest on a D&D board, guys, not the results of a federal election.
  • Do NOT dispute to tear down another build. That's just plain not cool. If you entered the contest, it's not on you to judge the other builds.
  • DO dispute if the judge is being blatantly biased by giving you a substantially different ruling on a build element compared to another chef who used the same build element in nearly the same way. (Note that position in a build may affect if you're using that element in "nearly the same way" or not.) Please reserve this for the truly blatant examples. I mean it. Remember, it's the contestant's responsibility to make their best argument in the original write-up.
  • DO dispute if the judge is actively going against the contest rules. Note that there are relatively few ways in which a judge can go against contest rules (we intentionally give very wide discretion to our judges), but examples include truly breaking One Mistake One Penalty, penalizing just because of number of sources of (legal) material, and so on.
  • DO dispute if the judge is clearly ignoring unambiguous RAW. Note that this is for unambiguous RAW; if the RAW is shady and you're making an argument that isn't completely clear and that it wouldn't be strange for a GM to frown on, the judge has every right to frown on it as well. (You generally know when you're indulging in shady RAW. Be mature about this.) But if the judge is saying you didn't hit a prereq that you clearly did hit (and included in your write-up!), saying you can't do something that the plain text of the ability says you can do, or anything like that, by all means, call 'em out.
  • Do NOT dispute if the judge doesn't agree with your interpretation of ambiguous RAW. Yes, this is a retread of the previous bullet point; this is that important. If you're relying on ambiguous RAW, it's on you to lay out clearly why it should work the way you want it to work. Again, be mature and act in good faith: you really know when you're pushing things like this. If they don't like it, they don't like it. Move on.

  
  
  Disputing is a privilege, not a right. In the Chair's sole discretion, disputes that do not meet these guidelines and/or that do not seem to be offered in good faith may be suppressed. The Chair reserves the right to choose to post all, some, or none of a dispute if appropriate.
  
  
• Other bits and bobs: If there's something major and relevant I haven't mentioned, assume that the way I handle it will probably be the same as the main contest unless stated otherwise or unless doing so would be an obviously absurd result. If you've got questions, I'll give you answers.

This round's secret ingredient:
SOME ENCHANTED EVENING


I'd like to see what you can do with enchantments. Spells, powers, others slas, whatever moves you. You are not specifically required to be a wizard specializing in the school of enchantment, but this is of course allowed. Charm, ensorcel, and put spells on people. Show us why people might want to think twice before picking it as a banned school.


Allez Optimizer!

The Builds:
Coming soon!

Spoiler: Contest History

Show

Round 4: Knight
Round 5: Ninja
Round 6: Racial Paragon Classes
Round 7: Hexblade
Round 8: Shugenja
Round 9: Swashbuckler
Round 10: Crusader
Round 11: Soulknife
Round 12: Factotum
Round 13: Prestige Classes
Round 14: Mountebank
Round 15: Sorcerer
Round 16: Dragon Shaman
Round 17: Lurk
Round 18: Paladin
Round 19: Scout
Round 20: Incarnate
Round 21: Shadowcaster
Round 22: Dragonmarks
Round 23: Fighter
Round 24: Pets
Round 25: Warlock
Round 26: Monsters
Round 27: Ardent (exhibition round)
Round 28: Rogue
Round 29: Signature Spells
Round 30: Any Prior Ingredient
Round 31: Ranger
Round 32: Tanking
Round 33: Psychic Warrior
Round 34: Flight
Round 35: Binder
Round 36: Skill tricks
Round 37: Barbarian
Round 38: Fire
Round 39: Bard
Round 40: Poison
Round 41: Light and Darkness
Round 42: Let's Move
Round 43: Plants
Round 44: Illusions
Round 45: Unusual Weapons
Round 46: Crafted Henchmen

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

Show

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

[Venger]

Here's a few gentle recommendations that are intended to improve scores and make things easier for the judges. As always, THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS POST ARE NOT RULES. Judges and contestants are free to honor them or ignore them; my intent here is only to help, and NONE of what I'm saying here is required. (That said, did you see the new dispute guidelines? Those ARE rules, so please go read them. And I'm even going to be better about enforcing them this time.)

Recommendations:

• Double-check ALL of your prereqs. Every. Single. One. Feats, PrCs, whatever. You might even go so far as to spell out when you meet each one, but again, that's not a requirement. But one of the single biggest causes of point loss is failure to meet prereqs.
  
• Tell the judges what's cool about your build! You spent hours or days on this (y'know, probably) and know it inside and out, but the judges are getting a whole bunch of these dishes all at once and don't know the build history of each one. You're significantly more likely to score well if you spell out exactly what makes you awesome than if you try to just let it stand on its own.
  
• Make it easy to read! Skill tables are awful, though they're an incredibly necessary evil. Full Monster Manual-style statblocks are occasionally useful but are also insanely dense if not formatted well. Judges are very likely to miss something if you aren't careful with how you present your info. Remember that judging takes a lot of time, energy, and focus, so don't rely on the judge being willing/able to decode something in order to see what makes you interesting!
  
• Be memorable. Remember that we've all seen these ingredients used at least once before. What makes you different?

[Inevitability]

I can see this bringing up trouble with the judges, so just to be clear: the definition of 'enchantment' here is not merely spells from the school of enchantment, right? Would you say that anything mind-affecting automatically counts, or are there further restrictions?

[Inevitability]

How's everyone doing? I've got a few ideas rolling around but nothing that makes me feel like it deserves to be a full build - and the ones that would make for full builds feel like they're pretty far removed from the enchantment concept. I might judge if I don't get good inspiration.

[H_H_F_F]

I've got nothing concrete so far, but I've been busy.

[loky1109]

I'm busy on judging IC, even didn't look here for ideas for this round.

[Inevitability]

Judging criteria, feel free to ask questions if anything's unclear.

Spoiler

Show

Originality:
1 point for the classes being used, how expected are they given the enchantment theme, how expected are they in general?

0.5 points for race. I'm going to ease up on my 'bonus feat races are in a class of their own' rule: anything that's famously good in optimization circles, whether that's human or anthropomorphic bat, gets a 0, anything that I'd kinda see coming given the theme has 0.25, and the rest is 0.5.

1.5 points for your feats. In general, a quarter point for everything that truly wows me, though multiple 'huh neats' will add up to a bonus here too.

Lastly, for the overall originality of your concept and fluff, up to 1 point. Will this be a memorable character, or will it be Faceless Human Fighter #6?

Power:
Given what you want to do: how good are you at it? Can you hold your own in a combat encounter? I'll somewhat weigh the classes you're using: a tier 1 wizard will impress me less than a tier 3 soulknife, though obviously a wizard can still get a perfect score here. 1.5 points for overall power, which will also be a bit of a measure of versatility: can you deal with hordes of fodder and powerful foes with good saves and caster-type enemies?

Enchantments will fail against anything immune to mind-affecting effects. What are your plans against those foes? Can you overcome encounters with undead, plants, oozes, enchantment-immune fey? 1 point for covering your weaknesses here.

Ignoring the 'default' level of utility that charms and compulsions offer, how much do you have to contribute outside of combat? Up to 0.75 points for utility.

I care a lot about staying power: does your build have it? Big tricks that can only be used 1/day, harshly limited spell slots, short-duration buffs that you'd like to keep up all day, stuff like that hurts you here. You start with 0.75 points here if you can stay relevant for four encounters a day - each less than that incurs a 0.25 penalty.

Elegance:
Blatantly illegal builds get an automatic 1.

0.5 points for avoiding multiclass XP penalties at all time.

2 points as a generic catch-all category. Do you stick to the rules and avoid ambiguous interpretations? Do you egregiously mix settings? Do you rely on variant rules, like cityscape's social class? Are you reliant on alignment shifts, or do you particularly abuse flavor to make everything work?

1.5 points for a build that's efficient (multiple requirements satisfied with single build elements) and synergistic (various parts combine into an especially harmonious whole).

UoSI:
Some clarification on what I consider 'enchantment': any spell explicitly in the enchantment school (or SLA/power duplicating the same) is of course fair game, but most abilities that alter a creature's allegiance or compel behavior from it count, even if they're not explicitly called enchantment. Being mind-affecting isn't enough in and of itself (fear particularly is a category of mind-affecting effects not categorized under enchantment), but having the charm or compulsion tags helps a lot.

So with that out of the way: how impactful are your enchantments to what you're doing? In a typical fight, will the fact that you're an enchanter be front-and-center obvious? Are enchantments your focus, or a thing that you can pivot away from at minimal cost? 2 points depending on how well you execute this.

Does it take particularly long before enchantments are part of your strategy? 0.5 points for getting everything up before Epic feats come into play, and another 0.5 for being a capable enchanter as early as level 3.

How innovative is your use of enchantments? Are we sticking with the tried-and-true 'enemy makes a Will save and is inconvenienced on a failure' or do you weave them into a bit of a more impressive overall strategy? 1 point to be gained here.

