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| Zherog03-20-08, 09:18 PM | Mmmm... Cheese. It comes in many forms -- cheddar, swiss, american, and - of course - munchkinized characters! Welcome to Hero Craftsmen #15, where you make a character and get it voted on according to all its facets by our judges, to see who can make the best character! This time our chosen theme is cheesy munchkins, in honor of April Fool's Day. We've covered the "munchkin" part by providing you tools to build a slightly more powerful character; it's up to you to provide the cheese. How? Well, really, that's entirely up to you. You can whip out some cheesy combination of rules and exploit the heck out of it; you could write up the world's cheesiest stereotypical background; you could be a cheese-maker turned adventurer. Whatever way you want to incorporate "cheese" into your character is fine with us. The required level for this competition is 13th level, with 150,000gp to spend on magic items and equipment, though no more than 50,000gp can be spent on any one item. The following section contains the specific rules of the competition, as well as the standards for how the characters will be scored, and general tips to consider when creating a submission. Contest Rules The following are rules for the Hero Craftsmen competition, and are subject to change at any time between competition periods. Do note that the Code of Conduct is in effect for all aspects of this contest, and those who break it will be disqualified, and their post will be reported. Character Creation Parameters Effective Character Level (ECL): 13th Ability Score Generation: 36 pt. buy (DMG p.169) Character Wealth: 150,000gp Max. Value of any single item: 50,000gp 1) All entries must be submitted with a complete stat block of any format or length, (so long as the stat block is complete, including content like equipment, skills, special abilities etc.) accompanied by a character background also of any format or length. 2) All entries must be submitted by the date and time given by the Coordinating Judge; any entries submitted late will not be judged but they are still allowed to be commented on by other users/judges, and may provide a valuable resource to other players out there. The time given for any competition is likely to be within 2-3 weeks; the exact times and dates will be stated by the Coordinating Judge during the contest's start. 3) After submitting an entry, a 30-minute grace period is allowed to edit your work, in the case of mechanical or formatting errors, typos, and the like. Editing your work after 30 minutes is considered breaking the rules. Hence, we urge you to revise your entry thoroughly prior to submitting it, to save hassle. Making use of the preview button in the post window will help you catch most errors before posting. 4) One Entry Per Contestant, and that creator must be the submitter (meaning that all work has to be original, and not stolen from someone else.) Also, do not post an entry if you do not want it to be officially judged. 5) At the start of each competition, the coordinating judge will state a single theme around which to base your entry. There are no restrictions based on the character theme itself; it is merely a suggested guideline, but following it in a creative and interesting way will give merit to your entry. 6) There are other restrictions, however. Material in the three core books is allowed. Any material found in the following books is also permitted: Complete Adventurer, Complete Arcane, Complete Divine, Complete Warrior, Complete Mage, Complete Scoundrel, Complete Champion, Magic Item Compendium, Spell Compendium, Tome of Battle: Book of 9 Swords, Complete Psionic, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Races of Stone, Races of Destiny, Races of the Wild, and Races of the Dragon. The use of Psionics, Item Creation rules, Epic Characters, and anything else in the Official SRD (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/srd35) is permitted. For this specific contest, no other material may be used, including any variant rules in Unearthed Arcana. 7) Additionally, the character must be created with the wealth parameters discussed above, with average hit points per hit die (eg-2.5hp for d4, 3.5hp for d6, 4.5hp for d8, 5.5hp for d10, 6.5hp for d12; Max hit points at 1st level), using the 36 point-buy system, as discussed in the DMG pg169. For those who do not have access to the DMG, the following sample arrays of scores have been set up for your convenience: 18, 16, 14, 10, 10, 8 18, 18, 10, 10, 8, 8 16, 16, 12, 12, 12, 12 8) One special rule regarding Crafting: When crafting a magic item from your character, you may pay the 50% gp cost and ignore the XP cost. However, your character must still meet all prerequisites in spells, minimum level requirements, etc., or account for the cost of hiring a spell caster to cast the spells for you. 9) Judges reserve the right to disqualify entries that do not follow the above rules, as they see fit. Scoring Points will be awarded for how well the judges think the character is made and expanded on. Entries from each of the judges will be added up to give a final score. The highest-scoring entry will win gold, second-highest silver, third-highest bronze. The judges may also give a single entry each one bonus point for whatever reason; this bonus point is merely to make out an 'honorable mention' of the competition, and is not likely to make an impact on the results themselves. The judges are expected to be very stingy about their bonus point, meaning that it is possible for no entries to get one in a competition. Special awards will be given to the entry that performs the best in each of the four categories (detailed below), determined by a majority nomination among the judges and/or the highest average score in that category. These awards will have no effect on the total score of each entry. Additionally, the judges reserve the right to post comments on entries, and any contestant may ask to have their scoring (and/or comments) sent to them via PM. Each entry will be scored according to four categories: Thematic Creativity (10 points), Background Content (10 marks), Rules Use (10 points), and Clarity (5 points), for a total of 35 points. -Thematic Creativity is a measure of how well the entry fits with the theme of the contest, decided by the coordinating judge at the start of the competition. It is also a measure of how creative the entry is when fitting in with the theme, meaning that taking the most obvious class for the theme may or may not be the best idea. -Background Content measures how well-written the background of the entry is, and how creative it is. Including plot points, events that shaped your character, and so on, will earn you high points here. -Rules Use is based on how well your character is made mechanically, as well as for how well your entry follows the RAW. Is his attack bonus correct? Has she spent all her skill points? Is all the gold in the sheet accounted for? And the like. Powerful characters will earn at least some points in this category. -Clarity is a measure of how well we can read everything. This includes correct grammar (No leet über txt), and legibility of the entry's stat block. We want to be able to find what we need to judge the entry. Hints to Help This is not a competition to see who can make the most optimized character. It is a competition to find who can create the most creative and interesting character; one that you would love to see played in a gaming group. Of course, optimized characters can still be creative and interesting, but optimization is not the sole focus of the competition. Please consider your format before submitting an entry. As judges, we want to know exactly where you got that +3 in Tumble, or how you've laid out your ability scores. If we are helped in this endeavor, it reduces the chances of us (as well as you) making mistakes, and points may be earned for Clarity. For example, you could lay out your modifiers to everything, from AC to Skills to Abilities. If your +3 in Tumble came from 3 ranks, 13 dexterity and a check penalty of -1, point it out to us. If your Strength score of 16 comes from a base of 13, a +2 racial bonus, and a +1 boost at fourth level, point it out to us. Also, gold is a big hassle, so if you show how much everything costs, it saves us the trouble of going IRS on you. Consider including a chart or something that shows the complete level build-up of your entry, in case of cross-class skills, stacking class features and other such stuff that would be otherwise difficult for us judges to detect. Backgrounds are very important in this competition, worth at least 10 points. While your entry's background doesn't have to be literary genius, you are advised to cover at least the basic stuff, like parents, friends, homeland, motivation, behavior, and at least one plot point that a DM can latch onto, such as probable antagonist for your character. In this case, covering most or all of the aspects of a character is more advisable than simply focusing on one or two aspects in great detail. Don't worry, though, length is usually not an issue for us judges. The Leadership feat is quite often a wonderful choice. It offers characters a lot of power, and provides for some excellent background exploration. If you opt to give your PC the Leadership feat, we don't need a full stat block for the cohort or followers; all we need is the cohort's name, race, class(es), and level(s). You can provide the same sort of information for important followers. Note that you can provide more information - but doing so only increases your chances of miscalculating something, and therefore lowering your score. You are allowed to build characters with non-standard races, including Monster Races from the MM. However, please carefully consider this path before attempting it. You are creating a character of the appropriate ECL, and monster races have caused many contestants to stumble over the mathematics involved. Make sure you are prepared to walk this difficult road. It is also very helpful if you list the basic racial stats for such characters. Our list of Eligible Judges are Doopliss, TheChilliGod, Zherog, jennibert, JasonOrlandoHawk, Heros_Backpack, DarkKitsune, Mercurius, Haruspex, Kit_the_Odd, edwardsobel, Magus888, wrecan, Dragoncat, and Endarrion. The gold-medal winner of each Hero Craftsmen competition will be added to this list as a prize. Additionally, contestants who win multiple silver and bronze medals can also earn judge status. A contestant who earns 6 points worth of medals will also be added to the eligible judges list as a prize. (Medal point values: Gold: 6, Silver: 3, Bronze: 1.5) After each competition, we will seek volunteers for the next contest from the list until we have three judges. It is a voluntary thing, so if you (as a recent gold-medal winner) feel uncomfortable with judging, or just don't have the time, that's fine with us. Our judges for this contest will be jennibert, Endarrion, and Heros_Backpack. Zherog will be serving as a non-judging coordinator. This contest starts when this post is posted, and is due to end at 11:59pm GMT on Sunday, April 6th, giving you a bit over two weeks to enter your characters. If you have any concerns or suggestions to consider for the next Hero Craftsman competition, don't hesitate to post your comments in This Thread (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=621823). Finally, best of luck to all entries. |
| Zherog03-20-08, 09:19 PM | FAQ (and answers, too!) |
| Zherog03-20-08, 09:22 PM | Z's Big List of Entries Captain Kickass McAwesome (Red Marvelous!), (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15399970&postcount=28) by Jo_Pistachio Ciash Ilshor, Stealth Cow, (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15400387&postcount=31) by JasonOrlandoHawk Chetwick Darrian "Che'Dar" Muenztyr, (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15426160&postcount=41) by Talisman Hank Morgan, (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15440362&postcount=46) by wrecan Weaknee Strangeskin, (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15455311&postcount=53) by Alxdude Cheese Wiz Caseus, (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15477948&postcount=58) by Kimokeo Atem, Pharaoh and High Priest, (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15495632&postcount=64) by Mercurius Berryl the busty unicorn-riding, dragon-slaying Amazon queen, (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15538745&postcount=82) by JackSnape Fip Gouda, (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15539657&postcount=85) by CheeseMan Calli d’Sterling, (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=15540136&postcount=87) by Kit_the_Odd |
| Mercurius03-20-08, 11:33 PM | Wow... I did not see this one coming. I'm not entirely sure I know *how* to make a character that's munchkinny and cheesy enough. I'll have to put on my thinking cap for this one... |
| Zherog03-20-08, 11:52 PM | Well, we tried to cover the "munchkin" part for everybody with the high point buy, extra cash, and big list of books to be honest. And as I said in the top, how you choose to meet the "cheese" requirement is entirely open-ended. I've had this idea since April Fool's last year; I'm just glad the judges were interested in it! |
| JasonOrlandoHawk03-21-08, 12:05 AM | So... are the judges implying that they expect the usual bri... "nice gifts" to include gourmet cheese? |
| JasonOrlandoHawk03-21-08, 01:25 AM | I have a question concerning a Ranger's Favored Enemy: When I select "Humanoid" as a Favored Enemy, I am required to select a subtype. I was curious if I could select a subtype that appears in the allowed material, but is strangely absent from Ranger's Favored Enemy list. Specifically, can I select Favored Enemy: Humanoid (Shapechanger), since it is a subtype that appears in the Monster Manual? |
| Zherog03-21-08, 07:50 AM | Let's check the official FAQ, shall we? ;) Can a ranger take lycanthropes or humanoids (shapechangers) as a favored enemy? Yes and no. A ranger who takes favored enemy humanoid (human) gets its favored enemy bonus against humanoid lycanthropes that have the human subtype, and a ranger who takes favored enemy giant gets the bonus on lycanthropes that are of that type, and so on, but there is no type or subtype combination available to rangers that encompasses all lycanthropes. |
| Endarrion03-21-08, 07:50 AM | I have a question concerning a Ranger's Favored Enemy: When I select "Humanoid" as a Favored Enemy, I am required to select a subtype. I was curious if I could select a subtype that appears in the allowed material, but is strangely absent from Ranger's Favored Enemy list. Specifically, can I select Favored Enemy: Humanoid (Shapechanger), since it is a subtype that appears in the Monster Manual? Huh. I didn't realize it wasn't in there. I don't see why that would be a problem. EDIT: ninja'd by the FAQ. I still don't see a problem taking humanoid (shapechanger) as a favored enemy. That would just mean that it would only count against shapechangers who are also humanoid (elves, dwarves, orcs etc), right? Oh, and one thing about entries. If anyone creates a grizzled, old veteran warrior who specialized in throwing weapons, specifically spheroid-shaped ones, and who come from "a land of cheese," I'm deducting points. ;) I wonder if anyone will get the reference. |
| jennibert03-21-08, 08:37 AM | Hee hee hee. I like the cheesy munchkins. So much fun! As for Jason's question, I don't really have a problem with it either, but since they have posted an official WOTC answer for it, feel we should probably stick with that. We've been relatively stickler-y about that sort of thing in previous competitions, so we should probably be consistent. (Though, like I said, I'd probably let it slide in a game of my own, as long as the player and I took the time to determine exactly what was and was not included so it didn't get out of hand!) That said, I'll be out of town for a few days, so if any other questions come up that require judge consensus, I'll put my two cents in on Monday. Oh, and Go Musketeers! (Sorry, can't help myself;)) |
| Zherog03-21-08, 09:35 AM | Yep, I'm in agreement with Jennibert; in my game, I'd allow it. But it seems, based on the FAQ, that the official answer is that it can't be done. We've stuck pretty close to FAQ rulings in the past, so I feel comfortable saying Favored Enemy (shapeshifter) is not permitted within the competition. Sorry, Jason. |
| jennibert03-21-08, 10:14 AM | One quick word of advice to contestants, based on some experiences from previous competitions: Please remember that we expect you to enter a complete character. Imagine that you will go directly from this competition to a table (or play-by-post forum, or whatever) where you will actually be playing the character you submit...and your DM does not look kindly on slowing down scenes or combat because you have to look up how this class ability or that feat affects what you already have. It's not necessary to give full text of feats or items or anything like that, but do at least make sure that everything is accounted for. I have counted off a lot of points in recent competitions for people who simply did not list things that were important, and I don't enjoy marking down what were otherwise good characters for that reason. So please know what we expect....and that, having given this advice, I will be ruthless if characters are incomplete. :D |
| Zherog03-21-08, 10:26 AM | I'll even be nice and give an example of what Jenni is talking about. Let's say you made a 13th level paladin, with a 22 Charisma. Putting "Lay on hands" and "Smite evil 3/day" on your character sheet is correct. But... with just a few more characters, you can make both entries more useful: Lay on Hands (78 hp), smite evil 3/day (+6 atk, +13 dmg) Now you don't need to look those up or remember them; they're right there on your character sheet. That's the sort of thing Jenni is talking about. |
| JasonOrlandoHawk03-21-08, 11:34 AM | Oh well, considering my build, Favored Enemy Humanoid (Human) is more useful as combat cheese anyways. |
| Ecalsneerg03-21-08, 11:55 AM | Hmmm, I'm entering. Expect extraplanar races, gruesome assassinations, deadly venom and... cheddar? Is the unarmed Swordsage variant official enough for use, or is it excluded much like the Unearthed Arcana material is? |
| Zherog03-21-08, 12:09 PM | Is the unarmed Swordsage variant official enough for use, or is it excluded much like the Unearthed Arcana material is? Where's it found? |
| Ecalsneerg03-21-08, 12:13 PM | Where's it found? Tome of Battle, p20, under Adaptation. |
| Zherog03-21-08, 12:37 PM | If it's in the book, then it's valid material to use. Unless there's something I'm not understanding about what it is... |
| Cartigan03-21-08, 12:42 PM | I have two classes, but the only one fully worked out isn't so much cheesy as weird. |
| CheeseMan03-21-08, 01:45 PM | so...since its munchkin themed, we're allowed to grossly bend and misinterpret the rules (both of HC and D&D as a whole), and occasionally outright ignore them, right? |
| Zherog03-21-08, 02:06 PM | :bored: You're always welcome to do that; it just might adversely affect your final score. :P |
| Heros_Backpack03-21-08, 02:19 PM | One quick word of advice to contestants, based on some experiences from previous competitions: Please remember that we expect you to enter a complete character. Imagine that you will go directly from this competition to a table (or play-by-post forum, or whatever) where you will actually be playing the character you submit...and your DM does not look kindly on slowing down scenes or combat because you have to look up how this class ability or that feat affects what you already have. It's not necessary to give full text of feats or items or anything like that, but do at least make sure that everything is accounted for. I have counted off a lot of points in recent competitions for people who simply did not list things that were important, and I don't enjoy marking down what were otherwise good characters for that reason. So please know what we expect....and that, having given this advice, I will be ruthless if characters are incomplete. :D And for the same reasons, it's a very good idea to buy AND LIST everything you own, including mundane, everyday equipment. Don't just say 'Mundane stuff, Xgp'. Think whether you'll be able to answer if the DM asks "Do you have any chalk?"? |
| Cartigan03-21-08, 02:35 PM | :bored: You're always welcome to do that; it just might adversely affect your final score. :P But the theme of this contest encourages it and suggests that the manipulating would be ignored. |
| wrecan03-21-08, 03:18 PM | How am I supposed to make a cheesy character without the Vows of Poverty and Nonviolence from the Book of Exalted Deeds?! ;) |
| wrecan03-21-08, 03:42 PM | never mind. Answered my own question |
| Ecalsneerg03-21-08, 03:45 PM | 6) There are other restrictions, however. Material in the three core books is allowed. Any material found in the following books is also permitted: Complete Adventurer, Complete Arcane, Complete Divine, Complete Warrior, Complete Mage, Complete Scoundrel, Complete Champion, Magic Item Compendium, Spell Compendium, Tome of Battle: Book of 9 Swords, Complete Psionic, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Races of Stone, Races of Destiny, Races of the Wild, and Races of the Dragon. The use of Psionics, Item Creation rules, Epic Characters, and anything else in the Official SRD is permitted. For this specific contest, no other material may be used, including any variant rules in Unearthed Arcana. Of course, I'm not any sort of definitive authority. EDIT: Bad wrecan. Bad. |
| Allarian03-21-08, 06:19 PM | Arcane casting varient Swordsage anyone? :D By the way, how would that interact with metamagic feats or classes that advance casting progression? |
