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For a possible upcoming Jade Regent game, I am building a Duergar Heretic Inquisitor with the Conversion Inquisition.
I will have a 10 Intelligence, 20 Wisdom, and 3 Charisma.
My Bluff +14, Diplomacy +8, and Intimidate +9. These will increase greatly.
My question is:
How do you roleplay a character with such dismal charisma, and yet great social skills?
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For a possible upcoming Jade Regent game, I am building a Duergar Heretic Inquisitor with the Conversion Inquisition.
I will have a 10 Intelligence, 20 Wisdom, and 3 Charisma.
My Bluff +14, Diplomacy +8, and Intimidate +9. These will increase greatly.My question is:
How do you roleplay a character with such dismal charisma, and yet great social skills?
Normally, I think of charisma in personal magnetism and force of personality. Yes, I know appearance can be part of this.
This character may be hideously ugly, have a strange voice and strange mannerisms. Yet this character has learned to be an effective communicator and liar. In the case of bluff, he may be hard to read. In the case of intimidate,his appearance and mannerism may frighten people. In the case of diplomacy, I suppose that he has learned to make reasoned arguments that appeal to people.
I hope this heols.
Only thing I could come up with, is being incredibly cold and emotionless, yet always having the right words to say.
If anyone has anything else, all is welcome.
That would be fairly close, look at other things with low or no charisma, they don't have a great "sense of self", constructs often have 1 or 0 charisma. With a High wisdom he is very observent, picking up on small details and effectively running that through what today we'd call an algorithm. Much of his social reaction would be premeditated rote response. Very nuanced, complex, and highly refined but still rote. However rote can be effective in many cases.
No, more like someone who runs their social life like its an actuarial table, or an AI lookup table. He has next no ability to adapt and compensates by having developed a very big list ways to react. His ability to lie for example is almost as smooth as natural born lier (Cha 20, 1 rank trained, +9 total bonus)
Are the skill checks you listed taking the -4 Cha into account?
Conversion Inquisition allows him to use WIS instead of CHA for those skills.
Quiet and mumbly but insanely insightful. He'll shuffle around quietly, scratch himself uncouthly, then make beautifully mindblowing short statements or allegorical stories.
Although his willpower is strong on anything important to him, like his indomitable faith, he will usually prefer to go with the flow and not stand out in any social situation. He believes in hunches and insights over complicated plans and theories.
(EDIT: I'd associate the more together and slick sociopaths others are recommending if it was an Int substitution instead of Wis.)
An, Inquisitors are not normally my most carefully read class. Good to know.
Ya, that even more strongly points to social response by observation and learned responses. He's very good at reading people and happens to have a bank of knowledge that he can use to push on just the right point. Cold, calculated, effective. Dispassionate.
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Well, as a worshiper of Cixyron, I will not be of good alignment.
However, I need DM approval to be evil.
So, I guess I can work the Sociopath angle.
No, most sociopaths have decent charisma. You're playing a loner that probably wouldn't be in a party unless you have some ties with other characters.
You would never become someone successful as a nobleman. People are most likely never to really notice or care for you because you almost have the charisma of a rock.
You would never become someone successful as a nobleman. People are most likely never to really notice or care for you because you almost have the charisma of a rock.
No. He would have excellent diplomacy and bluff because of conversion inquisition so his charisma score wouldn't matter.
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Since you want to be of noble blood, how about a spoiled child of nobility who genuinely believes that anybody of poorer breeding is less worthy of your respect? You might suck up to those of higher social standing, act companionably with those you view as equals and disrespect anybody of poorer breeding. Couple that with a hefty entitlement complex and you've got an unlikable character that could still be shrewd enough that you have to listen to his opinions. Play it up by offering good advice in a sarcastic tone or by sneering at the "stupidity" of the commoners around you.
That's how I play my 30 charisma character.
Sort of reminds me personally, of the Sherlock Holmes of the newest BBC show (Granted Sherlock has much more INT). Damn near everyone finds him irritating but in the end they need him. He doesn't win arguments through presence of character, he wins them through indisputable facts and logic. You could replace the facts (Something more of intelligence skills) with immense wisdom.
As for a noble man, you could perhaps do something in line with a royal / noble advisor. A king after all, would probably want to take opinion from the wise and intelligent over the charismatic.
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Speaks well but drools all over himself and others. Uncontrollable flatulance. Body odor like feces--people get woosey being near the character. Bad teeth, bad breath, bad hair. Pronounced stutter or other speach impediment or Turrets. Looks like a total mess. Things no amount of formal training can correct.
Think of that really smart professor you had in college who was just hideous. He was persuasive and you liked him, in a way, but man, look at him for a while and things get funky.
