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View Full Version : Hrm. Now what? (Archivist help)



Glyde
2010-01-01, 10:33 AM
http://www.pifro.com/pro/view.php?id=3585 <-- Yeah, may be a little messy. I don't take terribly good care of my sheets.

After a few sessions of playing, the Archivist I built a while ago (Some may or may not remember the thread on that) is growing. He's neatly settled into the groove of using knowledge to kick butt, but I find myself at a complete loss as to where to go from here. My extent of Archivist butt-kicking is knowledge devotion. I've never actually played a class much like this one - Metamagic just doesn't seem to fit to me, and physical combat happens often for him, but simply feels like it would take too long to develop.

I've already scoured Crystal Keep, and cannot seem to come to a decision on my own. What's tempting me is the ranged-combat line (Maybe maybe maybe Zen Archery, though I'd expect to pump INT before WIS for an Archivist. Right?) though ways to reduce the cost of scribing scrolls / creating wands (Or increasing a scroll/wand's effectiveness) would be swell, too, as the party doesn't like the idea of a healer not being spontaneous (Despite all of us still being alive.)

Skill Focus and Master of Knowledge seem like reflex choices, but I question their overall effectiveness. So, which second opinions can the playground come up with?


PS: I'm aware of collector of stories - the group doesn't allow skill tricks, however, as the majority of the players have never heard of them. I'm in the midst of getting them acquainted though.

Thrice Dead Cat
2010-01-01, 11:07 AM
If Divine Metamagic is kosher in your group and, really, even if it's not, grab Extend spell to help keep your buffs up.

As for stats, just boost Int. Wisdom is nice for more spells/day, but Int also means more skills and better Knowledge Devotion.

Glyde
2010-01-01, 11:22 AM
DMM is allowed, but the problem lies in the fact that Archivists cannot turn/rebuke. I had heard of ways for other divine classes getting it through a PrC, but only tiny details.

Thrice Dead Cat
2010-01-01, 11:32 AM
DMM is allowed, but the problem lies in the fact that Archivists cannot turn/rebuke. I had heard of ways for other divine classes getting it through a PrC, but only tiny details.

Crack open Complete Divine and check out the Sacred Exorcist. The requirements are mostly skills (easy) and being Good.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2010-01-01, 12:58 PM
You could go into Sacred Exorcist at level 8, since Dismissal is a 4th level spell. You should consider picking up Divine Oracle before that, you can visit the Frog God's Fane detailed in Complete Scoundrel (page 145) to get its prerequisite feat for free. It grants Uncanny Dodge and Evasion in the first four levels, and is definitely worth taking all ten levels of. Probably go something like Archivist 5/ Divine Oracle 2/ Sacred Exorcist 1/ Divine Oracle 2+, and take either more DO or more Archivist after that as preferred. You'll need to pick up Extend and Persistent Spell to get Divine Metamagic: Persistent, unless your DM doesn't use the Complete Divine errata, so it won't be available until level 12. Flaws (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm) really help out toward getting those without sacrificing the fun/useful feats that make your character different from every other, but they can typically only be taken at 1st level.

Be sure to get a Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend, for spells like Magic Vestment and Greater Magic Weapon. Later on pick up a 6th level Pearl of Power and a standard Rod of Extend, and every other day use them to cast Energy Immunity three times, recovering one with the pearl to take fewer spell slots, so each will last 48 hours. On the days in between use the rod to cast Energy Immunity twice and Superior Resistance once, again using the pearl to recover one, so each of those will last 48 hours. For two 6th level spell slots/day and those two items you'll be continually immune to all five energy types and get a +6 Resistance bonus on all your saving throws.

You can put spells in your prayerbook for free with just a little bit of effort. It works the same way as a Wizards puts a spell into his book, as follows:

Spells Copied from Another’s Spellbook or a Scroll

A wizard can also add a spell to her book whenever she encounters one on a magic scroll or in another wizard’s spellbook. No matter what the spell’s source, the wizard must first decipher the magical writing (see Arcane Magical Writings, above). Next, she must spend a day studying the spell. At the end of the day, she must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell’s level). A wizard who has specialized in a school of spells gains a +2 bonus on the Spellcraft check if the new spell is from her specialty school. She cannot, however, learn any spells from her prohibited schools. If the check succeeds, the wizard understands the spell and can copy it into her spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook, below). The process leaves a spellbook that was copied from unharmed, but a spell successfully copied from a magic scroll disappears from the parchment.

If the check fails, the wizard cannot understand or copy the spell. She cannot attempt to learn or copy that spell again until she gains another rank in Spellcraft. A spell that was being copied from a scroll does not vanish from the scroll.

In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to the spell’s level × 50 gp.
First you learn and scribe the spell Secret Page via the normal means, a Cleric with the Rune domain can make one. Prepare that spell each day that you wish to learn/scribe a new spell. Copy one of your 1st level spells a second time in your book, it takes only one page. Next you decipher and study a scroll as given in the first paragraph above, if you succeed you can understand and learn that spell. Do not copy the spell from the scroll into your book, because that destroys the scroll; instead, cast Secret Page to turn the text of the 1st level spell you copied into the spell you just learned, no matter what level it is it only takes one page.

If you can find another Archivist or an organization which allows copying for the standard fee as given above, you can also do that for free. Get the spell Glibness, it is available via the Divine Bard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantDivineBard) list. Go to that organization, study the desired spell, and make the spellcraft check. Pretend that you failed this check and cannot scribe the spell, therefore you shouldn't have to pay the fee. After you leave cast Secret Page to turn a 1st level spell in your book into that one as before.

An Archivist can learn nearly any spell in the game (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872558/Lowest_level_versions_of_spells), and with the above tricks you can do so for free. If your DM doesn't like these tricks, act as though he's trying to penalize you for role-playing and insist that it be handled in-character, as you'd be exploiting that organization's rules rather than the game's rules.