Enjoy role playing a fox news analyst.
I once played a World of Darkness game, in which my character was a werewolf, whose first change occurred while interning for Fox News, they gave the whole building a nice new paint job.
This is a difficult case. To play this character and still have fun almost requires another character to become your 'master', because that creates a more enjoyable table dynamic than Bill the "golem" alone.
We have a 4 cha party member and I encourage her to think in terms of opposites:
An 18 charisma can lead others easily.
A 1 charisma can't even lead themselves. They do not make tactical suggestions for others and need to be told what to do unless the actions required meet a very basic set of survival reactions to stimulus. They kill a foe dead and beyond, ignoring non-immediate threats.
An 18 charisma can effortlessly communicate, even if stupid or unwise. People 'get' what she wants.
A 1 charisma is filled with constant frustration, because they cannot get out what's inside. You could emulate turettes, or roll randomly for what you say vs. what you mean.
An 18 charisma can bend invisible forces to their will and make them obey.
A 1 charisma character should struggle to button a shirt; not because they are too dumb or clumsy, but because they simply cannot focus on object agency. I would play this as no attention span to the activity, vs. clumsy fingers. Perhaps only random clasps and buttons get done each day. Perhaps every hour they absentmindedly unbutton or rebutton.
People rally to an 18 charisma.
People dehumanize a 1 charisma. It's like a deadly houseplant.
Our 4 charisma character is self-serving and almost a thrall to the character she is in love with. She does what she likes to do and is obstinate most of the time for no reason, but VERY easily swayed.
OR
A completely different take is to play them as a daily amnesiac. Simply wipe their short term memory each day. Re-insert the memories 14 days later. That way they don't murder the party, but don't interact knowingly with any recent events.
In a campaign many years ago, one of my friends was playing a tiefling wizard and had dumped his Charisma down to 6. We adventured for a long time and became quite powerful. When we interacted with NPC the wizard would often act as the party face, because the player is much more charismatic than his ccharacter. The GM would try to RP the NPCs repsonses appropriately and it would be frustrating for the player, because his best efforts always felt wasted. One day the GM finally blurted out that his Charisma is really bad and that when the tiefling is next to the other party members, people are likely to think he is a servant. Much like dumping Wis or Int, dumping Cha can be difficult to RP, especially if the player's hypothetical mental characteristics are very different from the PC's.
Ciaran makes a great point. Play like you normally would, but ask the GM to frustrate your efforts at communication. So you get a sense of the frustration your character is experiencing. You could come up with great one-liners that the table still gets to enjoy, but that the npc stares blankly. You could give a compliment that offends the person. You don't have to be catatonic, just ineffective.
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Try to mimic your DM's mannerisms as closely as possible and see if he catches on.
Enjoy role playing a fox news analyst.Whatever you think of their views (please don't bring up politic specifics on a Pathfinder message board) - that statement is silly. They're #1 in cable news - obviously there's some reason for that.
I thought he meant to play a fox [an animal] as a news caster. :-)
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To those advocating being rude, annoying, and so on, you are describing a charisma > 10.
To role play 1, you need to be a wall-flower. You are so not forceful, that no one remembers you. This means the rest of the party has to start forgetting about you since you don't impress yourself on them. You can try all you want, but you are singularly ineffective at making things happen. You are the wanna-be sidekick that the hero ignores.
To properly play this, the other players need to ignore what your character does. If they notice, they must soon forget. If you have a good idea, they remember it came from someone else. For you to be successful, you need to whisper in their ears in a way that makes it seem their character has a good idea.
To get out of this situation, I see only a few possibilities:
1) die, and start a new character.
2) retire the character to NPC status, and start a new character.
3) Get a magic item that boosts CHA. A Circlet of Persuasion will be the most cost effective. Get other magic to help as well.
4) Take advantage of the situation and start stealing stuff. Someone else gets caught because they forgot you. Only works until magic used to learn truth. May backfire and your party members get nabbed for your crime.
5) Take advantage of the situation and become a spy. No one remembers you, and no one notices you, so you can listen in to all sorts of fun stuff.
6) Find a way to lift the curse.
You can do #3 thru #6 at the same time, and have fun with that.
/cevah
...Wut
That makes no se-
Wait
Okay actually it kind of does.
