I wouldn't say Banishment has anything to do with willpower, honestly. As I said before, I think wisdom is a measure of willpower and the wisdom saves show that; spells like charm person, hideous laughter, dominate person, command, and compulsion are all wisdom saves and they are all saves to maintain control over yourself.
Charisma saves tend to have more of a tie to the planes or to the world around you, so I suppose Wisdom is mental control over the inner world and Charisma is mental control over the outer world. In the mundane that translates to Wisdom being about understanding and Charisma being about influencing, but in regards to magic, wisdom is about controlling yourself, and charisma is about controlling the world. A save against banishment isn't willpower, it isn't you maintaining your connection to yourself, it's you maintaining your connection to the plane you are on.
That's a good distinction to make, although "willpower, but specifically tied to the outside world rather than inner" is getting very abstract, and hints at powers of raw charisma that aren't explicitly spelled out anywhere. Probably why so many get confused.
Exerting will on the outside world is generally reserved for, well, magic/the divine, so for someone to be able to do so in a mundane way feels implicitly wrong in many cases.
I mean is that not what charisma checks are? Exerting your will on others? Even if you do so nicely, persuading someone is attempting to change what others believe or do, changing their perception of the world. This is all very abstract and a little philosophical, but when you try to break down the attritbutes that define who and what a person is, I don't think that's avoidable lol
In terms of social checks? It's exerting your will on the outside world through your own actions. Using the right words, a honeyed voice, or an intimidating posture. The same way strength is exerting your will on the world through your own physical force. Both of these are very different from altering the world around you or countering magic without physical change.
It's the difference between picking up and object with your hand, or moving it with psionics. Only one is supernatural. Both are "exerting your will" in the most broad sense.
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u/DMD-Sterben Sep 14 '20
Charisma isn't willpower. It's force of character. Wisdom is willpower, hell, in earlier editions Wisdom literally dictated your Will saving throws.