TL;DR Is there a way for my 5th level cleric to gain 8 ranks in survival quicker then pouring all my skill points into a cross class skill for four levels?
I have 5th level elven cleric. I was reading through the "Complete Divine" source book and saw the prestige class "Seeker of the Misty Isle." This class is perfect for my character, agrees perfectly with his backstory and makes sense with every action he's taken thus far. The DM agreed to let me take it, and said that the person I'm searching for would induct me into the order (a requirement of the prestige class). The problem is, I need 8 ranks in survival... which isn't a class skill for clerics. Is there any way for me to gain ranks in survival quickly as a cleric, so I don't have to spend four levels doing nothing but pouring skill points in a skill not even that benifical to a cleric?
TL;DR Is there a way for my 5th level cleric to gain 8 ranks in survival quicker then pouring all my skill points into a cross class skill for four levels?
This is one of the big reasons why we encourage people to plan ahead. It's going to take at least two extra levels for you to qualify, simply to get enough skill points. You'll also need at least one level in a class that has Survival as a class skill, just to set your maximum rank high enough (otherwise you'll need to be level 13).
There aren't any domains which add Survival, to my knowledge, but that'd be the logical place to look. Alternatively, you can try looking into wilderness cleric PrCs (...I'm blanking on these), or even ranger levels. (Two levels of Ranger really helps your skill points, attack bonus, and can get you Rapid Shot for free if you don't already have it.) Although it costs you a caster level, the best option is actually the unnamed druid variant in Unearthed Arcana: one level in that gives you a lot of amazing boosts, including wisdom-to-AC-while-unarmored (grab Zen Archery and you won't really care), a bunch of the first-level ranger boosts, and an animal companion (not a good one, but they help with sentry duty).
Aside: Note that by the text, Seeker is full casting (that is, 10/10 levels advance spellcasting), but by the table, it isn't. Usually the text trumps the table; check with your DM though. Without full casting you might be better off as a straight cleric.
If you can find an NPC to manifest the psychic reformation power (Expanded Psionics Handbook) on you, can change your current skills and feats.
The apprentice feat (Dungeon Master's Guide II, p176) gives you survival as a class skill if you're apprenticed to a woodsman. The DM might not let you gain that with psychic reformation, since it would mean an NPC now exists who has been training you since 1st level.
The Aerenai focus feat (Player's Guide to Eberron, p20) can also give you survival as a class skill. It requires being an elf from an island called Aerenal that might not exist outside of the Eberron campaign setting.
The travel domain gives you survival as a class skill, but it's not among the things psychic reformation says it can change. Also, seeker of the misty isle gives you that domain anyway.
The whole Psychic Reformation thing, if it goes at all works as well with Apprentice as any other feat really. Just make sure to have a master chosen ahead of time. The Reformation makes it so at least in your psyche you had that master all along. Get new feats, reassign skill points. All GM's call at the end of the day of course.
That does suggest some nice "mind-screw" type story options. It could be pretty hard to tell mental fallout from a psychic reformation from deliberate memory tampering or something else (I vaguely recall that completely erasing someone's existence from reality could be a result of a bad draw from the deck of many things in 2nd Edition).
Imagine visiting your home village only to discover that your beloved master is nowhere to be found and no-one else even remembers him.
@Slagger ever watch Joss Whedon's Doll House series? I kinda see Psychic Reformation as potentially acting a lot like that.
That series was awesome. Too bad it only lasted 2 seasons.
@Slagger ever watch Joss Whedon's Doll House series? I kinda see Psychic Reformation as potentially acting a lot like that.
I haven't, but I think I can parse the general idea without too much trouble based on what I've heard about it.
While there's no mechanical basis for it, from a narrative perspective I can definitely see how someone could end up with leftover memory traces resulting in aberrant dreams or something like strong bursts of deja vu upon encountering something that used to be familiar.
I actually played the use of attraction a bit like this on one occasion, describing for the player their character's sudden feelings of familiarity towards and longing for (by coincidence) a ragged old doll that was being used as bait by a psychic enemy lurking in the sewers.
You might get some mileage out of the retraining rules in PHB2.
I personally would ask the DM to waive it, or change it if its such a good fit. Maybe ask if they will let you shuffel some stuff around so you do meet the prereqs.
Alternatively, maybe change the requirement to knowledge nature or religion? Or less than 8?