Junkyard Wars XLVI: Weapon Specialization + Bonded Weapon - Fighter (VOTING OPEN)

[Battlechaser]

I was thinking of a Kaorti psychic warrior soulbound weapon ACF- fiend of possession- pious templar with heretic of the faith feat to get a ballista as bonded weapon. Just didn’t have the time to make the build.

[quetzalcoatl5]

I was surprised not to see a favored soul entry since they get weapon specialization and are a pretty good base class, but then I guess I don't have an obvious way to tie that in with bonded weapon...

[AMFV]

And with that, our four entries have been posted - and with that out of the way, I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on the round.

I'll get some contest ideas for future rounds up in a while, too.

I'll get to judging!

[Morphic tide]

Mildly disappointed to see no DMG 2 bonded items or weapon-cohorts.

[AMFV]

Mildly disappointed to see no DMG 2 bonded items or weapon-cohorts.

My initial plan involved using an animal companion as a weapon, because it advances with the character, but you can't get weapon focus in "Animal Companions Used As Weapons" since you can't get proficiency in that, at least not without stuff that would be too dubious.

[Morphic tide]

My initial plan involved using an animal companion as a weapon, because it advances with the character, but you can't get weapon focus in "Animal Companions Used As Weapons" since you can't get proficiency in that, at least not without stuff that would be too dubious.

If you can use it as a Weapon, shouldn't it count as something with a valid Proficiency that you can then have the Animal Companion be the instance of you're doing it with? Unless you mean shenanigans with something like Fling Ally where it's not mechanically a weapon.

My own thought was trying to fit all three of the prompts I voted for into one build, in which I quickly noticed a surprisingly sensible overlap to serve as a number to push, but couldn't find a remotely "clean" start aimed squarely at that overlap or a functional Weapon Specialization source without agonizing about the brute-force dipstack having most functions get terrible follow-up.

[Inevitability]

I'll get to judging!

Many thanks!


In the meantime, do you or anyone else have ideas for the future round? I'm thinking in the direction of a skillmonkey-focused or overly magical/arcane round, after two rounds of bruisers and one of divine casters (which, a fair amount of the time, ended up on the bruiser-y side too).

[loky1109]

Not used ideas.
1) I thought about DMGII Bonded Items. Ritual of Faith + Spellstoring Poison Ring + bunch of feats that affect alignment-based spells. Maybe it'd be Spellstoring Poison Ring (weapon) and Ring of Spell Storing all in one. And also Powerstoring.
But I didn't know what to do with Weapon Spec here.
2) Second idea was Stone Spitter Graft, but FAQ killed this idea.
3) I had in mind Warforged Artificer. Just as method to make bond.
4) I toyed with guardian familiar and metamorphosis to transform it into weapon, but...

5) I had one idea to get WS nobody used. It's very arguable, based on poor wording and has bad RAW support. And I'll keep it a secret to use somewhen in future. ;)

In the meantime, do you or anyone else have ideas for the future round? I'm thinking in the direction of a skillmonkey-focused or overly magical/arcane round, after two rounds of bruisers and one of divine casters (which, a fair amount of the time, ended up on the bruiser-y side too).

Factotum + Human - Chameleon

Spellthief + Psionic - Psithief

UPD
Breath Weapon + SLAs - Dragonfire Adept

[loky1109]

And table

#	Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	Total	Place
1	Alfred	LN Strongheart Halfling	Trap Expert Skilled City-Dweller Champion of the Wild Distracting Attack Ranger 8/Swift Scion 7/Peerless Archer 3/Skilled City-Dweller Order of the Bow Initiate 2
2	Ellay Hol	LG Half-Elf	Holy Warrior Charging Smite Paladin 5/Pious Templar 10/Anointed Knight 5
3	Cu Chulainn	LN Human	Warblade 5/Knight 1/Kensai 2/Divine Crusader 2/Legacy Champion 10
4	John	LG Human	Warblade 6/Artificer 14

[Tohron]

Funny how the Class Levels column makes John look like the simplest of the four builds.

[quetzalcoatl5]

Funny how the Class Levels column makes John look like the simplest of the four builds.

