Factotum feat [Archive] - Wizards Community

Factotum feat [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Calamity Spear
03-15-07, 08:44 PM I like the new Factotum base class from Dungeonscape, but was distressed by the lack of feats for it. This was inspired by the Savvy Rogue feat from Complete Scoundrel, though obviously keyed towards the Factotum's lower-level abilities, rather than the higher level abilities of a rogue as that feat is. Lemme know what you think.

Truly Inspired [General]
You push your inspiration to the limits, mastering your most common factotum abilities.

Prerequisite: Int 15+, Factotum level 5th.

Benefit: Based on the factotum inspiration abilities you have, you gain one or more additional benefits as described below.

Cunning Insight: When activating this ability, you can choose to have the benefit last 1 round. If you do so, you can only use cunning insight once a round.

Cunning Knowledge: You can use this ability twice per day for a particular skill, rather than once per day.

Arcane Dilettante: You can prepare the same spell multiple times to use more than once during the same day. Doing so takes up an additional spell slot for each extra use of the spell, as if you had chosen a different spell for the day, up to your maximum allowed for the day.

Cunning Defense: You can apply your dodge bonus to Armor Class against all opponents for 1 round when using this ability.

Cunning Strike: The benefit of this ability lasts 1 round.

Opportunistic Piety: You can use this ability one additional time a day.

I especially would like help with the prerequisites, as I don't want just that. I'm horrible with prerequisites, in general.
Grod_The_Giant
03-15-07, 08:50 PM seems kinda powerful...but I can't make more comment without knowing the class.
Calamity Spear
03-15-07, 09:08 PM It would seem really powerful without knowing the class, yeah. Each of the factotum's abilities cost 1 or more Inspiration points to use, of which it gets a very limited supply. So this just expands what those points can do in limited ways.

Thanks for commenting! :D
Calamity Spear
03-16-07, 03:49 PM No one who's seen the Factotum has an opinion on it?
MakArios
03-16-07, 06:01 PM I`ve seen the class and it looks good. It will probably be a must-have for Factotums but IMO it isn`t unbalanced.
I would add Int 15+ to the prerequisites. This will not be a problem for a straight F. but probably will limit the usage of feat to multiclass characters.

Cheers.
Roland the Crownbreaker
03-16-07, 06:06 PM A better fit would probably be something like....

Extra Inspiration Gain 2 or 3 additonal uses of the Inspiration class feature per day. (based on what you think is best balanced for your game)

Barbarians, Bards, Clerics, and Paladins can all get extra uses of class defining abilities through only one feat. Making up one for the Factotum isn't really a stretch. Plus there is an existing baseline of comparison by virtue of similar feats.
Calamity Spear
03-16-07, 06:30 PM Actually, I'd already make such a feat for use in my campaign. :)
I just thought up this one as something different. Here's what I made, if you're interested:

Extra Inspiration [General]
You're more inspired than the average member of your class.
Prerequisite: Inspiration ability.
Benefit: When you take this feat, you gain two extra points of your inspiration ability per encounter. You may use these for whatever abilities you have that use inspiration points (the factotum's cunning strike, for example).
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Its effects stack.

I like the Int 15+ idea. Thanks!
damnedmage
03-17-07, 08:24 PM Man, I think it's an awesome feat, personally. Well balanced. Well flavored. Well written. Great job, Calamity.

The only thing I might think is that rather than Opportunistic Piety giving an additional use per day (since they already can get more than a Cleric or Paladin) it might instead give them +1 to their effective level (just like Improved Turning, which I don't believe Factotum qualifies for).
Calamity Spear
03-17-07, 08:29 PM Hmm, that might be a better way to handle it, yeah. At first I was going to say that would only affect the Turning, but on a second look the healing is based on factotum level. I like it!

Edit: On second thought, the Improved Turning feat only gives a +1 effective level for turning, which is what your change would grant, and more. That might be too excessive.
damnedmage
03-17-07, 08:49 PM Yea, I went back to review right after I'd posted and noted the same thing; you just beat me to the post. On the other hand, Extra Turning grants 4 additional uses per day. Factotum alone gains 3 additional uses per day, so technically what your feat does is bring the Factotum back into line with Extra Turning by giving him a total of 4 additional. So in final review, I think your feat is perfect as written.

Except that I did love the Int suggestion, so I think you should use it!
jameswilliamogle
03-17-07, 09:24 PM The first feat seems really, really powerful: I'd suggest the feat only gives two of the listed abilities instead of all of them (even if it only granted one, a few of them still look like no brainers). The no-brainer abilities: Cunning Strike, Cunning Insight, Cunning Defense, and (maybe) Arcane Diletante. Each of these, imo, would warrent a feat on their own. If you did this, the prereq: must have the two abilities as class features would be good.

The second feat doesn't look bad, but increasing IP's by 1 might be enough to justify a feat; playtesting a factotem at the lowest levels currently they have enough IP as is to last anywhere between 1-3 rounds, depending on how its played (2-3 if there's no tricky surprises or anything). Maybe let it increase by Factotem level / 5 IP, instead (thus still useful higher level, when a few IP won't matter, but still not overpowering at lower level)?

