Nick Bolhuis's page

I'm currently running a fighter/alchemist who is making enough use of TWF/shield bash to make spending some feats worth while. I feel like I'm half remembering a feat which I now cannot find anywhere, perhaps I'm imagining.

The feat is something to the effect of allowing you to use the shields armor enhancement as it's weapon enhancement. I feel like it require improved bash and probably mastery and what all. Unfortunately I'm at such a loss to find it anywhere that now I just feel like I'm going crazy!

Am I?

While it should go without saying that we're all interested to see what each of the top 16 have come up with, I'll be equally interested to see which headshots were selected. I'm curious about the breakdown of everyones selection, which were picked, which were avoided and which were duplicated.

Many of the headshots can easily be villains, while others are quite a stretch. Did villainous looking pics get avoided in favour of a longer stretch? Did the judges consider how easy/difficult a particular selection was while doing their commentary? Did duplicated pics get similar treatments from both submissions, or did each contestant see something really different? How many duplicates (or triplicates) will there be? Maybe there are 16 different treatments for the same pic :P

I see so much other potential in all of these pics, and am really looking forwards to participating in discussion of what could/would have been. What cool ideas did people come up with and then leave behind? What trends will be evident in these discussions?

Naturally all of this will have to wait until next week but I can see the discussion threads on this round being active for a long time. I just can't get over how cool this round is!

Karuuk Soulrender, the Unrelenting Embrace
Portrait: 11
Description: Ominously glowing eyes and midnight skin suggest Karuuks unholy nature. His jagged snarl and hulking shoulders seem average for a vicious orc with an anger issue, but when his anger abates his demeanour changes to that of an inquisitive and polite gentleman. He is a curiosity among the orcs of the Hold of Belkzen; a vampire cheiftan who fancies himself an intellectual. His tribe, the Ashen Skulls, paint their faces with Karuuks enemies. He has a propensity for turning his rivals into vampire spawn and then staking them out for the morning sun.
Motivations/Goals: Immortality has given Karuuk a different perspective than those of the other orcs within The Hold, the petty squabbling over resources has grown tiresome. Karuuk sees himself as a vampire first, and an orc second. Not one to throw away a valuable resource, he has retained and even expanded his tribe, but to him they are merely a weapon. His real motives lie in reclaiming a time of ancient glory. In his early years as a vampire, Karuuk captured, dominated and interrogated dozens of men and women from neighbouring nations.It was in this way that he learned of the Whispering Tyrant, his rise, fall and the roll the orcs of the Hold of Belkzen had to play. He eagerly awaits the prizes and power Tar-Baphon will bestow upon him when he succeeds in prompting his release.
Schemes/Plots/Adventure Hooks: Karuuk Soulrender is an ideal villain for parties adventuring out of Lastwall into either of it's northern neighbours. He's particularly fond of compelling information concerning the wards which protect Gallowspire, and is regularly dispatching his unholy horde into Ustalav to test the tower's defences.