| Jo_Pistachio03-21-08, 07:28 PM | Captain Kickass McAwesome (Red Marvelous!) Male star elf wilder 6, thrallherder 7. 5 foot 4, 119 pounds, 76 years old. Lawful good. Worships justice as a concept. Size- medium Looks: In battle, he has a skin tight armoured suit, bright red, with some swirled in bits of white that look like flames. When not in battle gear, he looks like a typical star elf, with reddish hair, and a fairly fit, well rounded build. Stre: 14 =14 Dex: 14 =14 Con: 14 -2 (race)+2 item =14 Inte: 8 =8 Wis: 10 +1 (level)+2 (item) =13 Cha: 18 +2 (race) +2 (level) +6 (item)=28 BAB: 7 Attacks: 7/2 Sword: (acts as +5 longsword) +14/9, d8+3+5+2d6 (2d6 optional, costs 2 PP) 19-20x2. Rays: +9 or +10. Lose psionic focus for +2d6. 12, 14 or 16 D6 damage. -12, -14, +12, +14 depending on element. Grapple: +9 (freedom of movement.) Initiative: +2 Speed: 30 feet, fly 40 Saves: F:7 R:7 W:12 HP:67 AC: 20 (10+ 4 natural, +4 armour, +2 dexterity) Touch: 20 Flat footed: 18 (will usually have improved uncanny dodge from danger sense.) Wild surge+2 Psychic enervation (10%) Elude touch (+9) Surging euphoria +1 Volatile mind 1 Thrallherd (Leadership score 9+13+7=29 (capped at 25)) Psionic charm psionic dominate Greater dominate (animals, fey, giants, magical beasts, monstrous humanoids.) Followers: 135 level 1, 13 level 2, 7 level 3, 4 level 4, 2 level 5, 2 level 6. Psionic powers known (MF level 12) 180 power point reserve 1 Energy ray (fired from a fake looking hand gun apperatus) 1 entangling ectoplasm (fired from same gun. “Marvelous net!” is the display) 2 share pain Expanded knowledge: mindlink 3 danger sense 4 freedom of movement, psionic 5 adapt body 6 overland flight, psionic Open minded Inquisitor Expanded knowledge (mindlink) Psionic shot Greater psionic shot PT: 39 Appraise: -1 (int) Balance: +2 (stat) Bluff: +9 (stat) Climb: +2 (stat) Concentrate: +15, 13 (ranks) +2 (stat) Craft: -1 (stat) Decipher script: -1 (stat) Diplomacy: +13, 4 (ranks) +9 (stat) Disable device: -1 (stat) Disguise: +9 (stat) Escape artist: +2 (stat) Forgery: -1 (stat) Gather information: +9 (stat) Handle animal: +9 (stat) Heal: +2 (stat) Hide: +2 (stat) Intimidate: +9 (stat) Jump: +7, 5 (ranks) +2 (stat) Knowledge most: -1 (stat) Knowledge psionic: +7, +8 (ranks), -1 (stat) Listen:+4, +2 (stat) +2 (race) Move silently: +2 (stat) Open lock: +2 (stat) Perform dramatic pose: +9 (stat) Profession: +2 (stat) Ride: +2 (stat) Search: -1 (stat) Sense motive: +2 (stat), increasable to +12 with inquisitor. Sleight of hand: +2 (stat) Speak language: common Spellcraft: -1 (stat) Spot: +4, +2 (stat) +2 (race) Survival: +2 (stat) Swim: +2 (stat) Tumble: +7, 5 (ranks) +2 (stat) UMD: +9 (stat) Untrained. Use rope: +2 (stat) +2 wisdom =4000 +2 constitution =4000 +6 charisma =36 000 Psionic skin of the defender =32 000 +5 bracers of armour =25 000 Clay golem = 40 000 +1 psychic deep crystal longsword =6815 +1 cloak of resistance =1000 Travelers clothes =1 Rations (3 days) =1.5 Water (1 week) =4.5 Paper =1 Charcoal =Free from some fires. Flint and steel =1 Backpack =2 1174 Cash His psionic skin is bright red, and forms a large, glossy visor for him to see through. His thrall is Sergeant Punchout Rhino, (Marvelous Blue!) Male star elf, wilder 6, thrallherder 6 Punchout's thrall is Sergeant Headbut Supremacy (Marvelous Yellow!) Female star elf, wilder 6, thrallherder 5 Supremacy's thrall is Major Uppercut (Marvelous Black!) Male star elf, wilder 6, thrallherder 4 Uppercut's thrall is Private Knockout Roundkick (Marvelous Pink!) Female star elf, wilder 6, thrallherder 3 Team Marvelous! has similar equipment to Kickass McAwesome, though cheaper and less powerful versions of each. Roundkick's thrall is professor Knowington Grey elf, Cloistered cleric 8. Professor knowington has paid almost exlusively for expensive master crafted books on every topic there is (skill bonus to lore checks.) All of the believers are raging fans of the group, which is known as “Team marvelous!” (exclamation mark is a necessary part of spelling.) Raging fans that they are, they won’t go away, and should the team ever be in serious trouble, they will form angry mobs charging into the thick of things. Of course, their normal mode is to be a mob that follows Team Marvelous! anyways, so the difference is rather small. Raging fans can band together to use the Marvelous Beam! which is a magic missile that every last one of them cooperates to cast together. (cooperative spell metamagic) Typical raging fans are wizards, high int, low charisma geeks, who typically spent all of their wealth on Team Marvelous! memorabilia. The rest are screaming fangirl sorceresses that are similar in almost every way. Some are in fact, cat girls. (the level 2 believers are catfolk sorceress 1.) There are approximately 815 believers, with about equal numbers of fans for each member of Team Marvelous! They get along because each of the Team Marvelous members tells them to play nicely and get along (as well as any other social commentary that may come up.) There collective wealth was donated to the other members of the team to help pay for their clay golems and some of their equipment. Back story: Team marvelous was formed when 5 young star elven psions who were attending various educational faculties to learn more about the world were called to professor Knowington’s research facility. They were chosen because of their highly lawful good nature, their talent with psionics and weaponry, as well as their passion towards helping the world become a safer place for citizens everywhere. They were gifted by the fruits of Knowington’s research, which were his amazing power suits, and his clay amorphous golems. When combined… They formed a slightly larger clay golem, with odd bits. As they fought off evil villain after evil villain, eventually they received a large following of people who believed in their cause. Or more accurately, a following of people that thought Team Marvelous! was awesome. The fan war: 8 months into the fan club founding, the fans started bickering and attacking one another over who was the coolest of the Team Marvelous! members. The war was short but vicious, and it wasn’t until Professor Knowington invented a high powered megaphone that the Team Marvelous! members were able to calm their fans down. Ever since then, disputes have been at an intellectual level, as opposed to a physical one. This led to a larger increase in smart, yet weak believers, but less strong and tough macho guys. However, one ingenious believer found that the collective dorkiness of all of the fans could be channeled into a single deadly attack a few times a day. So long as they all believed with all their hearts that their precious Team Marvelous would save the day, they could create the Marvelous Beam! attack, which could vanquish just about any foe. This was probably the best indirect consequence of the fan war. Today: Today Team Marvelous! is fighting the dreaded space pirate General Cut-throat Hazard, who sends his minions and monsters down to the planets surface on a weekly basis to try and defeat Team Marvelous! so he can take over the world. Kickass McAwesome: Captain Kickass McAwesome is the current leader of the 5 man team (you can tell by his red psionic skin) and is the most balanced of the bunch. (though he is a bit dim he’s considered an all around kind of fighter.) Before he was a Team Marvelous! member, he was a simple, naturally psionic star elf, with a strong sense of justice, and a kind personality, if a bit hot headed at times. He was good friends with all of the others, and was studying knowledge: psionics from professor Knowington. (who while not psionic, knows a great deal about the matter.) Ever since becoming a member of Team Marvelous!, captain Kickass McAwesome has taken all the traits he had before and multiplied them 5 fold. He’s lucky some members of the Team Marvelous! group are more level headed and are able to reign him in when he gets too impetuous, but he’s all in all a good guy. He rides Red Clay Marvelous! a reddish clay golem into battle. When the other golems combine (Blue Clay Marvelous!, Black Clay Marvelous!, Pink Clay Marvelous!, Yellow Clay Marvelous!) they get Rainbow Clay Marvelous Omega!, which has all the power of 5 clay golems stacked on top of eachother, and fighting as a team. They often do this to fight off the giant sized Wu Gen monsters that General Cutthroat Hazard sends down to earth for them to fight. Obviously, Red Clay Marvelous! is the head of Rainbow Clay Marvelous! Fighting style: When the call to fight off and thwart all evil is raised by Professor Knowington, Kickass McAwesome and his friends band together to fight the evil menace, each with their own slightly unique style, and powers. Usually, Kickass McAwesome fights off the hordes of evil animated sludge henchmen of General Cutthroat Hazard with his trusty sword. When tougher enemies present themselves, he fights with a mixture of his sword and with his energy ray pistol. If it’s too much to handle, he also uses his Marvelous Net! to give him and advantage. When The enemy is too big to fight with his sword, or with his energy ray pistol, he relies on Red Clay Marvelous, or Rainbow Clay Marvelous Omega! to get the job done, though they are only called upon when in the most massive of foes appear. Once, Kickass McAwesome has gotten his fans to fire off the Marvelous Beam!, though that was only to destroy General Cutthroat Hazard’s flying space zombifier fortress. Man that was fun. It made me dumber as I wrote it, but man was that fun. :D |
| Zherog03-21-08, 08:09 PM | List updated! Welcome to the competition, Jo! I don't recall seeing you before. Nice to have you. :) |
| Jo_Pistachio03-21-08, 08:32 PM | I couldn't resist the siren call of the word "Munchkin." ;) |
| JasonOrlandoHawk03-21-08, 08:48 PM | Luckily, no one was around. His dark face showed lines of concern, and while he was the sort who rarely entertained visitors, he still appreciated being alone. He was angry. Who was this creature who had led the expedition that killed his mate. He had to know! Finally, the scrying mirror flared to life. His network of contacts had been careful to hire a simple bandit to spy on this creature: Ciash Ilshor. All the man had to do was follow this beast. The small mirror, the other half of the one HE now watched, would convey all the information that was necessary. When he knew, then revenge could be served. The bandit crouched in some dense bushes, about 20 paces off the main trail. As per his instructions, he set up the counter-part mirror catch the visage of the traveler. In a few minutes, He would know who this Ciash really was. All at once, a strange sight came strolling down the trail. A minotaur to be certain, but clearly not normal for his kin. His fur was clean, well-brushed, and almost... civilized. His weapons were in good repair: two gleaming swords, a massive quarterstaff (almost a small tree, really), a bow that most warriors couldn't begin to pull. This creature had the all the might of his race, but a dangerous intellect to match. So this was the beast that had killed his mate. Suddenly, the minotaur's hand snatched up his bow. In the blink of an eye, an arrow was knocked, then fired. He stared in disbelief as scrying mirror shook a few times before the blood of the bandit began running over the surface. What sort of beast was this, so well aware, and so deadly? As if answering the unspoken question, the minotaur strolled over to the bushes and picked up the scrying mirror. Before smashing it against the rocks, he stopped to utter three simple words... Cow. Stealth Cow. Ciash Ilshor, Stealth Cow Male Minotaur Ranger* 5 (6 RHD + 2 LA + 5 Ranger = ECL 13) Chaotic Good, Patron Deity: Ehlonna 7’6”, 713 lbs. (Large Size), Approximate Age: 37 Brown Fur, Brown Eyes, Black Horns *Champion of the Wild variant (Complete Champion p.50) Ability Score Mod STR 28 +9 DEX 18 +4 CON 18 +4 INT 12 +1 WIS 12 +1 CHA 12 +1 HP(HD): 97 (11HD) AC: 26 (+6 Armor, +4 Dex, +2 Deflection, +5 Natural, -1 size) T: 15, FF: - (Natural Cunning) Speed: 30ft Initiative: +8 (+4 Dex, +4 Imp. Init.) BAB/Grapple: +11/+24 Space/Reach: 10ft/10ft Saves: Fort: +13 (+2 racial, +4 Ranger, +4 Con, +3 Cloak) Ref: +16 (+5 racial, +4 Ranger, +4 Dex, +3 Cloak) Will: +10 (+5 racial, +1 Ranger, +1 Wis, +3 Cloak) Conditional Modifiers +4 vs. hot/cold environment (non-lethal) damage, +4 to resist damage from suffocation Immune: Blindness, Dazzling Resist: Cold 5, Elec. 5, Fire 5 Full Attack: (Note: +7 damage vs. humans, +5 damage vs. dragons) +2 Keen Shortsword (main hand): +19/+14/+9, 1d8+11, 17-20/x2, & +2 Keen Shortsword: +19, 1d8+6, 17-20/x2, & Gore: +12, 1d8+4, 20/x2 or +1 Comp. Longbow: 15/+10/+5, 2d6+8, 20/x3, 110ft or Powerful Charge: +21, 6d6+13, 20/x2 or Quarterstaff: +18/+13/+8, 1d8+9, 20/x2 & ("off-hand") +18, 1d8+4, 20/x2, & Gore: +12, 1d8+4, 20/x2 Attack(s): (Note: +7 damage vs. humans, +5 damage vs. dragons) +2 Keen Shortsword: +21, 1d8+11, 17-20/x2 +1 Comp. Longbow: +15, 2d6+8, 20/x3, 110ft Gore: +19, 1d8+9, 20/x2 Quarterstaff: +20, 1d8+13, 20/x2 Throwing Hammer: +14, 1d6+9, 20/x2, 20ft Special Qualities/Attacks: Darkvision 60ft +4 racial bonus to Listen, Search, & Spot Natural Weapon: Gore (1d8) Powerful Charge (Ex): Replaces Gore (4d6) Natural Cunning (Ex): Immune to Maze Spells, Never Lost, Never Flat-footed Scent (Ex): Recognize Odors, Detect Opponents by Scent, Track by Scent Proficiencies: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons, Light Armor, Shields Favored Enemy: Humanoids (Human) +4 skills/+7 damage Favored Enemy: Dragons +2 skills/+5 damage Wild Empathy (Ex) +8 (+5 class, +1 Cha., +2 Synergy) Animal Companion: Pristine (Eagle, see below) Hold Breath: 12 hours Double Carrying Capacity Light 3/day (CL 4) Commune 1/day (4 questions) (CL 9) Feats: Track (Ranger Bonus) Endurance (Ranger Bonus) Two Weapon Fighting (Ranger Bonus) Improved Favored Enemy* (Ranger Bonus, CoW variant) 1: Power Attack 3: Quick Draw 6: Improved Initiative 9: Open Minded^ *Complete Warrior p.101 ^Complete Adventurer p.111 Skills: Languages: Common, Giant (Initial), Terran (Bonus), Sylvan, Draconic (purchased) Skill Tricks: Never Outnumbered Bluff: +1 (+1 Cha), +4 vs. humans, +2 vs. dragons Handle Animal: +6 (5 ranks, +1 Cha) Hide: +15 (10 ranks, +4 Dex, +5 competence, -4 size) Intimidate: +10 (9 ranks, +1 Cha) Jump: +15 (6 ranks, +9 Str) Listen: +13 (8 ranks, +1 Wis, +4 racial), +4 vs. humans, +2 vs. dragons Move Silently: +19 (10 ranks, +4 Dex, +5 competence) Search: +5 (+1 Int, +4 racial) Sense Motive: +1 (+1 Wis), +4 vs. humans, +2 vs. dragons Spot: +5 (+1 Wis, +4 racial), +4 vs. humans, +2 vs. dragons Survival: +11 (10 ranks, +1 Wis), +4 vs. humans, +2 vs. dragons Swim: +12 (3 ranks, +9 Str) Skill Breakdown: (Skill Points: 27 Minotaur, 35 Ranger, 5 Feat) Minotaur RHD: Intimidate 9 ranks, Jump 6 ranks, Listen 8 ranks, Never Outnumbered Skill Trick (CS p.87), Speak Language (Sylvan)-2 ranks (cc) Ranger: Survival 10 ranks, Hide 10 ranks, Move Silently 10 ranks, Speak Language (Draconic) 2 ranks (cc), Swim 3 ranks Open Minded: Handle Animal 5 ranks Gear: Light Load: 1600lbs, Medium Load: 3200lbs, Heavy Load: 4800lbs Current Load: 85lbs, Light Load Weapons, Armor, & Magical Gear: 2x +2 Keen (Large) Shortswords (18,320gp/4lbs each): 36,640gp/8lbs +1 (Large) Darkwood Composite Longbow (Str. Bonus +7): 3,260gp/3lbs Arrows (40): 2gp/12lbs Walking Stick: Masterwork (Large) Quarterstaff: 600gp/8lbs Throwing (Large) Hammers x2 (2gp/4lbs each): 4gp/8lbs Agent’s Armor^: 23,750gp/40lbs Gloves of the Starry Sky* (Dex +4): 17,100gp/- Goggles of the Golden Sun*: 4,000gp/- Periapt of the Sullen Sea* (Con +2): 10,000gp/- Belt of the Wide Earth* (Str +4): 24,000gp/- Cloak of Resistance +3: 9,000gp/1lb Ring of Protection +2: 8,000gp/- Ring of Sustenance: 2,500gp/- Heward’s Handy Haversack: 2,000gp/5lbs Silversheen x4 (250gp/- each): 1,000gp/- Potions: Cure Moderate Wounds x5 (300gp/- each): 1,500gp/- Potion: Displacement: 750gp/- Potion: Haste: 750gp/- Potion: Invisibility: 300gp/- Universal Solvent x3 (50gp/- each) 150gp/- Section Totals: 145,306gp/85lbs Mundane Gear: Spyglass: 1,000gp/1lb Smoke Sticks x4 (20gp/.5lb each): 80gp/2lbs Sunrods x5 (2gp/1lb each): 10gp/5lbs Tanglefoot Bags x2 (50gp/4lbs each) 100gp/8lbs Thunderstones x2 (30gp/1lb each): 60gp/2 lbs Anti-Toxins x2 (50gp each/-): 100gp/- Bottle of Fine Wine: 10gp/1.5lbs Traveler’s Outfit (free/doesn’t count against weight): -/- Cold Weather Outfit: 8gp/7lbs Noble’s Outfit & Jewelry: 175gp/10lbs Signet Ring: 5gp/- Climber’s Kit: 80gp/5lbs Bedroll: 1sp/5lbs Winter Blanket: 5sp/3lbs Flint & Steel: 1gp/- Small Steel Mirror: 10gp/.5lbs Crowbar: 2gp/5lbs Caltrops x4 (1gp/2lbs each): 4gp/8lbs Soap (2lbs): 1gp/2lbs Waterskin: 1gp/4lbs Silk Rope 50ft x2: 20gp/10lbs Section Totals: 1,667gp, 6sp/79lbs (Note: The Mundane Gear is carried in the HHH, and doesn’t count against Ciash’s Encumbrance... not that it would matter) Total Gear Value: 146,973gp, 6sp Remaining Coin: 300pp, 26gp, 4sp ^: Agent’s Armor: +3 (Large, Non-Humanoid) Rhino’s Studded Leather Armor of Shadow & Silent Moves *: Raiment of the Four: MIC p.203, see equipment notes Animal Companion: Pristine (Small Animal: Female Imperial Eagle): 1 Bonus Trick, Link* HP: 5 (HD: 1d8+1) Initiative: +2 Speed: 10ft, Fly 80ft (average) AC: 14 (+1 size, +2 DEX, +1 Natural), T: 13, FF: 12 BAB/Grapple: +0/-4 Full Attack: 2 Talons +3, 1d4, 20/x2 & Bite -2, 1d4, 20/x2 Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft Special Qualities: Low-Light Vision, +8 racial bonus to Spot F/R/W: +3/+4/+2 Abilities: Str: 10/-, Dex: 15/+2, Con 12: +1, Int: 2/-4, Wis: 14/+2, Cha: 6/-2 Skills: Listen: +2, Spot: +14 Feats: Weapon Finesse Tricks: Attack, Down, Fetch, Heel, Seek, Stay, Warn^ (Bonus) *Normally, Pristine would also have the Share Spells ability, but that ability is unavailable since Ciash doesn’t cast spells. ^CA p.101 Ability Score Generation: Strength: 14 Base (6 points), +8 Racial, +2 Ability Score Increases (4 & 8 HD), +4 Item Dexterity: 14 Base (6 points), +4 Item Constitution: 12 Base (4 points), +4 Racial, +2 Item Intelligence: 16 Base (10 points), -4 Racial, Wisdom: 12 Base (4 points) Charisma: 14 Base (6 points), -2 Racial Hit Points 6d8 racial + 5d8 ranger + 44 Con, or 8 + (4.5 x 10) + 44 = 97 HP Attack Calculations: +2 Keen Shortsword: +21/+16/+11*, 1d8+11, 17-20/x2 Attack: +11 BAB, +9 STR, +2 Enhancement, -1 size Damage: 1d8 (base: large weapon) + 9 Str + 2 Ehancement Critical: 17-20/x2 *: Apply a -2 penalty to these attacks when using TWF +2 Keen Shortsword (off-hand, TWF): +19, 1d8+6, 17-20/x2 Attack: +11 BAB, +9 STR, +2 Enhancement, -1 size, -2 TWF Damage: 1d8 (base: large weapon) + 4 (1/2 STR off-hand) + 2 Enhancement Critical: 17-20/x2 +1 Comp. Longbow: +15/+10/+5, 2d6+8, 20/x3, 110ft Attack: +11 BAB, +4 DEX, +1 Enhancement, -1 size Damage: 2d6 (base: large weapon) + 7 Str + 1 Enhancement Critical: 20/x3 Gore (primary attack): +19, 1d8+9, 20/x2 Attack: +11 BAB, +9 STR, -1 size Damage: 1d8 (base) + 9 STR Critical: 20/x2 Gore (secondary attack during TWF): +12, 1d8+4, 20/x2 Attack: +11 BAB, +9 STR, -1 size, -5 secondary attack, -2 TWF* Damage: 1d8 (base) + 4 (1/2 STR, treated as off-hand) Critical: 20/x2 *: I can’t find any notes that indicate that the penalty for TWF applies to natural attacks. I have included that penalty in my calculations because the Gore attack is treated as an “off-hand” weapon for the STR penalty to damage, so I’ve concluded that all other “off-hand” penalties should be kept. Still, if the DM didn't think I needed to include it, I wouldn't complain. Powerful Charge: +21, 6d6+13, 20/x2 Attack: +11 BAB, +9 STR, +2 Charge, -1 size Damage: 4d6 (base) + 2d6 (Rhino enchantment) + 13 STR (treat as two-handed weapon) Critical: 20/x2 Quarterstaff (as double weapon): +18/+13/+8, 1d8+9, 20/x2 & +18, 1d8+4, 20/x2 Attack: +11 BAB, +9 STR, +1 Enhancement, -1 size, -2 TWF Damage: 1d8 (base: large weapon), +9 STR (main hand) or +4 STR (off-hand) Critical: 20/x2 Quarterstaff (as two-handed weapon): +20, 1d8+13, 20/x2 Attack: +11 BAB, +9 STR, +1 Enhancement, -1 size Damage: 1d8 (base: large weapon), +13 STR Critical: 20/x2 Throwing Hammer: +14, 1d6+9, 20/x2, 20ft Attack: +11 BAB, +4 DEX, -1 size Damage: 1d6 (base: large weapon) + 9 STR Critical: 20/x2 Item Notes 1) The weapons table indicated that I had to double the base cost & weight of the item since my character is large size. I couldn't find any similar requirements for the Goods table, so I used the standard cost and weight there. 2) Agent's Armor (in detail, since I know you'll get a headache otherwise...) Base: Studded Leather Armor: 100gp (Assumed x4 cost due to Monstrous Humanoid type) Masterwork Component: 150gp Rhino's: Enchantment based off Rhino's Hide Armor (DMG p.220). As priced, it is a +1 Enhancement that allows +2d6 damage on a charge. -Thus, the Base Armor Enhancement bonus is +4 (16,000gp). -Shadow (+3,750gp) & Silent Moves (+3,750gp) -Final Cost: 23,750gp 3) Darkwood Composite Bow: I made it from a special material to justify it being able to handle the strain of such a heavy pull. The example items in the DMG, seem to indicate that you pay for the masterwork item, and then add 10gp/lb. Don't forget that it originally weighed 6 lbs since it is a Large Composite Longbow. 4) The rules for the Raiment of the Four can be found in the Magic Item Compendium (p.203-4). I have also added Stat boosting effects to these items using the rules in the MIC (p.234). Design Notes 1) I went for the Champion of the Wild variant b/c his spell casting would be too weak due to his RHD. The bonus feats were just more practical. 2) I really wanted one more level: 12HD: +1 DEX, Imp. Combat Style, & a Bonus Feat (Two Weapon Defense). I don't even need extra cash. This is an actual character that I played, and ECL 14 was a happy, happy day. 3) Since Minotaurs don't have a listed set of age categories, I'm assuming that they age like Half-elves. Why? Because I can! 4) My character build assumes that Ciash gained two levels of Ranger while improving his Racial Hit Dice. This has absolutely zero effect on his actual stats. The story of Ciash begins on a remote island known as Dria, outside of the only settlement: Acitu. This small group of farmers, hunters, and herdsmen crafted a simple life out of the wilderness, always careful to never take more than they needed from the land. This considerate attitude earned them the appreciation, and eventual friendship, of a multitude of fey living in the land. One of the fey, a nymph named Nihia (nigh-I-uh), was particularly fond of the village. One night, a severe storm came off of the ocean, severely damaging the town. Nihia, went to the shoreline to help out the towns people when she made a peculiar discovery. Among all the rubble, there was evidence of a small ship wreck. In and of itself, this wouldn't be too strange, but there was something else to find: a baby minotaur. Normally, fey aren't fond of these violent, evil creatures, but something tugged at Nihia's heart. If the storm spared this child, maybe there was a reason. Besides, it was young. Maybe, if it was raised well, it's evil nature could be replaced with something more beautiful. She named the minotaur Ciash, or "Water's Fate," and (with the help of the village), raised the young beast. Years came and went, and while the chaotic tendencies of his race never subsided, the young minotaur did, in fact, develop a kind and generous heart. Living in such a remote place, he quickly took to the arts of the hunter, and by the age of 20, was a member of the town guard. Ciash's real adventures wouldn't begin for a few more years. One day, after running around the forest with his friends Ontem (a young dwarf with a talent for making cheese) and Ivalia (an elven maiden with budding talents as a Sorceror), Ciash came back to town to a scene of utter chaos. Bodies were scattered all over the place. People were screaming. There were sounds of an obvious fight. When Ciash discovered the cause of the commotion, he flew into a rage. A werewolf had attacked the town, when Nihia had stepped in to defend a group of children. Despite her best efforts, she had fallen to the beast's jaws. Ciash roared and charged. Upon later contemplation, there wasn't any reason for Ciash to have survived. Ontem would speculate that the werewolf fled the scene out of surprise, not actual fear. Whatever the cause, Nihia's murderer had escaped. It was later discovered that the creature had stolen a boat and headed for the mainland. As much as Ciash hated to, he knew what his next decision was going to be. He left Acitu. It has been 12 years, and one pattern has become obvious: the werewolf has been purposefully attacking sacred natural sites. Many fey have been murdered. Many sites have been desecrated. Ciash currently serves in the role of a defender of the wild. He has an extensive set of allies among the fey, particularly those tied to sacred sites (such as nymphs and dryads). He has fashioned himself as a member of high society (his idea of a joke), and travels around looking for news of his mother's murderer. Among his most recent discoveries, there are rumors of a Black Dragon who has hired a tribe of werewolves. The purpose of such an alliance remains a mystery, but Ciash is training for the day he can confront the organization that was responsible for the death of his mother. Ciash is a hunter. They will not see their death coming. The last thing they will ever hear... "Moo." |
| Zherog03-21-08, 09:08 PM | List updated |
| Grovel_hits_it_yes03-21-08, 09:31 PM | OK, define 'cheese'. I'm not certain what you mean. |
| Cartigan03-21-08, 09:39 PM | OK, define 'cheese'. I'm not certain what you mean. Archivist with Leadership and a Warlock companion. |
| Allarian03-21-08, 11:21 PM | Dragonwrought Kobald=Epic feats (Legally!) from level 1. Arcane Casting Swordsage="Why yes I would like unlimited use of any spell ever printed." (The CharOp boards won't even touch that one.) Or Gorgonzolla Man, Lord of the Swiss. Or something with a truely groan worthy concept or backstory. Really there is quite a lot you can do for this. |
| Kit_the_Odd03-22-08, 10:13 PM | Man, if only Dragon Magic were on the list! I've been dying to mix up a higher level meleeish bard built around Dragonfire Inspiration (trade Inspire Courage bonus for elemental damage to yours and everyone elses attacks, 1d6 dmg per +1 IC bonus). I was thinking about maybe a draconic goliath bard/warblade. I guess I'll have to think of something else. |
| Eldritch_Lord03-23-08, 12:48 PM | Y'know, you'd think for a contest to make the most munchkin-y characters, Unearthed Arcana would be the first book on the allowed list. ;) Ah, well.... I'll have one up shortly if I can get my idea to work. Otherwise it might be a few days, but I'll definitely try to enter something. |
