Charisma and roleplaying?

[WarKitty]

A question for those of us who are not naturally charismatic - how exactly do you roleplay a high-charisma character? I've been trying to get the hang of it, but, well, it's rather difficult to give an impression of a mental ability score that doesn't fit your own. I want to avoid either relying on physical beauty or strictly relying on the dice.

[Cespenar]

You can always describe your character's actions, like, in third-person. For example,

-Instead of giving an actual speech, tell that your character gives a speech in which he addresses the recruits and calls to their sense of nationality, etc.

-Instead of singing a song, tell that your character sings a song about, say, an old hero that goes off to rescue a princess from a dragon, but ends up befriending the dragon and ditching the princess, etc.

-Intimidate, bluff and persuasion are even easier to describe. Use your adjectives.

Honestly, unless your group is from a very strict "act it out" school, I can't see much of a problem here.

[Hatchet91]

I dont tend to have much problems but then again several of my freinds have dubbed me the bull**** king. (it doesnt help i work in sales)


i have to agree with above as the best way to deal with it if you areng good at thinking on the fly.

as far as singing and such my first char i played was a bard (i have no musical talent at all) but i would bring a guitar hero guitar with me everytime and would play music off of my ipod or computer which ever i had on me (the guitar was an unforgetten realms joke)

[Totally Guy]

My answer is kind of a cop out because it's pretty much "rely on the dice"... But I'll go a little deeper than that.

You and the GM ought to really formalise the dice rolls. This has worked wonders for us.

You need to communicate the intent of your social action. Tell the GM exactly what you are aiming for.

The GM can then set a difficulty using the system. Or the GM can say that your intent is not appropriate to a social task.

Then you need to show the GM how you are going to go about accomplishing the intent. This is the roleplaying task. And you roleplay it.

Then the GM can either agree that the roleplaying task was appropriate to the intent or disagree and say that it wasn't.

If the roleplaying task was appropriate to the intent the GM then says which skill to roll (based on the RP). If the GM's difficulty is met then the intent is accomplished. If it isn't the GM takes the conversation in a different direction in which you do not get what you wanted. The GM should ensure that each outcome relates back to the roleplaying task that you performed.


It sounds complicated but it works well. The best part of this is choosing the intent you really need. You've got to consider how you'll roleplay appropriately to getting it, you've got to consider how the GM will rate its difficulty and you've got to consider the implications of getting what you want. Whenever you roll you can be certain that if you succeed your creative input really mattered and gave weight to the situation.

I hope that's helpful. I read something similar on the Critical Hits site by Chatty DM. And he's a really smart guy.

[SowZ]

It is tough to play a charismatic character without charisma/natural acting ability. It is also tough to play a character who is significantly smarter than you are.

[WarKitty]

The hardest part is usually thinking on the fly - it takes me a little bit to come up with what to say IC, which tends to make my characters look a bit socially awkward.

@Totally Guy: 90% of the problem interactions do not involve rolling the dice at all, as there is no specific goal that requires the use of one of the skills. The biggest issue is in interactions with the other characters - there's little point in playing a high-charisma character if the rest of the party sees you as awkward or inept.

[Totally Guy]

If you aren't trying to have something that you can't otherwise get then there's no need for dice. That's true.

So I say; relax.

Part of playing a cool, calm and socially smart person is knowing that you don't have to do requests.

"You're supposed to be the socially clever one!"
"Part of that is knowing that I don't have to care about being socially clever at all times and still being confident that when it matters I'll pull it out of the bag."

If there's nothing at stake then you can pretty much always take this line.

I studied maths, doesn't mean that I do requests for people. But when it matters I work it out and do my thing.

[SowZ]

The hardest part is usually thinking on the fly - it takes me a little bit to come up with what to say IC, which tends to make my characters look a bit socially awkward.

@Totally Guy: 90% of the problem interactions do not involve rolling the dice at all, as there is no specific goal that requires the use of one of the skills. The biggest issue is in interactions with the other characters - there's little point in playing a high-charisma character if the rest of the party sees you as awkward or inept.

This is my solution- Charisma is both appearance and force of personality. If a player is good at thinking on the fly but his Charisma has a low-medium score, okay, his low score doesn't represent his lack of social skills but his ugly appearance. If a player is bad at thinking on the fly for social scenarios but still has a good Charisma, okay, his Charisma doesn't represent good social skills and force of personaity but instead his stunning looks.

[WarKitty]

This is my solution- Charisma is both appearance and force of personality. If a player is good at thinking on the fly but his Charisma has a low-medium score, okay, his low score doesn't represent his lack of social skills but his ugly appearance. If a player is bad at thinking on the fly for social scenarios but still has a good Charisma, okay, his Charisma doesn't represent good social skills and force of personaity but instead his stunning looks.

