[3.5e] Factotum (Rebuilt, Base Class)

[Everynone]

Factotum

"Oh, I can do that. I can definitely do that." - Justin Case, a factotum

Some characters prefer the fierce clamor of battle. Others prefer silently moving through a dungeon, clearing the way for their companions as they search for traps. Still others prefer the pursuit of arcane knowledge, and even others might prefer to be champions of their deity’s ideals. Every once in a long while though, there comes a character that prefers to try to follow many paths, and succeeds in doing so. Enter the factotum, the true jack of all trades. Through hours of intense study and practice, a factotum learns to emulate others and adapt on the fly. One day he may be fighting sword and shield to defend his brothers in arms, and the next he might be visiting a god’s temple in search of divine favor. But above all, factotums prefer versatility. They hate being tied to one option or another permanently. They might wander down one path and explore it, but they eventually move on to another interest. Factotums usually try to remain neutral, positing that one way is no better than another, and both are simply two ways of looking at the same issue. They usually also are fiercely supportive of their friends and associates, always looking to lessen any weaknesses that a group may have collectively by adopting abilities to counteract what may be missing.

Adventures: Factotums enjoy experiencing a wide variety of adventures, preferably never pursuing a single adventure for an extended period of time. Any adventure that helps further their experience and knowledge of various pursuits is welcome to a factotum. In addition, factotums are always looking to challenge and expand their sizeable amount of skills, not only through the studies they pursue while not adventuring, but also through the experiences the gain while adventuring.

Characteristics: Out of all the classes, factotums are the most versatile. They can choose aspects of other classes to adopt for the day, and can enhance their ability to do certain things at will. As they gain levels, the amount of skill points at their disposal increases rapidly, as does the amount of things they can spend those skill points on. At higher levels, a factotum can rework almost any of their abilities, and might even decide to change various things about their innate self for the sake of exploring a different way of being.

Alignment: Factotums may be of any alignment, though a large amount of factotums are True Neutral. This is because they usually favor impartiality and balance as opposed to an unyielding moral stance. Thusly, few factotums are at any ‘alignment extreme’, though an experienced factotum may explore adventuring as various alignments over the course of their lives.

Religion: The deities any given factotum worships often vary as much as their abilities do. They may experiment with worshiping one deity or another at any given time, attempting to gain favor from as many as possible. However, many factotums favor gods of knowledge, experience, and neutrality.

Background: Most factotums come from backgrounds where they were able to witness or experience many different – often conflicting – things. Rarely do you find a factotum who came from a culture or community that only encouraged one type of activity. In addition to this, many factotums were indecisive when it came time for them to pursue a course in life, and instead elected to attempt to follow all possible courses available to them.

Races: Humans, more often than any other race, are drawn to the path of the factotum. Their ambition and versatility, as well as their vastly varied backgrounds, make human homelands – especially those that involve many cultures – a breeding ground for skilled factotums. Elven factotums are the least rare of other races to be factotums if simply because of their extended lifespan, which gives them the ability to pursue and explore many different paths over the course of countless years. Halfling and gnomish factotums are sometimes seen, as their cultures display a variety of aspects that a member might find conflicting and incompatible, yet equally intriguing. Dwarven factotums are rarely seen as their culture encourages relatively few ways of thinking.

Other Classes: Factotums work well with all sorts of people, even if those people are fully committed to a single path in life. The factotum sees being with others as a way to live vicariously, gaining experience secondhand and seeing how another uses their abilities to achieve a certain goal. Often, spending time with a wide variety of others inspires a factotum to try out that way of living, and usually gives the factotum the ability to channel those experiences when a situation arises that requires his help. Because of this, factotums enjoy working with as much a variety of companions as possible.

Role: Factotums are rarely leaders, though they may sometimes take up that mantle in a group temporarily as they are, if properly prepared, perfectly capable of doing so. Factotums excel at using vast amounts of skills with unmatched ease, but also are very good at adopting any needed role in a party. If a party is missing a melee combatant, a factotum will gladly don armor and wield a weapon. If a group of adventurers needs a healer, a factotum might decide to pray to many gods and adopt a more priestly attitude to better meet their needs.


Alignment: Any (though most factotums favor True Neutral)

Hit Die: d4


Class Skills

All skills are class skills for the factotum.

Skill Points: 8 + Int modifier (× 4 at 1st level)


Class Features

All of the following are class features of the factotum.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A factotum is proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, and light shields. A factotum can cast arcane spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. However, like any other arcane spellcaster, a factotum wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure. A multiclass factotum still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.

Spellcasting: A factotum casts arcane and divine spells. He can eventually learn and prepare any arcane or divine spell in scroll form by adding the spell to his spellbook or prayerbook (depending on whether that form of the spell is arcane or divine). Like wizards and archivists and unlike clerics or druids, factotums prepare spells from both a spellbook and prayerbook, a collection of copied arcane and divine spells. To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, a factotum must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level, and must also have a high enough Intelligence to gain a bonus spell per day from that spell level, and must also expend skill points to cast spells from the appropriate spell slot (see Insightful Casting and Table: Factotum Spells Per Day). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an factotum’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the factotum's Intelligence modifier.

Unlike other spellcasters, a factotum may only cast his bonus spells per day (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells), and only those if he chooses the ‘Insightful Casting’ Insight and expends the appropriate skill points for each spell. He must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by resting and spending time studying his spellbook and/or prayerbook. The factotum decides which spells to prepare while studying.

Insight: Starting at 1st level, a factotum starts each day with an amount of skill points equal to 8 + his Intelligence modifier (× 4 at 1st level), and gains more skill points as he gains factotum levels, which are added to this total of unspent points. A factotum can allocate his available skill points to various areas of expertise, essentially allowing him to train skills over the course of a day, as needed. He never permanently trains a given skill like members of other classes do, but he might regularly train a certain skill if he so desires. He also has the ability to ‘spend’ skill points on other abilities. Once these skill points have been used, either on training skills or anything else, they cannot be regained until the factotum rests, at which point the benefit he gained from expending the skill points is reset. Immediately after resting, a factotum must choose one of these Insights (an aspect of the character that can be enhanced with skill points as needed) to which this ability applies. A factotum will always have access to his main Insight, Insightful Skills, and it does not count towards his total available Insights he can choose after resting. Any skill points expended and effects gained thereof last until the factotum rests, and can be reset each time a factotum has rested. In order to ‘regain’ the expended skill points, a factotum must rest, thus removing any benefit they gained from any expended skill points.

Insightful Skills: a factotum may spend 1 skill point to increase his ability to use a given skill by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum of his factotum level + 3 for any given skill. A factotum always has access to this Insight, and it does not count towards his total Insights he can choose after resting.

Insightful Health: a factotum may spend 1 skill point to increase his hit points by 2 at any time during the day, to a maximum of 12 hit points per factotum level including his hit points gained from his Hit Dice, but not including his hit points gained from any other effect, including his Constitution modifier.

Insightful Attack: a factotum may spend 4 skill points to increase his base attack bonus by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum equal to an equivalent fighter’s base attack bonus (‘full’ base attack bonus) at the factotum’s level. At 6th level, he may gain up to an extra attack (at +6/+1), and again at 11th (at +11/+6/+1), and so on, just like an equivalent level fighter.

Insightful Defense: a factotum may spend 4 skill points to increase his dodge bonus to Armor Class by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum equal to his factotum level.

Insightful Saves: a factotum may spend 4 skill points to increase a given save bonus by 1 at any time during the day, to maximum equal to an equivalent monk’s base save bonus (all ‘good’ saves) at the factotum’s level in any given save.

Insightful Casting: a factotum may spend skill points to cast a limited number of spells each day. In order to cast a spell, he must a) have access to the desired spell level (see Table: Factotum Spells Per Day), b) have a high enough Intelligence score to gain at least one bonus spell for the desired spell level (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells; in addition to the information listed on this table, the factotum also gains access to bonus cantrips and orisons per day), c) have his desired spell in his spellbook or prayerbook, d) prepare his available bonus spells after resting, e) choose this Insight after resting, at the same time he is preparing his spells, allowing him to expend skill points to cast the desired spell(s), and f) expend the skill points as the spell is cast. The skill point cost for casting a spell is 1 for a 0th level spell, 2 for a 1st level, 4 for 2nd level, 9 for 3rd, 16 for 4th, 25 for 5th, 36 for 6th, 49 for 7th, 64 for 8th, and 81 for 9th. If a factotum does not meet these requirements, or does not have enough unspent skill points at his disposal, he is unable to cast the spell.

