Charisma has several applications in V&V.

What does charisma PRIMARILY measure in your current campaign or overall V&V experience?

Share gaming examples if you'd like!

Doctor Foom wrote on Oct 17^th, 2009 at 9:37am:


For the primary meaning, my games have tended to primarily fall back on the paragraph from p. 7 of the rules: "Charisma is a rating of how Good or Evil intelligent characters are (i.e. how much conviction they have in terms of their chosen side)." Using this definition first made sense with the role charisma plays during criminal prosecutions (p. 38), when characters change sides (p. 39), and to a lesser extent, when determining security clearance (p. 34).

The word conviction is consistent the way V&V uses charisma as a stat for mental resistance, as Dr. Foom notes above, and as described on p. 3 of the rulebook. I tend to use that as the auxillery definition.

Over time I've come to use the word Conviction synonymously with Charisma within the game. The word dedication also comes to mind.

Rolling trial results has been a source of anicipation after adventures--always harking back on the way a villain with high charisma is more likely to be convicted, but a hero with high charisma is more likely to be cleared (i.e. good/evil charisma scores run in opposite directions).

In talking with a friend yesterday who hasn't gamed in 20+ years, he said off the top of his head that in V&V terms Captain America would epitomize good charisma and Dr. Doom would represent evil charisma. Considering how infrequently we even talked about the stat when he played V&V, I was amazed that he remembered that V&V inherently ties charisma scores to alignment, per reaction chart (p. 7) and charisma adjustments when changing sides (p. 39).

Ken Cliffe's module Organized Crimes is the only V&V adventure or sourcebook that seems to primarily equate charisma with physical attractiveness (as opposed to strength of character). I've come to regard that resource as the exception that proves the rule.

All things considered, charisma is by far the buggiest stat in V&V. It almost begs for a priortized interpretation in the game.

Well I personally believe Charisma is all the things you listed above (well cept str of Will/Wisdom... they strike me as more intelligence things).

charm and appeal (the +/- make it that way)
commitment to good or evil as per the way it is essentially spelled out on the character sheet.
popularity and reputation - I do believe it does fall into this. As it CAN grow do to good deeds which is a Pop/Rep thing. leadership ability - I think Chr is important for a leader (as someone mentioned Cap America) - but leadership is also an intelligent factor as well. A good plan and a successful mission will certainly make a leader popular (but I believe anyone who comes up with a good plan lends itself to the whole team aspect... I mean I leader isn't a leader without a team and the leader is not the only one who can come up with that good plans. It is the leader's job to impliment it!


G7

Or Bad PR... A villain known for his bloodthirstyness, or one so evil anyone could sense it could definitely cause pause in a thug, or regular law enforcement.

I really like the having them roll, and be at the minus for how many turns they miss their roll by.  I think I'm gonna use that.  I have always wondered why they couldn't hit Batman, or even Spiderman with a machine gun...  Although Machine guns haven't really been that prevalent in my games, and haven't proven that effective either...