Right??? Just shows how the way you frame a thing can change how it comes across, lol

[Prime32]

Mildly disappointed to see no DMG 2 bonded items or weapon-cohorts.

I had the goofy idea of giving an intelligent legacy item the normally-terrible Mount ability to make it "an ordinary horse"... then designating it as your Wild Cohort + Windrider Mount, and returning it to item form as a sapient 15 HD Construct. I couldn't figure out what to actually do with it after that though - most interesting stuff either required a Con score or involved the weapon wielding itself (meaning no way to use Weapon Specialization).

I considered a legacy symbiont (using the costs in Magic of Eberron p154), but there aren't many in the right price range and the rules there are ambiguous.

[AMFV]

On Judging

Generally my philosophy is that I start all categories at three points and then increase or decrease. If something is substantial it is usually a half point or greater increase if it is not substantial it’s probably a more limited increase. For something really major it could be a whole point. For this particular challenge, I decided not to penalize originality for any of the expected ways to gain weapon specialization. So Favored Soul, Warblade, Bloodstorm Blade any of those or similar will not have any penalty associated.


Sir Alfred - 14 (13.75 pre-dispute) Points Total

Spoiler: Originality = 4 Points

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This is definitely a very original take on this. Ranged combat is rare in 3.5, as to be generally unexpected. There’s no Tome of Battle here, which would be the natural expected choice for a weapon focused character. Overall very unique. Ranger was something I was definitely not expecting to see.

+.5 Ranger (And Non Martial Initiator)

+.5 Swift Scion

Spoiler: Power = 2.75 Points

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Generally speaking a ranged archery focused character without any particular specialized support is not going to be the most powerful character. I’ll compare it to similar scout based characters.

I’m going to knock off a half point for being a scouting focused build and not having any points in Spot and Listen, also for not having Darkstalker. That’s a recipe for a lot of trouble if you’re having your character sneak around. Honestly trading your initial “Stealthy” Feat for Dark Stalker would be a really significant and good option here. But having no ability to spot or listen means that you are likely to be the one getting surprised.

The Wisdom damage gimmick is pretty good, although limited by times per day, and not applying your sneak or precision dice. So that is a somewhat weaker synergy. I think that dealing that kind of ability damage does put you somewhat ahead of many archery focused builds though, so I’ll bring you back up a quarter point for that.

Spoiler: Elegance = 3.50 Points

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Elegance is one place where this really great build has some problems. I’m adding a quarter point because you included the weird reflex save progression as written and mentioned it. I’m taking a quarter point because of the high number of short dips. Those are inelegant, although they make sense here, but it does lower the overall elegance of the build.

There is also some question as to whether Distracting Strike works with ranged weapons. For me that’s equivalent to knocking one quarter point off. I think it would be reasonable to have it work, but it is something that requires a favorable rules interpretation. However it’s not something that is mandatory for the build.

I’ll give a half point for the build being fairly consistent and smooth in progression. You start out as an archer, and you’re an archer the whole way 1 - 20, improving as an Archer throughout your progression.

+.25 Included Weird Reflex save progression as written. (3.25)

-.25 Lots of Dips

+.5 Consistent Progression

-.25 Distracting Strike Ranged Weapons

Spoiler: Use of Components = 3.75 Points

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You have weapon specialization, a weapon that is bonded and increases in strength with your character. That’s a full point increase in my opinion. Very true to the spirit of the challenge. Nicely done!

There is a problem, however. You are at 9th level by the time you get your weapon. That’s a really rough point. You spend potentially more than half of your adventuring career without a bonded weapon. So that’s a quarter-point deduction.

+.5 Weapon that improves as the character does. Truly Bonded Weapon.

+.5 No levels in Fighter.

-.25 Character doesn’t get access to the weapon until level 9.

Final Take and Opinions On Alfred

I really liked this build, I wish it had come online a little earlier. Ranged builds are pretty uncommon in 3.5. It has a fun story. I’ll admit that I went back and forth on where to assign points between this one and Ellay quite a bit. Even though you are ranked second you turned in an outstanding build and I think a great job on this one.

Ellay Hol - 14 Points Total

Spoiler: Originality = 3.25 Points

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While Pious Templar is one of the more obvious methods of gaining Weapon Specialization, I’m not going to be deducting any points for any of those as you need at least one of them. I will add points for options that I wouldn’t have thought of.

