NEW FACTOTUM FEAT: Renewed Inspiration [Archive] - Wizards Community

NEW FACTOTUM FEAT: Renewed Inspiration [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Razz
09-14-07, 02:11 AM Renewed Inspiration
You refocus on the situation at hand, analyzing with deep scrutiny and drawing a reserve of inspiration to carry you safely through the ordeal.
Prerequisites: Int 15, must have Inspiration as a class feature
Benefit: As a full-round action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, you reassess both your environment and the vast collection of tricks and knowledge you possess to gain victory over the current situation. You gain back a number of inspiration points equal to your Intelligence bonus (minimum of 1). This can be used only once per encounter.
Normal: Inspiration points recharge at the beginning of each new encounter.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you take this feat, you can use it one additional time per encounter.
foxtail
09-14-07, 04:01 PM Unless I'm mistaken, there's an existing feat that gives a Factotum a single additional inspiration point to use every encounter (Font of Inspiration?). This feat you've designed effectively give the facto additional points equal to his Int bonus, with the drawback that he has to blow a full-round action to claim them.

Now, because pretty much everything a facto does revolves around Intelligence, there's no reason for such a character to not have an ungodly score in that attribute, and a headband of intellect to boot. So you're looking at giving him an extra 4, 5... maybe even 8 or 10 extra points, or more, at high levels. And if you can take this feat more than once... hoo, boy.

Bottom line, it completely overshadows Font of Inspiration. For starters, I would increase the prerequisites on this feat (including some class ability that the facto gets during high (10+) levels), put a maximum cap on the possible points gained (5?) and throw out the ability to take it multiple times.
EjoThims
09-14-07, 04:17 PM Make Font of Inspiration a pre-req, and take away the multiple uses and it'd be fine I think.
Razz
09-20-07, 04:55 PM Unless I'm mistaken, there's an existing feat that gives a Factotum a single additional inspiration point to use every encounter (Font of Inspiration?). This feat you've designed effectively give the facto additional points equal to his Int bonus, with the drawback that he has to blow a full-round action to claim them.

Yes, I know. But that feat grants additional inspiration points, it doesn't give you the ability to "recharge" the points you've used during the encounter. And, as my friends and I have playtested (and WotC didn't, obviously), those points go by real fast. They barely last 2 rounds.

Now, because pretty much everything a facto does revolves around Intelligence, there's no reason for such a character to not have an ungodly score in that attribute, and a headband of intellect to boot. So you're looking at giving him an extra 4, 5... maybe even 8 or 10 extra points, or more, at high levels. And if you can take this feat more than once... hoo, boy.

First, you can only use it once per encounter. You need to lose out an an entire round's worth of actions. But, in the end, you will "recharge" a number of inspiration points back into your pool. You cannot go over your maximum allowed for the encounter (I probably should've explained that). Yes, at low-level, this basically gives you back all your inspiration points (since you get 2-4 at low levels, and Intelligence by then is 16-18).

Bottom line, it completely overshadows Font of Inspiration. For starters, I would increase the prerequisites on this feat (including some class ability that the facto gets during high (10+) levels), put a maximum cap on the possible points gained (5?) and throw out the ability to take it multiple times.

I wouldn't say it overshadows it, it compliments it. I do, however, agree that maybe it shouldn't be taken multiple times. But, then again, like I've stated before. Those points go by real fast. Trust me.

Try playing a Factotum or ask someone who has played one and you'll probably get an answer like,"I run out of inspiration points too quickly."
Razz
09-20-07, 04:56 PM Make Font of Inspiration a pre-req, and take away the multiple uses and it'd be fine I think.

I was thinking of adding in a minimum character level and have Font of Inspiration as a prerequisite.
EjoThims
09-20-07, 05:14 PM I was thinking of adding in a minimum character level and have Font of Inspiration as a prerequisite.

Som Incarnum Based Skill 8 or 11 Ranks would do that nicely.
FponkDamn
09-21-07, 04:50 PM While this feat is hardly overpowered or unbalancing, it is very unnecessary. It also works against the entire concept of the Factotum and its intended role in party adventuring.

I will preface this by saying that I've been playing a Factotum for a little over a year in a steady, weekly campaign. I started at level 1, and am now inching up on level 15.

