Charisma "face" unnecessary?

[fullerfamily]

I was led to believe that a balanced party had to have a "face", that is the person with high charisma who handles all the conversations. I have found there are plenty of other skills that can shape conversations just fine. Is a "face" unnecessary?

[Heroic Ryan]

Eh. My ranger wasnt very charismatic which made for some problems in persuade / intimidate situations but I still think you can get by without a dialogue specialist. Just be prepared for things to not always go your way.

[Doomvora]

I don't think having a face is necessary in this game per-se but it helps with certain conversations

[Caramel_Clown]

Originally posted by fullerfamily:

I was led to believe that a balanced party had to have a "face", that is the person with high charisma who handles all the conversations. I have found there are plenty of other skills that can shape conversations just fine. Is a "face" unnecessary?

It's not necessary. It's just nice to have. Especially if you do some roleplay playing a low charisma character can be good fun.

[CrazyOdd]

Even with a base of 8 Charisma, you can still succeed every check, its just lower chance then someone with 16+. Also, talking your way through things, is not always the best option.

[zero]

i mean its always been unnecessary, but it sure goes a long way in avoiding combat to have one, more often then not.

it helps, but much like anything else, is not needed, but in an rpg, your gonna talk a lot, and more often then not its gonna offer a charisma based roll.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

As the main character? yeah it helps a lot if the main character you have to have a lot of discussions with is good at charisma checks. Sometimes other characters can do the checks but in a lot of the important ones the avatar has to make them.

[Morgian]

If you want to get the diplomatic results and effects, than yes. If you are OK with the "Hulk smash" options, that works too.

[Winter Light]

You don't really need to pigeonhole a character into a charisma build just for that. I have a "face" but it's just my main character who is a rogue. I'm good at deception and have plenty of interesting options because of my background and I honestly think any more is a bit overkill.

But you can also just forego the entire concept if you consider it's not your MC's story but everyone's as well. Just cycle through them and keep things interesting.

[Toblm]

Originally posted by fullerfamily:

I was led to believe that a balanced party had to have a "face"

True, a balanced party works best with a face. Its also worth noting "high" charisma is relative. You can face without being CHA class, 12 or 14 points in CHA and either some talking skills or other bonuses will work.

Originally posted by fullerfamily:

Is a "face" unnecessary?

Also true. A face is unnecessary. There are often other ways to reach similar solutions.

[Caramel_Clown]

Originally posted by CrazyOdd:

Even with a base of 8 Charisma, you can still succeed every check, its just lower chance then someone with 16+. Also, talking your way through things, is not always the best option.

It's going to be challenging to pass those saving throw 30 checks though. There aren't many of them, but they're there. Also a ton of 25s. You will really be gambling. Meanwhile I roll 40+ on my bard routinely. Overall it's not such a big deal, it's just a different playstyle.

[Gregorovitch]

It's absolutely possible to play without a "face". I think the main difference is that with a face you have vastly more control over what happens whereas without one what happens when you fail persuasion/intimidation checks is beyond you control and obviously you will fail more of them. 5% more per two points in CHA to be precise.

[Spicy Camel]

Conversation skill proficiency or expertise have bigger impact on dialogue skills, than raw charisma. Guidance cantrip helps too.
You can slap persuade proficiency on some 10 charisma rogue and pass most checks perfectly fine.

[Ommamar]

Originally posted by Morgian:

If you want to get the diplomatic results and effects, than yes. If you are OK with the "Hulk smash" options, that works too.

I think that is really the best answer you can succeed with both paths. I will say that my first party had very low charisma overall but using the cleric buffs or one that gave advantage on rolls really made a difference. So even if you don't go the '"face" route you can still be successful in a lot of cases.

[RoboSauce]

My 8 Cha monk does OK with the monk class dialogue options, but sometimes I put Wyll up front when the situation looks a bit more scary eg talking to monsters.

[Shadow Wizard Fluffy Gang]

My Half-Orc Barbarian is my best speech checker. I can literally ROAR people into submission.
He has a -1 to Charisma, but I succeed most checks, some are even free paths thanks to my background.

The game is pretty flexible most of the time when it comes to conversations.