I'm trying to wrap my head around the Factotem class myself; it ain't easy. I'd like to suggest that you play it as is, first... the class surely is too new to have played it all that much that it needs new feats, just yet.
Calamity Spear
03-17-07, 09:34 PM Thanks for the input! Yeah, at the moment I'll be playing a Factotum 4/Rogue 2, so I wouldn't qualify for this feat until at the soonest my level 9 feat slot, assuming I take another level of Factotum before then. I'm really interested in what it can do without any tweaks.

Like I said, I based Truly Inspired off the rogue feat, Savvy Rogue, which adjusts it's Special Abilities gained after 10th level. That feat seems to give an awful lot, as well, but it's balanced by having to choose the abilities you want modified, rather than getting them all. I felt Truly Inspired was balanced by still having to use Inspiration points on the abilities; it just broadens their use at mid-to-high levels. It gives a 16th-level Factotum a reason to still use Cunning Defense after gaining Improved Cunning Defense; your Int to AC works in medium and heavy armor again, if only for one round. With Cunning Insight, you have the option of your bonus lasting all round, but you give up the freedom to choose attack, damage, or save on the fly; you're stuck with what you choose for that round. If Cunning Strike scaled with factotum level, I'd say it would be unbalanced to give the damage the entire round, but a 1d6 at higher levels for 1 attack is a waste of an inspiration point compared to the other things you can do. Opportunistic Piety...I honestly only included this because it's a lower ability and I wanted to balance it to requiring 5th level (an otherwise lackluster level at no increases BAB or saves, though you do gain another inspiration point and spell level); I don't particularly like Opportunistic Piety, though possibly because I don't play a cleric or paladin often.

As for Extra Inspiration, I debated over 1 or 2 points; I looked at all the feats that give extra uses of class abilities: the ones based on 1/class level like bardic music or extra turning give 3 or 4, while the ones based on abilities you gain only so often, like rage or smite, give an essential +8 to your effective level for those abilities, which is how I arrived at the +2 inspiration points. It may end up being too much; I still need to playtest it and find out.
Mystyc
03-18-07, 01:17 AM One thing to note: Rogue special abilities are chosen by the player, meaning that any particular rogue won't get all the benefit out of Savvy Rogue. Factotums, however, all get the same inspiration abilities, so this becomes much more of a must-have. This is compounded by the fact that they already have all of those abilities by the time they qualify for this feat. I would judge this single feat to be a decent chuck overpowered, and I'd suggest different feats for improving each ability.

