Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XXXVIII

Amphetryon · 10-06-2012, 06:23 PM

Welcome, contestants, judges, and guests to Iron Chef XXXVIII. Here in Optimization Colosseum, contestants will endeavor to create an optimized and flavorful character using a specified D&D3.5 prestige class as a "Secret Ingredient".

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

Menu: For most challenges, the "special ingredient" will be drawn from Core plus Completes. There will, from time to time, be special challenges that showcase secret ingredients from other books--for example, the XPH.

32 point-buy is the presumed creation method, but we have generally allowed other levels of point-buy.
If you do use a different point-buy, please make your case for its necessity in your entry. Keep in mind that for using exceptionally large or small point-buys may warrant deductions in elegance and/or power.

Kitchen: Competitors will be free to use any official 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon magazine is disallowed, and Unearthed Arcana is allowed; but see Elegance below. Web-exclusive 3.0 or 3.5 materials by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Also, item familiars are forbidden because I hate 'em. This comes up often enough to bear mention in the rules: Dragon Compendium is allowed.

Cooking Time: Contestants will have until 11:59PM GMT on Saturday, October 20th, 2012 to create their builds and PM them to the Chairman, Amphetryon. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 11:59PM GMT on Saturday, November 3rd, 2012 to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted.

Judging: Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, Use of Secret Ingredient.

Power level is up to you. Cheese is acceptable, but should be kept to a sane level unless you're showcasing a new TO build you've discovered. In the words of one of my predecessors, a little cheddar can be nice, but avoid the mature Gruyere unless you're making a cheese fondue.

Elegance could bear a little elaboration. It basically measures how skillfully you put your build together, and whether you sacrificed flavor for power. We're cooking here - if your dish doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter how well-presented it is. Use of flaws is an automatic loss of one point per flaw in this category. Other things that will cause lost points here are excessive multiclassing, and classes that don't fit the concept - using Cloistered Cleric in a front-line melee fighter, for example, will lose you points. Please note the following change: a legal source's relative obscurity should not be considered as penalizing Elegance, excepting the aforementioned issues with Unearthed Arcana. Using too many sources may be an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion, but a book's relative obscurity may not.

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

Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, I'd like everyone to try to use the following table for their entry.

Spoiler

NAME OF ENTRY

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
2nd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
3rd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
4th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
5th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
6th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
7th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
8th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
9th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
10th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
11th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
12th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
13th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
14th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
15th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
16th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
17th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
18th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
19th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities
20th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	New Feats	New Class Abilities

Code

Spoiler

For entries with spellcasting, use the following table for Spells per day and Spells Known. (Spells Known only if necessary, i.e. Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage)

Spoiler

For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list.

Speculation: Please don't post or speculate on possible builds until the "reveal," in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.

Leadership is banned; we're producing a meal, not a seven-course banquet for a hundred diners. If your entry includes a prestige class or ACF that grants Leadership or a Leadership-like ability as a bonus feat, the feat should be ignored and is not eligible to be traded away for another feat or ACF through any means.

So! Who wants to sign up as a contestant, and who wants to sign up as a judge? Looking for as many contestants and judges as feel like playing!

This week's special ingredient is:
Dragon Magic's Hand of the Winged Master!
We will award 1st through 3rd places, as well as a shout-out for honorable mention. The honorable mention prize is given to the most daring or unexpected build. Judges, contestants and guests alike are invited to vote for honorable mention via PM.

Allez optimiser!

Contestants

Judges

The Builds

Past Competitions

Iron Chef I: Entropomancer
Iron Chef II: Psibond Agent
Iron Chef III: Cancer Mage
Iron Chef IV: Stonelord
Iron Chef V: War Chanter
Iron Chef VI: Master of Masks
Iron Chef VII: Green Star Adept
Iron Chef VIII: Pyrokineticist
Iron Chef IX: Animal Lord
Iron Chef X: Mythic Exemplar
Iron Chef XI: Blade Bravo
Iron Chef XII: War Mind
Iron Chef XIII: Vigilante
Iron Chef XIV: Seeker of the Song
Iron Chef XV: Drunken Master
Iron Chef XVI: Assassin
Iron Chef XVII: Ardent Dilettante
Iron Chef XVIII: Unseelie Dark Hunter
Iron Chef XIX: Dread Pirate
Iron Chef XX: Incandescent Champion
Iron Chef XXI: Ghostwalker
Iron Chef XXII: Dervish
Iron Chef XXIII: Divine Crusader
Iron Chef XXIV: Tactical Soldier
Iron Chef XXV: Scion of Tem-Et-Nu
Iron Chef XXVI: Shadowdancer
Iron Chef XXVII: Mindbender
Iron Chef XXVIII: Cryokineticist
Iron Chef XXIX: Consecrated Harrier
Iron Chef XXX: Initiate of Pistis Sophia
Iron Chef XXXI: Shadow Sentinel
Iron Chef XXXII: Temple Raider of Olidammara
Iron Chef XXXIII: Drow Judicator
Iron Chef XXXIV: Dragon Disciple
Iron Chef XXXV: Death Delver
Iron Chef XXXVI: Acolyte of the Skin
Iron Chef XXXVII: Justiciar