Feat Pool: Starting at 2nd level, the factotum gains access to a ‘pool’ of feats. These feats can be accessed or ‘equipped’ whenever the factotum assigns abilities for the day, after resting. The factotum adds one feat for which they meet the prerequisites to the pool at every level they do not gain a feat normally, but normally gained feats are also added to the pool. However, at the beginning of the day, the factotum can only actually use or equip a number of feats from his feat pool equal to what a character of equal level gains access to. If the factotum gains a racial bonus feat (like a human does), they can use another feat from their pool at a time.

For example, a 3rd level human factotum has a total of 4 feats in their pool (2 from their normal feats at 1st and 3rd, 1 from being human, and an extra 1 feat at 2nd level when they would not normally gain a feat), but can only add 3 to their useable feats at the start of the day. While these feats can be any 3 from the pool, if he takes a feat that has a feat prerequisite, he must add both feats to his equipped feats for the day. Thus, for example, a factotum cannot add only the feat Great Cleave to their useable feats that day, they must also add Power Attack and Cleave, or none at all, and only if they have added those feats to their Feat Pool.

While a factotum must meet the feat, ability score or racial requirements for a potential feat, due to their innately flexible nature, they automatically qualify for any skill prerequisites as long as the necessary skill ranks to not exceed their factotum level + 3 (for example, a factotum must be at least 7th level to qualify for the Spellcraft requirement of Aegis of Rime). In addition, their base attack bonus counts as equal to their factotum level for similar requirements, but only for feats. In addition, he may meet any spellcasting requirements as long as it is possible for him to, at any given level, choose his abilities in such a way that allows him to qualify, but he may do this only for the purpose of feats.

Mimicry: Starting at 3rd level, a factotum can adopt the class features of other classes. He can adopt one class feature per day, but this decision must be made immediately after resting. Starting at 7th level, he can adopt two class features, three at 11th, and so on. A factotum’s level must be at least equal to that of the class that possesses the feature they are adopting. For example, if a factotum chooses to adopt the druid’s Wild Shape ability, they may not do so until they are at least 5th level (the same level the druid itself gains access to the ability), at which point they may only use the ability once a day (the same amount as a 5th level druid). If a class feature involves a progression, a factotum may adopt the class feature as if he were of an equivalent level. For example, if a 15th level factotum chooses the rogue’s Sneak Attack class feature for one of his Mimicries, he may sneak attack with a bonus of 8d6 (the same amount as a rogue of equal level). If a class feature does not involve a progression of any kind, the factotum only gains that one feature, because there are no associated features. If a factotum wishes to adopt a class feature from a specific prestige class, he must first allocate any skill points, feats from his Feat Pool, or make any other changes to his abilities as necessary to qualify for the prestige class itself for the day. This may involve choosing certain Insights to make the necessary changes. If he is unable to make these changes, he may not take the ability from that prestige class for his Mimicry. The class features a factotum has chosen may be reset after he has rested.

Bonus Feats: Starting at 4th level, and every two levels thereafter, a factotum gains access to a bonus feat. The feat chosen may be any existing feat. In order to gain a bonus feat, a factotum must meet the prerequisite rules for using feats listed under the Feat Pool class feature. These bonus feats are added to the Feat Pool, and also add to the number of feats a factotum can have ‘equipped’ from the Feat Pool at any given time.

Improved Proficiency (Ex): At 7th level, a factotum's ability to use arms and armor expands. He gains proficiency in all martial weapons, medium armor, and heavy shields.

Perfect Proficiency (Ex): At 14th level, a factotum can now use any arms or armor he can find. He gains proficiency in all exotic weapons, heavy armor, and tower shields.

Jack of All Trades (Ex): A 20th level factotum can use his highest ability score in place of any other where an ability score would be used as a bonus to a skill.

Table: The Factotum
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+0|+0|+0|+0|Insight (1)
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+0|Feat Pool
3rd|+1|+1|+1|+1|Mimicry (1)
4th|+2|+1|+1|+1|Bonus Feat
5th|+2|+1|+1|+1|Insight (2)
6th|+3|+2|+2|+2|Bonus Feat
7th|+3|+2|+2|+2|Mimicry (2), Improved Proficiency
8th|+4|+2|+2|+2|Bonus Feat
9th|+4|+3|+3|+3|Insight (3)
10th|+5|+3|+3|+3|Bonus Feat
11th|+5|+3|+3|+3|Mimicry (3)
12th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+4|Bonus Feat
13th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+4|Insight (4)
14th|+7/+2|+4|+4|+4|Bonus Feat, Perfect Proficiency
15th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+5|Mimicry (4)
16th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+5|Bonus Feat
17th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+5|Insight (5)
18th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|Bonus Feat
19th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|Mimicry (5)
20th|+10/+5|+6|+6|+6|Bonus Feat, Jack of All Trades
[/table]

Table: Factotum Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|0th|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-
8th|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-
9th|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-
10th|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-
11th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-
12th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-
13th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-
14th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-
15th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-
16th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-
17th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
18th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
19th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
20th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
[/table]

[yugi24862]

What was wrong with the original Factotum? Also, Insight is unclear how you spend skillpoints (huh?) and Mimicry is hilariously broken (Any class feature from any class, including prestige classes, at first level?)

[Everynone]

This class has really irked my friend. He thinks that giving factotums access to 7th, 8th, and especially 9th level arcane and divine spells (even though it only two per day, plus bonus Int) is too powerful. My point was that giving them access to these spells at a uses per day penalty makes them no more powerful than an equivalent level wizard. So, is that too powerful in consort with the factotum's other class abilities, or is it just regular tier 1?

[Everynone]

What was wrong with the original Factotum? Also, Insight is unclear how you spend skillpoints (huh?) and Mimicry is hilariously broken (Any class feature from any class, including prestige classes, at first level?)

Mimicry...thats right, I hate messing up on RAW. I haven't decided yet but I might rule that in order to get PrC features, you need to qualify as normal for that day (take any feats from the Feat Pool, expend skill points, etc) but as per usual, the features would reset at the end of the day.

[Xaotiq1]

Well, I'm not sure if this is a finished product or not. I REALLY hope it's not. In any case here we go...oh, my comments are in this colour.


FACTOTUM


GAME RULE INFORMATION

Factotums have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Intelligence is extremely important for a factotum, as it allows them to gain more skill points for their Insights, and it allows them to cast more spells. Beyond that, different factotums choose different abilities to focus on, depending on their desired role in a party.
Okay. That's reasonable, but an brief explanation of how other scores affect the class's role would be nice.

Alignment: Any Okay, but are there tendencies to be one alignment or the other? Fluff may not be the end all be all, but it's nice to have a little.

Hit Die: d4 WHAT?!?! WHY?! Even the rogue gets a higher hit die! I'd say make this a d6 at least.


CLASS SKILLS

The factotum’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), and Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points: 8 + Int modifier (× 4 at 1st level)

At this point, the skill list should simply be that all skills are class skills for the Factotum. You're not missing very many. Also, with the focus on Int, there's no reason for this class to get more skill points than the rogue. Especially as you've apparently chosen to make the Factotum a full caster?!

CLASS FEATURES

All of the following are class features of the factotum.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A factotum is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (light, medium, and heavy) and shields (including tower shields). A factotum can cast arcane spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. However, like any other arcane spellcaster, a factotum wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure. A multiclass factotum still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes, and does not incur and spell failure for casting divine spells, like any other divine spellcaster.

Too much! Way too much. This is supposed to be an expert/caster class right? Right? Light armor should be plenty considering some of the other class features you've got going on, maybe medium just to play it safe. Oh, and I'm in favor of shield proficiency also, but not tower shields.

Spells: A factotum casts arcane and divine spells, drawn primarily from the wizard, cleric, and druid spell lists, although he can eventually learn and prepare any spell that exists in scroll form by adding to his spellbook or prayerbook (depending on whether that form of the spell is arcane or divine). Like wizards and archivists and unlike clerics or druids, factotums prepare spells from a spellbook and prayerbook, a collection of copied arcane and divine spells. To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, a factotum must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an factotum’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the factotum's Int modifier.

