3.5/PF Making the Trapmonkey with Minimal investment

[Thereddic]

So my friends started a pathfinder campaign while I was out of town, but since I'm going home soon, they invited me to join in. The catch is that the rogue left the game recently, and so they need someone to fill in the role of trapfinder. Sounds fine right? Well... The classes with Trapfinding (aside from Factotum, we'll get to that) all seem really boring to me, and I don't want to play any of them. To make up for this, I've been looking for ways to finagle my way into being a capable trapfinder while also making a fun character.

My current thought up ways include a level 1 factotum dip for all the class skills ever, which would allow me to be an amazing trapfinder and also have fun with Iaijitsu Focus (although I would need to find a way to force flat footed easily), heck I'm even considering straight Factotum for Cunning Surge, although I feel like I become a 1 trick Pony in combat by doing this. The other option I'm considering is using the Oracle with the Wrecked curse, which allows me to disable device, and then just use detect magic into an at will item of dispel magic I read about somewhere to deal with non-magical traps. Of course, that becomes something of an issue if I try to Gish (which I kind of want to try) since everything I touch is considered broken.

The campaign starting (or joining, rather) level is 4. The party consists of a Monk, Wilder/Dread, Gunslinger, Vitalist, Sorcerer (blasting, but encouraged to take spells like Enlarge Person and colour Spray) Ranger (bow until they get close, then charge with Greatsword) So I feel its safe to say I don't want to get too stupid with my power level, my only real baseline of power is that the monk is proud of dealing 2d6+15 per hit when power attacking and enlarged. The egotistical part of me has taken that as a challenge, and the rational part of me doesn't want to go too far with that because I want to keep things fun for everyone. We are allowed anything form Pathfinder and 3.5 as long as it is not Homebrew. Any advice?

TL;DR: I need a way to tack on good trapfinding capabilities to a level 4 without taking too much investment so can make a fun build.

[Gribel]

You can do it as a (Cloistered) Cleric with the Kobold domain. Or an Artificer.

Planar Touchstone feat (Planar Handbook). Spend 250 GP on a touchstone to "link" yourself to a planar site and gain access to its base ability. The base ability of the Catalogues of Enlightenment is you gain the domain power (but not spells) of a cleric domain.

Shape Soulmeld: Theft Gloves and Open Least Chakra: Hands.

[linklord231]

Pathfinder campaign, you say?  Take the trait.  Done. 

[Maat Mons]

The other option I'm considering is using the Oracle with the Wrecked curse, which allows me to disable device …

For oracle, I'd go with the seeker archetype.  It gives you disable device as a class skill and all the benefits of trapfinding. 

Edit: And toss on the seeker trait too, for perception as a class skill. 

[Thereddic]

Alas, Traits are apparently not allowed in this campaign, as I just found out. I'm a little confused as to how Planar Touchstone works, it mentions something about a charge limit and a place I need to revisit to get double charges, which left me kinda confused. Also I'm level 4, unless I can get a bonus feat there, I'd be missing Trapfinding when I walk in, which is probably when I need it most. The Theft Gloves might be somthing to consider, but that's burning two feats. Suppose I could grab it by being an incarnum class, could make for some interesting character concepts by playing a thief powered by the spirits of the multiverse could be interesting, although I'm having trouble thinking of non-evil ways to go about it. Any other methods?

[linklord231]

Could you take the Additional Traits feat?  Taking it as a feat is still probably better than burning a class level on it, unless you were going to build along those lines anyway. 

What kind of build were you looking for? 

The other option I'm considering is using the Oracle with the Wrecked curse, which allows me to disable device, and then just use detect magic into an at will item of dispel magic I read about somewhere to deal with non-magical traps. Of course, that becomes something of an issue if I try to Gish (which I kind of want to try) since everything I touch is considered broken.

I'm a little bit confused by this.  In PF, anyone can disable a non-magical trap, as long as they can make the Disable Device check.  All Trapfinding does is let you disable magical traps.  If you can reliably dispel magical traps, you don't need Trapfinding to disable them. 

Also remember that anyone can make a Perception check to find a trap, magical or not.  Even if you can't disarm it, you can probably figure out a way to trigger it from a safe distance.  Summoning a Celestial Monkey, for example.  Or poking it with a long stick.

[phaedrusxy]

I'm a little bit confused by this.  In PF, anyone can disable a non-magical trap, as long as they can make the Disable Device check.  All Trapfinding does is let you disable magical traps.  If you can reliably dispel magical traps, you don't need Trapfinding to disable them. 

Also remember that anyone can make a Perception check to find a trap, magical or not.  Even if you can't disarm it, you can probably figure out a way to trigger it from a safe distance.  Summoning a Celestial Monkey, for example.  Or poking it with a long stick.

This is a great change. I didn't know they'd done that.

[Thereddic]

I'm a little bit confused by this.  In PF, anyone can disable a non-magical trap, as long as they can make the Disable Device check.  All Trapfinding does is let you disable magical traps.  If you can reliably dispel magical traps, you don't need Trapfinding to disable them. 

Also remember that anyone can make a Perception check to find a trap, magical or not.  Even if you can't disarm it, you can probably figure out a way to trigger it from a safe distance.  Summoning a Celestial Monkey, for example.  Or poking it with a long stick.

This is a great change. I didn't know they'd done that.

Apparently I didn't know that either, I guess I got confused when reading something else. That...makes this a lot easier. Unfortunately, it also broadens what I'm looking for in a class to something 'fun'. And I'm sure you know what a simple question that is. Er, I'll try to narrow that down, gimme a bit

[linklord231]

For proof (in case your DM doubts me)

Perception and Disable Device DCs

The builder sets the Perception and Disable Device DCs for a mechanical trap. For a magic trap, the values depend on the highest-level spell used.

Mechanical Trap: The base DC for both Perception and Disable Device checks is 20. Raising or lowering either of these DCs affects the CR (Table: CR Modifiers for Mechanical Traps).

Magic Trap: The DC for both Perception and Disable Device checks is equal to 25 + the spell level of the highest-level spell used. Only characters with the trapfinding class feature can attempt a Disable Device check involving a magic trap.

[Thereddic]

Alright, I've figured some stuff out and know what I want to try. I want to roll a Spirit Shaman because I don't actually have much experience with spellcasting and have always meant to try it, and the Spirit Shaman has probably the easiest method to learn how to do it properly, since I can just cherry pick a new list every day to cast spontaneously from. I'd probably lean the spell list somewhere between Gish and Battlefield control, but I'm not sure how to build a proper spell list for these things (especially since the Druid list doesn't seem all that great for it based on what I'm reading) Would I be better off going with psionics or divine magic for this (not going arcane because we already have a sorcerer). Also, how quickly can I break the action economy? Also, would it be too difficult to get decent ranks in being a party face while doing this? Apparently we also need a face. Or if not that, I guess Oracle can also work, since I actually have a (crude) character concept for that. Still need tips on how to make it fit battlefield control with some level of damage though