[FactualArcher]

Inspiration has struck me, so I'm definitely in this round. Hopefully there are some others cooking. How is everyone else doing?

[Tohron]

Just submitted my entry.

[FactualArcher]

Venger, your private message box is full, so I can't submit my entry. Hopefully that's a good sign for the number of entries we'll be getting.

[Venger]

A good problem to have! I've made more room, please feel free to resubmit. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Deadline is today. Is everyone ready for a reveal later this evening, or is anyone still brewing?

[FactualArcher]

My entry is in. Thanks for making space!

I'm ready for the reveal now, though I'm happy to wait if anyone else is cooking.

[Venger]

Sure thing. Is anyone else still cooking? I'd be happy to leave it open a while longer in the interests of a full podium.

[Tohron]

Just my opinion, but if there are no extension requests, it seems better to post the builds now than to let interest dwindle.

[Inevitability]

I think it's about time for the reveal - it seems unlikely more entries will come in, and I'm eager to judge this round and move on to the next.

[Venger]

Apologies for the delay. Thank you for your feedback, that certainly makes sense and I agree. Without further ado, the reveal! Please refrain from posting until I give the all-clear.

[Venger]

If you change your mind...

Herman Osterman
LN Old Human Artificer 6

It would be nice if everyone were just a productive member of society. Herman Osterman always held this to be true, but for a long time, it just lingered on the back of his mind. As he apprenticed to an enchanter in a large town and dedicated himself to producing the items people needed, he settled into enjoying the routine. In the back of his mind, he knew he could have pushed himself harder, but he had the excuse of being productive, and the routine was comfortable. This continued until the town he resided in began to suffer the depredations of organized banditry.

For, as Herman had focused on his everyday craft, the kingdom around him had been weakening, and some had moved to take advantage. Outraged, Herman watched his town begin to wither, and pondered what he could do. Developing an answer, Herman equipped his creation and joined the town guards as a bandit raid pressed upon the town itself. They were skeptical, and when Herman commanded one of the bandits to rethink his life, some laughed. They stopped laughing when the bandit dropped his weapons, looked around, and ran away. As Herman continued haranguing the raiders, their attack soon fell apart.

Although the town could now start to recover, Herman found himself rethinking his own life as well. How many towns like his own were afflicted by those who would undermine society, rather than contribute? How much could he change if he were to… make… them contribute instead? And, would it not be just for him to reap some of the reward of lifting such burdens on society?

Alight with new purpose, Herman Osterman began to make plans. It would be hard to bid his home of decades farewell, but for the first time in his life, he had dreams that could not be denied.

Note: Initial values are without buffs, values in parentheses are with buffs, unless otherwise noted.

Spoiler: Attributes

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Level	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
1	6	6	12	20	10	16
4	6(8)	6	12	21(24)	10	16
6(final)	6(14)	6(16)	12(22)	21(34)	10(16)	16(22)

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1	Artificer	+0	+1	-2	+2	Appraise 2, Concentration 4, Disable Device 2, Knowledge Arcana 4, Knowledge (arch. & eng.) 4, Knowledge (planes) 4, Spellcraft 4, UMD 4, Craft (weaponsmithing) 4, Craft (armorsmithing) 4, Craft (toolsmithing) 2, Craft (bowmaking) 1, Craft (trapsmithing) 1	Apprentice (Craftsman), Extraordinary Artisan	Artificer knowledge, artisan bonus disable trap, item creation, Scribe Scroll
2	Artificer	+1	+1	-2	+3	Appraise 2, Concentration 5(+1), Disable Device 2, Knowledge Arcana 5(+1), Knowledge (arch. & eng.) 5(+1), Knowledge (planes) 4, Spellcraft 5(+1), UMD 5(+1), Craft (weaponsmithing) 4, Craft (armorsmithing) 4, Craft (toolsmithing) 2, Craft (bowmaking) 1, Craft (trapsmithing) 3(+2), Craft (alchemy) 1(+1), Craft (sculpting) 1(+1), Craft (architecture) 1(+1)		Brew Potion
3	Artificer	+2	+2	-1	+3	Appraise 2, Concentration 6(+1), Disable Device 2, Knowledge Arcana 5, Knowledge (arch. & eng.) 5, Knowledge (planes) 4, Knowledge (nature) 1(+2), Spellcraft 6(+1), UMD 6(+1), Craft (weaponsmithing) 4, Craft (armorsmithing) 4, Craft (toolsmithing) 2, Craft (bowmaking) 1, Craft (trapsmithing) 6(+3), Craft (alchemy) 1, Craft (sculpting) 1, Craft (architecture) 1, Survival 1(+2)	Enhance Item (Extraordinary Artisan)	Craft Wondrous Item
4	Artificer	+3	+2	-1	+4	Appraise 2, Concentration 7(+1), Disable Device 2, Knowledge Arcana 7(+2), Knowledge (arch. & eng.) 5, Knowledge (planes) 4, Knowledge (nature) 1, Spellcraft 7(+1), UMD 7(+1), Craft (weaponsmithing) 4, Craft (armorsmithing) 4, Craft (toolsmithing) 2, Craft (bowmaking) 1, Craft (trapsmithing) 7(+1), Craft (alchemy) 5(+4), Craft (sculpting) 1, Craft (architecture) 1, Survival 1	Legendary Artisan (bonus)	Craft homunculus, bonus feat
5	Artificer	+3	+2	-1	+4	Appraise 2, Concentration 8(+1), Disable Device 2, Knowledge Arcana 8(+1), Knowledge (arch. & eng.) 5, Knowledge (planes) 4, Knowledge (nature) 1, Spellcraft 8(+1), UMD 8(+1), Craft (weaponsmithing) 6(+2), Craft (armorsmithing) 6(+2), Craft (toolsmithing) 2, Craft (bowmaking) 1, Craft (trapsmithing) 8(+1), Craft (alchemy) 5, Craft (sculpting) 1, Craft (architecture) 2(+1), Survival 1		Craft Magic Arms and Armor, retain essence
6	Artificer	+4	+3	0	+5	Appraise 2, Concentration 9(+1), Disable Device 2, Knowledge Arcana 9(+1), Knowledge (arch. & eng.) 5, Knowledge (planes) 4, Knowledge (nature) 1, Knowledge (religion) 1(+2), Spellcraft 9(+1), UMD 9(+1), Craft (weaponsmithing) 6, Craft (armorsmithing) 6, Craft (toolsmithing) 2, Craft (bowmaking) 1, Craft (trapsmithing) 9, Craft (alchemy) 5, Craft (sculpting) 1, Craft (architecture) 2(+1), Craft(siege) 1(+1), Survival 1, Autohypnosis 1(+2)	Enhance Item (Legendary Artisan)	Craft Wand
Final		+4	+3(8)	0(5)	+5(8)

Epic Feats

Magical Artisan(Extraordinary Artisan)

Wondrous Rings

Magical Artisan(Legendary Artisan)

Magical Artisan(Enhance Item(Extraordinary Artisan))

Enhance Item(Craft Wondrous Item)

Magical Artisan(Enhance Item(Legendary Artisan))

Exceptional Artisan

Enhance Item(Exceptional Artisan)

Magical Artisan(Exceptional Artisan)

Magical Artisan(Enhance Item(Exceptional Artisan))

Spoiler: Spells/Day

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Level	1st	2nd	3rd
1st	2+2	-	-
2nd	3+2	-	-
3rd	3+2	1+1	-
4th	3+2	2+2	-
5th	3+2	3+2	1+1
6th	3+2	3+2	2+1
Final	3+3	3+3	2+3

Snapshots

Spoiler: Level 3

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This is where Herman’s adventuring career begins. Selling off what he can, he musters the resources to supplement his 1/day Divine Insight item and at-will Suggestion item by crafting an at-will Magic Missile item, giving him reliable damage output as a backup. Of note: thanks to Enhance Item, the Suggestion DC is 17. He looks forward to finding the resources to craft more equipment – in particular, items to bolster his anemic strength, to further enhance his considerable intelligence, and to provide him with some measure of additional protection. For now, caution and friendly support are necessary.

Tactics
At-will Suggestion is a pretty versatile tool, but in cases where it doesn’t work, Herman is mostly limited to dealing 1d4+1 per round while moving away. Fortunately, the adaptability of his main tool should suffice to find parties where he can provide valuable support, until he has the resources to craft more items.

Spoiler: Relevant Items

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(Crafting costs are 21.26% market value for personal items, 33.75% market value for other magic items, and 22.5% market value for mundane items):

Vestment of Impartial Insight(Divine Insight, Cleric 2, CL 3), 459gp: 1/day, add a +8(insight) bonus to any skill check on speaking the command word. Restricted to LN, requires DC 15 UMD check to activate.
Hat of Ordered Suggestion(Suggestion, Bard 2, CL 3), 2296gp: On speaking the command word, the subject of one’s next two sentences, if nearby, will be compelled (DC 17 Will) to follow the instructions, provided they sound reasonable and not harmful, for up to the next three hours. Restricted to LN, requires DC 15 UMD check to activate.
Bracers of Directed Bombardment(Magic Missile, Wizard 1, CL 1), 383 gp: On speaking the command word and pointing at a target, a missile flies out and strikes it, dealing 1d4+1 damage. Restricted to LN, requires DC 15 UMD check to activate.

