Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gargs454 03-06-05, 10:31 PM	Hey all, thanks in advance for any help you can offer. Anyhoo, just rolled up a new character for a campaign that is set to start next week. I'm looking for some creative ideas on how to handle a low charisma (6) character. My character is Jobo Tanglefoot, the Strongheart Halfling Monk. Yes that's right, a halfling Monk. Anyhoo, I'm looking to do something that's a little entertaining and interesting, but at the same time appropriate for my character's stat's. The other ability scores are pretty good, but I admittedly decided to dump the 6 into Cha as it was the most expendable for a Monk. My early thoughts on how to play it are to have him just be rather withdrawn and stoic, and thus not very leader like. However, that doesn't seem to be nearly as fun. Additionally, I am trying to avoid the cliche of the hideous scar, etc. What other ideas do you have? One thought was just to have him make all kinds of inappropriate comments, which could be funny, but not sure if the humor would betray the low Cha. Anyhoo, any ideas would be most appreciated! Thanks again!
Acegikmo 03-07-05, 05:36 AM	have him born butt ugly, always trying to make friends but they always seem to mistake him for a lump of rotting monkey corpese, and he hates hygene
Evil O 03-07-05, 01:21 PM	You dont have to be very uncharismatic(spelling?) with 6 in cha. The "average" for us humans in real life is between 8 and 12, thus 6 is just a little lower than average. Hey that could be my mother! Cha is not only looks and not only charisma, it is your hole pressense, your outwardness, it is everything about your person. So 6 in cha aint that bad, but your idea of making comments and like is good it is also your pressense, the way people see you. Have fun playing your 6 cha monk! Evil O
b6 03-07-05, 03:07 PM	I'm going to agree with Evil O here and point out that a 6 Cha isn't all that low, even though it is below the typical average, and much below a usual PC's average (or at least those I play). That said, think of some of the less-charismatic people you know and try to recall what they did, or perhaps didn't, do that made you think of them as such... Were they exceptionally introverted? If so, perhaps they even refused to talk when directly questioned, and thus they came off as almost a snob. Did they speak before filtering their thoughts and thus said things that weren't appropriate? Doing this too often would SURELY make someone less charismatic. This also seems to go along with the ideas you had above: make the jokes either bad or inappropriate, and that would be a good setup for a lower-Cha character. Another approach might be if your person spoke with a monotone, or without inflection or emphasis or flavor. Those people would be rather lacking in charisma, too, as their only flavor would be their overall lack, and thus people wouldn't appreciate them much. Similarly, have someone who is completely unable to speak and gesture with his hands at the same time. You wouldn't believe how unusual that is until you encounter such a person... Hopefully some of these ideas will help, but if not, perhaps they will send you off in the right direction. A low Cha doesn't necessitate ugliness, it just means that the character isn't as good at working a crowd, or impressing people. Keep that in mind, and you'll be fine!
papytofu 03-08-05, 10:02 AM	Be the more impolite possible with anybody ( but keep a good language...) and act the most repeling possible. And that's why your character is a monk he is really aggressive and find a way to throw this violence by fighting. That's why he have an high penalty with his charisma check. A diplomacy check would be like : ( there's a troll that block the gate and the party want to go on that gate : Hey you greeny bastard, isn't your mom I heard call for you? You know that nobody love you, but your mother? But that's because she's making you bigger for eating you after!" You see it's completly non-diplomatic, non-intimidating and repelling. You should have a lot of fun to roleplay that, but don't take to much of place with that of the campaign will lag because of that.
HypnoticMonk 03-08-05, 08:08 PM	Just a few random strange thoughts on things to make yourself Less charismatic in the eyes of others... Singing bawdy tunes at inappropiate times ( like when entering a friendly church...) Wearing the same robes for Months on end and refusing to wash them ( or even yourself..) Yelling " Ok all you sissymen better not give us any trouble" upon entering a bar and then pointing at another party member when they look your way Constantly insisting the barbarian giving you piggy back rides( follow that up calling him" your noble steed" and just watch the fun start...) and the weirdest I could think of offhand... nosepicking(yours...and other people's , as well [everybody say "EWWWW!!])
Helmed Horror 03-08-05, 08:42 PM	i got to say there is a halfling barbarian/rouge NPC in RttToEE that has a 6 cha. His story is hilarious. He was so ugly he was mistaken for a goblin and forced out of his famliy commune. Sad, but when pretty funny. don't really know how this could help you though...
dorkknight23 03-09-05, 02:24 AM	How about, instead of being ugly, you're an arrogant jerk? Basically the kind of guy who doesn't know how to make friends, nor does he care to learn. He speaks his mind whenever wherever, who just doesn't care enough to hold back his verbal barbs or hide his contempt from anyone else, basically acting like he was better than everyone else. This is especially fun to play with a character with higher than average stats besides charisma (like a monk.) Such character traits include arrogance, self-righteousness, and being all-around full of yourself. If you don't overplay it and make it difficult for your fellow players, it could be a very fun character to play. The other way to play low charisma is to be withdrawn, mute, and stoic. Don't speak up often, but when you do, reveal yourself to be exceptionally skillful and powerful. Then slink back, rubbing your toe into the ground, and generally be humble. Hope this helps!