Zombies have 1 Cha.
Maybe THAT explains why nobody ever notices zombies until they're biting them in The Walking Dead.
Easy to ignore unless you're looking right at them. They're basically objects anyways...
With a CHA of 1, but other mental stats at least somewhere around 10 or above, you're an organic computer.
With normal mental stats you perceive and understand the world at a certain level. With Wisdom you intake information and perform instinctual responses that bypass your conscious mind. With Intelligence you process that information into something useful. With Charisma your personal wants and needs prioritizes the information you've gotten as beneficial or detrimental to your goals.
For example. If you have poor Intelligence but high Wis and Cha, you could potentially open a book and look at the pretty symbols in it, and you'd be able to choose a specific symbol out as your favorite, but you'd never understand the meaning of the words in the book.
A person with a Charisma of 1 but high Int/Wis would open that book, be able to see the symbols, interpret them as words and understand the meaning, but would be unable to decide whether or not the book was to their liking, if the information should be acted upon, or anything else that requires the reader to care about the information they've received.
Conscious effort would be almost impossible for the user. As others have said before, the character would be likely to just sit down and stop doing things, just idly observing the world around them. Their allies would have to push them to do anything besides stand there gawking at things, and only the most immediate and clear threats to the character in question would cause them to act.
In fact, I would assume a character with a Charisma score of 1 to eventually die if not put in a mental institution of some kind, since they could feel hunger, thirst, and exhaustion but would neither act on those feelings or even express to others they had such feelings. A humanoid with a charisma of 1 would probably die of thirst if left to their own devices.
So the tl;dr version is that your character is so uncaring they wouldn't even attempt to eat or drink and would die of thirst in the first 3 days.
well you could play him ridiculously gross but without any inkling of humour. just sit there, farting and sneezing all over themselves. drooling a lot. have no social skills whatsoever so, pretty much. don't talk to people at all. to be honest charisma is all about how overs react to you, so it should really be the DM's job to make sure that every npc just hates you and thinks you're disgusting.
Charisma in Pathfinder is a mental stat. It represents force of personality, strength of personal identity, self-worth, and ability to bring others to your point of view.
With Cha 1, you are barely able to distinguish yourself from things that are not yourself. You would have no force of personality and scant little sense of self. At the same time, you are aware of surrounding (that's Wisdom), and your knowledge and ability for abstract thought is still intact (that's Intelligence.)
If this was a temporary status, I would play the character as being nearly completely passive, lost on a bewildering confusion about where exactly the boundary between myself and the rest of the world lies. Cognizant of the world, but with little clue as to how to react. Doing anything of my own volition would be difficult at best.
I would run a character like this for maybe one session, but if it didn't get cured on the following session, I'd retire the character, at least temporarily.
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I would play up the madness part of it, creepy random nonsensical statements and actions. Pick a few crazy characters from movies and emulate them. Mix it up, randomly change them but never show any emotion towards anything in the world, remain cold and detached....everything is just a object. Also let your physical appearance go, never bath, change clothes or even comb your hair. Since everything is an object there is no one to impress any more.
Personally madness is more fun to RP then a robot :)
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I had to think for a bit before I could come up with an intelligent CHA 1 character, but I think I finally found one:
Marvin the Android from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He speaks in a monotone voice devoid of enthusiasm, is extremely depressed, drones on endlessly to anyone standing in earshot about how horrible everything is, and doesn't really see the point in doing anything at all because nothing really matters. People have to yell at him and cajole him to help, even in universe-threatening emergencies, because he just doesn't see the point.
Here's a sample:
Arthur: "Marvin, any ideas?"
Marvin: "I have a million ideas. They all point to certain death."
"My capacity for happiness," he added, "you could fit into a matchbox without taking out the matches first"
"I'd give you advice, but you wouldn't listen. No one ever does."
"Pardon me for breathing, which I never do anyway so I don't know why I bother to say it, oh God, I'm so depressed. Here's another one of those self-satisfied doors. Life! Don't talk to me about life."
"Simple. I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself in to its external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length and explained my view of the Universe to it," said Marvin.<
"And what happened?" pressed Ford.
"It committed suicide," said Marvin and stalked off back to the Heart of Gold.