Dear mother of all that's wrapped in bacon NO! If you're going to give full casting to this class, I suggest the following: Make them cast as either arcane OR divine, NOT BOTH. Make them carry a spell/prayerbook alal wizard or archivist. Casting a spell requires a Use Magic Device check. No ASF in light armor is fine.

Like other spellcasters, a factotum can cast only a certain number of spells of each level per day. His base daily allotment is given in Table: Factotum Spells Per Day. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells). He must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by resting and spending time studying his spellbook and/or prayerbook. The factotum decides which spells to prepare while studying.

Prepared caster is good. Not sure about the progression.

Insight (Ex): Starting at 1st level, a factotum can spend skill points to increase their ability to do certain things over the course of a day. At the beginning of each day, a factotum must choose one Insight to which this ability applies. Starting at 5th level, a factotum can choose two Insights to which this ability applies, and three at 10th level, and so on. The first Insight a factotum chooses at the beginning of each day must always be Insightful Skills. The skill points expended and effects gained thereof are reset each time a factotum has rested each day.

Okay, you cannot call the fuel for the abilities skill points. There is already a source called Skill Points. Every character gets them. Now, there is nothing in the SRD that says you must spend ALL of your skill points each level, but I am assuming that you are NOT talking about the same points that determine your rank in a given skill.
To that end, I will suggest that you keep the name Inspiration Points or maybe change it to simply Insight.

• Insightful Skills: a factotum may spend 1 skill point to increase his ability to use a given skill by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum of his factotum level + 3 for any given skill. A factotum must select this Insight each day.

What? Is this for things like Turn Undead? Does it work on the Factotum's spells? This needs some major clarification. Something like: "You may spend X Insight to gain an additional use of a per day, encounter, week, etc. of a class feature you either have or are emulating."

• Insightful Health: a factotum may spend 1 skill point to increase his hit points by 2 at any time during the day, to a maximum of 8 hit points per factotum level in addition to his regular hit points.

WOW! This character will never run out of hit points! EVER! Especially if this is a permanent boost. In that case, I would say that it grants temporary HP equal to their Int mod x class level; and indicate that the insight can be used to refill this pool X times per day.

• Insightful Attack: a factotum may spend 2 skill points to increase his base attack bonus by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum equal to a fighter’s base attack bonus (‘full’ base attack bonus) at the factotum’s level. In order to gain extra attacks, extra skill points must be expended.

Once again, this needs to be better explained. I'm guessing that you can spend 2 points to raise your BAB up to your class level. You also mention Iterative attacks; but fail to list the cost for each one. Again, how many times each day, encounter, whatever can this be used. The time of day really shouldn't matter for this class.

• Insightful Defense: a factotum may spend 4 skill points to increase his armor class by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum equal to his factotum level.
• Insightful Saves: a factotum may spend 4 skill points to increase a given save bonus by 1 at any time during the day, to maximum equal to a monk’s base save bonus (all ‘good’ saves) at the factotum’s level in any given save.

Really, for all of these, the original class fished this lake dry. I strongly suggest re-writing these and giving a precise explanation of how these work.

Mimicry (Ex): Starting at 1st level, a factotum can adopt the class features of other classes. He can adopt one class feature per day, and this decision can be made at any time. Starting at 5th level, he can adopt two class features, three at 10th, and so on. If a class feature involves a progression, a factotum may adopt the class feature as if he were of an equivalent level. For example, if a 15th level factotum chooses the rogue’s Sneak Attack class feature for one of his Mimicries, he may sneak attack with a bonus of 8d6. If a class feature does not involve a progression of any kind, the factotum only gains that one feature, because there are no associated features. The class features a factotum has chosen are reset after he has rested each day. The type of class feature (Ex, Su, Sp) remains unchanged, although Mimicry itself remains an Extraordinary ability.

Again, NOOOO! The original class got one Ex ability, and that's at 19th level! Okay, I can see spending Insight to gain use of different abilities, but you should NOT be giving a class access to every spell, psionic power, the ability to wildshape, etc at the same time!

Feat Pool: Starting at 1st level, a factotum gains access to twice his normal amount of feats. At the beginning of each day, he may choose a normal amount of feats to use from this Feat Pool. For example, if a factotum has gained two feats while gaining levels as a factotum, he may instead choose four feats to add to his Feat Pool, and choose two of those feats to use for the day at the beginning of each day. The feats a factotum has chosen to use are reset after he has rested each day, but his Feat Pool is not reset. Each time a factotum levels up, new feats are added to the Feat Pool. Feats added while gaining levels in other classes, or bonus feats from other classes do not count towards the Feat Pool.

Again, this needs some serious revision. What is a "normal amount of feats? It sounds Like your giving the class a pool of floating feats they can change out each day. That's an awful lot of bookkeeping and set-up; not just for the player, but for the DM! You'll be spending hours pouring through books looking for feats. If you msut have an extra feat or two, look at the Chameleon PrC (Races of Destiny, 111). It has a floating feat that can be changed on the daily.

Table: The Factotum
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+0|+0|+0|+0|Insight (1), Mimicry (1/day), Feat Pool
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+0|-
3rd|+1|+1|+1|+1|-
4th|+2|+1|+1|+1|-
5th|+2|+1|+1|+1|Insight (2), Mimicry (2/day)
6th|+3|+2|+2|+2|-
7th|+3|+2|+2|+2|-
8th|+4|+2|+2|+2|-
9th|+4|+3|+3|+3|-
10th|+5|+3|+3|+3|Insight (3), Mimicry (3/day)
11th|+5|+3|+3|+3|-
12th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+4|-
13th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+4|-
14th|+7/+2|+4|+4|+4|-
15th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+5|Insight (4), Mimicry (4/day)
16th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+5|-
17th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+5|-
18th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|-
19th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|-
20th|+10/+5|+6|+6|+6|Insight (5), Mimicry (5/day)
[/table]

Table: Factotum Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|0th|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|1|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|1|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|2|1|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|2|1|1|0|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|2|2|1|1|0|-|-|-|-|-
10th|2|2|1|1|0|-|-|-|-|-
11th|2|2|2|1|1|0|-|-|-|-
12th|2|2|2|1|1|0|-|-|-|-
13th|2|2|2|2|1|1|0|-|-|-
14th|2|2|2|2|1|1|0|-|-|-
15th|2|2|2|2|2|1|1|0|-|-
16th|2|2|2|2|2|1|1|0|-|-
17th|2|2|2|2|2|2|1|1|0|-
18th|2|2|2|2|2|2|1|1|1|-
19th|2|2|2|2|2|2|2|2|1|1
20th|2|2|2|2|2|2|2|2|2|2
[/table]

So, yeah, this needs work. If you need me to be more succinct or need further explanation or whatnot, feel free to PM me. I honestly don't feel that the Factotum needs a re-write, but I'm always willing to help.

[Realms of Chaos]

I'm sorry but this is one of the most broken things I've seen in a long time.

1. Seriously, you just made a full spellcaster with full access to every spell in existence without needing other broken feats/prcs/other options. While other casters may get some relatively nice bells and whistles for their spellcasting (such as spontaneous casting), this is the best spellcasting option for any class out there.

2. It is not at all clear how insight actually works. Do you spend all of your skill points this way (in which case listing class skills is kind of odd) or do you spend on this class feature as if it were its own skill (kind of like truespeech). Judging from the rest of the class, I'm guessing that you intended to make a class feature that would let you re-spend your skill points on the fly each day (which would be incredibly broken but let insight work).

3. As said, mimicry is incredibly broken. Copying PrC things like metamagic reducers or a planar shepherd's ability to bend time over its knee is a no-no and you don't even have to be of a level where it was required. Combine that with the ability to copy the central class features of several classes (such as a binder's soul binding) and you get quite a bit of madness.

4. Reselecting feats is a huge thing. It is perhaps what the chameleon PrC is best known for. Letting them do it with all of their feats and no limits is really kind of bonkers altogether.

Let me put this into perspective. Without the spellcasting, this class is still a quite powerful tier 3 class (or maybe tier 2 if you have enough splat-books with good features to mimic and feats to take). It is essentially a gestalt character who takes the best elements of several classes and who can recreate itself on a daily basis. This is already incredibly powerful. On top of that, you decided to add what is essentially the best spellcasting ever added (I really doubt that low spells per day is as influential as you think). This is, without a doubt in my mind, more powerful than any official base class.

