Bureaucracy (Proficiency)

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==Player's Option: Spells & Magic==
Bureaucracy: This proficiency encompasses a working knowledge of temple or government organization and protocol, and the skills necessary to navigate through bureaucracies. The character knows which officials to approach and when to approach them, where records are kept and how to gain access to them, and how to circumvent unfriendly or sluggish bureaucrats. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, the character can get permits or documents completed in half the normal time.
In addition to these skills, the character can attempt to turn the system against someone else. With a successful proficiency check, the amount of time required to make a decision doubles—permits are misplaced or filled out incorrectly, or important documents are held up on the wrong desk. For example, a character could keep a shady wizard from gaining permission to build a tower in the town, or he might obstruct a thief's request for bond or parole.
==The Complete Paladin's Handbook==
This proficiency encompasses a working knowledge of governmental protocol and the skills necessary to navigate bureaucratic organizations. A character with this proficiency knows which official to approach and the best time to approach him (a tax collector's aide may have better access to information than the tax collector himself; a city clerk may be less harried and more helpful at the beginning of the month than at the end). He knows where government records are kept and the procedures for examining them. He knows how to circumvent sluggish or uncooperative bureaucrats. He obtains permits and other government documentation in half the normal time. No proficiency checks are needed for any of these functions.
A character can also use Bureaucracy to turn the system against someone else. A successful proficiency check doubles the amount of time to make a government decision, causes a permit to be issued under the wrong name, or temporary misplaces an important document. A paladin must be careful with this ability, to avoid breaking the law and violating his ethos.
The Bureaucracy proficiency covers the governmental organizations in a particular region, usually the character's homeland. He may spend additional slots to expand the proficiency to other regions. Official organizations include government councils, regulatory boards, and church hierarchies. The proficiency is only effective when dealing with organizations of 10 or more members.
Crossover Groups: Priest, Rogue.
==Arabian Adventures==
Characters who boast this proficiency are skilled at dealing with large organizations such as local governments, court systems, and church hierarchies. Bureaucrats at heart, they can obtain favors, justice, and information when others would fail. The proficiency gives them knowledge of the system, patience with its component parts, and mental quickness in realizing whom to talk to and when.
The bureaucracy proficiency is only effective when a character is dealing with organizations of 10 or more people. The governing of a good-sized city, the adjudicating of a docket of cases before a pasha, the decisions of the official church—all require a large number of individuals, and the bureaucracy proficiency makes a difference. However, a group of village elders in a small town and the lord of an oasis have no need of complex organizations; nor are they impressed by a character who has skill in handling them.
Paperwork and red tape are no problem for characters with this proficiency. They know the proper protocol in dealing with clerks. They can prepare (or make sure others prepare) the required documentation, and they can vouch that all such matters are performed correctly. The normal issuing time for any documentation or permit is halved, and cases for reviews are guaranteed quick attention. No proficiency check is required.
This proficiency also may be used to turn organized groups against a certain individual, or to make sure that important documents are lost, information is given to the wrong person, or casework is brought up too soon (or forgotten entirely while a prisoner languishes in a dungeon). This kind of bureaucratic maneuver requires a successful proficiency check. If a natural 20 is rolled, the character attempting to pervert the wheels of truth and justice suddenly falls prey to the bureaucracy's own scrutiny. (At the DM's discretion, bribes may be required to set things right, or to prevent a short-term jail sentence.) Otherwise, a failed check doubles the normal amount of time for all decisions and/or issuances.
If individuals on both sides of an issue are trying to speed and slow the process, they cancel each other out if both proficiency checks succeed.
==Dark Sun Campaign Setting Revised==
The bureaucracy proficiency helps characters in situations involving officials, rules, and established routines. For example, a successful check shortens the time a character spends in a city lockup awaiting judgment. A successful check can also speed the process of gaining an audience with an important templar or other official.
The bureaucracy proficiency helps a character understand political hierarchies and who to consult to get a job done. A successful check also allows a character to pay 10% less on a tax levied against him; two successful checks in a row allow him to avoid the tax completely.
In addition to these examples, the bureaucracy proficiency functions in other ways (as allowed by the DM) to let a character understand and use (or abuse) bureaucratic systems with which he's familiar.
Category:The Complete Paladin's Handbook Proficiencies
Category:Player's Option: Spells & Magic Proficiencies
Category:Dark Sun Campaign Setting Revised Proficiencies
Category:Arabian Adventures Proficiencies