Characters made only for combat

[JacktheRabbit]

How do you handle this?

I have a character in my party who is made purely for combat. His dump stat is Charisma with an 8. Every feat he has taken is directly used in melee. Every skill point he has spent is combat related with the possible exception of climb.

So now when the character attempts to purchase stuff or have magic items created I generally have the NPC's stiff him. They demand full price and expect him to deliver material components that can be used to cover half of their material cost. They also take their time making items and rarely give him prompt service unless he pays extra for it. Finally if he says anything rude or complains they will get even tougher in their negotiations.

The player complains that he is getting stiffed and comments of "unbelievable" are made all the time.

What should I do? He has created a character that is a walking moron outside of combat with very little skills for dealing with the outside world. If I let him straight roleplay and get better deals then he completely gets away with making Charisma his dump stat and social interaction his dump skill set.

I also look at it this way. If a player made a very social character with no combat feats and few points into combat related skills I wouldnt fudge things in combat. I wouldnt let him roleplay describe his attacks and give him tumble for free or let him have the equivalent to cleave just because he describes a cool attack. He designed a character not focused on combat and he pays the price.

So why should the combat focused character be able to fudge social situations?

 

[Sagan Darkside]

What should I do? He has created a character that is a walking moron outside of combat with very little skills for dealing with the outside world.

Is this the character he wants to play and have fun with?

Did you warn him you were going to go out of your way to punish him for using this character?

And it is a punishment- a low charisma does not mean you are an unlikable jerk that people are going to hold instant disdain for- and will go out of their way to screw in business deals.

If I let him straight roleplay and get better deals then he completely gets away with making Charisma his dump stat and social interaction his dump skill set.

Let him make the skill checks and succede or fail as per the rules.

There is a balance- a majority of businesses have a set rate for a good or service. While they may offer deals to people they like, they tend to act professional and offer the set rate to them.

Why? Because in d&d- the less enemies you make the better.

SD

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Another item to consider is that a combat oriented character already has an advantage over a social interaction character. There are easily more opportunities for a combat character to gain XP vs a social character unless the DM really changes things around from how most games are played.

Its the character he wants to play in that he never creates anything but a combat monster.

His charisma gives him a -1 modifier. To me that means when he walks into a shop there are two things that automatically run through the merchants mind.

1. A sucker is born every minute and he is one of them.

2. The big doofus is probably going to knock something over and break things.

This is of course made worse by the fact that the character almost never ever takes his armor off or leaves weapons behind. No matter how large the city or cosmopolitan it is he is always there is full armor with weapons at his belt and bow over his shoulder.

 

[Rashak Mani]

If a Mike Tyson look alike came into your shop armed with a great sword and full of combat feats and asked for a nice discount would you deny him ? Would you be "unpolite" ?

I think your shopkeepers need more survival instincts !! >

Overall I do agree that in social situations he should be awkward and have a hard time getting things his way... but certainly that doesnt mean people should be rude. Remember that if he goes into a smithy and the smith is an old warrior himself he certainly might get a much better treatment since they will be "brothers in arms" ....

 

[JacktheRabbit]

When it comes to small stuff I dont bother him. But when he finds a wizard to make him something or enchant something its a given he is going to get screwed. I agree though people like smiths and masters of arms to a degree are going to feel some comradery with him.

The rest of society is going to see him as a big dumb akward doofus that they expect to trip over things.

BTW, it makes things worse that his character averages about 6 inches taller than most people living in this area and is obviously a foreigner.

If a Mike Tyson look alike came into your shop armed with a great sword and full of combat feats and asked for a nice discount would you deny him ? Would you be "unpolite" ?

I think your shopkeepers need more survival instincts !! >

Overall I do agree that in social situations he should be awkward and have a hard time getting things his way... but certainly that doesnt mean people should be rude. Remember that if he goes into a smithy and the smith is an old warrior himself he certainly might get a much better treatment since they will be "brothers in arms" ....

 

[Sagan Darkside]

No matter how large the city or cosmopolitan it is he is always there is full armor with weapons at his belt and bow over his shoulder.

But wouldn't that also make the shopkeeper think:

"Wow, that sucker has a mighty big sword."

Circumstance bonus: +2

and/or

"Wow, this guy must do a lot of dangerous stuff. I want him as a repeat customer as long as he is breathing."

Don't get me wrong- I think there should be consequences for poor stats- the same way there are advantages for high ones.

However- making it a regular burden over an 8 Cha seems a bit much. Are you keeping strict watch over encumberance for a char with an 8 str? Or making regular dex checks for a char with an 8 dex trying to walk down stairs?

If you are, then great- that is the kind of game you want. If not, then just be sure you are not goinging out of your way to nail a person who likes combat-based characters when you might not.

SD

 

[Sagan Darkside]

The rest of society is going to see him as a big dumb akward doofus that they expect to trip over things.

Wow, how does the world see a guy with a 12 cha?

 

[Gothmog]

I think I would still allow him to make skill checks to try and get a discount, etc- but with the stipulation that no dice are rolled until he roleplays his case with you. Then, if you feel he did a good job roleplaying his character, give him maybe a small bonus to the roll. On the other hand, if he didn't roleplay an 8 Cha, smack him with a penalty (-2 to -4). Hopefully that will drive home the message.

It is very hard to deal with combat monster characters sometimes who have dump stats, then refuse to play their character how they designed them. Another thing that does help is to give out roleplaying XP every session, worth about 1/3 the total XP. You do a crappy job roleplaying? You get squat. After several sessions where his buddies are leaving him in the dust XP-wise, even the most hard-headed combat monster I have played with starts to shape up.

 

[buzzard]

Well, I suppose I would be guilty as charged in such a situation. I have a combat monster (figuratively) who has an 8 charisma. I play him as such. He has no social graces whatsoever. If that causes the shopkeeper or whoever to treat him poorly, so be it. However, a wise shopkeeper, as others have said, understands who is collecting the gold from underground, and repeat customers aren't those who get screwed. It would be more reasonable to have other players get breaks if they do suck up rather than penalize this guy.

In any case, if the player has any sense, he has the front man type of the party (whoever has the good charisma) do the shopping and negotiations. The A-Team has Face, and my party has a like fixture.

buzzard

 

[Arnwyn]

I agree with you Doc - if the player insists on using Cha as a dump stat, then he gets what he deserves.

I also agree with you that you should treat him normally for "small" things (any old equipment/weapon shop), but when it comes to expensive or rare purchases, then his Cha should work against him (like your example - when he wants something enchanted).

I deal with that pretty much as you do. My players have *LONG* since learned to make their Cha at least somewhat reasonable (average at the very least, unless they have a specific character concept in mind, in which they already know about and are prepared for).

As for the whining and complaining, well, I would generally ignore it. Players often complain, so this shouldn't be entirely unexpected. Also, you can ask him why he thinks it is "unbelievable", why he feels that he is being stiffed, and what he thinks should occur instead. I've discovered its very helpful to have the players explain themselves and justify their comments instead of YOU (the DM) always doing the explaining. He may find that his reasoning sounds completely idiotic, and will then shut up. Tell him that the matter is easy to rectify - put in more points to Cha when he goes up in levels. If he doesn't want to, tell him that of course it's his decision, and obviously he's prepared to make that choice. (Then, if he complains in the future, constantly remind him of his choice.)

You should continue with what you are doing, and make him justify his complaints.