Skill Monkey Options

[cerin616]

So, I am currently building a skill monkey for a dnd 3.5 game. It will primarily use rogue, with a touch of factotum.

I have every skill trick I need picked out, and my DM allows any skill gained as always a class skill, so the few levels dipped into factotum nets me all skills. I have jack of all trades, so in essence I have every skill as both a class skill and as trained.

My final build is rogue 13, factotum 3, exemplar 1, and Uncanny Trickster 3

UT nets me 2 extra exemplar levels for the skill masteries and a few neat tricks but also free skilltricks.
factotum gives me brains of brawn, for massive boost to dex and strength skills. int is main stat for the skill points.
rogue 13 nets me all them skill masteries, high skill points, etc.

In combat, however, I am extremely lacking. I dont hit often, and to gain sneak attack, I normally need to putmyself in dangerous position. we already have a cleric doing the whole murder thing, a warblade doing the whole murder thing, a druid doing the whole summon and murder thing, I really dont feel like damage is what I will be best for. I have considered swapping out my sneak attack for bonus fighter feats, hopefully to get some versatility.

What do you guys feel are some of the better fighter bonus feats to either land more hits, or do some more combat control in battle?

[Deaxsa]

if you have factotum 3 and jack of all trades, why do you even need rogue 13? (note: i am not very familiar with how exactly the factotum works, so if there's some glaring issue i've ignored, don't crucify me)

[DarkEternal]

If you took a few levels in factotum, and you don't want to put yourself in melee, I advise you go the ranged sneak attacker route. Maybe a repeating crossbow or something like that. With Factotums cunning insight you can do a whole load of damage and you should be able to hit more often.

Basically, take a ranged weapon, maybe even remember that Sniper Strike(I think that's the name of the spell) which allows you to sneak attack from a distance greater than 30 feet, use Cunning Insight to get a bonus to hit, and one more for bonus for damage and there you have it. You should probably take a few fonts of inspiration feats for more insp. points though.

[KitTheOdd]

I was going to suggest Knowledge Devotion, but then I saw the "don't need more damage" thing. Have you considered dipping into Bard and pumping Inspire Courage? Bard supports the skill monkey flavor, has a bunch of useful spells (for more versatility), and IC allows you to help the party deal more damage without getting into more danger yourself.

And a plus to the ranged fighting idea too.

[Waker]

Well, if you are looking to increase combat options without worrying about damage so much, you have a few options. Replace a few of those rogue levels with swordsage and grab some Setting Sun Maneuvers. Since many of them are Trip attacks, they work with Brains over Brawn (Trip attempts are Str/Dex checks). Distracting Attack would reduce your damage a bit, but make it considerably easier for your allies to hit your target. The Rilkan Rogue sub levels grant you an improved flanking bonus as well as Bardic Knowledge and a bonus feat. Alternatively you could use the Halfling Rogue sub levels to improve your ranged attack.
Also don't forget about the Ambush feats from Complete Scoundrel. Many of them will let you trade SA damage to impede the enemy in some other fashion, like confusing them or hindering their movement.

Also what were the skill tricks you were thinking of taking?

[kulosle]

Keen intellect is also an great feat, lets you use int for will saves and as the key attribute for your wisdom skills. But in general i would say to go with more control options. I second the tripper idea, trippers are wonderful. Or go with the bard IC idea because it's my favorite class ever.

[Curmudgeon]

I was going to suggest Knowledge Devotion, but then I saw the "don't need more damage" thing.
Knowledge Devotion doesn't just boost damage; it increases your attack as well. I generally get a guaranteed +5 to hit and damage with a Knowledge Devotion Rogue by about level 14. Skill Mastery at Rogue 10 and Savvy Rogue at level 12 mean you'll get to "take 12" on those 6 skill checks related to D&D creature types. Add in the standard +5 weapon enhancement you should certainly have by this level and you ought to be hitting more often than full BAB types.

Perhaps you're hurting yourself by taking penalties you can't afford. The Two-Weapon Fighting line is notorious for enticing Rogue players into the tactically unsound position of rushing into full melee attacks (usually yielding a spectacular number of misses) — and inevitably withstanding full counterattacks. Just on the basis of 3/4 BAB and the attack penalty the TWF line is a poor return on your feat investment; factoring in your d6 hit dice and a requirement to go toe-to-toe with enemies makes it a suicidally poor idea.

As for the "put myself in dangerous position" problem, use of Hide with Hide in Plain Sight should mean you're qualifying for sneak attack while also making yourself untargetable. If the best an opponent can do is try to guess which square you're in and then only have a 50% chance to hit if they guess right, you shouldn't be too concerned by the danger.

[SciChronic]

i'm intending on being the skill monkey for my next campaign as well, what i've decided to do was a factotum 8/cloistered cleric 1/ warblade X

if your DM allows some 3rd party or homebrew, taking the martial variant of factotum (dropping SLAs for maneuvers) you can make yourself rather effective in combat. You can take some maneuvers that aren't allowed in your warblade list, so something like revitalizing strike or taking the island of blades stance is possible. On my character she has revitalizing strike, opportunistic piety, and 2 healing belts in her bag, so she heals like mad.

taking the destruction devotion along with knowledge devotion allows you to easily shred armor for you and your allies, and you are constantly getting a good amount of skill points, more if you're human which i suggest.

warblade has good synergy with Int. Diamond Mind has great maneuvers for saves, and damage. Iron Heart is just awesome. and you can essentially get free maneuvers uses each round through the use of cunning surges (take font of inspiration 3-4 times if you want to do it more often)

as for the HP issues, factotum uses a d8 and warblade an amazing d12, so being in dangerous situations isnt so bad, especially when you can counter with the diamond mind maneuvers making concentration checks for saves. stack that with my healing power, and i can last on the front lines for a while.