Class for the Curious

[Trekkin]

Is there a class based around getting as much information as possible about everything, even to the disregard of combat prowess? I know Wizards can do it by virtue of doing everything, but I was wondering if there was another class focused on gathering and disseminating encyclopedic volumes of knowledge for the benefit of the party.

Failing that, is there a particularly good Wizard build for it?

[Seffbasilisk]

If you make a Dwarf, take the feat Ancestral Knowledge. Wisdom instead of Int on Knowledge checks, and you can make all of them untrained.

[Eldariel]

Is there a class based around getting as much information as possible about everything, even to the disregard of combat prowess? I know Wizards can do it by virtue of doing everything, but I was wondering if there was another class focused on gathering and disseminating encyclopedic volumes of knowledge for the benefit of the party.

Archivist (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3) and Cloistered Cleric (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#clericVariantCloistere dCleric) are pretty much built for that. Of course, since they're also among the best full casters in the game, this doesn't really hurt their combat prowess one bit. But there you go.

Factotum [Dungeonscape] is also very fitting for this; it's specifically a class about learning everything. You could definitely build a Knowledge-hog based on the class.

[Trekkin]

The Archivist's Dark Knowledge abilities definitely look good; is there a way to get them to apply to things other than those listed?

[Eldariel]

The Archivist's Dark Knowledge abilities definitely look good; is there a way to get them to apply to things other than those listed?

The same book has feats Draconic Archivist and Archivist of Nature to expand it quite a bit. You get everything except Humanoids and Monstrous Humanoids (Draconic for Constructs and Dragons, Nature for Giants and Fey).

[Doc Roc]

Factotum IS the class for the curious. Powerful and fun, too.
Archivist is the class for the knowledge-hungry.
Tainted Scholar is the PrC for Those Who Must Know.

[Trekkin]

So what is the difference between curiosity and hunger for knowledge, Doc Roc?

Archivist is looking better and better, assuming I grab divination-y cleric spells.

[Amphetryon]

Factotum is the consummate dabbler.

Archivist is the obsessive-compulsive collector of information.

Cloistered Cleric is the obsessive-compulsive collector of information for jeebus.

EDIT: Focused Diviner 3/Master Specialist 7/Magus of the Arcane Order 10 is a workable build for a knowledge-hungry Wizard.

[Eldariel]

So what is the difference between curiosity and hunger for knowledge, Doc Roc?

Archivist is looking better and better, assuming I grab divination-y cleric spells.

And Druid. And Ranger. And Domain. And so on. You can learn pretty much every Divination in the game.

[Trekkin]

Obsessive-Compulsive sounds about right.

Basically, I've noticed I keep being the party member who tries to memorize, decipher, codify, associate, analyze, and eventually understand everything ad nauseam, so with my current character invalidated I was thinking I might create one that embraces these tendancies.

[KillianHawkeye]

Don't forget Loremaster if you decide to take an arcane route.

[FMArthur]

Any class with the Knowledges as class skills and enough skill points works. I once made a Factotum with your exact concept in mind; he was constantly researching, and at the start of every encounter he would give his entire party detailed information about the monsters we were fighting.

The Knowledge Devotion feat from Complete Champion basically lets you strike truer and hit harder based on how much you know about your foe's creature type, so whichever class you take, if you plan on entering the fray at all this is the best way to represent your knowledge advantage.

[Trekkin]

Is Loremaster worth it? It seems to me that it's more about the secrets.

[Eldariel]

Is Loremaster worth it? It seems to me that it's more about the secrets.

Sorta, but not for an Archivist, no. For a Wizard, it tends to work just fine and it goes quite well with Divine Oracle to get that used feat back. The big selling point is also Use Magic Device in class and 4+Int skills, along with free Identifies and such.

But yeah, Archivist is a different beast with actual class features, so Loremaster isn't really that amazing; Dark Knowledge seems best to embody what you want anyways while also contributing in combat.

[Trekkin]

Indeed it is. If I may ask two further questions:

1. Do domain spells count as cleric spells for learning them during an increase in level?
2. Where might I find divine spells relating to information?

[EpicEvokerElf]

Actually, as an archivist you can cast ANYTHING (divine). Just thought I'd point that out.

[Trekkin]

Hmm? Anything including arcane spells?

[EpicEvokerElf]

No, sorry; that was an old DM misleading me. He let us, if we could find them on scrolls, but I just looked it up and that was simply his eccentricity.

[Boci]

Hmm? Anything including arcane spells?

By RAW yes, since there are PrC that can cast any spell as a devine spell, and the arcivist can choose spells from their list.

[Trekkin]

I see. Still, if I can take Magic and Knowledge domain spells as cleric spells, I'll be well set.

Oh. Well in that case, this will become very interesting indeed. What is that PrC?

[EpicEvokerElf]

@Boci: really? Which ones? I want!

[Eldariel]

1. Do domain spells count as cleric spells for learning them during an increase in level?

No, I don't think so. Just collect scrolls and make that a non-issue. But the entry refers to just the Cleric spell list, not any supplementals, far as I'm concerned.


2. Where might I find divine spells relating to information?

PHB has quite a few. Any book with spells is honestly a good option. Note that most arcane Divinations are available in a divine guise through some rather simple road (Adepts and Divine Bards are goldmines for Archivist-spells too).

Archivist spells to drool over (http://web.archive.org/web/20080416124258/http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=812050) and Archivist Handbook (http://web.archive.org/web/20080416124629/http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=902149) are great resources for finding access to various archivist-spells; you may wish to peruse them and see what spells of interest you happen upon.

[Trekkin]

What is a divine bard?

[Assassin89]

What is a divine bard?

A variant of bard found in unearthed arcana.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantDivineBard

[Eldariel]

What is a divine bard?

You'd do well to familiarize yourself with the free contents of the SRD, young one. (http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/variantClasses.htm) Divine Bard is precisely what you'd expect: An enlightened Bard who casts Divine spells instead of the normal arcane fare, has very small variations within the available spells and worse multi attribute dependency being somewhat impractical in play but an invaluable source of interesting arcane spells as divine scrolls to scribe into your Archivist's book. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantDivineBard)