Charisma and Sirens

[Stars]

I am suggesting two seperate, but not necessarily exclusive, additions/changes for Barren Realms.

What do you think about adding the extra stat "cha"?
Along with the usual "str", "int", "wis", "con" and "dex", "cha" would be short for "charisma".
A high charisma would lessen the chance that mobs would assist against you. A high charisma might even save you from an aggro mob.
Penalties and bonuses would be based on the charisma stat plus the level difference between the mob and PC. If a person has low charisma (5), then mobs will be more likely to attack that person. If a person has a high charisma (22), then mobs have an extremely low chance of attacking that person. For every level that seperates the mob and the charismatic character there will be a percentage bonus/penalty. The percentage can never go below 1%, or rise above some predetermined number. So, there will always be a chance that it will succeed or fail.
We might even create a new character race with cha as their prime attribute. Making a race of "sirens" comes to mind. Sirens are mythical creatures of such alluring beauty that they enthralled sailors, who would jump ship and drown trying to reach the sirens. There could be quite a history written about sirens, both male and female. I believe they would make an interesting addition to the playable races of BR.

If charisma does not appeal as a whole new stat, then how about making it a skill? Like dodge or parry, this is an "auto" kind of thing. The mob would have to make a saving throw against it, or they will not attack or assist, even aggros. The saving throw would have to be made whenever the mob or pc enters the room. If they leave again and return, then the mob might still attack them, even if it liked them last time.

If there is some interest, then I can come up with some more specific ideas, or others can come up with their own ideas too.

[Luc]

Ive seen alot of games that ive played with the same stats (str, con, wis, etc) also had the cha stat too. It usually effected how much money you got from killing. While it may seem like a good idea, if you think about it, it probably isnt a good idea to do it as a stat. If a new stat were added, then think about all the equipment that would probably have to be reworked to had cha bonus's and minus's? I think thats more hassle then its worth. On a skill, I do like the idea, but it seems like it would be something for maybe an elf, or a human. I cant see a dwarf or a avian going around with charsima and being attractive

[Stars]

A dwarf may not be attractive to an elf, but to another dwarf he or she is attractive enough. Besides, I imagine charisma to be more than just physical beauty. Even the "ugliest" person might have such wit and humor as to be likable by almost everyone. We pay comedians tons of money in real life, and some of those people are...less than physically perfect. Have you ever heard of the comedian that, as a child, the only way they could stop the bullies from beating them up was to make them laugh? I imagine a charisma stat to be something like this.

As for the eq issue, I don't think it's an issue. We wouldn't need to go back and change anything. Perhaps new eq in new areas will have charisma bonuses.

I figured that I might be alone in these suggestions, but I thought I'd give it shot anyway.

[Luc]

I dont think its a bad idea, but I cant speak for others. Some people might not like the idea of another stat being added. As far as adding it goes, it would be very hard to implement. The current builder everyone uses for areas, if i remember correctly, only has a way to add stats for the current ones. You'd need a new builder or a modded one. So my point is, I like the idea, I just dont think it will happen due to the difficult and lengthy task it would have. My thoughts would of been that a stat like charisma would effect prices in shops. Well just my two cents.

[Everybody]

Actually, adding the stat wouldn't be nearly as painful as you seem to make it out to be, luc. You'd have to change a fair number of internal things - what the stat actually affects, especially, and every place that those events happen, as well as the score and info screens - but adding bonuses or minuses onto stats could easily be left to future builders. Even modding the builder isn't that bad, since Alicia's the one who coded the nearly the entire thing, and he's still around. We're actually looking at some code changes (for farther down the line) that would make him have to work a lot harder on it than just adding in a place for an extra stat bonus (in object affects). This said... charisma is very d&d (as is 90% of everything else we have around), but I like what's been suggested that it may affect (sell/buy prices at shops, aggro encounters, etc.). Sirens would be interesting as a new race, but anything we're doing as far as new races go is highly likely to be very far down the line.