Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Tywyll 11-09-07, 08:17 AM	Hello, I have a player who recently introduced me to the Factotum Class. I think they are quite interesting. However, the sticker is the Font of Inspiration Feat. He feels its 'necessary' to 'fix' the class, and I'm not so certain about that. I think if the class needed fixing it would have been errated. Regardless, I don't know of any other feat that, when taken multiple times, grants your primary class ability a 400% increase by 20th level. Its simply too good as written, I think, and every Factotum would take it as often as possible (and since Inspiration can be used in so many different ways, the loss of feat versatility is not felt). So... having read the Factotum Handbook and nicked some ideas from Satyr, I wrote up a series of Feat Trees that seemed to fit the mechanical balance of more standard feats, as I understand them. Please let me know what you think of the new feats. None have been playtested, they are all theoretical. Factotum Feats Font of Inspiration (rewritten) You have unearthed of well of inspiration from within your soul. Prerequisite: Int 15, Must have Inspiration as a class feature. Benefits: When you take this feat for the first time, you gain 1 inspiration point. Special: You can take this multiple times. Each time you take this feat after the first time, you gain an additional point of Inspiration. You cannot take this feat more than once per two points of Inspiration gained by class features. Tactical Insight Your knowledge of tactics can benefit you when you need it most. Prerequisite: Int 15, Must have Inspiration as a class feature. Benefits: Once per day, you can choose to spend a point of inspiration to modify an attack roll or saving throw after you have seen the total. In addition, you gain one point of Inspiration. Adrenal Surge When in great danger, you can call upon great reserves of power to get going. Prerequisite: Font of Inspiration, Int 15, Must have Inspiration as a class feature. Benefits: Once per encounter, you can take a Full Round action that provokes an attack of Opportunity to regain your Inspiration points. This may only be done under threat and cannot be used outside of an encounter to circumvent the 5 minutes of rest it normally takes to recover Inspiration points. Mastery of Offense Through training and a study of tactics, you can make your attacks much more dangerous. Prerequisite: BaB +6, Int 15, Must have Inspiration as a class feature, Weapon Focus (any). Benefits: When making a full attack action with a weapon you have Weapon Focus with, you gain the benefit of any Inspiration points spent to increase attack rolls to every attack made as part of that full attack action. Special: This bonus does not carry over to bonus standard actions gained through Factotum, or other, class features. It does apply to bonus attacks made with Haste. If fighting with two weapons, only one of them can benefit from this feat. Twin Cut Through intense study, the Factotum learns how to better fight with two weapons. Prerequisite: BaB+10, Mastery of Offence, Two Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (any), Int 15, Must have Inspiration as a class feature. Benefits: When making a full attack action while wielding two weapons he possesses Weapon Focus with, the Factotum can spend a single Inspiration point to gain a bonus to attack on every attack he makes with those weapons during that Full Attack Action. Normal: When using Mastery of Offence, the benefit only applies to a single weapon when dual wielding. Anatomy Lesson Through knowledge of structure and anatomy, the Factotum can cause more damage. Prerequisite: Weapon Focus (any), Int 15, Must have Inspiration as a class feature. Benefits: When making a full attack action with a weapon you have Weapon Focus with, you gain the benefit of any Inspiration points spent to increase damage rolls to every attack made as part of that full attack action. Special: This bonus does not carry over to bonus standard actions gained through Factotum, or other, class features. It does apply to bonus attacks made with Haste. If fighting with two weapons, only one of them can benefit from this feat. Wily Opponent You learn how to confuse and misdirect your attackers. Prerequisite: Dodge, Canny Defense. Benefits: When using an Inspiration point on Canny Defense, you can apply its benefits versus all opponents in a round. Normal: Typically, when using Canny Defense it only applies to a single attacker. Team Tactics Through signals and shouted advice, you gain the ability to grant your knowledge to an ally. Prerequisite: Int 17, Cha 13, Factotum Level 8 Benefits: So long as an ally can hear you and is within 30’, you can spend an Inspiration point to modify one of their Attack rolls, Damage rolls, or Saving Throws. Show them the Way By landing an inspired blow, you show other allies how to hurt a foe. Prerequisite: Weapon Focus (any),Mastery of Offense or Anatomy Lesson, Int 15, Must have Inspiration as a class feature. Benefits: When you strike an opponent with an attack modified by Inspiration points, any ally that also threatens that opponent receives the same benefit to one of their attacks. If you modify the attack both on the attack roll and for damage, you choose which benefit they receive.
Tywyll 11-09-07, 06:51 PM	Any thoughts?