Also, and I'm more curious than accusatory with this last point, but were you actually looking at the factotum when you made this class? So much of this class seems kind of awkward next to the original (such as listing out every skill instead of just saying that all skills are available or using skill points for insight when inspiration points were already a thing available for use) that I just kind of wonder.

[Grod_The_Giant]

This class has really irked my friend. He thinks that giving factotums access to 7th, 8th, and especially 9th level arcane and divine spells (even though it only two per day, plus bonus Int) is too powerful. My point was that giving them access to these spells at a uses per day penalty makes them no more powerful than an equivalent level wizard. So, is that too powerful in consort with the factotum's other class abilities, or is it just regular tier 1?
The... regular Factotum caps out at 7th level spells... arcane only...

Xaotiq1 said most of the things that I was going to. You need to clarify durations of Insight and Mimicry, because as-written, you are using a daily resource to permanently adding things. You also need to specify how many "skill points" you get per day.

As written right now, this class is quientissential T1-- capable of doing everything, as well as or better than what it's emulating. You have access to every spell in the game, as well as every useful class feature every written.

In conclusion... your friend is right. Sorry :smallfrown:

[Everynone]

Alright, obviously this class needs a major RAW re-write. I think I'm going to limit the spells to 6th level also. To clarify, this class was only based on the original factotum in name and versatility. This class was not intended to be a full-caster, or full anything really, its just meant to turn into a needed party slot on the fly. Xaotiq1 mentioned alotta things that just made me notice the class is written badly, not badly intentioned. No offense to him (because I'm blaming the misunderstanding on myself and my writing) he misunderstood alot of the purposes behind class features (e.g., skill points are actual skill points, and whatnot). I'll publish a re-write of this class as an edit on the original post later today. Thanks for the feedback, this is my first class build. :-$

[Everynone]

Okay, I have edited my original post to reflect the changes I have made to the class. I will hopefully be able to post later today on why I made the changes, but the majority of them were clarifying RAI as RAW. Also made some mechanics changes that nerf the RAI a bit, and the RAW a lot. And, of course, added fluff. :-) Btw, thanks for everyone who critiqued the class earlier. Your comments helped me write the class in it's current iteration. This is, obviously, by no means a finished class.

[Everynone]

Reasons for Why I Chose What I Chose


Hit Die: d4

This is because the factotum, as a 'blank slate', should start at the lowest hit die, because it has the ability to 'raise' it's hit die via 'Insightful Health'.


Skill Points: 8 + Int modifier (× 4 at 1st level)

Because one of the main class features, Insight, is entirely powered by skill points, I figured giving them 8 + Int and not changing the cost of 'Insightful Skill' (the classes signature Insight) would highly encourage playing the factotum as a skill-monkey. The cost of other Insights, however, I am willing to change. I only set them where I did because at 20th level, maxing out HP, BAB, AC, and saves costs about the same for each, and I wanted any casting to cost a lot.


Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A factotum is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (light, medium, and heavy) and shields (including tower shields). A factotum can cast arcane spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. However, like any other arcane spellcaster, a factotum wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure. A multiclass factotum still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.

I basically gave them proficiency for everything. I combined fighter's proficiencies with a bard's ability to cast in light armor. I did this because I couldn't figure out a mechanic the already existed in this class that allows you to adopt proficiencies. The closest thing I had was Mimicry, but since proficiencies aren't, strictly speaking, class features, I just gave it to em. I'm still considering giving them the monk's weapon proficiencies as well.


Spells: A factotum casts arcane and divine spells. He can eventually learn and prepare any arcane or divine spell in scroll form by adding the spell to his spellbook or prayerbook (depending on whether that form of the spell is arcane or divine). Like wizards and archivists and unlike clerics or druids, factotums prepare spells from both a spellbook and prayerbook, a collection of copied arcane and divine spells. To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, a factotum must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level, and must also have a high enough Intelligence to gain a bonus spell per day from that spell level, and must also expend skill points to cast spells from the appropriate spell slot (see Insightful Casting). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an factotum’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the factotum's Int modifier.

Unlike other spellcasters, a factotum may only cast his bonus spells per day (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells), and only those if he chooses the ‘Insightful Casting’ Insight and expends the appropriate skill points for each spell. He must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by resting and spending time studying his spellbook and/or prayerbook. The factotum decides which spells to prepare while studying.

Since these guys are my attempt at the jack-of-all-trades, I needed to give them casting of some kind. And I needed to give them access to as many spells as possible, at very least divine and arcane. Also (I didn't know how to write this in), for the purposes of qualifying for anything, the player must choose whether to treat his factotum levels as arcane of divine caster levels. This entire spellcasting system is brand-new is this iteration, so I need more critiques on it than usual.


Insight (Ex): Starting at 1st level, a factotum starts each day with an amount of skill points equal to 8 + his Int modifier (× 4 at 1st level), and gains more skill points as he gains factotum levels, which are added to this total of unspent points. A factotum can allocate his available skill points to various areas of expertise, essentially allowing him to train skills over the course of a day, as needed. He never permanently trains a given skill like members of other classes do, but he might regularly train a certain skill. He also has the ability to ‘spend’ skill points on other abilities. Once these skill points have been used, either on training skills or anything else, they cannot be regained until the factotum rests, at which point the benefit he gained from expending the skill points is reset. Immediately after resting, a factotum must choose one of these Insights (an aspect of the character that can be enhanced with skill points as needed) to which this ability applies. A factotum will always have access to his main Insight, Insightful Skills, and it does not count towards his total available Insights he can choose after resting. Any skill points expended and effects gained thereof last until the factotum rests, and can be reset each time a factotum has rested. In order to ‘regain’ the expended skill points, a factotum must rest, thus removing any benefit they gained from any expended skill points.

Insight is basically a factotum's way of rewriting 'Table: The Factotum' as needed. He can adopt any skills, hit die, base attack bonus, increase his armor class, make all his saves good, and even gain access to (limited spells per day) full caster progression as long as he has the skill points to do the job.


Insightful Skills: a factotum may spend 1 skill point to increase his ability to use a given skill by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum of his factotum level + 3 for any given skill. A factotum always has access to this Insight, and it does not count towards his total Insights he can choose after resting.

This is a factotum's signature Insight, and his 'dump Insight' when he is focusing on others. This is what makes a factotum my attempt at the ultimate skill monkey.


Insightful Health: a factotum may spend 1 skill point to increase his hit points by 2 at any time during the day, to a maximum of 8 hit points per factotum level in addition to his regular hit points.

This allows a factotum to essentially increase their hit die from a d4 to a d12, assuming the house rule of max hit die rolls. At level 20, the cost to max this is 80 skill points.


Insightful Attack: a factotum may spend 2 skill points to increase his base attack bonus by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum equal to an equivalent fighter’s base attack bonus (‘full’ base attack bonus) at the factotum’s level. He may also gain extra, successive attacks, like a fighter. At the cost of 2 skill points for each point of attack bonus, he can raise these extra attacks to a maximum of his factotum level - 5 for each extra attack (again, as fighter).

This one is worded awkwardly, but essentially it means to increase their BAB to any amount as necessary, to max of full BAB. At level 20, raising their +10/+5 Ab to +20/+15 only costs 40 skill points, but to gain the extra attacks of an actual full BAB of +20/+15/+10/+5, the cost is 70 skill points.


Insightful Defense: a factotum may spend 4 skill points to increase his dodge bonus to armor class by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum equal to his factotum level.

This is meant to give them that extra AC bonus when they need it (like when wearing light armor). The max is, at level 20, 20 AC at the cost of 80 skill points.


Insightful Saves: a factotum may spend 4 skill points to increase a given save bonus by 1 at any time during the day, to maximum equal to an equivalent monk’s base save bonus (all ‘good’ saves) at the factotum’s level in any given save.

Again, this one is worded awkwardly, but it means to give them a monk's saves, if they choose to max out. The nice thing about Insights is that you don't have to max anything out if you don't want to. At level 20, taking all saves from +6 to +12 costs 72 skill points.


Insightful Casting: a factotum may spend skill points to cast a limited number of spells each day. In order to cast a spell, he must a) have access to the desired spell level (see Table: Factotum Spells Per Day), b) have a high enough Int score to gain at least one bonus spell for the desired spell level (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells), c) prepare his available bonus spells after resting, d) choose this Insight after resting, at the same time he is preparing his spells, allowing him to expend skill points to cast the desired spell(s), and e) expend the skill points as the spell is cast. The skill point cost for casting a spell is 1 for a 0th level spell, 2 for a 1st level, 4 for 2nd level, 9 for 3rd, 16 for 4th, 25 for 5th, 36 for 6th, 49 for 7th, 64 for 8th, and 81 for 9th. If a factotum does not meet these requirements, or does not have enough unspent skill points at his disposal, he is unable to cast the spell.

