Apeiron said:
Real life indicates that appearance is important in all social interactions and that is it independent of charisma. Study after study proves this.
Yes it does...where the idea of codifying this breaks down is that what one person considers good looking another person does not. Proven by the fact that even people that you consider ugly have romantic encounters and get married.
Moreover, one thing that these studies fall victim to is that implicit in the idea of "good looking" is well groomed and put-togetherness; a handsome man who dresses, acts, and smells like a scrub is not going to make it far; a less attractive person who carries himself well, dresses the part, and has confidence beyond what just his looks might indicate will do very well.
The real question then becomes, does looks make the success or does the success make the looks? Do people perceive successful people as more attractive? These studies are generally retrospective studies rather than longitudinal (and of course suffer from the standard sociological ex post facto problem of no real way of controlling for a massive number of factors in the study) so the perceptions of the people reporting can be skewed by what they already know to be the case (that the person is/is not successful).
All that aside, and back on my main point, because attractiveness (that is in a photo, same clothes, all else equal) is purity subjective and in the mind of the viewer (I for example consider Paris Hilton to be ugly beyond description, little more than a well dressed goblin with a lazy eye), there is no way to place a single number on this.
Beyond that, even if "appearance" is removed from charisma (which I do as well), there is no reason that it would affect more in social interactions than how likely a person is to get hit on...because without the charisma to back it up, they are as likely to be considered shallow and an "easy mark" as likely to succeed.
I make appearance / attractiveness separate from charisma and don't make it more than a roleplaying consideration. I will apply the DM fiat (+2/-2) to certain types of rolls (a very attractive elven woman trying to intimidate a goblin in combat would get a -2 whereas a horrifically scarred dwarf would get a +2). Players choose their appearance and take the benefits and hinderances therein.
Charisma remains the point of social interactions because you cannot convince someone to do something without communicating with them (even if that communication is no verbal) and a weak personality will undo a hot body in most situations. The porn star analogy is a great one...the reaction they seek to elicit will be ruined for many people the moment they start to speak...those who only want the physical might continue DESPITE the low charisma, though they might insist the object of their ardeur refrain from talking.
Wow...that was longer winded than expected.
DC
