Diplomacy Feats!

[Lysander]

I think there's a dearth of feats for those that like to get by with diplomacy or guile. What do you think of these ideas?/share your own!

Hold On A Sec

You can halt combat with a phrase like "Wait a second!" or "I think there's been a misunderstanding!" Uttering anything along these lines forces any attackers to make a will save against your diplomacy roll. If they fail they'll be inclined to engage you briefly in conversation before deciding whether to continue their attack. If the majority of an attacking party's leaders fail their save then the entire enemy force will stop. If there is only one leader then the entire force will continue or stop based on their success alone. If the attackers have no clear leader then the majority of them must fail their roll and then they will all stop, otherwise none will. Note: It is possible for someone to succeed on their save and still choose, of their own inherent nature, to stop and listen to you. This just provides the ability to halt the attacks of many people who otherwise would be almost entirely impossible to stop. This cannot reach anyone in a rage, such as a Barbarian. If you are only halting combat to buy time or trick them you'll have to suceed on bluff check against them before they have to bother with a will save.

Gracious Surrender

You gain +10 diplomacy and +5 bluff against any opponent who has bested you in combat and you are currently at the mercy of. You gain an additional +10 diplomacy for a total of +20 for any attempt to convince a foe to capture your and/or your party rather than execute them immediately.

Interrogator

You gain +5 diplomacy and +5 bluff against anyone who is your prisoner. This doesn't prevent the prisoner from having a negative attitude against you, in fact it may not completely negate the increased difficulty of speaking with them.

Likeable Liar

People want to believe you. Three times a day you may choose to roll 2d20 on a bluff check and use only the higher roll.

[Erk]

I love the ideas, but the bonuses are much, much too high and these need prerequisites. May I suggest:

Hold On A Sec
Prerequisite: Cha 13+, Diplomacy 5 ranks.
Limit once per day or at least once per combat.

Gracious Surrender
Prerequisite: Cha 15+, Hold On A Sec
Make it +2 to diplomacy and +4 to bluff, and an additional +4 to diplomacy as described (total +6).

Interrogator
Prerequisite: Cha 15+, Intimidate 5 ranks, Hold On A Sec
drop bonuses to +2 diplomacy, +4 bluff

Likeable Liar
Prerequisite: Cha 19+, Bluff 9 ranks, Hold On A Sec
drop the 2d20 usage to 1 time per day. Add that if the Likeable Liar fails her bluff check by less than her Charisma modifier, she suffers no ill effects: the target laughs it off.

[Lysander]

You're right about the bonuses being too high and I like your stat/skill prerequisites, though I don't think Hold On a Sec should necessarily be the feat that unlocks them all. How about for Graceful Surrender +4 Diplomacy +4 Bluff with an additional +3 for the special "don't kill me" bonus to diplomacy. I don't think it's that high considering that you'd be getting pretty limited usage out of the feat. Unless your party loses and almost dies a lot lot.

[Erk]

You're right about the bonuses being too high and I like your stat/skill prerequisites, though I don't think Hold On a Sec should necessarily be the feat that unlocks them all. How about for Graceful Surrender +4 Diplomacy +4 Bluff with an additional +3 for the special "don't kill me" bonus to diplomacy. I don't think it's that high considering that you'd be getting pretty limited usage out of the feat. Unless your party loses and almost dies a lot lot.

I like Hold On A Sec as the prereq just because to me it seems to be the basic "unit of diplomacy" for these feats: getting hostile people to stop and listen to you, whether it is stop fighting, stop trying to kill you, stop being pissed off at the captor, or stop being mad about the little fibs you are telling.

Personally I like the 2,4,6 multiplier thingy they use for skill bonuses as standard in the RAW. I see your point about the "don't kill me" bonus: it is handy for the DM, the whole party, and the PC alone. Might I suggest +2 diplomacy/+4 bluff normally, with an additional +8 on the Don't Kill Me bonus then? If the bonuses are too high, it becomes a tactical point to intentionally lose battles to get the diplomacy bonus which I don't think is the point. However, the "don't kill me" part alone is almost exclusively useless except to prevent TPK: this is a Good Thing.