This is my attempt at allowing factotums to cast any spell, while simultaneously penalizing them heavily for it by essentially treating their available skill points as a mana system. A factotum at level 20 with an Int of 24 (highest roll of 18, no racial changes, +6 via leveling - we have a houserule that gives two ability points for allocation at level 20 - and no Int-enhancing items) for example, can cast 2 0th, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level spells, and 1 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th level spell per day, at the cost of 158 skill points.


More to come later; I will edit this post with the rest of my explanations included.

[SciChronic]

This class has really irked my friend. He thinks that giving factotums access to 7th, 8th, and especially 9th level arcane and divine spells (even though it only two per day, plus bonus Int) is too powerful. My point was that giving them access to these spells at a uses per day penalty makes them no more powerful than an equivalent level wizard. So, is that too powerful in consort with the factotum's other class abilities, or is it just regular tier 1?

Has this friend of your actually read what the factotum can do? from what it sounds like, he's thinking of chameleon, which is a PrC from RoD. Also with the chameleon, divine spells are keyed off of Wis, while arcane is keyed off Int, and until you get double aptitude, you can only choose one.

A) Factotums max out at 7th level spells, and can only use 1 per day, and this is not affected by your Int bonus, but purely your factotum level.
B) Factotums only get access to arcane magic, divine is covered by opportunistic piety which grants healing (harm vs undead) and turning.
C) Your point is moot as factotum's casting is limited by 3 things. First, it maxes at 7th level spells as stated earlier. Second, You only get up to 8 uses of arcane dilettante per day at max. Third, you cannot prepare the same spell more than once. These severely cripple a factotum's spellcasting and pretty much force you into using utility spells and long duration buffs if you want the greatest use per spell.

[Everynone]

Has this friend of your actually read what the factotum can do? from what it sounds like, he's thinking of chameleon, which is a PrC from RoD. Also with the chameleon, divine spells are keyed off of Wis, while arcane is keyed off Int, and until you get double aptitude, you can only choose one.

A) Factotums max out at 7th level spells, and can only use 1 per day, and this is not affected by your Int bonus, but purely your factotum level.
B) Factotums only get access to arcane magic, divine is covered by opportunistic piety which grants healing (harm vs undead) and turning.
C) Your point is moot as factotum's casting is limited by 3 things. First, it maxes at 7th level spells as stated earlier. Second, You only get up to 8 uses of arcane dilettante per day at max. Third, you cannot prepare the same spell more than once. These severely cripple a factotum's spellcasting and pretty much force you into using utility spells and long duration buffs if you want the greatest use per spell.

Sorry, I wasn't clear, the 'factotum' I refer to in your quote was my first factotum rewrite, which admittedly looks nothing like the original factotum. See Xaotiq1's extensive post, he reviewed my first iteration.

[AuraTwilight]

I'm sorry, but this is a terrible and inferior remake of a perfectly well-done class. I see nothing here that isn't a total downgrade. Not the spellcasting, not the chassis, not the features, nothing.

[sledgehammer]

The... regular Factotum caps out at 7th level spells... arcane only...

Actually, allowing for the ruling that spellcasting is Ex (a fairly solid assertion, as RAW is pretty unambiguous, but clearly unintended) a factotum can get level 8 spells.

Yeah, 8, not 9.

No time to prepare, rest, or any of that. That means the factotum grabs sha'ir spellcasting, sends away a gen familiar, and hopes for the 25% chance that it returns with a level 8 spell. Which it keeps for one turn.

Oh yeah, the gen probably needs to be brought with you before hand, and the familiar ability emulated, before it can be acquired. So that's 2 uses of cunning brilliance.

But the above is clearly "optimization", and clearly not worth it. But it also means there's a small chance every day that the factotum 20 gets to cast PaO, which may just be broken enough to make up for the absurd use of cunning brilliance. But who lets PaO in their games.

[Everynone]

This class has really irked my friend. He thinks that giving factotums access to 7th, 8th, and especially 9th level arcane and divine spells (even though it only two per day, plus bonus Int) is too powerful. My point was that giving them access to these spells at a uses per day penalty makes them no more powerful than an equivalent level wizard. So, is that too powerful in consort with the factotum's other class abilities, or is it just regular tier 1?

Yeah, I'm not talking about the original factotum, I was talking about my first version of a virtually unrelated rewrite. But now I have a new (not finished) version that hopefully corrects a lot of the mistakes of the first. Sorry if there was any confusion...I know the original factotum can't cast 8th or 9th level spells, and arcane only, but my "factotum" can.

[Everynone]

I'm sorry, but this is a terrible and inferior remake of a perfectly well-done class. I see nothing here that isn't a total downgrade. Not the spellcasting, not the chassis, not the features, nothing.

What are you seeing that makes it inferior? I thought it was more powerful, but that may be just builder's syndrome...

[AuraTwilight]

That's part of the problem. The Factotum is basically in the sweet spot where it's always useful and never a game-breaking monstrosity.

That aside, dead levels up the ass, yo.

[Xaotiq1]

Okey-dokey, Artichokey. Here we are again. I see there has been much work, but ooohhh so much more to do. Well, let's throw another PEACH at this and see what falls out. As previous, my comments will be in this color!


FACTOTUM

"FLUFF"

Good start. I feel though that you may be beating the "this class is vresatile" horse long past its death. Minor cosmetic stuff here, but a solid base.

GAME RULE INFORMATION

Factotums have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Intelligence is extremely important for a factotum, as it allows them to gain more skill points for their Insights, and it allows them to cast more spells. Beyond that, different factotums choose different abilities to focus on, depending on their desired role in a party. As an example, a factotum that wishes to use stealth or marksmanship with great proficiency may choose to focus on Dexterity as a secondary ability. Alternately, a factotum that wishes to enter combat with ease may choose to focus on Strength as a secondary ability.

I'm on board so far.

Alignment: Any (though most factotum favor True Neutral)

I can see where you're going here, okay.

Hit Die: d4

Aaaand, stop! Okay, I understood your reasoning stated above, but the average hit die in D&D is currently a d8. That will really help a class that is all together a hodge-podge have some semblance of stability. Also, see my comments on Insightful Health below.

CLASS SKILLS

All skills are class skills for the factotum.

Skill Points: 8 + Int modifier (× 4 at 1st level)

I still think 6+Int is plenty for this class. You'll see why in a bit.

CLASS FEATURES

All of the following are class features of the factotum.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A factotum is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (light, medium, and heavy) and shields (including tower shields). A factotum can cast arcane spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. However, like any other arcane spellcaster, a factotum wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure. A multiclass factotum still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.

I know that this class is an attempt at a "Swiss-Army Knife"; but this is too much. I know that this isn't apparently based on the class in Dungeonscape; but really, simple and martial weapons, light armor and all shields save tower shields is a darned good start.

Spells: A factotum casts arcane and divine spells. He can eventually learn and prepare any arcane or divine spell in scroll form by adding the spell to his spellbook or prayerbook (depending on whether that form of the spell is arcane or divine factotums prepare spells from both a spellbook and prayerbook, a collection of copied arcane and divine spells. To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, a factotum must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level, and must also have a high enough Intelligence to gain a bonus spell per day from that spell level, and must also expend skill points to cast spells from the appropriate spell slot (see Insightful Casting). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an factotum’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the factotum's Int modifier.

Again, I got where you were going here, but access to all spells of all levels from all lists is straight borked right out of the can! May I humbly suggest that you limit the class to 6th level spells (works for the Bard); and while they can be taken from any list, they are arcane spells that must be prepared from a spellbook. In addition, since this class has a terrible lot going on, require that when they cast a spell, they must make a Use Magic Device check as if casting from a scroll for the spell to be successful. The other option, of course, is to use Insight.

Unlike other spellcasters, a factotum may only cast his bonus spells per day (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells), and only those if he chooses the ‘Insightful Casting’ Insight and expends the appropriate skill points for each spell. He must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by resting and spending time studying his spellbook and/or prayerbook. The factotum decides which spells to prepare while studying.