Unfortunately with this particular character I'm fighting age a bit - our group doesn't want to consider an almost-40 woman as conventionally "beautiful," nor do I want to simply create another bimbo.

[SowZ]

Unfortunately with this particular character I'm fighting age a bit - our group doesn't want to consider an almost-40 woman as conventionally "beautiful," nor do I want to simply create another bimbo.

40 year old women can be very beautiful. Even if she isn't conventionally so, she can have sharp, refined features that add elegance with age. Throw on a confident demeanor/way of holding oneself and you have a woman who is not a bimbo but has an intelligent attractiveness.

[WarKitty]

40 year old women can be very beautiful. Even if she isn't conventionally so, she can have sharp, refined features that add elegance with age. Throw on a confident demeanor/way of holding oneself and you have a woman who is not a bimbo but has an intelligent attractiveness.

Besides, we already have the bimbo role filled by the new guy.

[SowZ]

Besides, we already have the bimbo role filled by the new guy.

Yeah, but you could be this kind of hot woman, not a bimbo.

[Katana_Geldar]

It is tough to play a charismatic character without charisma/natural acting ability. It is also tough to play a character who is significantly smarter than you are.

It's also hard to play a character sufficently dumber than you are. My current character is a barbarian with a Charisma of 17 and a Intelligence of 9.

[Engine]

The hardest part is usually thinking on the fly - it takes me a little bit to come up with what to say IC, which tends to make my characters look a bit socially awkward.

If you need a moment or two to come up with something, use that to your advantage. You don't need to say something to be (or appear) charismatic, a good facial expression could say more than a lot of words. You could remain in silence when you have to say something for a couple of moments, like what you're about to say is really important and everyone should listen. Comes to mind the speech Robert Kennedy gave in Indianapolis about Martin Luther King's death: he obviously took his time during the speech, you could do the same.

[flumphy]

Unfortunately with this particular character I'm fighting age a bit - our group doesn't want to consider an almost-40 woman as conventionally "beautiful," nor do I want to simply create another bimbo.

Well, why does she have to be beautiful at all? Like others have said, charisma is also about force of personality. Darth Vader, for example, has a high charisma. So do creepy, old warlocks with willing deformity.

Use your insecurities to your advantage by playing the strong, silent type whose words are commanding when they speak at all.

[Esprit15]

It's also hard to play a character sufficently dumber than you are. My current character is a barbarian with a Charisma of 17 and a Intelligence of 9.

I know the problem. I'm playing with a guy who is playing a fighter with 12 intelligence, but everything he says sounds like a college English professor and it just drives me crazy. I find it easiest to slightly dumb down your vocabulary depending on how much smarter you are than your character. If someone has the opposite problem, try talking in long sentences instead (think V from Order of the Stick).

[Volthawk]

I know the problem. I'm playing with a guy who is playing a fighter with 12 intelligence, but everything he says sounds like a college English professor and it just drives me crazy. I find it easiest to slightly dumb down your vocabulary depending on how much smarter you are than your character. If someone has the opposite problem, try talking in long sentences instead (think V from Order of the Stick).

To be fair, 12 Int is kinda smart, considering the average population will have straight 10s/11s, or the nonelite array which has its highest stat at 13.

[snoopy13a]

It is tough to play a charismatic character without charisma/natural acting ability. It is also tough to play a character who is significantly smarter than you are.

I disagree. Intelligence is usually reflected in cognitive ability. Intelligent people are better at math, reading comprehesion, learning languages, and in a fantasy game, learning wizard spells. In-game these abilities are reflected through mechanics.

Decision-making under pressure, common sense and prudence fall more into the Wisdom category. There are many intelligent people who make stupid decisions.

Unless the DM presents a logic puzzle or something of that nature, I don't think out-of-game intelligence makes that much of a difference.

[Xyk]

As a DM, when I have a non-charismatic player playing a charismatic character, I just decide that whatever the player said works much better than it normally would. Unless it would be funny to not do that. I have a humorous anecdote for this:

the PCs were investigating minotaur attacks in the middle of the night. They met a witness, and talked to him. The bard, whose player has trouble taking anything seriously, had a big grin on his face while trying to comfort this guy who just watched his wife and kids get slaughtered by a minotaur.

Witness: "Wh...Why are you smiling?"
Bard: "Oh...I...uh...just thought of this really funny joke. Do you wanna hear it?"
Witness: "A joke might be nice about now"
Bard: "Okay. A minotaur walks into a bar..."
Witness:
Bard: "...and he kills everybody!"

[Esprit15]

To be fair, 12 Int is kinda smart, considering the average population will have straight 10s/11s, or the nonelite array which has its highest stat at 13.

I know it's smart, but unless the only reason he is that smart is his vocab it seems to be overdoing it a bit. Eh, just my nitpicking.

