Advice on low-to-mid-op Factotum build (and dabbling with Incarnum)

[ApologyFestival]

Hail, Playground!

The factotum is a divisive class, but it seems to have some support on these boards. I'm playing my first factotum (and first skill monkey in general) in a low-to-mid-op game and, even after a few sessions, I'm unsure where to go with the character build. I hope the Playground can offer some advice! The GM has set a few stipulations, first; we play in another game with a planar shepherd, cleric and sorcerer as the PCs, and she wants this game to start at level 1 and be a bit more... uh... grounded.


It's a low power game. Though characters are encouraged to be very good at what they do, we should stop short of game breaking. Wizards, sorcerers, druids, clerics, or anything that remotely resembles one are only in the game world as supremely powerful NPCs.
Font of Inspiration is out. My DM thought it best to nix this web enhancement feat. Between Cunning Surge, debate over how the feat was intended to work, and it being a no-brainer to "light all of your feats on fire," she just did not like it. And I can not blame her. This Factotum has to deal with the class's low Inspiration score.
Dumpster diving through any 3.0/3.5 book is fair game. It's the only reason the Factotum is allowed at all, and that means Iaijutsu Focus/Quickrazors are in! No flaws, though.
...but as a caveat to the above, any feats or nasty tricks used by the players are also fair game for our opponents. Strategies like Imperious Command with Never Outnumbered are out because we don't want them used against us. Dumping a gallon of poison on someone's head using psionic minor creation is an invalid strategy for this same reason.
Feats that have potential drawbacks will have the drawbacks come into play. If we make powerful enemies then item familiars are at risk of being disintegrated or stolen, cohorts may be murdered, and so on.
My DM wanted her campaign to start low-magic, so the Whisper Gnome's spell-like abilities were traded for a bonus feat.


The party is a bard (the face), a rogue/swashbuckler (cookie cutter build), ranger, and human paragon (all combat-focused), and myself as the factotum. I have decided to primarily be a sneak and scout, as the bard is focused on social skills, and I'm a great believer in carving a niche and being the best at it. No sense in competing with the rest of the party, right?

From the eight sessions that we've had so far, the factotum hasn't failed to impress--though this is admittedly due to the low power of the game. I have opted to max out the scouting skills (hide/move silently, spot/listen, search, and iaijutsu focus to help out in combat) which leaves three skill points per level to pick up one-point wonders for cunning knowledge. She simply can't fail at her speciality, and iaijutsu focus alone keeps her relevant in a fight, so much so that I'm reluctant to get any combat options beyond this, at risk of making the swashbuckler feel bad. I'm not sure if it's wise to maximise ranks before tagging *every* skill for cunning knowledge, but it physically pains me to leave frequently-used skills shy of their maximum potential.

My planned character build looks like this:


1) Darkstalker: Hide from creatures with most "auto-detection" senses.
1 Bonus) Shape Soulmeld (Phase Cloak): Prerequisite for Open Lesser Chakra, with a minor benefit to climbing.
3) Shape Soulmeld (Shedu Crown): Prerequisite for Open Least Chakra, and immunity to bull rush.
6) Open Least Chakra (Crown): Gain telepathy out to 100 ft., can not equip magic items in the head slot.
9) Mindsight: OH HI THERE. Automatically detect intelligent creatures within 100 ft.
12) Open Lesser Chakra (Shoulders): At-will etherealness during player turn, can not equip magic items in the shoulders slot.

For those unfamiliar with Magic of Incarnum: Basically, the 3rd and 6th level feats together grant telepathy, the 1st and 12th level feats together grant at-will etherealness. Both cost a valuable magic item slot, but both (in my imagination, at least) provide incredible options for a sneak that are unlikely to be obsoleted in a low-op game.

I am aware of a 1-level dip in Mindbender at CL 6 for telepathy. It would save two feats (and arguably the most valuable magic item slot for a Factotum) but it would delay all Factotum class features for a level. The DM is also wavering on allowing both telepathy *and* Mindsight at the same level, for roleplaying reasons. The CharOp in me says it's a no-brainer: a one-level dip is worth it if the GM allows it, but the minor hit to being skillmonkey supreme when that is the character's niche is galling. Also, with so many of the recommended feat options for factotums out entirely (i.e. Font of Inspiration) or very unsafe choices (i.e. Imperious Command, Item Familiar) I'm not sure if dipping to save feats is worth it.

For those with experience playing sneaks, would Mindsight be so game-changing that it is worth getting as soon as possible, or can it wait until ECL 9, with high spot and listen checks keeping the party safe in the meantime?

For those with experience with Incarnum, is it worth spending almost every feat to gain telepathy and etherealness? With Magic Item Compendium allowed, I'm hoping that the loss of magic item slots won't be crippling. Losing a circlet of persuasion sucks, but a mask of intelligence and vest of resistance can be commissioned in a major city, even if they are not in the loot pool.

For all you other lovely people in the Playground, any and all advice is welcome!

[Fouredged Sword]

That seems like a great use of incarnum. For combat, I would be tempted to just THW your way to victory with a spear.

Remember, there is a feat that reopens a bound charkra slot for an item. It works great for that item that only goes in one slot that you simply must have later in the game.

I would also be tempted to look into chameleon as a PRC after 8th level. It would bring some late game casting to the group. If your DM is game for adding a max 6th level spells casting class, the versatility will pay off with dividends.

[ApologyFestival]

Remember, there is a feat that reopens a bound charkra slot for an item. It works great for that item that only goes in one slot that you simply must have later in the game.
If the game gets far enough, I'm considering spending the 15th and 18th level feats on just that. None of the options for the greater chakras impress me as much as telepathy and at-will etherealness does. I can't think of anything else to spend the feats on, but I'm not giving it too much thought since even if the game does run for that long, 15th level is at least a year of gameplay away. Right now I'm worried about making something that is suitable for the game it's in and is playable throughout its career.


