Talking about how a character's charisma does not determine their physical appearance and that you don't need to be pretty to get what you want in fantasy worlds.
"Does a higher charisma mean a character is more attractive?" I hear/see this question get asked an awful lot. A surprising amount. I think that due to the way many charismatic characters, especially bards who utilize the ability score in more obvious ways, the idea that a character with a high charisma score is "hot" or physically attractive.
Can a character with a high charisma be physically attractive and/or good looking? Yes, of course. Does a character with a high charisma have to be physically attractive and/or good looking? No. Why is that Uncle Puddins? Well, I am glad you asked!
First of all, let's break down the ability scores a bit. It is common for them to be broken down like the following.
Physical Stats: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution
Mental Stats: Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma
Charisma is not listed as a physical stat, but rather a mental stat. Your strength, dexterity, and constitution would just as likely play into how a character would look. Charisma is used to determine how much of a "force of personality" someone has. A character with a higher charisma will be able to use their personality to convince/inspire others to either get them to react in a way that is inline with their goals or to sway their opinion. One could use their good looks to try and do this, but someone could also use their charm, wit, intimidation, and other personality traits to get an edge on whoever they are interacting with.
Charisma also refers to divinely conferred power or talent according to a dictionary and Wikipedia; That may explain the long burning question of why it is the major ability score of sorcerers. Huh! Neat-o stuff.
Here are some good examples of characters that might not be particularly attractive but would maybe have a high charisma.
1) Brozaak, the orc nomad, gets heads to turn in the tavern just by swinging the door open. The bar is full, but just by mean muggin' the patrons as he saunters up to it, he is able to find an empty stool waiting for him. He came looking for information, and when the person he is talking to seems to not be willing to tell him what they know, Brozaak gives him a cold stare and makes a passing comment about being able to break a dude's skull with his bare fist. This may be true, it may not, but what matters is that the person bought it and spills the beans.
2) Royce was not the kind of company the captain preferred, but dammit, he needed the item the captain had. He knew if he wasted the captain's time, it was not going to be pretty for him. When he entered the captain's quarter, he did so with the confidence of acting like he knew his way around the room. He cracked jokes and was able to determine what kind of humor the captain preferred. He even cracked a joke about his own bulbous nose, which left the captain in stitches. The captain thought they were the best of buddies. While he was too busy having a good laugh with Royce, the rogue yoinked the macguffin.
3) Melira was known for her way of convincing people of all sorts of tall tales. People always seemed captivated whenever she spoke. It wasn't before long she had a sort of following as she convinced people of a belief she had come up with herself, and soon she had a little cult on her hands. She did not find it hard. All she had to do was orate and make a good show of it, and people would listen, follow, and swear fealty to her. That was until local party of heroes put an end to her shenanigans.
At the end of the day, people with high charisma could be tyrants, evil cult leaders (both of which never seem to that great looking in my opinion), mean muggin' SOBs, life of the party types, charmers, fast talkers, and all sorts of other things. Attractive people might be awkward or just not good with people. It happens.
If "beauty" is something that matters to you, I take a little inspiration from the video game Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magicka Obscura. I've mentioned it a few times before here on Kobold Stew. It is applicable because it is heavily based off of table top games and has a table top feel.
Interestingly, the developers of the game made a point to differentiate between the stats of 'Beauty' and 'Charisma.' They are treated as two different stats in short. Beauty affects other character's (NPC's) initial reactions of your character, but charisma is your ability to change the way they feel about you, obtain information, and whatever else you would use charisma to do at the tabletop or in other RPGs. At the end of the day, you can make a character with low beauty but be alright because you have a high charisma, and charisma in general affects more things in the game.
Similarly, in your games, you can have the physical attractiveness affect the way NPCs react to a certain character and if characters who would be into them would be into them. I have other things such as a reputation, race, class, and all sorts of other characteristics play into an NPC's initial reaction to a character
I suppose my point in all of this is to make your character look how you want. I fully am for playing into your stats, but if you want your character to be a cutie patootie, make them a cutie. If you want your character to be butt f***in' ugly, that's up to you as well. Don't let your charisma score affect it! Play the character you wanna play.
Is this the part where I say "Thank you for coming to my TED talk?" But seriously, if you are a new reader or a returning one, thank you so so so much for taking the time to read my wonky blog! I have fun doing this and enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas with y'all. If you would like to contribute to the fun, feel free to comment, tweet at me, send me a DM, or whatever. Let's talk!
Until next time
Happy gaming,
Uncle Puddins
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