Diplomacy (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

You can use this skill to persuade others to agree with your arguments, to resolve differences, and to gather valuable information or rumors from people. This skill is also used to negotiate conflicts by using the proper etiquette and manners suitable to the problem.

Diplomacy is a language-dependent effect; you cannot use Diplomacy against a creature that does not understand you. Diplomacy is generally ineffective in combat and against creatures that intend to harm you or your allies in the immediate future.

Common Uses

Gather Information

You can use Diplomacy to gather information about a specific topic or individual. To do this, you must spend at least 1d4 hours canvassing people at local taverns, markets, and gathering places. The DC of this check depends on the obscurity of the information sought, but for most commonly known facts or rumors it is 10. For obscure or secret knowledge, the DC might increase to 20 or higher. The GM might rule that some topics are simply unknown to common folk.

Generally, this DC is the same as the DC of a Knowledge skill check to know the information; this assumes a relevant Knowledge skill and gathering information in places where such people gather. Learning information about a particular person is done with an opposed Diplomacy check.

If a Diplomacy check to gather information fails by 5 or more, rumors of the character asking around starts to spread. In addition, others can make opposed Diplomacy checks against the character gathering information to find out who has been asking around.

Action: Using Diplomacy to gather information takes 1d4 hours of work, searching for rumors and informants. If the character knows what they are looking for and where to ask it is faster; seeking the answer to specific questions in the right circles takes an hour.

Retry? Yes. You can retry Diplomacy checks made to gather information.

Influence Attitude

You can change the initial attitudes of non-player characters with a successful check. The DC of this check is 10 + 2 * the target's Will save modifier against charm effects. If you succeed, you improve the target's attitude to you by one step (see below), plus one additional step for every 10 points of margin on the roll. The hostile and helpful categories are special; to make someone helpful, or to move someone from hostile to unfriendly, takes an additional margin of success of 10. If you fail by 5 or more, you instead worsen the attitude by one step.

Any attitude shift caused through Diplomacy generally lasts for 1d4 hours but can last much longer or shorter depending upon the situation (GM discretion).

Action: Using Diplomacy to influence a creature’s attitude takes 1 minute of continuous interaction.

Retry? Yes. You can use Diplomacy to influence a given creature’s attitude more than once in a 24 hour period, but Diplomacy attempts after the first takes a minimum of 10 minutes of socializing. Creatures of indifferent or worse attitude are often unwilling to spend this much time, which might need a specific request.

Innocuous Spellcasting

A divine spellcaster (only) can use Diplomacy for innocuous spellcasting.

Make Request

Table: Diplomacy Requests

Current Attitude	Diplomacy DC
Hostile	25 + 2x Will Save
Unfriendly	20 + 2x Will Save
Indifferent	15 + 2x Will Save
Friendly	10 + 2x Will Save
Helpful	0 + 2x Will Save
Request	Modifier
High or low pay	±5
Expected/irregular behavior	±5
Risky	-5
Dangerous	-10 or more
Self-interest or threats	+5
Additional requests	-5 per request

You can make requests of the creature. This is a Diplomacy check, using the creature’s current attitude to determine the base DC read in Table: Diplomacy Requests, with the listed modifiers. The difficulty is twice the creature's Will save against compulsion effects plus a factor dependent on attitude. Once a creature’s attitude has shifted to helpful, the creature gives in to most requests without a check, unless the request is against its nature or puts it in serious peril. Some requests automatically fail if the request goes against the creature’s values or its nature, subject to GM discretion.

You can use the Bluff or Intimidate skills to veil a request, making it seem the request is in the creature's interest (Bluff) or to make it from a position of strength (Intimidation), either requires a skill check against 10 + twice the twice the creature's Will Save modifier against compulsion effects.

Action: Making a request of a creature takes 1 or more rounds of interaction, depending upon the complexity of the request.

Retry: Yes, but additional or repeated requests suffer a penalty.

Diplomacy Unchained

A character with the Signature Skill feat who reaches a skill modifier of +5, +10, +15, or +20 in a skill unlocks various bonuses and abilities unique to that skill.

With sufficient skill modifier in Diplomacy, you earn the following.

+5: The time required to influence a creature's attitude or gather information is halved.

+10: You can attempt to adjust a creature's attitude in 1 round by taking a –10 penalty. If you take 1 minute to adjust a creature's attitude, add your Charisma bonus to the number of hours that attitude change persists.

+15: You can attempt to adjust a creature's attitude in 1 round with no penalty. If you take 1 minute to adjust a creature's attitude, the duration of the resulting change is measured in days, not hours. You can gather information in 10 minutes by taking a –5 penalty.

+20: You can attempt to adjust a creature's attitude in 1 round with no penalty. If you take 1 minute to adjust a creature's attitude, the duration of the resulting change is measured in weeks, not hours. You can gather information in 1d4 minutes with no penalty.

Charm Magic and Diplomacy

Charm spells like charm person and charm monster gives a creature a helpful attitude. Most societies take a very dim view of using magic to gain an advantage over other creatures. Convincing a charmed creature that it was not charmed is as hard as improving the creature's attitude.

Action: Convincing a creature it was not charmed is not an action; it is a result of your treatment of the creature while it was charmed.

Retry: No.

The text in this article is Open Game Content. It is covered by the Open Game License v1.0a, rather than the Action copyright. To distinguish it, these items will have this notice. If you see any page that contains OGL material and does not show this license statement, please contact one of the Action administrators. Please note that images used in article may have different copyright than the text.