Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XXXVII

[Venger]

Originally Posted by Menteith

I feel confidant that no one else is dumb enough to do what I'm doing.

Originally Posted by mattie_p

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I've got a dumb idea too.

aw, man, my idea's pretty dumb too. I hope we don't all end up doing the same thing.

[mattie_p]

Originally Posted by Venger

aw, man, my idea's pretty dumb too. I hope we don't all end up doing the same thing.

Man, that would be dumb.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Originally Posted by Menteith

I feel confidant that no one else is dumb enough to do what I'm doing.

Originally Posted by mattie_p

I wouldn't be so sure about that. I've got a dumb idea too.

Originally Posted by Venger

aw, man, my idea's pretty dumb too. I hope we don't all end up doing the same thing.

Well, that makes threefour of us, because guess who else has a dumb idea?

[Piggy Knowles]

Huh... I was having a lot of trouble coming up with anything remotely original for this (I love this class, but all of the decent options just seemed painfully obvious to me), but I just had a pretty cool idea. Time to crack open some books and see if I can get this one to work out!

[eggs]

Originally Posted by Kuulvheysoon

Well, that makes threefour of us, because guess who else has a dumb idea?

Dang. I'm glad I'm not submitting anything, because my best idea is also extraordinarily dumb. Now I'm just getting excited to see how many flavors of dumb crop out of this thing.

[OMG PONIES]

Originally Posted by Kuulvheysoon

Well, that makes threefour of us, because guess who else has a dumb idea?

Me? Who told you?!

[Careless]

Originally Posted by OMG PONIES

Me? Who told you?!

I guarantee my idea is dumber than any of yours. I absolutely guarantee it. Now I just need to decide if I want complete incongruity that can be explained well by story, or just be kinda weird...

[Venger]

Originally Posted by Careless

I guarantee my idea is dumber than any of yours. I absolutely guarantee it. Now I just need to decide if I want complete incongruity that can be explained well by story, or just be kinda weird...

go for it. I made a half-ogre who rides around on an elephant and throws flaming pumpkins at people and wrote eight haikus for his backstory. almost got HM too. if you have a fun idea, you should submit it.

[DMofDarkness]

Well, I just submitted my first Iron Chef build. I have a sinking feeling that I somehow butched the formatting/could have the fluff better/am going to lose based on something other than the build. Is this normal?

Also, I can't tell whether or not my [REDACTED][REDACTED][REDACTED][REDACTED], a [REDACTED] to the [REDACTED] is brilliant, dumb, or awesome. Time will tell, I guess...

EDIT: Being unable to discuss the build will not help anything, I take it...

[Piggy Knowles]

Originally Posted by Venger

go for it. I made a half-ogre who rides around on an elephant and throws flaming pumpkins at people and wrote eight haikus for his backstory. almost got HM too. if you have a fun idea, you should submit it.

I loved that one, especially because of the trick where you used the shadowdancer's HiPS ability to hide in your own mount's shadows. It inspired me to write up a mini-supermount build using the Shadow Cloak pally sub levels for a whisper gnome who beefed up his riding dog, hid in its shadow, and used Mounted Combat to negate any hits on it.

[Menteith]

Originally Posted by DMofDarkness

Well, I just submitted my first Iron Chef build. I have a sinking feeling that I somehow butched the formatting/could have the fluff better/am going to lose based on something other than the build. Is this normal?

Yes. I remember submitting my Dragon Disciple entry (which finished one spot away from placing), and immediately regretting not spending more time on it.

[Kelb_Panthera]

A simple tip:

If you're worried about your formatting, pm the build to yourself before pm'ing it to the chairman. That way you can check that the formatting is right before you submit the build.

[only1doug]

Originally Posted by Kuulvheysoon

Well, that makes threefour of us, because guess who else has a dumb idea?

Just about everyone I think, I'm personally torn between 2 dumb ideas... (and I won't submit both)

[Sgt. Cookie]

Due to IRL time constraints, I'm going to have to judge instead. I'll post up a criteria shortly.

[Venger]

Originally Posted by Piggy Knowles

I loved that one, especially because of the trick where you used the shadowdancer's HiPS ability to hide in your own mount's shadows. It inspired me to write up a mini-supermount build using the Shadow Cloak pally sub levels for a whisper gnome who beefed up his riding dog, hid in its shadow, and used Mounted Combat to negate any hits on it.

well! high praise coming from the guy who always wins. thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed that trick, I was especially proud of it.

Originally Posted by Kelb_Panthera

A simple tip:

If you're worried about your formatting, pm the build to yourself before pm'ing it to the chairman. That way you can check that the formatting is right before you submit the build.

an easier way is to use the "preview post" function on either an unrelated thread or a PM to yourself. posts have a 50k character limit, while PMs have a 25k one, so if it says it's too long in a PM, try to just preview post in an unrelated thread (in case you accidentally click submit, you can delete it without tipping your hand)

[Menteith]

I currently have a wonderful 21 level build. Cutting it down to 20 levels makes it much less awesome. Frowntowns. This is what I get for reading through my collection and finding something I desperately want in the build, instead of just leaving my mostly done entry alone. Well, still have plenty of time to figure out a way to make this work.