| Ecalsneerg03-23-08, 02:16 PM | Nah, it's all those overpoweed psionics :P That said, I am using the XPH... |
| Talisman03-23-08, 07:40 PM | All right, I wasn't able to get a character done for the last two HC's, but I AM entering this one. Inspiration struck like a crushing fist of spite, and I've got him half done already. (stealth subscription) |
| Mercurius03-24-08, 07:45 PM | Well, I've narrowed it down to two concepts, both very divergent. I think I know which one I'll do, but I'm not sure if I can work the background like I'd like... |
| Talisman03-25-08, 12:14 AM | Here we go. May God have mercy on us all. ... Chetwick Darrian "Che'Dar" Muenztyr, mercenary and cheesemaker "In the name of the Lollipop!" --Che'Dar Chetwick Darrian Muenztyr, or "Che'Dar" as most call him, is a male halfling of average height and appearance. His hair is brown and his eyes bright blue, although his expression is often sour - as if he has just bitten into a cheese and is waiting to see whether it is spoiled or not. He is fairly muscular for a halfling, but is even stronger than he looks. He favors brightly-colored clothing which adds to his impression of foolishness and harmlessness, although he wears a large black cloak for when stealth is required. The most noticeable thing about Che'Dar is the massive, five-foot-long, bulbous-headed darkwood greatclub that is always slung over his shoulder. It almost drags on the ground, yet he carries it everywhere, no matter how inappropriate it is. Chetwick was originally a humble townsman in the city of Wauz. A cheesemaker, he delighted in exotic experimental cheeses - his so-called "Emerald Dilly Cheese" was wildly popular - and in irritatingly memorable songs, sung over and over and over. He often compared cheesemaking notes with the gnome Bing Twombly, an adept/cheesemaker, and the only person Che'Dar knew who could equal his love of cheesemaking. During his spare time, Chetwick was often found at the Emerald House, a theater owned by the Flying Munkii Brothers, a band of gnomish acrobat-bards. There, Che'Dar learned new songs to exasperate his friends, usually with the help of Gelgin Munkii, his closest friend. He also adventured on rare occasions, usually in the company of Gelgin and a halfling lass Dorothy Kansa and her wolf Toroto. Chetwick himself was not much for wild adventures, but he was enamored of Dorothy and sought out her company. These escapades rarely lasted long, although they sometimes took the band far from the city of Wauz. Unbeknownst to most, Chetwick supplemented his cheesemaking earnings and occasional adventuring fees with a bit of freelance burglary. He specialized in jewels, especially emeralds, but was willing to nab nearly anything of value. Chetwick retained a bit of a conscience: he would steal only from those he felt could afford the loss. To assuage his conscience, he often donated cheeses to various charities and poorhouses, as well. Trouble came when, inevitably, Che'Dar was captured by the local thieves' guild, the Scarecrow Men. His face disguised by a burlap sack mask, the Scarecrow King offered three choices to Che'Dar: he could leave town and never come back, he could become intimately acquainted with the wildlife at the bottom of the river, or he could perform a job for the Scarecrows. Having a brain in his head, Che'Dar chose the last. This job involved a bit of high-end burglary: slipping into the manor house of a powerful elven sorcerer, one Elaine Westenbough, known as the Witch of the West by her detractors. There, Che'Dar was to steal three items: the Heart of Courage, an amulet that granted protection from fear; the Alien Mind, a preserved mind flayer brain that acted as a living library, and the Diamond Slippers, a set of gem-encrusted footwear that allowed the wearer to traverse the planes. All went well until Che'Dar reached the treasure chamber. Laying his hands upon the Heart of Courage, he was nearly decapitated by an axe-wielding iron golem that suddenly sprang to life with a great screeching of rusted metal. Desperately trying to elude the noisy golem, Che'Dar snatched up the nearest weapon - a large greatclub with a knobby, bulbous end - and fended off the axe-blows. To his astonishment, the greatclub spoke inside his mind, helping him to elude the golem and flee the aroused manor house. Having failed in his mission, Che'Dar fled from both Elaine and the Scarecrows. The magical greatclub he had pilfered continued to help him, showing him the safest path and throwing up illusions to confuse pursuit. When he had time to consider the matter, Che'Dar learned that the greatclub's name was Lollipop (because of its shape) and it claimed to have been wrought by the eladrins, only to be stolen by the "evil witch, Westenbough." Lollipop's overriding goal was freedom and it opposed all tyranny - something Che'Dar could sympathize with. Che'Dar went into hiding, but he was found time after time - by the Scarecrow Men, by the City Guard, by agents of Westenbough. Each time he escaped, fighting off his enemies with Lollipop, using a mixture of his own cleverness and the greatclub's magic to confound his foes. Whenever possible, Lollipop sought to train its wielder, and Che'Dar focused on combat ability and learned much from the club. However, Che'Dar and Lollipop met their match in Roderick "the Coward," Elaine's consort and tracker, a ferocious fighter and - to Chetwick's horror - a werelion. Che'Dar barely escaped with his life, and decided to flee the city rather than risk the Coward's wrath again. Contacting the Flying Munkiis, Che'Dar was smuggled out of the city and set off to find a new fortune. Che'Dar and Lollipop have traveled widely since then, and the greatclub's influence over the halfling cheesemaker has solidified. One a whimsical, somewhat erratic person, Che'Dar has become downright unstable under Lollipop's influence. He believes everything the club tells him, but Lollipop is far from a tyrant - he lets Che'Dar do whatever he wants, as long as it doesn't aid the forces of Law. Thus, Che'Dar is free to hire out his special skills wherever he feels the urge. Che'Dar often claims to be "representin' the Lollipop," and does things "in the name of the Lollipop," leaving his comrades utterly clueless. He does not mention his weapon's intelligence, although he takes no pains to conceal its magical powers. Che'Dar is slightly paranoid, for he knows Elaine Westenbough is not one to forget an insult. He knows it is only a matter of time before her agent, the Coward, crosses his path once more. Elaine Westenbough (NE female elf sorcerer 18): Known to her detractors as the Witch of the West, Elaine is an elf distantly related to the royal family of her homeland. She was exiled for some unknown crime, and has settled among human lands as a result. She specializes in magics of control and compulsion, and is known to own a broom of flying. Roderick "the Coward" Albersham (LE male human werelion ex-paladin 2/ranger 12: Hailing from the far south, Roderick is tall and ebony-skinned, lean and muscular. Called "the Coward," he is a failed paladin; it is rumored that he earned his epithet when he abandoned men to die to save himself, an act that cost him his paladin status. He is a fierce and terrible foe, utterly devoted to Elaine Westenbough, and as adept in the wilderness as any man alive. Roderick is also a werelion, something he keeps secret from everyone but Elaine and those men who serve him directly (use weretiger stats). Gelgin Munkii (CG male gnome rogue 3/bard 8): Che'Dar's closest friend, Gelgin is a born showman, one who will never do things efficiently when he can do them with flair. Gelgin is the eldest of the Flying Munkii Brothers, a band of five gnomes who combine song, storytelling, and acrobatics at their theater. Dorothy Kansa (NG female halfling druid 10 [of Yondalla]): Born in a small farming village, Dorothy came to the city of Wauz to spread the word of Yondalla and teach those who were interested the beauties of the natural world and how to preserve it while still eking a living from the earth. Although she considers herself a simple farm girl, Dorothy is intuitive and intelligent, if a little naive, and Yondalla has granted her great divine powers. Dorothy knows Che'Dar is in love with her, and while she likes him, she does not truly love him. She is accompanied everywhere by her loyal wolf companion, Toroto. Bing Twombly (CG gnome adept 9): Bing is a strange bird: a cheesemaking adept. Despite his considerable magical talent, he earns his living crafting wondrous cheeses, only resorting to selling spells when the cheesemaking trade slows down. He is an artificer by choice, focusing his magic on enchanting objects rather than outright spellcasting. His specialty is a variant on potions: magical cheeses. "Lollipop": Intelligent, +1 vicious darkwood greatclub. (47,085 gp) Belt of giant's strength +6: A prize from early in Chetwick's career, he won this when he, Gelgin, and Dorothy sought to stop a grove of evil treants that were "freeing" various orchards from their "bondage to the fleshies." Chetwick was nearly bludgeoned to death by apples, but he escaped with his prize. (36,000 gp) +4 chain shirt of light fortification: Che'Dar found this in an ancient halfling tomb when he, Gelgin and Dorothy were hired to clear out some pesky undead.(25,250 gp) Boots of striding and springing: Che'Dar commissioned these specially, knowing that a swift stride was necessary for a successful burglar. (5,500 gp) "Potion" (cheese) of cure serious wounds (3): Purchased from his friend Bing Twombly; a soft, white cheese delicately marbled and with a smooth, fresh flavor (2,250 gp) Ring of protection +2: A trinket Chetwick "acquired" from a traveling wizard who made the mistake of insulting halflings. (8,000 gp) Bag of holding (type I): Also commissioned by Chetwick. (2,500 gp) Amulet of natural armor +2: A gift from Dorothy's grateful Aunt Emma, a druid, after one of their more hair-raising scrapes. (8,000 gp) Cape of the mountebank: A traveling show once came to town and began showing up the Flying Munkiis. Che'Dar stole their leader's cape merely to annoy them, only later discovering its magical powers. (10,080 gp) Daggers (2) (4 gp) Sling (-) Sling bullets (20) (2 sp) Entertainer's outfit (3 gp) Traveler's outfit (free) Backpack (2 gp) Bedroll (1 sp) Candles (5) (25 cp) Flint & steel (1 gp) Lantern, hooded (7 gp) Oil (2 one-pint flasks) (2 sp) Belt pouches (2) (2 gp) 50' silk rope (10 gp) Rations, 5 days (25 sp) Cheesemaker's kit (considered equal to healer's kit) (50 gp) MW thieves' tools (100 gp) 10 garnets (50 gp each) (500 gp) Miscellaneous coin (155 gp) Total Spent: 150,000 gp "Che'Dar" Muenztyr, male halfling fighter 4/rogue 9 Alignment Chaotic neutral Hit Dice 9d6+4d10+39 (93 hp) Initiative +7 Speed 30' AC 26 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +8 armor, +2 deflection, +2 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 26 (uncanny dodge) Base Attack/Grapple +10/+12 Attack Lollipop +17 melee or dagger +17 melee or sling +15 ranged Full Attack Lollipop +17/+12 melee or dagger +17/+12 melee or sling +15 ranged Damage Lollipop 1d12+12/19-20 plus 2d6 vicious, dagger 1d3+6/19-20, sling 1d3+6 Space/Reach 5'/5' Special Attacks Sneak attack 5d6 Special Qualities Evasion, improved uncanny dodge, trapfinding, trap sense +3, uncanny dodge, fortification (25%; armor) Saves Fort +11, Ref +12, Will +9 (+11 vs. fear) Abilities Str 23, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10 Skills Appraise +2 (+4 regarding cheeses), Balance +7, Bluff +2, Climb +10, Craft (cheesemaking) +9, Disable Device +15, Hide +14 Jump +14, Listen +14, Move Silently +15, Open Lock +12, Perform (singing) +2, Search +12, Spot +12, Tumble +13 Feats Improved Critical (greatclub), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Monkey Grip, Power Attack, Power Critical, Weapon Focus (greatclub), Weapon Specialization (greatclub) Lollipop is an intelligent, +1 vicious darkwood greatclub. It is a gleaming ebony in color, with a whorled, erratic grain that seems to shift slowly as one watches. It is surprisingly slender for a greatclub, but its head flares out into a knobby, circular mass of hard lumps and protrusions. Seen from a distance, it rather resembles a ball on a stick. Lollipop is chaotic neutral in alignment, and it attempts to persuade its wielder to become chaotic neutral as well; it hates lawful entities, and attempts to extricate itself from their clutches. It scorns all forms of authority and revels in chaos, but it does not particularly care what form this chaos takes: a riot is as good as a party to Lollipop. Its origin is unknown; Lollipop itself lies gleefully when interrogated, and magical investigation reveals only the confused influence of Glynd'ha of the South, the half-slaad/half-human warlock and self-proclaimed avatar of chaos. Lollipop speaks Common, Draconic, Elven and Slaadi and can communicate via telepathy as well. It has a 17 Intelligence, 10 Wisdom and 17 Charisma, and its 10 ranks in Bluff allow it to lie with skill (+13 total bonus). It can produce a minor image once per day, and usually uses this power to create more chaos and mayhem. It can also locate object three times per day; this power manifests as a yellowish tinge to the ground when the wielder is facing the correct direction, and Lollipop's nasal encouragements to "Follow the golden road! Follow the golden road!" ringing telepathically in the wielder's ears. Finally, as befit a weapon of chaos, Lollipop can throw up a magic circle against law at will, and usually does so to protect its wielder. It has an Ego of 14. Hit Points 9d6 rogue = 32 (6 + [8*3.5 = 28] = 32) 4d10 fighter = 22 (4*5.5 = 22) +39 Con (3*13 = 39) Total 93 Initiative +3 Dex plus +4 Improved Initiative Attack Bonus "Lollipop": +10 BAB, +1 size, +6 Str, +1 enhancement, +1 Weapon Focus, -2 oversized weapon Dagger: +10 BAB, +1 size, +6 Str Sling: +10 BAB, +1 size, +3 Dex, +1 halfling Save Bonuses Fortitude: +3 rogue, +4 fighter, +3 Constitution, +1 halfling Reflex: +6 rogue, +1 fighter, +3 Dexterity, +1 halfling Willpower: +3 rogue, +1 fighter, +2 Wisdom, +2 Iron Will, +1 halfling (+2 vs. fear) Ability Scores Base: Str 16 (10 points), Dex 14 (6 points), Con 16 (10 points), Int 10 (2 points), Wis 14 (6 points), Cha 10 (2 points) Halfling Adjustments: +2 Dex, -2 Str 4th Level: +1 Str 8th Level: +1 Str 12th level: +1 Str Other Bonuses: +6 enhancement to Strength from belt of giant's strength +6. Skills At 1st Level (rogue): 32 (8*4) Per Rogue Level: 8 Per Fighter Level: 2 Level 1: Rogue 1: Appraise 2, Balance 2, Bluff 2, Climb 2, Craft (cheesemaking) 4, Disable Device 2, Hide 2, Listen 2, Move Silently 2, Open Lock 2, Perform (singing) 2, Search 4, Spot 2, Tumble 2 Level 2: Rogue 2: Craft (cheesemaking) 1, Disable Device 1, Hide 1, Listen 1, Move Silently 1, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Spot 1 Level 3: Rogue 3: Disable Device 1, Hide 1, Listen 1, Move Silently 1, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Spot 1, Tumble 1 Level 4: Fighter 1: Craft (cheesemaking) 1, Jump 1, Level 5: Rogue 4: Disable Device 1, Hide 1, Listen 1, Move Silently 1, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Spot 1, Tumble 1 Level 6: Fighter 2: Craft (cheesemaking) 1, Jump 1 Level 7: Rogue 5: Disable Device 1, Hide 1, Listen 1, Move Silently 1, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Spot 1, Tumble 1 Level 8: Fighter 3: Craft (cheesemaking) 1, Jump 1 Level 9: Rogue 6: Disable Device 1, Hide 1, Listen 1, Move Silently 1, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Spot 1, Tumble 1 Level 10: Fighter 4: Craft (cheesemaking) 1, Jump 1 Level 11: Rogue 7: Disable Device 1, Hide 1, Listen 1, Move Silently 1, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Spot 1, Tumble 1 Level 12: Rogue 8: Disable Device 1, Hide 1, Listen 1, Move Silently 1, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Spot 1, Tumble 1 Level 13: Rogue 9: Disable Device 1, Hide 1, Listen 1, Move Silently 1, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Spot 1, Tumble 1 Synergy Bonuses, for having 5+ ranks in a skill: +2 Appraise checks regarding cheeses (Craft [cheesemaking]), +2 Balance (Tumble) +2 Jump (Tumble) Other Bonuses: +2 racial bonus on Climb, Jump, Listen and Move Silently checks (halfling) +4 size bonus on Hide checks (Small size) +2 circumstance bonus on Disable Device and Open Lock checks (MW thieves' tools) Feats 1st: Improved Initiative 3rd: Iron Will 4th: Monkey Grip [fighter bonus] 6th: Weapon Focus (greatclub), Power Attack [fighter bonus] 9th: Power Critical (greatclub) 10th: Weapon Specialization (greatclub) [fighter bonus] 12th: Improved Critical (greatclub) Lollipop intelligent +1 vicious darkwood greatclub MW greatclub (305 gp) Darkwood (10 gp/pound = 80 gp) +1 vicious (8,000 gp) Intelligent (Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 17), speech, telepathy, 3 lesser powers, 1 greater power, 120' darkvision and hearing (9,000 gp) minor image 1/day (2,200 gp) 10 ranks Bluff (5,000 gp) locate object 3/day (6,500 gp) magic circle against law at will (16,000 gp) Ego 14 (+1 enhancement bonus, +1 special ability, +3 lesser powers, +2 greater power, +1 telepathy, +3 Intelligence bonus, +3 Charisma bonus) Total value 47,085 gp References Monkey Grip feat: Complete Warrior p. 103 Power Critical feat: Complete Warrior p. 103 This is not a serious character (gasps from the audience). Neither is he terribly optomized...he's got four levels of fighter, for Cthulhu's sake! This isn't intended to mean he's useless; he should be playable and able to contribute. I chose to embrace a different interpretation of the words "cheese" and "munchkin." My intent was to make a character who was as silly as possible while still being fairly useful. There's a certain amount of amusement value in some hulking thug being beaten senseless by a 3'-tall guy in a jester's outfit, screaming "In the name of the Lollipop!" while dealing around 42 points of damage per hit. Extra bonus points for anyone who gets the "Bing Twombly" reference. Random aside: I originally intended to make a CoDzilla or a wizard, but when I thought of the halfling race, I decided to take some levels of fighter and embrace the opposite end of the scale. |
| Zherog03-25-08, 08:11 AM | List updated! |
| JasonOrlandoHawk03-25-08, 12:07 PM | Hey Kit & Mercurius, did you realize you're advertising old Hero Craftsman competitions? Too worried about your performance this time around? ;) |
| BloodDragon03-25-08, 12:09 PM | Hmn, Building the Fro-Mage a most powerful Cheeseomancer. |
| Grei03-26-08, 02:56 PM | Hmn, Building the Fro-Mage a most powerful Cheeseomancer. His name must be Caseus. (google it and find out why) Would his allignment be toward lawfull, or chaotic Gouda? Ranks in Profession: Dairy Farmer, a must. The origin of his tale would be that one day a terrible group of evil Wizards, Intolerant of his lactose ways, came to his dairy farm while he was out one night, and set it to the flame, aswell as slayed his beloved wife Bel (who he lovingly had nick named his Baby Bel). His mission in life, now one of revenge, to hunt down the wizardly Lactose Intolerants, known also as the Order of L.I. Justice is a dish best served cold... with some champaign.. and crackers. |
| wrecan03-26-08, 03:03 PM | HANK MORGAN, gunslinger Male Human Fighter 1/Ranger 12 http://bulfinch.englishatheist.org/yank/images/39-499.jpg illustration by Daniel Carter Beard from Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889), copyright expired Dear Sam, I don’t right know if you will ever get this letter, and I don’t know how to send it to you. But I’ll hold onto it just in case. I know you’d love to hear this story. You always loved stories, even before you started writing them. We are Americans, you and I. We born and reared in Hannibal, in the State of Missouri – anyway, just over the river, in the country. So I am an American – and practical; yes, and nearly barren of sentiment, I suppose – or poetry, in other words. My father was a blacksmith, my uncle was a horse doctor, and I was both, along at first. Then I went over to the great arms factory and learned my real trade; learned all there was to it; learned to make everything: guns, revolvers, cannon. Why, I could make anything a body wanted – anything in the world, it didn't make any difference what; and if there wasn't any quick new-fangled way to make a thing, I could invent one – and do it as easy as rolling off a log. But that wasn’t enough for me, Sam, or you either. You headed East to New York to be a reporter. I headed West to Texas and became a Ranger. First, I made guns for the Rangers, but later, I slung ‘em and I was as good a shot as the Rangers could provide, and they are known to be good shots. Well, a man like that is a man that is full of fight – that goes without saying. With a couple of thousand rough men, one has plenty of that sort of amusement. I had, anyway. At last I met my match, and I got my dose. It was during a misunderstanding conducted with crowbars with a fellow we used to call Hercules. He laid me out with a crusher alongside the head that made everything crack, and seemed to spring every joint in my skull and made it overlap its neighbor. Then the world went out in darkness, and I didn't feel anything more, and didn't know anything at all – at least for a while. When I came to again, I was sitting under an oak tree, on the grass, with a whole beautiful and broad country landscape all to myself – nearly. Not entirely; for there was a fellow on a horse, looking down at me – a fellow fresh out of a picture-book. He was in old-time iron armor from head to heel, with a helmet on his head the shape of a nail-keg with slits in it; and he had a shield, and a sword, and a prodigious spear; and his horse had armor on, too, and a steel horn projecting from his forehead, and gorgeous red and green silk trappings that hung down all around him like a bedquilt, nearly to the ground. “Fair sir, will ye just?” said this fellow. “Will I which?” “Will ye try a passage of arms for land or lady or for—” “What are you giving me?” I said. “Get along back to your circus, or I'll report you.” Now what does this man do but fall back a couple of hundred yards and then come rushing at me as hard as he could tear, with his nail-keg bent down nearly to his horse's neck and his long spear pointed straight ahead. I saw he meant business, so I was up the tree when he arrived. He allowed that I was his property, the captive of his spear. There was argument on his side – and the bulk of the advantage – so I judged it best to humor him. We fixed up an agreement whereby I was to go with him and he was not to hurt me. I came down, and we started away, I walking by the side of his horse. We marched comfortably along, through glades and over brooks which I could not remember to have seen before – which puzzled me and made me wonder – and yet we did not come to any circus or sign of a circus. So I gave up the idea of a circus, and concluded he was from an asylum. But we never came to an asylum – so I was up a stump, as you may say. I asked him how far we were from San Antonio. He said he had never heard of the place; which I took to be a lie, but allowed it to go at that. At the end of an hour we saw a far-away town sleeping in a valley by a winding river; and beyond it on a hill, a vast gray fortress, with towers and turrets, the first I had ever seen out of a picture. And that’s when I realized I wasn’t in Texas, or even Mexico. I was in a whole other world. And what a world it is, Sam, let me tell you! A world with magic and elves and things right out of Jack and the Beanstalk! But no guns. At least, none but the ones I make. Oh, they have all the makings for it. Black powder and iron. And I made myself a good set of tools, and a bullet press. Let me tell you, the natives were right impressed with my guns. And I was right impressed with their magic. So we helped each other out. I became a gun for hire and the townsfolk would help teach me a bit of their magic. Found a goodly steed I named Lariat. Smartest horse I ever seen. Together, with the guns and bullets I’ve had wizards enhance we’re nigh unstoppable. I've even managed to learn a magic spell or two myself. I know a spell for letting me see in the dark, and another for running real fast. Others, too. Too many to name, and I don't even know a fraction of