how to make a diplomat?

[pseudodragon]

i am making a diplomat character and i would like some help with it what skills ( i know i need diplomacy) should i take? what weapons is acceptable for a diplomat too use? i usually play characters that just attack, so i would please like some help

[Zonugal]

What books do you have access to? What level are you starting out at? What type of campaign/game are you going to be in?

But going off the top of my head how about this?

Human Paragon 1 (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/racialParagonClasses.htm#humanParagon)/Telepath 1 (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/psion.htm)/Human Paragon 2. You'll be great at social skills (you'll want Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive above others), your powers will compliment you to a wild extent and with your free martial weapon proficiency you can pick up a Sword Cane. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070314a&dcmp=ILC-RSSDND)

[Crasical]

What kind of game are you playing? Is it more social, or will there still be adventuring aspects? If the latter, playing a Half Elf Bard with the substitution levels found in Races of Destiny will let you use one use of bardic music to defuse a fight by using a diplomacy roll to activate a Calm Emotions effect. Now that everyone's calm, you can try and sort out the situation.

[SaintRidley]

Learn to do the long jump. (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19870138/The_Jumplomancer_-_are_you_serious)

[pseudodragon]

level 3, i have core books, and PHB 2

[mattie_p]

Define diplomat, please.

Diplomat can be an actual emissary from one nation to another, speaking the words of one ruler (or government) to another, or it can be a euphemism for a person who accomplishes more than their stated reason for entering a country (i.e. assassin or spy). Some diplomats are what you might expect, some have "unexpected" skills based upon their actual profession.

Please tell us if you want us to take the diplomat at face value or if you want us to give him (her, it) some "extra" talents to accomplish goals that may or may not be explicitly part of their formal instructions when they travel to another country.

[Gavinfoxx]

level 3, i have core books, and PHB 2

Can you use free online things? Stuff from the SRD and other things WotC released for free online?

So you have...

PHB
DMG
MM1
PHB II

and that's it as far as dead tree goes?

[pseudodragon]

just someone that goes around making peace, not from a country, just hired too help stop fighting. i can use online things.

[pseudodragon]

what is a race with a CHA bonus?

[Flickerdart]

Consider a Half-Elf Half-Fey (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a), going into Half-Elf Paragon and then Human Paragon. Half-Fey gives you a ton of awesome SLAs, plus a Charisma boost. Use the 3rd level abilities from the Paragons to raise Charisma by another 4. Take a level of Bard as your 1st level, and use the Paragons to progress it. Later on, consider Chameleon (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20041210b) to further raise your Charisma and versatility.

[mattie_p]

Neutral arbiter who travels around from conflict to conflict, making peace. Sounds like rogue/factotum NPC to me (maybe an expert if an NPC with no expectation for H2H fighting). Bluff, diplomacy, sense motive, gather information are almost mandatory. Decipher script (for codes), disguise, forgery, intimidate, sleight of hand, search, knowledge (local), listen, move silently, hide, open lock, disable device are recommended. Obviously not all can be put into a single individual, which is why most embassies are a team effort with multiple people.

Maybe expert/aristocrat with high bluff, sense motive, diplomacy as the main person, but has assistants/cohorts with other rogue/factotum appropriate skills. Can be a mobile embassy without being chartered by a nation.

[Gavinfoxx]

0RHD/0LA places with +2 Charisma
Star Elf, from Unapproachable East
Lesser Aasimar from Monster Manual combined with an option from Player's Guide to Faerun
Spellscale, from Races of the Dragon
Hellbred (Spirit) from Fiendish Codex II
Lesser Cansin, from Dragon Magazine 297 combined with an option from Player's Guide to Faerun
Lesser Celadrin, from Dragon Magazine 350 combined with an option from Player's Guide to Faerun
Lesser D'hin'ni, from Dragon Magazine 350 combined with an option from Player's Guide to Faerun

Also, any race which has aged. Note that Dragonwrought Kobolds (Races of the Dragon) can increase in age category without taking penalties to physical statistics.

Also, there are templates which increase Charisma without increasing your Level Adjustment. I believe Magic-Blooded from Dragon Magazine 306 increases Charisma by 2.

[Suddo]

what is a race with a CHA bonus?

Not with only PHB, PHB2, DMG & MM. There maybe one online but I'm not 100% familiar with that.

If you want to make one I'd suggest Half-Elf Bard. Make Charisma, Max Diplomacy and if you really want skill focus (diplomacy). Don't forget to get a masterwork item to get +1 to diplomacy. There are a few spells to increase your Diplomacy also look at synergies.

