D&D 5E How to model a party of cinematically charismatic heroes?

[Quartz]

The heroes on the big screen all have bags of charisma. So how do you emulate that in your party? Without mandating a high CHA score, that is, and not being unfair to one class or another. Using the standard array, for example, mustn't disadvantage the player who puts the 8 in CHA, nor must it disadvantage the player who puts the 15 there.

Skilled in the various verbal skills as a start, of course, but how about a baseline Advantage on rolls? Anything else?

 

[5ekyu]

Hmmm... In many cases of teams of heroes on the screen there are often examples of some with CINECHA and some without, some with obvious social skills and some without. Its often a character defining aspect.

Also, i am a big fan of alt-ability for social checks where other abilities can be used. STR can be used for INT (as could WIS or CON) and there are many ways to use other scores for Persuasion or even Deceptions if you know the targets are open to such (which might follow taking time to gain insight)

The Admiral Ackbar "its a trap" thinking here is locking all the social interactions around CHA. If you break that lock, the social play becomes much more intuitive and flezible.

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[Lylandra]

Phew, I don't know if what you're trying to do is an oxymoron in itself.

First, not all people on a big screen have charisma and movies would actually be boring if everyone suddenly was incredibly charismatic.

I guess what you are aiming for is a team of sassy, cool heroes who save the day despite having different classes. If you're the DM, then you can totally save yourself trouble and just give everyone a free 12+ in charisma. Because that's what the stat actually is for.

I know that mental stats are kind of tricky when it comes to mechanics vs roleplay, but you wouldn't want a STR 8 character to be able to beat some random thugs in a fistfight just because everyone in action movies knows how to fight in melee.

 

[Chuck Ocenasek]

Do you watch wrestling? Because if you play RPGs, you should. There are a ton of great examples on how to charasmatic without talking and while talking. Search things like Woken Matt Hardy, Brock Lesnar, and Ric Flair.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Without a specific example of what you're trying to emulate, I assume you mean how big screen heroes often get a lot of what they want during social interactions. I've seen GMs ask for too many checks which doesn't emulate the flow on the big screen well. A way to better emulate what happens on the big screen is to temper the number of checks you ask for and make sure you only ask for checks when there's a question of whether their attempt could fail or succeed and if success or failure adds to the story. Every falsehood the players tell or every attempt to persuade doesn't need to be scrutinized by the NPCs and verified via a skill check. If the player's goal is reasonable and there's no reason the NPC should be a hindrance, let it succeed and keep the plot moving.

If the bags of charisma you're talking about is more like quality interaction and banter between the PCs, I think you're just stuck with what your players bring to the table. (Unless you can get Joss Whedon to start providing players with lines.)

 

[Rod Staffwand]

There is a difference between being captivating and likable and getting people to do what you want. The D&D Charisma stat is strictly the latter. Even charming scoundrel Han Solo utterly botched an important bluff check. So, don't worry about it.

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

Phew, I don't know if what you're trying to do is an oxymoron in itself.

First, not all people on a big screen have charisma and movies would actually be boring if everyone suddenly was incredibly charismatic.

I guess what you are aiming for is a team of sassy, cool heroes who save the day despite having different classes. If you're the DM, then you can totally save yourself trouble and just give everyone a free 12+ in charisma. Because that's what the stat actually is for.

I know that mental stats are kind of tricky when it comes to mechanics vs roleplay, but you wouldn't want a STR 8 character to be able to beat some random thugs in a fistfight just because everyone in action movies knows how to fight in melee.

To build on this, there are many (movie) characters that are/can be quite horrible within their (movie) universe - but are still loved by the audience. For example, Gollum from the LOTR movies or K-2SO from Rogue One.

Its arguable that for us as an audience to like or even love characters, they have to be in some part relatable, even if such like or love is the like/love of hating them. As such, for me a list, a group of 'High charisma' characters would not appeal to me, unless they were to end up mangled by a giant robot and/or squid.

A game example would be one of our table's current characters. They have a Charisma score of 8 and have proven to be very popular due to their inability - and acceptance of such inability - to manipulate anyone with any degree of finesse, instead resorting to the, 'kick the door down/throw them out the window' school of social interaction*.

*..this is totally a school. Defenestration 101 provides a solid foundation for student's of the Genghis Khan School of Charm.

 

[TallIan]

I've always viewed CHA as force of personality, rather than likeability. I've known some total ***holes who are very charming and can get what they want and some very nice people who are too timid to voice their opinion without being prompted.

Each character needs their personality niche - charming rogue; jock; lovable nerd; etc. - the same as role niche.

 

[Caliban]

As others have said, it's not really necessary.

But...if you want to give a mechanical benefit, you could simply have each character pick a specific area of social expertise (or something that people inexplicably find funny/attractive about them) and allow them to use their highest stat when making Persuasion/Deceit/Perform checks related to it.

 

[Sunseeker]

Everyone is "charismatic" in different ways, using the skill system or the mechanics to represent this isn't going to turn out well, so I'd suggest some custom "feats" or "boons" assuming you actually want mechanics for it.

Since we're talking about movies, lets talk about Star Wars.
Han Solo wasn't a diplomat, but he was a smooth-talker. Charm your boots right off. Convince the king to spare their lives...probably not.
Leia on the other hand was a diplomat. Could convince the King that we're actually the good guys by simply saying we are. Charm your boots off? Probably not.
Old Ben (not to be confused with young Obi-Wan) was the Wise Voice. When he spoke, people listened. They didn't necessarily agree with him, or like what he had to say, but they would stop and listen all the same.
Luke was the Peppy Kid, (at least early on) and had an endless stream of optimism.

Like the party dynamic, the key is breaking down "Charisma" into its different elements and making each party member strong in (at least) one element but not all of them.

Quite honestly though, attempting to replicate movie and literature characters in D&D is a fools errand. Literary characters succeed because the plot demands it, they fail because the plot demands it. They're charismatic when its useful and they're uncharismatic when it's necessary. There's no random rolls here. To that end, as I suggested above, giving each character a "boon" might be the correct way to go and that when a situation calls for their aspect of charisma to be applied, they automatically succeed. This could be a tag applied to certain encounters or certain NPCs. The players would be unaware of course, and using their auto-skill when the situation doesn't call for it, or is explicitly against it, would turn out poorly for them. This would give the game a more "cinematic" feel by taking away the random element of success or failure from the dice. The players would succeed or fail because they matched (or didn't) "Unique Ability A" to the scene.