Plain Scholar Contest Entries

[sirpercival]

So, we only got two entries... we'll have to see whether this idea will continue.  Nonetheless, here are the two entries.

[sirpercival]

oslecamo's build

High Sage Marion Eisen (Dragonlance Gnome Scholar 20)

Small Outsider (gnome, dragonblooded)

Ability Scores:
Str 6                      (8 base, -2 racial)                         
Dex 12                  (10 base, +2 racial, )
Con 22                  (16 base, +6 enanchment)
Wis 6                    (8 base, -2 racial)
Int 36                    (18 base, +2 racial, +5 levels, +5 Inherent, +6 Enanchment)
Cha 12                  (12 base)

20 HD (average 192 HP assuming first level is maxed)
DR/- 13
Resistance 13 to all elements

Fort +25 (+12 base,+5 Resistance, +6 Con, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)
Reflex +26 (+6 base, +5 Resistance, + 13 Int, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)
Will +21 (+12 base,+5 Resistance, -2 Will, +2 Racial, +2 Iron Will, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)

AC 40, Touch 29, Flat Footed 26  (10 base +1 Size +1 Dex -1 Vulnerable +5 Mythral Chain Shirt,+ 13 Int, + 6 Scroll Shield, +5 Deflection)

20 feet base Speed (Fly 20 feet while in Coming God's Realm stance)

Iniative: +1

BAB 15, Base Melee +14 (-2 Str, +1 Size), Base Ranged +15 (+1 Dex, +1 Size, -2 flaw)

Ranked Skills:
-Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) +55 (+23 ranks, +13 Int, +2 racial, +4 Aura, +1 Breadth of Knowledge, +1 Keen Intellect, +2 Circumstance from Masterwork Tool, +2 Blade Meditation, +1 Luck, +5 Competence, +1 Trait) 
-Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, History, Local, Nature, Religion, The Planes) +53 (+23 ranks, +13 Int, +2 racial, +4 Aura, +1 Breadth of Knowledge, +1 Keen Intellect, +2 Circumstance from Masterwork Tool, +1 Luck, +5 Competence, +1 Trait) 
-Listen +23 (23 ranks -2 Wis, +1 Dragontouched, +1 Luck, +1 Competence, -1 Trait)
-Spot  +23  (23 ranks -2 Wis, +1 Dragontouched, +1 Luck, +1 Competence, -1 Trait)
-Use Magic Device  +26  or +26 with scrolls (23 ranks, +1 Cha, +2 synergy, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)
-Diplomacy +28 (23 ranks, +1 Cha, +2 Synergy, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)
-Forgery +38 (23 ranks, +13 Int, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)
-Spellcraft +26 (5 ranks, +13 Int, +4 Aura, +2 Synergy, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)
-Decypher Script +24 (5 ranks, +13 Int, +4 Aura, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)
-Craft (Alchemy) +18 (1 rank, +13 Int, +2 racial, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)
-Craft (Book) +16 (1 rank, +13 Int, +1 Luck, +1 Competence)
-Any other Knowledge skills +27 (+1 “virtual” rank from Breadth of Knowledge, +13 Int, +2 racial, +4 Aura, +1 Breadth of Knowledge, +1 Keen Intellect, +2 Circumstance from Masterwork Tool, +2 Blade Meditation, +1 Luck, +1 Competence, +1 trait) 

Skill Trick: Collector of Histories, Clarity of Vision

Feats: Insightful Reflexes (Int to reflex saves), Trivial Knowledge , Keen Intellect(From Oriental Adenvuters, boost Knowledges), Knowledge Devotion, Blade Meditation(Plain History), Martial Study (Ambition Crisis-Conquest), Draconic Aura (Insight, +1 to Decipher Script, Knowledge, Spellcraft, if dragonblooded increases to +2 at 7th +3 at 14th, +4 at 20th), DragonTouched (gain dragonblood, +1 HP, +1 to Spot, Listen, Search,+1 against Paralyzis and Sleep), Breadth of Knowledge, Iron Will (Otyugh Hole )

