Factotum Cunning surge and chaining ready action chaining?

[gawwy]

Just had an idea around an action economy abusing BBEG.

Could a factotum 8 ready an action for when they are targeted to do x in response and then burn 3 ip to ready another action after the ready action has occurred?

also on the topic of readied actions. what happens if you ready a trans-location trick for when you are targeted by a spell and then use it to swap with some one? does it hit you or the person you swapped with?

[Curmudgeon]

You can ready a specific action type (free, move, or standard). Unfortunately, the poorly-written Factotum class doesn't specify an action type for Cunning Surge. It should then default to a standard action, making it completely useless: spend a standard action to get a standard action.
Using an extraordinary ability is usually not an action because most extraordinary abilities automatically happen in a reactive fashion. Those extraordinary abilities that are actions are standard actions unless otherwise noted. Cunning Surge is purposeful, rather than happening automatically in reaction to something else.

[gawwy]

so if we assume that cunning surge was intended to be activated as a free action you would have to ready a free action to activate it. would even be able to use the following standard action to do something?

[Curmudgeon]

so if we assume that cunning surge was intended to be activated as a free action you would have to ready a free action to activate it. would even be able to use the following standard action to do something?
It would give you options which Ready doesn't allow. You can already Ready a standard action, but you have to specify exactly what that standard action entails. With Cunning Surge as a free action you would ready that specific free action, and with the expenditure of 3 IPs you could take any standard action you like when your Ready trigger happens.

[gawwy]

would people as dms allow this? or is it broken? (note i don't run gestalt so its not like they will have full wiz casting to use the standard actions on)

[Curmudgeon]

Use Cunning Surge as a free action, instead of the standard action the rules require? No, I don't think so; there should be some cost other than IPs for such a powerful exception to the usual action economy. But I'm willing to make it a swift action to activate.