Spoiler: Level 6

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Life in the outdoors proved a difficult learning experience for Herman. Many were the times he was grateful for his Vestment of Impartial Insight, and he is more grateful still now that it has unlimited uses. Better yet, he has developed several breakthroughs on how to direct the labor of those who would harm society toward more productive paths. With the ability to dominate such individuals at-will with a DC of 27, few can resist abandoning their former ways… whether they like it or not. And, incidentally, their presence can be helpful against those dangers that lack a mind for Herman to target. They’re even helpful enough that he is beginning to give them basic gear to better suit their new role…

But Herman is just getting started. His experiences working with limited materials have only revealed how much further he can go in pursuit of efficiency. The focus he once directed toward everyday routines has now been fully redirected to something much more ambitious…

Tactics
With the ability to mind-control humanoids with a near-unbeatable save at ECL 6, Herman can now start accumulating people to draw attention away from himself. The Vestment of Impartial Insight gives him a wide range of flexibility for making skill checks, and Autohypnosis helps him keep track of his dominees, so that he can refresh the effect whenever less than two days remain on the duration. Meanwhile, he now has self-healing, at-will invisibility, and basic armor, so he’s a little less fragile then before. He can even start enhancing the ability of his “companions” to generate some additional revenue.

Spoiler: Relevant Items

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(Crafting costs are 21.26% market value for personal items, 33.75% market value for other magic items, and 22.5% market value for mundane items):

Hat of Imposed Order(Dominate Person, Thayan Slaver 3, CL 5), 5740 gp: On speaking the command word, the humanoid target (within 125 ft) that the wearer focuses upon must make a DC 27 will save or be dominated. On failure, they can be telepathically controlled for the next 5 days as per Dominate Person. Restricted to LN, requires DC 20 UMD check to equip and activate.
Cloak of Mental Ascendancy(+3 INT), 1914 gp: Restricted to LN, requires DC 20 UMD check to properly equip.
Vestment of Impartial Insight(Divine Insight, Cleric 2, CL 3), 2296 gp: On speaking the command word, add a +8(insight) bonus to any skill check. Restricted to LN, requires DC 20 UMD check to equip and to activate.
Belt of the Ordered Lifestyle(Cure Light Wounds, Cleric 1, CL 1, also +3 STR), 2488 gp: On speaking the command word, the wearer recovers 1d8+1 HP. The wearer also gains a +3(enhancement) bonus to Strength. Restricted to LN, requires DC 20 UMD check to equip and activate.
Breastplate of Steady Protection(8 AC, 5 armor, 1 enhancement, 1 deflection, 1 resist), 1248 gp: Restricted to LN, requires DC 20 UMD check to properly equip.
Masterwork Buckler(2 AC), 37 gp
Boots of Hidden Designs(Invisibility, Telflammar Shadowlord 1, CL 1), 383 gp: On speaking the command word, the wearer becomes invisible for one minute. Attacking ends the invisibility. Restricted to LN, requires DC 15 UMD check to activate.

Unchanged: Bracers of Directed Bombardment

Shared
Frontiersman’s Shirt(+3 Profession(Frontiersman)), 304 gp: Shared among those individuals who directed their lives to harming those around them, this shirt helps them start providing value instead as they follow Herman on his travels.

Spoiler: Final

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Life on the road used to be hard, but those difficulties are now a thing of the past. Herman’s coterie of non-volunteers has grown, and his ability to put them to use has grown by far more. As they employ magically-boosted skills to return a dividend to society, Herman employs his own magical talents to produce even greater boons. And all of those activities give him more money, with which to expand his operation and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Not everyone embraces Herman’s approach to prison reform. Many criticize the use of mental compulsion, and there are places where he has been turned away, but to Herman, his “followers” gave up the right to make free decisions when they chose to try and remove that right from others. Besides, the alternative is to leave them rotting away in a cell – slightly safer than travelling with him, admittedly, but a lot less engaging, and vastly less productive for society.

With the resources pouring in, Herman’s relentless experimentation has yielded rewards beyond what he could have ever imagined. To think that the potential to streamline and enhance items to such an extent was always there, just waiting for someone to appropriately refine their skills…

One could say that Herman is now falling into a new routine, but at least it is more productive than the old one. And Herman has a feeling that there is still room for further improvement…

Revenue Generation Options:
Herman has three primary ways of making money: directly selling spellcasting services using spells cast via items, using a Fabricate item to mass-produce mundane equipment for very low cost and then selling it to stores at a profit, or boosting the Profession checks of those around him to increase their weekly revenue generation.
The first option requires command-word-activated items producing spells people want cast. Since the cost of spellcasting services and the cost of magic items, both scale with spell and caster level, the time-to-profit is the same for all of them. Thus (thanks to his massive item cost reductions), an at-will, personal item will return a profit after 8 uses, if it is 1/day, then it becomes profitable after 2 uses. For items usable by others, profit happens after 12 uses and 3 uses, respectively. After that, it’s all profit: 10 gp/casting for a 1^st level CL 1 effect, 180 gp/casting for a 3^rd level CL 6 effect. The only challenge is finding spells people want to have cast regularly – healing spells are a good start, and the Anyspell capability on his Ring of Superior Utility lets him cheaply add a variety of alternatives.

The second option, mass-producing mundane gear with a Fabricate item and selling it, has the potential to make money very rapidly. In the ideal case of having raw material for many masterwork Adamantine full plate armors on-hand, Herman can manufacture 1 per round for 1186 gp in raw materials, then later sell each for 8325 gp. Normal masterwork full plate manufactures for 117.5 gp and sells for 825 gp, and a masterwork greatsword manufactures for 46.3 gp and sells for 325 gp. Needless to say, the profit margins are quite massive whenever he gets the opportunity, and with skill-boosting items, he can make appropriate Craft checks for a wide variety of cases.

For the third option, Herman creates a variety of skill-boosting items to be shared between his “followers”, with each using the same ones when making their weekly Profession check. As bonuses to each skill, each individual gets +15 insight, luck & circumstance from the Ring of Skilled Insight, +20 competence from the appropriate Profession item, +3 from the Periapt of Wisdom, +5 from a Skill Enhancement infusion item, and +2 morale from a Good Hope item. The total +45 bonus thus increases their revenue output by 22.5 gp per week. With the relevant items costing 8680 gp, and 20 individuals sharing the items between them, the items pay for themselves in 20 weeks. This is slower than the alternatives, but more reliable, since the gold provided by Profession checks is not dependent on circumstances. If need be, Herman can diversify to multiple professions, he just needs to spend another 2403 gp for each additional Profession item.

Between these three possibilities, Herman will be flush with cash, and free to continue manufacturing ever more items to expand his both his operation and his personal comfort.

Tactics
Final Stats:
AC: 45, HP: 59 +24 temp, Move: 90 fly(good), 60 land, Initiative: +17
Ally Bonuses:
AB: +8, Weapon Damage: +7, AC: +11, HP: +2/lvl + 21 temp, Move: +35 ft, Saves: +3
By distributing numerous area and personal buff items, Herman can bolster the ability of those around him to deal with any threats that can’t be solved with a DC 60+ Dominate Person, Greater Command, Charm Monster, or Lesser Geas. Temporary HP, mass invisibility, and Fabricated traps, are all available for any problems that can’t be solved by mind-control. And the listed values aren’t even the endgame – Herman can boost things further by making even more slotless items for himself and gearing up those around him. He certainly has the money.
The main risk of Dominate-based builds, other than immunity, is something disrupting the spell. For that, his Ring of Superior Utility enables him to counterspell Dispel Magic, the main hazard to his plans in E6.

