Emissaries

[The Pakkrat]

“We Emissaries are not naïve. We know that there will always be war. War is a small part of the sophont condition. Emissaries work hard to balance war with peace. Our mission is to maintain peace where we can and to keep war from turning into atrocity. Peace is not weakness. It is the strength to put down the weapons.” – Emissary Lokhsraerr Kel of Urzaeng Pack Kel addressing the Dhillourr Assembly Day of the Emissary Corps

They were in Classic Traveller. We saw them again in MegaTraveller. Imperial Noble (Diplomats), Zhodani or Aslan Envoys, and Vargr Emissaries are found in both Mongoose Editions. Today, in Traveller⁵we see that Agent is the Career that includes these terms of Ambassador, Negotiator, Diplomat, Mediator, Envoy, Emissary; they are Representatives of an empowering polity, corporation or organization.

Emissary, to me, seems to be like the quoted address above. Yet, how does one prepare to become one during Traveller⁵ Education? We see that Diplomat Skill is available in L, Law School only, (chart page 40). Yet when a sophont enrolls in Law School, only Advocate-2 is awarded. So, the question becomes when in Education does a character learn Diplomat before entering a Career? Clearly Diplomat is meant to be learned before deciding on a professional path. It is definitely not a Personals Skill. Neither is Diplomat a Knowledge, (i.e. learned in pattern K, K, S). So, when in ED5 school, Trade School, College, University, Academy, Medical or Law School does a youngster learn to be diplomatic in the formal negotiating description in the Skills section?

One school of thought is to supplant Advocate-2 learned in Law School for Diplomat-2. Interstellar Law School for keeping the peace, perhaps?

Want your offspring to become an Agent (Diplomat, Envoy, Emissary, Negotiator, Mediator, Representative, etc.) someday? How shall you topdeck or stack your kid with Diplomat Skill early on?

Questions from pack-minded.

 

[robject]

Clearly Diplomat is meant to learned before deciding on a professional path.

This does not seem clear to me, since Diplomat is a "regular occupation", but I get where you're going with it.

It's like a Doctor. You should be able to get medical skill in school, and then you become a doctor. But, perhaps the training just prepares you to be a "Doctor" (but then, we don't have "Doctor" skill in T5, do we?)? The "doing", the career, is where you become the thing you learn about in school.

 

[The Pakkrat]

I could see taking the youngster, putting them through Education, with Diplomat as a Major and Liaison as a Minor and then grooming them for theoretical authority as a Scholar Career or applied, field work as an Agent. One, the Scholar, stacks much on just two Skills, becomes published and Tenured and respected among peers and colleagues. But are they prepared to negotiate for a polity, a megacorporation, religion, or other organization? It is the Agent that has all the other skills (and terms of experience) to make good on Diplomat and Liaison and survive the wolves in the field.

The problem remains. How does one designate a Skill only available in L (Law School) as a Major or Minor? Just the fact that the L is there, on the chart on page 40, tells us that it is meant to be developed in Education, well before taking a Career.

A Scholar can easily max out (Skill-15, Knowledge-6) their Major and perhaps their Minor. But then they become a one-trick Poni. An Agent has the field experience and the authority of the entity they represent. But how does one nab that elusive Diplomat Skill during Education? How well one does with Diplomat during Education can mean the difference between more than a few Careers that have slim chances of awarding Diplomat, just as valuable Liaison, and of course Bureaucrat, Admin and Advocate. A graduate of any level of school that developed Diplomat can give the character a better plan toward Careers that might serve as an Emissary.

(And don’t get me started up by suggesting a Vargr take the Noble Career. Explain to me how that keeps with the Major Race, especially outside the Third Imperium.)

 

[robject]

(And don’t get me started up by suggesting a Vargr take the Noble Career. Explain to me how that keeps with the Major Race, especially outside the Third Imperium.)

That is an interesting problem, as there is no corresponding career for Charisma or Caste.

 

[Merc465]

Diplomacy: Job, Career, Profession, Calling, Trade, or Vocation

Fascinating to observe what is a real-world conversation (with real-world consequences) take place on this topic through the reality-lense provided by Traveller.

Some nation's diplomatic corps are selected from promising university or graduate students and sent to special diplomatic schools or academies that feed directly into that nation's foreign service. They then work their way up through a succession of postings at home and abroad, in their nation's "home office" (i.e., Foreign Ministry or State Dept.) or as part of individual missions, embassies, legations, consulate, and the like.

Our own (the U.S.) uses a different model (or blend of models) for its foreign service officer (FSO) accession and career progression, and that model evolves over time.

One interesting book on a completely different system I found was Godsey's "Aristocratic Redoubt: The Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office on the Eve of the First World War".

I could see taking the youngster, putting them through Education, with Diplomat as a Major and Liaison as a Minor and then grooming them for theoretical authority as a Scholar Career or applied, field work as an Agent. One, the Scholar, stacks much on just two Skills, becomes published and Tenured and respected among peers and colleagues. But are they prepared to negotiate for a polity, a megacorporation, religion, or other organization? It is the Agent that has all the other skills (and terms of experience) to make good on Diplomat and Liaison and survive the wolves in the field.

The problem remains. How does one designate a Skill only available in L (Law School) as a Major or Minor? Just the fact that the L is there, on the chart on page 40, tells us that it is meant to be developed in Education, well before taking a Career.

A Scholar can easily max out (Skill-15, Knowledge-6) their Major and perhaps their Minor. But then they become a one-trick Poni. An Agent has the field experience and the authority of the entity they represent. But how does one nab that elusive Diplomat Skill during Education? How well one does with Diplomat during Education can mean the difference between more than a few Careers that have slim chances of awarding Diplomat, just as valuable Liaison, and of course Bureaucrat, Admin and Advocate. A graduate of any level of school that developed Diplomat can give the character a better plan toward Careers that might serve as an Emissary.

(And don’t get me started up by suggesting a Vargr take the Noble Career. Explain to me how that keeps with the Major Race, especially outside the Third Imperium.)

 

[The Pakkrat]

A Sample Emissary

So, I tried my best today to garner as many Diplomat levels as I could without using the Scholar Career and instead using the Agent career for an authorized, Vargr Emissary.

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?p=591212#post591212

Diplomat should be easier than this without having to rely on Career, (least of all Noble).