ezo
Get off my lawn!
Ok, so I haven't read all the responses and I am just throwing in my thoughts:
The character is making the Charisma checks with a roll, not the player with a role.
Players should never have to "role-play". If they choose to, you shouldn't penalize them if they can't do it well. You let the rolls decide if you find the "role" is insufficient.
You don't have to let Doug just mumble and have the NPCs go all "wow", you let the dice decide how the NPCs react. If Doug's PC has CHA 16, with expertise in Persausion at +8 (say 9th level) for a total of +11; then rolls a 15 for a 26 total, that will likley beat any DC you set.
Which means Doug's PC does what he is supposed to do, be the Faceman. Doug doesn't have to be an engaging, suave player to have his PC be the Faceman--all he needs to do is tell you what he wants his PC to do or say, and let the dice roll where they may.
You can't make minuses for yourself when you play or role-play. Only the DM can impose penalties. And you should not impose penalties for his "bad style of role play". He's trying, right? That's the important part.So all NPCs react badly to Doug's character, and when the rolls come up, he makes minuses for himself by his bad style of role play. And he has no interest in talking about it...or anything...and refuses to change.
Again, he should never get a penalty for playing. He is not his character. This is a game, not a play or movie, Doug doesn't have to be a first-rate actor or even mediocre. Let him role-play, and then *let him roll play".So....today....the other three players(not Doug or his sister) come to me after the game to talk about this. They want me to just "let Doug be the Face". So that when role playing, no matter what Doug says "for real", all NPCs act like his character is the Greatest Guy of All Time...and he never gets a minus to a roll.
The character is making the Charisma checks with a roll, not the player with a role.
He is putting forth a little effort, though. You really don't have the right to "hold him to the high standard". He's not a professional, he's there to have fun playing a game with everyone.I said no. I require players to put at least a little effort into role playing or just play the dull robotic way. As soon as a player starts to role play, I hold them to the high standard.
You aren't altering "game reality". Again, a player is not his character. The player can just tell you what they want the PC to do, and then roll. For example, suppose he wants to convince some guards on a patrol to tell him some information they normally wouldn't. The player can say, "My character approaches the guards and says something pursausive to convince them to tell me what we need to know." You respond, "Ok, roll a Charisma (Persuasion) check." The player rolls, you check versus whatever the DC you decided should be.And this is the Question as Old as the Game: what to do about the players that won't....or can't play the character they "want to be"? If the player "wants to be" something...does the DM alter game reality to make it so? Or not?
Players should never have to "role-play". If they choose to, you shouldn't penalize them if they can't do it well. You let the rolls decide if you find the "role" is insufficient.
The player doesn't have a Charisma score, the PC does. In this case, it sounds like the PC has a good Charisma score?If a player with a Low Charisma Score "wants" to play a Faceman, do you as the DM "just make it happen"? I'm not a fan....and worse I think it's harmful. Sure Doug could mumble something and I could have NPCs go all "wow" and I could completely prop Doug up as a False Faceman. And sure he will "feel good" for a few seconds. But it won't be real. He will KNOW he just mumbled some random words.....and he will KNOW I just "made the NPCs fo all 'wow' " just because he wanted me too. So he "wants to play a Faceman", but the only way he can do it is a completely false way. And I don't think that is good or healthy.
You don't have to let Doug just mumble and have the NPCs go all "wow", you let the dice decide how the NPCs react. If Doug's PC has CHA 16, with expertise in Persausion at +8 (say 9th level) for a total of +11; then rolls a 15 for a 26 total, that will likley beat any DC you set.
Which means Doug's PC does what he is supposed to do, be the Faceman. Doug doesn't have to be an engaging, suave player to have his PC be the Faceman--all he needs to do is tell you what he wants his PC to do or say, and let the dice roll where they may.