Author Topic: The Factotum's Handbook  (Read 338824 times)

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Sinfire Titan

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #280 on: October 18, 2010, 02:36:58 PM »
Was just looking over some low level items and noticed that Pearls of Power could be quite handy for a Factotum in overcoming it's limited spells/day.  I'm sure it's been noted before but didn't see any mention in the handbook.

SLAs!=Spells. Probably doesn't work.


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Hallack

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #281 on: October 18, 2010, 04:33:14 PM »
hmm, yeah.  Probably right.  Some aspects of the Factotums pseudo spell-like are just wonky.  Okay, not really pseudo but you know what I mean.  Spell-likes that require components and allow standard metamagic usage..... *sigh*
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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #282 on: October 24, 2010, 05:03:10 AM »
Why is the Lucid Dreaming skill not mentioned in this handbook?

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Bastian

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #283 on: October 24, 2010, 11:45:21 AM »
Why is the Lucid Dreaming skill not mentioned in this handbook?
Because Dictum Mortuum hasn't updated it in a while.

Handle Humanoid needs to be added as well.

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #284 on: October 25, 2010, 12:47:16 AM »
A tibbit factotum with the handle humanoid feat would be really awesome.

Sinfire Titan

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #285 on: October 30, 2010, 01:24:47 AM »
If you're using a region of dreams in your campaign - Dal Quor in Eberron for example - the Lucid Dreaming skill from MotP (page 203) might be worth looking at. It's pretty much what it sounds like. Various checks of varying difficulty let you realize you're dreaming, change various aspects of your dreamscape or yourself, and stuff. Then there's the applications that let you visit someone else's dreamscape, essentially appearing in their dreams. If you grapple them there and make a DC 25 check, you can drag them into the "Dreamheart". In the dreamheart, not only, does everyone take 25 damage per round if not taking shelter, if you die there, you're dead for good - as opposed to dreamscapes, where death is just as fake as everything else. You can, of course, use all equipment and powers you have at your disposal IRL. The best part? After you're done killing people in your sleep, none of your resources IRL are expended. The skill does require a fairly obscure alternate cosmology, though. Dal Quor in Eberron, as mentioned above, is a perfect fit, but requires some adaptation to work with the rules in the section.

Quick question: Can you use it to communicate to others in their sleep?

If so, it may be the cheapest form of long-range telepathy there is (even if it is limited by time). It would be even better if it worked across planes.


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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #286 on: October 30, 2010, 05:26:39 AM »
If you're using a region of dreams in your campaign - Dal Quor in Eberron for example - the Lucid Dreaming skill from MotP (page 203) might be worth looking at. It's pretty much what it sounds like. Various checks of varying difficulty let you realize you're dreaming, change various aspects of your dreamscape or yourself, and stuff. Then there's the applications that let you visit someone else's dreamscape, essentially appearing in their dreams. If you grapple them there and make a DC 25 check, you can drag them into the "Dreamheart". In the dreamheart, not only, does everyone take 25 damage per round if not taking shelter, if you die there, you're dead for good - as opposed to dreamscapes, where death is just as fake as everything else. You can, of course, use all equipment and powers you have at your disposal IRL. The best part? After you're done killing people in your sleep, none of your resources IRL are expended. The skill does require a fairly obscure alternate cosmology, though. Dal Quor in Eberron, as mentioned above, is a perfect fit, but requires some adaptation to work with the rules in the section.

Quick question: Can you use it to communicate to others in their sleep?

If so, it may be the cheapest form of long-range telepathy there is (even if it is limited by time). It would be even better if it worked across planes.
Doesn't say, but given that you actually enter someone else's Dreamscape, I'd personally say that yes, you can.
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Sinfire Titan

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #287 on: October 30, 2010, 06:14:04 AM »
Doesn't say, but given that you actually enter someone else's Dreamscape, I'd personally say that yes, you can.

I seriously need to read into this. If I'm understanding this right, a Dreamscape is a demiplane created whenever a conscious being starts dreaming, and that the Dreamscape is linked to Dal Quor, correct? If so, it is also tangentially linked to the Astral Plane. If so, planar boundaries are meaningless to dreams, and being an Outsider or Undead sucks because you don't need sleep.


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The_Mad_Linguist

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #288 on: October 30, 2010, 09:08:37 AM »
On the other hand, if you ever go to sleep, someone can cast dream, designating a warforged cohort as a messenger and you as the recipient, with an eternally looping rickroll as the message.  You'll be forced to stay asleep forever.  No save.

