face bard build?

[drakoonity]

So for an upcoming campaign I was thinking of playing a bard, and I heard that the diplomacy skill can be awesome. So I was wonder if anyone had any builds to maximize that skill and skills like it. I want to be able to basically be able to steal all the gold of someone and have them thank me for doing it. I'm also looking for ideas like races and feat progression, basically anything to up the diplomacy skill, thanks in advance for any help.

[vhfforever]

A Half Elf Bard with the racial substitution levels from Races of Destiny is the place you want to go. Better, bigger bonuses and it dumps the things you won't need or want to use anyway. At level 2 look to snag all the synergy bonuses you can, and once you've managed them start look for bonuses you have that can stack (Circlet of Persuation, Cloak of Charisma, Item of Skill Bonus, etc).

[A_S]

Before you get too deep into planning this out, check with your DM for any houserules that are going to be in place regarding diplomacy. As written, it's so broken (both in the "overpowered" sense, and in the "doesn't work right" sense) that most DM's modify it in some way or other. The Giant wrote up some alternative rules (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/jFppYwv7OUkegKhONNF.html), but they're hardly the only ones that get used.

That said, if you are playing it as written, some things you might find helpful:

Fred the Diplomancer (http://community.wizards.com/comment/27324526#comment-27324526)
The discussion in this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165551), especially the bits about dipping Binder for Naberius
The Glibness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/glibness.htm) spell, especially in conjunction with the Second Impression skill trick from Complete Scoundrel (which lets you sub a Bluff check for a failed Diplomacy check)

[Diovid]

There's the 1st half-elf bard substitution level from Races of Destiny which you should take as a face bard. This of course means you have to be a half-elf, I suggest the Desert Half-Elf (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#desertHalfElves) for the bonus to Sense Motive.

Furthermore, a single level of Marshal (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b) gives you Motivate Charisma and Skill Focus (Diplomacy).


Other possible classes which are beneficial for a diplomacy-focused characcter:

1 level of Dragonfire Adept (Dragon magic) or Warlock (Complete Arcane) for the Beguiling Influence invocation.
1 level of Exemplar (Complete Adventurer).
1 level of Cleric for domains which give a bonus to diplomacy.
x levels of Binder (Tome of Magic) to bind Naberius (I'm unfamilliar with binders but I hear this is quite effective).
x levels of Evangelist (Book of Exalted Deeds).
2 or 3 levels of Half-Elf Paragon (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/racialParagonClasses.htm#halfDragonParagon).


Possible feats for such a character:

Sociable Personality (Races of Destiny)
Complementary Insight (Races of Destiny)
Master Manipulator (PHB II)
Various exalted feats (Book of Exalted Deeds)
Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm)
Negotiator


Other stuff you could look at:

The Honest and Polite traits (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterTraits.htm).
Venerable age.
Charisma-boosting templates.

[vhfforever]

A level in Warlock for an all day +6 bonus doesn't hurt, either. Though, without fractional BAB, all you will be able to do with this dipping is talk, lie, and steal.

[A_S]

x levels of Binder (Tome of Magic) to bind Naberius (I'm unfamilliar with binders but I hear this is quite effective).
Binder is good for lots of reasons, but the one relevant to diplomancy is that binding Naberius lets you make a rushed diplomacy check as a standard action at no penalty (it's normally a full round action with a -10 penalty). Since non-rushed diplomacy takes like a full minute, this is basically required if you ever want to use diplomacy in combat.

Naberius is a 1st level vestige, so it's just a 1-level dip.

*edit* Oh yeah, also it lets you take 10 on diplomacy and bluff in combat.

[drakoonity]

Thanks for all the help so far, a couple of questions though. Where does it say that for the marshal you add double your cha. mod to your saves. All I could find is that is says it improves it, I know my DM and he will want to know where it actually says it doubles.

[fishyfishyfishy]

Thanks for all the help so far, a couple of questions though. Where does it say that for the marshal you add double your cha. mod to your saves. All I could find is that is says it improves it, I know my DM and he will want to know where it actually says it doubles.

Uh...who said that? Marshal gives you motivate charisma, which lets you add your charisma modifier to charisma based checks, like diplomacy. So you basically get double your charisma to diplomacy.