I think the Diplomat’s win condition could be changed to:
“Survive with the Starting King until the end, or you must see an associate crowned King.”
This means that you don’t HAVE to get the king killed to win, but if they do, you have a chance of completing your objective and not care if you get killed.
The Starting King has a very strong ally in the Diplomat then, and the King could consider covering for a Diplomat.
A class that is designed around the Starting King to die is pretty poor for gameplay IMO. The Starting King is already subject to Butler Poison and many times NK wants the King out as the double vote is problematic against them. To add even more classes that just wants him out with only 2x DI Guards is kinda bothersome as few wants to aid him.
In addition this class cannot actually do anything to force that outcome, they can just hope for it to happen. Or they lose.
With that in mind, I think it could use some revisions.
The Diplomat
Shield of Bureaucracy (passive): You are death immune at night. Lose this passive after you are attacked.
Diplomatic Immunity (passive): You are immune to occupation and redirection.
Make Acquaintances (Day ability - inf uses): Make target non-king player your associate at the beginning of the following night, they gain Royal Blood for as long as they remain your associate. You get the feedback of your associate’s nightly actions for as long as they remain your associate. Replaces any previous associates. (Votes for electing players with Royal Blood to be King counts twice. Cancels and becomes unavailable for the rest of the day if the king is executed by trial.)
Whispers in the Night (Night ability - inf uses): Select two target non-king players. For the rest of the night, those two can speak to each other. You can hear them. (You can target yourself.)
Slip Poison (Night ability - 1 use): Attack target player with poison. (Cannot target the Starting King. The first time an Associate is executed by trial, gain one use on this ability. Becomes unable to use when you complete your objective.)
Win condition: Survive with the Starting King until the end, or live to see an Associate crowned King.
This is different from the OPs build for a number of reasons.
I removed the death immunity of the Meeting and put it as a passive so it is more in line with other Neuts like Scorned and Inquisitor. Additionally it seemed bad to allow too much death immunity all around.
I was considering removing the OCC immunity because it didn’t feel necessary, but I kept it for class claiming.
In that connection I think it would be fitting to say now that Mystic and Diplomat are mutually exclusives. You cannot have both in a match. Mystics are usually not a prized convert target, so in general you should not fret Cultseen too much nor should the Court fear your conversion.
I removed the Rig Ballot as it seems really chancing and not very enticing to use. Instead I had the Associate naturally gain Royal Blood (double election votes) for as long as they remain your Associate. This means two things: They are more likely to be elected king, and they appear incompatible with other Royals for Maid’s Matchmake.
I made it so the Make Acquaintances cancels if the King is executed by trial, so you cannot use the Associate system to gather intel and immediately jump ship once the winds have changed to get a quick win. You need to plan it a bit.
The Associate still needs to be a claim that many will vote for before it goes through.
Since this class is a Social, I thought you should be able to gain some info as well. I thought about removing the Poison for an invest-type ability, but figured it strange for an invest to be OCC immune and thought the main ability to use at night should be the Linking. That’s the reason I made it so you receive the feedback of your Associate (including attacks and conversions). This also means you will know the class of your Associate and can use this in your gameplan.
You can use this intel to fake claim an invest too, since you get the feedback of your Associate, you will know what class they are or most likely are. You can then use that claim to sway the Court down the line, either to kill an innocent or condemn the Cultseen/NK by outing them.
One thing the Diplomat can do, is be a backstabber. Just like in politics, you may play one horse until another is more profitable.
However being an open snitch may cause you harm from those you betray. So you have the option to leak info through whispers and through your Night Whispers.
Getting your Associate killed through treason could be a plan to replenish the charge of poison to open up the election for a new king by killing an elected (but not associated) king or close out the game with the Starting King.
You can use the feedback to sus them out and have the Court execute them.
I changed the Meeting to Whispers so it can occupy the same chat tab as Mystic and give you the claim of Mystic by giving you access to both “Link Minds” and “Conduit” the same way Invoker has access to both Debauchery and Happy Hour in one ability.
(Personally I would really like to see Telepathy removed from the game, as it doesn’t really add anything that the whisper system couldn’t occupy instead. At least I haven’t seen the Telepathy ability used to make the Mystic anonymous be impactful. It has been reduced to a mechanical confirmation of Mystic and in a Cult game it can prod at Apostles turning CL. If not removed/changed it could be added to this class.)
The Slip Poison is kinda a dangerous thing to adjust too much on, as the class is not meant as a Killer, but it still requires some way to give it the means to secure its win condition. The class naturally has OCC and redirect immunity, so the attack is guaranteed but can be stopped by defend, healing, delay or death immunity. It could be considered to give it bypass on death immunity but I figure that would be miserable as Mastermind or Neutral Killer, so instead I opted for gaining one more charge if an Associate is executed by trial.
Having kills available also means you can more easily push for a win with the Starting King, whatever faction they might be.
Creating a neutral class that has a strong connection with the Starting King is actually something that seems quite appealing and refreshing for the meta. At least IMO.
