Stats: Description vs Perception

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Zeskay
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Stats: Description vs Perception

Post by Zeskay » Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:38 pm

Hello! I'm rather new around here, and wanted to see what was the general consensus about how to RP at someone when there is a discrepancy between their description and the perception of the character.

Charisma is a dump stat for most, I get it. 90%+ of the characters my PC has assessed via examine have low charisma. Coming from that assumption that 10 is average, then low means that person has under 10 charisma. I suppose my first question should be, what are the thresholds as far as the assess mechanic is concerned?

There are several ways to RP a stat, but when there's a strong discrepancy I'm not sure how to approach it.

Going by this DnD Stats in Simple Language guide, charisma would break down as follows:

- 6-7 (–2): Terribly reticent, uninteresting, or rude
- 8-9 (–1): Something of a bore or makes people mildly uncomfortable
- 10-11 (0): Capable of polite conversation
- 12-13 (1): Mildly interesting, knows what to say to the right people
- 14-15 (2): Interesting, knows what to say to most people

From the above, I gather that for example if a low CHA politician figure PC is giving a speech, even if they describe themselves as confident, engaging, or charismatic, it should fail to resonate with my character. It could possibly bore her, she would have a hard time believing what was being said, or she wouldn't be compelled to participate in the cause because the message falls flat. What's your take on this? You are free to RP your low CHA PC as eloquent, engaging, and alluring, but on the same token, my PC doesn't have to buy it.

On a similar note, I've heard that content gets hard late game, and unless you follow certain "cookie cutter" builds, you could be potentially useless. My second question is, am I gimping myself by taking stats / skills just for RP / flavor purposes? Is this why CHA is the official dump stat?

Thanks for your time, it's been fun so far :)

StrykerMontgomery
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Re: Stats: Description vs Perception

Post by StrykerMontgomery » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:27 pm

Depends on the build. Really it could be the difference of 1 ac sometimes. Building community had kind of adopted that clases and mechanics are more often than not just math and means to an end. Like before palemasters got fixed, it might be cool to be a palemaster wizard necromancer, but you could RP the samething and accomplish ALOT more with a 26 wizard/4 bard. Note that from a RP perspective, moet necromancers probably are not bards..
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Baron Saturday
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Re: Stats: Description vs Perception

Post by Baron Saturday » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:32 pm

Zeskay wrote:
Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:38 pm
You are free to RP your low CHA PC as eloquent, engaging, and alluring, but on the same token, my PC doesn't have to buy it.
This pretty much hits the nail on the head. Though it is worth keeping in mind that stats on examine don't show buffs or equipment bonuses, so it's possible that someone with 8 Cha could have buffed it up to 20 just for the purposes of giving a rousing speech. This has actually been the subject of some debate lately. Ultimately, Cha is one of those stats where there's never going to be a hard-and-fast rule, and even general consensus is hard to come by. Go with what works for you and makes for a fun experience.
Zeskay wrote:
Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:38 pm
On a similar note, I've heard that content gets hard late game, and unless you follow certain "cookie cutter" builds, you could be potentially useless. My second question is, am I gimping myself by taking stats / skills just for RP / flavor purposes? Is this why CHA is the official dump stat?
You should never, ever feel that you HAVE to follow the cookie-cutter builds. They're there as a resource, not a requirement, and many of them are overkill for the majority of Arelith's PvE content. Nor, indeed, is mechanical strength the most important thing about a character. Personally, I have never gotten a character past level 26 in... I'm not even sure how many years of playing. There is SO MUCH TO DO on Arelith that doesn't involve PvE content that by the time I get to the epics, my character is usually busy with other stuff and has no time to go grinding for levels.

Now, if you ARE interested in late-game PvE content and are concerned that your build might not be strong enough, stop by the Builds forum. In your post, make sure you note the things you 100% want (or DON'T want) in your build. Want to be a warrior with 16 Cha and no UMD? Say so, and myself and others will be happy to work with you to find a build that meets your prereqs without being mechanically useless.
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Wordless Truth
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Re: Stats: Description vs Perception

Post by Wordless Truth » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:33 pm

Welcome to the server!

Charisma is the stat that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. As a rule of thumb for all stats, 10 is average. Everything below is below average. And everything above, is above.

And that's about everything you can say about it. People can RP low charisma as quite a lot of things. It may be insecurity, a stutter, missing teeth, ticks, an eerie air, plain ugly dogface, rudeness, boring personality... Whatever you can come up with that falls in this category.

On the other hand, high charisma doesn't necessarily have to mean that your character is interesting, beautiful or amicable, but instead can have a strong, perhaps convincing character. Then there are others that roleplay it as female secondary sexual characteristics of ample proportions.

I recommend not to focus so much on individual numbers, just use them as some sort of pointer. While Arelith is ultimately set in FR and D&D, and thus follows many of its rules in most regards - and you definitely should play your character sheet - it's more about text-based storytelling (roleplay), rather than being all about numbers (rollplay).

Others can and will comment of the consequences for builds if don't distribute stats optimally. If you just want to add a few points of Cha on a character that has no use for it, for RP reasons, imo it won't hurt much if you're not looking to play a perfectly PvP-ready build. As has been said, it depends on the build. Keep in mind that almost any build is viable on Arelith, if you don't plan on getting into PvP a lot. Depending on the concept, it can just be a lot more fun to not be useless.

Have fun!

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Zeskay
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Re: Stats: Description vs Perception

Post by Zeskay » Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:08 pm

Thank you all, it's been an enlightening read.
Baron Saturday wrote:
Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:32 pm
Though it is worth keeping in mind that stats on examine don't show buffs or equipment bonuses, so it's possible that someone with 8 Cha could have buffed it up to 20 just for the purposes of giving a rousing speech.
Good point, I thought the assess mechanic took buffs into consideration. This makes me feel better about allowing my PC to take things said at face value more often, even when it comes to PC's with low base CHA.
Baron Saturday wrote:
Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:32 pm
Now, if you ARE interested in late-game PvE content and are concerned that your build might not be strong enough, stop by the Builds forum.
Thanks, I'll make sure to do that. It comes down to not wanting to be a liability to the group later on, and having something to contribute to the party in combat, other than comic relief.

As for PvP, I don't think this particular character has the temperament to actively seek those kind of situations (she's more of a diplomat), but she would probably want to defend herself or help others if things turn violent. However, I'm ok with her not being completely competent in this area.

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