First, the Inspiration Points do not go by really fast, nor do they barely last 2 rounds. They last, in fact, exactly as long as you choose for them to last, as you control when to use them. If what you're saying is "if I don't use Inspiration Points to affect every single roll, then I might miss/fail, so they go quickly" then you are missing the point. If the Factotum were intended to be able to add those points to every roll, they wouldn't be points. They would simply get their Int bonus to every roll.

Second, the fact that Factotums can, and sometimes do, run out of those points is the featured play style of the class; its hallmark. They are meant to succeed when direly needed, and have a more or less average success rate otherwise. Part of the class is to manage those resources effectively; I have found that the number of Inspiration points given by the class, even before WotC released the Font of Inspiration feat, was satisfactory. Look at it this way - a party of five people, consisting of the "standard four" (cleric, fighter, rogue, wizard) and a Factotum comes up against a Troll. The PCs are levels 4-5, so the likelihood is that the Troll will be defeated. So I attack, I flank, I do my part, maybe I even cast Burning Hands. I use my points sparingly, adding to AC to avoid attacks of opportunity, or to a Tumble check to do the same. I don't need to add them to every attack and damage roll, however. It's not needed. If we were facing a spellcasting monster, I'd act similarly - I'd contribute, but I'd do it tactically - staying close to the spellcaster to threaten, using my points to bolster saves, only adding to damage when I interrupt his spells (to add to the Concentration DC). Again, I don't use them to up my AC every round. What I really save my points for is filling roles - in that fight with the Troll, if the fighter drops, THEN I use my points as needed to fill his role until the Cleric can get him back on his feet. Against the spellcaster, if the Cleric is out of spells, THEN I use those points to heal the Fighter back up. Resource management.

The fact it, the Factotum has access to the same things that bolster attack rolls, AC, saves, etc. that every class does. Items, feats, what have you. The points are there to be that little "something extra" when the heroic time comes. In a different scenario, maybe a series of unlucky rolls against a challenging opponent has left more than half our party in the negatives from a Cone of Cold. I need to heal the fighter, move, and be able to attack that spellcaster to keep him from finishing us off, and I need to do it in one round in order to save the day. I can - but only because I didn't waste those points when I didn't need to. At level 8, 1 point to heal the fighter, 3 to take an extra action to attack the wizard, and 1 more to make sure I hit is all my points (without Font, of course). But I only need to do that once - now the Fighter's back on his feet and has me covered. I bought the time we needed.

If your goal with feats like this one is to never run out of points, my suggestion is to rewrite the class. There's nothing wrong with that - everyone plays differently, and different styles of play demand different considerations. Consider rewriting the class so that each time they gain the ability to add their Int to a roll with an Inspiration Point, they instead just always get their Int to that roll, all the time. The class will be more powerful, certainly, but if your play group is all right with this, then have fun with it! Every group makes house rules, and most of them involve the power level of one class or another.

My favorite part of the Factotum class, right from the start, was the resource management. I like heroic bursts of action, and I like not being able to do them all the time. If I didn't, I'd play a Rogue - and Rogue is a great class, too. Takes all kinds to make the world go 'round, after all.

Have fun gaming!
- Johnny
Razz
09-21-07, 05:01 PM I agree, it mainly relies on the style of the character playing the factotum. In my case, this player HAS to use it a lot. He's new to the game and he's only level 1, so maybe he should learn to conserve them like a wizard conserves his spells during battle.

But, then again, Sorcerers/Wizards now have access to Reserve feats...so that doesn't even apply anymore, really.

Recharging your inspiration points 1/encounter doesn't seem to be bad...hmm...here's something better!

What if I change the feat so that you can recharge ALL your inspiration points during an encounter ONCE PER DAY? And the feat can be taken multiple times for additional uses per day?

More balanced then maybe?
Razz
03-11-08, 11:34 PM After fiddling and playtesting with it, I finalized my new homebrew factotum feat that should keep a Factotum going for many rounds if he's smart, resourceful, tactical, and in a real dire pinch.