Amphetryon · 10-06-2012, 06:25 PM

FAQ:
Is Dragon Compendium Allowed? Yes, but individual issues of Dragon Magazine are not.

What about 3.0 materials? 3.0 materials, whether online or in printed form, are allowed unless they've been officially updated to a 3.5 edition.

Are Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, or Kingdoms of Kalamar allowable sources? The Dragonlance Campaign Setting is allowed, but the subsequent books for Dragonlance are considered 3rd party, and are therefore not eligible, despite the "WotC approved" status of those books. The same holds for Oriental Adventures (1st party) and the subsequent Rokugan books (3rd party). Similarly, materials from Ravenloft, Planescape, Dark Sun, and Kingdoms of Kalamar are considered 3rd party for purposes of this contest, and are therefore not allowed.

What about online sources in general? If the online source is a) published by WotC, and b) not replaced by an updated version at a later time, it is eligible. Use it, link it.

Where's the line drawn with "acceptable/unacceptable" for Unearthed Arcana? This will likely vary a bit from Chairman to Chairman. Item Familiars and Gestalt have always been verboten, since before IC migrated to GitP; don't expect that to change. Flaws have similarly always been noted as warranting a deduction; while I am Chairman, I'm extending that to Traits, though they warrant 1/2 the penalty in Elegance that a Flaw would because they're roughly 1/2 as useful. Alternate spell systems, alternate skill systems and alternate crafting rules all create an uneven playing field, and as such, will be disallowed for as long as I am Chairman. Bloodlines are ripe for abuse, and will be strongly discouraged as long as I am Chairman. Note that judges are allowed to look askance at any use of Unearthed Arcana not specifically mentioned above, at their discretion, and otherwise penalize Elegance according to their preference.

What, exactly, does the ban on Leadership mean? As folks have started to try to work around the edges of this one, I'm forced to spell it out more plainly. No Leadership, Draconic Cohort, or Feats that grant a similar ability are allowed EXCEPT Wild Cohort while Amphetryon is chairman. Any PrC you choose with Leadership or a Leadership-analog has that ability entirely ignored for this contest, as it may neither be used nor traded away via any means whatsoever.

What's the minimum score in a category? Assuming an entry is legal, the minimum score in any category is 1. If a judge is convinced that an entry is illegal by the RAW, the judge may give a 0 or decline to score a given entry. Because this contest focuses on Player Characters, an entry that is not technically allowed for a PC, but is viable as an NPC, counts as a legal entry, but may receive a minimum score at the judges' discretion.

Dusk Eclipse · 10-06-2012, 06:38 PM

Interesting choice, I was rooting for Scorpion Heritor (since I have a complete build already XD); but I like Hand of the Winged Master so I'll see if I can come up with something.

GreenSerpent · 10-06-2012, 06:41 PM

Oooh... I have an interesting idea here already.

OMG PONIES · 10-06-2012, 06:44 PM

Can't say I saw this one coming, no sir.

Dumbledore lives · 10-06-2012, 06:44 PM

Sneaky tricksters and such. I might be able to make something for this.

Dusk Eclipse · 10-06-2012, 06:59 PM

Hmmm does anyone else find weird that Lord of Madness (and thud Darkstalker) was published before Dragon Magic and True Stealth is worse in pretty much all respects?

OMG PONIES · 10-06-2012, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusk Eclipse

Hmmm does anyone else find weird that Lord of Madness (and thud Darkstalker) was published before Dragon Magic and True Stealth is worse in pretty much all respects?