The Relic and Ancestral Weapon options were an interesting method, not terribly unexpected though. I feel like this build is so thematically appropriate that it doesn’t really need to be that original. Paladin Knight with a magic Sword is like a classic. I’ll give you a quarter point for not taking any levels of Martial initiator.

+ .25 - Non Martial Initiator

Spoiler: Power = 3 Points

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As a martial build this one lacks a lot of super exciting tricks. There’s no pounce to make the Charging Smite really stick. You do get a few smites and generally you have a pretty decent martial character. But you don’t really have any answers to the traditional martial problems. You can’t full attack and move. You don’t have a mount to fix that. I would say that this is a playable character in a practical optimization game. So I will give no negatives or positives. You wind up with Paladin Spellcasting. You wind up with ways to boost your weapon. It’s serviceable, but nothing crazy.

I will say that you’ve made a couple of choices that I’m not sure why you made them. Half-Elf as a race for example. If you’re getting some power boost from that let me in a dispute and I’ll correct it.

Spoiler: Elegance = 3.75 Points

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Elegance is where this build really shines. It is a fluid build. You’re not taking dips all over the place. When you give something up you often get it back immediately thereafter. It is doing the gimmick of the build almost immediately from the start. So I’ll give a quarter point for regaining things you’re trading away, and a half point for very smooth progression.

I’ll deduct a quarter point for using Battle Blessing with Pious Templar… technically it probably works, but it’s something where you need a favorable ruling and that hurts the elegance a little bit. Again it’s something that probably would work, but it’s going to be a conversation.

I’ll add a quarter point for having your build's sweet spot be at level 9. That’s a reasonable level to see in many campaigns. If you had it a little earlier, it’d be a half point, but level 9 is fairly early.

+.25 Regains everything you give up.
+.5 Smooth Progression Throughout
- .25 Battle Blessing
+.25 Sweet Spot At Level 9

Spoiler: Use of Component= 4 Points

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This is another area where Ellay excels. She gains use of the weapon at level 3, as early as you possibly could. It’s not as powerful or unique as some of the options but it is available very early. So that’s half a point. Another half a point for completely avoiding fighter levels.

+.5 Gains Bonded Weapon at level 3
+.5 Avoids Fighter Levels completely.

Final Take and Opinions on Ellay Hol

This is just a great build, Paladin with a magic sword. It is a classic. It’s a little weaker than I might like in terms of power. But it’s still workable in most PO environments. Very elegant, I really like the use of Pious Templar. Overall just a great build. Really fun thematically, cool story. Only thing I don’t know about is why you picked Half-Elf or Longsword. Those are minor things though and they don’t really detract from the build. Definitely deserves the highest score despite having some tough competition.


Cu Chulainn - 13.25 Points Total

Spoiler: Originality = 3.25 Points

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Legacy Champion, Warblade, and Kensai are all fairly expected entries here. Given how difficult it is to wrangle the specifics I’m not going to knock off any points for them being there. Divine Crusader is mildly unexpected, and the Heretic of the Faith route is also, so I’ll bump you a quarter point for that.

+.25 Divine Crusader and Hereitic of the Faith.

Spoiler: Power = 4.25 Points

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You definitely picked some of the more powerful options. 9th level spellcasting, even limited 9th level spell casting is a huge boost in power to your character. a Domain Power that really works with the character with few drawbacks. Also it thematically fits with the origin of the character. Generally when I’m judging a character on power I try to consider how their options might have made them compare to their peers. Limited 9th level casting is a full point increase, in my opinion.

And I’m going to add a quarter point for the domain power. Which just really fits well, pushing Wisdom for Strength on a character like this is just really great, thematically and in terms of power.

+.25 Wrath Domain Power
+1 9th Level Spells

Spoiler: Elegance = 2.5 Points

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Using a one level dip in Knight is a pretty inelegant way of gaining the ride skill. I’m going to knock off a quarter point for a one level dip there, it’s not the most elegant solution to that problem, although I grant it might be the only one that works for that build.

