Intimidate/Very Low Charisma=Awe?

[taliesin15]

There were a couple of threads from November I think that had something dovetailing, at least to me.

In the thread over the skill of Intimidate, I kept wondering what about Dragon (and I think other monsters') ability to cause Awe? I remember that from 1st edition AD&D...

But I also remember (this relates to the Can Poison Kill thread) that 1st edition had it so that very low charisma scores could actually scare the daylights out of people--thus, the Cthuhlu Elder Gods all had like Charismas of -7.

Just somehow seems that Charisma scores could be related to the power to Awe or Scare characters. Have I missed something in the new rules?

 

[dontpunkme]

I've always wondered how charisma played into intimidate. Now call me a pansy, but if some 6'4" 280 lb horribly-scarred, foaming from the mouth half-orc (cha=6) is trying to scare the bejesus out of me, he's going to be a lot more successful then some pretty boy fancypants paladin (cha=16). I'm not sure what exactly would determine a good modifier for intimidate. Strength doesn't seem relevant either because some crazy necromancer with no str/cha could still scare me if he's doing all types of whacked out things.

 

[Cheiromancer]

I actually think that low charisma characters should be mostly neutral, boring and blah, with maybe a little irritating and unpleasant thrown in. A low charisma half-orc should look kinda pathetic and a little bit stupid; an inbred hick of some kind. The character's rage might not be apparent until it is too late; up until he attacks he looks like a big, fat loser who is drooling a little, and maybe talking to himself.

A big scared half-orc that actually is intimidating should be assigned a high charisma.

 

[Victim]

I actually think that low charisma characters should be mostly neutral, boring and blah, with maybe a little irritating and unpleasant thrown in. A low charisma half-orc should look kinda pathetic and a little bit stupid; an inbred hick of some kind. The character's rage might not be apparent until it is too late; up until he attacks he looks like a big, fat loser who is drooling a little, and maybe talking to himself.

A big scared half-orc that actually is intimidating should be assigned a high charisma.

Or enough ranks in intimidate to make up the difference. Not so effective at lower levels, but it works well enough later.

But intimidate isn't necessarily just raw scariness. Lots of things can be scary or dangerous, like an angry wizard or screaming 6' 8" half orc. But the skill is for projecting an sense of danger that a character can't necessarily back up, or for using the scariness of character effectively.

 

[Vrecknidj]

I don't like some of the third edition interpretations of abilities. After all, why should a paladin, a charming rogue and a sorcerer all have so much in common?

Nevertheless, it strikes me that "Charisma" in the current edition of the game means something closer to "self-confidence." Just as "Wisdom" means something closer to "perceptive."

Dave

 

[Olorin]

I think of Intelligence as "mental Dexterity", Wisdom as "mental Constitution" and Charisma as "mental Strength". It's not a perfect analogy, but it works well enough for me.

 

[Zweischneid]

I actually think that low charisma characters should be mostly neutral, boring and blah, with maybe a little irritating and unpleasant thrown in. A low charisma half-orc should look kinda pathetic and a little bit stupid; an inbred hick of some kind. The character's rage might not be apparent until it is too late; up until he attacks he looks like a big, fat loser who is drooling a little, and maybe talking to himself.

A big scared half-orc that actually is intimidating should be assigned a high charisma.

Second that...

 

[schulerta]

Half-Orc PCs should get a racial trait that allows them to use their Str or Cha for their ability modifier for Intimidate.

Troy

 

[Plane Sailing]

I've always wondered how charisma played into intimidate. Now call me a pansy, but if some 6'4" 280 lb horribly-scarred, foaming from the mouth half-orc (cha=6)

The problem is in your description!

A Cha=6 orc is 6'4" 280lb, horribly scarred but can't bring himself to roar at you or make a spectacle of himself. He lacks the self-confidence, poor thing.

Of course, with experience he can learn how to make the best use of his natural abilities by leaning the principles of intimidation.

 

[Thanee]

Yep, if you assign the Cha 6 (8 - 2) to your half-orc barbarian, then you got to live with the consequences.

Intimidate isn't for free.

Bye
Thanee