Renewed Inspiration
You refocus on the situation at hand, analyzing with deep scrutiny and drawing a reserve of inspiration to carry you safely through the ordeal.
Prerequisites: Int 15, must have Inspiration as a class feature
Benefit: You reassess both your environment and the vast collection of tricks and knowledge you possess to gain victory over the current situation. As a full-round action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, you gain back 1 inspiration point.
Normal: Inspiration points recharge at the beginning of each new encounter.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you take this feat, you gain back 1 additional inspiration point. You can only take this feat as many times as your Intelligence bonus.

DESIGN NOTES: No matter what anyone says, inspiration points just seem to blaze by way too fast or aren't being used because of fear of using them too fast. After having a player of mine playtest a factotum he was stuck doing one of two things:

1) Worried about using his inspiration points for fear he might need it later in the combat, especially if combat went on for some time or

2) Used them way too quickly

Now, this is without taking Font of Inspiration. He took the feat...twice in fact. He feels a little more secure and better with the character...but it burned TWO feat slots for it. Kinda lame, if you ask me.

I developed this feat with the mechanics in mind just for that reason. You can burn feats on Font of Inspiration for more inspiration points if you're the type that knows when is truly best to use them and are not too concerned about running out. Or, you could rely on renewing those points, albeit with a severe drawback of course.

Using a full-round action seemed perfect, IMO. While you lose a round of actions, you gain back a precious inspiration point. In the same turn, no less. So, yes, one could essentially use this feat and then burn that very same inspiration point before his next turn came around if it was desperately needed. No point in burning a turn and not getting the point until the start of your next turn. That'd be too much of a hindrance and a waste of a feat slot.

Taking it multiple times, I allowed, because if you want to burn feat slots gaining back precious inspiration points then why not? At the most, you'll be gaining back 7 inspiration points (8 if you're human) as a 20th-level character as a full-round action assuming you have +8 Intelligence modifier. I put the Int modifier as a limitation, of course, just like Font of Inspiration to prevent total abuse. But if that's how a character is made, it's no different than burning feat slots as a Wizard just to take Extra Spell Slot a dozen times for extra spells/day.

