D&D 5E So 5 Intelligence Huh

[Satyrn]

I feel that the only possible response to this is:

"Hodor."

I was expecting a quote of Kermit at his most brilliant.

 

[Hriston]

So, you are correct that IQ is scaled based on population and likelihood, but that doesn't mean it's actually distributed that way.

That would mean the particular test is inaccurate, not that IQ isn't normally distributed, which it is by definition. That's how the test makers know which IQ to assign to what test result.

 

[Maxperson]

Only if you're that guy.

Since "that guy" is normal, I'm glad to be "that guy." I'd rather not be the abnormal guy who is okay with people roleplaying disruptively.

 

[Maxperson]

Winnie the Pooh.

He's just a bear of Little Brain, and he has the most amusing misunderstandings and gets confused very easily. But he does not walk around drooling saying "Herpaderp". He's just...slow on the logic, deep on the instinctive wisdom.

He also doesn't have a 5. An 8-9 at the lowest.

 

[Maxperson]

That isn't how IQ scores work. The current practice is to assign IQ scores based on their rarity within the population being tested. Assuming a distribution of scores resulting from 3d6, which is the basis for regarding a score of 10.5 as average, 1 in 216 (about 0.5% of the population) will have a score of 18. This is far more common than an IQ of 180 which, by definition, only 1 in about 18,460,000 could possibly have (that's about 0.00000005%), and that's assuming a fantasy test capable of measuring an Intelligence score that high. As I said up-thread, I'd assign a score of 26 to an Intelligence this high based on the number of standard deviations it is away from the average. If you are using a ratio IQ of 180, rather than a deviation IQ as is the current practice, that would be the equivalent of an Int 23.

Prove it. Prove to me that a 180 IQ is that rare in D&D. D&D =/= Earth.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Prove it. Prove to me that a 180 IQ is that rare in D&D. D&D =/= Earth.

You apparently missed the part where he said "Assuming a distribution of scores resulting from 3d6..." and then extrapolated the math from there. He's not proving a distribution in your imaginary world, which you can sprinkle with as many geniuses as you like. He was comparing two gaussian distributions.

 

[Guest 6801328]

He also doesn't have a 5. An 8-9 at the lowest.

I'd put Winnie the Pooh lower than that. Have you actually read any of those books lately? Some of the things he does definitely rank further down the intelligence scale than "slightly below average". If a human did them you'd think, "WTF...this person is as dumb as a sackful of hammers."

 

[Maxperson]

You apparently missed the part where he said "Assuming a distribution of scores resulting from 3d6..." and then extrapolated the math from there. He's not proving a distribution in your imaginary world, which you can sprinkle with as many geniuses as you like. He was comparing two gaussian distributions.

He went on to talk about real world percentages and how he would use those real world percentages to turn an 18 into 23. Real world percentages have nothing to do with D&D.

 

[Maxperson]

I'd put Winnie the Pooh lower than that. Have you actually read any of those books lately? Some of the things he does definitely rank further down the intelligence scale than "slightly below average". If a human did them you'd think, "WTF...this person is as dumb as a sackful of hammers."

80-89 — Below average

Above the threshold for normal independent functioning. Can perform explicit routinized hands-on tasks without supervision as long as there are no moments of choice and it is always clear what has to be done. Assembler, food service.

http://paulcooijmans.com/intelligence/iq_ranges.html

Winnie makes choices, which is the problem. His choices mark him as stupid.

 

[Hriston]

Prove it. Prove to me that a 180 IQ is that rare in D&D. D&D =/= Earth.

First, you need to understand that the results of an IQ test are made to have a normal distribution. It doesn't matter what planet you're on, your IQ score is assigned based on what percent of the population being tested does as well on the test as you do. A 180 IQ is more than 5 standard deviations from the mean, which is set at 100 (a standard deviation being pre-defined as 15 points of IQ), and a 175 IQ is exactly 5 standard deviations from the mean. In a normal distribution, only 0.00000029% of individuals are going to be more than 5 standard deviations above the mean. A 180 IQ is even more rare.