Spoiler: Relevant Items

Show

(Crafting costs are 3.784% market value for personal items, 6.007%, market value for other magic items, and 7.12% market value for mundane items):

Personal
Hat of Imperative Order(CL 6, Dominate Person, Thayan Slaver 3, AND Greater Command, Thayan Slaver 3 AND Charm Monster, Bard 3 AND Lesser Geas, Bard 3, AND Suggestion, Bard 2), 5722 gp: On speaking one of the several command words, the target will either be subject to Dominate Person (DC 61), Charm Monster(DC 61), Suggestion(DC 60), or up to six targets of the wearer’s choice will be subject to Greater Command (DC 61). If the command word for Greater Command or Suggestion is chosen, the wearer’s following words will determine the effect of the spell. Restricted to LN, requires DC 25 UMD check to equip and activate.
Boots of Mastercrafted Designs(Improved Invisibility, Telflammar Shadowlord 2, CL 3, Mass Invisibility, Telflammar Shadowlord 3, CL 6, Haste, Trapsmith, CL 1, Fly, Wizard 3, CL 5), 4859 gp: These boots render the wearer permanently invisible (the invisibility can be turned on and off with a move action). They furthermore enable the wearer to activate a Mass Invisibility effect lasting 6 minutes upon a nearby group by speaking a command word (speaking it again dismisses the effect. The wearer also gains a 90 ft fly speed(good maneuverability), and a +30(enhancement) bonus to other movement speeds, an additional attack when full attacking, and a +1 bonus to attack rolls. Restricted to LN, requires DC 25 UMD check to equip and activate.
Mithril Breastplate of Immaculate Protection(+28 AC, 5 armor, 2 enhancement, 4 deflection, 4 competence, 4 resistance, 3 luck, 3 insight, 3 dodge), 7229 gp: Restricted to LN, requires DC 25 UMD check to properly equip.
Bracer of Anticipation(Protection From Energy, Trapsmith 1, CL 6 AND False Life, Wizard 2, CL 6 AND Displacement, Trapsmith 2, CL 6, AND Stoneskin, Trapsmith 2, CL 6, AND Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, Trapsmith 2, CL 6), 6055 gp: Equipping this bracer gives the bearer a the ability to use a number of command word-activated abilities upon themselves. Activating Protection from Energy will absorb 60 points of damage from a desired energy type, Stoneskin adds DR 10/adamantine until 60 points of damage is absorbed, Displacement adds a 50% miss chance for 6 rounds, False Life refreshes a pool of 1d10+6 temporary HP, and Lesser Globe of Invulnerability absorbs all 3^rd level or lower spells for 6 rounds. Restricted to LN, requires DC 25 UMD check to equip and activate.
Charm of Structured Alertness(Primal Instinct, Ranger 2, CL 3 AND Sign, Cleric 1, CL 1 AND Nerveskitter, Wizard 1, CL 1), 1287 gp: When gaining possession of this item, the bearer can make a DC 20 UMD check. If they succeed, as long as it remains on their person, they gain a +14 (5 competence, 9 untyped) to Initiative checks. Restricted to LN.
Charm of Shielding(Shield CL 1), 303 gp: When gaining possession of this item, the bearer can make a DC 20 UMD check. If they succeed, as long as it remains on their person, they gain a +4 shield bonus to AC and are unaffected by magic missiles. Restricted to LN.
Monocle of Informed Planning(Artificer Monocle CL 5 AND Arcane Sight, Trapsmith, CL 1 AND +40 Spot), 6291 gp: Equipping this monocle enables the wearer to determine the location and power of magic auras as with Arcane Sight. They can also use artificer knowledge and a minute of study to identify the purpose of an item as if they had cast Identify. They also gain a +40(competence) bonus to spot checks. Equipping this item requires a standard action and a DC 25 UMD check. Restricted to LN.
Cloak of Mental Perfection(+13 INT), 6395 gp: Restricted to LN, requires DC 25 UMD check to properly equip.
Belt of the Organized Lifestyle(Cure Light Wounds, Cleric 1, CL 1 x10, +8 STR, +10 CON), 7228 gp: Provides enhancement bonuses to Strength and Constitution, also, on speaking the command word, heals up to 10d8+10 HP. Restricted to LN, requires DC 20 UMD check to equip and activate.
Scarab of Immaculate Resolve(+27 all saves, 5 resistance, 4 enchancement, 4 deflection, 4 competence, 4 luck, 3 insight, 3 racial), 7152 gp: Restricted to LN, requires DC 25 UMD check to properly equip.
Vestment of Immaculate Insight(Divine Insight, Cleric 2, CL 6, AND Improvisation, Bard 1, CL 6 AND Wieldskill, Initiate of Gond 1, CL 1 AND Focusing Chant, Bard 1, CL 1 AND +6 CHA AND +15 UMD), 4456 gp: On speaking the command word, the wearer receives a +20 bonus (11 insight, 5 competence, 3 luck, 1 circumstance) on their next skill check. In addition, they are treated as being trained in the skill, regardless of whether they have skill ranks in it. They also receive a +6(enhancement) bonus to Charisma and a +15(competence) bonus on UMD checks, which doesn’t stack with the competence component of the previous bonus. Restricted to LN, requires DC 20 UMD check to equip and activate.
Ring of Superior Utility(Fabricate, Trapsmith 3, CL 6 AND Anyspell, Spell 3, CL 6 AND Alter Self, Wizard 2, CL 6 AND Dispel Magic, Trapsmith 1, CL 1), 4393 gp: Depending on the command word spoken, this ring can either Fabricate up to 6 cu. ft. of mineral/60 cu. ft. non-mineral materials into a finished product if the wearer succeeds on the appropriate craft check OR turn into another 5HD or lower creature of the same type for 60 min. OR, upon touching the ring to an arcane scroll of 2^nd level or lower, duplicate the effects as if they had cast the scroll at CL 6 OR the wearer can counterspell a casting of Dispel Magic (they must first make the Spellcraft check to identify the spell, as normal). Restricted to LN, requires DC 25 UMD check to equip and activate.
Gauntlets of Arcane Destruction(Fireball, Wizard 3, CL 6 AND Magic Missile, Wizard 1, CL 1 x20), 3201 gp: On speaking the appropriate command word, the wearer can unleash either a fireball (6d6, Reflex DC 61 for half) or 20 magic missiles (20d4+20) at the desired target. Restricted to LN, requires DC 20 UMD check to equip and activate.
Clasp of Ordered Discernment(+6 WIS), 2725 gp: This item attaches to a cloak or shirt, and does not use a slot. Restricted to LN, requires DC 20 UMD check to properly equip.
Socks of Dexterous Reinforcement(+10 DEX), 7568 gp: Restricted to LN, requires DC 25 UMD check to properly equip.

Distributed/Shared
Master Frontiersman’s Shirt(+20 Profession(Frontiersman), 2403 gp: Shared among
Frontiersman’s Kit, 3.5 gp: Masterwork tools for Profession(Frontiersman).
Ring of Skilled Insight(Divine Insight, Cleric 2, CL 6, AND Improvisation, Bard 1, CL 6 AND Wieldskill, Initiate of Gond 1, CL 1 AND Focusing Chant, Bard 1, CL 1), 2163 gp: On speaking the command word, the wearer receives a +20 bonus (11 insight, 5 competence, 3 luck, 1 circumstance) on their next skill check. In addition, they are treated as being trained in the skill, regardless of whether they have skill ranks in it.
Periapt of Wisdom(+6), 2163 gp
Ring of Good Hope(Good Hope, Bard 3, CL 6), 1947 gp: On speaking the command word, up to 6 creatures of the bearer’s choice receive +2 morale to AB, saves, weapon damage, and ability/skill checks for 6 minutes.
Ring of Mass Aid(Mass Aid, Cleric 3, CL 6), 1947 gp: On speaking the command word, all closely spaced allies within 40 feet of the wearer receive 1d8+6 temporary HP, and get +1 morale to AB and saves against fear.
Ring of the Crown(Crown of Courage, Bard 3, CL 5), 1626 gp: On speaking the command word, the wearer gains a crown of energy (which can be dismissed by speaking the command again). The wearer and all allies within 30 feet get +1 to attack and weapon damage rolls, and +4 morale to saves against fear.
Ring of Elation(Elation, Bard 2, CL 6), 1298 gp: On speaking the command word, allies within 80 ft of the wearer gain +2 morale to Strength and Dexterity, +5 movement speed, and don’t take fatigue penalties for the next 6 rounds.
Ring of Aim(Inspired Aim, Cleric 3, CL 5), 1622 gp: On speaking the command word, the wearer can begin concentrating on an Inspired Aim affect. As long as they concentrate, allies within 40 feet get a +2 insight bonus to ranged attacks.
Ring of Prayer(Prayer, Cleric 3, CL 6), 1947 gp: On speaking the command word, the wearer and allies withing 40 ft gain a +1 luck bonus to attack and weapon damage rolls, saves, and skill checks, while foes in the radius take a -1 penalty to the same.
Ring of the Warcry(Warcry, Champion of Gwynharwyf 2, CL 3), 649 gp: On speaking the command word, creatures within a 30 ft cone in front of the wearer must make a DC 60 fortitude save or cower for 1d4 rounds.
Boots of Haste(Haste, Trapsmith 1, CL 1), 481 gp: The wearer gains a +30(enhancement) bonus to all movement speeds, an additional attack when full attacking, a +1 bonus to attack rolls, and +1 dodge to AC and reflex saves.
Scarab of False Life(False Life, Wizard 2, CL 3), 649 gp: Speaking the command word refreshes the wearer’s pool of 1d10+3 temporary HP.
Bracers of Energy Absorption(Protection from Energy, Trapsmith 1, CL 2), 136 gp: When the wearer speaks the command word, the bracers will absorb the next 20 damage of the desired energy type.
Belt of Physical Superiority(+4 STR, +4 CON), 1922 gp
Masterwork Breastplate(6 AC), 25 gp
Masterwork Tower Shield(5 AC), 13 gp

Spoiler: Sources

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Eberron Campaign Setting: Artificer, Extraordinary Artisan, Legendary Artisan, Exceptional Artisan
Magic of Eberron: Artificer’s Monocle
Player’s Guide to Faerun: Magical Artisan, Wieldskill
Dungeon Master’s Guide II: Apprentice(Craftsman)
Epic Level Handbook: Enhance Item
E6 Rules: Wondrous Rings
Spell Compendium: Divine Insight, Improvisation, Focusing Chant, Sign, Nerveskitter, Anyspell, Mass Aid
Unapproachable East: Telflammar Shadowlord(Invisibility, Improved Invisibility, Mass Invisibility), Thayan Slaver(Dominate Person, Greater Command)
Dungeonscape: Trapsmith(Haste, Protection from Energy, Displacement, Stoneskin, Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, Arcane Sight, Fabricate, Dispel Magic)
Book of Exalted Deeds: Elation, Inspired Aim, Warcry
Dragon Magic: Primal Instinct
The Forge of War: Crown of Courage

[Venger]

The war may be over, but it casts a long shadow.

