D&D 5E Charisma- Good ability ... or OMNIVOROUS DESTROYER OF D&D?

[Valetudo]

Remember when charisma was THE dump stat? Honestly though I think the scholar bard should have used INT instead. I liked the pally switching from wis. I think its all the cha multiclassing that people get annoyed with. Its just so easy.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I honestly think the fact that *so* many classes have Cha as a primary or secondary Ability Score is what makes me not what to play any of them. It really makes a barbarian, fighter, or ranger feel more special.

 

[Yardiff]

My opinion, if your going to change the stats like others have mentioned then you should have str as damage only and dex as to hit only.

 

[Lanefan]

In 1e, Charisma was the God stat. Who cares that Strength let you add 3 to your damage, when charisma let you go into a dungeon with 8 other dudes who would die for you!

In 35-odd years of playing 1e I've never seen anything remotely close to this happen in practice. I think the most henches I've ever seen a character have simultaneously was 3, and that only once; having a hench anywhere in the party at all is unusual.

Though you are giving me ideas here...

Lanefan

 

[Coroc]

[MENTION=3400]billd91[/MENTION] do not get me wrong, i do not want to downvalue Cha to the 1st/2nd ed uselessness. I like how 5e gives every stat a purpose, but otoh i would have sometimes prefered the 3 saving throws of 3e because these add much more to believabilty and causality and make powerbuilds more interesting (E.g. resilience feat to get a powerbuild which is strong in all saves).

If you view it the way -- oh a very charismatic Person (political leader / beautiful Lady e.g.) and you want to charm them, you canthink that they are eventually very used to people trying to get their favor, so even with to magical attempt they are more resistant -- and all makes sense again.

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

When building characters, from a RP point of view, I'm finding myself leaning towards average or above Charisma on characters regardless of their class.

This is because Charisma, apparently, as well as eloquence and leadership also measures confidence - and while I could certainly build a wizard, fighter or rogue who lacks confidence it doesn't really strike me as particularity heroic.

An, unlike eloquence and leadership, which we can pick skills such Intimidate, Diplomacy and Deception to help our character overcome their natural weakness, confidence doesn't really seem to have a skill that could be chosen to do something similar.


STRENGTH OF A BEAR
SPEED OF THE CHEETAH
CONSTITUTION OF AN OX

...confidence of a insecure rabbit.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Sadras]

1. Perhaps a 10 INT is not a box of rocks;
2. Perhaps we need to rethink our NEED for the must-have 18+ STATS early on - leave it for the higher levels or put a level requirement;
3. Perhaps we should flatter the bonuses from abilities and increase the proficiency bonus;
4. Perhaps we can create a flaw table (mechanical) to play characters/heroes with mechanical flaws instead of creating a dump stat. Many games have such tables.

We actually use rule 2 above, where the PCs have now reached 10th level and due to in-game story reasons have the capability to increase one of their abilities to 20 for the first time.
One character joined our campaign quite late and I did not give him any magical items, however due to backstory reasons (a Chosen in FR) he was able to increase an ability to 20. So with the above, he may now increase a second ability to 20, should he want to.

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

True. But while many people (including me) enjoy playing characters with flaws, it's hard to square the idea of heroic characters with the "standard practice" of stat dumping.

I mean, sure, play average to above-average charisma, and dump ... intelligence?

Then it's-

STRONG LIKE A BEAR, WITH THE STRENGTH OF TWO BEARS!
FAST LIKE GAZELLE!
HEALTHY LIKE OX!
CONFIDENT LIKE SMUG PALADIN!

dumb like a box of rocks ...

Thinking about it, a lack of confidence could manifest as a reliance on some tried and tested defence mechanism.

Unsure about the situation? Feeling the pressure? Not quite sure what to do?

KILL MODE ENGAGED!

..it would at least explain a fair few character's reliance on, 'Break bones first, apologize to the temple and beg for healing later.'

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*