[CLASSES] Adapting the Factotum to Pathfinder

[Darwin]

So importing some 3.5 classes here, and I want to see how the Factotum will slot in. Has anyone else looked at this? It's also a great opportunity to fix anything that was wonly with the Factotum as it was originally written.

[Darwin]

Darwin wrote:

So importing some 3.5 classes here, and I want to see how the Factotum will slot in. Has anyone else looked at this? It's also a great opportunity to fix anything that was wonly with the Factotum as it was originally written.

Okay well first thing, the Factotum has all skills as class skills. With Pathfinder's change to class skills this may be overkill. I'm not sure how to fix this.

obviously channeling positive energy will be the same as a cleric doing that, which is a bit of a buff any way you look at it.

[MerrikCale]

where was the Factotum from again?

was that Dungeonscape? Never bought that book

[KnightErrantJR]

You know, on one hand, I really want Pathfinder to be able to easily use 3.5 materials, and on the other hand, there were somethings from 3.5 that didn't work well even within the structure of 3.5. I never warmed up to the Factotum, and I'm not sure when all is said and done and I start adding in other classes after the PFRPG is out for my campaign, that I'm going to give this class a second thought.

On the "all skills are class skills" front, I noticed this with the Savant class from the Dragon Magazine Compendium Volume One as well. Its an enormous deal at first level, but I do think that over the course of the campaign, it evens out a lot more.

[Darwin]

KnightErrantJR wrote:

You know, on one hand, I really want Pathfinder to be able to easily use 3.5 materials, and on the other hand, there were somethings from 3.5 that didn't work well even within the structure of 3.5. I never warmed up to the Factotum, and I'm not sure when all is said and done and I start adding in other classes after the PFRPG is out for my campaign, that I'm going to give this class a second thought.

On the "all skills are class skills" front, I noticed this with the Savant class from the Dragon Magazine Compendium Volume One as well. Its an enormous deal at first level, but I do think that over the course of the campaign, it evens out a lot more.

Right, I like the idea of the class, and it pulls off 'jack of all trades' better than anything else so far. It also was obviously an attempt to make a more 4E like class within the constraints of 3.5.

All that said, I'm about to play one in a campaign that's been imported from Forgotten Realms 3.5, and am kind of in love with the idea of the class. It IS troublesome otherwise, and I don't blame you at all for considering a skip. ;)

you're probably right about the class skills, The Rogue gets over half the available skills as class, so I won't worry about that.

I'm changing Arcane Dilettante in how it applies to 0 level spells to more match Pathfinder's 'at will' 0's, any 0 level spells selected can be used once/combat with the expenditure of an inspiration point, and works as normal otherwise.

[Xuttah]

I played in a campaign in which another player had a factotum character. It started out 3.5/houserule and migrated into full on PFRPG. The only hiccup was the bazillion skill points he had left over from the conversion. OTT the class was pretty balanced, but I thought it lacked higher level bells and whistles -they just got more uses of the same abilities.

[Max Money]

MerrikCale wrote:

where was the Factotum from again?

was that Dungeonscape? Never bought that book

Yes, it is from Dungeonscape. The very same book that was authored by Paizo's very own Jason Bulmahn.

I happen to believe that the changes to the Barbarian, Bard and Monk in Pathfinder came directly from the mechanics of the Factotem class. I have looked at it a bit and it seems to me that the Factotem would fit nicely in Pathfinder.

[Darwin]

Max Money wrote:

MerrikCale wrote:

where was the Factotum from again?

was that Dungeonscape? Never bought that book

Yes, it is from Dungeonscape. The very same book that was authored by Paizo's very own Jason Bulmahn.

I happen to believe that the changes to the Barbarian, Bard and Monk in Pathfinder came directly from the mechanics of the Factotem class. I have looked at it a bit and it seems to me that the Factotem would fit nicely in Pathfinder.

that said, are the number of Inspiration Points received by the Factotum in line with class power levels? (keeping in mind that they refresh quickly and easily)

[Xuttah]

From observation of the character's performance, I found that the mechanic for inspiration points worked very well for this generalist type of character. The IP count was a little low for some situations, so the DM allowed for a feat "Extra Inspiration"; a feat in line with extra rage or extra turning that granted 2 more IP to the pool. It didn't appear to unbalance the class.

[Archade]

Xuttah wrote:

From observation of the character's performance, I found that the mechanic for inspiration points worked very well for this generalist type of character. The IP count was a little low for some situations, so the DM allowed for a feat "Extra Inspiration"; a feat in line with extra rage or extra turning that granted 2 more IP to the pool. It didn't appear to unbalance the class.

It seems the shining examples of the factotum are the rare inspired damage shots in combat, and the ability to make specific skill checks with the inspiration bonus once per day.

I've always liked the class (although hated the name), and it's interesting to watch what the class can do up to 8th level -- our player has taken Craft Wondrous Item and is using his variable spell list to build a bunch of wands to supplement himself, and use them with UMD ...

[Chris Mortika]

Archade wrote:

I've always liked the class (although hated the name), and it's interesting to watch what the class can do up to 8th level ...

If I recall correctly, the class went through at least one name change.

Every so often, I've wondered about the idea of a Changeling (from Eberron) Factotem going into the Chameleon prestige class (from Races of Destiny).

[Darwin]

Chris Mortika wrote:

Archade wrote:

I've always liked the class (although hated the name), and it's interesting to watch what the class can do up to 8th level ...

If I recall correctly, the class went through at least one name change.

Every so often, I've wondered about the idea of a Changeling (from Eberron) Factotem going into the Chameleon prestige class (from Races of Destiny).

it's one of the foundations of the Factotum Handbook over on the wizards boards.

[david stevens 13]

Darwin wrote:

Darwin wrote:

So importing some 3.5 classes here, and I want to see how the Factotum will slot in. Has anyone else looked at this? It's also a great opportunity to fix anything that was wonly with the Factotum as it was originally written.

Okay well first thing, the Factotum has all skills as class skills. With Pathfinder's change to class skills this may be overkill. I'm not sure how to fix this.

obviously channeling positive energy will be the same as a cleric doing that, which is a bit of a buff any way you look at it.

what if you just picked 1 class skill from all classes, every other level?

and have 3 skill points per skill instead of 5?.

[Dwarven Pirate]

Really the only thing that needs to be done is the HP and BAB on this class. the jack of all trades master of non thing is really what it captured which is why it did not have any higher level abilities that were completely on par with some other classes. The sheer number of abilities is what made the class viable but it is a support class not a main line character.

[Dark Psion]

The Factotum Handbook

Here's the link, some very nice ideas in there.

[Darwin]

Dwarven Pirate wrote:

Really the only thing that needs to be done is the HP and BAB on this class. the jack of all trades master of non thing is really what it captured which is why it did not have any higher level abilities that were completely on par with some other classes. The sheer number of abilities is what made the class viable but it is a support class not a main line character.

Isn't his HP and BAB in-line with Pathfinder characters as it is?