Charisma

Charisma is one of the seven primary statistics in the SPECIAL system.

Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics
In Fallout 2, Charisma also determines the number of base companion slots the player character is given. This number is equal to their Charisma score divided by two, rounded down. As an example, with a Charisma at five, two can be recruited. Please note that one companion can still be recruited (in a few cases) even with the lowest Charisma score.

Predesigned Primary Charisma-based Characters (PPCC) of Fallout are Albert, and in Fallout 2's case, Chitsa.

In Fallout Tactics, Charisma is, at best, a secondary trait. Due to the nature of the game (i.e. almost exclusively combat-based), it is feasible to complete the game easily with 1 or 2 Charisma with no penalty. The only role is that when the Warrior starts with Charisma of 10, their rank is Senior Initiate, rather than Initiate. It is involved with the Barter skill and promotions, and is required for the Leader and Divine Favor perks. A low Charisma, on the other hand, gives access to the Loner perk.

Ways to increase Charisma in Fallout

 * Find the Singer random encounter. Speaking with Patrick the Celt and passing a Speech check will increase Charisma by one.
 * Use some Mentats for a temporary +1 Charisma.

Ways to increase Charisma in Fallout 2

 * Install the blue memory module into ACE, then request the following surgery. Charisma will be increased by one.
 * Take the Gain Charisma perk for another point.
 * Having the mirrored shades, obtained from Mason (Salvatore's Bar, must be looted) or one of the graves in Golgotha, active in one of the item slots increases Charisma by one point.
 * Use some Mentats for a temporary +1 Charisma.

Fallout 3
Modifies: Speech and Barter skills, NPC Disposition

Charisma increases the disposition of all NPCs, which makes Speech checks easier. Disposition is also affected somewhat by Karma (most NPCs like good characters more), quests (doing a quest in a way an NPC likes can dramatically boost disposition), and dialog options (being a jerk in conversations can lower disposition a little). Charisma also affects Barter and Speech skills. Characters who use Speech will want at least a decent Charisma, but adding points to the skill are almost always better than adding points to the score. Characters who do not use the Speech skill have little use for this SPECIAL score.

There are also general Charisma checks in dialogue with some characters, in addition to Speech checks. Avoid wearing things like Enclave Power Helmets, as they deduct 1 point of Charisma while equipped.

Ways to increase Charisma

 * Permanent
 * Bobblehead - Charisma (+1)
 * Intense Training perk (+1)
 * No Weaknesses perk (will raise base to 5, if below 5)
 * Almost Perfect perk (will raise base to 9, if below 9)
 * Temporary
 * Alcohol (effects do not stack)
 * Beer, scotch, vodka, whiskey, wine (+1)
 * Moonshine (+2)
 * Armor and clothing
 * Eulogy Jones' suit, regulator duster, sexy sleepwear, sheriff's duster, Tenpenny's suit, Vance's longcoat outfit (+1)
 * Eulogy Jones' hat, T-51b power armor helmet, Three Dog's headwear (+1)
 * Winterized T-51b power helmet (+1)
 * Ashur's power armor, Leather Rebel (+1)
 * All-nighter nightwear (+1)
 * Grifter's Fit (+1)
 * General Chase's overcoat, Paulson's outfit (+1)
 * Chems
 * Ant queen pheromones (+3)
 * Grape Mentats (+5)

Fallout: New Vegas
Charisma in New Vegas modifies Barter, Speech and Companion Nerve. Companion Nerve gives each companion in the party +5% to their damage and armor, up to a maximum of +50% at 10 Charisma.

Regardless of Barter or Speech level, some interactions will not be available with a too low Charisma (Ex. Corporal Betsy). These ultimately do not have any significant effect on gameplay, nor do they provide any special bonuses.

Ways to increase Charisma

 * Permanent
 * Charisma Implant available at the New Vegas medical clinic (+1)
 * Intense Training perk (+1)
 * Completing the quest The Apocalypse or The End will allow raising any one primary statistic by 1.
 * Temporary
 * Alcohol (effects do not stack)
 * Absinthe, beer, Jake Juice, scotch, vodka, whiskey, wine (+1 - +3 depending on Survival skill)
 * Irradiated beer, irradiated scotch, irradiated whiskey (+1 - +3 depending on Survival skill)
 * Large wasteland tequila, wasteland tequila (+1 - +3 depending on Survival skill)
 * Moonshine (+2)
 * Armor and clothing
 * Bounty hunter duster, regulator duster, sexy sleepwear, sheriff's duster, sleepwear (+1)
 * T-51b power helmet, Eulogy Jones' hat (+1)
 * General Oliver's uniform (+2)
 * Vera's outfit (+1)
 * Dr. Mobius' scrubs (+1)
 * Armor of the 87th Tribe, Ulysses' duster, elite riot gear (+1)
 * Chems
 * Mentats (+1)
 * Ant queen pheromones (+3)
 * Party Time Mentats (+5)
 * Traits
 * Claustrophobia (+1 while outdoors, but -1 indoors)
 * Early Bird (+2 between 6am and 12pm, but -1 between 6pm and 6am)
 * Meat of Champions perk (+1 for 60 seconds after eating a corpse.)
 * "Mood Light" (+2 for 12 hours or until the player uses the "Smart Lights")