Obsidianjaerc 11-09-07, 08:00 PM	Just as an aside thinking that a class in need of fixing will get erratted is like thinking the moon is made of tasty cheese. On the whole this is a solid foundational set and I like the ideas you have put forth. However the majority are slightly underpowered. Here are some suggestions. Font of Inspiration, I believe was rather okay as it was. It was limited by your Int modifer and was only one of a huge array of feats that factotums could benefit from and therefore had to choose from. The note about need to use inside of combat in Adrenal Surge is superfluous. Offense is spelled with an 's' not a 'c'. Drop the special clause altogether. It is unnecessarily confusing and limiting. If you feel that balance may be at stake raise the BAB requirement. Reconsider Twin Cut and Anatomy accordingly. In summary it's okay to grant more bonuses for one IP. I really like Wily Opponent. I would lower the prereqs on Team Tactics. Reword the opening phrase in Show Them The Way. Let it grant them both bonuses. If for some reason you decide not to, then at least allow the owner of the feat to choose which bonus they deliver as is the precedant.
Tywyll 11-10-07, 07:00 PM	Just as an aside thinking that a class in need of fixing will get erratted is like thinking the moon is made of tasty cheese. But equally to argue the class is 'broken' without the Feat, and the Feat is the only way the class is playable is unfounded. To say that 'they gave us the feat to fix a broken class' assumes that a)it was broken and b)they decided to fix it. If they decided both of those things, errata seems much more likely, not a feat in an article that not as many people would read as would read the errata. On the whole this is a solid foundational set and I like the ideas you have put forth. However the majority are slightly underpowered. Here are some suggestions. Thank you. Font of Inspiration, I believe was rather okay as it was. It was limited by your Int modifer and was only one of a huge array of feats that factotums could benefit from and therefore had to choose from. I disagree that it was acceptable as is. My player thinks (and other people on the boards seem to agree) that the feat must be taken at every opportunity to 'make the class work'. If a feat is absolutely indispensable to every class build it is /too/ good. If a single feat taken multiple times can double, triple or quadruple a class's power (which this feat, unlike any other feat in the game, can do) then there is a problem. Limiting it by the int mod is not a significant limitation, by 20th level a Fact could easily have a 30+ int, allowing the feat to be taken up to 10 times (7+1 human+2 Flaws). This allows +55 Inspiration points which increases the class ability (which can be used in a multitude of ways from saves to AC to spell casting et al). Unlike other classes who thrive on a multitude of feats to give them options in combat, this one class feature gives tons of options, meaning the loss of normal feats is not fealt like it would be to, say, a wizard or fighter. Besides, if a wizard could take a feat 8 times that increased their spells per day by 550%, I think we'd all agree that was broken. Sorry... I really don't like that feat. The note about need to use inside of combat in Adrenal Surge is superfluous. I'm using the ruling that the designer mentioned on a forum thread stating that it was meant that the factotum recovers Inspiration points if they have 5 minutes of rest outside of an encounter. Offense is spelled with an 's' not a 'c'. Drop the special clause altogether. It is unnecessarily confusing and limiting. If you feel that balance may be at stake raise the BAB requirement. Reconsider Twin Cut and Anatomy accordingly. In summary it's okay to grant more bonuses for one IP. I felt the ability to make a single point of inspiration last for 4 attacks (3+haste) to be quite a boon (a potential 400% increase in effect). Do you not think its good enough? When stacked with the twf tree it allows for a 600% increase. I really like Wily Opponent. Thanks, though I can't claim credit for that entirely. It was suggested on another Thread, I just wrote out some mechanics for it. I would lower the prereqs on Team Tactics. Any particular reason? I'm open to it, I am just curious as to why? Reword the opening phrase in Show Them The Way. Let it grant them both bonuses. If for some reason you decide not to, then at least allow the owner of the feat to choose which bonus they deliver as is the precedant. Makes sense. Thanks.
Obsidianjaerc 11-11-07, 09:07 PM	Your player's arguments are silly. I hope you can see that and don't feel the the need to overcorrect based on his ill judgment. I will concede that the factotum is not well designed, but this feat (even as printed) is hardly a "patch". Even if a player was going to shoot themselves in the foot enough to take one feat over and over again and denying themselves the literally hundreds of better choices, they would net themselves lots of inspiration points that were useless. Most factotum abilities have their own limits. There would be nothing but feats to channel their extra points into and they would be experiencing significant lag behind other classes. As in CR-6 encounters would seriously challenge them. This said, I don't want to degenerate this thread into a factotum power level thread. There are plenty of those tired old things and here we have some new feats to look at. :) - I would still recommend taking the note out of Adrenal Surge. Text governing abilities should be errata for the class and not hidden in a feat. First of all, Two Weapon Fighting is a less than optimal choice even with this feat in damage terms (whole other can of worms). Even if they hit slightly more often by capitalizing on it's benefits they will still be subpar damage dealers. At the very worst split the benefits I suggested between two feats, but realize that both will still be underpowered. Regarding Team Tactics: the benefits granted simply do not need to be put off so long and thus don't justify the prerequisites. On a side note if you do intend to retain them it is generally considered bad form to use a class level as a prerequisite. The exception character levels 6 and 11 which mark pseudo in-game transitions in power, out of low levels and into "legendary" levels, respectively. Using "Cunning Surge class feature", for example, would be more elegant and correct.