I would also be tempted to look into chameleon as a PRC after 8th level. It would bring some late game casting to the group. If your DM is game for adding a max 6th level spells casting class, the versatility will pay off with dividends.
This factotum is a whisper gnome, with the racial spell-like abilities swapped for a bonus feat per the DM's request to start low-magic. I figured I had forgotten to mention something important! Chameleon seems like a very good prestige class, but it has a feat barrier for entry (that's a problem) and that feat is human-specific (that's definitely a problem). My DM has already been very kind in allowing a modified--and some would argue improved--whisper gnome into her game. I'd feel dirty asking if I could also take human-specific feats!

[Fouredged Sword]

Ha, I missed the racial issue. I missed that you are a gnome.

In that case, it looks like you are in a good place.

While you are dipping around with feats, I would consider the martial study feat and martial stance feat. There is a level 1 shadow hand stance that grants concealment so long as you keep moving 10ft a round. This means, so long as you keep sneaking forward at half speed, you can sneak through open areas. It is better than invisibility if you have the skills to back it up. 20% miss chance during combat rounds you move is also really nice. Pair it with smoking armor spikes for when you need to stand in place and you are golden.

[Gildedragon]

Glad to see interesting tricks with incarnum on the factotum.
A 1 or 2 level dip into Incarnate or Totemist might be good, you get to save a considerable number of feat slots which can be then invested into a shadow hand stance (child of shadow) via the martial maneuver feat and the shadow hand weapon finesse substitute nvm if QRing that feat is useless

As for skills: UMD is prolly a good one to up, and with the factotum getting 1sp in each skill you use is worth it
Nymph's kiss is a good option if your alignment can stomach it; esp if you are running yourself dry on SPs
Otherwise ask if +int items can have PF rules (they have a skill per +2 to which they grant max ranks)

[Troacctid]

A 1-level dip in Totemist saves you two feats. A second level gives you an extra soulmeld and unlocks the totem chakra. Totemists have some great soulmelds for scouting--Kruthik Claws can give you +8 competence to Hide and Move Silently, for example, and there are others that boost Spot and Listen--so the extra soulmeld could definitely be useful. And just the ability to change up your soulmelds is significant too--do you really want to be shaping a Phase Cloak that does nothing but buff your Climb when you could be getting at-will Dimension Leaps instead? Okay, once you hit 12th level, going ethereal might be better, but you're starting at 1st level; that's a long time to be stuck with a glorified Skill Focus (Climb).

[malonkey1]

TBH, Font of Inspiration is hardly a gamebreaker. You're spending a precious feat slot to get 1 point, up to 15 points if you're willing to waste a fifth of your feats. It's not that big a boost, really, until you get to the point where you're obviously trying to break the class.

[Gildedragon]

TBH, Font of Inspiration is hardly a gamebreaker. You're spending a precious feat slot to get 1 point, up to 15 points if you're willing to waste a fifth of your feats. It's not that big a boost, really, until you get to the point where you're obviously trying to break the class.

But if the DM says no it's a no; besides it is not needed for a factotum.

On a side note: Spell Selection:
Aiming for skill boosting spells, such as the Loresongs, is pretty handy as your IPs are gonna be limited. The emulate feats spell could probably be damn handy for aiding others.

[malonkey1]

But if the DM says no it's a no; besides it is not needed for a factotum.

On a side note: Spell Selection:
Aiming for skill boosting spells, such as the Loresongs, is pretty handy as your IPs are gonna be limited. The emulate feats spell could probably be damn handy for aiding others.

Agreed. Also handy is the invisibility spell, and possibly a Persisted buff spell or a control spell. I'd also check and see how your DM handles using metamagic alongside Arcane Dilettante. It's in a gray area, since it's "preparing an arcane spell" but it's also called out as a Spell-Like Ability.

[Doc_Maynot]

Agreed. Also handy is the invisibility spell, and possibly a Persisted buff spell or a control spell. I'd also check and see how your DM handles using metamagic alongside Arcane Dilettante. It's in a gray area, since it's "preparing an arcane spell" but it's also called out as a Spell-Like Ability.

Factotum actually states you can prepare metamagic when you prepare the spell.
However, "you must be capable of using a spell of the modified spell’s level." As it is with all metamagic.

[malonkey1]

Factotum actually states you can prepare metamagic when you prepare the spell.
However, "you must be capable of using a spell of the modified spell’s level." As it is with all metamagic.

Ah. I must have missed that bit. Cheers.

[Chronos]

Personally, I've never been fond of Font of Inspiration anyway. There are so many other good feats you can take, and if you take a significant number of other feats, the benefits of FoI fade to insignificance, because of the way it scales.

One feat I always like is Obtain Familiar. A familiar, even a non-improved one, has all of your skill ranks, which means you basically get another skillmonkey for free.

For dabbling in Incarnum, I'd ordinarily recommend a dip in Incarnate rather than Totemist, since almost all of the useful skill-boosters are on the Incarnate list. When Totemist melds boost skills, they're usually competence bonuses, which you can get cheaply from elsewhere. That said, though, the two specific melds you're looking at are both totemist melds, so maybe that's the way to go after all.

Speaking of Incarnum, you should at least consider three levels of Umbral Disciple. Hide in Plain Sight is nice.

Don't spend feats on Open Chakra. Use the spells for it, instead. If you're not high enough level to get the spell, or want to save the slot, you can use a Minor Schema (Magic of Eberron) to get Open Least Chakra, at least (that'd cost 11,400 GP).