The Angry Alchemist (help requested)

[eversilentone]

Hi folks, I've been invited to a 3.5 game which I'm pretty excited about, but I've had my head deep in 5e for a while now so am pretty out of practice.

We're going to be starting at level 10, and I'm looking for help with an idea I'm calling the Angry Alchemist (mostly because I'm a sucker for juvenile alliteration). If it helps I kinda imagine this character along the lines of Cogline from Terry Brook's Shanarra series (the books, not the tv show!). The premise is essentially a character that does combat via chucking various alchemical/poison/spell vials at their foe. There are a few components I've been considering, but I'd really like some help/feedback:


Alchemist Savant - gives fast brewing alchemy, admixtures of alchemical items and poisons and also enables spell vials.
Chameleon - I love the flexibility of changing spells per day with unlimited access, makes for some great crafting!


That gives me the following prerequisites:

Race: Human (no Doppleganger allowed)
Feats: Able Learner, Brew Potion,
Skills: Bluff 8, Craft (Alchemy) 8, Disguise 8, Sense Motive 4, Spellcraft 4
Spellcasting: Level 3 Arcane spells


Does Alchemist Savant advance Chameleon spellcasting when in Arcane Focus? Not a huge deal if not, but that would be a nice bonus!

Does anyone have any suggestions for a base class? And what about a build order?

I'm leaning towards:

Factotum 1-5
Chameleon 6-9 (Brew Potion at 9)
Alchemist Savant 10-14
Chameleon 15-17 (total levels 5-7)
Factotum 18-20 (total levels 6-8)


I'm totally open to replacing Factotum, it just feels like it has a lot to offer.

Things that are off the table:

Incarnum
Psionics
Dragon Magazine
Anything outright evil or requires evil alignment


Anyway, that's the bare bones, I really appreciate any feedback/assistance.

EDIT: I initially included Master Thrower, but I've just realised that Master Thrower's abilities only work with the weapon you have Weapon Focus in, so that's a non-starter :( I also found a few errors. Updated possible build order and prerequisites to reflect this.

[Falontani]

Artificer is a natural fit for your build as a base, it gives you Brew Potion as a Bonus Feat at level 2, gives you a crafting bonus feat at level 4 which you can use to make your spellvials cheaper, along with the ability to create any potion/spellvial up to 4th level by level 6 in the class.

[PacMan2247]

Artificer is a natural fit for your build as a base, it gives you Brew Potion as a Bonus Feat at level 2, gives you a crafting bonus feat at level 4 which you can use to make your spellvials cheaper, along with the ability to create any potion/spellvial up to 4th level by level 6 in the class.

This is good advice. As an artificer, you can also use UMD checks to fudge spell requirements when crafting items, which might free you up on classes elsewhere. If you're not heart-set on Chameleon and being human, halflings are a good chassis for throwers. Master Alchemist from Magic of Faerun is another good prestige class to look at; you get to imbue higher-level spell effects into your potions. If your DM rules that it synergizes with the spellvials from Alchemist Savant, you'll be dropping some serious surprises on people. Maybe not as efficient as just playing a caster, but it can be fun.

[flappeercraft]

Maester would allow faster crafting but unfortunately has Gnome as a prerequisite. You could take 3 levels of Stoneblessed (Gnome) to qualify though although at that point unless you really work out your build very well would not be worth it.

[Goaty14]

Maester would allow faster crafting but unfortunately has Gnome as a prerequisite. You could take 3 levels of Stoneblessed (Gnome) to qualify though although at that point unless you really work out your build very well would not be worth it.

If the player in question changes to Changeling, then racial emulation can qualify for both PrCs.