Xahn'Tyr said:The Diplomacy check should just be used to "translate" what the player says into what the character says and how the character says it. If your player just says "I'll use Diplomacy on the Guards" rather than even trying to roleplay through it, then you are just playing Diablo with dice.
I totally agree with you at this point. However, how would role-play a PC with for example INT 5 and a high diplomacy skill? The PC maybe a little bit too dumb to find the right things to say to a guard. On the other hand, he should be able to talk his way through the guards...
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It's not difficult to get ultra-high Diplomacy checks with the proper skills, feats, and PrCs (not to mention the too-cheap magic items for boosting skills). If you let a PC just "turn off" combat with a single die-roll, your game is going to become un-fun rather quickly (at least for all the non-Diplomats in the group). [/B]
There are a lot of ways to "turn off" combat with a single die-roll. A psion's Mind Blast (providing he rolls a high DC) is one which comes to my mind...
Furthermore, as a DM I have heard complains by my players that they want to circumvent combats by negotiations, etc. more often.