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<blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 5155793" data-attributes="member: 80487">Interpersonal influence was introduced before the combat rules in the original RPG!The effects of charisma (which is routinely underlined) on henchmen and loyalty (reason #1 why it would be no &quot;dump stat&quot; if that were even possible) are the very first thing to follow the basic explanation of abilities. Charisma gets a whole section to itself at the top of page 11 of D&amp;D Vol. 1.Pages 12-13 are devoted to related matters, starting with languages. Non-Player Characters (including monsters) get extensive treatment, including a 2d6 Reaction Table and Loyalty and Morale factors. The combat system does not come in until page 18.Charisma is noted as a modifying factor, and one could easily quantify various aspects of it along the lines of specialized &quot;social skills&quot; ratings in some later games.However, the particulars of a situation can make a huge difference! It's easy to assume some subtle nuances of &quot;how&quot; in a skill factor, but the &quot;what&quot; tends to be a very, very important part of the &quot;why&quot; shaping a response. Whacking someone with a weapon is simply something one does to him if he fails to avoid the blow. Persuasion or influence, on the other hand, is likely to depend largely on &quot;what's in it for me&quot; from the &quot;target's&quot; perspective.So, if things are to make any sense at all, it is IMO necessary to work out how successful an attempt is likely to be on the basis of what is being attempted.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ariosto, post: 5155793, member: 80487"] Interpersonal influence was introduced [b]before[/b] the combat rules in the original RPG! The effects of [u]charisma[/u] (which is routinely underlined) on henchmen and loyalty (reason #1 why it would be no "dump stat" if that were even possible) are the very first thing to follow the basic explanation of abilities. [u]Charisma[/u] gets a whole section to itself at the top of page 11 of D&D Vol. 1. Pages 12-13 are devoted to related matters, starting with languages. Non-Player Characters (including monsters) get extensive treatment, including a 2d6 [b]Reaction Table[/b] and Loyalty and Morale factors. The combat system does not come in until page 18. Charisma is noted as a modifying factor, and one could easily quantify various aspects of it along the lines of specialized "social skills" ratings in some later games. However, the particulars of a situation can make a [i]huge[/i] difference! It's easy to assume some subtle nuances of "how" in a skill factor, but the "what" tends to be a very, very important part of the "why" shaping a response. Whacking someone with a weapon is simply something one does [i]to[/i] him if he fails to avoid the blow. Persuasion or influence, on the other hand, is likely to depend largely on "what's in it for me" from the "target's" perspective. So, if things are to make any sense at all, it is IMO necessary to work out how successful an attempt is likely to be on the basis of [i]what is being attempted[/i]. [/QUOTE]

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