OK, so think of the computer or smartphone that you're reading this forum on. It has (effectively) an INT and possibly a WIS (via "other side" users) but zero CHA. It is a useful tool, and you probably value it for its usefulness and monetary value, but it is altogether replaceable. So it would be with a 1 CHA PC; the other PCs would treat him/her about like a summon - useful, but if he dies, he dies.
The character is effectively unplayable since its stats place such an onus on the other players. He/she is a cohort at best.
Being rude and obnoxious is imposing yourself on others, and making them notice you. This is something the Cha 1 character cannot do effectively. No matter what you do, others almost always fail to notice. This is at the heart of low charisma. This needs RP assistance by the REST of the party.
As mentioned in my earlier post, there are ways to use this to your advantage.
/cevah
Instead of roleplaying a character with CHA 1, you could hire Christopher Lambert and ask him to roleplay your PC for you.
I don't mean to repeat what everyone else has said, but if you are going to play that Charisma of 1, play that Zombie. Your shoulders are slumped and you just stand there. You don't move unless told to. I imagine it doesn't work that way for Zombies, but it sure gets you a new character quickly when you are standing in the middle of nowhere and the rest of the group has moved on and is wondering why you haven't. Be the Zombie! :D
Any ability score below 3 is in the subhuman range. With a CHA score of 1 you are completely lacking in any kind of empathy and the ability to communicate in a meaningful way. Think of the most severe case of autism and then increase it by a multiple of 10. You not only can’t communicate, with others but have no interest in doing so. You can react to physical stimuli but that is about all. Even if you’re other mental stats are normal you still can’t communicate, or interact with others. This is the same thing as having a STR of 1, and a normal DEX. A character with a STR of 1 can barely lift his own limbs, much less move under his own power.
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So - what do you guys think of a Sheldon Cooper without the lovable bits. (Frankly - I think he'd be FAR less amusing in person and more than 20min at a time.) Maybe without personal hygene and with more OCD.Actually, when I first saw Cha of 1 what I thought of was "Sheldon Cooper turned up to 11, plus add in ugly as all hell," but that might be more Cha of 3 or 4, because below that he couldn't even get noticed (perhaps). Sheldon with his redeeming qualities is probably Cha 5 (or thereabouts) with Int of 20 but Wis below 10.
I'd actually guess that he's already a 3 or 4 max. Remember - according to the old school rolling system - one could argue that 1/216 people has a Charisma of 3. I've known more than 216 people - none have been as uncharismatic as Sheldon Cooper.
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I had to think for a bit before I could come up with an intelligent CHA 1 character, but I think I finally found one:
Marvin the Android from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He speaks in a monotone voice devoid of enthusiasm, is extremely depressed, drones on endlessly to anyone standing in earshot about how horrible everything is, and doesn't really see the point in doing anything at all because nothing really matters. People have to yell at him and cajole him to help, even in universe-threatening emergencies, because he just doesn't see the point.
Here's a sample:
Arthur: "Marvin, any ideas?"
Marvin: "I have a million ideas. They all point to certain death.""My capacity for happiness," he added, "you could fit into a matchbox without taking out the matches first"
"I'd give you advice, but you wouldn't listen. No one ever does."
"Pardon me for breathing, which I never do anyway so I don't know why I bother to say it, oh God, I'm so depressed. Here's another one of those self-satisfied doors. Life! Don't talk to me about life."
"Simple. I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself in to its external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length and explained my view of the Universe to it," said Marvin.<
"And what happened?" pressed Ford.
"It committed suicide," said Marvin and stalked off back to the Heart of Gold.
Nonsense, Marvin's Charisma is absurdly high, over 9000 at least.
Have you ever played shadowrun? There is a stat called essense that is very important to casters in the same way charisma is important to sorcerers. However as you install cyberware (such as mechanical arms and such) you damage your essence rating permanently. Now there are characters that will have a low essense rating, usually those focused on close quarters combat. But even these will not usually go below 1.5 or 1 or so (out of 6) however if you go to 0 you die, and if you have say 0.1 you are basically an emotionless atomaton you have almost nothing in the way of initiative and basically no personality, and no significant conversation.
