Archivist ~ Balance

[tricky_bob]

I'm thinking of playing a 9/10th level Archivist in an on-going campaign but am unsure how to keep it balanced. I'm happy not to include spells that are from Domains. I'm happy to have to seek out respective Druid, Rangers, Adepts to buy new Scrolls so I can add these spells to my Prayerbook.
The campaign is in Forgotten Realms and it's hard not to be tempted to seek out Nentyar Hunter's (Unapproachable East) to gain access to Magic missile at level 1, Neutralize Poison and Remove Disease at level 2, and Freedom of Movement at level 3!

The spells I start the game with will obviously be influenced by what scroll materials are going to be available in-game. I don't want to over-shadow other players, but then again I don't want a character that's nerfed too much either.

What classes/material would make the Archivist balanced?

 

[Someone]

Keep it a bit realistic and there should not be any real problem. By realistic I mean to figure how unlikely is to find a scroll that can only be crafted by a very special guy for sale. There shouldn't be so many Nethyar Hunters so there, of those only a very few will have Scribe Scroll (or will agree to cooperate to scribe scrolls) and of those scrolls that Nethyar Hunters scribe only a small percentage will end up sold. So it's up to you really to decide if a particular spell from a very rare spell list is for sale.

 

[monboesen]

What classes/material would make the Archivist balanced?

Pure Core material. And even then the Adept npc class may be troublesome.

 

[smootrk]

Mouseferatu has noted that the author of the Archivist class never intended Domain or Prestige class spells to be accessible, an inadvertent oversight in the class design. Knowing that, limited to Core & Spell Compendium divine spells, or possibly the addition of Oriental Adventures divine spells (from the regions beyond Unapproachable East; ie Kara-Tur of Toril)... all this along with specific Forgotten Realms material will still definitely give you a lot to work with.