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Message: <blockquote data-quote="newgrace" data-source="post: 3334824" data-attributes="member: 48178">I think the idea is he could stop someone from attacking him, not prevent someone from fighting.  So the first round of combat he could diplomacy the person to stop being hostile.Diplomacy is easily misused, but most PCs I see just dont use it at all.  Im a fan, and with its creative use, have managed to create many interesting situations.  Ive used diplomacy (with bluff) to keep a decent reputation in a town where a farmer I had threatened the previous day was "telling" on me in a busy tavern.  Luckily I had just spent a few hours buying rounds and using diplomacy on key figures to try and make friends.  So with bluff I changed his story to something credible and where I was the victim, then used diplomacy to try and keep the key figures from becoming indifferent or even hostile.Ive used it to convince a bard to stop singing bad songs about our party's exploits.I played an evil undead necro and convinced a ghast to give us information on the local area, and to not attack us.  I had to give him a bag of fingers I had collected earlier, and luckily ran into him far enough away from the party that he thought the bag a fingers a good meal.  I also made a deal to keep supplying him with body parts, altho the story hasnt enabled me to keep my bargain...hey, im evil, but i didnt lie, it just didnt work out.One of the games I ran I had a PC trying to use it on everything, and unfortunatly I didnt understand it well and it started causing frustrations as he was almost always successful.  So my main bad guys would convert over to being "helpful".  As they said above, even a helpful evil person may still kill you, you just may of talked him out of torturing you first.  Perhaps a twinge of guilt as he quickly finishes you off.  Hell, as a DM, you could really turn it on the PC for using diplomacy, and the bad guy quickly kills you rather than throw you in a cell to rot for a few weeks.So bluff is to lie, or to hide the truth, while diplomacy is to change the mood.  Good diplomacy could make the cities guards see you as a friend, and help you if they see you doing something "inappropriate".  Its a good way to gain a friend or cohort, and learn about a local area.  Diplomacy could make a local druids circle point you in the direction back to civilization, rather then leave you lost.Diplomacy is all about creativity, and you have to know what you are trying to accomplish.  Bluff is usually reactive, while diplomacy is proactive.  You have to be trying to accomplish something, not reacting to a situation...usually.Thats my view, and with a good social character, its a handy tool.</blockquote>

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