the stuff here. I have had many an adventure, I assure you and picked up quite a few magical trinkets I’m sure will fascinate you, as well as a pound or two of gold. Amulets and rings of protection, and bags with no bottom! I’ve become a good right hunter too, by necessity. Pretty good at catching game, and criminals too, but now I’ve got bigger sport – creatures called cockatrices, frost worms and owlbears. I’ve heard there are even dragons around these parts, though I’ve never seen one. Still, what I wouldn’t give for a cup of coffee or a chew of Virginia tobacco! Well, I have to go. I’ll write more later, Sam. Have to meet a gnome (really, a gnome) about a job. Truly, Hank Morgan has met a few people in his travels, and offends many of them. Fortunately, his guns make more of an impression than he does, and his reputation as a true and honest friend have served him well amongst those with whom he cares to acquaint himself. Amyas “Clarence” le Poulet: Hank Morgan’s most trusted friend. A young aristocrat fascinated with Morgan’s technology. He tutors Hank in fitting in to the fantasy realm. Alisande “Sandy”: A pretty but somewhat flighty sorceress who sought Morgan’s assistance. Morgan found her terribly annoying at first, but she proved to be quite useful and pleasant. She has enchanted most of Hank’s guns and bullets. Sir Sagramor le Desirous: Your average haughty, block-headed knight. He angers quickly and holds a grudge. He resents Hank’s use of Use Rope to best him in a duel of honor. Sir Dinadan: A multiclass fighter/bard and occasional traveling companion. Considered funny by the “locals”, Hank doesn’t understand his jibes at all. Sir Kay: A cowardly and ineffective knight who resents Morgan as a political rival. Marco A humble charcoal-burner, and sometimes ally (usually supplying Hank with raw materials) Dowley: A prosperous blacksmith, extremely proud of his position as a self-made man. He often works with Morgan when he makes his arms. Morgan likes to keep his revolvers loaded. Usually, he’ll load them up with mundane bullets. But if he knows that his opponent has a vulnerability to fire, cold or electricity, or he’ll need the extra wallop, he’ll load up on the appropriate burst bullets. Unfortunately, since he has absolutely no ranks in Knowledge, he usually must depend on allies to tell him about his opponents. In battle, Morgan rides in on Lariat, guns blazing. He’ll use Lariat’s Improved Overrun first to knock foes prone, and then he’ll find a strategic location that provides him cover, and quick dismount, sending Lariat to a safe location. Then he keeps firing until he’s out of bullets, or the opponent closes in. If he has to, he will resort to fisticuffs, and his Power Attack (with the gauntlets) serves him surprisingly well. When he’s not fighting, he’s gambling, drinking or womanizing. When he gets really drunk, he’ll tell stories of his home plane, mostly about how much he misses a mysterious substance called “tobacco.” HANK MORGAN, Male Human Fighter 1/Ranger 12 Abilities Str 15 (5+gauntlets), Dex 20 (13+levels), Con 16 (10), Int 10 (2), Wis 14 (6), Cha 8 (0) Hit Points 103 (10 fighter + 54 ranger + 39 Con) Armor Class 26 (10 +5 Dex +7 armor +2 deflection +2 natural), touch 17, flatfooted 21 Speed 30 ft. (not including longstrider) Base Attack Bonus +13/+8/+3 Saves Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +5 Language: Common Alignment: Neutral good Class Abilities: Animal companion (Lariat, below), evasion, favored enemy (animal +4, humanoid (human) +4, magical beast +2), swift tracker, wild empathy (+1 on checks), woodland stride Attacks : This does not include bonuses from Favored Enemy (+2 damage against magical beasts, +4 damage against animals and humans), Power Attack or penalties for fighting when riding. Standard attack Gauntlet +16 melee d3+3 Revolver +22/+22 (additional +1 within 30 ft.) ranged 2d8+2 (90 ft. range increment) Full attack Gauntlet +14/+14/+9/+9/+4/+4 melee d3+3 Revolver +20/+20/+20/+20/+15/+15/+10/+10 ranged 2d8+2 (90 ft. range increment) Skills: For his level in fighter (his first character level), Morgan maximized Craft (gunsmith), Handle Animal and Ride. At each of his 12 levels in ranger, Morgan bought one rank each in Craft (gunsmith), Handle Animal, Listen, Spot, Ride, Survival and Use Rope. Below, only those skills with a bonus different from a straight ability bonus is shown (due to ranks or synergies). The bonuses below do not include favored enemy bonuses to Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot and Survival (+2 for magical beasts +4 for animals and humans). Craft (gunsmith) +18 (maximized, includes masterwork artisan’s tools) (+2 synergy bonus to Appraise checks for items made with Craft (gunsmith)) Handle Animal +15 (maximized) (+19 with respect to animal companion) (+2 synergy bonus to Knowledge (nature) checks) Listen +14 (1 rank per Ranger level) Spot +14 (1 rank per Ranger level) Ride +23 (maximized) (+25 to stay in saddle) Survival +14 (1 rank per Ranger level) Use Rope +17 (1 rank per Ranger level) (+2 synergy bonus to Climb and Escape Artist checks involving rope) Feats (in order taken) Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Revolver) (taken as Human racial feat) Quick Draw (feat selected at 1st character level) Rapid Reload (Revolver) (feat selected as Ftr1 bonus feat) Track (bonus feat received as Rgr1) Power Attack (feat selected at 3rd character level) Two-Weapon Fighting (bonus feat received as Rgr2) Endurance (bonus feat received as Rgr3) Point Blank Shot (feat selected at 6th character level) Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (bonus feat received as Rgr6) Rapid Shot (feat selected at 9th character level) Far Shot (feat selected at 12th character level) Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (bonus feat received at Rgr11) Spells Typically Memorized: Longstrider, Resist Energy Cat’s Grace, Protection from Energy Darkvision Possessions (carrying 40 lbs.) traveler’s outfit studded leather armor +4 amulet of natural armor +2 ring of protection +2 wand of cure light wounds gauntlets of ogre power with +1 enhancement bonus 2 revolvers of distance +2 handy haversack (for bullets) 300 normal bullets 50 flaming burst bullets +1 50 icy burst bullets +1 50 shocking burst bullets +1 50 adamantine bullets 50 alchemical silver bullets 50 cold iron bullets handy haversack (for everything else) 95 gp and 5 cp bedroll caltrops everburning torch feed (1 week) flint and steel masterwork artisan’s tools (for gunsmithing) rations (1 week) rope (50 ft., hempen) waterskin (full) winter blanket LARIAT, male horse animal companion Large Animal, HD 7d8+21 (52 hp), Init +1, Spd 50 ft. (10 squares) (not including longstrider), AC 23 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +8 natural +4 armor), touch 11, flat-footed 21 (not including cat’s grace), BAB/Grp +5/+13, At Hoof +3 melee (1d6+2), FAt 2 hooves +3 melee (1d6+2), S/R 10 ft./5 ft., SQ Devotion, evasion, link, low-light vision, scent, share spells, Saves Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +3, Abilities Str 18, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6, Skills Listen +6, Spot +6, Feats Endurance, Improved Overrun, Run, Tricks Attack (x2 to attack anything), come, defend, down, fetch, guard, heel, overrun (i.e., use its Improved Overrun feat), Possessions (carrying 74 lb., 289 lb. when ridden): amulet of natural armor +1, horseshoes of the zephyr, military saddle, and studded leather barding +1. Cost Calculations .....Cost..Item .20250.00..Revolver of distance +2 (nonmagical component crafted) .20250.00..Revolver of distance +2 (nonmagical component crafted) .18157.50..50 flaming burst bullets +1 (nonmagical component crafted) .18157.50..50 icy burst bullets +1 (nonmagical component crafted) .18157.50..50 shocking burst bullets +1 (nonmagical component crafted) .16175.00..+4 studded leather (+7 AC) ..8000.00..Amulet of natural armor +2 ..8000.00..Ring of protection +2 ..7000.00..Gauntlets of ogre power (+1 enhancement bonus added at 150% cost) ..6000.00..Horseshoes of the zephyr (for Lariat) ..2000.00..Amulet of natural armor +1 (for Lariat) ..2000.00..Handy haversack ..2000.00..Handy haversack ..1507.50..50 adamantine bullets (crafted) ..1175.00..Studded leather barding +1 (for Lariat) ...750.00..Wand of cure light wounds ...110.00..Everburning torch ....95.05..95 gp, 5 cp ....57.50..50 alchemical silver bullets (crafted) ....55.00..Masterwork artisan’s tools (for Craft (gunsmith) ....45.00..300 bullets (crafted) ....20.00..Military saddle (for Lariat) ....15.00..50 cold iron bullets (crafted) ....10.00..Tent .....5.00..50 ft. rope .....3.50..One week’s rations .....1.00..Caltrops .....1.00..Flint and steel .....1.00..Waterskin .....0.50..Winter blanket .....0.35..One week of feed .....0.10..Bedroll .....0.00..Traveler’s outfit 150000.00..TOTAL Little known rules being used The rules for revolvers can be found on page 146 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Since Morgan is a gunsmith, he can make bullets and firearms (50% price according to contest rules). For firearms used in magic items, Morgan would make the masterwork gun or masterwork bullet (at half price) and then retain a wizard to enchant it. Unfortunately, there are no prices in the books for revolvers (some nonsense of treating it like an artifact). Pistols are 250 gp, but a revolver is a lot better than a pistol. So I figured a revolver is akin to a nonmagical wand that does an average of 9 hp damage within 30 ft. That’s like a scorching ray, so I put the price at 4,500 gp (including the price for masterwork quality). Since he crafts guns, it would be 2,250 for him (plus full price for magical enhancements). Revolvers, unlike pistols, do not require a separate purchase of gunpowder or tindertwigs Technically, Rapid Reload is only for crossbows, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t also apply to revolvers, which normally require a full-round to reload. This would allow Morgan to reload a revolver with a move action, or both revolvers by using a double move action. If the Dungeon Master will not allow Morgan to use Rapid Reload, he will take the Mounted Combat feat instead. The bonuses provided by the Distance enhancement to magic arms and the Far Shot feat stack fully. This is not a case of 2x2=3, which is the usual course when stacking multipliers. Here, Far Shot grants a 1.5 and distance a x2, turning my 30 ft. revolver range increment into 90 ft. (30x2x1.5) Power attack can be used with gauntlets, which are considered like unarmed attacks, rather than light weapons. I was shocked to learn that each time a ranger gets a favored enemy you only get a +2 to the new enemy and a +2 to any one other enemy. (I thought you got +2 to each of the others.) That’s why the bonuses are +4/+4/+2, not +6/+4/+2, like I thought they would be. Sadly, rules for using a lasso or lariat exist only in Races of Faerun and the Book of Exalted Deeds, which are not permitted books for this contest. If they were, Morgan would totally have burned a feat for it (if needed). Rangers do not have warhorses listed as valid animal companions (as opposed to paladins who do have warhorses listed specifically). Although I find this absolutely silly, I used a standard large horse instead of a warhorse for Lariat. For those who don’t know, Hank Morgan is the title character from Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I decided my cheesy character would be a blatant rip-off of a character from a novel. But rather than ripping off Elric or Drizzt or Rand Al’Thor or any of the usual suspects, I’d steal from one of the greatest American authors who ever lived. And – even more cheesily – I’d write his history so that this character was a friend of Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) and who (assuming he returns to the real world) inspires Clemens to write his famous work. Like the book’s Morgan, my Morgan is educated as a gun manufacturer. Like the book’s Morgan, my Morgan travels to another world due to getting clunked on the head. Like the book’s Morgan, my Morgan gets ahead by introducing anachronistic technology. However, unlike the book’s Morgan, my Morgan is from Texas (by way of Twain’s hometown in Missouri), not Connecticut. My Morgan is not a middle manager, but instead a Texas Ranger (and a member of the Ranger character class… get it? It’s a pun!) |
| Zherog03-26-08, 03:51 PM | list updated |
| Mercurius03-26-08, 08:47 PM | Just noticed the PHBII isn't on the list of approved sources, which blows one of my ideas down. How can this be a munchkin competition if we can't even have access to the cheesy rules abuse of the PHBII and Unearthed Arcana? |
| Cartigan03-26-08, 10:24 PM | Just noticed the PHBII isn't on the list of approved sources, which blows one of my ideas down. How can this be a munchkin competition if we can't even have access to the cheesy rules abuse of the PHBII and Unearthed Arcana? But they allow ToB. The humanity! |
| Mercurius03-26-08, 11:35 PM | But they allow ToB. The humanity! I was going to respond to that, but decided I don't want this to become a pro/anti-ToB argument. But I was hoping to take advantage of a bit of the retraining rules in the PHBII, so it's a shame that's not allowed anymore. Just have to do some other cheese instead. I think I'll go with Mozzarella. I'm rather fond of it. |
| jennibert03-27-08, 10:34 PM | Mozzarella is a good cheese. I am also fond of Gouda, Havarti, Port-Salut, and Chevre. All contestants, please take note, in case you wish to send bri--I mean gifts. |
| JasonOrlandoHawk03-28-08, 01:01 AM | Mozzarella is a good cheese. I am also fond of Gouda, Havarti, Port-Salut, and Chevre. All contestants, please take note, in case you wish to send bri--I mean <i>gifts</i>. :whatsthis Duly noted. I shall send my gift with all of the demonstrated haste that other Hero Craftsman contestants have shown in previous competitions. |
| Alxdude03-28-08, 02:52 AM | Cool idea. It is sort of like iron chef: special ingredient cheese. :) Weaknee Strangeskin, the Blue (as in race) Wilder Weaknee was born into a large tribe of goblins in which blues rarely appeared. However, his tribe understood the psionic potential of blues, and thanks in part to his unusually powerful personality and keen intelligence he was placed in a position of very high status: the tribe witch doctor. It was his duty to perform rituals, interpret omens, and perform psychic readings for the entire tribe of 500 goblins. For most of his life Weaknee had absolutely no potential for psionics or magic. He was utterly incapable of psychic feats. Instead, he invented an elaborate system of ambiguous prophecy and psychic reading that would fit just about anybody and sounded very mystical. His interpretation of omens was entirely made up in his own guesswork regarding goblin religion and the rituals he performed were as much invented as traditional. Weaknee’s creativity kept him in his high status position despite his lack of capability. Unfortunately, the tribe witch doctor was a critical position within the tribe. Weaknee’s ineptitude caused a major decline in his tribe. Without the support and guidance of the gods or the magic power of true ritual, the tribe became weak. Raids became increasingly more difficult and less successful, resources dried up, and the population declined. It looked as the Weaknee’s tribe would be completely wiped out by neighbouring tribes. Until Weaknee’s real psionic powers became apparent. Weaknee was never physically strong. However, as he aged he became very weak, even for a goblin. Eventually, in his old age, even normal clothing became an encumbrance to him, and his movement and reflexes became so awkward and weak that he had trouble even moving. He became very sedentary and never left his bed except as ritual demanded. If his invented rituals and clever stories were not so valued by his tribe, they would certainly have replaced him. This time spent without moving gave Weaknee much time to think and focus his thoughts. After a time, his latent psionic powers began to manifest themselves. At first, he learned to push small objects with his mind. As time passed, he learned to use his power to lift himself from the ground, making movement bearable. He learned to shape energy with his mind. He even began to concentrate and divine information psionically. His insights and powers were a valuable asset to the tribe, and their decline stabilized. Weaknee was given the rare honour of a surname, Strangeskin. One day during meditation, Weaknee discovered a truly dreadful power. He discovered a psionic method for changing his shape into almost any conceivable form. Since then he has not advanced psionically, but has defeated numerous threats to his tribe and expanded their territory enormously. Weaknee stands just under 3 feet tall. He is light for a goblin at 34 lbs. His grey hair, kept standing constantly on end by elixirs as part of his witch doctor persona, combined with his blue skin, make him look rather alien. He wears only a piece of cloth to cover himself and a lightweight silver-lined cloak (Cloak of Charisma). Despite the lightness, it appears to weigh him down to a degree. Despite his appearance, Weaknee is very likable and easy to get along with. There are few goblins that do not get along with him instantly. This likability is not so much due to Weaknee’s goodness, but rather due to his manipulative nature. He always says exactly what he thinks his audience wants to hear, and when in doubt he uses his psionic abilities to make himself more attractive to his audience (Telempathic Projection). Weaknee has a carrying capacity of 2.25 lbs. Equipment Cloak of Charisma +6 (36000gp) (2 lbs) Using his formidable powers of conversation, Weaknee has also convinced wizards to cast mind-improving spells for him. He has had 4 Wishes for a +1 inherent bonus to charisma applied to him. (25000gp for xp cost and 1530gp for level 9 spell at CL 17 each = 106120gp) Total wealth: 142120gp One of Weaknee’s tried and true tactics is the aerial assault. He transforms himself into a pixie to become invisible and fly, and then flies over an opposed goblin tribe and obliterates it with energy bursts. Should he encounter trouble, he retreats using one of his many escape tactics. (Metamorphosis: Pixie, Metamorphic Transfer: Greater Invisibility, Energy Burst) As his tribes only real champion Weaknee often is needed to fight powerful individuals or creatures. Weaknee rarely fights an opponent uncreatively. However, if for some reason he wants to kill his opponent without any challenge, he transforms into a Thought Slayer (XPH) and gazes at his opponent (DC 27 Mind-affecting death gaze). If this fails to kill immediately, he proceeds to attempt to grapple his opponent and force him or her to look at the gaze. (Wild Surge +2: Metamorphosis: Thought Slayer, Metamorphic Transfer: Mind-Consuming Gaze) Against a powerful enemy spellcaster, Weaknee transforms into a Hoary Steed and casts Etherealness on himself. He then approaches the caster on the Ethereal Plane. If the caster is aware of his presence, he immediately retreats. If not, he moves directly adjacent to the spellcaster. He then transforms into a Behir as a swift action and immediately bites the flat-footed spellcaster while regaining psionic focus with a move action, and attempts to Swallow Whole if a grapple is established. If the grapple fails, Weaknee transforms into a beholder and opens his central eye to disable the spellcaster’s abilities and manifests Levitate on himself as a swift action to replace the Beholder’s extraordinary flight. He then attempts to engage the caster in melee combat. He relies on the Beholder’s 15 natural armour. If this fails, Weaknee retreats. (Metamorphosis: Hoary Steed, Metamorphic Transfer: Etherealness, Wild Surge +1: Quicken Power: Metamorphosis: Behir, Improved Grab, Swallow Whole, Psionic Meditation, Metamorphosis: Beholder, Quicken Power: Levitate, Metamorphic Transfer: Antimagic Cone) Weaknee practices many other intricate uses of his ability to change form. Against weak-willed opponents, he might elect to become an Aboleth and Enslave his enemy and then search for a suitably high cliff. On the water, transforming into a Dragon Turtle is useful, as is a Giant Squid. To grapple he might transform into a Frost Worm. Weaknee always keeps one use of Metamorphic Transfer ready to use if necessary to escape. Usually when he is threatened, Weaknee manifests Temporal Acceleration, transforms into a young adult White Dragon and flies away (or burrows if necessary) at high speed (200ft). If the threat is not too dangerous, he instead becomes a juvenile blue dragon. (Temporal Acceleration, Wild Surge +3: Metamorphosis: Young Adult White Dragon) When encountering immediate danger, Weaknee transforms into a blink dog and uses Dimension Door, or transforms into a Hoary Steed and becomes Ethereal to escape before transforming into a White Dragon. (Temporal Acceleration, Metamorphosis: Hoary Steed or Blink Dog, Metamorphic Transfer: Etherealness or Dimension Door, Wild Surge +3: Metamorphosis: Young Adult White Dragon) Wilder 12 (LA +1) Age: 80 (venerable for a blue) Neutral Evil Attributes Base Ability Scores Str: 8 Dex: 8 Con: 16 (10) Int: 15 (8) Wis: 10 (2) Cha: 18 (16) Final Ability Scores Str: 1 (8; -2 Racial, -6 Venerable [min 1]) Dex: 2 (8; -6 Venerable) Con: 10 (16; -6 Venerable) Int: 20 (15; +2 Racial, +3 Venerable) Wis: 13 (10; +3 Venerable) Cha: 32 (18; -2 Racial, +3 Levels, +3 Venerable, +4 Inherent via Wishes, +6 Cloak of Charisma) Hit Points: 44 (6 + 3.5*11) AC: 7 (10 + 1 size – 4 DEX) touch: 7, flat-footed: 7 Speed: 30 BAB: +9 / +4 Grapple: 0 (9 BAB – 5 STR – 4 size) Saves Fort: 4 base Ref: 0 (4 base – 4 DEX) Will: 9 (8 base + 1 WIS) Languages Automatic: Common, Goblin Bonus: (+5 INT) Draconic, Elven, Giant, Gnoll, Orc Class Features Wild Surge +4 Psychic Enervation Elude Touch Surging Euphoria +2 Volatile Mind -2 (!!) Racial Traits Darkvision 60 Small Naturally Psionic: 1 bonus PP +4 Move Silently +4 Ride Skills 18 Autohypnosis (15 ranks + 1 WIS + 2 synergy [Concentration]) 26 Bluff (15 ranks + 11 CHA) 18 Concentration (15 ranks + 3 Skill Focus) 15 Diplomacy (11 CHA + 2 synergy + 2 synergy [Sense Motive]) 11 Gather Information (11 CHA) 28 Intimidate (15 ranks + 11 CHA + 2 synergy [Bluff]) 22 Knowledge (psionics) (15 ranks + 5 INT + 2 synergy [Autohypnosis]) 18 Perform (dance) (7.5 ranks + 11 CHA) 16 Profession (mind-reading) (15 ranks + 1 WIS) 22 Psicraft (15 ranks + 5 INT + 2 synergy [Knowledge (psionics)]) 16 Sense Motive (15 ranks + 1 WIS) [B]Feats Skill Focus: Concentration (1st) Quicken Power (3rd) Psionic Meditation (6th) Metamorphic Transfer (9th) (DC 27) Expanded Knowledge: Metamorphosis (12th) Power Points: 193 (126 base + 66 CHA bonus + 1 natural) Powers Far Hand Telempathic Projection (DC 22) Levitate, Psionic Energy Burst (DC 24) Divination, Psionic True Seeing, Psionic Temporal Acceleration Metamorphosis |
| Zherog03-28-08, 09:04 AM | List updated. I don't recall seeing you before, Alxdude. (though I'm old, so my memory sucks) Welcome to the contest! Just noticed the PHBII isn't on the list of approved sources, which blows one of my ideas down. That's my fault. :( I'm pretty sure PHB2 was on the list of books we discussed as allowing into the mix, but when I put the list together I must've forgotten to add it. Sorry. :( |
| Mercurius03-28-08, 09:11 AM | List updated. I don't recall seeing you before, Alxdude. (though I'm old, so my memory sucks) Welcome to the contest! That's my fault. :( I'm pretty sure PHB2 was on the list of books we discussed as allowing into the mix, but when I put the list together I must've forgotten to add it. Sorry. :( I'm pretty sure, too, since I've had it somewhat corroborated by one of the judges. C'est la vie, I can't take advantage of the Retraining Rules, so I'll have to do some more creative multiclassing. My stats are largely done at this point, just gotta put it all together, and then get to work making this background work.... |
| JackSnape03-28-08, 11:20 AM | Mozzarella is a good cheese. I am also fond of Gouda, Havarti, Port-Salut, and Chevre. All contestants, please take note, in case you wish to send bri--I mean gifts. What's wrong with Wensleydale? |
| jennibert03-30-08, 02:08 PM | Nothing wrong with Wensleydale except that I cannot say I've tried it. On another note, just over a week left! Let's see some cheese, everyone! |