Ferrimelk the Midnight Shadow
Also featuring Cerulia and Freedom

NG Kalashtar Telepath 5/Fighter 1

Str 14
Dex 13
Con 13
Int 16
Wis 10
Cha 12

+1 to Con at 4th level

Spoiler: Story

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The year is 1009 YK. Eleven years ago, the Last War had ended and Khorvaire was recovering. Then, news came trickling in from across the sea. The mountainous land of Adar had been destroyed in a massive invasion from Riedra. For most of Khorvaire, the news wasn’t of much concern, but for the Kalashtar it was a source of panic. Their homeland was annihilated, and it meant the Inspired could turn their eyes outward. Their warnings went unheard by every government in Khorvaire, so when the Inspired landed the next year no one was ready. Teleportation circles knocked out half of the leadership of Khorvaire and corrupted most of the rest within the first day. The armies of the remaining kingdoms, wearied by war, proved no match for the Inspired’s hardened forces. Within two months, all of Khorvaire had fallen and every Kalashtar had been slain by the vengeful Inspired. Ten years after the war, all organized resistance has been suppressed. Every scion of the house of Galifar has either been mind seeded or killed. The common people of Khorvaire know of only one who still fights. The Midnight Shadow, they are called, and nothing is known of them save for the azure hew of their armor, the blue flame symbol on their shield, and their legendary skill with the lance. The Brelish think of the shadow as a King’s Sword, though Boranel is long dead. In Thrane, rumor has it that the Shadow is the last of the Knights of Thrane. The Karnns believe that the Shadow is an undead soldier, animated by hate for the enemy. Every nation has rumors of who the Shadow is, and every one is wrong.

---

Ferrimelk sat atop his horse, clad in sentira armor. Behind him was the group he was protecting, a scruffy half elf with a dragonmark, a young woman, a battered warforged, and an old orc druid. They were a ragged bunch, but he had promised to protect him. They might be the best hope the land has left. They just needed to get to Flamekeep, and then they would be able to fight back on even terms. He had told them a little of what he was, but not all, in case they were captured. Freedom, his Psicrystal, was out scouting, looking for the group that was pursuing them. Twenty soldiers of the Harmonious Shield, led by a du’ulora. It was going to be a tough fight, but he had to win it. Luckily, the Inspired didn’t know about his secret weapon. They still thought he was some knight who had just been getting lucky. In reality, he was a Kalashtar, and a Telepath, the last of both as far as he knew. The “Midnight Shadow” identity was a ruse, one that left the Inspired vulnerable to his psionic powers. His powers left those that escaped him unable to remember the encounter, allowing him to remain hidden for longer than any other rebel.

---

In front of Ferrimelk, Freedom returned, clambering through the trees on ectoplasmic limbs to perch on Ferrimelk’s shoulder.
“They’re coming.” Freedom whispered into Ferrimelk’s mind. “And there’s a Dreamblade with them. They really want to take you down.”
“I’ll scare off our pursuers.” Ferrimelk told his charges out loud. “You get some distance. If I’m not back with you in an hour, assume I’m dead.”
He spurred Cerulea, his horse forward along the forest path. He rode with lance and shield in hand, while inwardly he manifested power after power. Last in the chain was one favored by the Quori, a power that left the weak willed scared and easy to influence. After scarcely a minute of riding, the soldiers came into view some two hundred feet away. The du’ulora was in front, spiked chain in hand. As the du’ulora noticed him, Ferrimelk charged. The other soldiers shied away from his charge, afraid of the aura of power he projected and the terrors he projected into their minds. The du’ulora, however, charged in heedlessly. Ferrimelk’s crystal lance impaled him, releasing a burst of psychic power, just as he parried the du’ulora’s chain on his shield. Then Cerulia crashed into the du’ulora, knocking him over, and Ferrimelk continued past him into the crowd of frightened soldiers. The du’ulora got up, badly injured, and his wounds began to knit closed with psionic power. Before he could heal fully, Ferrimelk charged again, and this time his lance struck the du’ulora through the heart.
After that, the fighting was easy. He struck down another half a dozen soldiers before the rest fled, and with Freedom watching his back, the Dreamblade was too afraid to strike. As he chased off the rest, Freedom’s voice rang in his head. “Look out!”

---

Sulkarn, Dreamblade assassin, burst through the trees, reading to summon her mindblade and thrust it through the Midnight Shadow’s heart. Before he could strike, the Shadow turned around, his blue armor gleaming, and Sulkarn turned her stab into clasped hands.
“Have mercy on me. I never wanted to serve them,” she lied. The lie irked her, but the Path of Inspiration forgave those who lied to defeat altavars. If the Shadow bought it, she could catch him off guard, and end his reign of terror. She just needed to get a little closer.
The Shadow considered her. “How did you escape detection? The Inspired are skilled at rooting out dissidents.”
“I used their training against them,” she lied. “I concealed my thoughts from their probes and waited for a chance to break free.”
“You lie,” he answered after a few seconds.
How could he have known? Sulkarn thought desperately as he lowered his lance and ran her through.

---

Ferrimelk considered the dying Dreamblade in front of him, her blood spilling onto the forest floor. He hated killing people who were surrendering to him, but he knew she had been trying to kill him. She would bleed out in minutes, and the remaining soldiers were no threat. As he turned away, the Dreamblade spoke. “How did you know?” she asked.
“Simple,” he replied. “I read your mind. You didn’t actually know how to hide your thoughts, and I could tell you were planning to kill me. The light of il-Yannah has not gone out. The Kalashtar remain. The night of il-Lashtavar will end, the age will turn, and all the Inspired have fought for will crumble. This is the thought that keeps me fighting for all these years.”
He rode away as the Dreamblade died.

Spoiler: Levels and Epic Feats

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Kalashtar Telepath 1	0	0	0	2	Concentration 4 (+4), Bluff 4 (+4), Intimidate 4 (+4), Craft (Sentira) 4 (+4), Handle Animal 2 (+2) CC	Psicrystal Affinity	Telepathy, Mindlink, Telepathic Talent
2nd	Telepath 2	1	0	0	3	Concentration 5 (+1), Bluff 5 (+1), Intimidate 4, Craft (Sentira) 5 (+1), Handle Animal 2, Ride 1 (+1) CC
3rd	Kalashtar Telepath 3	1	1	1	3	Concentration 6 (+1), Bluff 6 (+1), Intimidate 6 (+2), Craft (Sentira) 6 (+1), Handle Animal 2, Ride 1	Wild Cohort	Compound Psicrystal, Mindlink
4th	Telepath 4	2	1	1	5	Concentration 7 (+1), Bluff 7 (+1), Intimidate 6, Craft (Sentira) 7 (+1), Handle Animal 3 1/2 (+1/2) CC, Ride 1 1/2 (+1/2)
5th	Telepath 5	2	1	1	6	Concentration 8 (+1), Bluff 8 (+1), Intimidate 6, Craft (Sentira) 8 (+1), Handle Animal 4 (+1/2) CC, Ride 2 (+1/2)	Mind Mask (B)
6th	Fighter 1	3	3	1	6	Concentration 8, Bluff 8, Intimidate 9 (+3), Craft (Sentira) 8, Handle Animal 5 (+1), Ride 3 (+1)	Intimidating Strike, Mounted Combat (B)

Epic Feats
Spirited Charge
Craft Psionic Arms and Armor
Ride by Attack
Psionic Weapon
Expanded Knowledge (Clairtangent Sense)
Shape Soulmeld (Charming Veil)
Bonus Essentia
Block Arrow
Animal Affinity
Psychic Warfare

Spoiler: Powers

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Level	Class	Power Points	Powers Known
1st	Telepath 1	4	Psionic Charm, Offensive Precognition, Psionic Pass Without Trace
2nd	Telepath 2	11	Primal Fear, Empty Mind
3rd	Telepath 3	19	Dream Lock
4th	Telepath 4	27	Induce Awe, Read Thoughts
5th	Telepath 5	37	Faint Memory, Psionic Suggestion
6th	Fighter 1	38

