D&D (2024) Change in Charisma Description

[Minigiant]

To use wrestling terms, Charisma is selling and promo. It is getting the world to believe the most electrifying move in sports entertainment is a simple emblow drop.

It's the ability to express an image or visage of yourself to others and the world in the way you want it to be seen. Beauty is a way to do it as if you are beautiful, you can display yourself as beautiful to others.

However there are more images than raw beauty.

 

[Aldarc]

There you go. Charisma should include beauty. It's just a beauty we have a hard time wrapping our head around.

No, it shouldn't.

 

[Horwath]

Though humans hate to admit it, we do have a tendency to react to attractive people better than unattractive ones. Perhaps this would be a good example of a 1st level Feat, "Exceptional Beauty", rather than conflating attractiveness with Charisma?

Advantage on Persuasion, Deception and Perform checks vs anyone who would be sexually attracted to your kind by default?

 

[Vaalingrade]

Just what is Charisma, anyway? Why does a silver tongue help you manipulate your magic genes?

Because sometimes it is just straight up your 'soul power'. And dragon power is stored in the soul.

 

[MrGrenadine]

I thinks It’s reasonable to add as an option if players want to use it. Luckily, as with all things in the Great Game, Charisma can include physical beauty at your table/VTT if you want it to, but not if you don’t.

There doesn’t have to be a mechanical benefit or deficit to your adjustment, but if so, (maybe your setting — or part of it — is especially focused on whatever their definition of physical beauty is), you get to make that up, too.

As always, as long as a change is clearly communicated to the group, and doesn’t lead to less fun for you or your players, then what’s the down side?

 

[Scott Christian]

Attractiveness is subjective. While there are trends, physical traits have different qualities to different people based on their personal experiences, associations, and preferences. Often it's also directly in relationship to themselves, like someone preferring the appearance of women who are taller than themselves, which can rather vary between gnomes and goliaths.

And my specific reply to that was:

D&D, being a different universe, must have created a different norm for beauty. I mean, if you have elephant people, turtle people, cat people, dragon people, merfolk people, silver skinned people, orange skinned people, green skinned people, robot people, demon people, devil people, bearded women, etc. AND, all these people manage to live together, side by side, with nary a remark about how ugly the others are, then it stands to reason that they have a universal definition of beauty. One that translates across species. Of all the adventure paths and NPCs created by WotC, there is never a character that spouts stuff like: "Those dwarven women are hideous. Kissin' a scratchy beard - gross!" Never a disparaging remark about tails, horns, scales, or cloven feet. So they must have a universal view of beauty.

 

[Scott Christian]

Though humans hate to admit it, we do have a tendency to react to attractive people better than unattractive ones. Perhaps this would be a good example of a 1st level Feat, "Exceptional Beauty", rather than conflating attractiveness with Charisma?

I think this would be a great alternate method.

 

[Scott Christian]

Ultimately, what problem is this looking to solve? From what it sounds like, this has not even been an issue at OP's table, so why open this can of worms? If any table feels like they need to tie physical appearance to Charisma, there's nothing stopping them, but writing it into the rules would just lead to a lot of unnecessary tension, IMO.

I am simply trying to have the rules reflect the D&D universe. If you feel that beauty isn't appreciated, desired, admired, or even looked at in the D&D universe, then more power to you. But I believe anecdotally, more people believe it exists in that universe. So why not add one simple word to the already list of words that define charisma?

 

[James Gasik]

Advantage on Persuasion, Deception and Perform checks vs anyone who would be sexually attracted to your kind by default?

I predict that this could lead to arguments at some tables about who/what would be attracted to the character. Also, attractiveness need not be sexual either, and it's probably better to not specify it to that degree.

 

[Clint_L]

Just what is Charisma, anyway? Why does a silver tongue help you manipulate your magic genes?

I like the way you made it sound all sexy!