| Kimokeo03-30-08, 09:50 PM | Cheese Wiz Caseus; Halfling Wiz5/ES3/Fat5: CR 13; ECL 13; Size T; HD 13d4; hp 60; Init +9; Spd 20 ft; AC 21, touch 18, FF 16; BAB +5; Grapple -2; Atk: +5 melee (1d4 + 1, Tiny Morningstar MW); SA +1 racial attack bonus with a thrown weapon; SQ +2 morale bonus on saves vs fear; AL NG; SV Fort +7, Ref +10, Will +13; Str 12, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 28, Wis 10, Cha 10. Languages spoken: Halfling, Common, Draconic, Ignan, Terran, Sylvan Skills and Feats: Appraise +17, Concentration +18, Knowledge (Arcana) +25, Knowledge (Planes) +13, Profession (Cook) +6, Profession (Gambler) +5, Sleight of Hand +10, Spellcraft +27, Spot +10, Tumble +10; Feats: Danger Sense, Energy Penetration Cheese +2, Energy Substitution, Fickle Finger of Fate, Improved Initiative, Scribe Scroll, Sculpt Spell, Silent Spell, Spin Fate, Still Spell. Special Abilities: Familiar, Immunity to Sleep, Resistance To Energy: Cheese 5. Wiz Spells Known Specialist (Evocation – Restricted: Enchant/Necromancy) Spells per day (5/8/7/7/6/6/4): 0--Acid splash*, Arcane mark, Dancing lights, Detect magic, Detect poison, Flare, Ghost sound, Light, Mage hand, Mending, Message, Open/close, Prestidigitation, Ray of frost*, Read magic, Resistance, 1--Burning hands*, Disguise self, Endure elements, Feather fall, Grease, Magic missile, Obscuring mist, Reduce person, True strike, 2--Fox's cunning, Scorching ray*, Shatter, Web, 3—Fireball* Fly, Gaseous form, Lightning bolt*, Shrink item, 4--Fire shield*, Polymorph, Wall of fire*, 5--Baleful polymorph, Cone of cold*, Permanency, Wall of force, 6—Cheese (Acid) fog, Chain lightning*, Contingency, Flesh to Cheese (stone). Possessions: 57 pp, 4 gp, 4 sp, Mouse familiar, Headband of intellect +6, Tome of clear thought +1, Ring of protection +1, Cloak of resistance +1, Bracers of armor +3, Amulet of health +4, Quicken lesser rod of metamagic, Belt of giant strength +4, Heward's handy haversack, 3 Traveler's outfit, Bedroll, Everburning torch, Waterskin, Waterskin, 5 Masterwork artisan's tools, 3 Wizard's spellbook (blank), Merchant scale, 5 Spell component pouch, 20 Hunk of cheese, Potion of cure serious wounds, 2 Potion of cure moderate wounds, 2 Potion of cure light wounds, Dust of sneezing and choking, 2 Magnifying glass, 5 Iron pot (used metal to create block of swiss cheese iron), Tiny morningstar mw, Artisan's outfit. (All weight is that of Tiny for equipment-light load) Caseus is a permanently reduced halfling woman who grew up with four older brothers. A family of cheesemakers, Caseus came to know about many different cheeses. Her desire to adventure came about due to other wayfarers who needed cheese for their long journeys. The sustaining benefits of cheese and its longevity made it a desired fare of food for travelers. Caseus was the most intelligent of her lot, and as such, her parents wanted her to learn magic. So, they sent her to live with a Cyclops, learned to make and store cheese from its goats and sheep. The Cyclops, a fine wizard in his own eye, taught all he could to young Caseus. Caseus spent her adventurers with some very close friends from childhood. She loved to spend money on food, particularly fine cheeses. So, when her pocket would begin to empty, she would enter the gaming houses. She was quite good at the tables, and grew an interesting reputation. This kept her on the move, going town to town. During her travels, she began more and more disinterested in the surface towns, and began to search into the unknown parts of the world. She met many unusual creatures, her favorites being elementals. She happened once upon a most, unusual Mephit. It was a stroke of luck, guided by her own desired fate, to meet. She met Rennet, a male Cheese Mephit. In the depth of a volcano, she met with this sticky fellow. Befriending him and rescuing him, she came to learn about another facet of the planes of elements: Cheese. Already a master of Cheese and its element, the Mephit guided Caseus, now a maturing woman, onto a new path. A path that would eventually in her life, bring about a total transformation. She will become herself, Cheese. Fate brought her to the current path of her life. The life of the savant is to become one with the cheese. She has five points to spin fate, she can force another, friend or foe, to possibly change their fate (roll), she can affect any cause by spinning one's fate, she can even seal one's fate - one way or the other, for good or bad. She can even save herself from dying and even change her fate. She is resistance to Cheesy Magic, Immune to the effects of sleep - although eating cheese before bed is known to be beneficial. She is even better in defeating another's resistance when she uses cheese against them. Caseus doesn't like to lose. She will always want to go first, have the best chance to win, force the other to lose. She is an excellent ally and a most dangerous enemy. Her magic is quite unlike anyone has ever seen. All her magic element spells are cheese - hot and sticky. Her spells likewise, are quite altered. Like, Cheesy Hands, Cheesy Ray, Cheese Balls and Cheese Curl (her Bolt curls). Her Wall of Cheese and Cheese Shield are interesting displays of her magnificent magic. Her Cone of Cheese, Chain Cheese, Flesh to Cheese, Cheesy Fog are her most hideous of uses. She hasn't quite figured out how to turn someone into a stick of Cheese, but her Baleful conjurings have been rather gruesome. Her favorite tactic is to pull out her block of iron, which looks like a block of Swiss cheese with a spikes and hooks in the base. Permanently shrunk, she will cause it to take form. Then, by turning into a gaseous form, she would use Still, Silent spells from within the block of iron, peeking out of the holes to cast spells. She will also use Sculpt to SwissCheese the area of effect to protect her friends. Another combat form she prefers is to polymorph into a Will O Wisp and then go gaseous. Trying to hit a Gaseous Wisp is quite difficult. She doesn’t use her Morningstar in combat. But, when looked at real close, one would realize that is looks more like a cheese grater than a Morningstar. The Tome provided her the point towards 28 INT. She is permanently shrunken, with permanent read and detect magic cast upon herself. She likes to ride her mouse familiar. Appraise - 8, Concentration - 16, Know:Arcana - 16, Know:Planes - 4, Prof:Cook - 6, Prof:Gambler - 5, Sleight of Hand - 5, Spellcraft - 16, Spot - 8, Tumble -5 Hpts:max 1st level, 2/3pts for hpts. 4th/8th/12th to Int, Tome used for extra point @ 13th level after skill point expenditures. +2 spot from familiar included his skill bonus. |
| Kimokeo03-30-08, 10:12 PM | reason for editing... Didn't see it. I added the last couple lines to explain the Skill points s[ent on skills and hpts calc'd. Not sure how the smiley showed up?? The iron pots were used to create the iron swiss cheese block. |
| Mercurius03-30-08, 11:31 PM | The smiley showed because you wrote "Know:" with a P after it. It makes it a tongue smiley. :P You would be better off with "Know (Planes)" if you didn't want to spell out "knowledge" |
| Kimokeo03-30-08, 11:36 PM | The smiley showed because you wrote "Know:" with a P after it. It makes it a tongue smiley. :P You would be better off with "Know (Planes)" if you didn't want to spell out "knowledge" Now I know how some of those others appeared in my other posts. lol |
| Mercurius03-30-08, 11:45 PM | Smilies are the bane of forum formatting. |
| Zherog03-31-08, 12:50 AM | reason for editing... ... No sweat. You can edit for any reason within 30 minutes. You were well within that time frame. edit: also, list updated. For everybody who has entered those far -- If your character does not appear on the Big List of Entries, please send me a PM or post so I can resolve it. |
| Mercurius04-01-08, 05:23 PM | Okay, here's my entry. I considered going with a cheese pun named character (Bear Warrior, Camun the Bear), and detailing his battles with his arch-nemesis Ahj Yago, but after several other entries doing the same, decided to go with my other idea. What's more munchkinny and cheesy than taking an existing character from the media and making him into your PC? And what's cheesier than this character's series? Striding purposefully down the brazier lit corridor, the Pharaoh considered his goal. It was chaos in his country. Despite his successful defeat of the beast from the stars, a new demon lord was working through a powerful summoner in an attempt to subvert his kingdom and destroy the world. And yet, here he was, not leading his men and nation into battle, but walking towards the arena, to participate in a shadow game. His most prized consort had done what she could to convince him not to participate - defeat in a shadow game meant death, and the kingdom would be lost without him, both as a figure of government and spirituality. Nevertheless, this had to stop. The high priest of a rival faction had challenged him, despite the fragility of his kingdom, in a clear bid to gain control of the throne. This was not the time for factional rivalries, though his opponent had never been one to let personal squabbles lie. This was unacceptable. Too long now had he allowed the ambitious high priest to make a bid for his crown, and to interfere in more important matters. While he would like nothing more than to forge an alliance with him, it was not likely to happen in time. Perhaps the demon had infiltrated the church, and was pitting the two high priests against each other for its own benefit? It was possible. The Pharaoh sighed. Yes, if he could resolve this shadow game without the death of his opponent, he would gladly do so, but he suspected things had already gone too far. He passed his best friend, the high priest of a third faction, and shook his head. He would not ask for help. And they both knew, the high priest of the Law had never been defeated by the high priest of the Luck. And the Pharaoh would not bring himself to lose his best friend, because he could only trust him should things go wrong in this fight. He stepped into the arena, drawing his focus from the amulet he wore about his neck. His opponent greeted him in his snide manner. He merely took his place in the alcove above the battlefield, placing the core of his holy symbol, the sacred relic of his forefathers, upon the dais before him. Silence spread throughout the attendees, the priests and nobles and merchants alike. The Pharaoh looked into the eyes of his rival, reached down, and placed his hand on the dais. "It's time to duel!" And the shadow game began... History Atem was born to the reigning Pharaoh and high priest in a time of prosperity. The subjects were well tended, monsters seldom attacked the lands, and even the four factions of the church were at something resembling peace. As Atem grew, he was inducted into the priesthood, where he was taught to commune with the Cards, the over-deities who ruled the world and all within. Naturally drawn to the faction of his parents, he was taught that the Cards were benevolent - that with proper respect given, they would grant greater powers, that they would carry you through the most adverse of times. He showed a great deal of promise and skill as a priest, though he had several rivals. Some he won over into friendship, such as Joey, devotee of the Luck of the Cards, while he often ran up against one rival in particular - Kaiba, devotee of the Law of the Cards. Like all things, though, the idyllic times of the kingdom were not to last. First, Atem's parents were both slain by an ambitious rival's assassins. Though he was apprehended, they could not be restored to life, and Atem became the new Pharaoh at the age of 16. His grandfather tended to a great deal of the business of state while Atem continued to learn, but he was an able and wise ruler in his own right. His ability to lead was first tested when the exiled Pegasus used his dark rituals to steal the soul of Atem's grandfather in a bid to gain control of the kingdom. Aided by Joey and several other friends, Atem traveled personally to Pegasus's island kingdom, besting his legion of summoners and monsters. He faced Kaiba, who had been manipulated by Pegasus into aiding him, and defeated the fiendish schemer himself in a deadly shadow game. While Pegasus was utilizing the stolen powers of countless souls and a powerful artifact, Atem had the power of his friends and the support of the Cards behind him, and was able to vanquish the scheming sorcerer. Reclaiming his grandfather's soul, the Pharaoh returned to his people and assumed the throne by himself. When the three false gods arrived, avatars of disruption and power, Atem and his allies faced off against their power. With his increased skill and strength, the Pharaoh conquered and banished each of them, gaining the ability to utilize his greater spells to bring them to his aid as he did so. He wrested control of Slypher from a possessed servant of the false gods' master, Marik, and defeated Kaiba as he wielded the false god Obelisk against him in a bid for the throne. Finally, he defeated the mindbender and brought peace back to his realm, all the while increasing his connection to the Cards and learning the true names of the three powerful false gods, binding them to him to be summoned when needed. Atem was later called upon to defeat Dartz, who had been corrupted by the rain of green fire from the Star of Orichalcos. Dartz had set about attempting to awaken the elder evil known as the Leviathan, which, if set loose, would usher in the end of the world. Fortunately, Atem and Joey received aid from Kaiba, and they managed to gain the assistance of several celestial dragons once the aspect of Leviathan rose from the depths. Dartz was slain by the combined might of the priests, further weakening the elder evil's aspect, which was destroyed before the final seal was made manifest and the true beast awoke. And now, Atem's kingdom is under assault by a powerful priest of the demon prince Zorc, who is already attempting to gain the ancient artifacts of the Pharaoh's kingdom to summon the monster to the world and usher in the end of days. The bandit servants of this villain, Bakura, have already begun to rampage across the kingdom, and Atem suspects some of his own court may very well be in league with his enemies. Adventures Atem adventures to protect his kingdom and his friends. He is interested in gaining the ability to control stronger monsters and to understand the true nature of the Cards, but his primary focus will be on defeating villains who plot to destroy his nation or its people. Character Atem has milk chocolate brown skin, dark blue-violet eyes, and crazy spiked hair that's purple, black, and blond. He wears his armor in most instances, utilizing its glamored property to make it appear as ceremonial garb (which leaves his manly chest exposed). He covers up the sounds of the armor moving by making a large amount of golden jewelry appear on his person. His reliquary holy symbol appears as an inverted golden pyramid with a stylized eye on one side. Contained within the pyramid is a deck of master-crafted cards, which Atem draws when he begins a shadow game. Atem is a serious and focused ruler, with a strong sense of loyalty to his friends and subjects. As is his right as a ruler, he has several concubines, though he favors Tea above them all. He is a shrewd tactician skilled at thinking several moves ahead of his opponent, but he is also strong at improvisation when his opponents' abilities are unknown to him. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v39/discipleofsakura/Other%20Peoples%20Stuff/atemjpgw180h267.jpg <- Atem http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v39/discipleofsakura/Other%20Peoples%20Stuff/YamiyTeaenelantiguoEgipto.jpg <- With Tea prior to defeating Dartz. Allies and Enemies Joey: The high priest of the faction that puts faith in the Luck of the Cards, Joey is somewhat loud and impulsive, but also a true friend to Atem. He relies greatly on luck and chance, rather than forward planning, and is indeed exceptionally lucky when everything's at its darkest. He has made a contract with a powerful otherworldly dragon, and summons it when he utilizes his planar binding spell. Kaiba: The high priest of the Law of the Cards faction, Kaiba is the adopted son of a merchant prince, and has become a powerful player in mercantile politics as well as church politics. A schemer and devious mind, he is convinced of his own superiority and is constantly frustrated by Atem's repeated victories over him. He desires the throne for himself, believing fervently in the impartial nature of the Cards and rejecting the Heart of the Cards faction's claims to the contrary. Tea: Atem's most loved concubine, Tea is a skilled dancer and musician. She is a childhood friend of the Pharaoh's and Joey's, and tries her best to bolster them when she can, using her bardic music to strengthen their monsters as she provides them with support. Tristan: A somewhat dimwitted Maenad who has sworn a life oath to the Pharaoh, Tristan is a skilled martial artist, focusing on techniques that use his opponents' strengths against them. He lacks any magical talent, but does his best to assist Atem and his other friends. He is in love with Joey's sister, and vies with Devlin for her affections. Pegasus: The ur-priest Pegasus discovered a way to siphon the divine power of the Cards for his own gain, and trafficked with demons to gain the ability to manipulate souls for power. Though he was bested by Atem, he was not slain, and may still be plotting against the Pharaoh. Bakura: A powerful priest dedicated to Zorc, the "Shadow of the Cards," Bakura plots to overthrow the Pharaoh and usher the world into darkness. His monsters are immensely powerful, and he has a band of terrible nightmare-empowered bandits at his command. Without mercy, he is shrewd, scheming, and manipulative, using any advantage his enemy may provide. Atem believes he has gained the aid of key members of the church or court, and merely waits to utilize them to their fullest. The False Gods: The demons Obelisk, Slypher, and Ra were beasts that were under the command of Marik. Atem gained command over them by defeating Marik and his servants, gaining knowledge of the gods Truenames. He can now summon the outsiders if need-be, utilizing his Planar Binding spells. They are immensely powerful in their true forms, but Atem cannot yet control them unless he siphons through only a small portion of their abilities. Setting Information Atem worships a group of over-deities known as the Cards. The Cards are said to control the world, and are represented as a deck of cards. The church of the Cards is divided into three factions. The Heart of the Cards believes that the Cards are benevolent, and can be used for good. If the Cards are treated with respect, and one places their faith utterly in the Cards, they will guide the believer to the best possible outcome. The Luck of the Cards faction believes that life is inherently random, and attempt to learn the secrets of fate and fortune. By embracing the randomness of life, they believe that they can overcome seemingly impossible odds. The Law of the Cards believes in the absolute authority of the Cards, and those with direct ties to the Cards. They recognize that the Cards are somewhat impartial, but they believe that their tie to the Cards makes them more infallible than others. The Cards (N deity) have the Competition, Summoner, Trickery, and Undeath domains available for all clerics. The Heart of the Cards (NG deity) adds the Good and Community domains. The Luck of the Cards (CN deity) adds the Chaos and Luck domains. The Law of the Cards (LN) adds the Law and Strength domains. Atem, Pharaoh and High Priest NG Humanoid (Human) Cleric (Heart of the Cards) 5/Malconvoker (Complete Scoundrel) 5/Paragnostic Apostle (Complete Champion) 2/Contemplative 1 // ECL 13 Strength: 12 (+1) = 10 base (2 points) + 2 Enhancement (Belt of Strength +2) Dexterity: 12 (+1) = 10 base (2 points) + 2 Enhancement (Gloves of Dexterity +2) Constitution: 14 (+2) = 14 base (6 points) Intelligence 14 (+2) = 14 base (6 points) Wisdom: 23 (+6) = 16 base (10 points) + 3 Levels + 4 Enhancement (Crown of Wisdom +4) Charisma: 18 (+4) = 16 base (10 points) + 2 Enhancement (Cloak of Charisma +2) Fortitude: + 11 = + 4 Cleric + 1 Malconvoker + 2 Constitution + 4 Resistance Reflex: + 7 = + 1 Cleric + 1 Malconvoker + 1 Dexterity + 4 Resistance Will: + 23 = + 4 Cleric + 4 Malconvoker + 3 Paragnostic Apostle + 2 Contemplative + 6 Wisdom + 4 Resistance BAB/Grapple: + 6/+6 Initiative: + 1 = + 1 Dexterity Armor Class: 28 (33 vs ranged attacks) = 10 + 1 (Dex) + 12 (Armor) + 2 (Deflection) + 3 (Natural) (+5 vs ranged attacks) Touch AC: 13 (18) Flat Footed AC: 27 (32) Hit Dice: 8 + 4d8 + 1d6 + 7d4 + 26 = 73 hp DR: 3/Bludgeoning (Shirt of Bone) Speed: 20' = 30' base - 10' Medium Armor Attack Routines +1 Light Crossbow +8/+3 (1d8+1) MW Morningstar + 8 (1d6+1) Tactics If possible, Atem doesn't engage enemies. Instead, he uses his summoned minions to create a wall of monsters, teeth, claws, and spells to prevent the enemy from reaching him while he continues to bolster his resources with further spells and additional summons. He makes frequent use of Divine Metamagic to speed up his summons, as well as his metamagic rod or Golden Desert Honey. If he is pressed into battle, he tries to diminish his opponent's odds, via Sanctuary, Obscuring Mist, or Planar Exchange. Unless it is vitally needed, he retains his Summon Monster VI spell in order to summon the maximum earth elementals he is capable of. If escape is required, he uses Planar Exchange to trade places with an outsider and uses its Greater Teleport ability to travel as far as needed before returning. He can even travel across continents in such a way. In addition, his summoned monsters all benefit from fast healing thanks to his Call of Worlds ability. Skills {Class Skill max ranks 16, cross class 8, ) Appraise: + 2 = 0 ranks + 2 INT Balance: - 2 = 0 ranks + 1 DEX - 3 Armor Bluff: + 23 = 16 ranks + 4 CHA + 3 Competence Climb: -2 = 0 ranks +1 STR - 3 Armor Concentration: + 16 = 14 ranks + 2 CON Craft (any): + 2 = 0 ranks + 2 INT Diplomacy: + 18 = 9 ranks + 4 CHA + 2 Synergy (Bluff) + 3 Competence Disguise: + 9 = 0 ranks + 4 CHA + 2 Synergy (Bluff) + 3 Competence Escape Artist: + 1 = 0 ranks + 1 DEX Forgery: + 2 = 0 ranks + 2 INT Gather Information: + 7 = 0 ranks + 4 CHA + 3 Competence Heal: + 6 = 0 ranks + 6 WIS Hide: + 2 = 0 ranks + 1 DEX - 3 Armor Intimidate: + 9 = 0 ranks + 4 CHA + 2 Synergy (Bluff) + 3 Competence Jump: + 8 = 0 ranks + 1 STR - 3 Armor - 6 Speed Knowledge (Arcana): + 9 = 7 ranks + 2 INT Knowledge (the Planes): + 10 = 8 ranks + 2 INT Knowledge (Religion): + 16 = 14 ranks + 2 INT Listen: + 6 = 0 ranks + 6 WIS Move Silently: - 2 = 0 ranks + 1 DEX - 3 Armor Profession (Gambler): + 16 = 10 ranks + 6 WIS Ride: + 1 = 0 ranks + 1 DEX Search: + 2 = 0 ranks + 2 INT Sense Motive: + 6 = 0 ranks + 6 WIS Spot: + 6 = 0 ranks + 6 WIS Spellcraft: + 10 = 6 ranks + 2 INT + 2 Synergy (Arcana) Survival: + 6 = 0 ranks + 6 WIS Swim: - 5= 0 ranks + 1 STR - 6 Armor Use Rope: + 1 = 0 ranks + 1 DEX Languages Common, Celestial, Infernal Feats 1st Level - Spell Focus: Conjuration - Augment Summoning [Human Bonus] 3rd Level - Rapid Spell (Complete Divine) 6th Level - Divine Metamagic: Rapid Spell (Complete Divine) 8th Level - Skill Focus: Bluff [Malconvoker Bonus] 9th Level - Leadership (See below for breakdown) 12th Level - Summon Elemental (Complete Mage) - Extra Turning Proficiencies All Simple Weapons, All Armors, Shields (not Tower Shields) Spells Divine Caster Level 12 Caster Level 15 for Conjuration (Summoning) spells [Summoner Domain + Summon Elemental] Caster Level 16 for Conjuration (Summoning) spells on the Summoner domain list [As above + Knowledge Is Power: Divine Understanding] Spells Per Day: 6/7+1/6+1/5+1/4+1/4+1/3+1 DC: 16 + level, + 1 for Conjuration spells [u]0th - Detect Magic - Guidance - Light - Read Magic - Resistance - Virtue 1st Level - Bane - Command - Blood Wind (Spell Compendium) - Faith Healing (Spell Compendium) - Obscuring Mist - Sanctuary - Vigor, Lesser (Spell Compendium) + Summon Monster I 2nd Level - Ghost Touch Armor (Spell Compendium) - Veil of Shadow (Spell Compendium) - Summon Monster II - Summon Monster II - Hold Person - Restoration, Lesser + Summon Monster II 3rd Level - Summon Monster III - Summon Monster III - Dispel Magic - Prayer - Vigor, Mass Lesser (Spell Compendium) + Summon Monster III 4th Level - Summon Monster IV - Summon Monster IV - Dismissal - Planar Exchange, Lesser (Spell Compendium) + Planar Ally, Lesser 5th Level - Summon Monster V - Flame Strike - Righteous Wrath of the Faithful (Spell Compendium) - Triad Spell (Spell Compendium) + Summon Monster V 6th Level - Summon Monster VI - Planar Exchange (Spell Compendium) - Bull's Strength, Mass + Planar Ally Special Abilities One extra skill point per level [human] Bonus feat at first level [human] Turn Undead 13/day (3 Cleric + 4 Charisma + 4 Extra Turning + 2 Reliquary Holy Symbol) [cleric] Summoner Domain (Spell Compendium) [Cleric] Trickery Domain [Cleric] Deceptive Summons [Malconvoker] Unrestricted Conjuration [Malconvoker] Planar Binding [Malconvoker] Skill Focus: Bluff bonus feat [Malconvoker] Deceptive Summons (Fury) [Malconvoker] Fiendish Legion [Malconvoker] Holy Texts [Paragnostic Apostle] Knowledge is Power: Call of Worlds (Fast Healing 6) [Paragnostic Apostle] Knowledge is Power: Divine Understanding - Summoner Domain [Paragnostic Apostle] Lore (+6 bonus) [Paragnostic Apostle] Bonus Domain: Undeath [Contemplative] Divine Health [Contemplative] Equipment Ring of Mighty Summons (14,000 gp; Complete Mage) Golden Desert Honey x 4 (300 each = 1,200 gp; Complete Mage) Reliquary Holy Symbol (1,000 gp; Magic Item Compendium) Crown of Wisdom and Persuasion (Circlet of Persuasion and Wisdom +4 combo*) (20,500 gp) Metamagic Rod, Rapid Spell (11,000 gp)* Ring of Protection +2 (8,000 gp) +4 Glamored Mithral Full Plate (29,200 gp) (25 lbs) Lesser Crystal of Arrow Deflection (2,500 gp; Magic Item Compendium) Belt of Strength +2 and Healing (Belt of Strength and Healing Belt combo*) (4,750 gp; DMG & Magic Item Compendium) Gloves of Dexterity +2 (4,000 gp) Cloak of Charisma +2 & Resistance +4 (20,000 gp)* +1 Light Crossbow (2,335 gp) (4 lbs) Anklet of Translocation (1,400 gp; Magic Item Compendium) Heward's Handy Haversack (2,000 gp) Restful Crystal (500 gp; Magic Item Compendium) (Only worn while sleeping in armor) Shirt of Natural Armor +3 & Bone (Shirt of Bone with Natural Armor enhancement added - 27,000 gp; Magic Item Compendium)* Masterwork Morningstar (308) 10 Crossbow Bolts (1 gp) (1 lb) Explorer's Outfit (free) (PHB) - lbs Bedroll (1 sp) 2.5 lbs (in Haversack) Blanket, Winter (5 sp) 1.5 lbs (In Haversack) Caltrops (1 gp) 2 lbs (In Haversack) Firewood, 2 days (2 cp) 40 lbs (In Haversack) Flint and Steel (1 gp) - lbs (In Haversack) Grappling Hook (1 gp) 4 lbs (In Haversack) Mirror, small steel (10 gp) 2 lbs (In Haversack) Parchment, 5 sheets (1 gp) (In Haversack) Rations, trail (1 days) (5 sp) 2.5 lbs (In Haversack) Silk Rope, 50' (10 gp) 5 lbs (In Haversack) Signal Whistle (8 sp) - (In Haversack) Tent (10 gp) 10 lbs (In Haversack) Waterskin (1 gp) 2 lbs (In Haversack) Whetstone (2 cp) 1 lb (In Haversack) Everburning Torch (110 gp) 1 lb (In Haversack) Tanglefoot Bag, 3 bags (150 gp) 12 lbs (In Haversack) Tindertwig x 2 (2 gp) - (In Haversack) Sunrod x 1 (2 gp) 3 lbs (In Haversack) Spell Component Pouch (5 gp) Remaining Gold: 0 gp, 0 sp, 6 cp Leadership Leadership Score 19 (21 for Followers, 18 for Cohort) = 13 Level + 4 Charisma + 2 Great Renown + 2 Stronghold (followers only) - 1 Cohort of different alignment (Cohort Only) Cohort level 12th Maximum, Followers 60/6/3/2/1/1 Cohort: Joey, a rash, impetuous priest of the Luck of the Cards, Joey has many of the same abilities as Atem, though he relies much more on chance. In addition, he has access to a draconic servant. Cleric 7/Fatespinner 1/Thaumaturgist 3 (Planar Cohort, fiendish black dragon) Followers: Atem's 6th level follower and paramour is Tea, a Human Bard. Tristan, his 5th level Maenad Swordsage follower, acts as an enforcer and tends to the security of the palace. He also has several lower level priests (Rebecca, Halfling Cleric (Law of the Cards) 4, most notable among them) and some diplomats/errants (Devlin, Human Rogue 4, is the leader of his infiltration network. He has been known to act hostile to Atem in order to gain the trust of enemy groups). His other followers are a mixture of support personnel and lower-tier priests who side with him. Notes Skill Points Spent: Level 1, Cleric: 4 in Bluff, Knowledge (Religion, the Planes, and Arcana), 1 in Profession (Gambler), 3 in Diplomacy Level 2, Cleric: 1 in Bluff, Knowledge (Religion, the Planes, and Arcana), Profession (Gambler) Level 3, Cleric: 1 in Bluff, Knowledge (Religion and Planes), Concentration, Diplomacy Level 4, Cleric: 1 in Bluff, Knowledge (Religion), Concentration, Spellcraft, Diplomacy Level 5, Cleric: 1 in Bluff, Knowledge (Religion), Spellcraft, 2 in Diplomacy Level 6, Malconvoker: 1 in Bluff, Knowledge (Religion), Concentration, Spellcraft, Profession (Gambler) Level 7, Malconvoker: 1 in Bluff, Knowledge (Religion), Profession (Gambler), 2 in Concentration Level 8, Malconvoker: 1 in Bluff, Knowledge (Religion), Concentration, 2 in Profession (Gambler) Level 9, Malconvoker: 1 in Bluff, Knowledge (Religion), Concentration, Spellcraft, Profession (Gambler) Level 10, Paragnostic Apostle: 1 in Knowledge (Religion, the Planes, Arcana), Spellcraft, Profession (Gambler), 2 in Concentration Level 11, Paragnostic Apostle: 1 in Knowledge (Religion, the Planes, Arcana), 2 in Concentration, Profession (Gambler) Level 12, Contemplative: 1 in Spellcraft, 2 in Concentration, Diplomacy Level 13, Malconvoker: 1 in Concentration, 4 in Bluff The Metamagic Rod in my inventory isn't actually printed as far as I can tell, but it's a +1 spell level adjuster, so I just priced it at the price of all the other +1 spell adjuster metamagic rods. I've got a few combined items in my gear, or with variant slots. It's all rules legal as per the Magic Item Compendium's common magic item rules, if you were wondering about the costs. As for the Undeath domain being part of the domain list for the Cards, it's due to the fact that 1) it's all Egyptian to have undead (mummies and all), 2) there are zombie cards and such in the actual game, and 3) I wanted Extra Turning, but couldn't get an extra feat, so I got it this way. Munchkinism, y'know. :P Yeah, I went there. |
| Zherog04-01-08, 05:31 PM | List updated! |
| jennibert04-02-08, 10:30 PM | :duel: :bump: |
| Kaldair04-03-08, 01:59 AM | Wow, I just found this thread randomly searching (for a thread that doesn't actually exist; I was hoping for tips on how to create a Wulfgar Character). This is my kind of contest! I've got probably 7 characters ready that would only need minor adjustments to fit the format, and I never make a character without having some sort of backstory in mind (cuz that's the fun of D&D: making a personality to play). I think I know which one I want to submit. |
| Zherog04-03-08, 08:01 AM | Welcome to the contest, Kaldair! Everybody has a bit over three days to finish up your cheese. |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-03-08, 08:26 AM | Welcome to the contest, Kaldair! Everybody has a bit over three days to finish up your cheese. By "finish up," do you mean "mail?" |
| Zherog04-03-08, 09:55 AM | Maaaaybe.... :schemes: |
| Mercurius04-04-08, 02:25 PM | C'mon, people! There's not much time left to get your entries in! You gonna make it easy on the judges this time?! Let's see some munchkins, shall we! |
| CheeseMan04-04-08, 03:40 PM | alas, i've been to busy being lazy to enter this particular HC. oh well, hopefully 4e wont kill it |
| Zherog04-04-08, 03:46 PM | Dude - with your user name, you're not going to enter the cheese contest? There's just something totally wrong about that... You still have over 48 hours left! Entry deadline isn't until Sunday at 11:59pm GMT (7:59pm EDT, 6:59pm CDT, 5:59pm MDT and 4:59pm PDT). I believe you're CDT... |
| CheeseMan04-04-08, 06:53 PM | aye i would've gotten started circa yesterday, and while last minute entries are unfortunately kinda my 'thing', 13 levels is a bit too much to do last minute |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-05-08, 02:31 AM | If it makes things easier, don't use complex rules. No PrC. No (or very little) splat book material. A Druid holds it's own without resorting to vague rules-use combinations (a.k.a.: "abuses"). And, it is much, much easier to create a core only single class character than some of the off the wall combinations that tend to show up. As Heros_Backpack frequently proves, core-only characters can easily stand up to the more complex builds in these competitions. |
| CheeseMan04-05-08, 11:43 AM | you just gave me an idea you'll wish you hadn't anyway, for a character of Old age, i just gotta make a note of at what levels he hit Middle and Old? (for skill point purposes) edit: ah crap more questions. how much info do i need to include for Leadership? there somewhere i can find the gold value of a building (house and/or pub)? |
| Zherog04-05-08, 06:40 PM | you just gave me an idea you'll wish you hadn't anyway, for a character of Old age, i just gotta make a note of at what levels he hit Middle and Old? (for skill point purposes) Correct. how much info do i need to include for Leadership? Minimum info is your leadership score and name/race/class/level for your cohort. Something like "Bob Smith, human fighter 10" is perfectly fine. Followers can be defined just as vaguely. Something as simple as, "among Cheddar's followers is a 5th level expert blacksmith, who crafts all his metal items." You're free to provide more than that, of course. But if you give more details about your cohort or follower, it can have an adverse affect on your mechanics score, because it's more chances to make a mistake. there somewhere i can find the gold value of a building (house and/or pub)? I don't know if that info is defined anywhere... I think some of that sort of info can be found in Stronghold Builder's Guidebook. |
| Heros_Backpack04-05-08, 08:02 PM | there somewhere i can find the gold value of a building (house and/or pub)? I don't know if that info is defined anywhere... I think some of that sort of info can be found in Stronghold Builder's Guidebook. Basic building prices according to the SRD (and the DMG - Urban Adventures section) Simple house 1,000 gp Grand house 5,000 gp Mansion 100,000 gp Tower 50,000 gp Keep 150,000 gp Castle 500,000 gp Huge castle 1,000,000 gp Moat with bridge 50,000 gp Does anything in that fit what you're thinking of? |
| CheeseMan04-06-08, 04:07 PM | aight thanks yall i'm lookin at maybe a 'grand house' upstairs (5000gp), but triple cost for being brick (15k), and the pub downstairs being equivalent (another 15k), but double cost for being a place of business (30k) for a total cost of 45000gp that seem a fair cost judgely dudes and gal? (sorry for the hassel, but the supreme cheese concept wont work without it) |
| Zherog04-06-08, 04:52 PM | that seem a fair cost judgely dudes and gal? (sorry for the hassel, but the supreme cheese concept wont work without it) Without specifically saying yes or no, I'll say your logic seems imminently reasonable. As with other things that have the potential to be sticking points, it's always good to show your work in your entry. That way, even if a judge disagrees with your final price, they can at least see how you arrived at it. |
| wrecan04-06-08, 04:58 PM | Can you give him ranks in Craft (mason) so he makes it for one-third price (i.e., 15,000)? |
| JackSnape04-06-08, 05:02 PM | This is my first entry in a HC competition. I'm amazed at how much time I put into it, and even tho it's a cheese competition, I kind of want to play this character now :) Imagine you are walking through the mall and browsing the fantasy posters in the record store Berryl the busty unicorn-riding, dragon-slaying Amazon queen Description- Berryl is almost exactly 7 feet tall. Her measurements are 42-32-38. Her skin is fair and smooth. She wears her flowing blonde hair in a loose mane that falls to her lower back. Atop her head is a bejeweled crown. Her gleaming silver armor is cut to expose her muscular midriff and her ample cleavage including a small crescent moon birthmark on her right breast. Around her waist she wears an armored skirt in the roman style. On her feet she wears a pair of stiletto-heeled leather boots that reach just above her knees, leaving a half-inch of thigh visible below her skirt. She holds a massive spear that stands over twice her height. It’s broad head glints silvery in the sun. Always at close hand are Asteri her unicorn mount and Opal the great white tiger. Background- Berryl was orphaned at a young age and never knew her parents. Luckily, she was found by a kindly priestess from an Amazonian tribe; there were only a few men there kept as sires for the priestesses. She grew up there and learned the arts of the priestesses and the warriors. Her life was safe and happy until when she was 20 and a black dragon ravaged the village. All the other women were killed so Berryl took on the role of queen, and left to find the dragon who had done this. Since this time she has traveled the lands searching out and slaying evil dragons. She relied on her toughness and beauty to survive those times. Her outlook is sunny, but when the time for fighting comes her eyes narrow and she can defeat almost any enemy when the need arrives. She especially enjoys killing dragons and proving herself against men. In her travels she came across a giant who kept a selection of animals in a zoo. The giant took a fancy to Berryll and tried to cage her. She killed the cruel giant and freed the menagerie, but two of the animals would not leave her side, a regal unicorn and a tiger cub. Berryll nursed them back to health and reared the cub. When the unicorn offered it's service as a mount she released her warhorse. These two have become her traveling companions. They protect her to the best of their ability in thanks for their freedom. Combat Berryll is uniquely suited to fighting large creatures without help. Fighting groups of smaller creatures may be harder for her since she excels at combat at 15 ft and cannot employ her signature weapon against adjacent foes. Opal stays at her side and the tiger and Asteri attempt to take care of close enemies. If needed Berryll changes to her longsword to fight adjacent foes. Berryll Size/Type: Medium Giant (Half-Giant) Levels: Paladin 6 Kensai 6 HP: 118 (12 HD) AC: 26 (-1 Dex, +8 Magic Fullplate, +7 bracers, +2 ring) Init: -1 BAB/Grap: 10/21 Attack: +18 Dragonspiker (4d6+13[+1d6 electric]) or +17 Huge Longsword (3d6 + 7) Full: +18/+13 Dragonspiker (see full stat block below) or +17/12 Huge Longsword Ranged: +10/5 Large composite Longbow (2d6 + 4) Special Attk: Stomp, Smite Evil, Turn Undead, Haste 10 rnds/day (armor) Saves: F 14 R 8 W 12 Fire Acclimated, Immune to Fear, can replace reflex saves with concentration checks Special Qual: Low-light vision, Fire Acclimated, Powerful Build, Aura of Good, Divine Grave, Lay on Hands, Aura of Courage, Call Mount, Signature Weapon, Power Surge, Ki Projection, Withstand, Good alligned attacks Feats (in order taken): Exotic Weapon proficiency (greatspear), Weapon focus (greatspear), Mounted Combat (bonus), Combat Expertise, Monkey Grip, Quickdraw Skills: Concentration +20 (16 ranks+4 con), Diplomacy +8 (6 ranks+2 cha), Handle Animal +18 (16 ranks+2 cha), Intimidate +8 (6 ranks+2 cha) Ride +17 (16 ranks -1 dex +2 Handle Animal synergy) Abilities: Str 24 Dex 8 Con 18 Int 13 Wis 10 Cha 14 Spells: none Berryll uses the non-spellcasting "Holy-Warrior" paladin variant in Complete Champion (pg 49) instead she received a bonus feat at level 4. She chose Mounted Combat. Due to this choice she canot use scrolls or any other magic item that requires her to know spells or have a spell list. Equipment Worn: Headband of Intelect +2 (4,000), Gauntlets of Ogre Power +2 (4,000), Dragonspiker (12,380), Mithril Full Plate of Speed (26,500), Bracers of armor +7 (49,000), +2 Animated Heavy Steel Shield (16,170), Cloak of Resistance +3 (9,000), Ring of Protection +2 (4,000), MW Huge Longsword (360), MW Large Composite +4 Longbow (1,300), Jeweled gold crown (5,000) Equipment in red is kept in the bag of holding. Other Equipment (magic): Horseshoes of the Zephyr(6,000), Bag of Holding Type 1, holds 250# (2,500), Collar of Obedience (1,500), Potions of Cure Light x 10 (500), Potions of Mage Armor x 10 (500), Potions of Energy Resisance: fire x 2, cold x 2, electric x 2, acid x 2 (2,400), Potion of Lesser Restoration (300), Potion of Invisibility x 2 (600) Other Equipment (mundane) Breastplate for Astaria (800), Bit and Bridle (2), Saddle (20),Horse Food x 10 (5sp), Chunk of Meat x 10 (3) Bedroll (1sp), Blanket (5sp) Tent (10), Trail Rations x 10 (5), Sledge (1), Hemp Rope (1), Chain 50ft (150), Crowbar (2), Pot (5sp), Soap 1# (5sp), Climber's kit (80), Oil x 5 (5sp), Bullseye lantern (12), Flint and Steel (1), firewood x 2 (4cp), mug (2cp), waterskin x2 (2), Courtier's outfit (30), Fine Wine, bottle (10) Total spent: 147,141GP 6sp and 6cp Pocket change: 2,858GP 3sp and 4cp Fire Acclimated (+2 on saving throws vs fire) Powerful Build-The physical stature of half-giants lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger. Whenever a half-giant is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the half-giant is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. A half-giant is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (such as improved grab or swallow whole) can affect him. A half-giant can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject’s size category. Stomp 1/day (DC 12). Manifester level equal to ½ HD (minimum 1st). The save DC is Charisma-based. Aura of Good (Ex) The power of Berryll’s aura of good (see the detect good spell) is equal to her paladin level(6). Detect Evil (Sp) At will, Berryll can use detect evil, as the spell. Smite Evil (Su) Twice per day, Berryll may attempt to smite evil with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma bonus (+2) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per paladin level(+6). If Berryll accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day. Divine Grace (Su) Berryll gains a bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (+2) on all saving throws. Lay on Hands (Su) Berryll can heal wounds (her own or those of others) by touch. Each day she can heal a total of 12 HP. She may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients, and she doesn’t have to use it all at once. Using lay on hands is a standard action. Aura of Courage (Su) Berryll is immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10 feet of her gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions while the paladin is conscious, but not if she is unconscious or dead. Turn Undead (Su) Berryll has the supernatural ability to turn undead. She may use this ability 5 times per day. She turns undead as a 3rd level Cleric. Remove Disease (Sp) Berryll can produce a remove disease effect, as the spell, once per week. Oath of Service Berryll has sworn an oath to destroy evil dragons. Power Surge (Ex) Berryll can make a DC 15 Concentration check as a move action. If she succeds she gains +8 to her Strenth for 3 rounds. Each time she uses this ability after the first the DC increases by +5. Ki Projection Berryll adds +3 to all bluff, diplomacy, gather information, and intimidate checks she makes. A target who realizes it has been fooled by Berryll's successful bluff check gains a +10 bonus on any of these checks in the future. Berryll may regain the creature's trust with a successful diplomacy check. Withstand (Ex): When Berryll is forced to make a reflex save to avoid damage from an area effect spell she can make a concentration check instead to resist taking full damage. Asteri the Unicorn Size/Type: Large Magical Beast HP: 53 Inititive: +3 Speed: 40ft AC: 23 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +6 natural, +5 Breastplate), touch 12, flat-footed 15 Attack: Horn +11 melee (1d8+8) Full: Horn +11 and 2 hooves +3 melee (1d4+2) Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., magic circle against evil, spell-like abilities, immunity to poison, charm, and compulsion, low-light vision, scent, wild empathy, Empathic link, improved evasion, share spells, share saving throws Saves: Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +6 Abilities: Str 21, Dex 17, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 21, Cha 24 Skills: Jump +21, Listen +11, Move Silently +9, Spot +11, Survival +8 Feats: Alertness, Skill Focus (Survival) Equipment: Horseshoes of the Zephyr, Breastplate, Bit and Bridle, Military Saddle Magic Circle against Evil (Su) This ability continuously duplicates the effect of the spell. A unicorn cannot suppress this ability. Spell-Like Abilities Unicorns can use detect evil at will as a free action. A unicorn can use cure light wounds three times per day and cure moderate wounds once per day (caster level 5th) by touching a wounded creature with its horn. Once per day it can use neutralize poison (DC 21, caster level 8th) with a touch of its horn. The save DC is Charisma-based. Wild Empathy (Ex) This power works like the druid’s wild empathy class feature, except that a unicorn has a +6 racial bonus on the check. Skills Unicorns have a +4 racial bonus on Move Silently checks. Asteri wears Horseshoes of the Zephyr so he runs a few inches above the ground at all times. He leaves no tracks of any kind; he can run over water or unstable surfaces without penalty. Note: Rules for unusual paladin mounts are on pg 205 of the DMG. Huge +2 Adamantine, Keen, Dragon-bane, Shocking Burst Greatspear Dmg: 4d6+2+Str+1d6(electric) (+2d6vs dragon) crit: 19-20 x3(+2d10 electric) and bypasses hardness Avg: 26 + str bonus Max (vs nondragon) w/crit: 121 Avg vs dragons: 33 + str bonus Max vs dragon w/crit: 133 + str bonus This is huge reach weapon, it can strike foes 15-30 feet away, but not closer. Cost 12,380 Note 1: This weapon only possesses the Keen, Dragon-bane and Shocking burst qualities when wielded by Berryll, due to her Kensai levels, this is reflected in the weapon’s cost. The attributes were gained (in case it matters) in this order: +2, Dragon-bane, Shocking burst, Keen. Note 2: I don't know where to find rules for the cost of weapons of this size, I’ve elected to quadruple the cost of the adamantine (from 3,000 to 12,000) as well as the cost of the weapon itself, but not the masterwork cost of 300GP; this seems fair and reasonable. Opal the white Dire Tiger Size/Type: Large Animal HP: 120 hp Initiative: +2 Speed: 40 ft Armor Class: 17 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +6 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 15 Base Attack/Grapple: +12/+24 Attack: Claw +20 melee (2d4+8) Full Attack: 2 claws +20 melee (2d4+8) and bite +14 melee (2d6+4) Space/Reach: 10 ft./5 ft. Special Attacks: Improved grab, pounce, rake 2d4+4 Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent Saves: Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +11 Abilities: Str 27, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10 Skills: Hide +7*, Jump +14, Listen +6, Move Silently +11, Spot +7, Swim +10 Feats: Alertness, Improved Natural Attack (claw), Improved Natural Attack (bite), Run, Stealthy, Weapon Focus (claw) Alignment: neutral Equipment: Collar of Obedience Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a dire tiger must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can rake. Pounce (Ex) If a dire tiger charges, it can make a full attack, including two rake attacks. Rake (Ex) Attack bonus +18 melee, damage 2d4+4. Skills Dire tigers have a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. *In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus improves to +8. Due to the Collar of Obedience Opal's Handle animal checks are reduced by -5 to 5 for tricks she knows or 20 to "push" her. Berryll raised Opal and trained her for Guarding. She knows the tricks attack, devend, down and guard. Starting Abilities (point buy 36) Str 17 Dex 10 Con 16 Int 11 Wis 10 Cha 14 Current Abilities Str 24 Dex 8 Con 18 Int 13 Wis 10 Cha 14 Racial mods: (+2 Con +2 Str -2 Dex) Level Increases: (4th Str +1 8th Str +1 12th Str +1) Items: (headband Int +2) (Gauntlets Str +2) LA +1 (Half-Giant) HP Stat Increases Feats Skills BAB Saves Levels 1-6 Paladin 37+24(con) +1 Str 3+1bonus 18+9(int) +6 +5/2/2 Levels 7-12 Kensai 33+24(con) +2 Str 2 24+6(int) +4 +2/2/5 All skills were taken as class skills Non core books used: Complete Adventurer, Complete Champion, Complete Warrior, Complete Psionic |