[mattie_p]

Spells. Don't forget the nations you go visit will have spell casters to detect alignment, thoughts, etc. You need a teammate who can mind blank, undetectable alignment, etc. Srsly. Don't leave home without it. Or you are hosed as a diplomat. Rival spellcaster = wikileaks, and you see how well that is working for the US.

[Socratov]

I'd like to drop as a suggestion a warlock (if you have access) for the great and awesome invocation: Beguiling influece (an allday long +6 to social skills, unnamed)

[Gavinfoxx]

I would suggest one of the classes that has all skills as class skills, if you can get the books. A diplomat should not JUST focus on Diplomacy! Either Savant from Dragon Compendium Volume One or Factotum from Dungeonscape.

I made a Diplomat and Castellan here:

http://www.thetangledweb.net/forums/profiler/view_char.php?cid=54557

Only level 4, and he's quite competent at being the main guy running a country and speaking to folk while my Noble (the guy who is supposedly in charge) goes off and kills things.

Next level he'll get Rhetorical Flourish (Dragon Magazine 357) and Social Recovery (Complete Scoundrel).

[mattie_p]

Only level 4, and he's quite competent at being the main guy running a country and speaking to folk while my Noble (the guy who is supposedly in charge) goes off and kills things.

Good point, the "official" diplomat does not have to be the "actual" diplomat. Sometimes an ignorant mouthpiece is an effective diversion. But yeah, lots of good advice in this thread. Watch out for spells, need lots of skills, consider a spellcaster, yeah. In a magical, fantasy realm, no wonder everyone is at war - no single individual can possibly be a good diplomat.

[Voyager_I]

If you're defining "Diplomat" as someone who throws comically high modifiers at their Diplomacy checks, I think a one-level dip in Marshal (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b) would be excellent. It gets you a free Skill Focus (Diplomacy) and the somewhat ridiculous Motivate Charisma, which lets you add your Charisma modifier a second time to all Charisma-based skills (it's a competence bonus, so it will stack). It also has Diplomacy and all its synergies as class skills.

[Jeff the Green]

Let's assume that fiction (and the History Channel) are right and that every diplomat is actually a spy.

Beguiler is a good choice. Useful spells plus lots of skill point. Emphasize Diplomacy, Bluff, Forgery, Autohypnosis (for eidetic memory), and Disguise. Bard also works about the same way.

Sorcerer works well too, with a dip in Marshall and Warlock for Diplomacy boosts.

If you just want to convince people of things, you go (Half Fey) Half-Elf Bard 1/Marshall 1/Warlock 1/Bard X, grab Bind Vestige: Naberius, Complementary Insight, Nymph's Kiss, and Negotiator.

[Azoth]

Isn't there also a dragon fire adept aura that gives another +6 untyped bonus? Also glammer weave clothing, masmasterwork tool, a pretty cloak of charisma/diplomacy +x/+y (skill bonus items are dirt cheap), item familiar, and a few other obscure items scattered about. Even with penalties to physical stats if you are the face and obviously taking bard levels I reccomend focusing on defensive buff spells for combat and going venerable. Your job isnt to hit people it is to make them your loving slaves, and if that fails throwing out a tweaked as hell use of bardic music to give your allies a massive to hit and damage boost to punish the heathens.

[kulosle]

Doesn't strong heart halfling get a bonus to cha and an extra feat. It's regarded as one of the most overpowered base races.

[zanetheinsane]

Once you get Diplomacy up to 9 ranks you may want to consider the Master Manipulator feat from PH2 for Trap of Words. If you focus on Sense Motive as well as Diplomacy and Bluff you can extract very useful information from NPCs that attempt to lie to you.

[Jeff the Green]

Isn't there also a dragon fire adept aura that gives another +6 untyped bonus?

It's an invocation, and the same one as the Warlock's. Beguiling Influence.


Doesn't strong heart halfling get a bonus to cha and an extra feat. It's regarded as one of the most overpowered base races.

+2 Dex, -2 Str. It's good, but not overpowered. For a diplomat, half-elf is better: you'd need +4 Cha to beat its +2 Diplomacy, and it has some handy synergetic feats.

[Piggy Knowles]

Here's (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12365869&postcount=233) an evil diplomat-style character I made for a recent Iron Chef competition. Sky-high diplomacy checks, plus spells and spell-like abilities to help him out in that department. Also focused on debuffing, and would heavily debuff someone's Will save (he could give enemies a -16 penalty on their save), eternally Charm them, and then use an epic Diplomacy check to convert them to fanatics.