Charisma
Charisma measures your ability to interact effectively with others. It includes confidence, eloquence, and leadership ability.
What Charisma Does
Charisma affects your character's social capabilities and magical presence:
- Spell Attack Bonus: Bards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks add their Charisma modifier to spell attack rolls.
- Spell Save DC: Charisma-based spellcasters use Charisma to determine their spell save DC.
- Social Interactions: Many social encounters rely on Charisma-based skills.
- Leadership: Characters with high Charisma often become natural leaders.
Charisma Skills
Three skills rely on Charisma:
- Deception: Convincingly hiding the truth, either verbally or through actions
- Intimidation: Influencing someone through overt threats, hostile actions, or physical violence
- Persuasion: Influencing someone or a group of people with tact, social graces, or good nature
Charisma Checks
A Charisma check might arise when you try to influence or entertain others, when you try to make an impression or tell a convincing lie, or when you are navigating a tricky social situation.
Common Uses
- Finding the best person to talk to for news, rumors, and gossip
- Blending into a crowd to get a sense of key topics of conversation
- Entertaining an audience with music, dance, or storytelling
- Making yourself seem trustworthy when speaking with strangers
Example Difficulties
| DC | Difficulty | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Easy | Influence a friendly NPC or make small talk |
| 15 | Medium | Convince someone to help you or tell a believable lie |
| 20 | Hard | Persuade a hostile guard or intimidate a dangerous foe |
| 25 | Very Hard | Convince someone to act against their nature or beliefs |
Spellcasting and Charisma
Several classes use Charisma for spellcasting:
- Bards: Masters of song, speech, and magic they weave together
- Sorcerers: Magic flows through them from within, powered by force of personality
- Warlocks: Their magic comes from pacts with powerful beings, requiring strength of will
- Paladins: Their divine magic is powered by the strength of their convictions
For these classes:
- Spell save DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + Charisma modifier
- Spell attack bonus = proficiency bonus + Charisma modifier