I’m also going to knock off a quarter point from going from being a mostly martial initiator to being a spellcasting character. That’s a really significant shift in the character and there’s no attempt at all to maintain the character’s martial progression through feats or anything it’s basically just abandoned which isn’t the worst but it is inelegant.

-.25 Knight Dip
-.25 Switching From Initiating to Spellcasting

Spoiler: Use of Components = 3.25 Points

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Gains access to the bonded weapon at level 6, that’s pretty reasonable no gain or loss there. Since you’re using Kensai that is the earliest potential entry there and puts you roughly in the middle of the two competitors I have rated previously.

Legacy Champion works well here provided that you’re able to make an argument that it does scale with your previous weapon. I think that’s probably reasonable but that could be a sticking point. No points lost there, just worth mentioning.

Out of the builds that took weapon specialization you take it at level 14 which is the latest, so I will dock you a quarter point there.

-.25 Takes 14 levels to get a component.
+.5 No levels in Fighter

Final Thoughts on Cu Chulainn

You are third place here in name only. This is a really fun build. I love the use of the concept; it really fits that. I think it just needed a little polishing to get it over the line. Like it’s so close to being just an amazing build, well it is an amazing build. It’s very close to winning this competition, out of all the builds here that actually complete the challenge yours is the one I think could have improved the most and it’s a really fun build. I think that with a few adjustments you could have taken first or second, no doubt.

Also of note, your build has the single highest category score, 4.25 in Power.

John - 10.25 Points

Spoiler: Originality = 3.5

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I was certainly not expecting to see artificer here as a build component. So that is a half point increase. Definitely an interesting idea. And I’ve never seen a Warblade/Artificer ever so that is an interesting concept. Definitely worth half a point.

Artificer +.5

Spoiler: Power= 3.75

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For a martial character using heroics to gain floating feats is actually quite strong that increase your strength considerably past other comparable characters.

Obviously Artificer jank and WBL manipulation is very strong, it’s likely to make your party stronger, that is about a half point increase for me on that. When it works despite how inelegant it is… it’s pretty decent. That is a half point increase.

+.25 Heroics Feats Strategy
+.5 Item Manipulation is very strong.

Spoiler: Elegance = 2

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Artificers are, on the whole, inelegant. Any time you have a class where you have potential to really mess up WBL and where you have this kind of shenanigan is something where you have to discuss things with your DM fairly constantly. I deduct a flat quarter point for anything like that. So you’re off a quarter point because your entire build revolves around that. I know the struggle, my favorite build back when I was doing IC had the same issue. And I’ll note I was penalized much more heavily for it. And because your build entirely relies on it, I’ll take another quarter point.

Your progression choices are a little confusing, You’re not using what might be considered the classical martial initiator progressions and therefore you are picking up maneuvers significantly later than you otherwise might. And I get that you’re doing the artificer thing, but probably you should have sprinkled Warblade levels throughout at the appropriate points in order to gain the most benefit. So that is again a half point reduction, it’s important to not get so lost in Artificer stuff and heroics that you forget the actual progression of your initiator stuff.

-.5 Heavily Relies on WBL manipulation and items.
-.5 Poor Initiator Progression.

Spoiler: Use of Components = 1

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You did not use weapon specialization. I know that you wrote a thing about it, you didn’t use it. If Gordan Ramsey told you to make a dish with curry and you made one without and gave him a shaker full of curry he would… tell you to leave his restaurant and it’s worse because you have the curry. There are multiple feats that you could have removed and taken Weapon Specialization with, you’d have still been docked for taking it late, but you’d have had it. That is a full point reduction.

Cortana is… not a weapon. I know you wrote a thing about this too, but it’s not a weapon unless you are using it to attack in this case you are not. You are using it as a familiar and that’s a pretty good use, it makes your character more powerful but it is not weapon it does not meet the requirements of the challenge, that is a full point reduction.

-1 No Weapon Specialization
-1 No Bonded Weapon

Thoughts and Opinions on John

You… didn’t do the challenge man. It’s hard for me to rate this one because it didn’t actually do either part of the challenge, like at all. Like instead of taking cost reduction stuff after Warblade 6 you could have just taken Weapon Specialization. I realize that the reason you didn’t is because you didn’t actually have a bonded weapon in which to specialize and to me that compounds the problem. I get that you can write two paragraphs of explanation but this build does not meet the criteria of the challenge at all.