Flaws: Unreactive, Shaky
Trait: Absent Minded

Maneuvers Known:

(click to show/hide)

Spiritual Birth,
Leading the Attack,
Ephemarility of Life,
Burden of History,
 White Raven Tactics,
Sacred Treasure Orb,
Erase History,
Past-Old History,
 Ambition Crisis-Conquest,
 Sacred Treasure-Mirror,
 Shrouded Records, 
Traveling Companion,
Ending Sign,
 Ambition Crisis-Colapse,
Returning Bridge to the Lost,
Pseudo-History,
 Phantasmal Emperor,
Future-Next History,
The Legend of the Far Away Land,
 Ancient Kingdom,
 Total Purification,
 Flanking Maneuver,
White Raven Hammer,
War Master's Charge

Maneuver DCs=10+Maneuver Level +14 (none of the White Raven maneuvers picked have DCs).

Stances Known: Bright Teacher, Sacred Treasure Sword, Sacred Treasure Land,  Coming God's Realm,  Emperor of the Far Away Land

20th level budget: 760 000 GP
Equipment: Luckstone(20 000), Pale Green Ioun Stone(30 000), Ring of Protection +5 (50 000), Cloack of Resistance +5 (25 000), amulet of Health +6 (36 000), Headband of Intellect +6 (36 000), Tome of Clear tought used (137 500), Belt of Battle (12 000), Otyugh Hole (3000), Scrolls of Uncertain Provenance (8000 GP), +1 Mythral Chain of Heavy Fortification, Soulfire and Easy Travel (112 500), Ring of Freedom of Movement (40 000), Handy Haversack (2500 GP), 8x Masterwork Tool, each tied to one of the top trained Knowledge skills of the characters in the form of rare books and scrolls (400 GP) 10x Tempo Bloodspike (1500 GP).

Still 245 600 GP left for more detailed stuff.

Personal Comments:

-First, I would like to point out due to RL I didn't have that much time to properly optimize this, so  I ended up deciding to do a “basic” build for simplicity's sake.

-This character is meant to focus on the mental control/suport aspect of the Scholar. It explores the new potential of a noncaster that brings in a lot of utility. Plain History maneuvers and Sacred Knowledge are key to this, and I mixed in some White Raven maneuvers because that's also a school with strong suport elements, in particular White Raven Tactics.

-Since most offensive Plain History maneuvers work based on a Knowledge skill, and so does Sacred Knowledge, a good part of the build is dedicated to boost those very skills. Dragonlance gnome was a true gem with a bonus to Int and racial to all knowledges out of the bat. Draconic Aura (Insight) gets pretty nice at higher levels. Keen Intellect from Oriental Adventures also grants +1 to Int checks on top of boosting all skills. Trivial Knowledge is plain awesome with rolling 2d20s for knowledge and droping the lowest. Knowledge devotion added in as well.

Since the build was clearly geting feat starved I ended up having to decide in two flaws. I really didn't want to completely ditch combat abilities since White Raven had some pretty nice melee maneuvers which could be combined with Spiritual Birth. So ended up with Shaky (none of the Plain History ranged maneuvers actualy demand attack rolls) and Vulnerable (-1 AC isn't that bad, and she's not a tank anyway)  Absent Minded trait on the other hand was a natural trait to pick.


Viability at Diferent Levels:
Altough I only present the 20th level build, I'll show how this character will be viable all the time. Later I'll even present the order I picked and retrained feats over all 20 levels.

At 1st level you're somewhat squishy and limited sure, but who isn't? Grab a pair of cheap parchments to use as Scoll Weapon/Shield and some light armor. Before battle you can buff your party in advance with Bright teacher (your base bonus will be +10 and you'll be rolling 2d20s and droping the lowest). In battle sacred knowledge for some extra damage and spiritual birth for attacking with a +6 to hit dealing 1d4+5, not too shabby. If you don't move, you can renew spiritual birth, use it and attack once every round while also geting your Int to AC. Against groups of mooks or if you need to step back from melee drop First Pyramid, and Feast Upon history provides some nice defense if things suddenly get rough.