Karuuk Soulrender CR 9
Male vampire orc aristocrat 1/ barbarian (brutal pugilist, APG 78) 7
CE Medium undead (augmented humanoid)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60ft., low-light vision; Perception +12
===== Defense =====
AC 22, touch 14, flat-footed 18; (+1 armor, +1 dodge, +3 Dex, +7 natural,)
hp 85 (7d12+1d8+36); fast healing 5
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +4
Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4; DR 10/magic and silver; Immune undead traits; Resist cold 10, electricity 10
Weaknesses vampire weaknesses
===== Offense =====
Spd 40 ft.
Melee slam +14 (1d4+7 plus energy drain)
Special Attacks blood drain, children of the night, create spawn, dominate (DC 16), energy drain (2 levels, DC 16), improved savage grapple, pit fighter, rage (19 rounds/day), rage powers (animal fury, scent, strength surge), savage grapple
===== Tactics =====
During Combat Karuuk begins by dominating a heavily armored opponent and ordering them to kill their party's spell caster. He then rages, grapples the cleric or rogue, quickly establishes a pin, drains blood until dead, he then grapples new opponent.
Morale When below 20 hp, or if in melee with four or more foes he will attempt to escape using gaseous form. He then waits to heal, consumes potion of Fox's Cunning and returns to combat.
===== Statistics =====
Str 25, Dex 16, Con --, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +7; CMB +14 (+20 grapple); CMD +27 (31 vs. grapple)
Feats Alertness(B), Combat Reflexes(B), Dodge(B), Greater Grapple, Improved Initiative(B), Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Lightning Reflexes(B), Power Attack, Toughness(B)
Skills Acrobatics +13, Intimidate +13, Knowledge: History +8, Perception +12, Spellcraft +2, Stealth +12, Survival +10
Languages Common, Orc
SQ change shape (dire bat of wolf beast shape II), gaseous form, shadowless, spider climb
Combat Gear amulet of natural armor +1, bracers of armor +1; Other Gear 4 potions of Fox's Cunning, 3,600 gp in assorted trophies and tomes of lore concerning Gallowspire.

To make matters worse, I have two different drafts right now, and was checking their word counts in an attempt to help my decision.

Is there a BBC tag to make the little superscript "B" to denote a bonus feat? If no, is there a special notation that we should be using, or will this not be considered?

I've just been through and commented on all the top 32 (should have gotten around to it sooner, kind of feel like a jerk). I wanted to get my input in before this afternoon, as I know I'll be looking elsewhere.

Does anyone know if we get the round 3 rules this afternoon as well, or will that come along later? I think someone said something about a PDF too ;)

I am super stoked to see what my fellow 32 have come up with, and also a little scared.

Best of luck to everyone!

I know round 5 is quite a ways away, but I also know that most of us are working on something, even if only in the background. I was wondering how the rest of you are tackling this task, and also about the design process of previous entrants.

I have what I think is a pretty solid idea. I like my hook, my location, my villains and their motivation, but I have conflicting ideas about how to proceed from here. Part of my wants to start stating stuff up, tweeking their capabilities to what I need them to do. Part of my wants to start making maps and designing locations. Part of me wants to spend hours researching background for half conceived ideas, read related material and draw concept art. My home campaign is planned session by session, it's simple, "this is what we're going to do today kids". Anyone else out there running into the same wall? Or am I just a chump?

Kind of a strange question I know, but will they be posted on the 25, right when voting starts, or will they be up and subject to discussion for a few days before hand?

I've been looking at the same few hundred words for so long now my brain is going to burst. It's been read, re-read, edited, balanced, processed, re-edited, revised, re-balanced etc ad nauseum ad infinitum. I was beginning to worry I would somehow ruin it so I bit the bullet and submitted.

Anyone else in the same boat? Taking a break or working on a later round?