Spoiler: Levels 1-5

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Ferrimelk is a pretty conventional telepath here, with boosts from being a Kalashtar. The substitution levels boost his Charms and give him Intimidation as a class skill, making 1 and 3 quite useful. He relies a lot on Psionic Charm for the first couple of levels and in combat defaults to crossbows and quarterstaves. Primal Fear is a great way to debuff foes, being irresistible save for immunity to fear, and it can easily soften them up for Charms or higher level debuffs. Outside of combat, he can also use Freedom’s ability to scout to help out. Dream Lock is a powerful debuff power, one that dazes for one round and then leaves the opponent shaken and with concealment against other people. It remains his greatest save or lose, and combos well with other fear effects. At 3rd level he gets Cerulia, his horse, and starts training her to fight in combat. He’s not a good rider yet, but eventually he learns to be able to fight. Induce Awe is helpful both to resolve fights before they start with intimidate and to scare enemies once battle is joined, and Read Thoughts is invaluable in social situations. At 5th level, Ferrimelk gets Psionic Suggestion, a better charm effect, and Faint Memory, a really nifty effect that prevents people from remembering fighting him. He doesn't take the third substituion level to get Mind Mask, a nifty feat from Secrets of Sarlona that makes you register as neutral and non-psionic to detection. This makes it even harder for enemies to figure out what he’s really doing, letting Ferrimelk begin his career as the Midnight Shadow.

Spoiler: Level 6 and epic feats

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With Faint Memory acquired, Ferrimelk takes a dip in fighter so he can actually learn to fake being a warrior. Now that he’s started actually fighting, the Duel of Wills mechanic from Tome of Battle is a decent way to get some small boosts. Intimidating Strike is a useful debuff that can turn Dream Lock into a save or lose by starting the enemy off as Shakened. From here on out, Ferrimelk wears heavy armor which he eventually crafts for himself, and a lance, hopefully made from deep crystal, which he can also enchant later on. As a fighter, he trades in tower shield proficiency for proficiency in extreme shields to better augment his AC. He also outfits his equipment with riding straps and a signature crest. Mounted Combat lets him protect Cerulia, though his ride skill isn’t high enough to make it particularly useful other than as a prereq. Now into epic feats, Ferrimelk cements his image as a competent knight. His first epic feat is Ride By Attack which helps set up second charges and avoid full attacks. Craft Psionic Arms and Armor lets Ferrimelk actually craft the weapons I was talking about earlier: a +1 Deep Crystal lance and +1 Calming Sentira Full Plate, as well as a +1 Sentira Extreme Shield. The XP cost will slow him down a little, but it isn’t all that high, only around 500 XP total for all three items. Next up is Spirited Charge, which boosts his charging damage to very respectable levels for E6, approximately 3d10+9 per round, more with Deep Crystal weapons. In battle, he uses his move action to handle his mount and his standard to either manifest against vulnerable foes, usually using Dream Lock+Primal Fear, or to attack at the end of a mount charge, often with Intimidating Strike. Next is Psionic Weapon, providing a noticeable damage boost once per combat. His fifth epic feat is expanded knowledge (Clairtangent Sense), which helps him scout places Freedom can’t reach. Shape Soulmeld (Charming Veil) provides a boost to Charm and Compulsion save DCs, which pretty much covers all of his powers, and Bonus Essentia lets him max it out, providing a sizable +3 to save DCs. The blue of Incarnum also goes nicely with his sentira armor. After this, Ferrimelk is mostly done, but the last few feats are somewhat helpful. Block Arrow helps out defensively, making him very resistant to archers, Animal Affinity, while fairly weak, ensures that he won’t fail his handling and riding checks, and Psychic Warfare gives him some help against enemies that use mind control attacks themselves, such as Quori.

Spoiler: UotSI and Being the Midnight Shadow

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So how is Ferrimelk an enchanter? Telepathy is equivalent to enchantment and most of his powers are telepathy. His more conventional abilities include Charm and Suggestion, and Read Thoughts and Dream Lock are simple enough in their use. Induce Awe is a little weirder, as it works best being manifested before combat starts due to its duration of concentration ands it main effect a. The most out there of Ferrimelk’s enchantment-like abilities is Faint Memory, the only easily accessible ability in E6 that messes with enemy memories. It is what ties the “Midnight Shadow” combo together.

Basically, the whole point of the Midnight Shadow is to catch enemies off guard because they cannot figure out that Ferrimelk is a psion and not a knight or fighter or paladin. Here are the ways in which Ferrimelk foils ways to figure out what he actually is:
1. Faint Memory is the most important, making it very difficult for the average enemy to actually remember anything about the fight that he doesn’t want them to. He chooses to leave memories of him fighting on horseback as well as his signature blue armor.
2. Mind Mask is the second largest part of the combo, making it very difficult to discern his actual alignment and psionic abilities without extremely high level powers
3. Psionic Pass Without Trace is more minor, but lets Ferrimelk easily throw off pursuers, helping him live again another day.
4.He’s actually not that bad with the lance. On a lucky roll, Ferrimelk can deal a lot of damage enough to make even enemies that make their save against Faint Memory think he’s a proper knight.
5.Finally, powers are easy to hide. With the boost to concentration from his Calming armor, Ferrimelk can automatically manifest 1st level powers on the defensive and without the display and manifest his second level powers with 95% accuracy. This makes it very difficult for observers to tell what he’s actually doing.

Now this will be a lot less useful in a campaign that doesn’t feature the Quori overrunning Khorvaire, but Ferrimelk is still a useful character. He’s still a good face, and even if he usually can’t use his horse because his party is dungeon crawling, he can still incapacitate enemies with Intimidating Strike followed by Dream Lock. Fluffwise, he’s pretty deeply tied to Eberron, but that is only a minor restriction given the number of Eberron builds most comps see.

Spoiler: Friends!

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Cerulia:
Heavy Horse
HD 6d8+12
AC 17
Speed 50ft
2 Hooves +3 melee 1d6+2
SQ: Low light vision, scent
Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +3
Str 18 Dex 14 Con 15 Int 2 Wis 12 Cha 6
Listen +5, Spot +4, Survival +2
Feats: Run, Endurance, Track
Tricks: Attack (even unnatural creatures), Come, Defend, Down, Guard, Heel, Track

Freedom
Psicrystal
HD 5d4+1d10. HP ½ Ferrimelk
AC 19
Speed 30ft climb 20ft
SQ: Construct traits, Hardness 8, Granted Abilities (Alertness, Improved Evasion, Compound Personality (Resolved and Observant), self propulsion, share powers, sighted, telepathic link, deliver touch powers, telepathic speech)
Saves: As Ferrimelk
Abilities: Str 1 Dex 15 Con - Int 9 Wis 10 Cha 10
Skills: As Ferrimelk except Climb +14, Listen +9, Move Silently +6, Spot +9, Search +2
Feats: Alertness, Skill Focus (Spot+Listen)

Spoiler: Sources

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PHB and XPH: Classes, Powers, Feats, and Skills not cited elsewhere
Magic of Incarnum: Shape Soulmeld, Bonus Essentia
Web: Charming Veil-http://rpg.nobl.ca/archive.php?x=dnd/psm/20060217a
PHB II: Block Arrow
Races of Stone: Armor add ons
Secrets of Sarlona: Sentira, Mind Mask, Psychic Warfare Psionic Pass Without Trace, Psionic Dream Lock
Magic of Eberron: Faint Memory, Induce Awe
Races of Eberron: Primal Fear, Kalashtar Telepath

[Venger]

That's the round! Judge away.

[Battlechaser]

My idea was a Tibbit Vop warlock with the charm invocation, and following feats: flop, improved flop and interspecies grace. Who can refuse the little kitty?

[Inevitability]

While you're waiting for the judgement, how about I share some ideas I had for this round?

-A barkeep/salesman based around using charms and psionic minor creation to create Orc Kragg (nauseates non-orcs, no save) or mordain tea (1d10 constitution damage poison) and convince people to drink them, with Tormenting Thirst as a sort of ultimate in-combat save-or-lose. Possibly he'd use Price of Loyalty (PGtE) under the cover of returning people their change. Ranks in Perform (Tea Ceremony) are of course mandatory. Tormenting Thirst is even on the Sand Shaper list, so some unusual base caster choices could be made.

-A build based around the spurdism trick (Spurring a mount deals double damage every round, so cast Delay Death and Beastland Ferocity on a horse, cast Sadism on yourself, and you can rack up an enormous bonus to a skill check of your choice, 2/3 spells involved in the combo are enchantment so it seemed like a fitting enough build, but the fact that I hadn't come up with it myself soured the idea some)

-Enthralling Voice is an invocation available to dragonfire adepts that's mostly notable for being the equivalent of a 6th level spell, meaning it has the insane save DC of 16 + charisma before extra bonuses and items. No idea what I'd do with it, but that's a big number!

