Use Charisma as an NPC Personality Generator

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There’s a great article in Dragon #243 about using charisma to determine personality. It supplied a small seven row table with examples.

I love this idea. While definitions of charisma vary, it makes sense that it will affect an NPC’s personality, or at least, their surface personality.

Further, tying a few personality traits to charisma makes NPCs more congruent, matching the ability score to how they might think, act, or be perceived.

Today, I’d like to share with you two tables based on the one in Dragon. One table for high charisma, one for low. Substitute your game system’s closest related stat or ability if it uses something other than CHA.

Get your d20 and roll twice:

High Charisma

Low Charisma

Examples

Let’s give this tip a whirl and see how if it works well.

For a High Charisma Neutral NPC (a tougher use case, I’d argue) I roll and get:

  • Pragmatic
  • Impartial

Based on this pair of traits, here are 1d4 one-sentence NPCs:

  • A respected judge known for a pragmatic approach to law and unwavering impartiality, even when facing pressure from powerful factions.
  • A popular mercenary leader who maintains strict neutrality in conflicts, pragmatically accepting contracts based on profit rather than any ideology.
  • A thieves’ guild boss whose impartial leadership and pragmatic business decisions have led to unprecedented growth, stability, and influence.
  • A powerful mage who approaches magic with ruthless pragmatism, impartially studying both light and dark arts in the pursuit of knowledge and might.
  • A seasoned caravan master who navigates treacherous trade routes with pragmatic efficiency, treating all clients with impartial professionalism regardless of their backgrounds.

Try it out yourself and see how it goes!

Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
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