Visual Artsist?

Complete Adventurer p.44. It's the ultimate skillmonkey PrC. 8+INT. All skills in class. Skill Artistry class ability bonuses to skills. level 5 ability allows you to use any of the skills you've chosen as Skill Artistry in place of a Diplomacy check for whoever watches you use it.

My Google-Fu has failed to find anything on the PrC online.

Voila! An interesting class, entirely too few levels, it should be deeper...

Stolen from here.

Exemplar
A Prestige Class for the Hybrid System

An exemplar is someone who believes that most individuals and creatures possess a wellspring of untapped talent and capability, and that the world would be a better place if only they would all try to live up to their potential. To her mind, the best way to encourage this behavior in others is to exemplify it herself. An exemplar focuses her energy on improving the skills she possesses until she is able to perform them with fluidity, grace, and art. She believes that even the simplest action (such as climbing a tree or building a chair) can be done with such skill and flair as to inspire awe and stimulate a desire for self-betterment.

No matter what area a particular exemplar excels in, be it walking a tightrope, deciphering forgotten languages, or remembering the names of every archfiend in legend, she performs it with passion and joy. Bards are the characters most likely to become exemplars, but wizards, rogues, rangers, and druids sometimes choose this path as well. All of these classes have a fair number of people who believe that their actions can be viewed as art, and like most artists they want to inspire others with their abilities. Clerics, paladins, and monks also choose this prestige class on rare occasions, but their dedication to promoting a philosophy or a higher power sometimes conflicts with the exemplar’s belief that the best way to inspire others is simply to be a good role model.

Exemplars often are eccentric characters who travel the world, stopping anywhere that catches their interest. Some might be nobles or members of rich merchant families who use their reputations to open doors at the courts of powerful and influential individuals, hoping that their example will help their hosts become wiser rulers. Other exemplars are mendicants or wandering sages, traveling among the common folk in the hopes of inspiring the people to improve their lots in life. The great majority of exemplars are just ordinary characters making livings as bakers, blacksmiths, merchants, or even adventurers. No matter what their jobs, though, at their hearts they are all educators, hoping to improve the world by setting a good example.

The five levels of this prestige class can be taken again, focusing on another skill to specialize and master.

Requirements

To qualify to become an exemplar, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Skills: Diplomacy training; training and five secondary skills in any one other skill
Feat: Skill Focus (any)

Hybrid System
Role: Any Booster
Morale per Level: 5
Ability Pools: any 1 of player’s choice
Offenses and defense may be freely chosen when this class is first taken - player and DM should make sure they are reflective of the chosen skill with which mastery shall be achieved; below is a suggested array for the Acrobatics skill

Brute Finesse Strategy Focus Emotional Presence Armor Physical Mental Reflex Fortitude Will
0 1 0.5 0.25 0.25 0.5 0.25 0.5 0.25 1 0 0.5

Exemplar
Level Abilities

1 Skill Artistry
2 Lend Talent
3 Bonus Feat
4 Persuasive Performance
5 Skill Mastery

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the exemplar prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Exemplars gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Skill Artistry

An exemplar is particularly talented in the use of one of her skills. Choose one skill in which the exemplar has training and at least five secondary skills. She gains a +1 competence bonus on all checks involving that skill for each level of the exemplar class, to a maximum of +5, representing double training.

Lend Talent

An exemplar can lend some of her skill artistry to allies, allowing them to exceed their normal talents. By accepting a penalty on checks using a skill for which she has selected skill artistry, an exemplar grants a competence bonus on checks with that skill to all allies within 30 feet. The competence bonus is equal to one-half the penalty. Activating this ability is a full-round action, and the effect lasts for as long as the exemplar remains conscious and within range.

Bonus Feat

An exemplar gains a bonus feat, which must be related to their skill chosen for artistry. The exemplar must meet all the prerequisites for the chosen feat.

Persuasive Performance

An exemplar can use her skill artistry to improve the attitudes of NPCs. To do this, the NPCs must observe her using one of the skills to which she has applied skill artistry. Treat this as a Diplomacy check made to influence NPC attitudes, but replace the Diplomacy check with a check using the chosen skill.

The demonstration must be nonthreatening and intended to entertain and amuse the onlookers. Viewers must be within 30 feet of the exemplar, must be able to see her clearly, and must willingly pay attention to her actions. This ability requires at least 1 minute to perform, and it can affect a particular creature only once every 24 hours.

Skill Mastery

An exemplar is so confident in the use of their skill of artistry that she can use it reliably even under adverse conditions. She may now roll twice whenever making a check with the skill and take the higher result. This may also be performed even when stress and distractions would normally prevent her from doing so.
 
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Curious. What you posted is very similar but not the same from the official material in the book.