[Sgt. Cookie]

Judging criteria:

Spoiler

Originality: Does your build make use of any well known tricks? Is the fluff nice and unexpected? Is it daring and new? Have you entered the SI unexpectedly?

Power: How well does your build function? Could it go toe to toe with your standard 4 man party, and win? Or could the Wizard beat you in (Unbuffed) melee?

Elegance: How well does your build fit together? Are there any glaring issues? Is your build even legal? Have you dipped excessively?

Note on legality: There is a range of penalty, depending on how serious the illegality of your build is. For example: You satisfy every requirement except for 1 skill rank, not too much of a penalty, but if you lacked one of the feats, expect a huge one.

Note on dipping: I won't be penalising a Ranger (Or similar) dip, because Track is a nasty feat to spend a character feat on.

Use of Secret Ingredient:How many levels of the SI did you put in? If it is less than 10, you can't get more than 3, less than 5 no more than 1.

Other notes: I operate an "error carried forward" system. That means you only get penalised once, for example, if you lack the requisite 6 ranks in search, you get an elegance hit, but if you used the SI well, you could still gain the max of 5 points.

[only1doug]

Well my level build is done, just needs fluff and some example levels now.

[Venger]

Originally Posted by only1doug

Well my level build is done, just needs fluff and some example levels now.

I really enjoy writing the "snapshots" for sample levels. it really helps you to go through all the build's abilities and tricks for the judges

[RFLS]

I realize this is slightly off topic- is one of the ToB prestige classes likely? Obviously not windicator or JPM, but maybe Deepstone Sentinel?

[Kazyan]

Originally Posted by Menteith

I currently have a wonderful 21 level build. Cutting it down to 20 levels makes it much less awesome. Frowntowns. This is what I get for reading through my collection and finding something I desperately want in the build, instead of just leaving my mostly done entry alone. Well, still have plenty of time to figure out a way to make this work.

You're not building the same thing I'm building, are you?

Originally Posted by RFLS

I realize this is slightly off topic- is one of the ToB prestige classes likely? Obviously not windicator or JPM, but maybe Deepstone Sentinel?

The Chairman has said a few times that only Shadow Sun Ninja would make a good SI, and will probably be on hold until our trigger-happiness for fear stacking cools down.

[Draz74]

Originally Posted by RFLS

I realize this is slightly off topic- is one of the ToB prestige classes likely? Obviously not windicator or JPM, but maybe Deepstone Sentinel?

What Kazyan said. I think Deepstone Sentinel was ruled out (only) because it's only 5 levels long.

Same with Bloodclaw Master.

Eternal Blade and Bloodstorm Blade, on the other hand, are probably just too strong, like JPM and RKV.

Master of Nine probably too easy to use well and only 5 levels.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Originally Posted by Draz74

What Kazyan said. I think Deepstone Sentinel was ruled out (only) because it's only 5 levels long.

Same with Bloodclaw Master.

Eternal Blade and Bloodstorm Blade, on the other hand, are probably just too strong, like JPM and RKV.

Master of Nine probably too easy to use well and only 5 levels.

Isn't Bloodstorm Blade generally considered not worth taking for all 10 levels, though?

[Dusk Eclipse]

IIRC it is because the class is too front-loaded, I guess if the relevant abilities were more spreaded out many people would take it to 10.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Originally Posted by The Dark Fiddler

Isn't Bloodstorm Blade generally considered not worth taking for all 10 levels, though?

The important stuff is in levels 1-4, but the other abilities are still quite nice. It really does seem just a bit too good for IC.

It is, notably, the only PrC in ToB that doesn't increase your initiator level. It gets the standard 1/2 for non-adept classes as PrC's and classes from other books.

[ThiagoMartell]

You know, having to build it 1-20 and filling that table is such a hassle. In the first contests you cold just present the build at 3 different points in the progression... why did this change?

[RFLS]

Originally Posted by ThiagoMartell

You know, having to build it 1-20 and filling that table is such a hassle. In the first contests you cold just present the build at 3 different points in the progression... why did this change?

Because this makes it harder to fudge stuff and easier to judge.

[Heatwizard]

Oh man, I've got an idea so stupid that I feel compelled to piece something together. I don't even care if I get last place, which is good because I probably will.

[DMofDarkness]

Out of curiosity, whatever happened to the Contestants/Judges/The Builds sections in the OP? Is it just vestigial? The last time I see it used was in the Mindbender competition, which is a bit of a shame... it can be kinda annoying to jump through a thread to try to find the builds, and having links to them would make pairing up judges' comments on builds and the actual builds easier.

Also, Sgt. Cookie, don't you only need to take 5 ranks in Gather Info/Search/Survival? Or is my book wrong?

[only1doug]

Originally Posted by DMofDarkness

Also, Sgt. Cookie, don't you only need to take 5 ranks in Gather Info/Search/Survival? Or is my book wrong?

Pre Reqs are
Skills:
Gather Info 5 ranks
Search 5 ranks
Survival 5 ranks

Feats:
Skill Focus: Gather Info
Track

BAB:
+5 +6

Edit: My build has now been submitted, and I have that "I could of done it all very differently" feeling... like entering the class with the correct BAB...