If you go the UMD route, I'd say go with the wizard progression and do not get bonus spells as the classes mind is on so many other things.
If you go the Insight route, have it work like Psionic Strength Points (XPH or SRD) only the points come out of the insight pool.

Insight (Ex): Starting at 1st level, a factotum starts each day with an amount of skill points equal to 8 + his Int modifier (× 4 at 1st level), and gains more skill points as he gains factotum levels, which are added to this total of unspent points. A factotum can allocate his available skill points to various areas of expertise, essentially allowing him to train skills over the course of a day, as needed. He never permanently trains a given skill like members of other classes do, but he might regularly train a certain skill. He also has the ability to ‘spend’ skill points on other abilities. Once these skill points have been used, either on training skills or anything else, they cannot be regained until the factotum rests, at which point the benefit he gained from expending the skill points is reset. Immediately after resting, a factotum must choose one of these Insights (an aspect of the character that can be enhanced with skill points as needed) to which this ability applies. A factotum will always have access to his main Insight, Insightful Skills, and it does not count towards his total available Insights he can choose after resting. Any skill points expended and effects gained thereof last until the factotum rests, and can be reset each time a factotum has rested. In order to ‘regain’ the expended skill points, a factotum must rest, thus removing any benefit they gained from any expended skill points.

I actually really like this idea. It's fresh. It's new. It's a shazz-ton of bookkeeping no sane, or even insane player wants to do. In lieu of this, I suggest a pool of "Insight" equal to the characters skill points that refills on the daily. It should not be affected by any temporary adjustments to Intelligence or level drain or other such nonsense.

• Insightful Skills: a factotum may spend 1 skill point to increase his ability to use a given skill by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum of his factotum level + 3 for any given skill. A factotum always has access to this Insight, and it does not count towards his total Insights he can choose after resting.

Okay. I get where you're going, but there are more elegant ways to get there. First, take out this "at any time during the day" thing. Not all adventurers have a regular bedtime.
I would go with something like, "The factotum may spend an amount of insight up to their class level+3 to ranks in any given skill that can be used untrained for 24 hours. Skill requiring training require the factotum to have one actual rank in that skill." This way, the character's skill points and the resource for their other abilities stay separate.

• Insightful Health: a factotum may spend 1 skill point to increase his hit points by 2 at any time during the day, to a maximum of 8 hit points per factotum level in addition to his regular hit points.

The way this is worded tells me that a member of this class who is 20th level can add up to 160 hit points to their hit point total every day. So, this character essentially has infinite HP. This is bad. May I suggest: The Factotum may spend 4 Insight to gain a number of temporary hit points equal to their Int Mod x factotum level. These temporary hit points last until depleted or for 24 hours, which ever comes first. Also, the ability can be used Con modifier times per day.

• Insightful Attack: a factotum may spend 2 skill points to increase his base attack bonus by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum equal to an equivalent fighter’s base attack bonus (‘full’ base attack bonus) at the factotum’s level. He may also gain extra, successive attacks, like a fighter. At the cost of 2 skill points for each point of attack bonus, he can raise these extra attacks to a maximum of his factotum level - 5 for each extra attack (again, as fighter).

Okay, I thought this was what you meant previously. I'm glad to see it clarified. It's not bad, but iterative attacks are a function of high BAB. There's not a reason, other than an arbitrary tax, to require the class spend additional resources on them. I might bump the cost up to 3 insight per +1 BAB, though.

• Insightful Defense: a factotum may spend 4 skill points to increase his dodge bonus to armor class by 1 at any time during the day, to a maximum equal to his factotum level.
• Insightful Saves: a factotum may spend 4 skill points to increase a given save bonus by 1 at any time during the day, to maximum equal to an equivalent monk’s base save bonus (all ‘good’ saves) at the factotum’s level in any given save.

I honestly think these could be rolled into one class feature that grants Int to AC & saving throws for one encounter as an insight bonus. Make the Insight cost 6 per use.

• Insightful Casting: a factotum may spend skill points to cast a limited number of spells each day. In order to cast a spell, he must a) have access to the desired spell level (see Table: Factotum Spells Per Day), b) have a high enough Int score to gain at least one bonus spell for the desired spell level (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells), c) prepare his available bonus spells after resting, d) choose this Insight after resting, at the same time he is preparing his spells, allowing him to expend skill points to cast the desired spell(s), and e) expend the skill points as the spell is cast. The skill point cost for casting a spell is 1 for a 0th level spell, 2 for a 1st level, 4 for 2nd level, 9 for 3rd, 16 for 4th, 25 for 5th, 36 for 6th, 49 for 7th, 64 for 8th, and 81 for 9th. If a factotum does not meet these requirements, or does not have enough unspent skill points at his disposal, he is unable to cast the spell.

See my earlier comments on the spell business. I think this class would come off better as a spontaneous caster rather than prepared just per the theme. YMMV.

Mimicry (Ex): Starting at 1st level, a factotum can adopt the class features of other classes. He can adopt one class feature per day, but this decision must be made immediately after resting. Starting at 5th level, he can adopt two class features, three at 10th, and so on. A factotum’s level must be at least equal to that of the class that possesses the feature they are adopting. Better. Sets a good limit on some of the craziness. For example, if a factotum chooses to adopt the druid’s ‘Wild Shape’ ability, they may not do so until they are at least 5th level (the same level the druid itself gains access to the ability), at which point they may only use the ability once a day (the same amount as a 5th level druid). If a class feature involves a progression, a factotum may adopt the class feature as if he were of an equivalent level. For example, if a 15th level factotum chooses the rogue’s ‘Sneak Attack’ class feature for one of his Mimicries, he may sneak attack with a bonus of 8d6 (the same amount as a rogue of equal level). Not so sure about progressions like that. Maybe go with 1/2 their factotum level. If a class feature does not involve a progression of any kind, the factotum only gains that one feature, because there are no associated features. If a factotum wishes to adopt a class feature from a specific prestige class(NO! I'm sorry, but even with the limits here, a base class should NOT have features of a base class unless it is advancing said features for said base class. Too many abilities of PrC's are too broken for a class to just be able to pull of nowhere., he must first allocate any skill points, feats from his feat pool, or make any other changes to his abilities as necessary to qualify for the prestige class itself for the day. This may involve choosing certain Insights to make the necessary changes. If he is unable to make these changes, he may not take the ability from that prestige class for his Mimicry. The class features a factotum has chosen may be reset after he has rested.

That last sentence is also very troubling. What constitutes a "rest"? I mean sitting on a comfy couch for 10 minutes could be considered a rest. Make the duration 24hours. This will also help lower the amount of bookkeeping.

Feat Pool: NO!

Except for this part. I rather like that.
While a factotum must meet the feat, ability score, racial, or spellcasting requirements for a potential feat, due to their innately flexible nature, they automatically qualify for any skill prerequisites as long as the necessary skill ranks to not exceed their factotum level + 3 (for example, a factotum must be at least 7th level to qualify for the Spellcraft requirement of Aegis of Rime). In addition, their base attack bonus counts as equal to their factotum level for similar requirements, but only for feats.

That said, I think doubling the feats of a character; yes the fighter does it, but that's really all the fighter gets save tower shield proficiency, and you were trying to take that away as well; is not the best course of action. I'd say let them swap out 1 feat per 3 factotum levels (rounded down). This can be done after an hour's practice, meditation, what ever. Lots of flexibility with out the headache, possibly.

Table: The Factotum
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+0|+0|+0|+0|Insight (1), Mimicry (1/day), Feat Pool
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+0|-
3rd|+1|+1|+1|+1|-
4th|+2|+1|+1|+1|-
5th|+2|+1|+1|+1|Insight (2), Mimicry (2/day)
6th|+3|+2|+2|+2|-
7th|+3|+2|+2|+2|-
8th|+4|+2|+2|+2|-
9th|+4|+3|+3|+3|-
10th|+5|+3|+3|+3|Insight (3), Mimicry (3/day)
11th|+5|+3|+3|+3|-
12th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+4|-
13th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+4|-
14th|+7/+2|+4|+4|+4|-
15th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+5|Insight (4), Mimicry (4/day)
16th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+5|-
17th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+5|-
18th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|-
19th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|-
20th|+10/+5|+6|+6|+6|Insight (5), Mimicry (5/day)
[/table]

There are so many holes in this table that I thought is was a golf course! I know this class is all about cobbling itself together from remnants of others; but oy! This class needs some features of its own. Heck, spreading out the Insights and Mimicry's to different levels would be a good start.