| Zherog04-06-08, 06:00 PM | Welcome to the contest, Jack! List updated... Roughly two hours to go until the deadline. Where's the flurry of last-minute posts? ;) |
| Kit_the_Odd04-06-08, 06:15 PM | Working feverishly on it. Of course, I've been feverish most the weekend, which explains part of the rush. Hope I make it. |
| CheeseMan04-06-08, 06:59 PM | Fip Gouda Commoner Extraordinaire Born and raised in the Six Winds Pub owned by his father in the bustling city of Parmesanshire, Fip was destined for the glorious life of a Commoner. As he grew, he learned his father’s barkeeping trade, and eventually took over the pub when his father died in a tragic and cliché non-specific accident. For the next 35 years Fip perfected the art of Commonering and in a fit of metagame boasting declared himself the ‘highest level commoner in the campaign’. He soon attracted many followers, some not even Commoners, and now has a full unpaid staff at the Six Winds. There’s Patsy, the bouncer, Fip’s apprentice cook Colby ‘Pepper’ Jack, Stilton McMagic the dwarf Adept with a hilariously low Charisma score who toils endlessly to invent a ‘Transmute Water to Booze’ spell, Nonn Playeur Charraktor, Professional Drunk, and Swiss Stenson, Fip’s trusty ‘Adventuring Party Bring-Togetherer’. Many of the townsfolk consider Fip more their leader than the Mayor, including Brewmaster Romano amd his delivery boy Stilton. Nowadays many an adventuring party meet for the first time in the Six Winds (with some help from Swiss), and learn of some mundane goblin attack or something else equally run-of-the-mill from Fip, who knows most everything going on nearby. Most end up getting killed by Kobolds. Fip Gouda Male Human, age 56 (Middle aged at lvl 8, Old at lvl 12) Commoner 13 Neutral Good, No patron deity Size: Medium Height: 5’8” Weight: 155lb Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown, Shaggy Skin: Tan Str: 12 +1 (6 pts, -3 Old, +1 at lvl 4) Dex: 12 +1 (6 pts, -3 Old, +1 at lvl 8) Con: 12 +1 (6 pts, -3 Old, +1 at lvl 12) Int: 16 +3 (6 pts, +2 Old) Wis: 16 +3 (6 pts, +2 Old) Cha: 16 +3 (6 pts, +2 Old) HP: 50 (13d4+13) AC: 15 (Base 10 + 1 Dex), T: 11, FF: 10 Speed: 30ft Init: +1 Saves: Fort: +5 (+4 Base, +1 Con) Ref: +5 (+4 Base, +1 Dex) Will: +7 (+4 Base, +3 Wis) BAB, Grapple: +6/+1, +7 (+6 BAB, +1 Str) Attacks: Club: +6 melee, 1d6+1, x2, 20ft, Bludgeoning Racial/Class Abilities: Human Traits Skills: (70 skill points) Bluff: +7 (2 ranks [cross-class], +3 Cha, +2 Persuasive) Climb: +2 (1 rank, +1 Str) Craft (Cooking): +11 (8 ranks, +3 Int) Handle Animal: +6 (3 ranks, +3 Cha) Intimidate: +5 (+3 Cha, +2 Persuasive) Gather Information: +6 (3 ranks [cross-class], +3 Cha) Listen: +11 (6 ranks, +3 Wis, +2 Alertness) Knowledge (Local): +6 (3 ranks [cross-class], +3 Int) Profession (Barkeeper): +19 (16 ranks, +3 Wis) Sense Motive: +6 (3 ranks [cross-class], +3 Wis) Spot: +11 (6 ranks, +3 Wis, +2 Alertness) Swim: +3 (2 ranks, +1 Str) Use Rope: +7 (6 ranks, +1 Dex) Speak Language: Common [automatic initial], Halfling , Elven [bonus initial] [B]Feats: 1: Run 1: Endurance 3: Diehard 6: Alertness 9: Leadership 12: Persuasive Items: (Gear Total: 149999.87 gp/16 lb) Light Load: ≤43 lb Medium Load: 44-86 lb Heavy Load: 87-130 lb On Person: Backpack (2 gp/2lb) Waterskin (1 gp/4lb) Silk Rope (10 gp/5lb) Artisan’s Outfit (free/doesn’t count) Club (-/3 lb) Loaf of Bread (2 cp/.5 lb) Cheese (1 sp/.5 lb) Bag of Tricks (Rust) (3000gp/-) Coins (10 gp, 15 sp, 25 cp/1 lb) Not on Person: In the Six Winds Pub: Six Winds Pub (45000gp*/-) Masterwork Tools (Cooking) (50gp/1lb) (in Six Winds) Cheddar (Dog) (25gp/50lb) Portable Hole (20000gp/-) (in Six Winds) Coins (8190 pp/163.8lb) (in Portable Hole) Leadership: Level: 17 (13 + 3 Cha + 1 ‘Fairness and Generosity’) Cohort: Swiss Stenson, lvl 12 human Rogue Followers: 30 lvl 1, 3 lvl 2, 1 lvl 3, 1 lvl 4 Notable Followers: Patsy, lvl 4 human Warrior Colby ‘Pepper’ Jack, lvl 3 human Expert (Cook) Haplan Romano, lvl 2 human Expert (Brewer) Bleu Hampford, lvl 2 halfling Commoner Stilton McMagic, lvl 2 dwarf Adept Nonn Playeur Charraktor, lvl 1 human Expert (Drunkard) *a 'grand house' upstairs (5000gp), but triple cost for being brick (15k), and the pub downstairs being equivalent (another 15k), but double cost for being a place of business (30k) for a total cost of 45000gp |
| Zherog04-06-08, 07:15 PM | List updated! |
| Kit_the_Odd04-06-08, 07:54 PM | Calli d’Sterling Growing up Calli was treated as a princess, probably because she was one. She excelled in everything. She was just flat out the best. Then, on her 16th birthday, she found out that she had been cursed as a child. After eating a magic apple her entire country fell into a magical sleep, and they would stay that way until she had found her one true love, woke him up, turned him into a pixie, kissed him, and gotten him to agree to marry her. She called a bunch of her princess friends together, but that didn’t last long. Jazz Min hooked up with some street rat, Cindy cut her foot on one of her stupid glass shoes and got left behind, Belle ended up running off with some dude that looked like a minotaur, and Blanche decided to stay with this group of 7 dwarves. So now she is looking for some other group to hang out with. Callie’s geneology is a bit confused, for years everyone thought her father was a pixie. It was only after she was born that he admitted he was actually a celestial dragon. The fey were a bit annoyed at the whole thing, but by then it was done and there wasn’t much they could do about it. She is a half-celestial pixie. She is BEAUTIFUL! Her dragon ancestry adds a bit of glitter to her cheeks that sets of the delicate down on her butterfly-like wings. Her whole kingdom. But their all asleep, so not much help there. Her princess friends, but as mentioned most of them have their own problems and issues. The evil sorceress (actually a wizard, but sorceress is more traditional than wizardess) – no one really knows much about her. She was evidently offended at not being invited to the baby shower or something (‘cause like everybody invite the evil chick to those things don’t you know). If Calli actually starts making progress on the whole quest thing she may step in to screw things up again. The handsome prince. Who knows. Probably either an arrogant git, or a namby-pamby momma’s boy. Maybe both. She’s pretty fragile, but other than that she has a lot she could bring to almost any group. Plus she’s a princess, duh! Calli d’Sterling Half-Dragon, Half-Celestial, Pixie Rogue 2 CG Starting Ability Buying: STR: 8 (0 pts) DEX: 16 (10 pts) CON: 16 (10 pts) INT: 14 (6 pts) WIS: 8 (0 pts) CHA: 16 (10 pts) Current Abilities (w/o gear): STR: 16 (8 + 8 half-dragon + 4 half-celestial – 4 pixie) DEX: 26 (16 + 2 half-celestial + 8 pixie) CON: 22 (16 + 2 half-dragon + 4 half-celestial) INT: 24 (14 + 2 half-dragon + 2 half-celestial + 6 pixie) WIS: 16 (8 + 4 half-celestial + 4 pixie) CHA: 28 (16 + 2 half-dragon + 4 half-celestial + 6 pixie) Current Abilities (w gear): STR: 16 DEX: 30 (Gloves of Dexterity +4) CON: 26 (Amulet of Health +4) INT: 24 WIS: 16 CHA: 28 HP: 25 AC: 34 (+4 armor, +10 Dex, +1 size, +6 Natural, +3 deflection) Touch: 24, Flat-Footed: 24 BAB: +1 (+0 Grapple , +5 Melee , +12 Ranged ) Init: +10 (+10 Dex) Fort: + 12 (+ 0 base, +8 Con, +4 vest) Ref: +17 (+3, +10 Dex, +4 vest), Will: +7 (+ 0, +3 Wis, +4 vest) Speed: 20ft/x4 , fly 60ft(good) Feats: 1st: Point Blank Shot, +1 attack and damage within 30 ft Racial Abilities: Fly speed 60 (good) Low-light vision +2 bonus to Listen, Search, Spot Dodge is a racial bonus feat +1 natural armor Spell-like abilities: 1/day, lesser confusion (DC 21), dancing lights, detect chaos, detect good, detect evil, detect law, detect thoughts (DC 22), dispel magic, entangle (DC 21), permanent image (DC 26;visual and auditory elements only), polymorph (self only), Caster Level 8. DR 10/cold iron Greater invisibility (at will) SR 17 Level adjustment +4 Half-Dragon (Copper Dragon) Template abilities: Natural armor +4 2 claw attack and bite attack Breathe weapon 6d8, 60ft line of acid, DC 19 Ref for half damage Low-light vision Darkvision 60ft Immune to sleep and paralysis effects Immune to acid Half-Celestial Template abilities: Natural Armor +1 Daylight, at will Smite Evil, 1/day, +2 damage to evil foe Bless, 1/day Protection from Evil, 3/day Darkvision 60 ft Immunity to disease Resistance to acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10 DR 5/magic Natural weapons are considered magic for overcoming DR SR 12 +4 racial bonus vs. poison Class Abilities: Proficient in light armor Proficient in simple and martial weapons and hand crossbow (includes proficiencies from type) Sneak attack, +1d6 Evasion, no damage on successful Reflex save Trapfinding Attack: +1 Flaming Shocking Magebane Composite Longbow (+3 Str), +13 (+1 BAB, +10 Dex, +1 size, +1 enhancement), 1d6 + 1 enhancement + 3 Str + 1d6 fire + 1d6 electricity, 20/x3. Against arcane magic users add +2 attack and 2d6 damage. +1 Greatsword, +6 (+1 BAB, +3 Str, +1 size, +1 enhancement), 1d10+5 (+4 Str, +1 enhancement) , 19-20/x2 Claw (2), +5 (+1 BAB, +3 Str, +1 size), 1d3+1, 20/x2 Bite, +5 (+1 BAB, +3 Str, +1 size) , 1d4+3, 20/x2 Breath Weapon, +12, (+1 BAB, +10 Dex, +1 size), 6d8 acid, 60ft line Other attack modifiers: Piercer Cloak, 3/day add 1d6 damage for 1 round if on higher ground Skills: Bluff +14 (+5 ranks, +9 Cha) Diplomacy +18 (+5 ranks, +9 Cha, +4 synergy(Bluff and Know(nobility)) Disable Device +14 (+5 ranks, +7 Int, +2 tools) Escape Artist +15 (+5 ranks, +10 Dex) Gather Information +14 (+5 ranks, +9 Cha) Hide +19 (+5 ranks, +10 Dex, +4 size) Know(nobility) +9 (+2.5 ranks, +7 Int) Listen +10 (+5 ranks, +3 Wis, +2 race) Move Silently +15 (+5 ranks, +10 Dex) Open Lock +15 (+5 ranks, +10 Dex) Search +14 (+5 ranks, +7 Int, +2 race) Sense Motive +8 (+5 ranks, +3 Wis) Spot +10 (+5 ranks, +3 Wis, +2 race) Tumble +15 (+5 ranks, +10 Dex) UMD +14(+5 ranks, +9 Cha) Languages: Common, Sylvan, Elven, Draconic, Halfling Non-Core Sources: Thistledown – Races of the Wild Magic Item Compendium – Magebane, Ring of Nine Lives, adding Attribute bonus to other item pricing, Healing belt, Piercer Cloak, Magic Bellroll All prices in gp. Attribute & Save Items Gloves of Dex (+4) 16000 Vest of Resistance +4 and Health +4 32000 Protection (non-armor) Ring of Protection 3 18000 Ring of Nine Lives 45000 Brooch of Shielding 1500 Armor Thistledown Padded +3 9405 Weapons +1 greatsword 2350 +1 Flaming Shocking Magebane Composite Shortbow (+3Str) 16700 Magic Items HHH 2000 Healing Belt 750 Piercer Cloak 900 Magic Bedroll 500 Consumable Magic Items Universal Solvent 50 Elixer of hiding 250 Elixer of sneaking 250 Alchemical Items tanglefoot bag 150 Mundane MW Thieves’ tools 100 Fine wine bottle 30 chalk 0.01 mirror 10 mug 0.02 Trail Rations /day 0.5 Silk rope (50 ft) 10 waterskin 1 Tools & Clothes courtier's outfit 90 explorer's outfit Free royal outfit 400 assorted jewelry 1000 Total 146046 gp 5sp 3953gp 47sp cash 1st – Rogue 1 - Feats: Point Plank Shot – Skills: Bluff 4 ,Diplomacy 4, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 4, Hide 4, Know(nobility) 4, Listen 4, Move Silently 4, Open Lock 4, Search 4, Sense Motive 4, Spot 4, Tumble 4, UMD 4. 2nd – Rogue 2 – Skills: Bluff 1 ,Diplomacy 1, Disable Device 1, Escape Artist 1, Gather Information 1, Hide 1, Know(nobility) 1, Listen 1, Move Silently 1, Open Lock 1, Search 1, Sense Motive 1, Spot 1, Tumble 1, UMD 1. |
| Kit_the_Odd04-06-08, 07:56 PM | Whew! Made it! hahahaha! Procratinators of the world unite!!! -sometime next week- Used what I think was the concensous that the 30 minute editing window extended past the regular deadline. Hopefully I'm right. |
| Kit_the_Odd04-06-08, 08:09 PM | Here's something if you care, if you don't - it is still here, but you don't have to read it. Well the basic concept of the mechaincs was "the fewest actual levels and/or hit dice", because so many munchkin/cheesy characters have a lot of level adjustment. I actually thought of trying to fit in one more +1 LA template, but I figured that with as few hit points as I'd have at level 13 I'd probably need Evasion from Rogue 2 just to live. Even with the invisible, flying, big AC monster this was going to be. (see also the Ring of Nine Lives :) ) Background wise I started with a comment from my wife that my idea sounded kind of like Tinker Belle. (As if Tink ever breathed fire, ha!) But then I morphed that into something my 3 year old daughter has made me all too familiar with - Disney Princesses. And hey, what could be more cheesy than Disney Princesses, right? So most of the background is kind of what I might expect my daughter to come up with for her first PC - in 5 to 10 years. One can hope. :) I ran out of time to detail all of the options this character has. Oh well. |
| Zherog04-06-08, 08:20 PM | And we'll call it a close there. * runs off to add Kit's entry to the list * edit: and, list updated! Thank you to our 10 entrants for sharing your cheese with us! Please, please verify that I have your entry on the master list. I'll assume no news is good news; if your entry is missing or otherwise has something wrong, please let me know. |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-06-08, 10:22 PM | If I have time over the next week or two (or ten, depending on how quickly the judges get to work), I will try to offer some comments. I'm also up for comments from others as well. Oh, and CheeseMan, please bear in mind that the following comment has been made without actually reading any of your entry... :clap: |
| jennibert04-06-08, 11:29 PM | Wow...this is going to be fun to judge. I've only read a couple of the backgrounds (and glanced at 1-3 stat blocks) and my jaw already hurts from laughing. Yay for cheese! And thanks to all our entrants for having such good senses of humor:) |
| Mercurius04-06-08, 11:33 PM | And thanks to all our entrants for having such god senses of humor:) Well, you know me. As a frequent DM, I do have a god complex. :D |
| Talisman04-07-08, 08:56 PM | Procratinators of the world unite!!! Yes! We should set up a meeting, or... ... ...let me get back to you on that. |
| jennibert04-08-08, 10:58 PM | So, I never knew that Races of the Wild had a random elf name generator in it. How very distracting..... (Yes this is on topic...I discovered this in the course of judging.) |
| Cartigan04-09-08, 08:40 AM | So, I never knew that Races of the Wild had a random elf name generator in it. How very distracting..... (Yes this is on topic...I discovered this in the course of judging.) So does Races of Stone for its races. |
| guamae04-11-08, 03:12 PM | I know i'm late for the competition (tho i still wanna put something together); in one game my characters designed what i would consider Amulets of Ultimate AC (Armor Cheese) Amulet of: +3 Deflection AC +3 Natural Armor +3 Profane Armor +3 Luck bonus to AC +3 Insight bonus to AC +3 Sacred bonus to AC Craft Wondrous Item, CL requirement of 9, cost to craft =~= 40,000gp. Due to the fact that all the enchantments have "Similar Abilities" according to the the sidebar on page 282 of the DMG you only have to pay full price for the first ability, and each additional ability comes at a discount. Making this ridiculous item of +18 AC legal (price wise) for creation in such a competition. |
| Zherog04-11-08, 03:17 PM | I'd need to dig through and check numbers, but that doesn't look right to me. Also, I'd have go digging, but I think there's an issue with an item granting both a sacred and profane bonus. |
| guamae04-11-08, 04:14 PM | Also, I'd have go digging, but I think there's an issue with an item granting both a sacred and profane bonus. Yeah, i didn't let the players have both of them, but still a +15 to AC is pretty extreme (in that campaign they were all Epic and instead of buying Epic Armor they spent their obscene amounts of money buying amulets of +25 armor class). And, theoretically, you could have one person put the Sacred bonus on it, take it to the back of the shop and have another caster put the Profane bonus on it ... kinda kills the idea of making it yourself ... maybe True Neutrals could cast both .... Unless i misinterpreted the sidebar i mentioned, i did all the calculations correctly. It's just a good cheesy loophole in my opinion. |
| Zherog04-11-08, 05:04 PM | Do you have the math handy, and if so could you post it? |
| guamae04-11-08, 06:12 PM | Listed in the book, the equation for cost of natural armor/deflection bonuses is 2000 x bonus squared (9 in this case) For "other bonuses" (i used all 4 listed) it's 2500 x bonus squared. So it comes down to 2 bonuses costing 18k and 4 costing 22.5k. As per the sidebar, you pay full price for the most expensive enchantment, 3/4ths for the second most expensive and half price for the rest. 22.5 * (1 + 0.75 + 0.5 + 0.5) + 18 = 79.875k Which, if you make it yourself, can be gotten for half price and a lot of time that occurs before the campaign starts. The spirit of Cheese at it's finest methinks. |
| Zherog04-11-08, 06:25 PM | I'm not at home, so I only have the SRD, but I think this is the text from the sidebar in question: Multiple Similar Abilities: For items with multiple similar abilities that don’t take up space on a character’s body use the following formula: Calculate the price of the single most costly ability, then add 75% of the value of the next most costly ability, plus one-half the value of any other abilities. I've underlined the bit that kills your amulet. :) To get what you want with this amulet, you need to look at the "Adding New Abilities" section: ADDING NEW ABILITIES A creator can add new magical abilities to a magic item with no restrictions. The cost to do this is the same as if the item was not magical. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal longsword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal sword minus the cost of a +1 sword. If the item is one that occupies a specific place on a character’s body the cost of adding any additional ability to that item increases by 50%. For example, if a character adds the power to confer invisibility to her ring of protection +2, the cost of adding this ability is the same as for creating a ring of invisibility multiplied by 1.5. With this method, it would have a market price of 177,750. (22.5*1.5 = 33.75; 18*1.5 = 27; 22.5 + 33.75 + 33.75 + 33.75 + 27 + 27 = 177.75) |
| guamae04-11-08, 07:02 PM | With this method, it would have a market price of 177,750. (22.5*1.5 = 33.75; 18*1.5 = 27; 22.5 + 33.75 + 33.75 + 33.75 + 27 + 27 = 177.75) Curses! Well ... that's 1 point for the rules i guess. Still you can get around that by modifying it to be a rock you carry in your pocket rather than an amulet. It'll "not occupy a slot on your person" and there's a flat multiple of twice the price, and you can use the discounted pricing that i originally quoted for a do-it-yourself price of 80k .... which i guess ends up being about the same as what you got. On a related note, i never knew why this item wasn't more common: Belt of Bigness: Continuous effect of Enlarge Person A cheap 4k since it's a first level spell (even with continuous added), and it ends up giving you reach (great when combined with a reach weapon and combat reflexes), bumping your damage dice up by one, increasing damage out by 1 and reducing AC by 2 (not too bad if you're a barbarian and have $#!* AC to begin with). |
| Zherog04-11-08, 09:55 PM | Curses! Well ... that's 1 point for the rules i guess. Still you can get around that by modifying it to be a rock you carry in your pocket rather than an amulet. It'll "not occupy a slot on your person" and there's a flat multiple of twice the price, and you can use the discounted pricing that i originally quoted for a do-it-yourself price of 80k .... which i guess ends up being about the same as what you got. Yeah, you can unslot it - you don't even need to make a rock; it can still be an "amulet" that wouldn't take the neck slot (which is convenient in that you could still wear a necklace, such as a periapt of wisdom or hand of glory. Making it unslotted would use your method, but as you said the price would double. However... If you wish to go cheesy in item creation: Other Considerations: Once you have a final cost figure, reduce that number if either of the following conditions applies: —Item Requires Skill to Use: Some items require a specific skill to get them to function. This factor should reduce the cost about 10%. —Item Requires Specific Class or Alignment to Use: Even more restrictive than requiring a skill, this limitation cuts the cost by 30%. So, when you make it you have it require one rank in a skill the character has, and make it only function for that character's alignment; now you get 40% off the price - so the slotted version would have a market price of 106650, and your unslotted version would have a market price of 96000. :schemes: (I don't allow players to use those discount rules, incidentally, because they're so cheesy) |
| guamae04-11-08, 10:10 PM | Other Considerations: Once you have a final cost figure, reduce that number if either of the following conditions applies: —Item Requires Skill to Use: Some items require a specific skill to get them to function. This factor should reduce the cost about 10%. —Item Requires Specific Class or Alignment to Use: Even more restrictive than requiring a skill, this limitation cuts the cost by 30%. Oooh that's beautiful! Does that mean if it can only be used by True Neutral Elven Sorcerers with ranks in Use Obscure Magic Device you can get some 90% reduction or something along those lines? |
| guamae04-11-08, 10:13 PM | Other Considerations: Once you have a final cost figure, reduce that number if either of the following conditions applies: —Item Requires Skill to Use: Some items require a specific skill to get them to function. This factor should reduce the cost about 10%. —Item Requires Specific Class or Alignment to Use: Even more restrictive than requiring a skill, this limitation cuts the cost by 30%. Oooh that's beautiful! Does that mean if it can only be used by True Neutral Elven Sorcerers with ranks in Use Obscure Magic Device you can get some 90% reduction or something along those lines? What's anyone think of my Belt of Bigness? It's one of my favorite magic items, and doesn't even feel much like cheating o me. |
| Zherog04-12-08, 08:34 AM | Oooh that's beautiful! Does that mean if it can only be used by True Neutral Elven Sorcerers with ranks in Use Obscure Magic Device you can get some 90% reduction or something along those lines? Well, the best interpretation gets you a 70% discount -- 30% for class, 30% for alignment, and 10% for skill. I've seen arguments that the 30% only applies once, whether you use class, alignment, or both. It's been a while, but it was one of those rules debates where both sides had reasonable arguments. I think if you were to whip up something like that for this contest, each judge would have to interpret the rule and make their own ruling. But those discounts are definitely cheese-tastic, whether you "stack" the class and alignment ones or not. |
| CheeseMan04-16-08, 01:58 PM | i find your lack of pestering judges for results disturbing |
| Talisman04-16-08, 02:36 PM | Are the scores ready yet? Huh? How 'bout now? Are you done, judges? Are you? Done yet? How about some comments? Or scores. Or both. Now? Now? Are you done? It's been ten days. Plenty of time. You should be ready now. Are you done? Huh? Huh? [note: this is all CheeseMan's fault] |
| Zherog04-16-08, 02:53 PM | i find your lack of pestering judges for results disturbing I've been pestering them, don't worry. ;) |
| jennibert04-16-08, 10:20 PM | What? You mean I was supposed to start judging before ten days after the competition ends? Well, no one told me. Guess I'll have to get on that. *goes off to bury herself in piles of books...until she realizes that she doesn't have any cheese on hand and gives up in disgust* |