[SowZ]

I disagree. Intelligence is usually reflected in cognitive ability. Intelligent people are better at math, reading comprehesion, learning languages, and in a fantasy game, learning wizard spells. In-game these abilities are reflected through mechanics.

Decision-making under pressure, common sense and prudence fall more into the Wisdom category. There are many intelligent people who make stupid decisions.

Unless the DM presents a logic puzzle or something of that nature, I don't think out-of-game intelligence makes that much of a difference.

Depth of thinking, examining situations, and the grasping of tough concepts are all Int., too.

[Katana_Geldar]

Witness: "Wh...Why are you smiling?"
Bard: "Oh...I...uh...just thought of this really funny joke. Do you wanna hear it?"
Witness: "A joke might be nice about now"
Bard: "Okay. A minotaur walks into a bar..."
Witness:
Bard: "...and he kills everybody!"

I think that's funny!

[Esprit15]

I think that's funny!

I laughed as soon as I saw Minotaur in the joke.

[Dienekes]

Just pretend you're this guy.

[Gamer Girl]

A question for those of us who are not naturally charismatic - how exactly do you roleplay a high-charisma character? I've been trying to get the hang of it, but, well, it's rather difficult to give an impression of a mental ability score that doesn't fit your own. I want to avoid either relying on physical beauty or strictly relying on the dice.

Well, you can't....unless you have the ability to act.

But charisma is one of them vague things, there is not just 'one way' to be charismatic. It's a bit of everything and nothing.

[WarKitty]

Put it this way...I tend to be the person that people go "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were there/saying something/trying to join in!" when I'm around. I do enjoy playing high-charisma characters, I'm just not sure how to make them come across that way.

[Zonugal]

A question for those of us who are not naturally charismatic - how exactly do you roleplay a high-charisma character? I've been trying to get the hang of it, but, well, it's rather difficult to give an impression of a mental ability score that doesn't fit your own. I want to avoid either relying on physical beauty or strictly relying on the dice.

My advice, for a beginner to highly-charismatic characters, fake it till you make it. Charisma follows no intrinsic rule. You merely have a magnetic personality. Whatever you do people seem to love it. You could be the highest of extroverted charisma (think George Clooney) or a bumbling, jittery type of charisma (think Hugh Grant). Either way you just seem to ignite something in people.

Going in as a beginner though I'd recommend taking a strong example from Captain Zap Brannigan from Futurama. Act as if every action, word, everything carried the weight of the world. You are a hero. Women want you and men want to emulate you. Taking inspiration from James Kirk is also useful here.

Basically Fake it till you Make it.

[WarKitty]

My advice, for a beginner to highly-charismatic characters, fake it till you make it. Charisma follows no intrinsic rule. You merely have a magnetic personality. Whatever you do people seem to love it. You could be the highest of extroverted charisma (think George Clooney) or a bumbling, jittery type of charisma (think Hugh Grant). Either way you just seem to ignite something in people.

Going in as a beginner though I'd recommend taking a strong example from Captain Zap Brannigan from Futurama. Act as if every action, word, everything carried the weight of the world. You are a hero. Women want you and men want to emulate you. Taking inspiration from James Kirk is also useful here.

Basically Fake it till you Make it.

James Kirk...you have got to be kidding. That guy is a $#&@*$ and I can't really fathom what women see in him other than the Power of Plot.

P.S. if it's relevant I'm playing a middle-aged female character. I know it's not supposed to be different, but I've found charisma type stuff is one of those things where expectations can differ between men and women.

[Gamer Girl]

James Kirk...you have got to be kidding. That guy is a $#&@*$ and I can't really fathom what women see in him other than the Power of Plot.

P.S. if it's relevant I'm playing a middle-aged female character. I know it's not supposed to be different, but I've found charisma type stuff is one of those things where expectations can differ between men and women.

Lots of women fall for the James Kirks(or James Bonds or Jessie James or...)

Hummm...well I 'play' a middle-aged female in real life...lol. But I have very low charisma(penalty of being evil).

Otherwise...lets see:

*Touch. Middle-aged females are always touching people to form the personal real connection. Often on the hand, arm, shoulder and such.

*Asking for help. Middle-aged females are always asking for help with anything. Sure they could do it themselves, they just don't want too.

*Group Think. Middle-aged females don't want to be alone much. Similar to asking for help, they will often ask people to hang around or do things with them.

*Listen. Middle-aged females listen to what is told to them, and even more so they care about it.

[Zonugal]

James Kirk...you have got to be kidding. That guy is a $#&@*$ and I can't really fathom what women see in him other than the Power of Plot.

P.S. if it's relevant I'm playing a middle-aged female character. I know it's not supposed to be different, but I've found charisma type stuff is one of those things where expectations can differ between men and women.

Do you know what your mental stat array is?