Factotum build help

[AdalKar]

I'm going to play in a campain with three players and I thought "Finaly a chance to play a factotum!" :smallbiggrin: and I want it to be a scout and kind of allrounder (and I don't want to include Bard, because I played one recently).

But I could need some help with the build.
All official books are allowed and Dragon/Dungenmagazine or 3rd party is allowed on a case-by-case basis.
Stats are really high (18,16,16,16,14,12) [we rolled 5d6b3 seven times, take the best 6 and rerolled every 1] but all in all it's not going to be high optimization except for the stats.

The other party members are a Barbarian/Wizard who wants to try out Ragemage (with good some goodies to make it worth from the DM) and the other one is a Barbarian/Cleric who wants to make some kind of melee shaman-thing and found a homebrew prestige class for his char.
(Alignment-prerequisites are mostly ignored for any purpose)

Starting level is going to be 2.
Right now it is unclear, if it will be a gestalt campain or not, so it would be nice, if you could include options for gestalt and non-gestalt in your posts and it would be great if you could list the sources.

Right now I got this:
Stats: Str 16 Dex 16 Con 16 Int 18 Wis 14 Cha 12
non-gestalt: Human Factotum1/Domain Focused Cloistered Cleric 1
Flaws: Code of Arms (DragonMag 324)
Living Faith (DragonMag 326) (both have RP reasons)
Trait: Quick
Feats: Font of Inspiration, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Darkstalker, Knowledge Devotion (from cleric)
Domain: Celerity (so I have a speed of 60')

gestalt: Human Factotum2//Fighter 1/Domain Focused CC 1
rest is the same as above but one FoI more

Is this good? Can it be done better without becoming too optimized? Can I somehow include more combat options and maybe becoming halfway good at shooting and maybe tripping if we need the battlefield control (or if shooting isn't possible at the moment)?

What should I take later on for levels and feats (I would like to stay as much from more casting away as possible and get many Factotums levels) ?

Whew, that are a lot of questions :smallredface:

Thank you for any help :smallwink:

Edit: Changed my mind on the shooting and wanting a tripping build now :smallbiggrin: everything else would be the same atm.
And please don't suggest Iaijutsu Focus, I don't want to use it with this character. :smallsmile:

[Greenish]

Wisdom is one stat factotums don't really need, so cleric is less than ideal gestalt half. If you're familiar with MoI, factotum//incarnate might be the ultimate skill monkey with great versatility.

Charisma is a great stat, since it codes for a whole bunch of good skills (interaction ones, UMD, intimidate, iaijutsu focus). Bit of intimidate never hurts, check out the fear handbook if you haven't already.

I'm not too sure about archery, it's very feat hungry, even if multishot, cunning surges and Knowledge Devotion is a nifty combo.

[AdalKar]

Yeah, I know. The Cleric is only one level in there for the Domains :smallsmile:
but you're right, Incarnate looks really good for a skill monkey.

Hm, maybe I swap out Wis and Cha, but I don't really want to get Iaijutsu Focus, we had one using it last campain and I don't want to do the same just one campain thereafter :smallwink:

I know that archery is feat intensive, but we already have two melee dudes in a 3 person party and I don't want to be a full caster... hm... maybe I should focus more on tripping and just use my Inspiration points if I need to shoot someone.

Intimidate looks like it's a nice backup option, I will think about taking a few ranks in it.

Thank you very much

[SilverLeaf167]

Be sure to pick the Magic domain with the Cleric! It's granted power allows you to use both Cleric and Wizard items without an UMD check. I think it's quite a bit better than that tiny speed bonus from Celerity. Also, you had a typo in there: your speed would be 30+10+10=50, not 60.

Also, very few monsters at that level have Blindsense etc., so you might want to take Darkstalker at lv6 or lv9. For now, replace it with another FoI.

It's very hard to be competent at both archery and tripping: you should choose one, I recommend tripping. Factotums can add their Int bonus to all Str checks, including trip checks.

[AdalKar]

Well, we have a wizard and I'm going to put some points in UMD so the Domain probably wont get me so much and the UMD checks will be easier than the CL check for scrolls.

And the Celerity Domain will give me +20' because of the Domain Focus (some DragonMag ACF for the cleric).

Replacing Darkstalker with another FoI sounds reasonable at this level :smallsmile:

Hm, you're right, I think I'll go with tripping :smallbiggrin:

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Font of Inspiration is typically best taken three times, or not at all.

Drop Point Blank and Rapid Shot, get EWP: Gnome Quickrazor (with fractional BAB and gaining a cleric-specific flaw at 2nd level), and take the Slime domain and use the spontaneous domain casting ACF in PH2, with max ranks in Iaijutsu Focus. Cast Grease under an opponent, they're considered flat-footed if they don't have 5+ ranks in Balance. This combined with the Quickrazor gives you IF damage on every attack.

[AdalKar]

Well, like I said
Hm, maybe I swap out Wis and Cha, but I don't really want to get Iaijutsu Focus, we had one using it last campain and I don't want to do the same just one campain thereafter :smallwink: I don't want to use Iaijutsu Focus if I can avoid it.

I think I should include this in the OP and that I'm going to be tripping :smallsmile: but thank you anyway for you're kind help.

And I want to take more FoIs when I can get them :smallwink:

[yugi24862]

If you want more combat ability, taking Warblade from Tome of Battle (wizards gave it away for free somewhere aswell) on the other side of your gestalt is a good idea. Maneuvers are very flexible, so pick more boosts/counters and use brains over brawn plus potions of enlarge person to get very high trip checks.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Get the Strength domain with the spontaneous domain casting ACF to cast Enlarge Person every fight.

Drop Point Blank and Precise Shot, and let Darkstalker wait until later, to get Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, and Combat Reflexes starting out. Maybe even let your first Font of Inspiration wait so you can get EWP: Spiked Chain (again with fractional BAB and gaining the cleric-specific flaw at 2nd level).

[AdalKar]

Ok, changed it around a bit :smallsmile:

non-gestalt: Factotum 1/CC 1 and then more Factotum
Feats: Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Combat Reflexes, Knowledge Devotion and EWP: Spiked Chain

Domains: Celerity, Strenght (spontaneous domain casting for strenght)
trait and flaws as before.

gestalt: Factotum2//Warblade1/CC1 and then more Factotum//Warblade
rest as above


later on I'm going to take Darkstalker and some FoIs.
(Just heard, that we're gonna use the PF featprogression, so I can take Darkstalker at 5 and FoIs after that).
Does this look good? Will this be overpowering for a campain settled around tier 3?