Ways to decrease Charisma

 * Armor and clothing
 * Remnants power helmet, Remnants Tesla helmet, Gannon family Tesla helmet (-1)

Fallout 4
Charisma influences several game mechanics. It directly controls your ability to charm and convince others, replacing the Speech skill in governing one's chance of successfully persuading in dialogues. It also replaces the Barter skills from previous games by governing the prices you get from trading with merchants.

In Fallout 4, Charisma also governs access to the following perks:
 * Cap Collector; Get better prices from merchants and invest in their stores
 * Lady Killer / Black Widow; Be more effective against the opposite sex in combat, persuasion, and use of the Intimidation perk.
 * Lone Wanderer; Grants various bonuses to the Sole Survivor when traveling alone or with Dogmeat.
 * Attack Dog; Grant various bonuses to Dogmeat.
 * Animal Friend; Pacify, Incite or Command Wasteland animals below the player character's level.
 * Local Leader; Build workshops and traders at settlements and establish supply lines to link them.
 * Party Girl Party Boy; Increase the effects of alcohol and remove any chance of addiction.
 * Inspirational; Grant various bonuses to companions.
 * Wasteland Whisperer; Pacify, Incite or Command Wasteland creatures below the player character's level.
 * Intimidation; Pacify, Incite or Command human enemies below the player character's level.

Effect on a settlement
Charisma affects the maximum amount of settlers allowed at a settlement:
 * $$\text{Max Population} = 10 + \text{Charisma}$$

Effect on Speech
Charisma affects the chance of passing a Speech check:
 * $$\text{Chance to Succeed} = \text{Charisma} * 15% - \text{Speech Check Difficulty Modifier}$$

Additionally, each rank of Lady Killer or Black Widow adds 10% if the target is of the opposite gender. The final result of the Chance to Succeed formula is limited to a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 100%, so there is always a slight chance of success.

One has a 100% chance of success to pass a Red check with a Charisma value of 11 or higher; this includes all clothing, armor, and drug effects.

Effect on Barter
Charisma affects item buy/sell values; the value of an item for buying or selling is its innate value multiplied by either the buying price modifier or the selling price modifier:
 * $$\text{Buying Price Modifier} = 3.50 - \text{Charisma}\times 0.15$$
 * $$\text{Selling Price Modifier} = 1 / \text{Buying Price Modifier}$$

Multiply the modifier from Charisma and all applicable modifiers above to get the (near) final modifier.

If one gets a final buying modifier that is less than 1.2, the game will use 1.2. If one gets a final selling modifier that is greater than 0.8, the game will use 0.8.

Note: The minimum purchase price is 120% of the item's value, and the maximum selling price is 80% of the item's value. It appears that this applies even after one gets a discount from a vendor.

To get the best prices:
 * Without any of the other factors above, one needs 16 CHA for buying, 15 CHA for selling.
 * With the Cap Collector 1 perk, one needs 15 CHA for both buying and selling.
 * With the Cap Collector 2 perk, one needs 13 CHA for both buying and selling.
 * With the Cap Collector 2 perk and the Barter bobblehead, one needs 12 CHA for both buying and selling.
 * With the Cap Collector 2 perk, the Barter bobblehead, and all 8 ranks of Junktown Vendor, one needs 8 CHA for buying and 12 CHA for selling.
 * With the Cap Collector 2 perk, the Barter bobblehead, and all 8 ranks of Junktown Vendor, and having done the relevant quest to make the vendor like the player character enough for a discount:
 * One needs 7 CHA for buying and 11 CHA for selling with Alexis Combes.
 * One needs 3 CHA for buying and 9 CHA for selling with Connie Abernathy.

These factors are multiplicative and not additive; for instance, rank 2 cap collector gives a 1.32 selling modifier. Friend Discount is when the player character gets better prices from a vendor for completing a quest. For example, returning the locket to Connie Abernathy's husband unlocks a Friend Discount with Connie. Other vendors may have the same or other discounts.

Maximizing Charisma
Combined with all base game items a maximum Charisma of 32 can be reached, while with all add-ons included 48 is the maximum.

