Factotum (5) to get High Level Spells and Crafting Magic Items

[Allstar]

I started a one shot with a few friends, previously I've played 5e and this will be 3.5e so I'm a little overwhelmed and don't know many in's and out's. I've read a lot catching up in preparation.

We started a one shot game at 5th Level and I picked a Factotum, lovely character, had a lot of good fun. Now we've decided to go into a longer campaign, possibly to level 20.

I'd like to take this character all the way but not feel useless at the higher levels and I know that Spells are useful for both being competitive in combat and crafting. Crafting should be easy as I've got loads of skill points and can put them anywhere. What I'm short of is spells, or spell like abilities.

What class or classes can I take to get spells (or spell likes) over level 7? Ideally Arcane since I know those spells well but Divine or other will do.

Thanks for your advice, experience and wisdom.

[Troacctid]

Chameleon (from Races of Destiny) is perfect for what you want. Gets spells at level 6 with a fast progression and comes with floating bonus feats for crafting.

You could also go into Ur-Priest for an even better progression, but there's a feat tax and you have to be evil.

[noob]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?272130-Getting-the-Facts-Straight-A-Factotum-Handbook-%28WIP-PEACH%29
is a guide
Furthermore there is unholy tricks with factotum chameleon for gaining infinite level spells.

[Flickerdart]

I like the divine crusader - you get 9th level casting over 10 levels from one domain. It's a no-frills way of adding a manageable slab of casting onto your otherwise melee character.

[Allstar]

Chameleon (from Races of Destiny) is perfect for what you want. Gets spells at level 6 with a fast progression and comes with floating bonus feats for crafting.

I've read about Chameleons, I love the flexibility but all the progression sheets I've seen shows upto Chameleon 10 and you get 1 × 6th level at most. I'm trying to get above that, unless I'm missing something?



I like the divine crusader - you get 9th level casting over 10 levels from one domain. It's a no-frills way of adding a manageable slab of casting onto your otherwise melee character.
This is a good call. Not an abundance of spells but a few of each. The class abilities are a bit thin, and the skills/level a bit low. What can I say; I want my cake and to eat it too. :P I suppose I could cram stuff into the remaining 5 levels.



Getting the Facts Straight: A Factotum Handbook (WIP, PEACH) is a guide
Furthermore there is unholy tricks with factotum chameleon for gaining infinite level spells.
A most excellent guide but it doesn't much go into getting true spell powers.

Keep the ideas a coming please. ;)

[Troacctid]

I've read about Chameleons, I love the flexibility but all the progression sheets I've seen shows upto Chameleon 10 and you get 1 × 6th level at most. I'm trying to get above that, unless I'm missing something?
You also get bonus spells. And remember, after Chameleon 7, you double the entire spell chart, because you go from choosing between arcane and divine to having a full complement of both.

It's true that you don't get slots above 6th level, but you do also get to pick from any class's spell list, which means you can pick up underleveled spells. For example, Summon Giants is normally an 8th level spell, but you get it as a 4th level spell off the Disciple of Thrym list. Mass Charm Monster is an 8th level spell for a Wizard, but you get it as a 6th level spell off the Bard list.

[Flickerdart]

This is a good call. Not an abundance of spells but a few of each. The class abilities are a bit thin, and the skills/level a bit low. What can I say; I want my cake and to eat it too. :P I suppose I could cram stuff into the remaining 5 levels.
You really only want as many levels as necessary before you qualify for a spell progressing PrC. Or you can camp out until 5th and get Weapon Specialization if you need it to qualify for something and aren't a Fighter so you can't get it normally.

[Zaq]

Getting high level spells generally requires devoting the bulk of your build to it (and/or extreme cheese, which we won't go into right now), so you're going to lose a fair bit of, well, Factotum-ness if you want to get high level spells. And since nothing advances Inspiration or your other Factotum features at the same time as spells (there's no "Factotum theurge" class without homebrewing something), you pretty much have to make a choice of how much you want to be a Factotum and how much you want to be a caster.

If you just want to be a skillful character with access to high-level spells, you might look at Bard going into Sublime Chord [CArc] (and then usually into Virtuoso [CAdv], advancing Sublime Chord casting). They have a different set of strengths than a Factotum does, but a Bard can be built to be good at damn near any set of skills you choose if you know what you're doing (and we can help you if you have a list of specific goals).

If you want to minimize multiclassing/PrCing and still be a character with good skills and high-level spells, you can look at the Beguiler [PHB2]. They have a very limited spell list (mostly tricky stuff like Enchantment and Illusion, though they do get a handful of other spells), but they do get 9th level spells and lots of slots, and they have an excellent skill list (very close to the Rogue's list, and they have 6 + INT skill points . . . which is generally pretty good, since INT is their casting stat). Again, definitely a different set of strengths from the Factotum, but they're still quite skillful and they still get high-level spells, even if they don't get every high-level spell you could ever want.

If you want to start as a Factotum and end as a high-level caster, your best bet is a fast-advancement PrC like the aforementioned Divine Crusader [CDiv] (9th level spells in 10 levels, but from an extremely limited list—only one spell known per level, and all from the same domain) or, if you're okay with some evil flavor, Ur-Priest [CDiv]. Fast-advancement PrCs basically never have good skill points, so if you want to keep up having good skill totals, you'll need access to another PrC that advances casting and offers better skill points (which may or may not be easy to find). But like I said, once you start down the caster road, your Factotum abilities aren't going to progress.

If you want to focus more on crafting than on spellcasting, the Artificer [ECS] is the undisputed monarch of crafting. They can make damn near anything, and they can craft scrolls/wands/staves of spells before the classes who get those spells normally can cast them. They don't get a massive skill list, and they require a TON of prep work both in-game and out-of-game, but they're incredibly strong if you devote the effort to it (they're one of the strongest classes in the game).

Basically, how much Factotum-ness are you willing to give up in the pursuit of spellcasting? Exactly what do you want this character to be able to do, and at what level do you want them to be able to do it?