-Getting a bunch of animals somehow, using Bestow Curse to make them invisible to each other, and then casting Enrage Animals to make them go into a murderous frenzy targeting anyone nearby.

...okay that's enough now for the judgem- oh look there it is.

Spoiler: Herman (11.75)

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Huh, Herman isn't a common English name, is it? It leaves me wondering if this mystery builder is Dutch as well.

Originality (2.25):
Artificer isn't bard or wizard, but I'm not exactly blown away by the choice. Call it half points. 0.5/1

Boring ole human isn't good for originality - and I'm not even sure why you're a human? It's E6, you get a zillion feats, it doesn't look like you particularly needed to get this-or-that combo up early... it just feels like a very uninspired choice. 0/0.5

Well, your list of feats did manage to surprise me, so credit for that - but you're hardly the first person to think of going all-in on item creation and stacking a bunch of feats together. 0.5/1.5

Mechanically, are we seeing anything particularly innovative? I don't think so - everything you do is pretty well-established as far as crafting shenanigans go. What about fluff? Not too impressed either - a magical authority mind-controlling lawbreakers is quite common as a trope. 0.25/1

Elegance (1.5):
No multiclass XP penalties, great job. 0.5/0.5

So, build legality. Where to begin?

You apply Magical Artisian to Extraordinary Artisan. I don't think this is illegal: Extraordinary Artisan is very clearly an item creation feat. My question is: is it an item creation feat you can 'create items with'? And here, I think the answer is 'no' - Extraordinary Artisan modifies the process of item creation, but it is not used to create the item, in much the same sense my toolbox is not used to build a chair the way the hammer inside it is. Aka, your feat-stacking is perfectly legal but also perfectly pointless.

You seem to think Enhance Item reads 'add your intelligence modifier to the DC of all items you create'. This is not true. The rules for magic items say "For a saving throw against a spell or spell-like effect from a magic item, the DC is 10 + the level of the spell or effect + the ability modifier of the minimum ability score needed to cast that level of spell". The only thing that Enhance Item lets you do is allow you to use your own ability modifier instead of the minimum. This also torpedoes your hopes of it stacking with itself: it doesn't. Again, you legally pick it a bunch of times, but it doesn't actually do anything after the first.

You break the rules for magic item creation. Your custom armor grants a dodge bonus, but as per the rules magic items never grant dodge bonuses (knowing WotC's superb editing this is almost definitely false - but the rules separately also say that creating a magic item that grants a dodge bonus is impossible, so I'm comfortable slapping you down still). You also create items that give enhancement bonuses to ability scores in excess of +6, which is similarly not allowed.

Wondrous Rings is homebrew and illegal to take. The OP says very clearly 'We will not use the "capstone feats"; all feats that you take must be normal legal 3.5 feats, not homebrew E6 ones.' The 'E6 document' you quote is homebrew, and very little from it was actually transferred over to this competition.

As for the things that aren't strictly illegal but really inelegant: you rely heavily on custom magic items, you further abuse the custom magic item system by sticking on alignment restrictions and skill check requirements that do not functionally impact you, you just kind of assume you get to break WBL by the end of it all. Aging rules create a very uneven playing field for mentally biased characters, and I frown upon them for that reason. You show some restraint in what spells you choose to access (nothing above 3rd level, which is actually less than what an artificer could arguably do), and then proceed to grab from the list of classes that don't even exist in E6. Like, what's the logic between saying that it's fine to call on 3rd-level bard spells (minimum CL 7) or 3rd-level thayan slaver spells (minimum ECL 12), while conspicuously avoiding 4th-level wizard spells?

Also, if I'm not mistaken you casually want to stack ten different functions with the same command word onto one item, then activate them all with a single standard action? Which is not explicitly forbidden by the rules but, like, c'mon.

I won't be examining your adherence to body slot affinities (not like it would change anything at this point) - but I suspect you took some liberties there too. Final score for legality: 0/2

Well, the closest thing to synergy and efficiency would be your decision to key several item creation feats off of each other, except I don't think that actually works. Rather, I'm getting the impression you allot yourself a true bonanza of toys only for them to heavily compete for your limited actions. 0/1.5


Power (4.5):
Here's the thing: I don't know what your build can do. Everything you're presenting me with, from your save DCs to your item loadout, is based on assumptions I consider fundamentally mistaken - and that's a rough situation to be in if you're an artificer and you basically are your item loadout. At the end of the day, there's a clear floor on how low your power can sink: you're still a tier 1 class with all the good item creation feats and a willingness to milk the rules for all they're worth, but I have no idea what Legal Herman actually looks like.

It's the age-old issue with illegal builds that make bold claims: judging them is obviously not as simple as going along with the build in power and tearing it apart in elegance, but I don't want to run afoul of One Mistake One Penalty either. I'm going to strike a middle ground, where I judge your build based on your rough intent and what it can unambiguously do.

So to start right off: you've got a good understanding of artificer mechanics and bonus stacking, you want to recruit some meatshields and equip them with cheap but useful gear, you want to boost your own stats... I like the idea of using autohypnosis to let yourself keep tabs on your spell durations. We are still cooking with artificer here, I don't want to give too much credit, but you're unquestionably an incredibly powerful character even with some sanity checks in place. 1/1.5.

Your plan against mind-affecting immune targets is to blast them down with magic missiles, torch them with fireballs, or send in your well-equipped brute squad - you've got a plan, and you can plausibly do something with it even if the build is reworked. 1/1

Outside of combat you plan to stack skill boosts, craft items with fabricate, sneak around invisibly, craft some at-will healing items... sure, let's just say you'll be able to make yourself useful. 0.75/0.75

At-will item powers are clearly what you're going for, no issues with your reliability throughout the day. 0.75/0.75

UoSI (3.5):
Even if you end up with saner enchantments, I don't doubt you could make a Herman who's still spamming an enchantment every round and then buffing all his enchanted minions. That's pretty good! On the other hand, you could most definitely pivot away from any particular strategy if you had enough crafting time and resources. 1.5/2

You can start crafting enchantment items right from the get-go. 1/1

Your use of enchantments doesn't feel particularly groundbreaking to me. You're casting them in combat and you're using them to get servants: that's the expected use case. 0/1

Final Verdict:
There is such a thing as overdoing it.

You can approach the enchanter theme with artificer: that's a creative yet obviously workable angle! That can really work! Perhaps you can even mix spells from different lists together into a synergistic whole, or looked into ways to combine enchantment AoEs like Deep Slumber with construct minions! But instead we get the same custom item optimizations that people have been theorycrafting since the DMG came out. It's not even an enchanter, not really - you could swap out the hat for any other item of Underleveled Command Word Spells and submitted this to any other casting-based round.

And here's the thing: what did it get you? Lots of Power, sure, but power is only one of four categories. I promise you that I give power scores above 4 to builds that don't try to break the game to this extent. At some point, throwing more and more resources into the same thing isn't actually getting you anything more.

Please don't let me come across as too harsh here, don't think I'm telling you that you shouldn't have submitted a build: if anything, I'm driven by frustration for not getting to see what you could have made instead. Stick with the concept of Herman, sure, but expand on it in ways slightly more innovative, slightly less laser-focused on maximal power at the expense of everything else. Browse some sourcebooks, look for spells and feats you like, find a niche more resonant than generalist artifice - I promise you, the resulting build will score far better than one retreading 20-year-old optimization tactics.

Spoiler: Ferrimelk (14.5)

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Originality (4):
Telepath psion was definitely high on the list of expected builds - the fighter dip is noteworthy in the context of this round, but it's also still a fighter dip. I guess seeing them together is another surprise, so sure, have 0.5/1.

Kalashtar makes some sense for a round that psions fit well, and I'm not surprised to see one, but it's hardly a shoe-in. 0.25/0.5

Some real surprises in those feats! Intimidating Strike just makes sense on E6 builds that don't get to +6 BAB but it's still nice to see. Mind Mask I had to look up, same as Psychic Warfare, and the charging feats I did not see coming in this context at all. Your other choices are less notable but still rather innovative, though I'll say Animal Affinity just feels like an uninspired pick. 1.25/1.5

I like the fluff! It's always nice to see people do things with Eberron, and the idea of a Quori invasion is well-included. Similarly, the idea of a kalashtar evading detection through both mundane and supernatural misdirection is nothing if not interesting. 1/1

Elegance (3.25):
No multiclass XP penalties. 0.5/0.5

I didn't take away points for it, but it's a bit confusing to see you list 'Telepathy' as a 1st-level class feature. I know you just mean the discipline, but there exists an ACF for telepaths that grants them the actual Telepathy ability. Something to keep in mind in the future perhaps.

