Yelling: “THE OTHER STATS ARE THERE TOO LIKE INTELLIGENCE AND STRENGTH! CHARISMA ISN’T A “POWER” AND MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY DUMP IT BUT…”
I dunno, of course there’s rizz as a stat. Strength is how well you bonk and charisma is how well you talk. You don’t need to be able to lift what you character can and charisma can reflect more subtle things that, even if you could irl, are harder to work into a game. That said, even with -1 I regularly get through conversations because my DM rewards good roleplaying by not making us roll for everything.
That said, even with -1 I regularly get through conversations because my DM rewards good roleplaying by not making us roll for everything.
And that’s something to be applauded. Many tables seem to forget that checks are called by the DM, not the player. There’s a huge difference between role play and roll play. Lots of players will try to take the Observant perk, min-max their Perception, walk into a room, and immediately go “I want to make a Perception check!”
Okay… What specifically are you looking at with that check? Because if the answer is just “I look around the room” then that doesn’t require a check; That’s just using your passive Perception, and if you had waited just a moment I was going to describe the room to you anyways.
If you want to look under the bed, I may call for a check to see if you notice the trap door under the rug, while you’re on the ground looking under the bed. Or if you want to search the wardrobe, I may call for a check to see if you notice the false back with a hidden compartment. But if you just want to glance around the room, my only description is going to be the obvious things that you notice around the room with your passive Perception. I won’t mention the slightly askew candelabrum (it’s a lever for a hidden door), the scratch marks on the floor (where the door rubs it when it opens), or the slight draft from the seam around the door unless your passive Perception is high enough, or you’re specifically looking at something near one of those things where you would be able to notice it.
I used Perception as an example, but many players try to do the same with Charisma skills like Deception or Persuasion. Sure, there may be times where you’ll need to lie to some NPC. But don’t just say you want to make a Deception check. Lie to me (as the NPC) and if the NPC’s passive Insight is high enough (or the lie is bold enough) I’ll call for a Deception check. But if it’s a small lie that would be reasonably believed, I usually won’t even bother calling for a check, because you as the player made it believable. Same with Persuasion or Intimidation. If you as the player drop some sort of stone cold line to intimidate a character, I likely won’t even bother calling for an Intimidation roll. Or if I do, (maybe it’s an intimidating line, but the NPC isn’t easily intimidated), I’ll be sure to at least give the player advantage.
I have also done things like allowing a barbarian to add their strength modifier to an Intimidation check, because they were trying to use their strength to intimidate. Intimidation is classed as a Charisma skill (which Barbarians usually dump) but sometimes it makes sense for people to be intimidated by things other than words. If a barbarian single-handedly takes out six goblins in one turn, I may have that barbarian roll Intimidation against the rest of the group to see if any turn and flee after seeing it happen. Because I want to be sure to reward good role play, not just leave players at the mercy of RNGesus.
To myself: “it’s a joke it’s a joke it’s a joke…”
Yelling: “THE OTHER STATS ARE THERE TOO LIKE INTELLIGENCE AND STRENGTH! CHARISMA ISN’T A “POWER” AND MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY DUMP IT BUT…”
I dunno, of course there’s rizz as a stat. Strength is how well you bonk and charisma is how well you talk. You don’t need to be able to lift what you character can and charisma can reflect more subtle things that, even if you could irl, are harder to work into a game. That said, even with -1 I regularly get through conversations because my DM rewards good roleplaying by not making us roll for everything.
Sorry for the ramble.
And that’s something to be applauded. Many tables seem to forget that checks are called by the DM, not the player. There’s a huge difference between role play and roll play. Lots of players will try to take the Observant perk, min-max their Perception, walk into a room, and immediately go “I want to make a Perception check!”
Okay… What specifically are you looking at with that check? Because if the answer is just “I look around the room” then that doesn’t require a check; That’s just using your passive Perception, and if you had waited just a moment I was going to describe the room to you anyways.
If you want to look under the bed, I may call for a check to see if you notice the trap door under the rug, while you’re on the ground looking under the bed. Or if you want to search the wardrobe, I may call for a check to see if you notice the false back with a hidden compartment. But if you just want to glance around the room, my only description is going to be the obvious things that you notice around the room with your passive Perception. I won’t mention the slightly askew candelabrum (it’s a lever for a hidden door), the scratch marks on the floor (where the door rubs it when it opens), or the slight draft from the seam around the door unless your passive Perception is high enough, or you’re specifically looking at something near one of those things where you would be able to notice it.
I used Perception as an example, but many players try to do the same with Charisma skills like Deception or Persuasion. Sure, there may be times where you’ll need to lie to some NPC. But don’t just say you want to make a Deception check. Lie to me (as the NPC) and if the NPC’s passive Insight is high enough (or the lie is bold enough) I’ll call for a Deception check. But if it’s a small lie that would be reasonably believed, I usually won’t even bother calling for a check, because you as the player made it believable. Same with Persuasion or Intimidation. If you as the player drop some sort of stone cold line to intimidate a character, I likely won’t even bother calling for an Intimidation roll. Or if I do, (maybe it’s an intimidating line, but the NPC isn’t easily intimidated), I’ll be sure to at least give the player advantage.
I have also done things like allowing a barbarian to add their strength modifier to an Intimidation check, because they were trying to use their strength to intimidate. Intimidation is classed as a Charisma skill (which Barbarians usually dump) but sometimes it makes sense for people to be intimidated by things other than words. If a barbarian single-handedly takes out six goblins in one turn, I may have that barbarian roll Intimidation against the rest of the group to see if any turn and flee after seeing it happen. Because I want to be sure to reward good role play, not just leave players at the mercy of RNGesus.
Charisma may affect how well you bonk or at least how often you get a chance to, although perhaps we are thinking of bonk in different senses.
Ah, common mix-up, you’re thinking of boinking.
It’s not like we had any of these either
Just kidding, I know where the door is
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I feel like charisma would have an impact on how well you bonk, or at least how often.
I was waiting for this comment, lol