I would say no. Simply because i'm under the impression that charisma is simply a force of your personality (even though it lists appearance as a determining factor). Your character would be friendly enough regardless of appearance to have a beer with some folks at the local drinking establishment. Example, a Faceless Stalker is depicted as "This hairless, leathery biped has a face dominated by grotesque and unsettling whorls and slits instead of actual features." To me, that is more terrifying then any Half-Orc, and yet is has a charisma of 16. I think characters and creatures have different "types" of charisma, whether it be intimidating, inspiring, charming, etc. In short, I think his charisma is fine at 10-11.
Charisma measures a character's personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance.
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I think as long as you are not trying to either create penalties where the mechanics do not dictate one, or trying to gain an advantage where the rules do not allow one it is up to you to describe your character. :)
For example, the Elven wizard that is very attractive but wears a sneer and 'looks down on' pretty much everyone she talks to would have neither a high, nor low Cha; her 'advantage' (appearance) is offset by her 'disadvantage' (personality). One could say, she'd be a great model, but not a good spokesperson ;)
The four points identified in CHA (personality, magnetism, leadership, appearance) are not going to be universal for all people; some people are friendly but can't inspire anyone to follow them. For some, 'defects' become 'endearing'. For example, the dashing rogue that has been in one too many bar fights-his broken nose sets him apart, not back. CHA involves many of the intanglibles about people and you should not try to nail down all that it could mean. With the other stats, it's Easy: STR, how much can you lift? CHA is much more complex that that; you can quantify beauty, but you cannot quantify personal magnetism... You can define ugly (bad teeth, wrong-set eyes, bad skin, seriously underweight...) but you can't define 'ability to lead' any more than that one vague statement.
We had this discussion a while back and someone pointed out the parellell between Physical and Mental attributes: STR/CHA are used to assert/attack, DEX/INT is used for agility/speed, and WIS/CON is your 'toughness'. (The original post about this was much more coherent :) )
As far as Chuck's half-Orc, I like it :) Run with it! What would be more offensive is taking the CHA/Dump and then playing like you had a CHA 18!
GNOME
I want to make a 18+ cha half orc oracle that is a total Fabio (with greenish skin and tusks)
I'm too sexy for my tusks, too sexy for my tusks...
lol
GNOME
The trait doesn't say that you look uglier, only with "prominent orc features" that increases a "bestial appearance." That's not necessarily ugly. As evidenced by phrases like "animal magnetism," it can prove good looking.
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Should that have enough of an effect on his Charisma to knock him below that 10-11 range?
Nope. Like everybody else here has said, it’s all unrelated. Charisma is the “stat of many colors.” It can be likability, it can be friendliness, all that stuff. One thing I haven’t seen listed yet is raw presence. Like the vampire who walks in the room and everybody stops what they’re doing to turn and look at him. That can be high Charisma.
Whereas low Charisma can be “offset” features (likable, but ugly), or just “lost in the crowd.” I have one player, a monk, she has a Cha of 7 but for RP reasons she’s drop dead gorgeous. We play it as she’s “way too pretty”—there’s something off about her, and people keep their distance and tend to not want to be around her.
So in short, your bestial half-orc with a Cha of 10–11 is just fine. :D
Many of the stats measure things that aren't related, or are even contradictory. Con, for example, measures both your ability to take punishment and your long term endurance while running. Large people have an advantage for taking damage, and small skinny people make the best marathon runners. Strength is both power and sheer lifting/hauling capacity- there's a reason boxers don't look like power lifters OR body builders.
I would just assume that the bestial looks simply don't matter in D&D as much as they do IRL.
"Appearance" is also more than how you look. An ugly character can still have a presentable appearance. They could be well-groomed and fashionably dressed, thus making a better first impression than a tusky half-orc wearing animal skins and the skulls of his vanquished foes.
Of course, in some contexts, the latter might be a better look!
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Attractiveness is certainly a component of charisma but it's not the only component or even a critical component.
A undead lich sorceror can have magnificent force of will but still be a decayed husk. A beautiful NPC might have an abrasive and belittling manner that prevents them from taking advantage of their attractiveness.
It's just that we tend to base a lot of real world significance on things like physical beauty while forgetting that some individuals have been very charismatic despite having a distinct lack of physical beauty. Leaders and politicians prior to the television age typically could be said to be charismatic but often lack anything resembling sex appeal.
Personally I like including an attractiveness feat that provides bonuses to charisma skill checks when targeting individuals that might find the person attractive. That way there is a mechanical benefit to being gorgeous but it's separate but linked to the charisma attribute.
It works pretty well, especially if you provide bonus feats or make it a trait equivalent.
That got me thinking with intimidate (shouldn't a penalty apply as a bonus instead of a penalty to intimidate, since an ugly person has to try less to intimidate while a pretty boy/girl whatever would have a hard time?
And yeah as many have said before, Charisma is more than beauty, it has to do with force of personality (see those obese people in real life that are hooked up with "pretty" people? that's charisma at its work!)*
*No offense to obese people.
Hitler had a charisma of 22 :)
There's also the subjectivity of beauty. Different people have different ideas of what's beautiful, and that's just talking about people from one race. Throw dwarves, half-orcs, elves, and who knows what else in the mix and the very notion of quantified beauty becomes even more ridonkulous.
This is how we do it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You describe your character however you want (everybody always says "hot" at some point 9_9;) but whenever appearance comes into play (rare) I have them roll an opposed Charisma check.
If they win, the other person in question finds them attractive in some way or another. It's pretty easy. Sure, high Cha characters win out on this more, but it's always close it seems like.
Without a doubt, one of my favorite characters was the neck-whipping-ly good looking character with sub-normal charisma.
Really, everyone has already pretty well covered the "Looks =/= Charisma" debate here, but I just had to add the first two words that came to my mind:
"Cyrano DeBergerac".
Defense rests.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Is it in the center eye? Does that mean that beholder mages are ugly?
But seriously, as mentioned, there is no appearence stat. My current Society character has a Cha of 5 (go go racial mods!). It's not that he's ugly. It's that he's a total jerk.
IF you REALLY wanted to quantify appearence, it would be a very awkward value based on a character's physical stats and the personal preference of the viewing party. Even then, it's a matter of the individual; Some people look good as a bean pole and others with a bit more meat on their bones.