When a situation spirals out of control and war, trade conflcit, or any other clash of wills is ready to spin a region out of control, the diplomat is the first one to head to the front lines. She specializes in soothing hurt feelings, bridging the gap between two sides, and ironing out compromise. Often, the diplomat is caught in the crossfire, trying to mend fences that neither side truly wants restored. In many cases, one side sends in diplomats merely to delay the inevitable, hoping to catch their enemies off guard or buy time necessary to build up arms and troops.
Adventuring
Diplomats often turn to adventure as a way to earn more money from their skills. Most expeditions to foreign lands or alien environments attempt to hire a diplomat to serve as an envoy and unofficial spokesperson, helping smooth relations with humanoid species they encounter or foreign governments they must work with. Many expeditions that depart for the deepest areas of Oerth count on diplomats to help hammer out alliances with deep dwarves, gnomes, and other potentially friendly races in that hostile realm.
Role-Playing
Diplomats are compromise makers. They seek the middle ground in conflicts, trying to weigh the benefits and drawbacks offered by both positions and create a solution that keeps everyone happy, or at least equally discontent. In social situations they are extremely cool and collected, very rarely losing their focus in their diplomatic dealings. Diplomats can be maddeningly detached, refusing to allow emotion or extreme viewpoints to sway them from recognizing that one side is rarely completely in the right. Of course, diplomats are fully capable of recognizing right from wrong, they just are not quick to judge any group or viewpoint as one of the other without careful thought.
Bonuses
Diplomats excel in social situations. They deal well with a wide range of people, from courtiers to dockside thugs to alien humanoids. In non hostile conditions, creatures of any type are one degree friendlier to the diplomat.
Penalties
Diplomats are negotiators, and while they can hold their own in a fight they are generally prefer to talk their way out of a problem. As a result, they neglect their combat training and all attacks suffer. All attacks, spell or physical suffer from a -1 to hit, and a -1 to damage. This applies to spell damage or ability damage as well, to a minimum of 1