I would roleplay that for a while, then if the gm doesn't fix that relatively quickly I would ask to play a new character, that's not fun to play long term.
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I think that a Charisma of 1 may be indicative of a player who needs a new GM. Seriously, are you going to enjoy roleplaying an ooze? And, if not, why did he make it happen? Seems like he's playing with his food to me.
To those who suggested roleplaying like a zombie, they have a Cha of 10, an Ant Swarm has a Cha of 2. Then there's you.
How about taking a level of Oracle with the Lore, Nature, or Lunar Mystery? Now you can hose your armor class (and, depending on your choice, your CMD or Reflex save). Plus, you'll never have to worry about any pesky spells with your Charisma of 1.
Two levels of Paladin will let you add your Cha mod to your saves (although, if you took Lore or Lunar Oracle, you should know that you won't be able to add it twice to your Reflex save, more's the pity). Who knows? You might just roll a natural 20 from time to time, and successfully save.
I don't know about you, but your GM is now having a grand old time. And isn't that what's important?
Cha affects how you interact with others. It doesn't affect how you act. You could still act without direction from others... you would just find it largely impossible to influence others. For whatever reason people would dismiss your words. For example a wildly unlikely Character with an 18 Int would have a large vocabulary but combined with a Cha of 1 would find his words ignored by others.
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To those advocating being rude, annoying, and so on, you are describing a charisma > 10.I definitely disagree with that, although I think it might be true that a Cha of 1 can't even be rude and annoying because no one will even pay attention. But if you imagine the rudest, most obnoxious person you've ever known, make that person hideous and with a speech impediment, that person probably has a Charisma of 4.
"Hey, you remember that annoyingly rude guy we met yesterday?"
"Yeah, he was disgusting and foul."
This is a conversation about someone you remember. Their personality made an impression on you. That is, the force of their personality (cha) was significantly non-zero.
Look at the following monster descriptions:
Cha 37
This hideous monstrosity looks like an enormous curled maggot, varicolored like deeply bruised flesh. Three flailing tentacles adorn each side of the thing's huge, pulsating mouth, and five more arch from its hindquarters.
Cha 37
This devilish humanoid has five horns growing out of his forehead that resemble a crown. He stands on stout cloven hooves.
Cha 36
This gaunt woman has blood-soaked hair, eyes and lips stitched shut with wire, and severed limbs that float nearby as if they were still attached.
Cha 36
Held aloft by four great feathered wings, this hawk-faced fiend has a scorpion's tail and carries a black metal scepter.
Cha 41
This woman's upper body is shapely and beautiful, but her lower body is bloated, with pulsating tumors and writing tentacles.
Cha 38
This serene, acrobatic man has stiff sideburns, a beard like a monkey, and three golden-furred tails.
Cha 36
This entity appears to be a skeletal human form hidden under tattered yellow robes, but it moves with unsettling, inhuman grace.
Cha 37
This crimson-haired demonic woman has wings of fire. She carries a slender bow made of flames.
Cha 40
This frighteningly majestic creature spreads wide her rune-adorned wings. Molten iron weeps from her hooves, and her three tails are studded with barbs.
Each of these makes you remember them.
At the other end of the spectrum are the oozes, jellies, golems, and robots.
At Cha 1, no matter what you do, your interactions won't be noticed much.
/cevah
Lose a tooth, go into a coma and roll a new character.
Your roleplay doesn't always have to interact with the party, per se.
If you have a high intelligence, you could always give him some sort of inner monologue that doesn't quite sync with his blank stare and slack features?
One of the characters that I've been playing in the Daughter's of Fury module is a paladin who recently became knighted in the church and, despite his lack of combat experience, puts on a bit of a show to try and impress the party that follows him.
He'll be fighting a monster and snarl at it, say something grim or cocky, and then I'll elaborate a little on what's going through his head. "Oh god... oh god! It's so big! Oh god, help me, please! Where's the barbarian?! It cut me! Oh my god, it cut me! I'm bleeding!" all while trying to put on a brave front for the party.
Maybe this character of yours plays out very intelligent in his thoughts, but his actual mannerisms are almost comatose?
The group seems to get a kick out of the little parts that 'they can't see' and how much of a contrast that they have to his 'heroic personality' which would have probably gotten stale if played by itself.