Between levels 2 and 4 things quickly get better. Your permanently get Int to AC (doubled with Spiritual Birth), your ranged maneuvers actualy start having nice ranges, you unlock trivia and gain nicer buffs and debuffs. If you're forced in melee, you can hit them with Leading the Attack.

Between levels 5 and 8 things things get even nicer. White Raven tactics your allies. Sacred Treasure Sword and Sacred Treasure Orb are two loveable toolboxes. Ambition Crisis-Cruelty is a powerful area control. Erase History can atempt to fix some bad luck or stupid decisions. You also unlock Mythical form for some nice bonus 1/day, and Careful Analyzis, which is quite strong when combined with all your maneuvers that are based on knowledge checks.

Between levels 9 and 14 the class the monsters start geting much more dangerous, but so does the Scholar. Extra actions, even better at negating enemy save-or-die while debuffing them better with Ambition Crisis-Colapse, ability to dominate enemies or turn them against each other, Traveling Companion provides expendable minions, more uses of Mythical Form, and Sacred Treasure Land protects you and your allies. Granted your pure offensive power is somewhat slacking, but that's for what summons and dominated enemies are for. You should also start to get around a 30-40 bonus to your knowledge skills by now, so Returning Bridge to the Lost can dish out some pretty solid damage with debuffs attached.

Between levels 15 and 18 the Scholar gets his best tricks as you unlock 8th and 9th level maneuvers. Coming God's Realm protects you and your party from the harshest tricks out there while Future-Next History further abuses the action economy, while Emperor of The Far Away Land make you tough as nail. Emperor of the Far Away Land is basically “boss mode” and Total Purification can unleash some pretty good damage with save-or-die attached.


The last levels give the final touches for the character. Guardian of Knowledge is always nice, Whiteraven Hammer is a rare auto-stun, while Warmaster's Charge allows for all kind of fun combos. Flanking maneuver was necessary to unlock the other two.

-So, in the end, I can't really claim to have pulled any crazy unexpected combo, but again this is a completely new class with new mechanics of its own, so it bears to see how it can hold doing a straight up build. I can however boast about having find out several obscure feats, races and whatnot for boosting knowledge skills. It can do a lot of stuff and will always be a valuable party member in and out of battle, while providing some tricks nobody else can do like manipulating the past, erasing enemy actions and basically all the stances.

-Oh, and the tempo bloodspikes are a nifty Eberron item that grant a "floating" extra move action, extremely handy when the Scholar can use those for Sacred Knowledge and recovering maneuvers.

Other build details:

(click to show/hide)

Dragonlance Gnome racial traits:
+2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Str, -2 Wis
Small
base 20 feet
+2 racial on craft(alchemy)
+2 racial on all knowledge
+2 racial on Will saves.

Base:
Str 8 (0 pontos)             
Dex 10 (2 pontos)         
Con 16 (10 pontos)
Wis 8 (0 pontos)
Int 18 (16 pontos)
Cha 12 (4 pontos)

After racial (Dragonlance Gnome)
Str 6                         
Dex 14
Con 16
Wis 6
Int 20
Cha 10

