A character with 40+ to social skillchecks is always a problem, moreso in a PvP campaign. True, Diplomacy is only so useful against PCs, but there are also Bluff and, especially, Intimidate. Those two have mechanical consequences even against other players and may pretty much make the battle one-sided.
The Diplomancer in our campaign was given even more power - the "roll to change someone's attitude" rule is on, and he casually makes NPCs fanatical, which allows him, among other things, to bypass the Leadership ban, effectively giving him an epic-level followership (dealing with the mooks is not really relevant to the question, through this info somewhat helps to understand the scale of his build). The problem is to NOT join his followers/run away screaming as he casually "Boo"s his opponents with something akin to unbuffed +30 to Intimidate.
So, I've been thinking - how can other players deal with the Diplomancer enemy WITHOUT calling upon the mighty Rule 0?
So far, I"ve came up with these solutions:
- Getting immunity to Mind-Affecting effects. Aquiring Mind Blank, or an Undead type are the most obvious ways to get it. Afaik, "Protection from X" effects don't work against mundane manipulations, but maybe there's something else to become outright immune to morale effects
- Not hearing the Diplomancer. Casting Silence on him, or Deafness on yourself will be sufficient enough in most situations (through there ARE ways around that)
- Nova him before he can utter a word. This option is too situational to depend on (Scry-and-Die is a good variant to it, but it's still not a perfect solution)
Are there any other ways to counter a Diplomancer?
Additional question: how can a wizard counter a Diplomancer? Dips (like into a Paladin) are a bad idea for him, so it's all about feats, spells and avoiding Arcane Spell Failure. The lower character/caster level required, the better. Cheap-yet-effective solutions are fine as well (defining "cheap" being under 16k gold, through the less, the better). Bonus points for solutions that don't hinder communication at least within the team.