Any house rules for appearance/comliness?

[Blackfish]

I know 3.5 charisma also defines physical attractiveness, but I wonder if anyone has made up a comliness ablity score(like the orig. Unearthed Arcana) or attractiveness check.

We are playing in a very social interactive/role-play intensive game where the players frequent the courts of the dukes & kings. So naturally the players start to bicker over who is better looking(just for fun, nobody takes it that seriously).

I was thinking of coming up with a score based on your strength, constitution and charisma bonuses, because I thought those contributed the most to your attractiveness. That was until the Mage protested that intelligence should be incorporated.

The way we have been handling it works ok. I assume all the players are good looking(they are heroes afterall), but charisma/diplomacy/bluff checks determine if characters are impressed or put off.

I would love to hear other's ideas if there are any.

 

[Urbannen]

I would roll a separately Appearance stat. 3d6 (or 4d6 drop the lowest if you must). Add the character's Charisma modifier. Elves get +2, half-elves get +1.

This would allow you to rank everyone based on looks.

 

[WhatGravitas]

The easiest thing to do, and I'm doing that as well, is:

Attractive
You are more attractive than an average member of your race.
Prerequisite: 1st level only
Benefit: You are exceptionally attractive. You receive a +2 racial bonus on all Charisma-based rolls against characters who consider members of your race and gender attractive.

Solves a lot of problems, even more, if you give your group an extra feat on first level and throw in some similar feats, that are only available on 1st level, like the talents from Arcana Unearthed.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Kisanji Arael]

Remember this:

Appearance measures not only how attractive someone s, but how well they can use their attractiveness or hideousness to affect a situation.

If you really want a system that's done a good job with comeliness, then find yourself a download or copy of scion. They've done a masterful job of showing what appearance affects, and showing how both extremes of a situation can be beneficial.

And you have to remember the benefits/ detriments of both sides. Hideous gives bonuses to intimidation most of the time, they probably won't be pickpocketed, their appearance can also get them kicked out of restaurants. The pretty girl can be hard to talk to, the pretty girl can manipulate situations better, the pretty girl can get laid more easily. But she's also a more common victim of sex crimes, and good luck hiding in a small town.

Guard: "I'm looking for a powerful sorceress that may be hiding here."
Commoner: "What's she look like?"
Guard: "This is her pin-up from sorceress's weekly. She's a D cup, 28 inch waist, hair color changes almost daily, designer chain mail."
Commoner: "Hog's Inn. 2 streets down. Look for a tree across the street with probably... 8 fifteen year-old boys in it. If your sight aint too good, there'll probably be 8 pairs of pants below the tree. Her window's right across the street."

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The problem is that D&D, as written, accumulates only bonuses to attributes. Physical attractiveness immediately requires descriptions. So maybe the way to do it would be something like this:

Give characters X number of points to spend in appearance. Appearance is a set of bonuses that accrue to varying effects. Appearance may change over time, but without magic, the overall value will never exceed X. And all the different traits effect X differently.

Or you could do something like this:

These are free feats. You get one at character creation. You'd need more than I'm gonna provide, and better descriptions and more specific nature, to be accurate.

Rugged: Heartthrob to the girls looking for a bad boy. Str and Con mods. penalty to gather information checks about this character. Bonus to seduction and Charisma based rolls with those who find you attraactive.

Goddess: Men want you. Against anyone who might desire companionship, treat wisdom scores as being reduced by (your char mod *2 - their willpower). However, while they are trying to get into your pants/dress/robes/ninja suit, they are also less likely to see the wisdom of your actions. They will generally disrespect your opinion, and you will have to fight hard to let them endanger you in any way.

John Doe: Who's this guy again? Those attempting to gather information about your character have a hard time. All DCs rise by 5, or 10 if you have done nothing of note in the area they are questioning. But this is a two-edged sword. People are less likely to talk about your exploits unless they're really legendary (aka - automatic success).
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I don't know. Just some ideas for you.

 

[Archade]

I remember the Pendragon RPG had a need function -- the higher or lower your CHA was, the more distinctive characteristics your character had -- for high CHA, it was things like flowing hair, piercing eyes, etc., and for lower CHA, it was things like hunched, clawed fingers, etc.

Maybe something like that would satisfy you?