Maneuvers and feats:
1-First Pyramid, Spiritual Birth, Feast Upon History, Harsh Lesson, Bright Teacher
-Insightful Reflexes,
-Trivial Knowledge (Flaw: Unreactive)
-Keen Intellect, (Flaw: Vulnerable)
2-Leading the Attack
3-Origin Sign
-Knowledge Devotion
4-Ephemarility of Life, Burden of History(retrained Harsh Lesson)
5-Sacred Treasure Sword, White Raven Tactics
6-Neverending Work, Ambition Crisis-Cruelty  (retrain First Pyramid)
-Blade Meditation
7-Sacred Treasure Orb
8-Erase History,
9-Past-Old History
-Martial Study (Ambition Crisis-Conquest)
10-Sacred Treasure-Mirror, Shrouded Records(retrain Feast Upon History)
11-Sacred Treasure Land, Traveling Companion
12-Ending Sign (retrain Neverending work), Ambition Crisis-Colapse
-Draconic Aura (Insight, +1 to Decipher Script, Knowledge, Spellcraft, if dragonblooded increases to +2 at 7th +3 at 14th, +4 at 20th)
13-Returning Bridge to the Lost
14-Pseudo-History, Phantasmal Emperor (retrain Origin Sign)
15-Coming God's Realm, Future-Next History
--DragonTouched (gain dragonblood, +1 HP, +1 to Spot, Listen, Search,+1 against Paralyzis and Sleep)
16-The Legend of the Far Away Land, Ancient Kingdom-(retrain Ambition Crisis-Cruelty)
17-Emperor of the Far Away Land, Total Purification
18-Flanking Maneuver
-Breadth of Knowledge
19-White Raven Hammer
20-War Master's Charge

[littha]

DavidWL's Build:

Bob
Phrenic, Devil-bloodline human

Build Stub

Classes: Plain Scholar 12/Cleric 1/Ruby Knight Vindicator 7
Feats:  Expert Timing, Mercantile Background, Item Familiar, Leadership, Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment (Luck Domain)), Martial Study (Traveling Companion), Extra Turning, Hardened Criminal (Nobility and Royalty) - purchase Iron Will.  (Note:  2 feats / flaws still available)

Attributes

Code: [Select]

Atr    Base  Enh
Str 08 + 6  = 14   
Dex 10 + 6  = 16
Con 14 + 6  = 20
Int 16 + 6 + 5 (book) + 5 (levels) +4 (Fiend of Possession) +2 (Template) +3 (Fiend of Corruption) +2 Codex Anathema +1 (Bloodline) = 44
Wis 14 + 6 -2 (Codex Anathema) + 2 (Template) = 20
Cha 14 + 6 + 4 (Template) = 24
Int = 44!

Build Progression

1   Scholar 1 - "Expert Timing, Mercantile Background"
2   Cleric 1    - Domain: Pride, Portal (Spell if allowed); 
3   Scholar 2 - Feat: Item Familiar
4   Scholar 3
5   Scholar 4 - Trivia -> Bardic Knack (assuming allowed)
6   RKD 1      - Leadership (Fiend of Possession / Fiend of Corruption)
7   RKD 2
8   Scholar 5
9   RKD 3      - Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment (Luck Domain))
10   Scholar 6
11   RKD 4
12   Scholar 7 - Martial Study (Traveling Companion)
13   RKD 5
14   RKD 6
15   RKD 7      - Extra Turning
16   Scholar 8
17   Scholar 9
18   Scholar 10- Hardened Criminal (Nobility and Royalty) - purchase Iron Will
19   Scholar 11
20   Scholar 12

Items: 

Nightstick (4 extra turn undead, 7500gp), Relinquary Holy Symbol (1 extra turn undead, 1000gp)

Manuever Progression

NOTE - this is without the bloodline, to be more conservative, but strictly speaking, all the awesomeness would be available 3 levels earlier!

1) First Pyramid, Spiritual Birth, Bright Teacher, Crusader's Strike, Feast Upon History --> Reformed
2)
3) Vanguard Strike --> Reformed
4) Ephemarility of Life
5) Burden of History, Martial Spirit
6) Thicket of Blades
7) Foehammer --> Reformed
8) Sacred Treasure Orb
9)
10) Shrouded Records, Past-Old History
11) Divine Surge
12) Ending Sign, Travelling Companion (Feat)
13)
14) Aura of Perfect Order, Shield Bash --> Reformed
15)
16) The Legend of the Far Away Land, Future-Next History
17) Pseudo-History
18) Total Purification, Ancient Kingdom
19) Returning Bridge to The Lost, Emperor of the Far Away Land
20) Erase History, Strike of Righteous Vitality

