So in a new campaign I made a human Factotum. He is a professor of archeology/tomb raider/private eye (an obvious mash-up between Indiana Jones and Jake Gittes from
Chinatown. I just love that I can make a character who can actually perform multiple archetypal roles!). Level 5 and so far so good, and he will likely be played for a good long time (high teens are likely to be played).
Str-14, Dex-12, Con-17, Int-19, Wis-14, Cha-14, at least one point in every skill, focusing on rogue-like skills, plus Gather Information, Knowledge: History, Knowledge: Religion, and one point in Profession: Professor. Uses a guisarme, a longsword, and a composite long bow.
My question is this though:
feats. So far he has Able Learner (Just in case I wanted to go Chameleon eventually) and two Font of Inspirations. I'm confused and because I am a perfectionist I have to know the right way to do all this and I have
every intention to overthink this whole process
. I am worried about using my 6th level feat on FoI again. Will I need something else earlier or should I get all the bonus IPs as soon as I can? How many FoIs is enough? How many is too many? My guess was three, but we'll see.
I don't know what direction I should be taking this guy. I just worry about being effective in combat later on, really. Out of combat, obviously Factotums shine brighter than almost all classes. My DM thinks, and I agree for the most part, that Iajitsu Focus is silly and he's banned it from all campaigns. I also would like to avoid especially contrived combos and anything "gray-area" rules-wise. Just looking over the class abilities I'm given, seems like Cunning Insight will start to drop off, at least for damage. Getting my huge Int to hit won't go out of style. The spells are awesome, but I don't see how they could carry me through a day's worth of fights. So at this point, it appears to me that feats are going to make up for some of the slack.
Just going down JaronK's very fine suggestion list, since the guide is
lacking (hint, hint
) EDIT: Very nice list in the guide now. Outstanding.
Craft Wondrous Item - Definitely a great feat for Factotums, what with the freedom to choose so many spells.
Manyshot - Why? What am I missing? [quick edit] Wait... Volley = one attack roll. Is that why? That's pretty cool. Wait, no way I'll qualify. 17 Dex, plus two other feats I don't particularly care for.
Darkstalker - Ah, of course. Probably going to get that as well.
Master of Poisons - Where's this from again? I see it's use but I fear book-throwing. I mean, making buckets of poison and then boosting the ability damage with IPs? I don't know if I would want to use that combo often enough to warrant the feat.
Imperious Command - Doesn't really fit the character, but I could see it working well for factotums.
Improved Trip - I was seriously thinking about taking this as my 6th level feat.
Other ideas I had were... I think my friend mentioned there was a feat for swinging across chasms with a whip. I'd probably take it if I could find it--just for kicks. Kinda stumped at this point. I think I could just as easily fall back on UMDing a staff and a wand or two to assist in fights, but that feels like giving up
. With that approach, all my feats become secondary and I can choose flavorful feats like the whip-swinging or something zany like Dreamtelling from HoH.
Chameleon would be a fantastic boon in combat, but I want to get as many Factotum levels in that I can. At least it's an option later on. I'd just as soon go straight Factotum, at least until level 16.
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TL;DR summary: Feats for a factotum are confusing me. What balance should I strike for combat feats, out of combat/flavor feats, and FoI? Which combat feats peter out and which ones stay good?
Also, Dictum Mortuum, this guide could use some love if you find the time. Your guides are always so good and the first section of this guide is already really well done.