For one thing, the book has 10 levels of the PrC.

Secondly, I have no idea what those requirements are. Not only are they different, they don't even look D&D 3.5 to me.

The Skill Artistry ability in the book reads, in part, "Choose one skill in which the Exemplar has at least 13 ranks. She gains a +4 competence bonus on all checks involving that skill. At 4th, 7th, and 10th levels, an Exemplar gains this ability again." In my opinion, the book version is much better.

Etc.

The fluff text is word for word though. I'm D&D 4e ignorant, is this an attempt to adapt this PrC to that version?
 

I had a Modern game with a sorceress reborn into the world as an artist. She was around during the period of the Last Awakening (between 1950 and 1980) and took a heroic dose of a hallucinogenic drug opening up her mind to the Outside. She used art to manipulate and control the masses, and was brought down by government agents when one of her compatriots became obsessive and attempted an assassination.

She was a fun character. In lieu of various spell resolution mechanics she created ritualistic visual art that could manipulate the Mundane society. She was finally caught by a group of mystic philosophers (literally, philosophers who knew of mysticism) using strict logic and their own force of will to bond her power. She ended up destitute, a drug maven who called forward a living painting of Patrocles and her 'flashbacks' led to the government bringing her to Hoffman House, known colloquially among magicians as the Loony Bin.

Now she's kept away from any and all writing implements, and wears a foil suit and is fed through a reinforced stomach tube. Her teeth have been removed to prevent her from biting down and drawing blood, and her hands are pretty much put in mittens. Last time she was freed for a period she opened a vein, and was half-way through a sizeable massacre of Hoffman House staff

She was a beast of a creature, but really just used Illusions, Enchantments, and had bonuses based on the fact. I really should get all of these characters down somewhere :(.

Slainte,

-Loonook.
 

I had a Modern game with a sorceress reborn into the world as an artist. She was around during the period of the Last Awakening (between 1950 and 1980) and took a heroic dose of a hallucinogenic drug opening up her mind to the Outside. She used art to manipulate and control the masses, and was brought down by government agents when one of her compatriots became obsessive and attempted an assassination.

She was a fun character. In lieu of various spell resolution mechanics she created ritualistic visual art that could manipulate the Mundane society. She was finally caught by a group of mystic philosophers (literally, philosophers who knew of mysticism) using strict logic and their own force of will to bond her power. She ended up destitute, a drug maven who called forward a living painting of Patrocles and her 'flashbacks' led to the government bringing her to Hoffman House, known colloquially among magicians as the Loony Bin.

Now she's kept away from any and all writing implements, and wears a foil suit and is fed through a reinforced stomach tube. Her teeth have been removed to prevent her from biting down and drawing blood, and her hands are pretty much put in mittens. Last time she was freed for a period she opened a vein, and was half-way through a sizeable massacre of Hoffman House staff

She was a beast of a creature, but really just used Illusions, Enchantments, and had bonuses based on the fact. I really should get all of these characters down somewhere :(.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

That sounds like what I had in mind, rather surprised this type of character has not been done before as a class. Think about the berk who created the art that made the modron Checker go rogue and you can see the power of art. A character that could create illusions and enchantments based on paintings, use body paint to create buffs, inspire crowds with art installations like public murals...
 

Just found this in an excerpt from an e-book by Louis Porter, Jr. Design, Inc. and thought was exactly the type of thing I was thinking about earlier...

Arresting Images
The artist is a master of choosing images that stop viewers dead in their track, and have an emotional resonance that
persists long after the page is turned; the dance ends or the tale is told.
Prerequisites: Wisdom 13, Charisma 15, Perform (any) or Craft: Visual Art 12 ranks.
Benefit: Any time the artist critically succeeds at a Perform (any) or Craft: Visual Art check, the extraordinary image created is ‘imbued’ with extra emotional punch. Anyone viewing the performance/image or hearing the
tale must make a Will save (DC 12 + the artist’s Charisma modifier) or be emotionally affected by the piece. The effect lasts for a number of minutes after viewing the image equal to twice the artist’s Charisma modifier. The artist chooses when he takes the picture whether he wants the image to inspire or horrify viewers. An inspiring picture grants a +2 morale bonus on Will saves and attack rolls for the duration. A horrifying picture leaves the viewer shaken for the duration of the effect. Once a picture’s effect is chosen, it cannot be changed. An audience member can willingly fail the save to benefit from the positive effects of an inspiring picture. The artist has no control over who sees an image once it’s published; all enemies and allies who see the image are affected. Once a character is affected by this feat, he or she can’t be affected again by the same photograph or artwork for 24 hours. This is a non-magical, mind influencing effect.
 


A lot of emotional states and sensations could probably be created. You could make art that caused depression, fear, anger, arousal, even hunger...
 

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