Of course, the more reasonable approach to this is most Factotums would want it, and thus, most would only regain 1 point back as a full-round action. Maybe 2. Combine this with Font of Inspiration, and you've already decided to dedicate your Factotum as "specializes" in inspiration points. Nothing at all wrong with that. After all, it is his main stick and it is where almost all of his abilities relies on.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Razz 09-14-07, 02:11 AM	Renewed Inspiration You refocus on the situation at hand, analyzing with deep scrutiny and drawing a reserve of inspiration to carry you safely through the ordeal. Prerequisites: Int 15, must have Inspiration as a class feature Benefit: As a full-round action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, you reassess both your environment and the vast collection of tricks and knowledge you possess to gain victory over the current situation. You gain back a number of inspiration points equal to your Intelligence bonus (minimum of 1). This can be used only once per encounter. Normal: Inspiration points recharge at the beginning of each new encounter. Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you take this feat, you can use it one additional time per encounter.
foxtail 09-14-07, 04:01 PM	Unless I'm mistaken, there's an existing feat that gives a Factotum a single additional inspiration point to use every encounter (Font of Inspiration?). This feat you've designed effectively give the facto additional points equal to his Int bonus, with the drawback that he has to blow a full-round action to claim them. Now, because pretty much everything a facto does revolves around Intelligence, there's no reason for such a character to not have an ungodly score in that attribute, and a headband of intellect to boot. So you're looking at giving him an extra 4, 5... maybe even 8 or 10 extra points, or more, at high levels. And if you can take this feat more than once... hoo, boy. Bottom line, it completely overshadows Font of Inspiration. For starters, I would increase the prerequisites on this feat (including some class ability that the facto gets during high (10+) levels), put a maximum cap on the possible points gained (5?) and throw out the ability to take it multiple times.
EjoThims 09-14-07, 04:17 PM	Make Font of Inspiration a pre-req, and take away the multiple uses and it'd be fine I think.
Razz 09-20-07, 04:55 PM	Unless I'm mistaken, there's an existing feat that gives a Factotum a single additional inspiration point to use every encounter (Font of Inspiration?). This feat you've designed effectively give the facto additional points equal to his Int bonus, with the drawback that he has to blow a full-round action to claim them. Yes, I know. But that feat grants additional inspiration points, it doesn't give you the ability to "recharge" the points you've used during the encounter. And, as my friends and I have playtested (and WotC didn't, obviously), those points go by real fast. They barely last 2 rounds. Now, because pretty much everything a facto does revolves around Intelligence, there's no reason for such a character to not have an ungodly score in that attribute, and a headband of intellect to boot. So you're looking at giving him an extra 4, 5... maybe even 8 or 10 extra points, or more, at high levels. And if you can take this feat more than once... hoo, boy. First, you can only use it once per encounter. You need to lose out an an entire round's worth of actions. But, in the end, you will "recharge" a number of inspiration points back into your pool. You cannot go over your maximum allowed for the encounter (I probably should've explained that). Yes, at low-level, this basically gives you back all your inspiration points (since you get 2-4 at low levels, and Intelligence by then is 16-18). Bottom line, it completely overshadows Font of Inspiration. For starters, I would increase the prerequisites on this feat (including some class ability that the facto gets during high (10+) levels), put a maximum cap on the possible points gained (5?) and throw out the ability to take it multiple times. I wouldn't say it overshadows it, it compliments it. I do, however, agree that maybe it shouldn't be taken multiple times. But, then again, like I've stated before. Those points go by real fast. Trust me. Try playing a Factotum or ask someone who has played one and you'll probably get an answer like,"I run out of inspiration points too quickly."
Razz 09-20-07, 04:56 PM	Make Font of Inspiration a pre-req, and take away the multiple uses and it'd be fine I think. I was thinking of adding in a minimum character level and have Font of Inspiration as a prerequisite.
EjoThims 09-20-07, 05:14 PM	I was thinking of adding in a minimum character level and have Font of Inspiration as a prerequisite. Som Incarnum Based Skill 8 or 11 Ranks would do that nicely.
FponkDamn 09-21-07, 04:50 PM	While this feat is hardly overpowered or unbalancing, it is very unnecessary. It also works against the entire concept of the Factotum and its intended role in party adventuring. I will preface this by saying that I've been playing a Factotum for a little over a year in a steady, weekly campaign. I started at level 1, and am now inching up on level 15. First, the Inspiration Points do not go by really fast, nor do they barely last 2 rounds. They last, in fact, exactly as long as you choose for them to last, as you control when to use them. If what you're saying is "if I don't use Inspiration Points to affect every single roll, then I might miss/fail, so they go quickly" then you are missing the point. If the Factotum were intended to be able to add those points to every roll, they wouldn't be points. They would simply get their Int bonus to every roll. Second, the fact that Factotums can, and sometimes do, run out of those points is the featured play style of the class; its hallmark. They are meant to succeed when direly needed, and have a more or less average success rate otherwise. Part of the class is to manage those resources effectively; I have found that the number of Inspiration points given by the class, even before WotC released the Font of Inspiration feat, was satisfactory. Look at it this way - a party of five people, consisting of the "standard four" (cleric, fighter, rogue, wizard) and a Factotum comes up against a Troll. The PCs are levels 4-5, so the likelihood is that the Troll will be defeated. So I attack, I flank, I do my part, maybe I even cast Burning Hands. I use my points sparingly, adding to AC to avoid attacks of opportunity, or to a Tumble check to do the same. I don't