D&D 5E Don't play "stupid" characters. It is ableist.

[Eubani]

So... how are you defining stupid here?

Here is the dictionary definition:
stupid
adjective

UK /ˈstjuː.pɪd/

US /ˈstuː.pɪd/

silly or unwise; showing poor judgment or little intelligence

informal
annoying, or causing a problem

stupid
[ˈstjuːpɪd]

ADJECTIVE

1. having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense.
   
   The above is a bit minimized but it is the base meaning. So unless we are now changing definitions to suit agendas then what I said stands.
   
   

 

[Faolyn]

Here is the dictionary definition:
stupid
[ˈstjuːpɪd]

ADJECTIVE

1. having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense.
   
   The above is a bit minimized but it is the base meaning. So unless we are now changing definitions to suit agendas then what I said stands.

Sigh... I guess I should have been clearer. How are you defining a "stupid person"?

Because I'm pretty sure that everyone here will have a different definition of what a stupid person is--and I'm also pretty sure that everyone here, including you, will exactly fit someone's definition.

 

[Lanefan]

Because I'm pretty sure that everyone here will have a different definition of what a stupid person is--and I'm also pretty sure that everyone here, including you, will exactly fit someone's definition.

Hell, sometimes I fit my own definition.

 

[Eubani]

I use the term as it is defined in it's dictionary meaning, not as it has been misused. I suppose my point could be better rephrased as:

Advocating for the protection an respectful treatment of those with mental health issues and mental disabilities is a noble one. Let us not add those who are not under those umbrellas be labelled as such as it would be problematic for those you are advocating for and society in general. It could also be that the OP has misused words thus causing a misunderstanding in intentions. Don't play caricatures or exaggerations of those with mental health issues or disabilities is a perfectly fine and agreeable statement.

 

[Redwizard007]

I see from some people is this idea that 'intelligence' is this objective thing and innate to our being rather than a product of traits and behaviours we've learned throughout our lives and what we consider 'intelligence' is a product of our culture and what it values.

Instead of playing a "dolt" play a character who doesn't care about learning facts and doesn't have patience for thinking through problems. Or whatever. Give the character some traits and behaviours. Don't just say 'well this character is stupid, I need to come up with stupid things for them to do and since it is innate to their being there is no growth or learning to be had'.

Another thing is to not just make the character 'stupid' in all aspects. People can be below average at some cognitive tasks while being average, good, or great at others. Let the character have strokes of genius particularly when something interests them.

Intelligence is not a monolith, even though our characters have a score for it. D&D has trained us to see characters, and by extension real people, this way. That's not how it works for real life people.

Here is an anecdote - My mother was terrible at math throughout high school. To the point where she had borderline failing marks in each course. When she went to nursing school she was among the best in the class for all of the math related tasks because it was something she was interested in and could visualize it better when she was actually doing something with it.


The thing is, the below average Int score does not actually do what many people envision it does. People greatly exaggerate it and then say 'well my character has to be that way because ability score'.

It means the character has a slightly worse ability to memorize and recall facts and a slightly lower cognitive resilience.

Even if it did all the things people attribute to it, it would make for unrealistic 2 dimensional characters made up of harmful stereotypes.

Thankfully it doesn't but it really needs to be renamed. If we're renaming races let's rename these ability scores.

Wait a second, are you saying that this actually happened? That someone at your actual table was playing a low-Int character in a way that was intentionally mocking another player? That's pretty despicable. Not what I got from your post, but that's irrelevant.

 

[Remathilis]

All Ability Scores are ableist. Remove them for the betterment of the game. Give bonuses to certain roles (melee attacks, skill checks, spell saves) based on class level. (A fighter hits better in melee than a wizard, not because he has a higher strength).

As a bonus, it removes ASI from the game entirely too.

 

[CleverNickName]

All Ability Scores are ableist. Remove them for the betterment of the game. Give bonuses to certain roles (melee attacks, skill checks, spell saves) based on class level. (A fighter hits better in melee than a wizard, not because he has a higher strength).

As a bonus, it removes ASI from the game entirely too.

I don't think the scores are the problem; the problem is offensive stereotypes. I think the issue is (and has been, throughout this entire thread) that certain people are using the numbers on the character sheet as an excuse to be offensive.

Removing the numbers from the character sheet does nothing to address the problem (the offensive stereotypes).

 

[Zardnaar]

Well, given that we are coming up on Thanksgiving, I can reliably tell you that not only are there stupid people, but I will be forced to sit and eat with them for hours.

It is possible that I will survive, either through noise-cancelling earbuds, copious amounts of alcohol, or (checks notes) ... both.

Canned Siberian beer. 1 litre cans. It helps.

 

[Remathilis]

I don't think the scores are the problem; the problem is offensive stereotypes. I think the issue is (and has been, throughout this entire thread) that certain people are using the numbers on the character sheet as an excuse to be offensive.

Removing the numbers from the character sheet does nothing to address the problem (the offensive stereotypes).

Remove the excuse. You can't police people to not playing offensive characters, but you can do your best to give them less excuse to do it.

 

[Umbran]

I suppose my point could be better rephrased

Mod Note:
Please go back and edit your previous statement - it is being read as an attack on those with cognitive disabilities.