Edit: Let me know if I missed anything super obvious, I'll welcome disputes or what not!

[loky1109]

Thank you!

John has second Originality instead of Power. )

[FactualArcher]

Thank you for judging. No disputes from me, though I’ll make some comments after the reveal.

[AMFV]

Thank you!

John has second Originality instead of Power. )

Thanks! Corrected!

Thank you for judging. No disputes from me, though I’ll make some comments after the reveal.

I think it's just me out here so that may be fairly soon.

[Inevitability]

To our judge: thank you for the judging. It is appreciated.

I do not have disputes yet. However I probably will get disputes. Please wait warmly.

I will also get working on that slate of contest ideas.

[loky1109]

Updated table

#	Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	AMFV	Total	Place
1	Alfred	LN Strongheart Halfling	Trap Expert Skilled City-Dweller Champion of the Wild Distracting Attack Ranger 8/Swift Scion 7/Peerless Archer 3/Skilled City-Dweller Order of the Bow Initiate 2		13.75	13.75	2nd
2	Ellay Hol	LG Half-Elf	Holy Warrior Charging Smite Paladin 5/Pious Templar 10/Anointed Knight 5		14.00	14.00	1st
3	Cu Chulainn	LN Human	Warblade 5/Knight 1/Kensai 2/Divine Crusader 2/Legacy Champion 10		13.25	13.25	3rd
4	John	LG Human	Warblade 6/Artificer 14		10.25	10.25	4th

[loky1109]

Another idea:
Touchstone + Planar Touchstone - Catalogues of Enlightenment

[Inevitability]

Since my last message I have received one dispute. Wow!

Enjoy, our judge AMFV.

Thanks for judging! I have some disputes for you.

There is also some question as to whether Distracting Strike works with ranged weapons. For me that’s equivalent to knocking one quarter point off. I think it would be reasonable to have it work, but it is something that requires a favorable rules interpretation. However it’s not something that is mandatory for the build.

Actually there aren't questions. It explicitly works.

Benefit: Beginning at 4th level, whenever you hit an enemy with a weapon attack (whether melee or ranged), that enemy is considered flanked by you for the purpose of adjudicating your allies’ attacks.

---

There is a problem, however. You are at 9th level by the time you get your weapon. That’s a really rough point. You spend potentially more than half of your adventuring career without a bonded weapon. So that’s a quarter-point deduction.

I should got Dreamstriker at least at 8th level or I couldn't take level in Swift Scion. And, actually, nothing prevents me from obtaining it earlier.

---

The Wisdom damage gimmick is pretty good, although limited by times per day, and not applying your sneak or precision dice.

17-19 (+2 more with Dex items and tomes, and I'm sure I could find one-two-three more points of damage if I really want) Wisdom damage to at least two enemies is enough without SA or RP in most cases. I looked in summary monsters table - there almost nobody non-epic who survive two shots and only a few who survive one. Even undead - one of the biggest pain in the butt for most Sneak Attackers - aren't issue. SA + Greater Ivis tactics is for less dangerous foes. Yes, SA doesn't work with Wis damage, but it lets me not be Prancing One-Trick-Pony.

---

Honestly trading your initial “Stealthy” Feat for Dark Stalker would be a really significant and good option here.

Agree, but this build is feat starving and Stealthy is unavoidable prerequisite.

[AMFV]

Since my last message I have received one dispute. Wow!

Enjoy, our judge AMFV.

Alright, I'll adjudicate that real quick!

Actually there aren't questions. It explicitly works.

There are actually indeed questions. It explictly works to allow your melee allies to make flanking attacks.

If a rogue can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from her attack, she can strike a vital spot for extra damage.

The rogue’s attack deals extra damage any time her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the rogue flanks her target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and it increases by 1d6 every two rogue levels thereafter. Should the rogue score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied.

When making a melee attack, you get a +2 flanking bonus if your opponent is threatened by a character or creature friendly to you on the opponent’s opposite border or opposite corner.

