Diplomat
The diplomat is a master of interpersonal relationships, although every diplomat has their strengths and weaknesses, they are all able to forge agreements, reassure nervous adversaries, lead and inspire people. They can also deceive and misdirect people. Diplomats often find their way into leadership, but what they lead can be virtually anything.
Insightful diplomats are often scientific leaders or leaders in a profession, while resolved diplomats more often are leaders in the military, government or criminal organisations. Diplomats may be on a side of politics, a lobbyist on the part of an interest group, or they may be activists, agitating against the powerful.
Natural leaders
Most leaders emerge when the need arises, others impose themselves on a group. Agitators and activists tend to come from an immense inner drive for social justice. Some just find that they can talk their way into a fortune, or talk their way out of trouble. Some have a sense of adventure, a keen interest in the lives of others, and have a gift for telling their stories. Others just love to perform, they may have a story to tell, or they just love the attention.
In an adventuring party, the diplomat is usually the leader. As a Diplomat, you will find that people just seem to get behind you in spite of themselves.
Making a Diplomat
You should consider what life events drove or inspired you into being one of the Diplomat’s paths: entertainer, hustler, journalist, or partisan.
You can make a diplomat quickly by following these suggestions.
Choose Talents
Select the following 10 skills as talents:
Health, Focus, Perception, Resolve, Agility, Insight, Deceive, Perform, Persuade, Society.
Choose Background
Choose the noble background to optimise your initial skill range.
Apply Ranks Per Level
At each level (including the first), you distribute:
- 4 ranks to the range of skills, and
- 4 ranks to the range of techniques
presented under your chosen archetype.
The diplomat's primary skill is Persuade. You should try to have at least half your level as ranks on this skill.
Archetypes
The diplomat profession comes in four archetypes, with four separate skill spreads. These archetypes represent the type of diplomat you are; your areas of expertise. The archetypes are: entertainer, hustler, journalist and missionary.
Entertainer
An entertainer, uses their Persuade as well as skills in Deceive, Perform, even Agility, to delight and fascinate people through music, dance, stories, jokes, misdirection, or just witty conversation.
4 ranks spread to these skills
Qualifier: Disguise-Tools
General: Perception, Resolve, Agility, Insight, Deceive, Investigate, Perform, Persuade, Society
4 ranks spread to these techniques
General: Acrobatics (Agility), Disguise (Deceive|Perform*), Sleight-Of-Hand (Deceive), Enthral (Perform), Dance-Any (Perform), Instrument-Any (Perform), Inspire (Persuade), Interrogate (Investigate), Rally (Persuade), Staunch (Persuade)
* You can choose any of these skills to base this technique.
Hustler
A hustler is an inventor, schemer and dealmaker, who is good at identifying a need and finding ways to supply that need. They may be entrepreneurs, gangsters, smugglers or scammers. Hustlers that take ranks in Society and its techniques, can use these as technical aspects in Deceive, Insight, Investigate and Persuade.
4 ranks spread to these skills
Qualifier: Disguise-Tools, Scan-Tools, Surveillance-Tools, Vcl-Air, Vcl-Ground, Vcl-Space
General: Perception, Resolve, Insight, Stealth+BOD|ASP**, Deceive, Investigate, Perform, Persuade, Society
Combat: Cbt-Melee, Cbt-Ranged
4 ranks spread to these techniques
General: Disguise (Deceive|Perform*), Sleight-Of-Hand (Deceive), Interrogate (Investigate), Surveillance (Investigate), Enthral (Perform), Inspire (Persuade), Rally (Persuade), Spoil (Persuade), Bureaucracy (Society), Finance (Society), Law (Society)
* You can choose one skill to base this technique, if you need the technique under another skill, you must take the technique again, based on the new skill.
** You can choose one usage when putting your first rank on this skill, you must spend a rank on getting a second usage.
Journalist
A journalist collects, gathers, and on some occasions manufactures, information, and provides that information to a buyer or the public. In its pure form, journalism discerns the truth in the information, sifting it down to a more concise form. However it can also become a form of public relations or propaganda.
A journalists diplomatic skills come into play, especially around gaining information from those unwilling to give it. Out of the four diplomat archetypes the journalist has the largest spread of skills. This reflects the very broad nature of journalism, but it also means that you are more of a jack-of- all-trades, rather than having real mastery of anything. Journalists that take ranks in Society and its fine-fortes and any of the engineering fortes, can use these as technical aspects in Deceive, Insight, Investigate and Persuade.
The performance skill in journalism usually centres on the spoken or written word.
4 ranks spread to these skills
Qualifier: Aegis, Forensic-Tools, Scan-Tools, Surveillance-Tools, Vcl-Air, Vcl-Ground, Vcl-Space
General: Perception, Resolve, Insight, Stealth+BOD|ASP**, Antiquities, Science, Deceive, Investigate, Perform, Persuade, Society
Combat: Cbt-Melee, Cbt-Ranged
Engineering: Cybernetics, Genetics, Machinery, Materials, Medicine, Munitions, Neuronetics, Robotics
4 ranks spread to these techniques
General: Disguise (Deceive|Perform*), Sleight-Of-Hand (Deceive), Forensics (Investigate), Interrogate (Investigate), Surveillance (Investigate), Enthral (Perform), Inspire (Persuade), Rally (Persuade), Spoil (Persuade), Bureaucracy (Society), Finance (Society), Language (Society), Law (Society)
* You can choose one skill to base this technique, if you need the technique under another skill, you must take the technique again, based on the new skill.
** You can choose one usage when putting your first rank on this skill, you must spend a rank on getting a second usage.
Missionary
You are a true believer, an evangelist, a crazy ideologue, a thought-leader with a mission. Your beliefs may be religious, spiritual, political or philosophical, but whatever the cause, you have taken it all the way, and into the fibre of your being. Your diplomatic skills are in persuasion and inspiration, and your main performance is in oration. You will also have a smattering of other things to help you on your way through the world.
4 ranks spread to these skills
Qualifier: Aegis, QTM-Tools, Vcl-Space
General: Perception, Resolve, Insight, Stealth+ASP**, Deceive, Investigate, Perform, Persuade, Society, Survival
Psionic: Psimetabolism, Telepathy
4 ranks spread to these techniques
General: Clarity-Save (Insight), Interrogate (Investigate), Enthral (Perform), Inspire (Persuade), Rally (Persuade), Spoil (Persuade), Staunch (Persuade), Bureaucracy (Society), Finance (Society), Language (Society), Law (Society), Tenacious-Save (Resolve|Survival*)
Psionic: Annihilation (Telepathy), Domination (Telepathy), Empathic-Projection (Telepathy), Harm (Psimetabolism), Heal (Psimetabolism), Possession (Telepathy), Psychic Decoy (Psimetabolism|Telepathy), Resistance (Psimetabolism), Resurrection (Psimetabolism)
* You can choose one skill to base this technique, if you need the technique under another skill, you must take the technique again, based on the new skill.
** You can choose one usage when putting your first rank on this skill, you must spend a rank on getting a second usage. When assigning ranks to Stealth for the missionary, you always take the ASP usage.