Gargs454 03-09-05, 11:19 AM	Thanks for the great ideas everyone. Not entirely sure how I will incorporate them into my character, but I have a lot more ideas now than I did before. I kinda like the idea of asking for piggyback rides (after all, I only weigh 35lbs :D ) but might have to skip that since the fighter in the group is another player's wife, he might not take to kindly to that if you catch my drift. :P I love the idea about the tavern, and I think the other players will get a kick out of it too. Its sort of the type of thing I wanted to do anyway since who is going to be afraid of an unarmed halfling? (Well so long as the pockets are secured). This might make it even easier since he will have bad bluff and intimidate checks.
Antioch 03-10-05, 04:36 AM	Since you are playing a monk, then it is entirely possible that being holed up in a monastary for all those years prevented you from learning how to properly interact with outsiders. You could have a difficult time talking to people. Maybe you very rarely speak or make yourself known. Maybe your taboos are strange to others (and you make it a point to tell people about them when they break them). Its possible that you are also a braggart, gloating whenever you defeat another person in combat.
Elyot16 03-10-05, 04:06 PM	I've always despised characters that resorted to the unrealistically annoying actions to prove how uncharismatic and annoying their characters are. Most of the time they are actually playing towards a chaotic alignment rather than playing to character without people skills (which I believe is the true definition of charisma). Here are some things that I think make people very uncharismatic: 1. They have the tendency to talk about themselves all the time. They won't let you get a word in edgewise and tend to interupt to let you know how their own personal experiences fit into your story. "So, you just got back from slaying a dragon? I slew a dragon once. It was a red and I killed it by myself..." 2. They always have to one up another person or prove that they know more than someone else. "I've got this cool new spell" "Oh, that's cool, but mine is much better..." 3. They make up stuff to cover up their lack of knowledge or inability to figure stuff out on their own. They hate admitting they don't know or are wrong. 4. They annoy through proclamation. "This is the way it is and I'm not going to do anything you suggest." This is alright if they do it once, but the truly noncharismatic make this a habit, constantly letting you know that this is the only correct way do do it and they aren't budging.
Fox Lee 03-10-05, 07:17 PM	Hey - low CHA doesn't mean you have to be obnoxious :p What about being shy? A monk might not really know how to communicate with your average person. He might misunderstand social conventions (not be aware of greetings, titles, mannerisms like shaking hands, etc), have trouble with speaking his thoughts (maybe his mind runs faster than his mouth, and he stumbles over his words because of that?), have no self-confidence, or have trouble relating to the feelings of others because of his own lifestyle. He might have a lazy eye which creeps people out when he talks to them. Maybe his fighting style has made him habitually stoop/crouch, markedly detached, or a very meek speaker. If he has a high INT, maybe he's been taught to be particularly competitive, so his idea of conversation is a thinly-veiled intellectual battle. All I'm saying is, there are heaps of options ^^
Antioch 03-11-05, 01:46 AM	I agree that many people I've seen that give their character an small quirk tend to over-play it. Like it they pick their nose, they will have their character do it...constantly...all the time...wiping them on whatever is handy...in their sleep!
Chandaroon 03-17-05, 05:05 PM	Many of the people have suggested great ideas and I would like to include some of those here. Your Monk does not have to be obnoxious to be good. Quietness is always a good way to go. Monks have a habbit of Meditating, yours is a halfling, this coupled with the looks of a pitbull may make people mistake him for one. This may be the reason that he does not have good social skills. When the party stops to talk to someone the chances are that he's not the one doing the talking. So your monk sits on the ground and starts meditating (still listening to the conversation of course). While sitting cross-legged on the ground with his slightly ugly head turned down, other people often mistake him for one of your party's dog. You could also incorporate this into occasional growling, especially if your Monk's voice is already unusually deep. Just a couple of thoughts for you.
