Using Heir of Siberys

[Fable Wright]

Long story short, I'm trying to put together a half-dozen builds that have at least 2 levels in the Heir of Siberys class. The problem is, while the class has a lot of roleplaying power, from an optimization standpoint, it's terrible. So far, I've managed to wrangle it into four basic builds. However, two seem to be eluding me. First, I need a build that gets extremely high craft and social skill checks, yet is capable in combat. Factotum is the natural choice, but I have problems trying to make it work with 2-level dips, or to find a class that works with Heir of Siberys that branches off of it. The other is trying to make a Bard build work with Heir of Siberys.

Some builds I've considered and trashed:
Factotum 8/Warblade 1/Bard 1/Sublime Chord 2/Heir of Siberys 3/Jade Phoenix Mage or Abjurant Champion 5. (Arcane Dilettante qualifies as the ability to cast spells in this campaign.) This build has the most sheer power of any of the proposed builds here, but the 2+int skills of JPM and Abjurant Champion is a bit of a deal-breaker. Also, ridiculous levels of MAD

Factotum 4/Warblade 1/Bloodstorm Blade 2/Master Thrower 5/Heir of Siberys 3/Factotum +4/Exotic Weapons Master 1, using Bloodstorm Blade and Stormguard Warrior with the Palm Throw and Weak Spot thrown weapon tricks to rack up absurdly massive damage boosts with Talenta Boomerangs. And yes, Boomerang Daze will be taken. (I might throw Iajutsu focus in there, as well.) Problem is, while the build gets at least 4+int skills at each level, has a decent int and Able Learner, it gets at most +4 to Craft or social checks from Factotum, and that's the extent of its skill-boosting. I'd like to turn it into a slightly more social build.

Factotum 12/Heir of Siberys 2/Factotum +6: Why bother with the Heir of Siberys over 2 more levels of Factotum?

Bard 7/Swiftblade 9/Heir of Siberys 3/Abjurant Champion 1. Quick, simple, and powerful, but it doesn't feel much like a Bard at all.

Bard 7/Virtuoso 10/Heir of Siberys 3: This isn't a bad build at all, but I'm not quite sure that a Bard/Virtuoso does round to round in combat. Virtuoso just doesn't seem like that strong of a class to build around.

Bard 12/Heir of Siberys 3/Bard + 5: There are way too many dead levels in here.

If anyone has any ideas on other Factotum or Bard builds using Heir of Siberys, or thinks I'm missing something critical in one of these builds, I'd much appreciate the help. Thanks!

Wizard 5/Mage of the Arcane Order 7/Heir of Siberys 3/Archmage 2/MotAO +2
Totemist 5/Beast Heart Adept 10/Heir of Siberys 3/Totemist +2
Tashalatora Monk 2/Psywar 10/Heir of Siberys (adapted for psionic advancement) 3/Psywar +5
Warblade 10/Eternal Blade 2/Heir of Siberys 2/Eternal Blade +6 (open for advice on this one)

[Red Fel]

Well, I think an important question is which Siberys mark you intend to use. That has a substantial impact, I think, on what your build should resemble.

For example, an Heir of Siberys with the Siberys Mark of Making would make a brilliant crafter, obviously - being able to spontaneously produce raw materials is extremely useful, especially if you're making rare stuff. A Siberys Mark of Detection makes for great melee - even better when you combine it with a ToB strike that you really, really want to connect. And so forth.

Don't forget, there are some very unorthodox uses of Dragonmarks that can lead to some very impressive results. (For example, grappling an opponent, then using a Prodigy Mark of the Storm for Updraft, then dropping the poor fool. But that's not Siberys material.) Coming up with creative notions - such as using the Mark of Handling's Awaken daily after infiltrating an enemy's organization to slowly convert their combat mounts into loyal allies - could make these abilities viable.

And making them viable is the challenge. Yes, you're recreating 8th-level spells as a 1/day SLA, which is pretty great, but you're picking this up at level 12, when casters already have access to 6th-level spells. In other words, you may be getting this ability, but it will age quickly - unless you've designed your build specifically around that ability.

So which Mark were you thinking?

[Fable Wright]

So which Mark were you thinking?
The Factotum is going to be saddled with either Finding or Shadow due to plot reasons, though neither of them are particularly optimal marks. (That said, Shadow does add non-combat utility to combat builds.)

The Bard has the Mark of Hospitality, which makes it fantastic at being everywhere at once. In-combat usage is a bit more restricted, but a familiar could allow the Bard to teleport across the battlefield with ease given the second use of Refuge. Out of combat, though... the ability to teleport a support bard into any major battlefield as the battle takes place would be a ridiculously powerful boon, and something you have difficulty spamming with regular spell slots. Paying 1500gp may not be too expensive for one or two uses, but it adds up fast; the actual Mark gets around this, making it an ability that does level well.