Waggling a Silver Tongue

<!-- if (!document.phpAds_used) document.phpAds_used = ','; phpAds_random = new String (Math.random()); phpAds_random = phpAds_random.substring(2,11); document.write ("<" + "script language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript' src='"); document.write ("http://ads.tentonhammer.com/adjs.php?n=" + phpAds_random); document.write ("&amp;what=zone:81"); document.write ("&amp;exclude=" + document.phpAds_used); if (document.referrer) document.write ("&amp;referer=" + escape(document.referrer)); document.write ("'><" + "/script>"); //-->

A Beginner's Guide to
Vanguard Diplomacy (Page 3)

By Ralsu

The full intent of this guide is
to give you a brief introduction of what Diplomacy is (Overview), an
explantion of Diplomacy mechanics (Basics and Advanced), a look at some
beginner Diplomacy quests (Competing Egos and Flesh to Stone), and a
hint of what might come after the entry-level quests (What Now?).



To help convey the complexities of the Diplomacy sphere, this guide
makes use of roughly 35 screen shots taken from Beta 4. The images will
appear small on this page, but you can click them to view the larger
version. Keep in mind that images taken from Beta 4 may not reflect
what the final product looks like.



To help you navigate this guide, use the links in the box below:
cellspacing="2">
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">

Waggling
a Silver Tongue

A Beginner's Guide to Vanguard
Diplomacy

href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=490#I">Overview href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=490#II">Basics href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=491#III">Advanced
Training
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=492#IV">Competing
Egos href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=492#V">Flesh
to Stone href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=492#VI">What
Now?

IV. Competing Egos

With a decent variety of cards at your disposal after completing basic
and advanced Diplomacy training, you are ready to for your last test.
If you can pass this test, your trainer will trust you with real
diplomatic missions. The Wood Elf trainer sent my budding diplomat to
arbitrate a dispute between two estranged, sentient swords (image 23).
Yes, I had to settle a fight between two talking swords. As my trainer
put it, I wasn't fit for Diplomacy against the wise elves of the forest
if I couldn't resolve the bickering of two swords.



Speaking to the swords worked no differently than when I was in
training. I gaged the amount of Expression in the parley window and
decided when I should play Assertions or just listen (image 24).
Eventually, I talked down both swords and got them to agree to go into
battle together again. To reward my efforts, the Diplomacy trainer gave
me a pair of nice baubles that would fetch a few coins with a merchant
(images 25-26). The rewards are typical of Diplomacy quests and
illustrate how a character could be a pure diplomat and still raise
enough money to travel the world.

cellspacing="2">
style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; width: 25%; vertical-align: middle;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album12&id=Woody_Diplomacy26&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Egos"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album12/Woody_Diplomacy26.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 160px; height: 250px;" align="middle">
style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; width: 25%; vertical-align: middle;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album12&id=Woody_Diplomacy28&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="sword"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album12/Woody_Diplomacy28.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 160px; height: 152px;" align="middle">
style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; width: 25%; vertical-align: middle;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album12&id=Woody_Diplomacy29&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="hatestone"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album12/Woody_Diplomacy29.sized.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 160px; height: 127px;" align="middle">
style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; width: 25%; vertical-align: middle;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album12&id=Woody_Diplomacy30&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="cat's eye"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album12/Woody_Diplomacy30.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 160px; height: 202px;" align="middle">
style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; width: 25%; vertical-align: middle;">23
- Competing Egos
style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; width: 25%; vertical-align: middle;">24
- One of the swords
style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; width: 25%; vertical-align: middle;">25
- Hatestone
style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center; width: 25%; vertical-align: middle;">26
- Cat's eye

V. Flesh to Stone

The trial Diplomacy quest (Competing Egos, in my case) prove your worth
to the Diplomacy trainer and earn you a shot at a mission that really
affects something. In my case, the trainer sent me to convince a woman
who turned four of his pupils to stone to return them to their normal
states (image 27). Things became more complicated when the woman who
turned the people to stone revealed that the students asked for the
transformation because my Diplomacy trainer had relegated them to the
chores of bird keepers (images 28-29). I want to note here that I often
made more progress by listening to the woman than I did playing my
cards. She quickly took any Expression I fed her and used it to tip the
parley scale in her favor.