Table: Factotum Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|0th|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-
10th|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-|-
11th|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-
12th|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-|-
13th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-
14th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-|-
15th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-
16th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-|-
17th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-
18th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-
19th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
20th|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
[/table]

Yup, good progress, but this thing isn't nearly enough up to code for a character to take levels in it. It's been mentioned (and I believe done) before to look at the Chameleon PrC in Races of Destiny (p111). It's 10 levels, but could easily be stretched to 20 with a little elbow grease. Hope this helps more than it hurts!

All right. There's PEACH #2. I'm going to take a peek at a few things and see if I can't put together something that illustrates my points better. This may take a bit as that pesky job I have takes so much out of my homebrewing time. :tongue: Keep on this; but keep an eye out for balance issues. I'm not sure about your level of experience with homebrew or D&D 3.5 (Shaft knows I need large doses of both), but take a good long look at all of the base and prestige classes out there and ask yourself, "If I were the DM, would this cause me large amounts of pain." If your answer is remotely close to yes, then you need to scale it back a tick. Peace and chicken grease!

[Alokue]

So at the risk of resurrecting a 2 month old thread, have you done any more work with this? Some of the people's comments seemed to make a lot of sense, and some less so (nobody really *got* what you were trying to do with skill points, did they? Don't worry, I did.) One suggestion I would have is that you should go through and try to *actually* build one of the stronger casting classes, and I think it's probably going to come out more powerful. By level 20 it's easy enough to get +10 to your int modifier, and you should probably be looking at more like +15 for your upper level of reasonable play. Given that, build your class out and a wizard out, and see which one is more powerful. Don't hesitate to take PrCs on the wizard -- your class takes them, just by being itself. I would hesitate to give double/triple full casting to your class. If you really wanted, you could give it The wizard's spell list as a full caster, the cleric's list as a bard, and the druid list as a ranger, or even let the player choose which list to put in which place (though they'd be crazy to pick any other arrangement.) You might even let them take martial progression as one of those casting progressions, and detail out the martial progression they would get. Also, for RAW, be sure that you restrict "Class abilities" away from "Casting". You don't want someone taking Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard, Cleric, and Factotum2.0 casting at level 20, and as you've currently written the class, it can do that.

Now given all that, I just want to say that I like the idea, and that people are giving you a really bad rap but this is a good idea that is hard to balance. I'd like to see more of it, and maybe even help you smooth the edges out. :D

[Everynone]

So, I was looking back at some of my old homebrews, and I realized this one had some promise, so I just updated it. I'd like be open to critiquing on RAW and balancing issues, so I was very glad when I saw the reply from Alokue. I'm now considering how best to specify that spellcasting is not, strictly speaking, a class feature subject to Mimicry, so thanks for pointing that out.

Any other commentary or critiquing would be welcome.

[Dapperatchik]

So, I was looking back at some of my old homebrews, and I realized this one had some promise, so I just updated it. I'd like be open to critiquing on RAW and balancing issues, so I was very glad when I saw the reply from Alokue. I'm now considering how best to specify that spellcasting is not, strictly speaking, a class feature subject to Mimicry, so thanks for pointing that out.

Any other commentary or critiquing would be welcome.

I really like this class. That said, harsh criticisms:

Insight is a great idea. I haven't looked very hard at the numbers to see if the number of skill points you get is about right, but it doesn't look too bad at first glance. Maybe cap save bonuses at your Factotum level rather than at a Good save, or maybe limit the increase to your Int mod. Idea for another class feature - have skills based off of Int, maybe spend skill points to get that.

The feat pool works well. I almost wonder if it doesn't give you enough options, but I love the idea that you can be a Sneak Attacking Rogue, and then switch to being an Imperious Command / Intimidating Rager when something immune to crits shows up. (Yes, this is a bad example, because most things with fortification are immune to crits). One thing that's not clear with the feat pool is whether you can take multiple crits

The least effective thing about the original Factotum was the ridiculously fuzzy ability to emulate class features. Can you emulate Spellcasting? Turn Undead? What about X other ability from this other splatbook? Oooh, I found this new really broken combination of class features!

I think the only way to make it work is to do a more expansive version of what the Chameleon does and list which class features you're allowed to use, and precisely how they work. Yes, I know that's a ton of work - but I think it might be necessary to make Mimicry work (and for the record I think Mimicry is a great idea).

The other thing that probably needs fixing is the spells. It's fine if you're aiming to make this a Tier 1, but better-than-Wizard isn't really a great balance point. For this Factotum to be fun to play, you need it to be slightly worse than any other class at doing what those other classes do - otherwise everyone else in the party is going to be overshadowed.

For a start, I'd nerf the spell progression. No-one should be casting ninths, not least a class with this many other options, and not both arcane and divine. Bard progression should be adequate. Only casting bonus spells is cool, though.

The problem is that you don't want to limit your spellcasting options too much, but a prepared caster doesn't have the kind of awesome flexibility that this class should have. I really think you should specify the lists you can cast off, as well, to stop Trapsmith cheese like level 1 Haste. Then... I don't know. Specify a spell list and/or a school of magic, and cast only those spells that day, but spontaneously? Have a very large pool of spells known, and then each day select some fraction of those to be cast spontaneously? It's tough without making things a bookkeeping disaster.

[Everynone]

Insight is a great idea. I haven't looked very hard at the numbers to see if the number of skill points you get is about right, but it doesn't look too bad at first glance. Maybe cap save bonuses at your Factotum level rather than at a Good save, or maybe limit the increase to your Int mod. Idea for another class feature - have skills based off of Int, maybe spend skill points to get that.

I considered that, but I specifically wanted the class to be able to 'rewrite it's class table', as it were. Also, considering a player's ability to increase their Int modifier to astronomical levels using cheese, I figured limiting their saves to be as good as any class with a good save made sense.


The feat pool works well. I almost wonder if it doesn't give you enough options, but I love the idea that you can be a Sneak Attacking Rogue, and then switch to being an Imperious Command / Intimidating Rager when something immune to crits shows up. (Yes, this is a bad example, because most things with fortification are immune to crits). One thing that's not clear with the feat pool is whether you can take multiple crits

I'm sure it gives you enough options, considering the bonus feats. Also, this is probably on me, but I don't understand what you mean by 'taking multiple crits'. What do you mean?


The least effective thing about the original Factotum was the ridiculously fuzzy ability to emulate class features. Can you emulate Spellcasting? Turn Undead? What about X other ability from this other splatbook? Oooh, I found this new really broken combination of class features!

To be honest, I only partially used what I heard the original factotum could do when building this class...

*hides face in shame*


I think the only way to make it work is to do a more expansive version of what the Chameleon does and list which class features you're allowed to use, and precisely how they work. Yes, I know that's a ton of work - but I think it might be necessary to make Mimicry work (and for the record I think Mimicry is a great idea).

If I could do that, and update the class features every time I made a homebrew change or found a fix I liked, I would. It would be a TON of paperwork, so really my only hope with this is that if there is a class feature out there, the DM has to okay it for the factotum to use.


The other thing that probably needs fixing is the spells. It's fine if you're aiming to make this a Tier 1, but better-than-Wizard isn't really a great balance point. For this Factotum to be fun to play, you need it to be slightly worse than any other class at doing what those other classes do - otherwise everyone else in the party is going to be overshadowed.

For a start, I'd nerf the spell progression. No-one should be casting ninths, not least a class with this many other options, and not both arcane and divine. Bard progression should be adequate. Only casting bonus spells is cool, though.

I know...it's a powerful class, but really, my goal with the balancing with for it to be a tier that I'm not sure exists. I wanted it to be almost as good at a given role as a class built for it (such as a tanking for a fighter) if it invested heavily on a given day. The only thing that makes the class strictly better than others is it's ability to change it's role each day. So...it's not meant to be better than the fighter at fighting, or the wizard at casting spells, but if it's statted correctly and it chooses it's abilities correctly at the beginning of the day, it can get the job done. That said, I don't think it's better than wizard when it comes to casting...the way I see it, wizards get all the important arcane spells anyways, so I look at this class like a gestaltish wizard/archivist who gets NO spells per day, only bonus spells, AND has to expend skill points to do it. They have to pay heavily for the ability to be almost as good as a wizard, and by investing in that, they give up other options they could've used. A wizard doesn't have to do that. On the flip-side, I'm not entirely against bard progression...but for me, it just goes against the grain. If, at a level where someone would be expected to be able to cast, say, Meteor Swarm, and someone asked a factotum to do that, I'd like them to be able to say that they could, as long as they haven't invested too heavily in other areas.