Moses. When God asked Moses to speak to pharoah Moses points out that he stutters and has trouble speaking, but God promises to give him the words. I would suggest an incredibly social akward and foreign to "how to treat people," but when in acting on behalf of his diety he has supernatural skills. Kinda like Yoda. Frail and staggering until he uses the force to hop around like a happy fun ball.
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I would have him act like Grima Wormtongue for LOTR.
Are you basically playing a character that only has five stats?
Do you ever intend to use any of those?
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Jabba the Hutt -- Great intimidator, liar, and diplomat, NO charisma.
A character like this would probably lack confidence unless he was really trying to be diplomatic, intimidating, and so on.
I played a character a long time ago who stuttered and mumbled and basically couldn't interact with anyone competently ... unless he was on an adrenaline rush. It turned out to be fairly unplayable, though, because he was just always doing stupid things and being aggressive so he could interact with humans. But you could try it; you might find a better balance than I did.
Social skills are easy to min/max. Take a look at my character for example.
Assuming you took the same feats and abilities, but only had 3 Charisma, you would have approximately Bluff +24 (to lie), Diplomacy +13, and Disguise +17 at relatively low level.
That's not a half-bad manipulator by a long shot.
If you're going to play a duergar, play a duergar. Be incredibly stubborn, and completely belligerent. Interrupt people all the time, be rude, and attack first, ask questions later.
The party and all NPCs should mostly ignore your opinions and forget that you exist. You personally should have no real passions outside of your faith, have no aspirations for the future, and rarely form an opinion on issues beyond don't care and attack it. A 0 Cha means you can't exert yourself, so a low charisma probably means you're lazy, not because of lack of energy or a dislike of work, but because you just don't care enough about anything to get around to doing it.
For diplomacy, you gruffly and rudely appeal to their sense of reason, so that they have trouble arguing back. You're so stubborn that people give up rather than fight. If you manage to sway someone's opinion of you from unfriendly to helpful, it could be because they view you as a curiosity or pet. Because you make so little of an impression, though, these same people will likely forget to prioritize you very highly without constant reminders. Most NPCs will attempt to talk to someone else in your party, and be continually surprised that you're talking. You influence their decisions without them realizing that you're the "leader" of the conversation, and will constantly attempt negotiations with your other party members despite your continual success.
Successful intimidates is just you forcing people who wouldn't normally pay you much attention to pay you attention, and they're frightened more by the fact that they managed to more or less overlook you, what with you being an intimidating duergar.
You can just play bluff off as being a great liar.
A Dr. House you are not because he would control just about any room he entered and could really lay the charm on if he wanted to. People who met him were attracted to him, even though he was a jerk. You can't do that with a low Cha.
I'm curious how playing a duergar will work in Jade Regent. You have a brave DM.
@RD: Yeah, saw that. Where is that mask from?
It's a circlet of persuasion (CRB), hat of disguise (CRB), and mask of stone (ARG) all rolled into one (paying the extra costs for sharing slots, as outlined in the CRB's Magic Item Creation chapter).
Its simple really, just describe your appearance and play up the madness aspect. You can explain your successful diplomacy as being really committed to your vision. Always bring all your reasoning back to That Which Sleeps Beneath.
This is not quite from a official source, but I really like the descriptions of Duergar from Psionics Unleshed
Duergars’ eyes shine with a madness that has touched their entire bloodline. Their ashen skin is devoid of nearly all hair, except on their head and face, although male duergars tend to have a bald pate. While short and broad, standing roughly 4 1/2 feet tall, the rippling muscles of the duergars make most people uneasy, for beneath their skin, the muscles move of their own accord, snaking and twisting. Many duergars have long scars, often caused by their own delusions.
Almost all duergars worship the sleeping horror by working, building, constructing, and redefining, while humming and singing the twisted lullaby that runs through their minds. All other gods are inconsequential, for the horrid thing, That Which Sleeps Beneath, will consume all if it awakens. Lawful neutral, or perhaps lawful evil, tend to be the natural tendencies of the duergars, for they see no use in helping others with their pointless daily problems, when they are busy saving the world from the threat of imminent destruction.
If you read Joe Abercrombie's First Law Series, I think you have someone close to Sand Dan Glotka.
(http://firstlaw.wikia.com/wiki/Sand_Dan_Glokta)
Basically, he was a Calavarly officer who was captured by the enemy, horribly disfigured and broken. He returned to the Union, bittered and became an inquisitor. He excels at Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidation because of his position and his basic understanding of how people operate. He is a torturer and he sees people at their worst, both physically and emotionally. He has obtained keen insight into how people behave and manipulates them appropriately. He doesn't care to lead or make an impression on anyone. Infact, he can't get anyone to do anything unless he appeals to the aforementioned skills.
I have never read that series. My interest is piqued though.
Good Author and a Good series. He also has a couple of novels set after the series that are also really good, "Best Served Cold" and the "The Heroes". I think he is coming out with a new novel soon. Kind of subversive, nice shades of grade, and interesting characters.