Rogue/Paladin - so, when can I Bluff?

[Nyeshet]

Wouldn't that be diplomacy if speaking the truth, and bluff if lying?

Actually, no. I've long viewed 'Diplomacy' as another way of saying 'Negotiation' or 'Barter.' In effect you are conversing, offering debate, argument, and counter argument to shift the view of another, often with the aim of getting the other to do (or not do) something. In a formal situation is can even be akin to 'Ceremony,' as a high number of ranks suggests you know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it to gain the best advantage of the situation. Bluff grants a synergy check to Diplomacy because it can aid the various surprises, deceptions, etc occasionally used in Diplomacy.


Or, at least, that is how I see the skill.


Getting back on thread topic, so long as it is not a direct lie, a Paladin should be able to use Bluff, although I admit that limits him to deception by omission (such as the 'which king' example) and deception by implication (although, as already stated, the implication cannot lead towards the harming of an innocent).

 

[delericho]

Have you read Jordan's The Wheel of Time series? The Aes Sedai have become masters at making people believe something without lying (they physically can't speak something they believe untrue). There's a quote:

An Aes Sedai never lies, but the truth she speaks may not be the truth you think you hear.
-saying concerning sisters of the White Tower​

The Aes Sedai are a wonderful example of subverting the spirit of a code to adhere to the letter of the code, but there are a very poor example of the sort of honour that should be expected of Paladins. Frankly, telling an outright lie is more honest than carefully phrasing and shading statements so they're each technically true while deliberately duplicitous and misleading.

IMO, of course, but a Paladin in my campaign whose notions of honesty matched those of the Aes Sedai wouldn't be a Paladin very long.

 

[iwatt]

IMO, of course, but a Paladin in my campaign whose notions of honesty matched those of the Aes Sedai wouldn't be a Paladin very long.

That's what I meant by stressful for the paladin

I doubt you could write The Prince, and remain a paladin for long, but careful parsing of your grammar infrequently used wouldn't be a code breaker IMC. YMMV