With the APG and a few other sources, we've got some pretty decent Diplomacy feats:
Bon Mot
Evangelize
Inspiring Marshal Stance
Personally, I love making face characters, so I wanted to hopefully see if anyone found some good items/feats to get your diplomacy bonus as high as possible so we can reliably make use of some of these:
- Oathkeeper Dwarf gets a +2 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy Checks when telling the truth (Probably need to take the voluntary flaw to get CHA up to a 10 or 14 total).
- Cloak of Repute, Diplomat's Badge - +1 Item bonus (+2 against certain creatures from the badge)
- Breastplate of Command (+2 or +3 Item Bonus with greater version)
- Messenger's Ring (+2 or +3 Item Bonus with the greater version)
So if you have a 'brutally' honest dwarf fighter who 'tells it like it is' when trying to insult others or inspire others to arms then to enter your marshal stance you'd be sitting at:
At level 5:
- +15 = +3 (CHA=16) +4 (Expert Diplomacy) +5 (Level), +2 (Circumstance from heritage) + 1 (item bonus) Vs. a DC20.
At Level 10:
- +24 = +4 (CHA=18) +6 (Master Diplomacy) +10 (Level), +2 (Circumstance from heritage) + 2 (item bonus) Vs. a DC27.
At Level 15:
- +31 = +4 (CHA=18) +8 (Master Diplomacy) +15 (Level), +2 (Circumstance from heritage) + 2 (item bonus) Vs. a DC34.
For Bon Mot and Evangelize these are against the creature's will save but they also stack (one is from the stupified condition and one is a circumstance penalty). So a 3 action turn could be Bon Mot, Evangelize, Demoralize just so you could hit way better chance of Frightened 1 or 2 on the demoralize.
But the swing from Diplomacy to Intimidate is great and with adopted ancestry maybe could trigger remorseless lash/agonizing rebuke from the hobgoblin. A fighter could really make use of the intimidating strike feat because they'll be running with that +1 status bonus reliably so your 'intimidate check' is now with a Item bonus from weapon runes, +1 status, possibly flatfooted, an extra +2 from weapon proficiency as a fighter at many levels, etc. Throw in terrified retreat and now you've got a target that could be fleeing for easy AoO's (perhaps you're using a flail or other weapon group and sometimes on crits you drop the creature to the floor). There is a lot of synergy.
Sample Build:
Dwarf (not all feat/level combos are represented)
L1 - Unburdened Iron
L1 - Sudden Charge
L1 - Intimidating Glare
L2 - Marshal Dedication
L2 - Bon Mot
L3 - Adopted Ancestry (Hobgoblin)
L4 - Inspiring Marshal Stance
L4 - Intimidating Prowess
L5 - Agonizing Rebuke
L6 - Intimidating Strike
L7 - Ancestral Paragon (Remorseless Lash)
L8 - Evangelize
L8 - Shatter Defenses (maybe something else as it likely crosses over with the remorseless lash)
L10 - Terrifying Retreat
