OK, how about this one...Sorcerers and Charisma?

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If a Sorcerers' magic is an "inborn talent" that comes from "an instinctive affinty" with magic...why does it use Charisma?

Why not Constitution?

I understand a bard's magic coming from Charisma, but I don't get it with Sorcerers...

-D

 

Charisma represents one's personal power (supposedly) in the case of sorcerers, spell-like abilities or special abilities which involve overcoming the wills of others. At least that's what the MM tries to get at...

What I end up taking away from it is that innate magic relies the force of personality of the character to control such magics. Maybe confidence plays a role as well. D+D doesn't have a "natural affinity" stat so I guess Charisma is most appropriate for someone whose power relies on mental functions, but clearly isn't through learning, piety or a connection with the natural world.

Constitution doesn't work because constitution pertains strictly to physical functions like one's immune system or producing poison.

 

I would have thought inteligence would be the best stat for it. You have to understand how magic works after all. A sorcerer is basically sitting there, trying out new things. Figuring out how magic works. To me that is inteligence.

 

Well, the way I understand it, magic is already in a sorcerer's blood, and through force of will - ego, if you want - s/he makes it happen. S/he doesn't need to understand it, just to be able to do it (though, of course, most will try to understand what the hell they're doing).

The problem is, whenever willpower is involved, you can't help but think "wasn't that supposed to be wisdom?"

 

Well, that's the thing. Sorcerers *don't* have to figure anything out, they don't have to understand how it works. It comes as naturally to them as throwing a ball does, and you don't have to understand physics to do that, do you?

EDIT: Bah, simu-post.

 

The impression I got was that the "magic" is inherent to their personality, and that is measured by Charisma.

 

It really should be "willpower", which should be neither Charisma nor Wisdom. But because of the way D&D works, and because 3E doesn't change the six basic stats, it had to be one of the already-existing stats. I suppose WotC picked Charisma because it's (let's face it) the least important stat. With Sorcerer magic relying so heavily on it, it does become a much more important stat.

I thought Arcanum's stat system made much more sense than D&D's, because it can distinguish between wisdom and willpower, charisma and beauty, and so on. Much more flexible system, and the way the various skills are linked to stats is much more natural. But I understand why WotC wanted to keep things simple and not completely overhaul the stat system.

 

Now that you mention it, Skills and Powers (2nd ED) did differentiate each stat into 2 sides, like beauty and personality for Charisma, or Will power and Enlightenment for Wisdom.

Could such a thing work for 3rd, 3.5 or 4th?