Also, add a clause that says even if the character is at negative hit points when the fight ends, they can stabilise just long enough to use this feat and dramatically barter for their friends' lives :elan:

[ArmorArmadillo]

Okay, the Save for "Hold on a Sec" can be as high as 35 at level 4.
Also, it doesn't entirely make sense: there are a lot of encounters where it doesn't seem like you could just talk everyone down. The way it is written, however, a high level character can stun a rampaging Balor.

[Lysander]

Well, the save is very high but it doesn't compel the person to actually do anything besides talk to you. So if you tried it on a Balor you could get them to stop and talk to you briefly but the conversation might just be:

"Wait! We don't have to fight!"
"Yes we do puny humans! Prepare to die!"
*Balor resumes attack*

[ChomZ]

Personally I like them.. it encurages more role playing and less hack and slash

[Lysander]

You're right that the diplomacy bonus for Gracious Surrender should be lower to prevent people from losing deliberately in order to sweet talk their foes. How about retooling Gracious Surrender so it doesn't provide general diplomacy bonuses but rather just bonuses to particular actions:

+2 Diplomacy when asking a foe to let you go ("You win, I won't bother you again", "You're damn good! I'll stay out of your hair from now on!" etc.)
+8 Diplomacy when convincing a foe to imprison your party rather than immediately executing them. This can result in either being locked up indefinitely in a dungeon, being given a trial, or just having some thieves keep you tied up their hide-out for a few days before they decide killing you is their only option.
+ 4 Diplomacy when asking for favors from a captor ("My friend needs medical attention!", "Can I have some water?", "My cell needs fresh straw", "I need to use the bathroom", "Please mail this letter to my family", etc.)
+ 2 bluff to all attempts to convince a foe that you only fought because of a misunderstanding and you should actually be neutral/allies to each other

[Erk]

Well, the save is very high but it doesn't compel the person to actually do anything besides talk to you. So if you tried it on a Balor you could get them to stop and talk to you briefly but the conversation might just be:

"Wait! We don't have to fight!"
"Yes we do puny humans! Prepare to die!"
*Balor resumes attack*
Suggestion: make it clear in the description that:
1) the target(s) has(have) to understand your language (duh)
2) failing the save confers no obligation to do anything but listen, and
3) Hold On A Sec does not affect the flow of combat. All characters maintain their regular initiative, action, et cetera; unless the target actively chooses to enter a much longer parlay, it is assumed that the duration of the Hold On A Sec effect is too small to affect spell and special ability durations or any other effect. It is, in effect, a "pause" button for the action in all ways.

Should the target choose to listen more closely and halt combat on a more palpable level (eg. warily setting their weapon aside and sitting down on a nearby rock) this "pause" effect ends, initiatives are lost, and the previous combat is considered over... but if they resume attacking quickly, they do so as though Hold On A Sec never occured.

[ArmorArmadillo]

Talking is already a free action; I'm not exactly sure what this does.
You're taking a feat just to give you the ability to make a diplomacy check to ask for a response that isn't even necessarily postive?

[Erk]

perhaps you don't have one of those DMs who appears to consider it a personal affront to suggest that you get to make a diplomacy check against an opponent. Having a feat to encourage DM cooperation would help a lot in the games I play in.

[Lysander]

This is a way of talking to enemies that might be beyond your ability to otherwise reach through maximized diplomacy. If you succeed with they will talk to you, however briefly. The diplomacy DC to get them to explain why they're attacking you might be 30, but with this feat as long as they fail their will save they will talk to you. It may not stop conflict but it could at least provide information:

"Wait, why are you attacking me!"
"The circle of demise will pay me dearly once I bring them your head!"