Infamous Supplementary: Charisma

 Every other ability score in AD&D 1st edition has a more specialized role that it is known for. Strength characters deal high damage, intelligence makes perception roles, dexterity characters are swift and agile, but none hold a candle to the endless utility and power of a character with high charisma. The benefits that come with charisma are primarily related to the recruiting of other characters found in the world. Characters such as henchmen can be recruited using one's charisma. Henchmen are specific to each character, and available henchmen are usually dependent on class, race, and the area you're in. Henchmen are essentially lower level classes which will follow the character and partake in the same quests that the character does. These henchmen can gain experience, and require only a share of treasure to remain loyal to the character. Henchmen loyalty is a fairly complex mechanic, and will be further discussed later in this supplement. The loyalty of these henchmen, as well as other characters will have a loyalty adjustment based off of the character's charisma as well. Reaction adjustment also has some fairly significant depth to it, and will also be further detailed later.

Charisma Score	Maximum No. Of Henchmen	Loyalty Base	Reaction Adjustment	Suggestion Percentage
3	1	-30%	-25%	-
4	1	-25%	-20%	-
5	2	-20%	-15%	-
6	2	-15%	-10%	-
7	3	-10%	-05%	-
8	3	-05%	normal	-
9	4	normal	normal	-
10	4	normal	normal	-
11	4	normal	normal	-
12	5	normal	normal	-
13	5	normal	+05%	-
14	6	+05%	+10%	-
15	7	+15%	+15%	-
16	8	+20%	+25%	-
17	10	+30%	+30%	-
18	15	+40%	+35%	-
19	20	+50%	+40%	05%
20	25	+60%	+45%	10%
21	30	+70%	+50%	15%
22	35	+80%	+55%	20%
23	40	+90%	+60%	25%
24	45	+100%	+65%	30%
25	50	+100%	+70%	40%

As previously stated, the character's charisma will translate to how many henchmen can be possessed at one time. These henchmen are capable of levelling up alongside the character, and will be given a split of the treasure at the end of the dungeon. They function almost entirely as independent player characters, only that they will have exclusive loyalty to the character they serve. This of course assumes they aren't horribly mistreated, for as long as you treat your henchmen fairly, they will remain loyal to you. Recruiting henchmen is another process, however. Characters available will depend on the area you're in. For instance, Paladins are going to be highly inconsistent due to their high stat requirements. On the other hand, hiring rank-and-file Fighters isn't difficult at all. Most characters available for recruitment will be found in various guilds; a Monster Hunter's guild would be a good place to look for Rangers, for example. While people looking for work under a player character are rare, they can be persuaded to serve under you should the character employ the use of the Recruiting proficiency.

Loyalty Base is a more complex mechanic however, as it simulates the actual loyalty the recruited characters have. Loyalty itself is complicated, as a number of factors will depend on the actual loyalty of your recruited characters. Generally, this is dependent on how much these recruits trust the character, something determined by many factors. These include the relationship between the character and recruit, as a slave is unlikely to be loyal to the character at all, as well as the time served. A recruit who's been serving the player character for longer than 5 years will be much more favored towards the character. The base stance for loyalty is a straight 50%. Loyalty Base adjustments are of course a factor on this statistic, as well as previously mentioned factors. Slaves will have an automatic -30% loyalty for example, but henchmen who are treated just and kindly will be at least 15% more loyal. High or low loyalty is affected as follows. 

Adjusted Loyalty Score	Loyalty
Less than 01	None: Will attempt to kill, capture, harm, or desert at the first opportunity.
1-25	Disloyal: Will always seek own advantage regardless of circumstance
26-50	Little: Will seek own advantage at first sign of weakness.
51-75	Fair: Will support the character's cause if no great risk is involved.
76-100	Loyal: Will always attempt to further the cause of the character, even at great risk.
Greater than 100	Fanatical: Will serve unquestioningly and lay down own life if necessary without any hesitation.

Reaction Adjustment refers to the adjustment on people's initial reaction when initiating a conversation. This is of course just a first impression, more or less. A d100 will be rolled to determine someone's initial favor to you, one that will be determined by many factors as well. This could include the mental state of the character reacting to you, how inebriated they are, etc. Characters with the Carousing proficiency modify this roll by +20%, and cannot have any roll treated as less than 50%.

Suggestion Percentage refers to a Suggestion-like ability possessed by characters with supernatural charisma. This ability is similar in effect to the Suggestion spell, as it can convince almost anyone to do roughly anything should the proper roll be made. Of course, this only applies if the Suggestion is reasonable, as the character cannot use this ability to convince someone to throw themselves onto a spear, for example.

Charisma Rolls

In Infamous, charisma rolls are often a way of determining a character's ability to persuade. Making a charisma roll allows the character to manage to avoid offending the person they converse with, while 5 points under is good enough to communicate an idea to someone else in a way that keeps that idea at least in the back of their mind. A roll of 10 under or greater allows the character to present an argument persuasively, making the character convincing and allowing a favorable reaction. A roll of 15 under will suggest that whatever the character is saying sounds good, regardless of it's truth. A roll of 20 points under will allow for an automatic intimidation, influence, or automatically strike a friendship between the character and the other person in conversation.

Charisma Proficiencies

The primary strength a charisma character benefits from actually comes from the proficiencies taken. Carousing is excellent, as it allows the character to easily strike up conversations with strangers without risking a negative result. Similarly, +Deception allows the character to easily make things up on the spot, potentially making you much more interesting or formidable than you truly are. Intimidation is one of the best uses of charisma in combat, allowing the character to easily end a potentially devastating encounter early. In addition, Bribery is often an excellent choice as it prevents a character from stirring an unfavorable result from an attempted bribe. Recruiting is excellent also, as it can allow a single, low level Fighter to amass a well balance and strong party in a matter of days. It also allows the character to potentially convince someone to change sides, potentially even causing a change in alignment. Instruction is also excellent, as it allows the character to teach any skill possessed. This could include teaching a new aspiring generation of Magic-Users, for instance. Interrogation is also excellent, as it allows the character to gain an incredible amount of information from a character without getting into any real danger.