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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Technik4" data-source="post: 2181917" data-attributes="member: 7211">I agree to an extent. I was told in a class that statistics show that most people make judgements about someone they meet in the first 3 seconds. 3 seconds! This is where the blustering is most pronounced, you decide immediately how you feel about someone (without knowing their stat sheet) in the first 3 seconds (or 10 seconds, or whatever, but nearly immediately) and if they are acting in a way not reflective of their Charisma (or, better yet, perhaps they are just in a different mood), they will be innaccurately judged. First impressions are lasting.For instance: The social mastermind rogue is feeling down. His girlfriend was kidnapped while he was dungeoneering and when they arrived in full force to free her, the villain had already killed her. The villain plead for mercy, saying he had been possessed by a demon at the time. They spared the villain who was currently awaiting trial.The LG fighter had argued fiercely for mercy against the villain, and was pleased when the party agreed not to kill him (and give him a fair trial). Generally people don't pay attention to him, but thanks to the less coarse words of the druid they were able to convince the mostly indifferent wizard.After all this, they are invited to see the mayor/king/guy-in-charge. The rogue is melancholy over losing the love-of-his-life, and almost refuses to go, but finally acquiesces since he knows it would be bad form to not be there. The guy-in-charge announces they are heroes of the land/kingdom/town and gives them a big reward, then would like to speak to them privately about the next mission/job/problem.Would you give a circumstance negative to the rogue (and possibly a positive to the fighter)? The fighter is exuberant over his latest moral 'victory', and while he feels bad for his friend, the rogue, he knows in time the pain will fade. Meanwhile the rogue is not himself, feeling extremely glum and not the outgoing diplomat he usually is.This is a fictional scenario (and rather poor, I made it up on the spot), but my point is there are many conditions under which NPCs could get the entirely wrong impression of a PC. Would this happen in every encounter? No. I'm just pointing out that Charisma will always be a dump stat unless it is given mechanical signifcance because you can overcome it through roleplaying and lucky dice rolls. How/why?There are many average charisma landowners, entrepaneurs, politicians, etc etc. They got there using their brains, brawn, or economic status instead of their 'natural personality'. These people may not always rise to the very top (although I would contest that they never do), but they have almost as much chance as someone who is a little more people-person/outgoing/savvy/what-have-you.Technik</blockquote>

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