Another experiment has more or less played out to its conclusion. When I made up my character for 4th Edition D&D, I designed him to be a non-combatant. I wanted to see how the new rules would handle that. I gave him maximum points in Diplomacy and spent all my feats on languages.
As a diplomat, he didn’t fare very well, but I’m not sure it’s entirely 4th edition’s fault.
It was my choice to be a thief. This was probably not the best class for a diplomat.
I didn’t show up regularly to the game, and as such missed some of the best opportunities for diplomacy
I didn’t put in the time to properly learn the rules, so someone else leveled up my character for me.
It may not have been the best campaign for a diplomat, but by the same token I can think of very few scenarios that really are geared for diplomacy, and so I think that D&D by it’s nature really is a “kill them and take their stuff” game. And I knew that was true from previous editions going in, but I still felt it was worth the time to do this test to see if any paradigms had changed in the new edition. The biggest downside unfortunately was that the rest of the group had to deal with a character who didn’t fit in. So, K’hlwch Dodsworth Smelt, R.I.P.
On to the next character, whatever and whenever that may be.
On a semi-related note, one of the things I’ve found about 4th edition is that leveling up happens more often. For a guy who has a hard time keeping track of the myriad of powers that a character has, I found that before I could familiarize myself with my character, he’s already changed.
Here’s a thought. If you want to play a character that can talk his way into and out of trouble, let’s tweak your Burning Wheel character. BW has a social “combat” mechanic that’s better than its actual combat mechanic, and the way the rules work, the results are binding–so there’s no having your hard won gains swept away by a sudden encounter.
I reckon Khlwch will retire back to Elkridge, where his Bluff skills had landed him in the welcome embrace of two strapping peasant sisters (one or both of whom are now carrying half-eladrin Khlwch spawn).