Charisma, still the poor stat!

[Lord Vangarel]

Having seen numerous characters created using the 3E rules our group is now convinced that Charisma is still the poor stat for D&D. Sure, things have improved if you want to be a Bard, Paladin, Sorcerer or Cleric but for the rest it's always the lowest score.

What does everyone else think? Has anyone come up with a good solution to make the players havea decent Charisma?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

You forgot rogues. Rogues can use Bluff to get sneak attacks. You also forgot about anyone who uses the "Use Magic Item" skill.

My cleric has a 10 dexterity. Doesn't mean its a rotten attribute.

Just my two cents.

 

[uv23]

Its only a dump stat for munchkins. Nothing says your half-orc fighter MUST have 20 strength and 6 charisma, or your elven rogue MUST have 20 dex and 8 charisma. your character is not always going to be supported by a group with one member who has a silver tongue. It helps if they're not a complete buffoon with bad hygiene/breath/body odour/table manners.

 

[hong]

From the Rokugan sourcebook:

Dancing with the Fortunes [Unicorn Technique]

Some Unicorn are incredibly lucky. You happen to be one of them.

Prerequisite: Cha 13+.

Benefit: Select a Fortune (see the Religion section). So long as you respect this fortune, he or she favours you. Once per day you may reroll one skill check, attack roll, or saving throw you have just made, but you must keep the new result. All modifiers to the original roll apply to the new roll.

Special: You may gain this technique multiple times, up to a maximum number of times equal to your level divided by three (round up). It may be used only once per roll. The Fortunes can be fickle, and if you disappoint your patron Fortune you will lose the use of this feat until you atone.



From OA:

Iaijutsu Focus (Cha).

Use this skill to gather your personal energy (ki) in an iaijutsu duel.

Check: If you attack a flat-footed opponent immediately after drawing a melee weapon, you can deal extra damage based on the result of an Iaijutsu Focus check. ... [+1d6 to +9d6 bonus damage, depending on the check result]



It is left as an exercise for the reader to adapt the above to an occidental campaign.

 

[kengar]

Our current DM had a good idea. Whoever's character has the highest CHA is the party leader. The NPCs all talk to him or her and the party will defer to the high CHA PC's decisions as long as they aren't out and out stupid or clearly the realm of a specialist PC (like stealth tactics from a rogue, etc.). The other characters can offer opinions, but they will normally fall into line behind the one with the CHA.

 

[LostSoul]

Charisma is a good stat if you want to roleplay some encounters.

edit: sorry if I was a bit harsh with this reply. That wasn't my intention.

 

[Lord Vangarel]

To clarify, I'm the DM of the group and all the players have low charisma scores.

This is seen by them as being efficient with their placement of stats. Unless one of them plays a class that specifically requires a good charisma it is the lowest score. Every other stat has a practical use even if not directly required.

What I'm looking for is a way to make charisma important to these players!!!

 

[Lord Vangarel]

LostSoul, what uses do you have for charisma for in roleplay? Do you make them roleplay the encounter and then role for things like Bluff checks?

 

[Don21584]

Well, you could point out the Leadership feat to them, which is very Charisma dependant.

 

[Lord Vangarel]

Well, you could point out the Leadership feat to them, which is very Charisma dependant.

Only one player tried Leadership and didn't like it because of the half-level thing for cohorts. The rest of the players haven't really shown any interest in the feat yet.