Electricall 03-18-05, 02:37 AM	Make him have a nasty habit to swear all the time, and no matter how hard he tries he can't stop doing it =) That's something I'd do. :)
Purpledragonfire 03-18-05, 05:26 AM	Perhaps his low cha could be a result of being mute either by birth or accident..... perhaps this even led to his being taken in by monks who taught him (exasperated parents not sure what to do with mute withdrawn boy send him to almost mute withdrawn monks) could be fun roleplaying..... just buy lots of chalk :)
Gargs454 03-18-05, 04:16 PM	Wow even more great ideas. You all have been a great help. I am definitely trying to avoid the cliche of the really ugly or just over the top obnoxious character. I'm leaning with gowing with someone who just doesn't understand social customs all that well. Someone who will treat everyone the same, whether they are royalty or a peasant (though not necessarily treating everyone like royalty if you catch my meaning). He is going to be somebody who always speaks his mind rather than picking his words carefully so as not to cause offense. As many have already suggested, he does not have horrible charisma, just below average. As such, I will try to mitigate the faux pas to an extent so that he doesn't act like a character with 1 CHA. :p Thanks again for all the great advice! Edit: Hrrrmmm. Just had an interesting idea. I could make it so that he isn't technically mute, but that he just very very rarely talks. Generally he prefers to write out his words when he can, but will speak if absolutely necessary. It could be that his monastery has a code of silence? I figure that this would make it great when he actually does speak because everyone will be surprised. On the other hand, it could make for very difficult party communications, so not sure its worth it. Has anyone ever tried the mute idea before? How did it work? The one potential pitfall to this path is that there are only two other players plus the DM, so having one silent character could cause problems. Interesting idea though . . . will have to think it over.
Helmed Horror 03-18-05, 09:12 PM	since you are probably pretty wise.... you are aware of your abiltiy (more like inability) to talk.. well. You probably are shy, and don't speak much, when you do speak, your word choice is precise, and yet it comes out wrong. Example: A.) I like green shirts. B.) Yes, green is definatley good, in woods, you could get lost. or... "And I should care because???" it may sound like you are evil and you are trying to loose that character in the woods.. but of course that is for you to ultimately decide...
LosGunD 03-19-05, 12:26 AM	The character should rarely speak and stutter/stumble over words uncontrollably when he does... Truly genius... :evillaugh ... I really like that smiley...
Hultsfred 03-19-05, 08:11 AM	Well, we're all role-players right? Most of us probably have fairly low charisma by definition. Just think about some of the more difficult-to-get-to-know roleplayers you play with, the ones who don't come across very well. Some of the roleplayers I know have an incredible lack of social skills. For example, one guy jabbers really fast, has a tendancy to interrupt with "witty" ideas, that always start with him jabbering out "No, but, mate, no" until you stop talking to let him speak. He's hard to understand, and working out what he says usually isn't worth the effort. Another guy just talks loudly the entire time. He has an opinion about everything, and enjoys sharing them. This isn't nessesarily a problem, and his ideas and opinions are usually valid and insightful. But he can be irritating. He has a tendancy to dominate conversations, especially with some of the quieter, more introverted roleplayers. Someone else talks as if he were doing the voice-over for a movie trailer. I don't mean he's got a deep voice or anything, but sometimes talks as if what he is saying is really exciting, and really dramatic, as if he was a late 60s comicbook hero. It's as if he really loves exclaimation marks. Going down the other end of the scale, another friend of mine is just very quiet. He's intelligent, insightful, witty, and quiet cutting in conversation, but he's perfectly happy to just listen and watch. He doesn't come across very well to people who don't know him Myself, I have a tendancy to overuse punctuation in conversations, and take a while to get to the point. I have a tendency to give too much explination to things I enjoy talking about, and give too many references. At the end of the day, unless you're a good actor, or are possessed of low charisma yourself, it's very hard to play someone with a low charisma in a roleplaying game. Especially if you get excited about the game, and like to get involved. Looking at it from another point of view though: Here's a list of charismatic personality traits, in no particular order: quiet, boistrous, cool, calm, collected, outrageous, bawdy, regal, composed, dedicated. It's easy to imagine a charismatic character who possesses one of those traits. But at the same time, it's really easy to imagine an uncharismatic character with the exact same qualities. It's all about how you portray them, and how people react to you. If you want to play a quiet, cool, calm, collected, dedicated halfling monk, you can. It doesn't matter what your charisma score is. If you have a high charisma score, you come across as mystereous, mystical and badass. If you have a low charisma, you come across as wierd, hard to understand, hard to talk to, and perhaps boring. Your GM should help you out with this in game, by how NPCs react to you.
revaar 03-20-05, 01:30 PM	I would play him as the type who is actually extremly extroverted, to the point that it is just uncomfortable to be around him. he tells people exactly what he thinks (walks into a barmaid, and says, nice boobs, can i touch them?), is a bit too touchy-feely (slaps behinds of complete strangers while yelling GOOD GAME!), laughs at his own horrible jokes, and finally, doesn't think there's anything wrong with all this.