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Cowboy
2010-09-29, 09:22 AM
Hey all, I've been trying to get my head around a new character, it's a halfling rogue with pretty good all round stats except for a low CHA, the campaign is going to be set loosely in a viking setting.

I don't want him to be obnoxious or unpleasant, given these restraints has anyone got any suggestions on how to play this personality.

Any film/book references would be great too.

Thanks

Emperor Ing
2010-09-29, 09:24 AM
An inarticulate sociopath who doesn't understand social cues? Are you familiar with Curb your Enthusiasm?

WarKitty
2010-09-29, 09:25 AM
You could also go the route of a painfully shy character, or one who is simply uninterested in other people except for purely utilitarian ends.

Quietus
2010-09-29, 09:28 AM
Quiet and unassuming : His lack of charisma shows himself in that he has very little social presence. His friends might notice/pay attention to him (aka the PCs), but he has a hard time making other people take note of him.

The outsider : His lack of charisma comes from a completely different set of social customs, which sometimes come at odds with those of the world he's in now. A dwarf who's spent his entire life in a mine, suddenly being forced to dress up and attend a high ball.

Awkward : Possibly because of a lack of self-confidence, the character stutters madly, has a hard time expressing ideas (even if he has great ones via high int/wis), and while he's comfortable socially, there's just something off about him - an annoying stutter that people choose to ignore him for, a tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, or just being overly fond of bad jokes.

Badgerish
2010-09-29, 09:31 AM
How low is low? 8-9 should be hard to differentiate from the baseline.
3 should make people ignore/dismiss you unless they have a really good reason to listen.


Avoid speaking, unless it's important.
Speak plainly without prettying it up or re-phrasing it to better fit the audience.
Don't try to change anyone's opinion without a good reason (like actual evidence or a clear hole in someone's argument)
If you try to change someone's opinion and it doesn't change easily, just give up (until you get evidence, etc)

Zeofar
2010-09-29, 09:34 AM
Really, I see playing a low charisma character more the responsibility of other people than your own; you can't know exactly what it is that every single person that you meet will find distasteful about you, but every single one will, beyond some good checks. Alternative, you could be really, really ugly. All in all, a character doesn't have to be obtuse, rude, or gruff in some manner to have a low charisma: you're just universally hated.

If you really want to work it into his personality, you could try being unclear in your speech. Start into what should be the middle of sentence, or assume that people know what you're talking about before explaining it to them. If someone doesn't understand you, elaborate, rather than explain the premise. Be unusually frank, but in a totally innocent manner.


An inarticulate sociopath who doesn't understand social cues? Are you familiar with Curb your Enthusiasm?

This is a good suggestion.

Serpentine
2010-09-29, 10:23 AM
Some/many of these have probably already been said, but here's a bunch of things I could associate with low Charisma (and I wouldn't expect a character to have all or even most of them):
- Low self-esteem.
- Low sense of self.
- Shyness.
- Bland personality.
- Fading into the background.
- Hard to get taken seriously.
- Poor social skills generally.
- Inability to understand social cues.
- Annoying personality (laughs too hard at mediocre jokes, thinks he's smarter than he is, thinks everyone likes him even though noone does, that sort of thing (yes, this is based on someone I know)).
- Abrasive personality.
- Creepiness.
- Poor understanding of things like personal space.
- Vague aura of unlikability.
- Physical unattractiveness.
- Poor communication skills.
- Rudeness.
- Stubborness.

GoatToucher
2010-09-29, 10:24 AM
I played a character once who was sold into gladiatorial slavery s a youth, which socially conditioned him against making personal connections and speaking out to advocate for himself. A pragmatist, he lacked incentive to make a moral stand in any direction, so I played him as true neutral. He pretty much stood around quietly, making no effort to influence the direction of the party, content to go allong for the ride. When he did speak, it was generally gruff and tactless, as he was never socialized to pick up on cues for inappropriate speech. It was pretty tough RP for me, as I am, by nature, a talker.

The key to RPing a low charisma, I thing, is remembering that it is not just a measure of how likeable you are, but that it is also a measure of the strength of your personality. Alot of people use CHA as a dump stat becuse they enjoy RPing a jerk, but if you also consider that a low cha character lacks the confidence or wherewithal to have any sort of notable personality, it becomes a lot less desirable to play from an escapist point of view.

Who wants to RP a bland or timid PC?

Shademan
2010-09-29, 10:36 AM
doesnt most peasants have 8 CHA?
they can convince their friends to do stuff but cant convince, say, a guard to let him trough the gates after midnight or such

Cowboy
2010-09-29, 10:53 AM
Plenty to be getting on with there, thanks everyone.

Zhalath
2010-09-29, 07:59 PM
I'd say be gruff and a little inarticulate. I mean, you don't have to mush your words, but I can see a low Cha person trailing off sentences.
Being withdrawn and only responding to certain things said would be fitting too.

You could take the angle of someone being somewhat antisocial, and having trouble with other people, so much that large crowds freak you out.