cellspacing="2">
style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; width: 33%; vertical-align: middle;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album13&id=Woody_Diplomacy31&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="quest"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album13/Woody_Diplomacy31.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px; height: 320px;" align="middle">
style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; width: 33%; vertical-align: middle;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album13&id=Woody_Diplomacy32&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="deaconess"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album13/Woody_Diplomacy32.sized.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px; height: 121px;" align="middle">
style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; width: 33%; vertical-align: middle;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album13&id=Woody_Diplomacy33&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="requested"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album13/Woody_Diplomacy33.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px; height: 315px;" align="middle">
style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; width: 33%; vertical-align: middle;">27
- Flesh to Stone
style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; width: 33%; vertical-align: middle;">28
- Decon(ess) of Stone
style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; width: 33%; vertical-align: middle;">29
- The asked for it?

I would go on to learn that the trainer and the woman had once been
lovers. He suspected her because she left him and he thought she was
bitter. The students requested the transformation to escape the
overbearing instruction from the trainer. After going to speak to the
trainer again, I convinced him that the woman was not to blame, but he
stood firm in that these students were not cut out to be diplomats. it
was now my job to convince the students that life as bird keepers is
better than life trapped in stone (image 30). Once I had convinced the
students, I needed to convince the woman they were ready to be freed
(image 31). I wass again rewarded with some jewels to sell at the
market and had earned the full trust of my trainer. He deemed I was
finally ready to meet with a master diplomat.

cellspacing="2">
style="width: 50%; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album13&id=Woody_Diplomacy35&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="statues"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album13/Woody_Diplomacy35.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 400px; height: 320px;" align="middle">
style="width: 50%; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album13&id=Woody_Diplomacy36&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="free"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album13/Woody_Diplomacy36.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px; height: 320px;" align="middle">
style="width: 50%; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">30
- Convince a statue
style="width: 50%; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">31
- Finishing the job

VI. What Now?

Having jumped through all of the hurtles for your beginning diplomacy
trainer, you will be ready to go on to bigger challenges. Each
successful parley will give you Diplomacy points, and you will increase
your diplomatic rank as you gain more points. From my Wood Elf trainer,
I was able to get a title that identified me as a "Devotee of the Wind"
(image 32). A title like that is regional, but it is also possible to
gain titles that have meaning anywhere in the world. In fact, you could
become the ambassador for your people in the world of Telon!



For sure, check out the href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=30">collection
of Diplomacy information on the Ten Ton Hammer forums. It seems
Sigil wants Diplomacy to play a large part in the world of Telon. Plans
for diplomatic influence include causing NPCs in a city to want to
fortify defenses, causing more crafting requests to filter out into the
world.



Though little information is available, it also appears that diplomats
reaching the rank of ambassador could take on very important jobs
throughout the world. Border disputes, war strategies--who knows what
all Diplomacy will entail at launch?



I've also heard plans that will allow diplomats to specialize in
certain types of interlocution. Maybe you want to be an arbiter who
handles trade disputes. Or maybe you want to be a a bureaucrat who
helps the government run efficiently. Sigil's plan is for you to flesh
out your character in those ways. Of course, there are both benefits
and drawbacks to a specialization, and Sigil will need to do some
tweaking to get everything into place. I can't say for sure that this
feature will be available at launch.



Finally, one tidbit Vanguard Ten Ton Hammer Community Manager Karen
"Shayalyn" Hertzberg was able to confirm for us is that it is possible
to get killed because of poor parley. Say the wrong thing or lose the
parley, and a gang of thugs may just jump out to get you!



One final tip: specific types of parley may lock out an entire
Expression type. In my quest to convince the trainer to teach me more
about Diplomacy, neither of us had access to the Inspire line (read
lines on image 6 again). This would have been crippling in an important
situation if my hand were set up in an Inspire-heavy configuration.
Learn the types of parley and prepare well before each one.

cellspacing="2">
style="width: 50%; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album12&id=Woody_Diplomacy27&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="title"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album12/Woody_Diplomacy27.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px; height: 310px;" align="middle">
style="width: 50%; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album10&id=Woody_Diplomacy10&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="empty"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album10/Woody_Diplomacy10.sized.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 400px; height: 297px;" align="middle">
style="width: 50%; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">
style="width: 50%; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">