But not every respect?

I feel ya, though, this class was a good selection for Iron Chef.

Amphetryon · 10-06-2012, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusk Eclipse

Hmmm does anyone else find weird that Lord of Madness (and thud Darkstalker) was published before Dragon Magic and True Stealth is worse in pretty much all respects?

But Darkstalker costs a Feat!

Venger · 10-06-2012, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amphetryon

But Darkstalker costs a Feat!

clearly an unreasonable and extravagant cost
I am in. I had an idea for a different SI, but can likely adapt it to this rather well. I'm going to try hard not to write Ted again. even though he was awesome.

Dusk Eclipse · 10-06-2012, 09:07 PM

I looooove sneaky classes, I already have several ideas for this competition and by Tiamat! I will submit a build!*

*I hope

Piggy Knowles · 10-07-2012, 05:24 PM

Hmm... One fairly strong idea, plus a couple others that need some refining. I hope to enter this one, although the next two weeks are pretty busy for me.

Madara · 10-07-2012, 05:43 PM

Wow, at one of the class features doesn't fuction properly. This should be...interesting.

Dusk Eclipse · 10-07-2012, 05:49 PM

Which one ,True Stealth ?

Madara · 10-07-2012, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusk Eclipse

Which one ,True Stealth ?

In a way. Also, I mistook Dragonfire Strike for Assult, which uses the power attack feat

Still, for a stealthy class, they don't get many stealth abilities.

BobVosh · 10-07-2012, 11:42 PM

Darn don't have this book. I guess I'll just lurk.

Kazyan · 10-08-2012, 06:09 AM

HotWM has so little going for it that I'd rather Zinc Saucier than Iron Chef. As such, I'll judge for this round instead of competing. There are no qualifications, right?

Amphetryon · 10-08-2012, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kazyan

HotWM has so little going for it that I'd rather Zinc Saucier than Iron Chef. As such, I'll judge for this round instead of competing. There are no qualifications, right?

Qualifications are "Access to the Secret Ingredient."

eggs · 10-08-2012, 11:24 AM

Master's Gift's description of a beneficial spell rules out the majority of the beneficial spells that would make it kind-of-sort-of useful. Frustrating.

Dusk Eclipse · 10-08-2012, 01:07 PM

Build ready, just need to do the type up (I seriously should stop building on paper and then transcribing) and do some fine tuning on the background.

Amechra · 10-08-2012, 11:03 PM

Heh, my builds already in. That was quick.

Wonder if I should do another?

DMofDarkness · 10-09-2012, 12:49 AM

Tentatively volunteering myself as a judge, since I can't find any unique class features that I would actually base a build around or justification for taking it over straight Rogue with Darkstalker...

BobVosh · 10-09-2012, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amphetryon

Qualifications are "Access to the Secret Ingredient."

And loads of time.

Venger · 10-09-2012, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kazyan

HotWM has so little going for it that I'd rather Zinc Saucier than Iron Chef. As such, I'll judge for this round instead of competing. There are no qualifications, right?

hear hear. I'm having similar problems (why not just xx sneaky class with darkstalker? why the SI?) I'm having a hard time giving a good answer to that question.

if I can't cook anything tasty, I'd be happy to judge. Here are my criteria: let me know if there are any questions about them. I want to be fair and consistent.

scoring overall

Spoiler

originality

Spoiler

power

Spoiler

elegance

Spoiler

use of the secret ingredient

Spoiler

only1doug · 10-09-2012, 11:00 AM

I'm considering Judging, I'll put up some criteria tomorrow.

Dragrun · 10-09-2012, 11:10 AM

if i can get my friend to lend me his copy ill shoot for it

Dragrun · 10-09-2012, 11:13 AM

alright i can go for this one guys

GOD THIS THING HURTS MY SANITY GOOD LORD

Amechra · 10-09-2012, 12:31 PM

I'm actually working on another build for this; what can I say, I feel inspired.

OMG PONIES · 10-09-2012, 08:32 PM

Mercy me, I'm having enough trouble cooking up one good build. I'm really interested to see what you quick chefs were able to conjure up in such an abbreviated time frame.

only1doug · 10-10-2012, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by only1doug

I'm considering Judging, I'll put up some criteria tomorrow.

Here are my criteria:

originality

Spoiler

power

Spoiler

elegance

Spoiler

use of the secret ingredient

Spoiler