need to add them to every attack and damage roll, however. It's not needed. If we were facing a spellcasting monster, I'd act similarly - I'd contribute, but I'd do it tactically - staying close to the spellcaster to threaten, using my points to bolster saves, only adding to damage when I interrupt his spells (to add to the Concentration DC). Again, I don't use them to up my AC every round. What I really save my points for is filling roles - in that fight with the Troll, if the fighter drops, THEN I use my points as needed to fill his role until the Cleric can get him back on his feet. Against the spellcaster, if the Cleric is out of spells, THEN I use those points to heal the Fighter back up. Resource management. The fact it, the Factotum has access to the same things that bolster attack rolls, AC, saves, etc. that every class does. Items, feats, what have you. The points are there to be that little "something extra" when the heroic time comes. In a different scenario, maybe a series of unlucky rolls against a challenging opponent has left more than half our party in the negatives from a Cone of Cold. I need to heal the fighter, move, and be able to attack that spellcaster to keep him from finishing us off, and I need to do it in one round in order to save the day. I can - but only because I didn't waste those points when I didn't need to. At level 8, 1 point to heal the fighter, 3 to take an extra action to attack the wizard, and 1 more to make sure I hit is all my points (without Font, of course). But I only need to do that once - now the Fighter's back on his feet and has me covered. I bought the time we needed. If your goal with feats like this one is to never run out of points, my suggestion is to rewrite the class. There's nothing wrong with that - everyone plays differently, and different styles of play demand different considerations. Consider rewriting the class so that each time they gain the ability to add their Int to a roll with an Inspiration Point, they instead just always get their Int to that roll, all the time. The class will be more powerful, certainly, but if your play group is all right with this, then have fun with it! Every group makes house rules, and most of them involve the power level of one class or another. My favorite part of the Factotum class, right from the start, was the resource management. I like heroic bursts of action, and I like not being able to do them all the time. If I didn't, I'd play a Rogue - and Rogue is a great class, too. Takes all kinds to make the world go 'round, after all. Have fun gaming! - Johnny
Razz 09-21-07, 05:01 PM	I agree, it mainly relies on the style of the character playing the factotum. In my case, this player HAS to use it a lot. He's new to the game and he's only level 1, so maybe he should learn to conserve them like a wizard conserves his spells during battle. But, then again, Sorcerers/Wizards now have access to Reserve feats...so that doesn't even apply anymore, really. Recharging your inspiration points 1/encounter doesn't seem to be bad...hmm...here's something better! What if I change the feat so that you can recharge ALL your inspiration points during an encounter ONCE PER DAY? And the feat can be taken multiple times for additional uses per day? More balanced then maybe?
Razz 03-11-08, 11:34 PM	After fiddling and playtesting with it, I finalized my new homebrew factotum feat that should keep a Factotum going for many rounds if he's smart, resourceful, tactical, and in a real dire pinch. Renewed Inspiration You refocus on the situation at hand, analyzing with deep scrutiny and drawing a reserve of inspiration to carry you safely through the ordeal. Prerequisites: Int 15, must have Inspiration as a class feature Benefit: You reassess both your environment and the vast collection of tricks and knowledge you possess to gain victory over the current situation. As a full-round action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, you gain back 1 inspiration point. Normal: Inspiration points recharge at the beginning of each new encounter. Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time you take this feat, you gain back 1 additional inspiration point. You can only take this feat as many times as your Intelligence bonus. DESIGN NOTES: No matter what anyone says, inspiration points just seem to blaze by way too fast or aren't being used because of fear of using them too fast. After having a player of mine playtest a factotum he was stuck doing one of two things: 1) Worried about using his inspiration points for fear he might need it later in the combat, especially if combat went on for some time or 2) Used them way too quickly Now, this is without taking Font of Inspiration. He took the feat...twice in fact. He feels a little more secure and better with the character...but it burned TWO feat slots for it. Kinda lame, if you ask me. I developed this feat with the mechanics in mind just for that reason. You can burn feats on Font of Inspiration for more inspiration points if you're the type that knows when is truly best to use them and are not too concerned about running out. Or, you could rely on renewing those points, albeit with a severe drawback of course. Using a full-round action seemed perfect, IMO. While you lose a round of actions, you gain back a precious inspiration point. In the same turn, no less. So, yes, one could essentially use this feat and then burn that very same inspiration point before his next turn came around if it was desperately needed. No point in burning a turn and not getting the point until the start of your next turn. That'd be too much of a hindrance and a waste of a feat slot. Taking it multiple times, I allowed, because if you want to burn feat slots gaining back precious inspiration points then why not? At the most, you'll be gaining back 7 inspiration points (8 if you're human) as a 20th-level character as a full-round action assuming you have +8 Intelligence modifier. I put the Int modifier as a limitation, of course, just like Font of Inspiration to prevent total abuse. But if that's how a character is made, it's no different than burning feat slots as a Wizard just to take Extra Spell Slot a dozen times for extra spells/day. Of course, the more reasonable approach to this is most Factotums would want it, and thus, most would only regain 1 point back as a full-round action. Maybe 2. Combine this with Font of Inspiration, and you've already decided to dedicate your Factotum as "specializes" in inspiration points. Nothing at all wrong with that. After all, it is his main stick and it is where almost all of his abilities relies on.