The problem is that you don't want to limit your spellcasting options too much, but a prepared caster doesn't have the kind of awesome flexibility that this class should have. I really think you should specify the lists you can cast off, as well, to stop Trapsmith cheese like level 1 Haste. Then... I don't know. Specify a spell list and/or a school of magic, and cast only those spells that day, but spontaneously? Have a very large pool of spells known, and then each day select some fraction of those to be cast spontaneously? It's tough without making things a bookkeeping disaster.

I think I'll stick to a prepared caster...mechanically, I'd say that a factotum is to a rogue what a wizard is to a sorcerer (when comparing skills to spells). Being able to re-memorize your spells each day at the cost of spells per day is metaphorically exactly this classes MO in every area. It also helps that Int is primarily used as a stat for skill monkeys and memorized/prepared casters. Specifying a spell list would be quite easy (I'd probably just go with Wizard and Cleric and be done with it), but again, that goes against the grain, if, say, someone asked a factotum to cast Glibness (if that's a good example).

I hope you understand a little better what I was trying to do with this class...if it feels like I'm just shutting down your ideas, I really am sorry, I'm just picky about this and I'm trying to find a balance where the 'do anything' idea matches mechanical feasibility.

Thanks for the pointers though. I'm still considering what changes I might make, and I suspect this class is not done yet.

[Dapperatchik]

I considered that, but I specifically wanted the class to be able to 'rewrite it's class table', as it were. Also, considering a player's ability to increase their Int modifier to astronomical levels using cheese, I figured limiting their saves to be as good as any class with a good save made sense.

You're probably right, I just like the idea of being able to boost your Fort save really high on the day you know you're going up against a Basilisk. Maybe max the base save bonus at your Factotum level? Or it's probably just fine as it is.


I'm sure it gives you enough options, considering the bonus feats. Also, this is probably on me, but I don't understand what you mean by 'taking multiple crits'. What do you mean?

Sometimes, when it looks like someone is being a total idiot, they're actually just being a total idiot. I must have got distracted when I wrote that late last night. What I meant was it's not obvious if you can take one of the feats in your pool multiple times. (I think you probably should be able to).

Also, I think the problem is the size of the feat pool relative to the number of 'active' feats you have. A 12th-level Human Factotum is going to have nine active feats, and an additional seven in the pool (assuming you add pool feats on levels you get bonus feats, which is not massively clear). That's not enough to completely change your fighting style every day, let alone to give you options.

My personal preference would be to strip out most or all of the bonus feats and instead dramatically enlarge the feat pool, or maybe for easier bookkeeping have several separate feat lists that you can swap out for each other each day.


To be honest, I only partially used what I heard the original factotum could do when building this class...

*hides face in shame*

If I could do that, and update the class features every time I made a homebrew change or found a fix I liked, I would. It would be a TON of paperwork, so really my only hope with this is that if there is a class feature out there, the DM has to okay it for the factotum to use.

Understandable.


I know...it's a powerful class, but really, my goal with the balancing with for it to be a tier that I'm not sure exists. I wanted it to be almost as good at a given role as a class built for it (such as a tanking for a fighter) if it invested heavily on a given day. The only thing that makes the class strictly better than others is it's ability to change it's role each day. So...it's not meant to be better than the fighter at fighting, or the wizard at casting spells, but if it's statted correctly and it chooses it's abilities correctly at the beginning of the day, it can get the job done. That said, I don't think it's better than wizard when it comes to casting...the way I see it, wizards get all the important arcane spells anyways, so I look at this class like a gestaltish wizard/archivist who gets NO spells per day, only bonus spells, AND has to expend skill points to do it. They have to pay heavily for the ability to be almost as good as a wizard, and by investing in that, they give up other options they could've used. A wizard doesn't have to do that. On the flip-side, I'm not entirely against bard progression...but for me, it just goes against the grain. If, at a level where someone would be expected to be able to cast, say, Meteor Swarm, and someone asked a factotum to do that, I'd like them to be able to say that they could, as long as they haven't invested too heavily in other areas.

If someone would be expected to cast, say, Gate or Shapechange or Mind Rape or Ice Assassin or Body Outside Body...

A 'gestaltish Wizard / Archivist' is not really something that should exist in the game. I would say this class is much more powerful than the standard Wizard. You can get access to all kinds of crazy tricks. Divine Metamagic, for example. You can cast Haste as a level 1 spell. You can cast Summon Giants as a level 4 spell. And that's notwithstanding that you can get access to any ridiculous trick that any caster in the game is capable of pulling off.

I guess if you want a class that can do those things, that's OK too.


I think I'll stick to a prepared caster...mechanically, I'd say that a factotum is to a rogue what a wizard is to a sorcerer (when comparing skills to spells). Being able to re-memorize your spells each day at the cost of spells per day is metaphorically exactly this classes MO in every area. It also helps that Int is primarily used as a stat for skill monkeys and memorized/prepared casters. Specifying a spell list would be quite easy (I'd probably just go with Wizard and Cleric and be done with it), but again, that goes against the grain, if, say, someone asked a factotum to cast Glibness (if that's a good example).

I hope you understand a little better what I was trying to do with this class...if it feels like I'm just shutting down your ideas, I really am sorry, I'm just picky about this and I'm trying to find a balance where the 'do anything' idea matches mechanical feasibility.

Thanks for the pointers though. I'm still considering what changes I might make, and I suspect this class is not done yet.

I think I understand a bit better, yeah.

If I was building this class from the ground up, here's what I'd do.

I'd junk spells entirely. Instead, I'd combine that and Mimicry into a list of class features that you could purchase with skill points. One of those class features would be any Wiz/Sorc/Cleric/Druid/Bard spell as an SLA, with a skill point cost depending on the spell level. (I'd probably put Psionics in as well).

Of course, that would take a massive amount of effort that I don't really want to do, so I don't have any right to tell you what would work well.

I'll just say that I'm quite impressed with what you've done here, even if it does have its flaws.

[JKTrickster]

Mainly everyone here just really likes Tier 3 classes and Factotum fit squarely in that category.

You made your version much, much stronger and that of course ticked people off.

Just make a note next time that you're aiming for Tier 1 or basically upgrading the Factotum. It'll clear up the differences that way.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

You might be interested in my Chameleon (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100597) base class. It accomplishes the supreme flexibility of a shifting character while staying just shy of Tier 1: it's incredibly powerful an very versatile, but lacks the raw end-game power of the Druid, Artificer, Wizard, and the like.

I think you'll at least find it an interesting read, as it had many concepts in common with your intended design and is, I feel, slightly less book-keeping intensive in how it implements those designs.

[Everynone]

I think you'll at least find it an interesting read, as it had many concepts in common with your intended design and is, I feel, slightly less book-keeping intensive in how it implements those designs.

I have to admit, I was skeptical at first, but this is exactly along the lines I was thinking of for this class. It doesn't accomplish everything I envision for this class, but it's much more...crisp. I feel like my class is any attempt at 'do anything', while yours is an attempt at 'be anything'. Not quite the same, but very similar. In any event, it's a very cool class. I might steal from ideas from it in the future, but nothing blatant or key to the class (the masks idea, for example, is so cool that I just refuse to touch it).

As an aside, I made a proficiency change to the factotum. I gave them simple weapon, light armor, and light shield prof. at 1st level, and then expanded upon that at levels 7 and 14. This also gave me an excuse to let them be proficient with exotic weapons by level 14. *grins stupidly, imagining a factotum dual-wielding repeating crossbows*

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

I have to admit, I was skeptical at first, but this is exactly along the lines I was thinking of for this class.

Always happy to help!

Speaking of which...I wanted to give you a more in-depth critique, but my critiques typically take me a LONG time to write (so I've gotten out of the habit, now that I have a full time job again), so I thought I'd try something new.

If you've got 13 minutes to spare, here's a video (audio only) critique of what you've got so far (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuM1FPbPaLE&feature=youtu.be). It's the first time I've done something like this (it's far easier for me, as it takes me much less time and I can do other work at the same time), so comments/critiques/suggestions for future reviews would be excellent. Hell...I'd settle for knowing if a verbal review is even at all convenient or useful for you.