Factotum arcane boost [3.5]

[Incorrect]

Hi playground

Im currently playing an elf factotum 8, about to take level 9, and i wonder if there is any useful trick or PrC to enhance my spell casting. Being the only arcane caster in the party, only 3 spells per day isn't helping much.

My character:
Elf
Factotum 8
Int>Dex>Cha
High skills of cause, including UMD

The rest of the party includes druid, cleric and a paladin, so we have divine casting covered.

How can I get more arcane spells?
(all 3.5 sources allowed)

[true_shinken]

Go Chameleon (Races of Destiny) and/or load up on wands and scrolls.

[Incorrect]

The fall back option will be throwing gold scrolls and wands after the enemy, but I was hoping anyone would know about a PrC that advanced my own spell casting.

[kladams707]

So are you looking for PrC that would advance your Spell-like abilities?

[true_shinken]

The fall back option will be throwing gold scrolls and wands after the enemy, but I was hoping anyone would know about a PrC that advanced my own spell casting.
Factotum's spellcasting is tricky. You actually cast spell-like abilities, you have a very limited number of slots. I imagine you're filling the utility role, correct? Scrolls and wands should be enough. Trapsmith (from Dungeonscape itself, I believe) or Suel Arcanamach (Complete Arcane) could help if you really really want more spellcasting. From then, grab any of the list of spell list increasing feats/prcs - Mother Cyst, Sandshaper, Fiend Blooded, Wyrm Wizard, Recaster, all that stuff.

[Incorrect]

So are you looking for PrC that would advance your Spell-like abilities?
That would be optimal



Helpful advice

I will check out those options. Thanks

[Incorrect]

I dont really see any options giving me more spells, without beginning from level 1. Curse you spell-like ability progression.

I guess I will try to swing a leadership artificer and go to town with crafted wands.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Eternal Wands in MIC are usable 2/day, get two with your favorite spell and use it once per encounter. I'd get one with Web and one with Bands of Steel or Haste.

Get the Druid to prepare Sleet Storm, Ice Storm, and at 9th level Call Avalanche from Frostburn. The Cleric can use Wall spells, Nauseating Breath, and whatever his domains grant. That should keep the offensive batman-style spellcasting sufficiently covered.

If you're going to take Leadership, you may as well get Dragon Cohort from the Draconomicon instead and pick up a wyrmling Steel Dragon (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20040328a) Loredrake with Sorcerer levels, possibly also with a full spellcasting prestige class. You could add Spellhoarding if you want to throw on a little cheese, though the promise of it getting first dibs on every arcane scroll and spellbook the party finds would likely make it considerably cheaper to maintain as a dragon cohort. Dragons of Faerun puts the Steel Dragon's level adjustment at +2 for Wyrmling, +3 for Very Young, and +4 for Young and Juvenile, and you would treat its ECL as 3 lower with Dragon Cohort, so at 9th level you could recruit an ECL 10 dragon cohort. (That version, the most recent, also gives them immunity to acid at all age categories.) That means you could have a Wyrmling Steel Dragon Loredrake Sorcerer 4, capable of 7th level Sorcerer spellcasting. Another option that uses a DMing trick would be to describe it as capable of using a specific martial weapon, any will work, and it's automatically proficient with it. That would let you go Sorcerer 2/ Abjurant Champion 2 starting out, so it would get considerably better HP and BAB plus a few tricks. Definitely use the Metamagic Specialist ACF for Sorcerer from PH2.

With Spellhoarding it would cast as a 7th level Wizard instead, you could give it one Wizard level so it could specialize and get an ACF for Scribe Scroll (which it gets via Spellhoarding). In that case you could give it Wizard 1/ Master Specialist 3, and plan on taking something like Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil. That would be able to cast 4th level spells immediately, it would have a vast assortment of available spells, and it would be able to craft scrolls for you to use. With its small size, flight, and spellcasting it would be able to make a significant contribution to the party. I'd make it a specialist Conjurer, maybe even use Focused Specialist, and give it Abrupt Jaunt from PH2 for a bit more survivability. In any case it should have a Circlet of Rapid Casting for low-level crowd control spells like Grease, Web, and Glitterdust.

[Kaww]

Eternal Wands in MIC are usable 2/day, get two with your favorite spell and use it once per encounter. I'd get one with Web and one with Bands of Steel or Haste.

Get the Druid to prepare Sleet Storm, Ice Storm, and at 9th level Call Avalanche from Frostburn. The Cleric can use Wall spells, Nauseating Breath, and whatever his domains grant. That should keep the offensive batman-style spellcasting sufficiently covered.