Champion of Philosophy (Cavalier)
By devoting himself to a philosophical ideal rather than a knightly order, a cavalier gains great power to enforce his beliefs.
Alignment:Champion of philosophy must be neutral good, neutral evil, lawful neutral or chaotic neutral.
Moral Devotion: A champion of philosophy devotes his life to the teachings of his alignment (law, chaos, good or evil). Many of his class abilities affect opponents he would consider heretics. For the purpose of these abilities any foe whose alignment opposes his on either axis is considered a heretic. For example a lawful neutral champion would consider all chaotic opponents to be heretics. A champion must act in accordance with his alignment, failing to do so results in the loss of all abilities concerning heretics for a period of 24 hours. This ability replaces order.
Defy Heretic (Ex): Whenever a champion of philosophy issues a challenge to a heretic, he gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC as long as he is threatening the target of the challenge. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels the champion possesses.
Detect Heretic (Sp): At 1st level, a champion of philosophy can use Detect Evil, Law, Good, or Chaos as appropriate for his alignment. He may do this at will. This ability replaces tactician.
Protection from Heretics (Sp):At 2nd level, a champion of philosophy gains the constant effect of a Protection from spell of a type opposite to his moral devotion.
Banner (Ex): This ability functions much the same as the cavalier ability, except that the bonus applies to saves against effects with an alignment type opposite to the champion's moral devotion.
Philosophical Discourse (Ex): At 4th level, a champion of philosophy adds ½ his class level to Intimidate checks against heretics. This ability replaces expert trainer.
Magic Circle Against Heretics (Sp):At 8th level a champion of philosophy's protection from heretics becomes a Magic Circle Against effect instead.
Battle Heretic (Su) At 9th level, a champion of philosophy's natural weapons as well as any weapon he wields are considered to have his alignment type for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. This ability replaces greater tactician.
Denounce Heretic (Sp): At 15th level, once per day a champion of philosophy can use Holy Word, Dictum, Blasphemy, or Word of Chaos as appropriate for his alignment.
Slaughter Heretic (Su): At 17th level, any magic weapon (+1 enhancement bonus or greater) is treated as either Holy, Axiomatic, Unholy or Anarchic when held by a champion of philosophy, as appropriate for this alignment. This quality may not cause the weapon's effective enhancement bonus to exceed +10. This quality disappears when the weapon leaves the champion's possession. This ability replaces master tactician.

I wasn't real nervous until about an hour ago. I was gonna go to work in the morning and come home to see the results. Now, I'm off and get to hang around the house all day until i can see them at five!

Assassin's Rose
Aura faint illusion and conjuration / none (see text); CL 3rd
Slot --; Price 350 gp; Weight --
Description
While not necessarily a rose, this magically augmented blossom is certainly a favorite of countless assassins, many using signature flowers befitting their style. A convenient, controlled and undetectable means of delivering a dose of poison, all a would be killer need do is convince their target to stop and smell the roses. By exposing the flower to a dose of poison, the flower absorbs that dose, converts its delivery method to inhaled, and activates a Magic aura to conceal the deadly qualities of the bloom. This foils not only Detect Magic but also Detect Poison, furthermore the onset time of the poison is increased by a full minute. Charging the flower with poison is considered readying the poison for use, and as such a user risks poisoning themselves. This process takes 1 hour, during which time the Rose must remain in contact with the poison. Once charged a Rose may be safely handled, but only retains its poison for 24 hours after which it decays rapidly, any poison contained in the bloom is lost. Unlike other inhaled poisons, the poison held within the Assassin's Rose does not fill a 10ft cube, but rather it is released only against an individual smelling the flower. Convincing a target to smell the Rose may require the use of the diplomacy skill. If the poison is released the rose becomes a normal flower in all respects, but may not be re-enchanted into another Assassin's Rose.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Magic Aura, Delay Poison, Profession: Gardener 5 ranks; Cost 175 gp

At the risk of getting a little ahead of myself I've been working out some stuff for my archetype, and I've run into a tricky question. With so many archetypes and so many new abilities, some overlap seems inevitable. If an archetype idea would suggest an ability that another archetype already uses what is the proper protocol? Should we use the existing ability, and will we be penalized for not using 100% original content? Should we attempt to write a similar but alternate ability, and risk being told that this already exists? Should we not use the ability at all, and risk weakening our submission thereby? I would never think to cut and paste my entry as a dodge, but I can see how a single existing ability could tie it all together. I understand that the point of Superstar is to write amazing new stuff, and not regurgitate the old, but is the point not also to manipulate the existing rules in new and interesting ways? A potential overlap seems inevitable. Do you have a plan for addressing this, or are you simply going to put a blanket ban on any such re-use?

Does anyone out there have any idea what round two means by archetype? To me an archetype is a story device that has been around for centuries, and is represented and interpreted multiple times. Seems very unlikely that the top 16 will be able to find archetypes that modern literature have not yet identified. What are you other hopefuls expecting from this round?