In my mind, low Cha people tend to be loners with very close friends who tolerate them, or total sheeple.

panaikhan
2010-09-30, 06:25 AM
Back when physical attractiveness actually had a 'stat', it was easier to see where to pitch the low-CHA issue.
That said, the last low charisma character I saw played, was a Tiefling (using the transition class for half-demon). She was played as good-looking, but abrasive and self-centred. As the 'levels' of half-demon were collected, the character developed a bit of the 'silver tongue' demons are known for, so the stat increase for CHA was roleplayed fairly convincingly.

Amphetryon
2010-09-30, 06:48 AM
If he's got a high INT and low CHA, you could roleplay him as talking over people's heads. Have him use all the $25 words and prattle on, so that the average listener would be lost, bored, or both.

Serpentine
2010-09-30, 08:20 AM
Back when physical attractiveness actually had a 'stat', it was easier to see where to pitch the low-CHA issue.
That said, the last low charisma character I saw played, was a Tiefling (using the transition class for half-demon). She was played as good-looking, but abrasive and self-centred. As the 'levels' of half-demon were collected, the character developed a bit of the 'silver tongue' demons are known for, so the stat increase for CHA was roleplayed fairly convincingly.I had a tiefling who had moderately good Charisma, but as she was 1/4 succubus she was drop-dead gorgeous, easily an 18 Cha in purely physical terms. However, she wasn't very confident in herself or secure in her personality, and was a little crazy.

Person_Man
2010-09-30, 08:26 AM
It's worth pointing out that a Cha 4 character with 10 ranks in Diplomacy is more persuasive then a Cha 18 character with 0. Having low Cha does not mean you have to change how you choose to roleplay your character, it only effects certain derived statistics which in turn effect your ability to influence NPCs. If you want to roleplay someone who is bland or withdrawn or rude or whatever - more power to you. But having low Cha in no way requires you to do so.

Hadrian_Emrys
2010-09-30, 09:04 AM
Appearance should really have very little to do with the Charisma stat. As in Serp's example of the character that was walking sex, but was a few somethings shy of a full something, the attribute (as I have always understood it) is to signify the force of the character's personality. As a real life example, there is a guy in my extended social network who is very much not the belle of the ball. He is also a smoker around non-smokers, has a very lax sense of personal hygiene, and is a known social engineer.

However, as far as I am aware, he's never been without a girlfriend except when he's not interested in being in a relationship. He has a pretty solid inner circle of companions, and a very respectable extended circle. Hell, people just find him engaging to the point that they generally overlook his glaring shortcomings for the sake of hearing what he has to say, even when he's just shooting the breeze.

If a DnD character was based off of him, my mind would be blown if it didn't have great Cha despite the numerous reasons why not to.

Duke of URL
2010-09-30, 10:24 AM
I general consider Charisma to be a mix of physical appearance, force of personality, leadership skill, smooth talking, and apparent moral authority.

Someone with an average Charisma might be middle-of the road on all of these, or have some strong points and some weak points. (E.g., attractive and smooth talking, but generally unconvincing.)

Someone with below-average Charisma might be good at one of the five aspects, but weak to poor at the others. (E.g., good managerial skills, average looks, poor speaker, and generally unconvincing.)

Someone with low Charisma might scrape up an average or two, but is generally weak or worse on all counts. (E.g., okay at talking, but unattractive and introverted.)

some guy
2010-09-30, 10:29 AM
Avoid speaking, unless it's important.
Speak plainly without prettying it up or re-phrasing it to better fit the audience.
Don't try to change anyone's opinion without a good reason (like actual evidence or a clear hole in someone's argument)
If you try to change someone's opinion and it doesn't change easily, just give up (until you get evidence, etc)

Good ones, but the opposites work too:
-Speak too much, about every little thing. Especially if it's unimportant.
-Use archaic words or terms not known to the layman.
-Try to change everyone's opinions without good reasons.
-If you try to change someone's opinion and it doesn't change easily, keep on trying.

And fitting that character scheme:
-Redirect every conversation to yourself.

Serpentine
2010-09-30, 10:53 AM
Actually... It occurs to me, you could basically just take the "Guide to Self-Image" in my sig and choose all "wrong"* answers. If I ever got around to putting in an "attitude" section, it'd be pretty much complete for Charisma! :smallbiggrin:


*note: not all, or even most, have a truly right or wrong answer. Remember: everyone is someone's fetish.

Susano-wo
2010-09-30, 04:01 PM
The nice thing about low or high CHA for RPing your stats, is it can be one of two unrelated things

From the SRD

"Charisma measures a character’s force of personality, persuasiveness, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and physical attractiveness. This ability represents actual strength of personality, not merely how one is perceived by others in a social setting. "

So a low score can be a weak personality(which can take many forms) or being unatractive.

although, if its your true force of personailty, not just percieved force...then it shouldn't matter how attractive you are. Oh well.

(BY the way, I also favor striking the attractiveness clause out of the CHA score. If you really want a pretty person, its better to just say so, regardless of abilities, or if you want it to have mechanical impacts, a traits/flaws system, or in extreme cases, a feat is a better way to simulate it...but I guess that's beside the point ^ ^)