Eternal wands go up to lvl 3 spells. No lvl 4-9... :smallwink:

[Gorgondantess]

Really, though, Trapsmith would be an excellent 1 level dip if you want to pad out your spellcasting- nab haste and dispel magic and you've just added a whole lot of versatility to your factotum.
Stick it out for 3 levels, and you can get haste, dispel magic, gaseous form, dimension door and resilient sphere or stoneskin or stone shape on top of whatever else you want from Arcane Dilettante.

[Zaq]

Really, though, Trapsmith would be an excellent 1 level dip if you want to pad out your spellcasting- nab haste and dispel magic and you've just added a whole lot of versatility to your factotum.
Stick it out for 3 levels, and you can get haste, dispel magic, gaseous form, dimension door and resilient sphere or stoneskin or stone shape on top of whatever else you want from Arcane Dilettante.

One level of Trapsmith doesn't do that much good without an Illumian with the Krau sigil, Practiced Spellcaster, or both. CL 1 hurts both Haste (1 target, 1 round) and Dispel (d20 + 1 to dispel). If you end up advancing Trapsmith, great, but remember to watch your CL.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Eternal wands go up to lvl 3 spells. No lvl 4-9... :smallwink:

I suggested Web (2nd), Bands of Steel (3rd), and Haste (3rd) for the Eternal Wands.

I recommended that the Druid and Cleric prepare a few specific spells, one of which will become available when he reaches character level 9 as it's a 5th level spell.

[Thurbane]

Short of retraining, grabbing a "fast progression" arcane casting PrC (like the Suel Arcanamach, suggested above) is your best bet, probably combined with Practiced Spellcaster. Sublime Chord is another, but will be hard to qualify for as a Factotum without taking dips.

[sreservoir]

If you're going to take Leadership, you may as well get Dragon Cohort from the Draconomicon instead and pick up a wyrmling Steel Dragon (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20040328a) Loredrake with Sorcerer levels, possibly also with a full spellcasting prestige class.


a wyrmling Steel Dragon has no spellcasting. loredrake only advances existing spellcasting.

[sreservoir]

Short of retraining, grabbing a "fast progression" arcane casting PrC (like the Suel Arcanamach, suggested above) is your best bet, probably combined with Practiced Spellcaster. Sublime Chord is another, but will be hard to qualify for as a Factotum without taking dips.

ur-priest, on the other hand, is almost trivial to qualify for, though the saves get in the way a bit. a binder dip helps with that, but you can go Factotum 9, too.

[Kalaska'Agathas]

a wyrmling Steel Dragon has no spellcasting. loredrake only advances existing spellcasting.

A Wyrmling Steel Dragon casts as a first level Sorcerer.

[true_shinken]

ur-priest, on the other hand, is almost trivial to qualify for, though the saves get in the way a bit. a binder dip helps with that, but you can go Factotum 9, too.
Ur-Priest is also divine casting. The OP doesn't want that.

[Thurbane]

ur-priest, on the other hand, is almost trivial to qualify for, though the saves get in the way a bit. a binder dip helps with that, but you can go Factotum 9, too.
True enough, but the OP said his party already has Divine casting pretty well covered.

[Incorrect]

Thanks to all you guys.
I will be looking through all your suggestions, please the ideas comming :smallsmile:

Im thinking Practiced Spellcaster + Trapsmith or Suel Arcanamach.
My int is 22, and cha 14, so thats a point in trapsmiths favor (being Int based)

[Kalaska'Agathas]

Thanks to all you guys.
I will be looking through all your suggestions, please the ideas comming :smallsmile:

Im thinking Practiced Spellcaster + Trapsmith or Suel Arcanamach.
My int is 22, and cha 14, so thats a point in trapsmiths favor (being Int based)

The issue I see with Trapsmith is that it has a very limited scope. That would lead me towards Suel Arcanamach, despite its being Cha-Based.

[Incorrect]

ur-priest, on the other hand, is almost trivial to qualify for, though the saves get in the way a bit. a binder dip helps with that, but you can go Factotum 9, too.

Oh, if only Ur-priest was Int-based arcane :smalltongue:

But really, there are 3 other divine casters in the party

[Kaww]

I suggested Web (2nd), Bands of Steel (3rd), and Haste (3rd) for the Eternal Wands.

I recommended that the Druid and Cleric prepare a few specific spells, one of which will become available when he reaches character level 9 as it's a 5th level spell.

Sorry, I wasn't fully awake, so I somehow missed the part with other people preparing higher lvl spells.

[faceroll]

Ice Storm...batman-style spellcasting

Isn't Ice Storm a 1 round blast? You need extend on it or something to get it even remotely batman-style.

The rest of that cheese is pretty awesome, though.