Archivist Questions

[Wrathamon]

From what I remember you can have multiple dieties you worship/revere in FR, along with a patron so you can get resurrected.

This works very well with the Archivist... someone who studies all ancient religions.

I can picture them with 25 holy symbols of various gods, finding the right one to cast one of the ancient prayers he has studied.

 

[Zurai]

This example uses a rules exploit (there is something not entirely kosher about abusing the fact that a PrC has its own Spell progression so that an archivist can get a spell earlier than the PrC itself a la the above example where an archivist gets the spell at character level 7 yet the Disciple has to wait till above 10th level).

No, it does not use any exploits. It uses plain, simple, uninterpreted Rules As Written. Now, it's obviously overpowered and no sane DM would ever let an Archivist get his hands on such a scroll, but it's not an exploit. Generally exploiting involves jumping through hoops. An exploit way of doing this would be to track down a reasonably friendly Disciple of Thrym (which could be difficult, given that Thrym isn't exactly sociable to non-Frost Giants) and bribing them to create a scroll of it for you, using your own Scribe Scroll feat.

The RAW way is to walk into a random small town and buy it from the Magic Mart, since according to the DMG item availability is only limited by town gold limits, and a 4th level scroll isn't terribly expensive.


Again, I'm not advocating actually getting hold of an 8th level spell at character level 7. That's silly. I'm just offering support for your own statement that the DM and campaign setting are the major factors that limit the power of an Archivist. If your campaign is set in Podunkville-in-the-middle-of-nowhere, and your DM is strict, Archivists are vastly weaker than wizards. If you're based in a reasonably sized town with an average DM, archivists are roughly as powerful as wizards. If your campaign is set in Sigil and your DM comes to the table in a straightjacket... well, the sky's pretty much the limit.

 

[Cameron]

The source, AFAIK, is the marketing materials publish around the time of the 3.5 release. Not something I set a lot of store by in my games.


glass.

It still is the last *official* word on the subject, marketing or no. Unless it has been superceded, it is the only official word on the subject *shrugs* I knew it was out there. I just couldn't remember where.

Just to help it along, there is also a list of spells that were in the 3.0 edition but was replaced and renamed in 3.5. This implies that the supercede rule does apply.

 

[cmanos]

We use the house rule that if a spell is duplicated on various spell lists, the Archivist needs to take it at the Cleric level if possible. If it doesn't exist on the Cleric list, it goes to Druid, then all others. It's not a perfect rule but it prevents then from taking higher level spells at unreasonable levels.

 

[Iku Rex]

Do you know which official source that is? That was the thrust of my "on what basis" question.

It's called the "Player's Handbook", aka "Core Rulebook I".

This revision is compatible with all existing products, and those products can be used with the revision with only minor adjustments.

This is emphasized further in Player's Guide to Faerun:

While the version 3.5 revisions to the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game included a number of relatively minor changes and updates to the game system, the majority of your existing 3rd Edition FORGOTTEN REALMS supplements and accessories are still perfectly usable in your game.

In general, the v.3.5 revisions to the D&D core rulebooks do not invalidate previous products.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The PGtF one looks like the one I'm after. The PHB quote isn't clear... after all, most d20 Modern stuff is compatible with 3.5 and can be used with minor adjustments, but that doesn't make it a 3.5 rule.

But PGtF's 'doesn't invalidate' is reasonably clear. And suggests that the Fanfare spell, for example, is still around.

Interesting.

-Hyp.

 

[WarlockLord]

Needs a deity. Remember, the FRCS mentions that ALL FR inhabitants have to worship a deity or they become faithless and it also mentions that all divine magic goes through deities via the weave. Just wouldn't be possible IMHO just like how paladins in FR have to worship a deity to get their powers but in the core-rules, a paladin doesn't actually need to worship a deity. Now, in Eberron, I can see a deityless archivist.

My attempt to play devil's advocate: In Champions of Ruin, it mentions the Eldreth Veluuthra (basically human-hating elves) using druidic magic because the elf deities won't grant magic to evildoers. It works for them!

Also, does not wearing armor hurt an archivist too much? I think mage armor is out there and clerics have a lot of AC buffs.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

My attempt to play devil's advocate: In Champions of Ruin, it mentions the Eldreth Veluuthra (basically human-hating elves) using druidic magic because the elf deities won't grant magic to evildoers. It works for them!

That just means they get it from Talos, or Umberlee ...