Charisma! What's it for?

Mr. Analog · July 21, 2006, 10:09:53 AM

Did you know that NPCs have a default disposition? A town guard might be neutral to you but mostly suspicious while an innkeeper might be totally neutral to you and a Bugbear might be outright hostile toward you. Did you know that you can try to change the disposition of the NPC by rolling a D20 and adding your charisma modifier? Well it's true! Grumpy old King Jerkwad might become your biggest fan if your character seems very charismatic. It's not like a charm person spell though which is a form of control exerted on you usually by some vile (and possibly lonely) monster.

Lazybones · July 21, 2006, 10:12:18 AM

Hmm that could go hand in hand with bluff...

Ustauk · July 21, 2006, 10:46:59 AM

With a -1 to his charisma modifier, Ustauk would probably get himself shot if he tried that

Mr. Analog · July 21, 2006, 11:01:17 AM

Quote from: Lazybones on July 21, 2006, 10:12:18 AM
Hmm that could go hand in hand with bluff...

Well, kinda, charisma is something that is part of your characters character. That indefinable quality that seperates the George Clooneys from the Gary Buseys. You can bluff King Jerkwad into thinking you're a rich merchant and if you are naturally charismatic it shows through so you become a rich charismatic merchant to the eyes of the bluffed King. Now, on the other hand if you had lower charisma but still had a successful bluff or disguise skill you'd be an uncharismatic rich merchant.

Charisma can be many things; a character might be physically attractive or they might just be a quirky personality (think Jack Nicholson).

Thorin · July 21, 2006, 02:23:09 PM

Someone's been reading The Books at work again.

Yes, there are five levels of attitude: Hostile, Unfriendly, Indifferent, Friendly, and Helpful. Trying to affect said attitude is done as a Diplomacy check. Diplomacy is a Charisma-based skill that can be used untrained, therefore you can make a Diplomacy check if you have no ranks and it's effectively the same as a Charisma check.

Diplomacy detailed here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/diplomacy.htm

Bluff is different from Diplomacy in that with Bluff you're trying to convince the other person that something is true when it's not, whereas with Diplomacy you're just trying to establish or improve a relationship (by being more likable).

Bluff detailed here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/bluff.htm

Darren Dirt · July 23, 2006, 02:57:17 AM

Well, Ms. "Opal" didn't seem very "disposed" to sharing much valuable information tonight -- ah well, musta been my chaotic nature

Thanks to Lazy, Thorin, the unappreciated Ustauk, and the enthusiastic Mr. Analog for including me in the fun... and sorry, Tom, that your perfect 10-pack of crossbow bolts has been reduced by 2

Thorin · July 23, 2006, 02:52:44 PM

Y'know, if you're interested in reading the rest of our D&D-related session posts, ask the Mighty Administrators to add you to the right group... Then you could post something like that previous post in the right place

Tom · July 23, 2006, 04:57:02 PM

Quote from: Darren Dirt on July 23, 2006, 02:57:17 AMsorry, Tom, that your perfect 10-pack of crossbow bolts has been reduced by 2.

ACtually, looking at my rough reccord keeping, it was at 6 to begin with

Unless I rememberd to buy some more, and forgot about it, I doubt it though (but it could have easily happened), so I'm down to 4 now

Darren Dirt · July 23, 2006, 07:06:22 PM

Well the 2nd one was essentially wasted on an undead guy wrapped in brown cloth fibres...

But the 1st was well spent, piercing an annoying lizard (the heat was really getting to me

)