First of all, halflings aren't half anything. They are a race in and of themselves. They aren't half elf and half dwarf or something of that nature.
I was not being serious. Halflings are probably called that way because they are half the height of a human.
Second, Charisma is also natural charm that someone has. What a boost in Charisma implies is that certain races have more natural charm than others. So, a halfling is seen as more charming, possibly cute and adorable by other races. A half-elf is considered more attractive and charming than perhaps a typical elf or certainly many types of dwarves.
The problem there is that a constant racial charisma bonus does not make sense. The concept of cuteness is likely to be very different between humans, dark elves and goblins. I think hamsters are cute. But my cat probably thinks differently about that.
The point is, someone with high Charisma is someone with a good amount of charm, or they know how to speak well in order to influence and inspire other people, animals, spirits, etc. Or they carry themselves well - like someone who walks down the street with an entourage and you just sense they are important. They don't even need to speak. Their very presence just emanates from them.
It CAN be intimidation as well. It CAN be like Darth Vader who simply appears on the battlefield and melts the hearts of his enemies with sheer terror. It CAN be like Jabba the Hutts laugh that makes your heart drop into your stomach.
When you put it like that, it becomes harder to come to grips with the charisma trait in BG3. Suppose you wash up on an uninhabited island, in real life. High strength, dexterity, wisdom, intelligence, constitution are all useful to have in that case. Charisma is of zero use because there is no-one to impress with your amazing personality. Charisma needs an intelligent being to operate on. How then does a sorcerer use charisma to perform magic tricks?
it is not abnormal in RPGs to have certain races have greater Charisma than others.
That may be a fact, but does it make sense?
