[3.5] Archivist more Bardish?

[A.A.King]

I'm trying to create a collector of Divine Stories/Legends and Archivist came to my mind. But I want to try and make a build which shifts the focus a bit more to the story aspect of things and away from just a collector of magic.

Are there nice ways feats and or Prestige Classes that would help an Archivist with maxed out Perform (Oratory) which would go nice with the concept of a writer and a teller of stories?

[Craft (Cheese)]

You could probably get this well enough by just refluffing Dark Knowledge. Barring that, ask your DM if you can take Virtuoso (CAdv) as a divine caster.

[Coidzor]

Heartfire Fanner(Dragon Magazine 314, IIRC) adds bardic music progression onto a caster, though IIRC, it'd require an arcane>divine translation, most useful for adding some inspire courage op onto a non-bard base without using Prestige Bard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/prestigiousCharacterClasses.htm#prestigeBard) mixed with the Divine Bard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantDivineBard) variant for a Prestige Divine Bard. Or just adapting Prestige Bard to require Divine casting instead.

[XmonkTad]

Paragonostic Apostle (CChamp) is what you want. Stick it on archivist for instant barricade knowledge. If your crunch demands more devotion to a "legend of old" then squire of legend (same book) is a short class that can do great things if you pick reikhardt (iirk).

[Person_Man]

Item Familiar Feat: You can invest Skill ranks in it to gain a bonus to any one Skill equal to your class level + 3, plus other benefits. Unearthed Arcana.

Guidance of the Avatar (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20010504a) spell. +20 Competence bonus to any one check.

Scepter of Obedience: Grants a +5 competence bonus to all Charisma-based checks. Miniature's Handbook, 12,500 gp.

Admiral's Bicorne: Grants a +5 unnamed bonus to all Charisma-based checks. But it's expensive. Stormwrack, 51,000 gp.

Spellscale is a dragonborn-ish sorta +0 LA psudo-template. You basically lose virtually all of your normal racial abilities except for your type and subtype, and gain new Spellscale racial abilities. It gives you +2 Cha, -2 Con, and "Blood Quickening" meditations. Each day you perform a meditation, which grants you a benefit of the some kind for 24 hours. The options mostly suck, but they include a number of bonuses that grant a racial bonus on a check equal to half the spellscale’s character level. The Hlal aspect provides a bonus to Perform, plus the use of the Heighten Spell feat three times per day. So a 20th level character would get a +10 racial bonus to Perform, plus the Cha bonus. Races of the Dragon.

Stormsinger Prestige Class: Provides full spell progression (of any class), Bardic music uses progression, and several new uses for Bardic Music. Three levels in to the PrC (ECL 8) you get Thunderstrike. Burn a Bardic Music use, make a ranged touch attack, and deal damage equal to your Perform check. Reflex for half damage, and Fort check or they're deafened for a number of rounds equal to the damage dealt. At ECL 14 it improves to Great Thunderstrike, where it becomes line of damage (basically a lightning bolt), deals an extra 2d6 damage, and permanently deafens targets. You don't see this PrC used a lot because it's a Bard blaster, it allows a Save, there are much more efficient ways to be a blaster, and being a blaster isn't that great of a thing. But you could theoretically go Bard 1/Archivist 4/Stormsinger X, and only lose 1 level of Archivist casting while still having very Bardy/Perform based class features.Frostburn.

Dragonsong Feat: +2 unnamed bonus on Perform checks involving song, poetics, or any other verbal or spoken form of performance. In addition, the DC of any saving throw required by mind-affecting effects based on your song or poetics (such as bardic music effects) is increased by +2.

[A.A.King]

Heartfire Fanner looks promising (especially since it doesn't mention Arcane Magic anywhere) but also kinda strong. If I understand it right, when I have 5 levels of Heartfire Fanner I'm also considered a 10th level bard when it comes to the kinds of music I can use...?

Stormsinger, though nice for progressing Archivist Casting, requires Perform (Sing) for all of it's Bardic Music Abillities and I'm building a writer. It's also a bit too weather-focused.

Dragonsong sounds like a good feat, especially since it opens up the Dragonsong Lyrist PrC which might be nice for 4 levels. I'll definitely think about that one.

Paragnostic Apostle is focussed on collecting knowledge and not on telling stories, making stories. Also his knowledge seems rather weak.

And adapting Virtuoso or PrC Bard could definitely do the trick, it's not quite what I want. It's not yet for any real game so I'd like to avoid things which depend on the DM's opinion too much.

[Diovid]

Personally I'm a fan of Gnome Bardic Sage (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantBardicSage) 4 to 6 / marshal 0 or 1/ dragonfire adept 0 or 1 / Urban Savant 9 / Paragnostic Apostle 5 with the Trivial Knowledge feat (Races of Stone).

If your DM allows the Urban Savant (Cityscape) to advance divine spellcasting instead of arcane spellcasting you can switch Bardic Sage with Divine Bard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantDivineBard) .