Build help

[DrBloodbathMC]

Hi, I'm making a character and I need recommendations for a prestige class. I posted about him before but it's getting close to needing do the rest of the build. I have a Dwarf Archivist5/Runecaster8, I need 7 more levels and I'm having trouble figuring out what to do. One option I know is just finish out as Archivist but if a prestige class fits thematically (and has full casting) I'd rather do that.

Thematically he's on the hunt for knowledge as an archivist does, and he plays up the dwarfs love for food and sometimes booze. He also believes knowledge is found all over and you need to travel (so no deity, channels power through his Quartetstaff) and that magic is a means to an end, regardless of any evil or good descriptors.

Edit: Almost forgot to mention, this is for 3.5

[Ortesk]

Hi, I'm making a character and I need recommendations for a prestige class. I posted about him before but it's getting close to needing do the rest of the build. I have a Dwarf Archivist5/Runecaster8, I need 7 more levels and I'm having trouble figuring out what to do. One option I know is just finish out as Archivist but if a prestige class fits thematically (and has full casting) I'd rather do that.

Thematically he's on the hunt for knowledge as an archivist does, and he plays up the dwarfs love for food and sometimes booze. He also believes knowledge is found all over and you need to travel (so no deity, channels power through his Quartetstaff) and that magic is a means to an end, regardless of any evil or good descriptors.

Edit: Almost forgot to mention, this is for 3.5

Church Inquisitor is fun, for simply being easy to get in.

A purveyor of magic, who seeks knowledge? Loremaster fits thematically, but is kinda weak sauce. If you can't fit that in, then archivist for the rest is plenty good. If you have charm person though, a dip in mindbender is worthwhile

[Name1]

This might not be a 100% a good idea but...

By RAW, the Runecaster "casts the spell into the rune"... So wouldn't that imply that if you somehow manage to reduce your CL or Spell-Level for a cast spell, you don't need to pay for those CLs/SLs? If you say "yes, 'cause we are talking about the EXACT spell being cast into it, not just a generic version", then, well...

I suppose Sacred Exorcist might help, since it gives you Turn Undead, allowing you to make use of Divine Metamagic, and fully advances casting.

[DrBloodbathMC]

I'll take a look at mindbender. Either that or Loremaster seem to be the only ones that fit thematically. Sacred exorcist though an amazing class doesn't fit with the idea I'm going for. Thank you both!

[Zaq]

Divine Oracle is easy to get into, is reasonably thematic for an Archivist, and offers full casting, but it doesn't do anything especially crazy that you couldn't already do. It gives access to the Oracle domain, which is certainly useful, but that's less useful on an Archivist (who can already poach domain spells with little difficulty) than on a caster who normally can't access domains. Its other features are mostly defensive tricks that you normally associate with Rogues (Uncanny Dodge, an equivalent to Evasion, etc.). Still, the Oracle domain at least gives you a no-questions-asked +2 CL on divination spells, so that might be tempting if you like that sort of thing. Complete Divine, pg. 34.

If your GM is willing to help you tweak things a bit, you might look at Urban Savant, from pg. 100 of Cityscape. It's got a feature that functions similarly to the Archivist's "Dark Knowledge" ability (make a Knowledge check against a foe, then gain bonuses against it), so it's pretty thematic, and you can likely meet the prereqs without too much work. It loses casting at 10th level, but if you've only got 7 levels to go, that's not an issue. The issue is that you do need to talk to your GM about adapting it, because by RAW, it only advances arcane casting rather than divine casting. I don't think that's for a balance-related reason, so your GM probably wouldn't break anything by letting it advance your spells, but you do need a favorable houserule.