D&D (2024) 2024 needs to end 2014's passive aggressive efforts to remove magic items & other elements from d&d

[EzekielRaiden]

Sure, if you're content with just the binary (trinary?) choice between being Attractive and not being Attractive.

Honestly, is there really any value in finer graduations? "Normal," "impressively attractive," "impressively unattractive" seems like a reasonable spread. Do you actually benefit from having yet another score to keep track of? Especially when, paired with a feat like this, Charisma seems to be perfectly good for capturing degrees here?

Someone who is physically beautiful but an absolute boor (6-8 Cha) would benefit from their beauty but struggle to make best use of it. Someone who is hideous but charismatic could easily manipulate others through leveraging their visceral emotional responses. Etc. What more value is there to obtain? Is it worth the added weight and, if we're being honest, potentially problematic implications?

 

[CapnZapp]

I see the feats more as superhumanly beautiful versus superhumanly ugly.

Everything else is normal.

That's not the goal of including a Comeliness or Appearance score.

It wants to track beauty on a human scale. Like elsewhere 3-18 is the human range.

 

[CapnZapp]

Honestly, is there really any value in finer graduations?

Sounds like you should simply... not include this score.

(For those who like to have a score like Comeliness, the answer is obviously yes.)

 

[Yaarel]

That's not the goal of including a Comeliness or Appearance score.

It wants to track beauty on a human scale. Like elsewhere 3-18 is the human range.

Physical beauty is too subjective, idiosyncratic, and cultural, to merit a stat such as 8 to 20.

The feats work well enough for extreme cases, where it is magically beautiful, "elf shine" or divine beauty.

 

[CreamCloud0]

That's not the goal of including a Comeliness or Appearance score.

It wants to track beauty on a human scale. Like elsewhere 3-18 is the human range.

what real benefit does a comeliness/appearance score provide that charisma couldn't adequetely also provide? like sure it would add some extra nuance but would it be worth needing to incorporate a whole extra stat for this one purpose?

you could probably make it just another skill if CHA wasn't already bloated with skills

 

[CapnZapp]

Physical beauty is too subjective, idiosyncratic, and cultural, to merit a stat such as 8 to 20.

The feats work well enough for extreme cases, where it is magically beautiful, "elf shine" or divine beauty.

What can I say? Don't use this score if that's your opinion

 

[CapnZapp]

what real benefit does a comeliness/appearance score provide that charisma couldn't adequetely also provide?

Eh... the fact that if you only have one score, every charismatic hero is also beautiful?

I bet you can name ten actors and actresses that are incredibly charismatic but still aren't considered traditionally handsome or beautiful.

Likewise, pick any random day-time soap. Are most of the actors considered attractive? Yes. Are most of them considered good charismatic actors? Not really.

If you want to play a hag-like character, the game might force you to max Charisma. Having the ability to put "Charisma 18, Appearance 3" is a feature to some groups.

 

[Yaarel]

What can I say? Don't use this score if that's your opinion

One can look at photos that other people consider extremely beautiful, and personally disagree.

Even ones own sense of what is beautiful can change over time, with differing assessments for a same photo.

Cultural perceptions of power alter the perception of beauty.


Plausibly there is a sense of "goodlooking" versus "very goodlooking", but not much more granularity than that.

 

[CapnZapp]

One can look at photos that other people consider extremely beautiful, and personally disagree.

Even ones own sense of what is beautiful can change over time, with differing assessments for a same photo.

Cultural perceptions of power alter the perception of beauty.


Plausibly there is a sense of "goodlooking" versus "very goodlooking", but not much more granularity than that.

Don't tell me you have never heard of guys rating women on a scale from 1 to 10.

Of course you can give your hero an appearance rating between 3 and 18.

You never question the difference between 3 and 4 strength, or the difference between 17 and 18 intelligence. Why would you be required to quantify what Comeliness 12 lacks compared to Comeliness 13?

 

[Yaarel]

Don't tell me you have never heard of guys rating women on a scale from 1 to 10.

Of course you can give your hero an appearance rating between 3 and 18.

You never question the difference between 3 and 4 strength, or the difference between 17 and 18 intelligence. Why would you be required to quantify what Comeliness 12 lacks compared to Comeliness 13?

Each individual person, can rate ones own experience of beauty from 1 to 10.

But these individuals will assign different numbers to a same image.