In the early days of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game, Charisma was seen by some players as a "Dump-Stat," a tertiary attribute to be ignored in favor of improving combat-centric attributes like Strength or Dexterity. 5th Edition D&D, in contrast, makes Charisma the primary attribute for the majority of spell-casting classes, which begs the question: why did developers at Wizards Of The Coast ties the magic of so many D&D classes to the magnetism of PC personalities?

Among the "Mage" classes of D&D 5e , Warlocks, Bards, Sorcerers, and Paladins each have spell-casting abilities built around the Charisma attribute, with the Difficulty Classes and attack bonuses of these classes going up as a PC's Charisma score increases. Clerics and Druids have spell-casting abilities fueled by their Wisdom, while the Wizard uses Intelligence to control their arcane magic.

Related: D&D Character Backstories That Would Justify a Paladin/Sorcerer Build

Discounting martial/magical hybrid classes like the Paladin or Eldritch Knight Fighter, the Player's Handbook of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition has four charismatic mage classes, two wisdom-based mage classes, and only one intelligence based mage class (two, if including the Artificer class introduced in the Eberron: Rising From The Last War source book). From the looks of things, there was no official decision among developers at Wizards Of The Coast that led to the presence of so many charismatic spell-casters in D&D 5e - just a bunch of small design choices made in response to the mechanic idiosyncrasies of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset.

Explanation #1: D&D Spells Fueled By Charisma Fit The Narrative Of Certain Classes

D&D Aberrant Mind Sorcerer

The term "Charisma" can be used to describe many different qualities: physical attractiveness, likability, gravitas, elegance, musicality, sheer force of personality, etc. In both D&D and real life, "Intelligence" may let people interpret the laws and principles of the world, and "Wisdom" may help people understand their hearts and the hearts of others, but "Charisma" is how people actively assert their will over society and get it to change in their favor. This is probably why Charisma is the key attribute for D&D spell-casters who wield their magic with their emotional qualities, deliberately distinct from the intelligent D&D Wizard and their careful study and memorization.

in D&D 5e, Warlocks are portrayed as spell-casters who forgo years of magical education in favor of gaining knowledge by bargaining with a non-divine (frequently sinister) spiritual entity - their use of Charisma as a spell-casting attribute represents how they charm and flatter their patrons into continuing to give them magic. Sorcerers, on the other hand, are portrayed as spell-casters who wield their innate magic with intuition and channeled emotions; again, Charisma is the best-fit attribute for this kind of miracle-working. Finally, Bards cast magic through their proficiency with music, poetry, and other performing arts - an emotional paradigm that naturally falls under Charisma.

Explanation #2: Classes With Charisma-Based Abilities Encourage More Roleplaying

Dungeons Dragons Bard Class Is Popular

As new, narrative systems like "Powered By The Apocalypse" or "Forged In The Dark" RPGs arose as alternatives to Dungeons & Dragons and other classic roleplaying games, RPG developers became more aware of a key principle behind roleplaying game design: the more depth and utility a set of gameplay mechanics has, the more likely players are to run RPG campaigns centered around those mechanics. If someone creates an RPG system where combat is risky and lethal, but also include many useful, safer abilities for social maneuvering and dominance, then players are more likely to run campaigns in this system based around court intrigue and investigation (World of Darkness publications like Vampire: the Masquerade being a key example thereof).

Most character classes in Dungeons & Dragons are focused around combat and exploring, with special abilities geared towards fighting off monsters, keeping allied characters alive, bypassing traps, and gathering information about potential threats. In early editions of Dungeons & Dragons, Charisma - and the social skills it empowers - was seen a a "dump-stat" because improving it didn't help play characters survive the lethal threats the Dungeon Master would throw at them; sadly, this often led to players creating socially inept "murder-hobo" characters who couldn't effectively interact with NPCs and supporting characters in towns, cities, taverns, and other non-combat spaces. The introduction and refinement of charismatic spell-casters in later editions of Dungeons & Dragons can be seen as an attempt to compensate for this asymmetry of gameplay, empowering players to create silver-tongued PCs while still being able to rain destruction and discord upon a battlefield with their magic.

Next: What A D&D "Gish" Character Build Is (& How To Make One)