Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Intimidate/Very Low Charisma=Awe?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Amaroq" data-source="post: 1926198" data-attributes="member: 15470"><p>I'd second that. It's all in how you imagine it / describe it.</p><p></p><p>One of my favorite 'low charisma' characters was a PC drow with a 6 Charisma. On the surface, wandering around human lands, and the player chose to play him as <em>exceptionally</em> intimidating (as we mean the word in common usage). Every other phrase out of his mouth seemed to include an implied threat (which he-the-character didn't mean to imply).</p><p></p><p>This didn't give him the game effects of 3.x Intimidate: certainly, no NPC treated him as 'friendly' as a result; he wouldn't get the free drink hypothetically mentioned above, in fact the innkeeper would be likely to tell him that the inn was full even if he had rooms free. He would wind up in conflicts which the 'average' character would have been able to avoid, even though the character was ostensibly trying to avoid it. Likewise, none of his opponents were demoralized in combat - in fact, to the contrary, they were more motivated to eliminate him, so that they wouldn't feel a need to 'watch their backs' for the rest of their life.</p><p></p><p>Which all struck me as fine interpretations of a negative Charisma modifier, and would be equally applicable to a half-orc, a human, or whomever.</p><p></p><p>It made for a tremendously fun character for the player to play, and for me to GM.</p><p></p><p>Flip-side, I've been playing a high-charisma female character in a campaign recently. Rather than playing her with the 'attractive' stereotype, I've explicitly described her as large-boned, rather plan of face, and scarred from numerous fights... but she's somehow extremely <em>likeable</em>; she's just very friendly, understands how people think, and she's sympathetic and considerate. All the PC's like her, even when there are conflicts between the party-members; and she gets along with strangers quickly and readily as well. Sometimes too well: she can be too trusting. </p><p></p><p>Could she Intimidate in the 3.x sense of the word? Absolutely: in combat, she is frighteningly effective and could be demoralizing. But even better might be the 'treat target as friendly' version: I could imagine one of the other members of the party 'explaining', to a so-intimated creature. "She genuinely doesn't want to kill you. No, she will if she draws her sword, don't get me wrong: you wouldn't have a chance. Just keep co-operating: you'll stay on her good side, and she'll let you live."</p><p></p><p>It's all in how you imagine it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Amaroq, post: 1926198, member: 15470"] I'd second that. It's all in how you imagine it / describe it. One of my favorite 'low charisma' characters was a PC drow with a 6 Charisma. On the surface, wandering around human lands, and the player chose to play him as [I]exceptionally[/I] intimidating (as we mean the word in common usage). Every other phrase out of his mouth seemed to include an implied threat (which he-the-character didn't mean to imply). This didn't give him the game effects of 3.x Intimidate: certainly, no NPC treated him as 'friendly' as a result; he wouldn't get the free drink hypothetically mentioned above, in fact the innkeeper would be likely to tell him that the inn was full even if he had rooms free. He would wind up in conflicts which the 'average' character would have been able to avoid, even though the character was ostensibly trying to avoid it. Likewise, none of his opponents were demoralized in combat - in fact, to the contrary, they were more motivated to eliminate him, so that they wouldn't feel a need to 'watch their backs' for the rest of their life. Which all struck me as fine interpretations of a negative Charisma modifier, and would be equally applicable to a half-orc, a human, or whomever. It made for a tremendously fun character for the player to play, and for me to GM. Flip-side, I've been playing a high-charisma female character in a campaign recently. Rather than playing her with the 'attractive' stereotype, I've explicitly described her as large-boned, rather plan of face, and scarred from numerous fights... but she's somehow extremely [I]likeable[/I]; she's just very friendly, understands how people think, and she's sympathetic and considerate. All the PC's like her, even when there are conflicts between the party-members; and she gets along with strangers quickly and readily as well. Sometimes too well: she can be too trusting. Could she Intimidate in the 3.x sense of the word? Absolutely: in combat, she is frighteningly effective and could be demoralizing. But even better might be the 'treat target as friendly' version: I could imagine one of the other members of the party 'explaining', to a so-intimated creature. "She genuinely doesn't want to kill you. No, she will if she draws her sword, don't get me wrong: you wouldn't have a chance. Just keep co-operating: you'll stay on her good side, and she'll let you live." It's all in how you imagine it. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Intimidate/Very Low Charisma=Awe?
Top