The wording of Bonus Essentia mentions that it only grants 2 points of essentia if you can shape soulmelds. I consider the plural to matter here, and unfortunately you don't meet that condition. You seem to think a lance deals 1d10 base damage: it doesn't, it deals 1d8. You take spirited charge before ride-by attack, despite the latter being a prerequisite for the former. The choice to give your psicrystal feats feels a bit awkward to me for sure but isn't outright illegal: but the choice to count the fighter level is. The monster entry clearly states "Its Hit Dice are equal to its master’s Hit Dice (counting only levels in psion or wilder)". You can't just assume the XP spent on crafting is basically free. All in all, a lot of little errors that add up to only half points in this category. 1/2

The martial and psionic parts of your build definitely feel a little ill-integrated. Sure, there's some fear synergy (though it forces you to use Intimidating Strike first and then follow up with Dream Lock specifically, meaning that you're only ever frightening people who were badly hurt anyway), and there's some Psychic Warfare maneuvers, but you'll often be forced to choose between charging and manifesting in a way that doesn't feel especially synergistic. The issue between wanting two-handed charges for maximum damage and wanting to go lance-and-shield for Block Arrow is awkward as well. I do like Psionic Weapon and your use of Deep Crystal and Sentira for blending the two sides of your character a bit more. All in all, a build that makes a valiant effort to bridge the gap between its two main themes but only partially succeeds. 0.75/1.5

Power (3.75):
Alright, so I like how your baseline is just a psion with slightly reduced PP in exchange for a massive AC boost and much improved mobility. The option to charge feels like icing, and there's definitely issues with the strategy (relatively low to-hit even with the charge boost, positioning issues, AoOs from anyone other than your target), but it's definitely something you'll want to be doing sometimes. Still, I can't shake the feeling that quite commonly you'll wish you'd been either a 6th-level psion (who'd have been able to get week-long charms on several creature types) or a more martially inclined fighter or psychic warrior.

Your defenses are a bit of an issue too: HP in the low thirties is alright but not great for a primary melee combatant, especially when your reflex is so lacking, fortitude is a mere +5 where most frontliners have something around +7 or +8 by now... I'd just have liked the numbers to be a little bit higher. Plus, your Ride isn't as high as I'd like it to be for a build that really wants to protect its horse with Mounted Combat. 0.75/1.5

Nearly everything you do is foiled by mind-affecting immunity, except hitting people with a lance - but that lance does hit pretty hard, and the odd bit of psionic weapon damage helps. Still, charging won't always be an option, and when it's not your attack routine drops to a pitiful +5 to-hit, 1d8+2 damage. (You might respond that you want to use deep crystal, I would in turn retort that you cannot create it out of thin air and so it'd introduce the exact sort of item dependency that you tried to avoid by adding an item creation feat) 0.5/1

A bit of bluff and intimidate and racial bonuses to the same, Read Thoughts, a horse that tracks by scent, clairtangent sense, a psicrystal, the ability to use Diplomacy in a pinch, an out-of-combat DC boost via Psychic Warfare... yeah, this looks like an okay face and scout. Item crafting adds a smidge of utility on top of that, and your ability to conceal your psionic nature so well pushes this into a full 0.75/0.75 for me.

No issues with staying power - spending at least one round per combat attacking means your PP lasts longer than an at-level psion's, despite the latter having more on paper. 0.75/0.75

UoSI (3.5):
If you're charging, you're not charming - at best you'll be using a swift on Primal Fear but even that's a bit redundant with all the other ways you have to make foes shaken. Like, I get that it's kind of the point that your character isn't an altogether obvious telepath, but when that forces you to purge charms from (a portion of) your combat routine, yeah, that's going to reflect poorly on UoSI. Still, 1/2 here.

You get Dream Lock at level 3, which as far as I'm concerned is good enough for early use of enchantments. 1/1

Is there innovative use of enchantments here? Psychic Warfare and comboing Dream Lock with Intimidating Strike earns you points here, and the decision to use Faint Memory to create a false impression of your capabilities pushes this to 0.5/1


Final Verdict:
I like the idea of a fully armored lance-charging guy who's secretly a psion, but making a character who's actually good at both of those things is a serious challenge, and making one who can seamlessly combine them is even harder. Ferrimelk is going to feel like an underwhelming lance charger at times, and like a psion at others, but will only rarely feel like both, which is a pity. Even so, a solid take on the enchantment theme, and a very memorable bit of fluff to tie it all together.

[FactualArcher]

Thank you for the incredibly swift judging. No disputes from me.

[Venger]

One dispute:

The one dispute I have that involves fairly non-ambiguous RAW is with Magical Artisan. If someone knows how to create a shirt entirely by hand, but opts to use a loom, a reasonable person would not object to them saying they created the shirt with the loom, even though the loom wasn't strictly necessary. Likewise, using Extraordinary Artisan in creating an item alters what materials are used, so it is clearly directly involved in the creation of an item, and thus the most reasonable interpretation would be that stating the item was created with Extraordinary Artisan is accurate. Of course, a wondrous item would also have been created with Craft Wondrous Item. You can craft an item with more than one thing.

The same logic applies for Legendary Artisan and Exceptional Artisan, since both also alter the process by which an item is made. Note how the final crafting cost for non-magical items is higher for Herman despite the base crafting cost being lower, since Magical Artisan(Legendary Artisan) and Magical Artisan(Enhance Item(Legendary Artisan)) are not involved in their creation.

Also, not sure if it affects the score, but I did pay attention to body slot affinities, including giving abilities for a slot that fit the theme for that slot. Herman does have a few slotless items (which have their cost doubled in accordance with the rules) and the item descriptions should make it clear which ones are slotless. And also, stacking multiple functions onto one item isn't free - the additional functions cost 50% more, and you are also limited by the base value of the final item having to be lower than 200K gp (for pre-epic characters).

[Inevitability]

Dispute response

Like all highly productive 3.5 rules debates (I could remove the entire -2 elegance penalty and give you max power and you would still be placed 2nd, why are we doing this again), we should examine some linguistic nuances to best decide which of those interpretations is correct.

Consider the following two sentences:

1. "He gave her the money with a smile."

2. "She escaped the atmosphere with a rocket."

In sentence 1, 'with' is used to provide additional information about an action. In sentence 2, it's used to identify the implement with which the action is enacted. We can tell the difference by checking which of those can be replaced by 'by means of' - in the first case, the sentence becomes gibberish, in the second it keeps more or less the same meaning.

Magical Artisan uses 'with' in the second sense, which the same replacement test can confirm easily.

Are you creating a magical item 'with' Legendary Artisan? Possibly, arguably, Legendary Artisan is certainly involved in the process somehow. But you aren't creating any magical item by means of Legendary Artisan. Legendary Artisan is not the primary tool here, it is not 'permitting' the item's creation in the way that a rocket permits you to escape the atmosphere.

Or if that's not convincing enough, consider what happens if you try and add another equivalent clause.

1. "He walked the earth with no destination and with nobody by his side."
2. "She killed the goblin with her sword and with her spear."

The first of these is perfectly understandable - the second of these suggests a very strange death indeed (or perhaps we're dealing with a resurrecting goblin?), and this is because with-as-in-by-means-of implies a degree of primacy, of the instrument being, well, instrumental. And given that your argument relies on you being able to create an item BY MEANS OF one feat while simultaneously creating it BY MEANS OF another feat, that all becomes very awkward: an awkwardness you can only paper over because the feat description used the ambiguous 'with'.

Conclusion: I do not buy the argument that the 'with' in Magical Artisan just implies vague involvement - I think there are strong reasons to assume it demands the feat you choose to be core to the process of item creation. Even if this is all not quite the 100% RAW confirmed reading, I think it makes sense to call it the more natural one. Either way, it's inelegant and deserving of the currently standing penalty. No score change.

[Venger]

Thank you to everyone for your patience, the reveal is upon us!

#	Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Inevitability
1	Ferrimelk	NG Kalashtar	Telepath 5/Fighter 1	FactualArcher	14.5
2	Herman Osterman	LN Old Human	Artificer 6	Tohron	11.75

Congrats to all our medalists, thanks again to our judge! Go ahead and let me know if you've got any suggestions for themes for the next round and I'll have the new thread up later today.

[Tohron]

Eh, it seems perfectly normal for a TWF Rogue to kill a goblin with their shortsword and dagger, but guess it didn't affect the score.

[Inevitability]

As for ideas for next round, how about another class? Psychic Rogue seems fun, and dragonfire adept is another quirky option.

Spoiler: Words and what they may or may not mean

Show

I still think sense in which you are creating items 'with' Extraordinary Artisan is not the right one.

Consider the sentence "I create the item with years of experience helping me along". The years of experience are relevant, they matter for the outcome of the creation process, but gramatically, the sentence is no different from "I create the item with some music playing in my workshop". The use of 'with' here serves to add information, but not to identify the instrument that brought about the action. You cannot write "I create the item by means of years of experience helping me along".

And similarly, Extraordinary Artisan is never your instrument, just a bit of background information that matters for the job but doesn't fundamentally permit it in the way that Create Wondrous Item does.

[daremetoidareyo]

That psychic bard variant from one of the designers maybe?

[Venger]

That's an interesting idea. Do you have a link? I'm not sure I'm familiar.

[daremetoidareyo]

http://www.bossythecow.com/TheThoughtsinger.pdf

by kieth baker