Anyone remember Comeliness?

[Xyxox]

I am dating myself, but it was an optional stat from 1E for physical appearance. Charisma IMO, just does not cut it. We all know from history and from our personal experiences that there are some really unattractive people out there that have a way or manner about them that makes them attractive in their own way.
Do we need a seperate stat for physical beauty?

Look at the facts.

Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger are perhaps the two butt-ugliest men on the face of the planet, yet women fawned all over them for years. High charisma, and lower than average comeliness.

 

[GreatLemur]

I think a stat quantifying physical attractiveness as an objective attribute is a pretty dumb idea in a setting with several dozen different intelligent species of widely varied appearances.

 

[boerngrim]

In a 2E group I used to play in we used comeliness as a roleplaying aid, to gauge the relative "good looks" of characters, but we just picked a number between 1 and 18 for our PCs. It had no impact on anything other than roleplay.

Tying looks to charisma isn't acurate. We've all known people who are physically appealing, but are offputing in personality.

 

[Asmor]

"he had a Comeliness score of 21"

Hey now! You're gettin' me all hot and bothered!

You should be a romance writer!

 

[WhatGravitas]

I think a stat quantifying physical attractiveness as an objective attribute is a pretty dumb idea in a setting with several dozen different intelligent species of widely varied appearances.

Same here. Therefore, I see Charisma as a catch-all stat: High Charisma is force of personality COMBINED with beauty.

See it as impact made on other people, because stats only measure the effect, not the source of the ability: Strength doesn't care WHY you're strong, it only says THAT you're strong.

The same for Charisma. It doesn't say WHY people cling to you (looks or personaliy), it just states THAT they follow you.

Annoying Mr. Hot Looks is Cha 16, ugly Mr. Silvertongue is Cha 16. Define it as you want to define it for your character.

 

[Eric Tolle]

All of the stats are very general, catch-all categories that encompass several related traits, so it makes sense that Charisma would include both physical appearence and charm. Seperating out Appearence would be for those oddball D&D offspring that have a dozen or more stats. Like, say, Champions.

I do like the idea of Attractiveness as a feat though, for those people who have the "looks sexy and knows how to use it" training. IT could either be done in the style of Green Ronin's "+4 to those who would find you attractive" or as a +2 to initial reaction rolls.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I am dating myself, but it was an optional stat from 1E for physical appearance. Charisma IMO, just does not cut it. We all know from history and from our personal experiences that there are some really unattractive people out there that have a way or manner about them that makes them attractive in their own way.
Do we need a seperate stat for physical beauty?

Charisma does not equal looks -- never has. And I find no need for a stat for physical beauty -- just make your character as good or bad looking as you like. Good looking characters can have poor Charisma and vice versa.

Comeliness was a bad idea in 1E and remains so today.

 

[pawsplay]

One problem with separating out Comeliness from other stats is that immediately, you run into issues with it relating to Charisma, Constitution, and social station. Then there's the whole multiple races thing. Then there's age. Cultural norms of beauty. How much uglier are you after being burnt by acid breath? Is being attractive to orcs an ability or a disadvantage?

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

Hey, we published Beauty rules in E.N. Armoury - Chainmail Bikinis. Also available in pdf format.

GM for the D&D group I play uses those rules, with Beauty/Comeliness/Looks/Appearance simply being a measuring stick, granting a rare circumstance bonus/penalty to Charisma-based skill checks. Works pretty well.

 

[Dragonhelm]

My very first character had a Comeliness of 5.