1 charisma

[absurdum]

well the other day I was getting my plays to generate new chars for a new campaign. Set in the realms with a genrally neutral overall allingment.
So one of the players was rolling up his character which he wanted to be a rogue, and he wanted to have a natural 18. but as you might expect he didn't get one. We use the standard roll method from the PHB. Anyway he rolled well and got as his highest roll a 16 and as his lowest a 13, but still wanted that 18, so he asked if he could roll a d6, on a roll of 6 he gets to change his 16 into an 18 but on a roll of 1 his 13 turns into a 3. I thought he has alot more to lose and probably wont try it so I said sure. Of course he rolls a one, turns his 13 into a 3 and choses tiefling as his race 3 into char minus the 2, bang he has a char of 1.
So now he discribes his character as unatractive, unpleasant, and takes huge risks.
So 2 questions, has anyone else done anything strange like this and how do you work with a 1 cha in a campaign.

 

[hong]

In 3E, charisma represents force of personality. Cha 1 is equivalent to a skeleton or zombie. This guy could be jumping up and down and yelling "Fire!" in a crowded place, and people would be ignoring him.

He would make a great spy or double agent.

 

[Morrus]

Well, the fact that he assigned his lowest score to Charisma probably meant he didn't consider it important anyway. So form his point of view, he's just asked "Hey can a roll a d6 and up my Dex by 3 points to 18 if I get a 6?" As far as he's concerned, the roll of 1 doesn't constitute a penalty.

However - that's his mistake. Now you can really play on that 1 Cha. Don't let him buy anything. Ever. Don't let him sleep in inns. Don't let him make friends or allies. Have him make enemies at every turn, including watchmen and important NPCs. No one will ever heal him. No one will help him in a fight. No one will even talk to him.

Next time, he'll probably won't try that again...

 

[Axiomatic Unicorn]

I agree more with Hong.

This guy won't have a bunch of enemies because he will not be able to hold their attention long enough for them to care.

Don't let the guy get away with being obnoxious, the character is far to inept to be obnoxious.

If he tries to insult someone, tell him he stumbles over his words and no one seems to hear what he said.

 

[EricNoah]

This guy is going to be a serious liability. He will only barely be aware that he even exists. He will have almost no ability to influence the world around him. He will be basically unable to express himself. I'm trying to think of a real world mental illness or condition that would sum up a 1 CHA. "Coma" is about as close as I can come.

 

[A2Z]

I thought the lowest score a PC could have in any ability was '3'. Isn't a one in a mental ability score indicative of, like Eric said, a comatose or maybe autistic character. While a one in a physical score indicates a character that probably can't move under his or her own power.

 

[absurdum]

He considers the 1 cha to be a roleplaying challange. Putting the low stat in charisma I think was a mix between it being the least important and it would define his character. Now I see the 1 cha making so that he has no influence over anyone else because of a combination of a weak personality and grotesque(sp) appearance preventing most people taking notice of him, and those who do(usally for negative reasons) don't give him any respect higher than what they might a zombie.
Now I'm definatly goinng to rule him as a liability to the party, but I still want him to be able to use his strengths, just in a more challanging way. In the end the game's about fun not punishing silly or bad dice rolls.
Now I can adudicate the NPC's reactions to him, what about the PC's. This is though because they should not want to team up with the cha 1 in game but they probably will because that's just what happens. Is it possible to run a game where one player isn't a member of the party but just follows them?
edit added in responce to A2Z
int is the only score that can't be below 3 all the others can't be below 1. A comatose state is only entered when you reach 0

 

[Henry]

I have to disagree with both Eric and Morrus on this point. While a 1 CHA is horrible, it is not exactly Catatonia, nor being hated by everyone. I agree that it is more like hong's description - very unable to influence others, and most people willing to take advantage of him - when they notice him. While related to sentience (according to the PHB), sentience is more of a Wisdom trait, and more internal than external. The PHB makes a point of equating low CHA with low WIS, and vice versa, but it does make a point of calling a creature with no WIS "an object, not a creature."

I believe in using examples of low charisma situations, but don't believe in sweeping generalities of behavior. If that were so, then the score would not be assigned a modifier at all. He still has a CHANCE of affecting someone, but it would take a lot of work in social skills (like Diplomacy and Bluff) to overcome his natural introspectiveness or offensiveness - whichever you choose to portray it as. Same thing with WIS - would you say that a person with a 1 WIS score has a VERY low self-esteem, and then as a DM refuse the player to ever say "NO" to someone? The built-in penalty to all rolls is penalty enough to me.

 

[Dieter]

A charisma of 1 would definitely be a liability for an adventuring party. While it can be said that some gamers have no social skills, this character really doesn't have any. It's a bit hard to equate a 1 charisma in real-life terms, I mean, even baby killers and psychopaths have higher charisma.

Maybe a deaf-mute, psychopathic, recluse?

 

[Psychotic Dreamer]

Now I can adudicate the NPC's reactions to him, what about the PC's. This is though because they should not want to team up with the cha 1 in game but they probably will because that's just what happens.

Well one way would be to have one of the other players be related to this character. That way at least the one character will attempt to defend and explain why he should be with them.