Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Corpus 11-21-07, 10:20 PM	Does an enhancement bonus to charisma (such as the one given by a Cloak of Charisma) affect a character's leadership score?
weasel0 11-22-07, 12:14 AM	Yes it does, but you may not want to ever take it off or you'll lose the benefits of the enhanced Cha score. It's the same with any other magic item used to qualify for anything else.
Zinger2099 11-26-07, 11:30 AM	Personally, I houseruled that it does not. But then, I houseruled a lot of things when it comes to leadership. It's a difficult feat to incorporate, and most DMs don't allow it. I do, but with srticter prerequisits. By RAW, the cloak would affect the leadership score (I believe?), but it's really your call. Do you want the player to spend money on improving his leadership score (i.e. buy a cloak of charisma)? Or do you think it's something that should be based off things other then what he is wearing?
Kaede 11-26-07, 12:21 PM	Just remember that is a temporal adjustment, palce the new charisma score in the right place, it doesn't stacks with spells and so...
Myers 11-26-07, 03:42 PM	While by raw it is allowed, would be a tad odd. Walks into an anti magic field Followers: "I have a bad feeling about you, I'm going home." Steps out of magic field "Hey guys come back!!!" followers: "OK"
Wight_Chocolate 11-26-07, 03:57 PM	I think, in order for it to be believable, there'd have to be a transition period before his followers actually started to leave (or show up). Obviously if he's on his own in a cave somewhere and he takes a cloak off for a few minutes, a percentage of the minions that he left back home aren't going to suddenly up and vanish, then respawn immediately once he puts the thing back on. Presumably, upon donning the cloak, a character would be able to attract proportionally more followers over a period of time because of his greater ability to lead. Similarly, if he had such a cloak and then went without wearing it for a long time, some of his followers would decide that he isn't as great a leader as they originally thought and take their leave, but unless they're all extremely fickle then this isn't something that would happen instantly.
mvincent 11-26-07, 06:41 PM	Do you want the player to spend money on improving his leadership score (i.e. buy a cloak of charisma)? Or do you think it's something that should be based off things other then what he is wearing?It's not like the cloak increases your charisma by being stylish... it actually improves your personality, personal magnetism and charm... i.e. things other than what you are wearing. That's gotta affect your ability to attract and lead others (unless possibly they know about the cloak).
Zinger2099 11-27-07, 08:29 AM	It's not like the cloak increases your charisma by being stylish... it actually improves your personality, personal magnetism and charm... i.e. things other than what you are wearing. That's gotta affect your ability to attract and lead others (unless possibly they know about the cloak). I am aware of this. I just don't want to run into examples of the like that Myers has described. As it is, i've already severely limited Leadership in my own campaign, simply because of the amount of book keeping involved.
mvincent 11-27-07, 12:18 PM	I am aware of this. I just don't want to run into examples of the like that Myers has described.Ah. Fair enough. Note though, I believe the writer's designed the leadership feat around the expectation that Charisma enhancing items will be available. From the Leadership table (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#leadership) progression, we can see that: 1) Early on, a leader can easily gain a max-level cohort (i.e. one that is two-levels below him). 2) Although the cohort gains XP at a rate that keeps him exactly two levels behind the leader, at higher levels a leader will likely have to (significantly) improve his charisma in order to maintain this. Mind you, I see nothing wrong with limiting the leadership feat (as it is arguably the most powerful feat ever made).
Zinger2099 11-27-07, 12:39 PM	Personally, I changed the prereqs on the feat to the following: Minimum character level 10th (instead of 6th) Minimum Charisma Score 15 (Comparable to Frightful Presence prereq) In addition to that, any temporary change to your Charisma score has no bearing on your Leadership score (i.e. Cloak of Charisma, Cat's Grace, ect). What's more, I impliment my own variant on the reputation rules from unearthed Arcana, which also changes your Leadership score. But these are just houserules.
Voran 11-27-07, 10:03 PM	I'd possibly houserule something along the lines of ,If you want to use enhancements to your CHA to influence Leadership, you can, but if you ever lose that enhancement in the proximity of said followers, or the like, you lose the bonus followers, and possibly gain a penalty of 'being a big phony'. People suddenly become aware you're not such a great guy as they thought, or they note flaws they didn't realize before, or some thing that otherwise disillusions them away from you.
The Simbul 11-28-07, 11:59 PM	I rule that it takes a number of days equal to the level of the cohort/follower for them to abandon the character with the Leadership feat. I likewise rule that it takes the same number of days for a potential new cohort/follower to be attracted or replaced. Thus in that scenario taking off your cloak of charisma to have it cleaned or mended by a seamstress will not adversely affect your entourage of allies, whereas having your charisma score decreased by a bestow curse spell, ability drain, or other effects could cause desertion. Likewise, you simultaneously would not have potential followers magically appear out of nowhere whenever you drink a potion of eagle's splendor, only to have them mysteriously vanish into the ether when the spell expires 3 minutes later.