| Talisman04-16-08, 11:35 PM | *goes off to bury herself in piles of books...until she realizes that she doesn't have any cheese on hand and gives up in disgust* *cough* If certain people would be home during normal hours, the Special Delivery people could get a signature and actually deliver the Wisconsin Supremo Collection that someone may have sent...as a gesture of appreciation for the hard work of a certain person who, coincidentally, happens to be a judge. |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-17-08, 01:29 AM | Thank you jennibert for not mentioning any hand-delivered packages you may or may not have received as an expression of gratitude for your hard work as a judge. People who give gifts usually prefer to remain anonymous anyways. Although, I'm surprised you finished off the cheese that quickly. You should really take the time to appreciate fine gifts like that. |
| Mercurius04-17-08, 12:08 PM | Personally, I took the cautious route and assumed people liked sweets more than potentially melted cheeses. That's why I sent out cheesecakes. Hope they get there alright. |
| Zherog04-17-08, 02:13 PM | I clearly need to have a discussion with my wife, and remind her to please not open packages addressed to me... |
| seTiny04-17-08, 06:40 PM | I clearly need to have a discussion with my wife, and remind her to please not open packages addressed to me... Maybe they thought you couldn't be bribed and addressed it to her instead. A wife's nag can be a powerful ally. |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-17-08, 07:18 PM | I clearly need to have a discussion with my wife, and remind her to please not open packages addressed to me... :confused: Zherog will be serving as a non-judging coordinator. You see... I thought that bri... err, umm... "gift packages" only needed to be sent to the judges. :embarrass Wow. There went my gold. Oh, and seTiny, don't you know that the Hero Craftsman Competition judges must adhere to the highest standards of professional conduct. They would never accept a bribe. They just really appreciate "gift packages" |
| jennibert04-17-08, 07:35 PM | Personally, I took the cautious route and assumed people liked sweets more than potentially melted cheeses. That's why I sent out cheesecakes. Hope they get there alright. WHAT??? I didn't get any cheesecake and you don't even have to rely on the notoriously unreliable delivery services to get it to me. I am highly offended. As for everyone else, it seems the local delivery services have not been properly informing me to go to my apartment office to pick up my packages. I had simply assumed that I would have to dock everyone 10 poi--err, that no one understands the benefits of gift packages. :D |
| CheeseMan04-17-08, 07:52 PM | being from wisconsin, i have access to the finest of cheeses. and the finest of cheeses don't go into the mail until after i see the results |
| Zherog04-17-08, 08:02 PM | :confused: You see... I thought that bri... err, umm... "gift packages" only needed to be sent to the judges. :embarrass Wow. There went my gold. Yes, I'm a non-judging coordinator. But... who do you think tallies the final scores. :schemes: A wife's nag I see you know my wife... :bored: |
| Mercurius04-17-08, 08:03 PM | "I'm from Wisconsin, Mike... We can eat all we want, and only the women get fat. It's the darndest thing..." Sorry. Every time I hear "Wisconsin," that pops into my head. |
| seTiny04-18-08, 10:42 AM | I see you know my wife... :bored: No, I just know that nag is the first level ability of the wife PrC. :P |
| Zherog04-18-08, 10:44 AM | My wife must've taken the Ability Focus feat for that ability... |
| wrecan04-18-08, 11:54 AM | I don't know what you guys are talking about. My wife is sweet and wonderful and smart and beautiful and sexy and happens to lurk these boards on occasion. :angel: |
| JackSnape04-18-08, 12:11 PM | My wife must've taken the Ability Focus feat for that ability... The Husband PrC just has poor Will saves. |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-18-08, 12:28 PM | All I can think is... sometimes it's nice being single. :cool: |
| Zherog04-18-08, 01:32 PM | I don't know what you guys are talking about. My wife is sweet and wonderful and smart and beautiful and sexy and happens to lurk these boards on occasion. :angel: So does my wife, which is why I was being so kind. :angelhide |
| Shinikama04-18-08, 04:19 PM | When are we getting results? I've been watching these boards for days now... I wanna see who won! BTW I suck at munchkining, so I didn't enter. Next time might be a better category? |
| Zherog04-18-08, 04:42 PM | My goal going in was to have results within two weeks - which would be this Sunday. Whether we hit that goal, of course, remains to be seen... |
| guamae04-18-08, 05:33 PM | BTW I suck at munchkining, so I didn't enter. Next time might be a better category? I'm hesitant to enter such things because i only have the core rule books. Is not going to have various Tomes of X going to significantly hinder one's chances? |
| wrecan04-18-08, 05:39 PM | My entry only used the core rules. (I doubt I'll win, though) |
| Heros_Backpack04-18-08, 07:01 PM | I'm hesitant to enter such things because i only have the core rule books. Is not going to have various Tomes of X going to significantly hinder one's chances? Not at all. I only have the core books for 3.5 competitions and I've earned both gold and silver medals in both Hero Craftsmen competitions and in the Master DM competitions. Winning, I find, isn't so much about the crunch (although being accurate there is necessary) as about the fluff you wrap around it. Using fewer books just means that us judges don't need to look so far to check if the crunch adds up - which is always nice. :) |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-18-08, 08:04 PM | I concur w/ Heros. A ton of books doesn't improve your odds of winning. It improves your odds of messing something up. There are several people who routinely enter and win w/ only the 3 core, Heros and wrecan most notably. My first HC win was core only as well (it's hard to believe I've been around that long...). These competitions are all in good fun, and their real purpose is to help you improve your character building skills. I don't think there's too much of a competitive edge around here. Personally, the only person I ever "competing" against would be Mercurius, and that's mostly since my first win edged him out by less than half a point. He's always been a tough competitor. Go ahead and enter in the future. You may surprise yourself, and you'll be surprised how much learn. |
| Mercurius04-18-08, 10:57 PM | These competitions are all in good fun, and their real purpose is to help you improve your character building skills. I don't think there's too much of a competitive edge around here. Personally, the only person I ever "competing" against would be Mercurius, and that's mostly since my first win edged him out by less than half a point. He's always been a tough competitor. :whatsthis :lightbulb I knew there was a reason you were on "the list." Thanks for reminding me... :evillaugh |
| Zherog04-19-08, 08:06 AM | BTW I suck at munchkining, so I didn't enter. Next time might be a better category? Better? That's probably a subjective term. There will certainly be a different theme to the next one. If you go to the Hero Craftsman Feedback thread, you can find a bunch of stuff, including a list of all 15 contests and their themes. As a general rule of thumb, we try to switch the level up a bit from contest to contest. And we try to mix different themes around. We also generally keep the list of allowed books much shorter - I'd have to check, but I'm pretty sure this is the longest list ever. I'm hesitant to enter such things because i only have the core rule books. Is not going to have various Tomes of X going to significantly hinder one's chances? Please enter in the future. As others have said, we've had winners who used core books only. But even without that, "winning" this competition really doesn't give you anything other than bragging rights - there's no prizes or anything like that. The contest started off -- over a year ago now! -- as a way to get folks to build characters and get feedback on them. I think that is still the core of the contest -- get folks to build characters, and help point out how to potentially improve. So yeah -- I hope we can see you enter HC16, when it starts up. :) * In other news, I have scores from one judge. No pressure on the other two. :D |
| guamae04-19-08, 10:41 AM | Please enter in the future. As others have said, we've had winners who used core books only. But even without that, "winning" this competition really doesn't give you anything other than bragging rights - there's no prizes or anything like that. The contest started off -- over a year ago now! -- as a way to get folks to build characters and get feedback on them. I think that is still the core of the contest -- get folks to build characters, and help point out how to potentially improve. Bragging Rights are important! But really the reason i didn't enter is because i didn't see the post till the conference is over, and have been sluggish to put something together (an Orc Barbarian with a complete set of gear for Tumbling-Rage) knowing that it's 2 weeks past-due. |
| jennibert04-19-08, 06:34 PM | In other news, I have scores from one judge. No pressure on the other two. :D It seems I seriously underestimated the time I would have available for judging this time around...am still hoping to be done by the end of tomorrow, but may not be until Monday night. Sorry guys! |
| jennibert04-20-08, 09:52 PM | :bump: And news--I'm probably not posting comments this time. I went through the entries a bit quicker than is my norm, and so didn't get much down beyond quick impressions in any category beyond Rules Use. But if you want to know what you screwed up there, let me know. :D |
| Zherog04-22-08, 12:25 AM | Just FYI -- I have all the scores from judges! But I left my spreadsheet at work. :blush: (actually, to be more correct, I left my flash drive - where the spreadsheet is stored - at work) So I should have final scores posted in the morning some time. Overall, I was very pleased with the sort of cheese we saw. People approached this contest with their tongues very firmly planted in their cheeks, which was the point. |
| Zherog04-22-08, 10:38 AM | * Z pulls out a piece of paper * I'd like to thank the academy... :confused: Oh, wait - wrong speech! :blush: * Z pulls out another piece of paper * I'll start by saying this was crazy fun; I'd like to thank everybody who entered. You created some really fun and interesting characters. Well done all around. And, of course, I also would like to thank jennibert, Heros_Backpack and Endarrion for taking the time to judge all the entries - including working hard to get done within 2 weeks (well, pretty close anyway). Hopefully they'll be able to post some feedback for everybody. So let's get on to the part everybody's waiting for -- final scores. Coming in third place and winning a BRONZE medal, with a final average score of 27.333, we have a tie: Ciash Ilshor, Stealth Cow, by JasonOrlandoHawk and Hank Morgan, by wrecan Coming in second place and winning a SILVER medal, with a final average score of 28.000: Atem, Pharaoh and High Priest, by Mercurius And, coming in first place and winning the highly coveted GOLD medal, with a final average score of 28.833: Chetwick Darrian "Che'Dar" Muenztyr, by Talisman Congrats to all our winners! Talisman, you're now eligible as a judge should you ever be interested. You are under no obligation to ever perform the job - it's strictly voluntary. Chetwick Darrian "Che'Dar" Muenztyr, by Talisman 28.833 Atem, Pharaoh and High Priest, by Mercurius 28.000 Ciash Ilshor, Stealth Cow, by JasonOrlandoHawk 27.333 Hank Morgan, by wrecan 27.333 Calli d’Sterling, by Kit_the_Odd 25.833 Fip Gouda, by CheeseMan 25.167 Weaknee Strangeskin, by Alxdude 24.333 Cheese Wiz Caseus, by Kimokeo 23.500 Berryl the busty unicorn-riding, dragon-slaying Amazon queen, 22.000 by JackSnape Captain Kickass McAwesome (Red Marvelous!), by Jo_Pistachio 21.167 And, that leaves our "Best of" categories to cover. Thematic Creativity The nominees for this category are: Chetwick Darrian "Che'Dar" Muenztyr, by Talisman Calli d’Sterling, by Kit_the_Odd Cheese Wiz Caseus, by Kimokeo And the winner is: Chetwick Darrian "Che'Dar" Muenztyr, by Talisman Background Content The nominees for this category are: Atem, by Mercurius Ciash Ilshor, Stealth Cow, by JasonOrlandoHawk Chetwick Darrian "Che'Dar" Muenztyr, by Talisman And the winner is: It's a tie between Ciash Ilshor, Stealth Cow, by JasonOrlandoHawk and Chetwick Darrian "Che'Dar" Muenztyr, by Talisman Rules Use The nominees for this category are: Atem, by Mercurius Ciash Ilshor, by JasonOrlandoHawk Fip Gouda, by CheeseMan And the winner is: Atem, by Mercurius Clarity The nominees for this category are: Ciash Ilshor, by JasonOrlandoHawk Fip Gouda, by CheeseMan Weaknee Strangeskin, by Alxdude And the winner is: Ciash Ilshor, by JasonOrlandoHawk Again, thanks to everybody who entered and made HC15 a success! |
| wrecan04-22-08, 11:04 AM | Woo hoo! Third place is excellent. I didn't expect a medal at all this time around! Great entries everyone and congratulations to Talisman! |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-22-08, 01:55 PM | That turned out better than I thought it would. :cool: I am more than happy with my finish this time around. Congratulations Talisman on the win. Congratulations Mercurius on edging me out by less than one point for Silver. You got me this time, but I'll be back! :evillaugh |
| Mercurius04-22-08, 03:48 PM | Heh. I wasn't even that sure that Atem would place, honestly. It was a fun entry, but I wasn't sure how well he'd stand up to more, let's say, original entries (Since, y'know, cribbing off an anime series as thoroughly as I did was pretty silly). Still, best Rules Use to boot, which makes me very happy. I keep wondering what I'm doing that's hurting my clarity vs other entrants... I'll have to take a closer look at the nominees for this one and see what I'm missing that they've got, I guess. This was a fun competition. Thanks a lot, guys. I'm sorta glad I didn't get to enter my Bear Warrior, even if he would have actually been placeable within my campaign setting. I don't think I've ever looked at building a dedicated summoner so closely before. Fun fact - originally, he was going to have 5 levels of Thaumaturgist and Aasimar Warlock as his Planar Cohort (Dark Magician, doncha know?), but that just wasn't as good as Malconvoker. *sigh* |
| wrecan04-22-08, 03:52 PM | So, any chance at getting comments this time around? |
| LCD2YOU04-22-08, 03:57 PM | When I think of Wisconsin all I can think about is "More Bars in More Places". |
| Talisman04-22-08, 06:39 PM | :bounce: Woo-hoo! Thanks guys...this HC was a blast to participate in. Lots of creativity here...congratulations are in order for all the participants. Drinks for everybody! :pint: |
| Heros_Backpack04-22-08, 07:06 PM | So, any chance at getting comments this time around? I'm aiming to get comments up tomorrow or Thursday, providing I can squeeze them past the work deadlines. :) |
| jennibert04-22-08, 09:22 PM | Congrats to everyone who participated! I must say we had a lot of really excellent entries this time around....and a lot of you have really great senses of humor:) I howled with laughter at a number of the entries. I will try to get some general comments posted, but if they're not up by tomorrow, then it'll be Saturday before I get to them, if at all. Like I said above, I didn't make much in the way of comments on a lot of things as I ran out of time and was rushing a bit more than is my wont. I'll say this, though: We had a lot of truly excellent Rules Use scores this time around--possibly the best I've ever seen. You guys are getting too good, darn you all! That's my favorite part to find mistakes in. That said, a final congratulations to everyone, but especially to Talisman, Mercurius, JasonOrlandoHawk, and wrecan for their wins. Way to go! |
| CheeseMan04-23-08, 03:16 PM | Rules Use The nominees for this category are: Atem, by Mercurius Ciash Ilshor, by JasonOrlandoHawk Fip Gouda, by CheeseMan hahahahaha anyway, grats all around |
| Heros_Backpack04-24-08, 06:48 PM | Ok, first trickle of comments. Be aware that they're coming pretty much straight off my rough notes rather than being nicely polished and presented. I'm also running late on them because of the downtime. Sorry about that. :bigeyes: :hides: First and foremost, please remember that these comments are given as suggestions to help you improve. Please don't take anything I say as a personal attack or insult. Star elf as a race doesn't see to be in any of the allowed books. Glad to see you have clothes, but you don't need to buy them - the first set comes free. What coinage is everything priced in? Whoops? Gp? Cowries? How do you manage to have paper worth 1 wotsit when it comes at 4sp a sheet? Skills - nice clear layout, but you only really need to list the ones that are different from the basic stat. Coo - or should I say moo? Very clear, very fun. Weight and cost are not specifically increased for large sizes, but definitely decreased in places for small creatures so logically the reverse is true. :heehee Very definitely cheesy - with a flavor of Oz, I believe? Love the 'potion' varieties. Layout - appreciate the skill bonus origins laid out but would have liked a breakdown in place for the individual skills instead of having to piece them from various places. |
| Heros_Backpack04-25-08, 03:38 PM | Comments continued. Didn't transfer over well for some reason - nested sblocks made it even harder. Interesting adaptation overall - it's some time since I read the book in question, so reference was good. Skill breakdowns using actual numbers rather than references to other places would make it easier to back into them. Option for non ruling of Rapid Reload is nice - and yes, I get the pun. :D A very different kind of character, but interesting. Not sure how well he'd fit into a party. Wishes cast to give Inherent bonuses need to be cast in rapid succession or they don't stack. A breakdown by level would have been very useful. As it is, I cannot see how he can have been completely devoid of psionic talent when he has had at least one power available all his life - due to wilders being based off charisma. |
| Heros_Backpack04-26-08, 07:12 PM | Wow - cheese everything, including a cheese mephit? :rofl: Love the cheese spells, and the tactics look good too, but how on earth does she manage to ride a mouse? Even reduced, she is still Tiny size and a mouse is Fine size - 2 sizes smaller. You also forgot to add your +2 to Listen and the +2 to Move silently that having a Mouse familiar gives you. I wasn't at all sure about the cheesy factor here. You said it was cribbed from an anime? Sorry, never watch them - so I didn't recognise anything there. :) Found him both interesting and well made though. Ok - do you mean to spell Beryl with 1 'l' or 2? It keeps changing. Fun, but simple, although I found the layout hard on the eyes and a bit tricky to find my way around. Thanks for including all the abilities, though. |
| Mercurius04-27-08, 11:21 AM | I wasn't at all sure about the cheesy factor here. You said it was cribbed from an anime? Sorry, never watch them - so I didn't recognise anything there. :) Found him both interesting and well made though. I would have thought that Yugi-Oh! was reasonably prevalent in the US, since it was airing on national television. Ah, well. A quick google/wiki search would have yielded it, but at that point, it's not really valid anymore. Such a shame. Glad you liked him anyway, though. |
| Heros_Backpack04-27-08, 01:20 PM | Last set of comments. You've got me. I have a soft spot for commoners. I also love the names and the whole concept - here is a reason for a high level bartender! Nicely made and very clear. Nice cheesy concept, but not a lot of background. She's going to need every ability she's got just to survive. That's a lot of templates and a lot of LA, but a fun result in the end. |
| Heros_Backpack04-27-08, 01:22 PM | I would have thought that Yugi-Oh! was reasonably prevalent in the US, since it was airing on national television. Ah, well. A quick google/wiki search would have yielded it, but at that point, it's not really valid anymore. Such a shame. Glad you liked him anyway, though. It may well be common in the US. I wouldn't know - I'm over in the UK. |
| Zherog04-27-08, 01:56 PM | I'm not an anime fan either, and had no idea what you were lampooning Mercurius. *shrug* |
| Kit_the_Odd04-27-08, 03:13 PM | Nice cheesy concept, but not a lot of background. She's going to need every ability she's got just to survive. That's a lot of templates and a lot of LA, but a fun result in the end. Yeah, I know. Like I mentioned in my post on my design concept, that was kind of the point. :) I was a little concerned about the small background for an ECL of 13, but really she is only 2nd level. She just hasn't had much time to do stuff. For Calli to be a "viable" character I'd either need to drop a template (or two) or be much higher level. A level adjustment of +11 on a ECL 13 character is a little too cheesy for a real game, IMHO. She'd spend all her efforts just to stay alive, unless going against easier opponents, in which case she would tear them apart with all her abilities. I was very happy with 4th place(or 5th depending on how you mark the tie for 3rd). I spent so much time thinking about the concept and mechanics that I skimped on the background. And the background is key in these contests. |
| Talisman04-27-08, 05:44 PM | Che'Dar :heehee Very definitely cheesy - with a flavor of Oz, I believe? Love the 'potion' varieties. Layout - appreciate the skill bonus origins laid out but would have liked a breakdown in place for the individual skills instead of having to piece them from various places. Maybe a slight Oz reference, I suppose :dancin: Thanks for the feedback! I will do better on skills in the future. Did anyone get the "Bing Twombly" reference? :confused: I would have thought that Yugi-Oh! was reasonably prevalent in the US, since it was airing on national television. Ah, well. A quick google/wiki search would have yielded it, but at that point, it's not really valid anymore. Such a shame. Glad you liked him anyway, though. Yeah, I'm in the US as well, and I know virtually nothing about Yu-Gi-Oh! but the name. I recognized the pic, but beyond that...:shrug: |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-27-08, 10:01 PM | As the president of the Anti-Anime fan club of Owensboro, Kentucky... Don't watch Anime. It causes cancer! :cool: (That should annoy my anime watching friends...) |
| Talisman04-27-08, 11:02 PM | Allow me to oppose the words of the Anti-Anime cult - er, "club." Watch anime! Anime is great! However, be selective about your anime. Watch good anime. Although, to quote a tote bag I once saw: "Anime! Crack is cheaper!" |
| Mercurius04-27-08, 11:23 PM | Allow me to oppose the words of the Anti-Anime cult - er, "club." Watch anime! Anime is great! However, be selective about your anime. Watch good anime. Although, to quote a tote bag I once saw: "Anime! Crack is cheaper!" Unless you use torrents! But, yeah, I've spent so much money on anime. I was an otaku back when anime was $30 for a 30 minute VHS, and we liked it! Also, we walked twenty miles up hill in the snow to get it! *Sigh* I guess I'm in the minority when it comes to anime fandom in this contest. *shrug* Oh, well. Still got second place. Good thing I didn't go with the character being heavily influenced by Card Captor Sakura, instead. That'd have been even more obscure. |
| JasonOrlandoHawk04-28-08, 01:05 PM | Allow me to oppose the words of the Anti-Anime cult How dare you accuse me of starting a cult!!! (Please ignore the Mind Flayer in a Priest outfit avatar) :shifty: Any chance of seeing comments from other judges? I'll tell you what, if you post comments, I'll send an additional bri.. "gift package" containing double the original package's contents. |
| CheeseMan04-28-08, 04:36 PM | Last set of comments. You've got me. I have a soft spot for commoners. well, he *was* inspired by Joe Wood |
| jennibert04-28-08, 08:38 PM | Any chance of seeing comments from other judges? I'll tell you what, if you post comments, I'll send an additional bri.. "gift package" containing double the original package's contents. So, you're offering double...nothing? ;) I'll see what I can come up with on such an enticing offer.... |