As you can see it is clear that this works to allow your allies to make melee attacks as a result of your distracting attack, it is not clear that it allows you to make ranged sneak attacks. I could see a DM ruling that based on "that enemy is considered flanked by you for the purpose of adjudicating your allies’ attacks." depending on the meaning of considered, but that is still an area in question. So I think that still stands. Because again you are not making a melee attack and that's necessary to be flanking. Although maybe considered covers that, but again the issue is that it depends on a potential ruling in your favor not that it's explicitly ruled against you. (That would be more than a quarter point)

I should got Dreamstriker at least at 8th level or I couldn't take level in Swift Scion. And, actually, nothing prevents me from obtaining it earlier.

You need to get it by the time you level up to 9th. Which could be all the way to 35,999 XP. I mean it's possible you could get it earlier, but I can't evaluate a potential earlier acquisition that isn't laid out. So I'll have to hold with the original evaluation there because that's what was presented.

17-19 (+2 more with Dex items and tomes, and I'm sure I could find one-two-three more points of damage if I really want) Wisdom damage to at least two enemies is enough without SA or RP in most cases. I looked in summary monsters table - there almost nobody non-epic who survive two shots and only a few who survive one. Even undead - one of the biggest pain in the butt for most Sneak Attackers - aren't issue. SA + Greater Ivis tactics is for less dangerous foes. Yes, SA doesn't work with Wis damage, but it lets me not be Prancing One-Trick-Pony.

I'm unsure as to what the dispute is here, I said "this is a good powerful thing" and gave points for it. I'll note that Artificer WBLmancy was worth half a point in my estimation so I think that's reasonable to give a quarter point for that particular gimmick. That stands as well.

Agree, but this build is feat starving and Stealthy is unavoidable prerequisite.

Yeah, I had missed that the item itself had a requirement. In any case you're deducted the points for not having Darkstalker or Spot and Listen, and more the skills. So not being able to solve that problem doesn't resolve the deduction there. Deduction stands.

[quetzalcoatl5]

Thank you for judging!

No disputes from me.

[Inevitability]

Another dispute from Alfred.

There are actually indeed questions. It explicitly works to allow your melee allies to make flanking attacks.

As you can see it is clear that this works to allow your allies to make melee attacks as a result of your distracting attack, it is not clear that it allows you to make ranged sneak attacks. I could see a DM ruling that based on "that enemy is considered flanked by you for the purpose of adjudicating your allies’ attacks." depending on the meaning of considered, but that is still an area in question. So I think that still stands. Because again you are not making a melee attack and that's necessary to be flanking. Although maybe considered covers that, but again the issue is that it depends on a potential ruling in your favor not that it's explicitly ruled against you. (That would be more than a quarter point)

Oh! You are talking about this... There are no questions for me either.

Beginning at 4th level, whenever you hit an enemy with a weapon attack (whether melee or ranged), that enemy is considered flanked by you for the purpose of adjudicating your allies’ attacks.

It clearly doesn't work for ranger's attacks. Maybe only if you consider ranger one of his allies his second attack (melee only of course) is flanking because of first, third because of second and so on.
But anyway I didn't intend somewhere in my entry that I think I should get sneak attack via this ACF (I sure it doesn't work). It is for my rogue buddies, not for me.

[AMFV]

Another dispute from Alfred.

We'll bump him up a quarter point for that. The two best builds can tie! I was debating if we should hit power on that but the sneak attack isn't really significant and it's already at 2.75 for power which is makes sense for the build I think.

[Inevitability]

Thank you for your rapid judgement and dispute response, AMFV! I'll keep my inbox open for a little bit and declare the winner if no more disputes show up.

In the meantime, have seven all-new all-different round ideas to vote on! You know the drill by now, right? Every person must vote for three of these, no more no less.


Murder Most Foul: Death Attack + Necromancy – Assassin
D&D: a game ultimately about killing monsters and taking their stuff. Here, we've got two ingredients that don't beat around the bush and excel in dealing death - how will you combine them?

Easy-Bake Drake: Breath Weapon + SLAs – Dragonfire Adept
Courtesy of loky; this round will have you calling upon elemental powers and invoking inner magic. Will your blend of Spell-Like and Supernatural abilities carry you to victory?

