One of the best literary works on (in part) the subject of charisma was Joseph Konrad's Heart of Darkness, in the form of Kurtz. It's particularly relevant to

One of the best literary works on (in part) the subject of charisma was Joseph Konrad's Heart of Darkness, in the form of Kurtz. It's particularly relevant to much of this article. For example, here's a description of the oratory powers of the charismatic and influential Kurtz: > "From that point he soared and took me with him. The peroration was magnificent, though difficult to remember, you know. It gave me the notion of an exotic Immensity ruled by an august Benevolence. It made me tingle with enthusiasm. This was the unbounded power of eloquence—of words—of burning noble words. There were no practical hints to interrupt the magic current of phrases, unless a kind of note at the foot of the last page, scrawled evidently much later, in an unsteady hand, may be regarded as the exposition of a method. It was very simple, and at the end of that moving appeal to every altruistic sentiment it blazed at you, luminous and terrifying, like a flash of lightning in a serene sky: ‘Exterminate all the brutes!’" P.S. including charisma as a character attribute in D & D was a stroke of genius.