Base game
A base charisma of 12 can be achieved:
 * Increase base Charisma to 10 by spending SPECIAL points on it.
 * Take Daddy-O, drink Vim Captain's Blend or suffer addiction withdrawal to temporarily decrease Charisma below 10.
 * Use the You're SPECIAL! book while Charisma is still below 10 and when the effect wears off you will have 11 Charisma.
 * Pick up the Charisma bobblehead to reach 12 Charisma.

Items
Several items grant bonuses while equipped for a maximum of +18 increase to Charisma:
 * Charisma increasing hat +1
 * Black-rim glasses or Fashionable glasses +1
 * Green shirt and combat boots clothing for +1
 * Five Sharp armor pieces 5x +1, or five Unyielding armor pieces 5x +3 to all stats (except Endurance) when the player character is at 25% or less health.

The summer shorts +2 fills outfit and chest armor slot that can be used instead of Green shirt and combat boots and the Sharp chest piece to preserve weight.

Consumables
Several consumables increase charisma temporarily up to +12.
 * Beer or any other alcohol except bourbon, rum, vodka, whiskey or wine for +2 with Party Boy/Girl tier 2 perk, +1 without it.
 * Grape Mentats for +5
 * Day Tripper for +3
 * X-cell for +2

Far Harbor
Far Harbor provides better substitutions:
 * The Dapper Gent hat for +2
 * Equip five pieces of Unyielding armor for a total of 15 in all stats.

Vault-Tec Workshop
Vault-Tec Workshop: the barber chair provides a semi-permanent boost of +1 Charisma that is lost when choosing to use one of the other statistic boosting workshop items.

Nuka-World
Nuka-World provides the following:
 * Fancy plaid suit & tie clothing for +2
 * The Smooth Operator chem +3

Fallout 76
Modifies: Rewards from Group Quests, Barter Bonus

Sharing a perk card requires the player character to have a Charisma that is three times the rank of the card.

At a Charisma of 1 there is +0% Experience Points (XP) and +0% caps rewards from group quests. Each additional level of Charisma increases both XP gain and caps gain by +5%, except for the jump from Charisma = 4 to Charisma = 5, where the XP gain and caps gain increases by +10%. At the maximum Charisma of 15, the XP gain and caps gain is +75%.

Effect on Barter
Charisma affects item buy/sell values; the value of an item for buying or selling is its innate value multiplied by either the buying price modifier or the selling price modifier. While Hard Bargain will increase Charisma during bartering, it provides less benefit for those with higher charisma.

Selling items to vendors caps at 25% of the item's value, the buying modifier caps at 175%, and items will be purchasable at this price with 25 Charisma.

In short, Buy price decreases from 2.5 by 0.1 for every even level of Charisma up to 10, then from 2 by 0.02 for every single level of Charisma. Sell price increases from 0.1 by 0.025 for every odd level of Charisma up to 10, then from 0.2 by 0.005 for every single level of Charisma.

Ways to increase Charisma

 * Bobblehead: Charisma (+2 for 1 hour or 2 hours with Curator)
 * Armor and Clothing:
 * "Casual" underarmor with a treated lining mod (+1)
 * "Casual" underarmor with a resistant lining mod (+1)
 * "Casual" underarmor with a protective lining mod (+2)
 * "Casual" underarmor with a shielded lining mod (+3)
 * Legendary Effects:
 * Charisma (+1)
 * Mutations:
 * Herd Mentality (+2 if grouped, -2 if solo)
 * Perks:
 * Magnetic Personality (+1 or +2 for each teammate excluding yourself)
 * Consumables:
 * Food:
 * Corn pone (+2)
 * Mothman egg omelette (+2)
 * Sweet roll (+3)
 * Drinks:
 * Beer (+1)
 * Blackwater Brew (+1)
 * Cranberry moonshine (+1)
 * Mountain honey (+1)
 * New River Red Ale (+1)
 * Oak Holler Lager (+1)
 * Old Possum (+1)
 * Pickaxe Pilsner (+1)
 * Rodgers' Reserve beer (+2)
 * Simple ash rose tea (+1)
 * Chems:
 * Day Tripper (+3)
 * Grape Mentats (+5)
 * X-cell (+2)

Fallout Shelter
Charisma affects how efficient a dweller is while working in the living rooms, radio studio, and barbershop facilities. It can be increased on different dwellers by assigning them to the lounge.

Fallout: The Board Game
Unlike other games, Charisma is not treated as a variable ranging from 1 to 10, but instead as a token that can be obtained at the start or when leveling up. A player character with the Charisma token gets free rerolls during certain tests and can also recruit certain companions from the shop.

Any player character wearing formalwear gains one hit during a Charisma test. However, a player character cannot gain any rerolls from Charisma while wearing metal armor. During any Charisma test, Day Tripper can be used to gain one free hit.

Charisma-based perks

 * Inspirational
 * Master Trader

Companions requiring Charisma

 * MacCready
 * Nick Valentine
 * Paladin Danse