Flexible Morals: Thief-Acrobat + Abyssal Heritor Feats – Rogue
Thief-Acrobat is a class jam-packed with acrobatic tricks and thrilling footwork - but this time, with a dark reason behind why your joints can bend that way. Of course, getting Evasion might end up being slightly trickier than you expect...

Lie of the Land: Bluff + Forest Reeve - Ranger
Yeah I mostly put this one here for the pun. Still, Forest Reeve is a pretty neat class that can either grant you nature-related abilities or enhance existing ones, and Bluff is obviously a skill that can be taken into dozens of directions. A diverse round, I expect.

Jack of Two Trades: Any Multiclass Feat + Illumian – Able Learner
Multiclass feats, to clarify, are any of those feats that stack levels in two different classes for some purpose (the Completes contain most, but there's multiple outside of them too). You'll be combining it with the one race that has multiclassing baked right into its mechanics - and just to make things interesting, the easy way to fix the skill conflicts this creates is forbidden! (builds not actually required to stick to two classes)

Takes Two To Tango: Cloaked Dancer + Companion Creature - Bard
Cloaked Dancer is another short and sweet PrC I feel would make a good JW ingredient, combining a smidge of arcane casting advancement with a hefty Perform requirement (so yeah bard is banned). Will your dancing partner be a familiar? An animal companion? Or something stranger still?

Wood Between the Worlds: Manifest Druid + Planar Travel – Planar Shepherd
Manifest Druid is such a weird feat! Boosted DC for poison spells, extended-duration Summon Nature's Allies, and free Empower for 1st-level arcane spells? What a combo of things to boost! To give some meat to that mess of things, we add a flavorful requirement for some mid-level magic that casters and noncasters alike should be able to access. Honestly though, this is mostly about me pointing out that Manifest Druid exists.

[quetzalcoatl5]

Votes are:
Easy-Bake Drake: Breath Weapon + SLAs – Dragonfire Adept

Jack of Two Trades: Any Multiclass Feat + Illumian – Able Learner

Takes Two To Tango: Cloaked Dancer + Companion Creature - Bard

[FactualArcher]

My votes:

Jack of Two Trades

Flexible Morals

Wood Between the Worlds

[loky1109]

Easy-Bake Drake
Wood Between the Worlds
Flexible Morals

[AMFV]

Thank you for your rapid judgement and dispute response, AMFV! I'll keep my inbox open for a little bit and declare the winner if no more disputes show up.

Should be winners. Which is why I suspect Alfred was so quick with the disputes, losing by a quarter point is pretty feelsbad. All three of the top builds are winners in my book! Great stuff.

I'll probably post my build as a separate showcase thread. Since the idea is so hilarious!


As far as the next round my votes are (in order of preference!)

1.) Two To Tango. Cloaked Dancer has some interesting stuff and has a lot of potential entries! So that usually makes for a good cooking ingredient. Also Companion Creatures can be a really fun thing to mess about with.

2.) Easy Bake Drake. There's some options that are pretty good for this definitely an interesting option.

3.) Flexible Morals. Not a lot of stuff here but I've already got some recipe ideas. Actually changing my vote before it's too late.

Lie of the Land is my third vote!

[Inevitability]

With no further disputes incoming, I do believe we've reached the end of this round! Congratulations to Tohron and FactualArcher, and especially to Loky and Quetzacoatl!

#	Name	Alignment / Race	Class Levels	Chef	AMFV	Total	Place
1	Alfred	LN Strongheart Halfling	Trap Expert Skilled City-Dweller Champion of the Wild Distracting Attack Ranger 8/Swift Scion 7/Peerless Archer 3/Skilled City-Dweller Order of the Bow Initiate 2	loky1109	14.00	14.00	1st
2	Ellay Hol	LG Half-Elf	Holy Warrior Charging Smite Paladin 5/Pious Templar 10/Anointed Knight 5	quetzalcoatl5	14.00	14.00	1st
3	Cu Chulainn	LN Human	Warblade 5/Knight 1/Kensai 2/Divine Crusader 2/Legacy Champion 10	FactualArcher	13.25	13.25	2nd
4	John	LG Human	Warblade 6/Artificer 14	Tohron	10.25	10.25	3rd

I'll keep voting open for a view more days just in case someone else wants to get a vote in: you needn't have participated this round!