low-mid OP skillmonkey/combatant

[Xerlith]

So I have an opportunity to play in a friend's roll20 game. I was asked to take on the skill monkey role and since I've got pretty much the best rolls (18, 17, 16, 14, 8, 17) (I suggested point-buy ), I thought "why not take it into melee as well".

We're starting at 5th level, with standard (9k gp) WBL. That's not a problem - I settled on a Factotum3/Hit-And-Run Exoticist1/Warblade 1 with Iaijutsu Focus. The DM was so kind as to allow my Factotum to trade spellcasting for martial dilettante homebrew (full BAB, 1 maneuver known/readied at 3rd lvl, swappable everyday) ACF.
He also allowed my quick-draw to allow for free-action sheathing of the weapon (I DID point out the possible shenanigans).

Basically, the premise of the character is a wanderer swordsman that got dishonored by disobeying orders in the midst of battle - for a noble cause nonetheless. He's meant to unlock his ancestry and slowly learn the supernatural art of using wind in battle (yeah, I like Yasuo. Don't judge me ).

What I'm asking for is the direction in which I should take my build not to overshadow my party, but still get to do the "cool stuff".
Basically, I want to just be there and do stuff, but have the ability to pull out the big guns when we get in a pinch.

Character sheet (not really final): http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetvie...heetid=1024818

I thought about:
- One to five levels of Iaijutsu Master (Int to AC, Cha to dmg - multiple times, Cha to Initiative)
- Four (or more) levels of Swordsage (Desert Wind/Setting Sun both have some yummy maneuvers)
- Continuing Warblade (Diamond Mind and Iron Heart get some good stuff as well)
- Two or four levels of Bloodstorm Blade (and fluffing the throws as "wind cuts" instead)
- Suel Arcanamach levels, (ab)using Whirling Blade in conjunction with Iaijutsu Focus
- Sorcerer1/Abjurant Champion5, reasons same as above.

I can't quite put my finger on what combination exactly would be the most fitting.

The rest of the team:

Kung-Fu Genius Unarmed Swordsage1/Monk2/Cloistered Cleric 1/Swashbuckler 1 going into Daring Outlaw and Kensai. I helped that player build, but we mostly went with what sounded cool. I know this guy will play decently, but without big surprises.
Sorcerer5 going into Incantatrix. Big unknown to me, I've never seen the player in action. Most probably a straight-up blaster employing Disintegrates (yep).
Warlock 5 - as above. As far as I know, isn't entering Hellfire Warlock.
Cleric 5 - a healbot/support.

As a sidenote, I got told that the sorcerer may not be able to play.

[emeraldstreak]

what about your race?

[Xerlith]

It's written in the linked character sheet. Human.

[emeraldstreak]

It's written in the linked character sheet. Human.

final or filler?

[Xerlith]

Yes, it's final. I kinda need Able Learner, you know.

[weckar]

You need able learner? On a Factotum? Did I miss some update somewhere?

[Xerlith]

It would be easier if you took an actual look at the character sheet and at what I wrote, since that got answered in the OP.
Those 3 levels are most probably all the factotum levels this build will have.
Really, why the snarkiness?

[weckar]

No snark; honest questioning. I hadn't considered you'd use a class for which you'd get a homebrew ACF approved as a minor part of a build.
I get wanting to 'Loosen the cap' with the combination, but are any skills factotum unlocks for you ('xept IF) really worth improving that much beyond what your otherwise could?

[Xerlith]

Now those are both valid questions. I'm not against using more Factotum levels, but the concept I've got in mind actually makes it difficult for me to justify taking more than three, at best four Factotum levels. Even though Cunning Knowledge is tempting.

About Able Learner... Well, doing a quick look over the skill list... IF, Disable Device, Use Magic Device, I'd also like to keep Concentration and Diplomacy maxed.
Probably I could manage without the feat.
Nonetheless, I'm rather decided on the character being human (or as human-like as possible). The bonus skill/level has proven more precious than I'd have suspected.

Sidenote #2: The DM may or may not approve of homebrew or bloodlines, but I'd rather not bother him with those (although ErrantX's Suel Arcanamach is so damn tasty...).

[Troacctid]

Able Learner only requires the (human) subtype, so Illumian is an option as well (and technically some others like Azurin and Sea Kin, but they don't make sense here). If you want the skills but don't need the bonus feat, the skill-boosting power sigils can be pretty good for a skill-monkey.

[Xerlith]

For me, it's more about the direction I should take from 6th level on. I'm pretty content with those first five levels, but I don't have a solid idea what to do next.

[weckar]

Since you're considering swordsage anyway, would Master of Nine be such a bad idea?

[Xerlith]

Can't say I haven't thought about it - if assigning the maneuver progression wholly to the Factotum, it may result in some serious shenanigans (if used as ruled now, the maneuvers are swappable every morning...). What feats should I drop though?

[Extra Anchovies]

Can't say I haven't thought about it - if assigning the maneuver progression wholly to the Factotum, it may result in some serious shenanigans (if used as ruled now, the maneuvers are swappable every morning...). What feats should I drop though?

That's the issue with Mo9: it's quite the feat tax. If you're playing with flaws or need the feats for other stuff anyways, it works, but don't put off the rest of the build just because moar maneuvers.

[Xerlith]

Let's see...

Improved initiative is a great feat for me, since going first means I can use Iaijutsu Focus more reliably.
Improved Unarmed Strike just needs me to use Unarmed Swordsage, so no sweat here.
Dodge, Blind-Fight, and Adaptive Style are a pure feat tax.

Seeing as a martial maneuver is roughly worth a feat...

Mo9 gives me 8 maneuvers over the course of five levels (not counting maneuvers readied and stances). That means that even the swordsage with his maneuver/level gets overshadowed.
Five (non-1st) levels of swordsage give me 5 maneuvers. That's 3 less than what the Mo9 offers.

From a purely mathematical standpoint, the Mo9 pays me those three feats off.

Let's see the class features level by level:
1st: Well. I get maneuvers.
2nd: A nice one, but 2 rounds/level/DAY? That's 10 rounds/day at max. Okay, so going by the generic 3 encounters/day I get 3.33 rounds/encounter. May be useful.
3rd: I get two maneuvers. That's it. The Perfect Form is amazingly useless for my build.
4th: Now THIS is great. I plan on using counters routinely, so this ability means I can also switch to a more suitable stance. Earliest I get it is 11th though. Still, a nice perk to have.
5th: So this makes up for the 2 BAB lost, as well as gives me a small damage boost. I could probably cherry-pick maneuvers from every discipline, but it doesn't count in Stances. And that makes me sad.

And 6 skillpoints/level. That's not bad.

If added to Factotum, those 8 maneuvers I could rearrange as I see fit - every morning. What more, Adaptive Style takes care of the lack of a recovery method, although it's costly (a whole round? That hurts). I also get the highest Initiator Level.
If added to the Warblade, I can reliably refresh my maneuvers without losing a lot of actions, although my IL would be only 4+Mo9 lvl in the beginning...
Swordsage does nothing for me in this aspec, so I'm not going to bother.

Alternatives I considered for those 6 (counting Swordsage 1) levels:
Sorcerer1/Abjurant Champion5 (a feat tax much less painful. No IL gain, but spell goodies. I could enter JPM immediately after, so that's quite nice).
Suel Arcanamach3/Abjurant Champion5 (as above, but I get a bigger tax)
Suel 3/JPM (lowish CL)
More Warblade (hey, why not)
Swordsage4/Warblade 2 (as above, but I could grab Searing Charge and some useful boosts).