[2011] Skunkbelly's Ultimate Tournament Challenge 2011 [by skunkbelly]

[Grisu]

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This tournament has already ended. It was originally started by @skunkbelly Dec 15, 2010. The last post was made Dec 3, 2011
(link to original thread on diabloii.net) ​

Skunkbelly's Ultimate Tournament Challenge 2011

It's been a while, but in honor of the long wait for Diablo 3, I thought it was finally time to have another SUTC tournament. I floated this idea a couple months ago, and there was some interest... but work got in the way. Now the time has come.

In this tournament, like all previous SUTC tournaments (for those who remember them), you will not want to get too attached to your characters. You will play your character for *one act*… then you will pass it on to another player, who will be randomly determined. They will then take over that character’s fate… while you will have a new character to push ahead with. And so on and so on, until all characters either achieve Guardian status or take a more humble title, such as Daisy-Pusher-Upper.

As if that wasn’t enough challenge, there are several skill and item restrictions that will affect your gameplay. The idea, this time around, is to give magic a different feeling… magic items are harder to come by, and must be made, not simply found. All characters will have certain key abilities, and then some special additional Powers, but in general, the number of skills that may be used is fairly small.


BASIC RULES

1. Hardcore characters only.

2. We will switch characters every two weeks. Therefore, you must be able to play through an act in two weeks’ time. If you cannot, you will be disqualified. Act 4 will only be given one week, due to its brevity.

3. All items must be found within the game… no bringing in items from your other characters.

4. No cooperative gameplay… you can only play solo.

5. In order to join, you must sign up in this thread by December 25th.

6. The tournament will begin on December 27th. All starting characters and classes will be posted then.

7. When you sign up, list your forum name and your email address (necessary for sending character files).

EQUIPMENT RULES

1. Non-jewelry Items that have inherent magical qualities (including all unique, rare, magical, and set items) may ONLY be used if they have been received or modified through a quest reward. Magical items permitted therefore include:
a. Charsi imbue rewards (items must be redeemed before leaving Act 1 in that difficulty).
b. Items personalized using the act 5 quest reward.
c. Anya rescue quest reward class-specific items.

2. All white items, all non-magical ethereal items, and all non-magic socketed items may be used. Sockets may be filled with anything you like.

3. You may use any jewelry and any charms you like.

4. You may craft items.

5. You may use the Cube to create items, provided they do not break any of the rules above.

6. You may make and use runeword items.

7. Gambling is allowed for jewelry only, or for blue magic items to craft.

8. When your character completes an act, they must be passed to the next player WITH ALL OF THEIR EQUIPMENT AND GOLD, including charms and potions. The ONLY items you may keep for yourself are gems and runes, and *ONE ITEM* that you’d like to save for your act 5 personalization reward… once the item has been personalized, though, it has to stay with that character.

CLASS AND SKILL RULES

For each class, a character may use the “Core Skills†listed, and *three* additional skills, which we’ll call “Powers.†These Powers will be determined by the people who play the characters, with the following rules in mind:

1. A point may only be put into a skill if it is a Core Skill, a Power, or a pre-requisite for a Power or Core Skill.

2. If a skill is only a prerequisite for a Core Skill or a Power, it cannot have more than one point in it. These skills can only be used in Normal difficulty.

3. Once more than one point is put into any non-Core skill, it becomes a Power skill. This includes all synergies… if you want to put points into a synergy skill, it must be either a Core Skill or a Power.

4. No player in Act 1 or Act 2 Normal may determine a Power skill… you may add points to Core Skills, and you may add single points to prerequisites for other skills… but you cannot commit the character to any Power skills by adding a second skill point. Once a character hits act 3, Power skills may be assigned by the player who will play that character through act 3 (though they are not required to assign Power skills, if they don’t wish to…).

5. After completing Normal difficulty, you may not use skills except for Core Skills and Power Skills.

6. You are never obligated to assign a character’s skill points… feel free to leave them for the next player.

An example:

Say Tina is a sorceress. Because she is a sorceress, her Core Skills are the three elemental mastery skills and Warmth. When you start the character in act 1, you may put points into Warmth as much as you want, since it is a Core Skill. You may also put one (and only one) point into any other skill you want, and you may use those skills. But you cannot add a second point to any skill except Warmth… that would be committing that skill to be a Power, which is not permitted until act 3.

The same holds true in Act 2. But when Tina reaches Act 3, the player for Act 3 may choose to add a second skill point to any skill, thereby making that skill a Power skill permanently. For example, our player might choose to add a second point to Static Field, making Static Field a Power skill for Tina the Sorceress. That player could then add as many points to Static Field as they like.

CLASSES AND CORE SKILLS:

Sorceress Core Skills: Elemental Masteries, Teleport and Warmth.

Barbarian Core Skills: Increased Speed, Iron Skin, and all Weapon Masteries

Amazon Core Skills: Inner Sight, Critical Strike, Penetrate, Pierce

Assassin Core Skills: Claw Mastery, Burst of Speed, Fade, Cloak of Shadows

Paladin Core Skills: All Defensive Auras, Holy Shield

Druid Core Skills: Lycanthropy, Werewolf, Werebear, Oak Sage, All Creepers

Necromancer Core Skills: Skeleton Mastery, Golem Mastery, Summon Resist, Bone Armor

That’s it. Rules may be altered, based on really good suggestions, between now and December 24th. I will then post the final, complete rules for the tournament, and after that they will not be changed.