Ok, usually I have at least the bare bones of a build before I start on the personality/backstory. However, this time not.
This guy intends to take over or start up a 'civilized' state. Fair, just, prosperous, safe, etc... He has studied history, governments, judicial systems, national defense, economics, and anything else he thinks is applicable. So he is going to need some skill ranks.
Not a theocracy, he is designing this state by logic. He intends it to eventually be run by a committee of 5. With some sort of legal system, bureaucracy, and magical compulsions set up on the major gov buildings and courts to prevent lies and/or selfish decisions. They will have to be truth and for the greater good. There will also be a small semi-secret organization whose only real task is to make sure the magical compulsions stay in place and that anyone trying to remove or bypass them are stopped.
Only things I really have is:
He needs significant skill points.
Will take the leadership feat. His cohort and followers will probably become the core of the semi-secret organization.
Should be a fairly long lived race so he can get the system set-up and adjusted long enough to become self sustaining.
Wizard was first thought because of the magical compulsions and intelligence for skill points. But wizards seem to spend most of their effort on magical studies and gaining power. Not sure it fits thematically.
Really the magical needs could be filled by the cohort.
Next came bard for the need to influence people. But I'm not sure an 'entertainer' makes a good civilization designer.
Maybe investigator. But all their magic is internal.
I'm in something of a quandary. What do you think would be a good build for this concept.
Alchemists can cheaply produce Simulacra. Those need no magical compulsion to obey, they just need to be protected from outside influences.
Negotiator Bard seems to fit and to have topical abilities.
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I think you are thinking about the classes too narrowly. Some wizards wizards study in isolated towers, other build nations (Razmiran for example.) Bard's can be entertainers but they can be a lot of other things as well (and it wouldn't be crazy to imagine an actor or reality TV star leading a powerful nation in any event...)
Really any class could do this. Even a 14 Int will give you 4 knowledge skills on the least skilled classes, and that would cover everything you mention (really knowledge Local and History cover it all, maybe knowledge Nobility, but if he is planning on starting from scratch that isn't really relevant.) Given the willingness to use compulsions, diplomacy (and CHR) isn't really necessary as 'might makes right' seems pretty built into his core philosophy. Obviously if he doesn't provide the magic himself he will need some way to ensure he has control over the people who do, but that is doable in a variety of way. Having good CHR would of course make the task easier, but the point is that it isn't necessary.
Basically all you need is ruthlessness and enough power to force your will on the populous.
One counter though, I would actually expect a longer lived race to be worse at building a self sustaining nation than a shorted lived race (especially if the people of the nation are shorter lived.) If everyone in the kingdom, and everyone's grandparents in the kingdom have always relied on the Eternal Lord for final decisions, when he is gone, they won't have any skills or references for fending for themselves. If on the other hand the despot wasn't in charge when they were younger, they would have a better chance at understanding how to take command themselves.
First off, what's your point buy?
Because assuming a 20 point buy you can get 16 & 18 in two mental stats by not putting any points in anything else.
So an Gnome Oracle (Intrigue) will have Str/08 Dex/10 Con/12 Int/16 Wis/10 Cha/18 giving you 7 skill points to play with and a good selection of spells.
Alternately, a Elf Witch gets Str/10 Dex/12 Con/08 Int/18 Wis/10 Cha/16, though only 6 skill points, but an arguably better selection of mind control abilities.
Both assume that you are taking the extra hit point as a favored bonus, add one more skill point if that's what you take instead.
Skills needed- diplomacy, sense motive, bluff, knowledge(local), knowledge(history). That should cover all his studies and political skills needed.
My first thought was an Evangelist Cleric of Abadar with Nobility/Leadership domain. This gives you access to his lovely spells like Abadar's Truth-telling and Fairness. Now even if you are a cleric it need not be a theocracy as Abadar is literally the god of civilization. If your founding a perfect society he won't care if it isn't worshiping him. For race I would go with gnome or half elf. Then get a psychic for a right hand man to do your enchanting for you.
Yeah, Bard has gone far beyond being a simple entertainer. With Perform (Oratory) you can easily have politician bards. Hell, Demagogue is a bard archetype.
Clerics may not work here because you specifically don't want it to be a theocracy, but in general the Evangelist would work pretty well.
I wouldn't discount Investigator. They're one of the better skill monkeys in the game. They won't be able to woo the crowd with fancy displays of magic, and will have to work a bit harder than a normal caster would for some things, but they still are perfect for the task.
I like the idea of an Occultist for this purpose. They have a lot of fun, weird utility abilities that just scream to be used creatively. At the very least, the Enchantment and Divination schools should be helpful here. You can go a lot of ways with this.
And yeah, most of the 9th level casters will do this quite easily. Even Druid, with the right archetype.
I just made a Silksworn oracle which are basically a 6/9 caster who pretends (fairly effectively) to be a full caster with a s@!~ tone of spells their primary stat is int and their secondary is Cha if you don't build for combat 4+int skills so reasonably they start of with 8 skill points and they knowledgeable and charismatic and really really kewl.
By oracle I mean occultist .-.
A Vigilante would be interesting for your plan. The dual-identity could help your state a lot.
Alchemist, definitely an alchemist.