For extra guarantee of eternity, make your cohort a necropolitan dwarven chanter, and encase him in quintessence or something.
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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #289 on: October 30, 2010, 05:45:16 PM »
Note to self: eternally loop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ffL573XI50 next time BBEG is asleep.

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #290 on: November 24, 2010, 11:36:03 PM »
Since the discussion came up, it was pointed out that the whole "Factotums cast SLAs, and thus cast at standard action speeds" thing means Ghoul Glyph is an instant kill.  It's a no save second level spell that paralyzes any living target for 1d6+2 rounds (there's a save on the secondary part, but that really doesn't matter).  A Factotum 11 can even remove the SR portion if you so desire.  Insta-kill.

And yes, Factotum SLAs are standard actions, see MM and Rules Compendium (the primary sources) which trump the SRD and anything else.

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #291 on: November 25, 2010, 01:02:31 AM »
Technically, it only takes effect on creatures that move within 5'.  Also, you'd have to inscribe it in their square, which provokes, like, two or three times.

Also,also, since you have to "provide the necessary material components as normal", and in this particular case the material component is tied to the somatic component, it's unclear whether or not the standard action gets trumped anyway.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2010, 01:05:01 AM by The_Mad_Linguist »
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JaronK

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #292 on: November 25, 2010, 01:46:58 AM »
By Raw, you just do it in that speed... and Factotums are stealthy enough to have little trouble just sneaking up and opening with this move.  Not to mention, since when did Factotums have trouble with the tumble checks to avoid AoOs in this kind of situation?

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #293 on: November 25, 2010, 01:58:35 AM »
Well, yeah, but then you end up stuck in their space, and they can still wail on you as much as they want so long as they don't move.
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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #294 on: November 25, 2010, 03:08:01 AM »
You know how Factotums get Int to trip checks?  Consider a two level dip into Unarmed Swordsage... then launch enemies with Mighty Throw.  If the glyph is already down, they get auto paralyzed along the way.  Fling that enemy at a party member who can Coup De Grace.

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #295 on: November 25, 2010, 03:13:41 AM »
At that point you might as well rename your character Rube Goldberg and be done with it.
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Benly

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #296 on: November 25, 2010, 04:43:32 AM »
At that point you might as well rename your character Rube Goldberg and be done with it.

Combine your Ghoul Glyph with a series of knockback booby traps from the DMGII and chain-combo your paralyzed target across the room into a lava pit. You know you want to.

This works especially well if your DM lets you adapt the DMGII booby traps to Trapsmith booby traps - most of the existing Trapsmith traps are adaptations of the DMGII traps already, they follow a pretty obvious pattern, and the Trapsmith entry suggests adding other booby traps already. But then, I just love me some Trapsmiths.

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #297 on: November 25, 2010, 12:47:16 PM »
Just checking but being flat footed and being denied your dex aren't the same thing right?

i mean you are denied your dex while flatfooted but are you flatfooted while being denied your dex.
In a campaign i run i ruled it to be so against some crazed Iaijutsu master. After which we found out the only things that say specifically your flat footed are the start of combat before your first turn and flick of the wrist feat.

It came up because i notice that Iaijutsu specifically says Flatfooted while something like rogue sneak attack says denied dex to AC

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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #298 on: November 25, 2010, 12:56:37 PM »
Just checking but being flat footed and being denied your dex aren't the same thing right?

i mean you are denied your dex while flatfooted but are you flatfooted while being denied your dex.
In a campaign i run i ruled it to be so against some crazed Iaijutsu master. After which we found out the only things that say specifically your flat footed are the start of combat before your first turn and flick of the wrist feat.

It came up because i notice that Iaijutsu specifically says Flatfooted while something like rogue sneak attack says denied dex to AC

The two conditions (flat-footed and denied Dex) are indeed different. While being flat-footed usually causes you to lose your Dex bonus to AC and is one of the most common sources of it, the two are distinct conditions. For instance, if you have the Uncanny Dodge ability you can be flat-footed but still retain your Dex bonus (which is okay for Iajutsu Masters but bad for sneak attackers). If someone feints against you or you are attacked by an opponent you can't see, you can lose your Dex bonus without being flat-footed (which is good for sneak attackers but useless for Iajutsu Masters).
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Re: The Factotum's Handbook
« Reply #299 on: November 25, 2010, 01:22:12 PM »
was just checking because alot of people list things like grease as getting an opponent flatfooted while as far as i was aware the deal with that was if you have less than 5 ranks in balance you only lose your Dex to AC while balancing.