D&D 5E So 5 Intelligence Huh

[pemerton]

The main issue I have with that argument is it is an argument based on realism, and Iserith has fought me tooth and nail on other issues where I have argued realism and he has insisted that realism doesn't really matter. Either it doesn't really matter or it does really matter.

At no point has [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION] insisted the realism doesn't matter. But there is no such thing as a "real" 5 INT score, because INT is purely a game construct.

Whereas frogs, cats, eagles, human beings, etc are not.

 

[Maxperson]

How do you know this? Perhaps you are imagining there are more people who think as you do than there really are. Besides, you are constructing a straw-man. My response had nothing to do with playing a low ability score. It was about playing a character.

Because there are hundreds of thousands of players, but not that many ways to play a 5 int. I'm not the one who committed a Strawman by the way. This is the question you were responding to.

1. How would you, personally, play a character with 5 INT?

Either YOU committed a Strawman with your answer to her, or you were talking about a 5 int PC. Which is it?

Okay @Maxperson, I'll ask you again. What "rules and fluff" am I ignoring when I, as a player, engage with the challenges of the game?

Low int = low ability to reason.

edit: And to be clear, I don't regard the problem of how to "properly" display my character's low Intelligence to be one of those challenges.

So you don't regard one of the challenges of the game as a challenge. Got it. That doesn't change the fact that it is one of the challenges.

 

[Maxperson]

That last post of mine was originally gonna read "If the ref doesn't throw a flag, there's no foul" What that means to imply is that the rules (and fluff) of D&D change based on who is playing it.

Yes, people can change D&D to be what they want it to be. That doesn't make it the way to play the game as written. As written, low stats = low ability in what those stats mean.

But I posted what you quoted because I got curious about why you think the game is bounded the way you think it is. Why do you think there's a wrong way to play D&D?

It's bounded the way it is, because that's how it is written. It's no so much that there's a wrong way to play D&D. It's that there are poor ways to roleplay and ignoring the bounds the game sets up is one of those ways.

 

[Maxperson]

At no point has [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION] insisted the realism doesn't matter. But there is no such thing as a "real" 5 INT score, because INT is purely a game construct.

Iserith has argued against my positions when I base them on realism in other threads. He goes on and on about how my position isn't in the rules. Taking the other side of the argument here is arguing out of both sides of his mouth. He has no rule support for his position. It's based on realism. This isn't the only time he's done something like that, either. He's constantly arguing the rules, except when I pull the rules against his position and then suddenly it's, "The DM is not a slave to the rules. The rules serve the DM."

Whereas frogs, cats, eagles, human beings, etc are not.

Frogs, cats, eagles, humans, etc. do not have D&D stats. Those are purely a game construct, and the subject of what we are talking about.

 

[Hriston]

Because there are hundreds of thousands of players, but not that many ways to play a 5 int.

If you're so sure, then how many are there? Perhaps you could enumerate them for us.

I'm not the one who committed a Strawman by the way. This is the question you were responding to.



Either YOU committed a Strawman with your answer to her, or you were talking about a 5 int PC. Which is it?

A character is not the same thing as a low ability score.

Low int = low ability to reason.

The problem with your argument is that a lower than average ability to reason is still an ability to reason. All characters have the ability to reason. Having a lower than average ability to reason doesn't prevent my character from doing anything. If I'm presented with a challenge that requires reasoning, there is nothing to prevent me from doing so.

So you don't regard one of the challenges of the game as a challenge. Got it. That doesn't change the fact that it is one of the challenges.

No. You're confusing playing an RPG with an acting exercise. It's not the same thing.

 

[Maxperson]

If you're so sure, then how many are there? Perhaps you could enumerate them for us.

Stop acting the fool. You know damn well that there aren't that many ways to roleplay a 5 int.

A character is not the same thing as a low ability score.

So you DID Strawman her. Nice! My bad for thinking you were actually responding to the question. She was explicitly talking about a low score.

The problem with your argument is that a lower than average ability to reason is still an ability to reason. All characters have the ability to reason. Having a lower than average ability to reason doesn't prevent my character from doing anything.

It prevents you from reasoning as well as an average person.

 

[Hriston]

Stop acting the fool. You know damn well that there aren't that many ways to roleplay a 5 int.

I'm not saying you need to play to your character's low Intelligence at all. I believe that's your argument. What I'm saying is there are countless ways to play a character that just so happens to have a low Intelligence. If you think the number of ways is limited, it's on you to say how.

So you DID Strawman her. Nice! My bad for thinking you were actually responding to the question. She was explicitly talking about a low score.

The question was about playing a character with a low Intelligence score. My response was genuine. There are unlimited ways to play a character with a 5 Intelligence. I don't know why you want to argue with that, but you are. I felt that by focusing on the ability score alone, rather than the character as a whole, you were attempting to paint me as someone who thinks that one should play to their ability scores, when I do not. Thus, my response that you were arguing against a strawman of your own design.

It prevents you from reasoning as well as an average person.

Are you saying that an in-game challenge that can be solved by a character with an average Intelligence can never be solved by a character with a below average Intelligence?

 

[Maxperson]

I'm not saying you need to play to your character's low Intelligence at all.

Right. You ignored the question and answered something not asked.

What I'm saying is there are countless ways to play a character that just so happens to have a low Intelligence. If you think the number of ways is limited, it's on you to say how.

That wasn't the question. The question was how to play a 5 int only. Interjecting your bias into it and responding to that is a Strawman.

The question was about playing a character with a low Intelligence score. My response was genuine. There are unlimited ways to play a character with a 5 Intelligence. I don't know why you want to argue with that, but you are.

Maybe because it's objectively false. There are not infinite ways to play a character with a low intelligence. It is in fact limited.

Are you saying that an in-game challenge that can be solved by a character with an average Intelligence can never be solved by a character with a below average Intelligence?

Occasionally, sure. You however, seem to be someone who would just run around solving everything, which is something someone with a low int could never do.

 

[cmad1977]

This thread had a 5 INT score.

 

[Maxperson]

This thread had a 5 INT score.

But it was roleplayed as if it had a 19, so it's all good.