[3.5] Non-Iaijutsu Factotum

[Bear-racade]

Yeah, but thats way too powerful for my group

I think if going down this road, then I have to stick to being a "normal" human.
Sadly right now the only way that seems viable is throwing an explosive rune wrapped around a vial of alchemist's fire.
That's bang for the buck, but it will always hit my character (which is fine and indeed flavourful), since the throwing distance of said vial is 10 and the blast radius of ER is 10 too. Okay, I could half the damage given a good reflex save, but halt 6d6 is still too much. And all the classes I looked that grant evasion only do so at level 2 and dont give something good in return at level 1 (Rogue; monk)

Damn.
I really want to have something interesting to do with my skills and/or magic.
Some "shtick" so to speak. Only putting one rank in almost anything and maxing out some other things just isn't enough for me. If only the craft skills weren't that weak in d&d 3.5

[Noliar]

Well the "nice" thing about undeath is you can always acquire it later in your career. The green slime doesn't even need you to be undead - it's just safer to handle if you are. 

[Bear-racade]

Okay, so I get to play this dude next time (yay!)

Necropolitan is off the table after talking to my DM.

The build now is:
Factotum 1/Cloistered Cleric 1/Factotum 4

Feats:
lvl 1: Weapon Finesse, Bonus: Font of Inspiration
lvl 2: Domain: Knowledge Devotion; Improved initiative
lvl 3: Font of Inspiration

Equipment:
Rapier +1 with a wand chamber and a crystal of return (quick draw); +1 chain shirt; heavy wooden shield; belt of healing; wand of power word: pain
Some alchemistical; forger and Rogue (lockpick etc.) stuff

I keep the three main  knowledge skills, UMD and autohypnosis maxed and try to pump search a bit.
Otherwise one skill point in as many skills as possible.

The third domain gives me +10 ft. movement rate.

This should lead to a very average character who can contribute in nearly every situation and even do decent damage (power word: Pain + knowledge devotion + cunning insight) if neccessary.

The one question left is about UMD. How much sense does it make to take/max this with me being a cleric and Sorc/Wiz?
I can bascially take any wand I like and just cast the damn thing without a check. Sure, for scrolls it qould still be important, but this is a fraction of the usual usefulness of UMD. So should I just take 1 rank, none, or really keep it maxed?
Something to consider is, that our DM only hands out randomized treasures. We have no say what so ever in it and so far we never came across a "magic mart", which further limits my options.
Right now my thoughts are: Leave UMD at one rank and starting from level 8 put points in it until maxed.

Thanks in advance

[Noliar]

Where are you a sorceror/wiz? Arcane dilettant gives SLAs not casting.

You have an artificer in the party - get a wand of thunderlance.

[Bear-racade]

So basically I may only chose from Sorc/Wiz, but am not considered of having this as a spell list? (I feared that )
That blows.
Can I still create wands by level 6 given that I take the feat for it?

But damn, that significantly weakens my character idea...
I have no charisma bonus, so UMD is only at +7 right now. Not enough to reliably activate those wands.
Might as well drop it.

Is iaijutsu really the only option to stay viable in combat?
Maybe I should just go into two weapon fighting... But with 28-point buy my Dex is not the best, it would hurt my AC and kill off even more FoI *sigh*
As usual I want way too much...

Well, 1d6+4 dmg per round at level 4 (plus an additional 3 dmg through IP) is probably okay.

[Rebel7284]

But damn, that significantly weakens my character idea...
I have no charisma bonus, so UMD is only at +7 right now. Not enough to reliably activate those wands.
Might as well drop it.

You can add your Factotum level to any skill check 1-day as I recall, so UMD is not horrible.  However, I would not rely on it during early levels and focus on other things, and there are plenty for a factotum to chose from. 
Perception (Listen, Spot) are essential for not blundering about while missing everything.
Stealth (Hide, Move Silently) are nice for scouting.
Social Skills (Bluff, Diplomacy) are certainly nice to have, although your Charisma makes them difficult to abuse more than once a day.
Rogue Stuff (Disable Device) could be useful depending on the DM.

[Bear-racade]

Yeah, at the moment everything is quite spread...
But It will get better now that every useful skill has one point in it.

For the stealth part I want to use alter self. Okay, only once per day, but meh.

All in all we have a sorcerer as the party face. So I'll focus more on the Rogue stuff.
Perception will get some love at the next level.

I think I'll drop UMD for now and just take it up at 8 again, when the ranks and the gear comes together.

Should still be a fun character and one that is not completely useless.

[dipolartech]

No its not really that awesome, its as much or more work than just getting power attack and charge multipliers for your melee damage. You can make a Factotum Hood build (dragoon leaping charger) that gets most of the multipliers and still have room for FoI, especially if human with flaws.

And just on general principle, using UMD will net better action economy than poking things with metal objects or shaving their facial hair with gnomish grooming tools.

[phaedrusxy]

Yeah, but thats way too powerful for my group

I think if going down this road, then I have to stick to being a "normal" human.
Sadly right now the only way that seems viable is throwing an explosive rune wrapped around a vial of alchemist's fire.
That's bang for the buck, but it will always hit my character (which is fine and indeed flavourful), since the throwing distance of said vial is 10 and the blast radius of ER is 10 too.

10 feet is the range increment. You can throw up to 5 range increments away. You just get penalties to your attack rolls for doing so, but since you only need to beat a touch AC, that is of little consequence.

[Bear-racade]

Hehe, I like that...  "gnomish grooming tool"
Well, since my party really sucks at optimizing (which some consider a good thing, but lets me stand out even with my weak opt-fu) this "problem" might just be the perfect solution.

I'm tired of searching for options and reinventing my character.
He's fine. Not a war machine, but good enough for this group.
And if the damage is lacking the DM might just get me a +1 rapier
Plus: There's always the strategy of binding hurtful alchemistical things together.

And just as I'm writing this another great rule explanation flutters my way. Thanks!

Thank you all for you help in pointing out flaws, giving suggestions and being... well... HELPFUL!