Editing Factotum (section)

==Basics==
Broken down, the factotum is actually pretty bread-and-butter. You need Int, Con, and presuming you play up the skill monkey role (you should), you get Cha and Wis. You can't exactly "dump" Str and Dex, but you don't need any bonuses there, either. Of all the classes in 3.5, factotum is the one who benefits most from an "average" range in his stats: nothing higher than about a 16 is necessary, but nothing lower than a 10 should ever be allowed.

What do you get for all this? You get average hp and BAB, decent proficiencies, and every skill in the game as class skill. ALL OF THEM. Not just Iaijitsu Focus (which is grade-A fucking cheese), but also Autohypnosis, Psicraft, and Use Psionic Device (which is... less cheesy, but still pretty stout). Oh, and while you don't get quite as many skill points per level as a rogue, your SAD for Int means you don't actually give a fuck, because you are going to have double-digit skill points every level in short order.

But wait! There's more!

The big mechanic for factotums is Inspiration Points. Basically, every "encounter", you get a pool of points to spend on your class abilities. Those abilities are boiled down to adding either your Int bonus or your factotum level to every fucking roll you will ever make. This is why you didn't need much Str or Dex: with enough Int and Inspiration, if you do happen to wander into combat by accident, you can hold your own for a hot minute until the party beefcake takes over. And with access to martial weapons, you are definitely not a slouch in that department; since you only get light armor/shields, you'd be silly not to go with a greatsword or some other weapon with delicious damage output. And if you think the Inspiration Point pool isn't big enough then [https://web.archive.org/web/20161031211450/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frcc/20070606 this] hard to find Font of Inspiration feat will provide it with a much-needed boost, especially if you take it more than once.

And that's not all. You also get a bag of tricks that will basically make you useful in a dozen situations. Trapfinding, a few per-day arcane spells (which is literally your factotum faking knowing wizard magic with word salad and interpretive dance moves), a little lay on hands style healing (which is literally your factotum running through a bundle of holy symbols, looking for a deity that will take pity on your dumb ass to help you out), some sneak attack damage, extra actions, and the ability to ignore spell resistance and damage reduction.

Hold up there, chief. It's not all sunshine and rainbows. You have a hard cap on how much you can do this shit per combat/encounter. You can never truly replace a full caster, ever (you have to pop Inspiration for your arcane spells, and they are gone afterwards), nor can you replace an actual cleric or other healers (because you have a set pool of healing per day that will never beat a wand or regular spell-slot healing). Your sneak attack is pretty nice, but a rogue can always do it better and forever; when you run out of Inspiration, you're basically an average BAB beat-stick.

So what's good about all that? You can fill in for a party member in a pinch, always. You're not quite a fighter, but a few buffs can make you feel like one. You're not quite a rogue, but few good rolls and some luck will get you there. You can't really cast magic, but you can use items like wands and such (since you were smart and took UMD/UPD). Fact is, only a few classes with really niche abilities like bard, druid, and [[Weeaboo Fightan Magic|TOB silliness]] is the only things you can't really do.

You're basically the party Swiss Army Knife. You look a little silly, but every time someone says, "Man, I really wish we had a...", you're already doing what needed to be done there. If there are five party members and the basic four (fighter, cleric, rogue, wizard) are already done, it's a really tough call between a bard and a factotum as your fifth wheel character; both can be insanely useful depending on circumstances. Bard edges out slightly due to all the prestige classes that make it killer, but we're about to introduce you to some very fine 3.5 cheese...