Wizards Have No Social Skills

I have been thinking for a while about the Wizard class in Dungeons and Dragons. There had been something about the class that just didn’t feel right to me. I figured it might be their skill options. I went and put together a table cross-referencing class skills with the various classes and then I realized – Wizards are the only class without any Charisma based skills.

There are eight Charisma based skills in the Systems Resource Document: Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Perform and Use Magic Device. Every class except wizard has at least one Charisma based skill:

Class        # Of Charisma Skills
Barbarian           2
Bard                6
Cleric              1
Druid               2
Fighter             2
Monk                2
Paladin             2
Ranger              1
Rogue               7
Sorcerer            1
Wizard              0

This just seems wrong to me…in much of fantasy literature wizards are wise counseleors and diplomats as much as they are spellcasters. If there is a heavy emphasis on role-playing in a campaign, I think the fact that Wizards lack Charisma-based skills is a serious handicap.

In my campaign, at least, I am adding Diplomacy to the Wizard class skill list.

If you are interested, I have placed the skill breadown on the D&D section of my website, in OpenOffice.org spreadsheet format and and in PDF format.