Why Am I Awesome?  (Aka, build choices & Reasoning)

• Ruby Knight Disciple + Ending Sign (15th level) = uber power, with Turning fueled extra Standard actions.  Future Next History just makes this better.
• Ruby Knight Disciple + The Legend of the Far Away Land = multiple 9th level buffs ... hello Transcend Mortality, or channeling insanely powerful outsiders!
• Alternating RKD w/ Scholar + Bloodline --> You get the most important scholar goodness 2 levels earlier than a normal scholar
• Bloodline + Hardened Criminal + Item Familiar --> Take 10 on all Knowledge (Nobility and History) Checks, 26 skill ranks with +26 bonus from Item Familiar
• Makes an incredible skill monkey (Trivia -> Bardic Knack + Weildskill at will) as early as 8th level
• Planar Touchstone (Catalogues of Enlightenment (Luck Domain)) + Past-Old History + Psuedo History --> You can use Past-Old History (awesome!) without much downside, as you can always re-roll the D20 if you get a result you don't like.  Instead of 1 in 20, it is 1 in 8000.  "Why yes, I did buy a few fiendish ogre bane arrows.  Don't you always carry those with you??"
• Phrenic, besides being cool, also boosts Int & Gives Fusion .... which does not dilute Maneuvers, turning 1 scholar into 2

Some observations others may not notice:

• First Pyramid - actually pretty good - if it is 4 vs 4 that might be tough.  4 vs 2 followed by 4 vs 2 is a much easier fight
• Sacred Treasure Orb - amazing.  Alter Self at will.  Augury at will as a swift action.  Divine Insight at will.  Wraithstrike at will.  You can only use one at once, but often that is all you need.  Wow.
• Traveling Companion - what makes binders tier 2.  This makes this class tier 2 all by itself.  Because this is based on IL, the bloodline will let you call Summon Monsters disproportionately powerful

Build Across the Levels

• At low levels, basically like any other plain scholar build (aka, awesome), with a bit of bloodline trickery, a little Intelligence optimization, and a little bit more generalist flavor
• At 5th level (with bloodline) or 8th level -> Sacred Treasure Orb for at will personal spells of 2nd or lower level ... now a powerhouse
• At 7th level (with bloodline) or 10th level -> Past Old History Optimization
• At 9th level (w/blood) or 12th - Traveling Companion
• At 15th level -> Immediate action abuse
• etc.

Best,
David

[DavidWL]

Remarking on Oslecamo's build - very fun to see!

• I wonder if it is worth it to max int?  Probably ... especially if going for int synergy.  +1 for dragonlance gnome scholar (necropolitan with old age)
• where did the DR and resistance come from?  Nifty
• Insighful Reflexes is a good choice ... I should have done the same (and used those flaws!)
• The will save should be higher ... Keen Intellect adds Int instead of Wis to will save
• Under the bonuses to Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty), what are these:?  +4 Aura, +1 Breadth of Knowledge, +2 Blade Meditation
• Scrolls of Uncertain Providence = a good find!
• FYI - the wisdom based skills are higher because of Keen Intellect (Int instead of Wis to skills).  I think that Oslecamo was not using the 3.5 updated version of the skill, even though that was the judgement. 
• Trivial Knowledge is also very nice.  You'd probably want one of either Trivial Knowledge or Hardened Criminal.  FYI, Trivial Knowledge adds an average of 3.35 to your rolls, and helps out lower rolls more than higher rolls.
• Interesting that we both took martial study!  A comment about how cool the manuevers are
• White Raven is a good choice - I would have gone with that were I not doing a Ruby Knight Vindicator
• I didn't notice that Spiritual Birth was so good!  Int for "tasks" -> To attack, to damage, to AC, to Initiative, etc.  Awesome
• Didn't connect that careful analysis also applies to you (as an ally of yourself).  Super powerful.  Increase your skill totals by ~40%

Best,
David