I never really liked the sound of the Factotum, I think just because "Factotum" strikes me as a somewhat... uninspired name, ironically.
However, the idea of a Chameleon-like, inspiration-based class appeals to me, and though it's not quite how I would have done it, it actually looks pretty cool.
All skills as class skills is awesome (meeting PrC requirements was never so easy, and Human Factotum + Able Learner = no class skill worries ever again) and Brains Over Brawn looks really cool (at L3, even a modest 16 in Dex and Int could give you something like a +12 to Tumble, which is pretty neat). Thanks to Cunning Knowledge you can get a pretty good check on a single skill roll even with minimal investment into that (Escape Artist? Open Lock? Sleight of Hand? Climb? Jump?).
It looks like you can use Cunning Insight for damage after hitting, since it requires no action, so you can deal a lot of extra damage without wasting attempts (still somewhat limited by Inspiration, but it's keyed off your Int mod).
The really good stuff does seem to come later, though. Cunning Surge is crazy.
Factotum is an interesting class and it sounds great, especially with my kind of group that has two magic users and two frontline melee combatants. (Clr, Sorc, Brb, Pld). Not to mention the dungeon effectiveness of that class is outstanding (hence why it's in Dungeonscape I suppose).
I agree with The_Fred. The name does sound uninspiring. RP-wise, I introduce myself as a "Jack of All Trades" since that sounds much cooler.
If I happen to roll good scores for Factotum, I might consider it, but it's really just my last option. I like to find a balance between complexity and simplicity when it comes to running a class. I'm sure I could effectively use a Factotum, but the aesthetic appeal to me is quite low, and the roleplaying appeal. It is very interesting how they get all simple/martial weapon proficiencies (Factotum with a great sword - oh damn).
I'm sure you could reflavour it how you wanted. Also, it looks like the single most important thing is Intelligence. If you want to be a melee Factotum, those physical scores will be important too, but you might actually have some success building a ranged one (high Dex, high Int, bump damage with Inspiration when you want to show off, etc). It does look as though you could afford to have a low Wis, since if necessary you can use Inspiration for Will saves (though I wouldn't want to be burning it up on that if I could help it).
A quick etymology note: "Factotum" literally means "do everything"; it's an older term for someone employed to do all sorts of duties, and it's synonymous with "jack of all trades", "handyman", and related generalist titles. It sounds about as inspiring as "rogue" but is at least as accurate.
These are NOT all my creations! The lead authors are identified as follows: [TS] Tempest Stormwind, [AR] Andarious Rosethorn, [RT] Radical Taoist, [SN] Sionnis, [DH] DisposableHero_, [SH] Seishi.
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True, but I tend to translate it as "handyman" which makes me think of some kind of locksmith/trapsmith/artificer character - appropriate for a dungeon adventure, but someone who should be skill monkey, not someone capable of conjouring up just anything.
On the other hand, I think getting the flavour for these sorts of things right is hard. I'm still not sure what kind of a character the Bard is meant to be.