The +2 inspiration point feat is just fine, though. I'm playing a factotum in my next campaign, and the DM has already made that available (although I haven't taken it yet).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Calamity Spear 03-15-07, 08:44 PM	I like the new Factotum base class from Dungeonscape, but was distressed by the lack of feats for it. This was inspired by the Savvy Rogue feat from Complete Scoundrel, though obviously keyed towards the Factotum's lower-level abilities, rather than the higher level abilities of a rogue as that feat is. Lemme know what you think. Truly Inspired [General] You push your inspiration to the limits, mastering your most common factotum abilities. Prerequisite: Int 15+, Factotum level 5th. Benefit: Based on the factotum inspiration abilities you have, you gain one or more additional benefits as described below. Cunning Insight: When activating this ability, you can choose to have the benefit last 1 round. If you do so, you can only use cunning insight once a round. Cunning Knowledge: You can use this ability twice per day for a particular skill, rather than once per day. Arcane Dilettante: You can prepare the same spell multiple times to use more than once during the same day. Doing so takes up an additional spell slot for each extra use of the spell, as if you had chosen a different spell for the day, up to your maximum allowed for the day. Cunning Defense: You can apply your dodge bonus to Armor Class against all opponents for 1 round when using this ability. Cunning Strike: The benefit of this ability lasts 1 round. Opportunistic Piety: You can use this ability one additional time a day. I especially would like help with the prerequisites, as I don't want just that. I'm horrible with prerequisites, in general.
Grod_The_Giant 03-15-07, 08:50 PM	seems kinda powerful...but I can't make more comment without knowing the class.
Calamity Spear 03-15-07, 09:08 PM	It would seem really powerful without knowing the class, yeah. Each of the factotum's abilities cost 1 or more Inspiration points to use, of which it gets a very limited supply. So this just expands what those points can do in limited ways. Thanks for commenting! :D
Calamity Spear 03-16-07, 03:49 PM	No one who's seen the Factotum has an opinion on it?
MakArios 03-16-07, 06:01 PM	I`ve seen the class and it looks good. It will probably be a must-have for Factotums but IMO it isn`t unbalanced. I would add Int 15+ to the prerequisites. This will not be a problem for a straight F. but probably will limit the usage of feat to multiclass characters. Cheers.
Roland the Crownbreaker 03-16-07, 06:06 PM	A better fit would probably be something like.... Extra Inspiration Gain 2 or 3 additonal uses of the Inspiration class feature per day. (based on what you think is best balanced for your game) Barbarians, Bards, Clerics, and Paladins can all get extra uses of class defining abilities through only one feat. Making up one for the Factotum isn't really a stretch. Plus there is an existing baseline of comparison by virtue of similar feats.
Calamity Spear 03-16-07, 06:30 PM	Actually, I'd already make such a feat for use in my campaign. :) I just thought up this one as something different. Here's what I made, if you're interested: Extra Inspiration [General] You're more inspired than the average member of your class. Prerequisite: Inspiration ability. Benefit: When you take this feat, you gain two extra points of your inspiration ability per encounter. You may use these for whatever abilities you have that use inspiration points (the factotum's cunning strike, for example). Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Its effects stack. I like the Int 15+ idea. Thanks!
damnedmage 03-17-07, 08:24 PM	Man, I think it's an awesome feat, personally. Well balanced. Well flavored. Well written. Great job, Calamity. The only thing I might think is that rather than Opportunistic Piety giving an additional use per day (since they already can get more than a Cleric or Paladin) it might instead give them +1 to their effective level (just like Improved Turning, which I don't believe Factotum qualifies for).
Calamity Spear 03-17-07, 08:29 PM	Hmm, that might be a better way to handle it, yeah. At first I was going to say that would only affect the Turning, but on a second look the healing is based on factotum level. I like it! Edit: On second thought, the Improved Turning feat only gives a +1 effective level for turning, which is what your change would grant, and more. That might be too excessive.
damnedmage 03-17-07, 08:49 PM	Yea, I went back to review right after I'd posted and noted the same thing; you just beat me to the post. On the other hand, Extra Turning grants 4 additional uses per day. Factotum alone gains 3 additional uses per day, so technically what your feat does is bring the Factotum back into line with Extra Turning by giving him a total of 4 additional. So in final review, I think your feat is perfect as written. Except that I did love the Int suggestion, so I think you should use it!
jameswilliamogle 03-17-07, 09:24 PM	The first feat seems really, really powerful: I'd suggest the feat only gives two of the listed abilities instead of all of them (even if it only granted one, a few of them still look like no brainers). The no-brainer abilities: Cunning Strike, Cunning Insight, Cunning Defense, and (maybe) Arcane Diletante. Each of these, imo, would warrent a feat on their own. If you did this, the prereq: must have the two abilities as class features would be good. The second feat doesn't look bad, but increasing IP's by 1 might be enough to justify a feat; playtesting a factotem at the lowest levels currently they have enough IP as is to last anywhere between 1-3 rounds, depending on how its played (2-3 if there's no tricky surprises or anything). Maybe let it increase by Factotem level / 5 IP, instead (thus still useful higher level, when a few IP won't matter, but still not overpowering at lower level)? I'm trying to wrap my head around the Factotem class myself; it ain't easy. I'd like to suggest that you play it as is, first... the class surely is too new to have played it all that much that it needs new feats, just yet.
Calamity Spear 03-17-07, 09:34 PM	Thanks for the input! Yeah, at the moment I'll be playing a Factotum 4/Rogue 2, so I wouldn't qualify for this feat until at the soonest my level 9 feat slot, assuming I take another level of Factotum before then. I'm really interested in what it can do without any tweaks. Like I said, I based Truly Inspired off the rogue feat, Savvy Rogue, which adjusts it's Special Abilities gained after 10th level. That feat seems to give an awful lot, as well, but it's balanced by having to choose the abilities you want modified, rather than getting them all. I felt Truly Inspired was balanced by still having to use Inspiration points on the abilities; it just broadens their use at mid-to-high levels. It gives a 16th-level Factotum a reason to still use Cunning Defense after gaining Improved Cunning Defense; your Int to AC works in medium and heavy armor again, if only for one round. With Cunning Insight, you have the option of your bonus lasting all round, but you give up the freedom to choose attack, damage, or save on the fly; you're stuck with what you choose for that round. If Cunning Strike scaled with factotum level, I'd say it would be unbalanced to give the damage the entire round, but a 1d6 at higher levels for 1 attack is a waste of an inspiration point compared to the other things you can do. Opportunistic Piety...I honestly only included this because it's a lower ability and I wanted to balance it to requiring 5th level (an otherwise lackluster level at no increases BAB or saves, though you do gain another inspiration point and spell level); I don't particularly like Opportunistic Piety, though possibly because I don't play a cleric or paladin often. As for Extra Inspiration, I debated over 1 or 2 points; I looked at all the feats that give extra uses of class abilities: the ones based on 1/class level like bardic music or extra turning give 3 or 4, while the ones based on abilities you gain only so often, like rage or smite, give an essential +8 to your effective level for those abilities, which is how I arrived at the +2 inspiration points. It may end up being too much; I still need to playtest it and find out.
Mystyc 03-18-07, 01:17 AM	One thing to note: Rogue special abilities are chosen by the player, meaning that any particular rogue won't get all the benefit out of Savvy Rogue. Factotums, however, all get the same inspiration abilities, so this becomes much more of a must-have. This is compounded by the fact that they already have all of those abilities by the time they qualify for this feat. I would judge this single feat to be a decent chuck overpowered, and I'd suggest different feats for improving each ability. The +2 inspiration point feat is just fine, though. I'm playing a factotum in my next campaign, and the DM has already made that available (although I haven't taken it yet).