I think I finally have it...

[rmccarver]

okay. after weeks of agonizing over what to play in a 3.5 Eberron setting here is what I am thinking. Please give me some advice.

Human. rolled stats 18/18/17/16/14/13. Starting level 5

Classes: Human Paragon/Factotum

2 Flaws

Feats: Able Learner, Jack of All Trades, Weapon Finesse, EWP (Later Robilard's Gambit)

Aiijitsu Focus + Gnomish Quick Razor

Any ideas...I don't have a lot of experience and am not looking to totally optimize, but instead to make a fun character whoe is just a really cool human adventurer.

[Aeryr]

Why are you taking human paragon if you take factotum? :smallconfused:

[rmccarver]

Why are you taking human paragon if you take factotum? :smallconfused:

I want the extras that paragon gives, such as +2 to stat and extra feat. Not so much worried about the BAB that I would lose.

[Fable Wright]

Why are you taking human paragon if you take factotum? :smallconfused:

Seconded. First off, you don't need Able Learner or Jack of All Trades if you're going factotum, and you can probably drop Weapon Finesse, instead actually putting points in strength. Instead of those feats, you probably want Font of Inspiration instead. Second, you want all the Factotum levels you can. You get a higher bonus on skill check, more spellcasting, faster access to the more powerful Factotum abilities, and a whole mess of other benefits. Also, given that you already specialize in Charisma, you might consider also putting a lot of ranks in Intimidate and getting the Never Outnumbered skill trick and Imperious Command feat, if you felt like it. It's a minimal investment, but it can lock people down in combat very well, and synergizes amazingly with your Extra Standard Action ability.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

There's almost no reason to take Human Paragon if using Factotum, you would be better off with just Factotum by itself.

There's absolutely no reason to take Able Learner unless you plan on going into Chameleon, and even then you're probably still better off with just Factotum and saving yourself a feat.

Jack of All Trades is also not that great, considering how unlikely you'll be to succeed in an untrained skill check anyway. It's only used for certain (questionable) gimmicks, none of which appear useful to this build.

Replace both of those with Font of Inspiration (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frcc/20070606), and plan on taking that at least one more time.

You could go Gnome or Whisper Gnome (RoS) instead of Human, and trade your racial familiarity with the Gnome Hooked Hammer with familiarity with the Quickrazor (CW p154-155). Small size will give you bonuses to attacks and AC, and Whisper Gnome has some extremely favorable ability and skill bonuses plus useful spell-like abilities.

If you're going to fill the role of the party rogue/trapmonkey, say you bested the Iron Wyrm Vault detailed in Complete Scoundrel to get the feat Tactile Trapsmith for 3,000 gp without having to spend a feat on it. That will switch Search and Disable Device to Dex-based skills for you, and your Brains Over Brawn class feature will add your Int bonus back into them anyway.

In the early levels you can cast Grease under your opponents and if they have less than 5 ranks in Balance they'll be considered flat-footed, and you can IF them all you want. Max out UMD and get a Wand of Grease, and put it in a Wand Chamber of your weapon. Later on you'll probably want Quick Draw, as it's a prerequisite for both the Hidden Blade skill trick (CS) and Flick of the Wrist (CW), both of which are useful for enabling Iaijutsu Focus if your opponent has Balance ranks.

[Morph Bark]

Remember that Jack of All Trades grants only half a rank in all skills, not a full rank, and thus does not allow you to use Cunning Knowledge with all skills if you take that feat.

[rmccarver]

Thanks. Thats what I really needed to know. Is wand use a standard action?

[rmccarver]

Is there a flaw, small sized?

[Aeryr]

Being small is good... there is no flaw for being small.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Thanks. Thats what I really needed to know. Is wand use a standard action?

Activating a wand takes the same type of action as the spell's normal casting time, as per Rules Compendium.


Is there a flaw, small sized?

Some races are small size naturally. Humans, Elves, and Dwarves are medium, Gnomes and Halfings are small, Ogres are large, etc. You can find a race's size in its racial traits. Small size characters don't have as great a carrying capacity, their gear is smaller/lighter, their smaller weapons deal lower base damage (nothing noticeable), and they get bonuses to attack rolls, AC, and hide checks due to size. Everything you'll get is conveniently detailed in the list of racial traits given in that race's entry for PC use.

[Slipperychicken]

Is there a flaw, small sized?

It's called Strongheart Halfling :smallcool:. You look just like a Human, only Small with a bonus feat, but no extra skillpoint. Alternatively, go Whisper Gnome (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040807a&page=3) for some pretty sweet stats, and switch the Racial Familiarity to Gnomish Quickrazor. If you do that, it's basically a free feat, since you were going to take EWP anyway.


Take Font of Inspiration (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040807a&page=3) 3-4 times (seriously, all your class features key off IPs). Take all the Flat-Footed skill tricks in Complete Scoundrel, and keep some Daggers and Marbles (A&EG) handy. Put Blurstrike and a Wand Chamber (Dungeonscape, pop a Wand of Nerveskitter into that baby) on your Quickrazor once that becomes available. By RAW, JoaT won't help you, unless your GM lets that count as "trained" for the purpose of Cunning Knowledge, in which case it's only saving you some skillpoints, which you're bleeding out of your ears anyway, so consider wisely. Make your Quickrazor Feycraft (it's Weapon Finesse: The Item) to save another feat. Quickdraw can help, if you're planning on using/throwing those daggers, or using any weapon other than Quickrazor, now that I think of it. Grab a custom Iaijutsu Focus-boosting item, but if your GM isn't into that, grab a Circlet of Persuasion (+3 to charisma based checks). Also get a MW Iaijutsu Focus item, fluffed as either kind of "Focusing Earrings", a sheathe made of Minotaur hide, or a special oil or weapon-maintenance gear favored by Iaijutsu Masters. See if your GM will let you put the Focus enhancement (usually Katana-only) on the Quickrazor. If your GM lets Cunning Strike qualify you for Craven, take that, too.


Factotum1-20 is awesome. Nothing else progresses your Factotum stuff, so that's a fine reason to stay in the class . It also makes you look like less a munchkin (And more like a roleplayer, if your group subscribes to the Stormwind Fallacy). The only dips you really need to consider are Warblade or Swordsage, and those will come later anyway. Able Learner won't help unless you're going into Chameleon.


Clarification: Each time you take Font of Inspiration grants N+1 Inspiration Points, where N= [number of inspiration points the last FoI gave]. So the first one you take gives 1, the second gives 2, the third gives 3. If you take it three times, you have 6 bonus IP total. If you take it four times, you have 10 bonus IP total. Five times is 15, six times is 21, and so on. That's why you want to take it a lot: because it literally gets better every time.

[Gavinfoxx]

I like the Mindbender and Cloistered Cleric dips myself.