PC charisma and inter-PC interactions

[SensoryThought]

Charisma is supposed to represent a combination of appearance, force of personality, charm, and social skill. High Charisma individuals (18+) I feel should be as impressive socially as 18+ Strength PCs at lifting massive objects.

A couple of my PCs have 18 Cha, and I tend to have NPCs generally respond very positively to them. The rogue is silver-tongued to say the least, and tends to talk his way into and out of situations. The Warlock is very rude and while NPCs start off friendly, their friendliness tends to decrease with time.

My problem is that the rogue is starting to feel not so silver-tongued as two new PCs (started 4 sessions ago) are, to put it bluntly, rude and standoffish dicks. He has been, in my opinion, friendly and welcoming and they have refused to speak with him and/or physically threatened him. But they have been nice to the low Charisma warforged who has been fairly mute.

Long story, but I guess my question is, should PCs be encouraged to respond to other PCs or NPCs in a manner consistent with their Charisma?

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I would say that PCs should consider their fellow PC's charisma when figuring out how to react to them but I don't like to let stats determine exact reactions between PCs. I also think it can be realistic for some characters to dislike a character with a high charisma. There's always someone who hates the most popular kid in school.

If I was GMing and the players were acting like this I'd make sure that everyone was having fun with this dynamic. There's something about your description that makes it sound like the rudeness is between players, not their characters. And that's something I'd confront and quell as soon as possible.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Yes, players should try to role play their Charisma. However, other than the DM mentioning the PC's powerful presence and/or magnetic personality, you can't really make them act nice to other PCs, and you can't do the reverse, either.

However, I have often encountered gamers that are not very adept socially out of game (to put it nicely), but like to play high charisma types in game. So, while NPCs were initially attracted to them, the PCs were under no such restrictions.

In my last campaign, the high CHA sorcerer ended up having a very attractive NPC sorceress as a girlfriend/apprentice... but, he was not really great with R/P a high CHA character, so we left it to dice rolls and me (as DM) saying he had a powerful presence or similar in social situations. I can't penalize a gamer for wanting to go against type in his character choice. However, while the players worked together, they were under no obligation to treat the sorcerer any better than the rest of the group.

 

[Ryujin]

Familiarity breeds contempt, as the saying goes. Those who know you the best may treat you the worst, no matter how "charismatic" you may be. The party builds its own dynamic.

Maybe if the Rogue builds a rather large retinue of tough friends, the "rude and standoffish" PCs will see the error of their ways. That, or those NPC friends could offer some 'gentle correction' of their own

 

[Mallus]

Long story, but I guess my question is, should PCs be encouraged to respond to other PCs or NPCs in a manner consistent with their Charisma?

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: the real problem is two new players acting like "rude and standoffish" pricks. This problem is unrelated to the PCs ability scores, CHA or otherwise.

 

[Spatula]

A high Charisma isn't a charm spell - you aren't forced to like that person, just more likely to. Someone can be generally likeable and still rub some people the wrong way. And even socially awkward or withdrawn folks have friends.

If I were roleplaying one of the newcomers, the rogue's high Charisma might be a factor in the decision to not like him. "Everyone thinks he's so great but he's just a big fat liar!"

 

[NewJeffCT]

A high Charisma isn't a charm spell - you aren't forced to like that person, just more likely to. Someone can be generally likeable and still rub some people the wrong way. And even socially awkward or withdrawn folks have friends.

If I were roleplaying one of the newcomers, the rogue's high Charisma might be a factor in the decision not to like him. "Everyone thinks he's so great but he's just a big fat liar!"

Hitler was very charismatic and a great speaker. However, he may also be one of the most hated people in world history.

 

[Unwise]

In my campaign there are two PCs with high charisma. One of them is a friendly halfling thief who everyone likes and is hte life of the party. The other ones is a terribly intimidating dragonborn with delusions of grandeur and an utterly imperious outlook. Everyone knows he was born to lead.

The PC should define the type of charisma they have. People might love the halfling jester, but they are far more likely to take the brooding Thaneborn barbarian more seriously. Both styles have their advantages.

Are you players just being bullies? Is the guy with the high Cha just the butt of lots of jokes? It might be more an interpersonal issue than a RP one.

I don't push PCs to like other PCs. I do however point out that the rest of the world likes that PCs with high Cha.

When a party is ambushed, I generally put the PCs with low charisma out by themselves and surround the high Cha guy with groupmates, as he is the life of the party, the guy with the good stories to tell.

NPCs almost always address the people with high Cha first, assuming that they are the leaders. If other PCs are rude to the PC with the high charisma, then the rest of the world likes them less. In my games, most NPCs pity the poor bard for having to hang out with such morons.