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

[abirdcall]

That isn't reflective of what the INT score means; as problematic in aspects as it is, INT is more so treated as objective of a character's abilities. All of your other examples are fine, but this one wouldn't be covered by INT.

I'm not saying that it should be covered by Int.

Int covers the ability to memorize facts.

All that other stuff is also not covered by Int either.

The point is that if a player wants to play a 'stupid' character here are other ways to do it that may accomplish what they're looking for, depending on what it is they're actually looking to do. The point is that people aren't stupid.

If they want to be perceived as being stupid then playing a foreigner might be a way to do so.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Because real men have traumatic brain injuries.

And miniature giant space hamsters.

 

[Charlaquin]

If they want to be perceived as being stupid then playing a foreigner might be a way to do so.

I agree with the point you’re trying to make, but this is a really terrible way to express it.

 

[abirdcall]

I don’t think this is a wise joke to make in a thread as heated as this.

I edited in the explanation of the joke though I think it should be clear at this point that I think intelligence is nonsense and it's a joke about that. The idea that the OP is objectively poorly written because there are people arguing over it is absurd. People have trouble understanding all kinds of things for many different reasons. Write anything and someone is going to have trouble understanding it because they approach it from a different frame of reference, they infer things based on their cultural background that aren't there, etc. etc.

 

[ReshiIRE]

If they want to be perceived as being stupid then playing a foreigner might be a way to do so.

Jesus, mr / mx, think about what you're saying.

Going into potentially very murky ground with something that plays into racist tropes and ideas is not the way to combat ableism.

I don't think it's wrong to say portray how people foreign to a culture are treated as 'stupid' when they're not and people from the dominant culture are being ignorant, but I would certainly not play a character who is foreign just so I could portray someone as 'stupid'.

 

[abirdcall]

I agree with the point you’re trying to make, but this is a really terrible way to express it.

It's truth though.

And it would be a good exploration of what it means be considered 'intelligent'.

I'm talking fictionally. I don't think it's a good idea to take an actual real life culture that isn't yours and imitate it. That's terrible.

 

[Voadam]

If they want to be perceived as being stupid then playing a foreigner might be a way to do so.

An insulting way to do so. You could even say xenophobic.

I thought you were trying to avoid insulting portrayals.

 

[abirdcall]

Jesus, mr / mx, think about what you're saying.

Going into potentially very murky ground with something that plays into racist tropes and ideas is not the way to combat ableism.

I don't think it's wrong to say portray how people foreign to a culture are treated as 'stupid' when they're not and people from the dominant culture are being ignorant, but I would certainly not play a character who is foreign just so I could portray someone as 'stupid'.

Again, don't portray someone as 'stupid'.

Just don't.

That's the whole point.

 

[squibbles]

Look, I am sorry, I have been searching of a summary of this excellent video on the infamous Bell Curve book, and why it's *******, and ineed so much of the ******** around IQ, but I can't find one.

It's just... it is a long video, and I myself haven't watched all of it, but god damn. The part at teh ending reviewing the political motivations of a lot of these people promoting and funding this research should be chilling enough.

I mean, hell, the fact that someone mentioned that IQ scores have to continuing being normalised because well, apparently, people today crush earlier ones... doesn't that prove it's all crap? Doesn't that prove it's a measure of a certain type of education, and resources we have today? Are we seriously suggesting that the human beings alive are somehow smarter than earlier ones... when really, we just have access to better and better resources?

The Flynn effect doesn't prove that general intelligence is crap. There are reasonable and interesting explanations for it. One, for example, is that human nutrition has improved substantially in the countries that have experienced it. Just as peoples' height has grown substantially in a lot of countries as a result of rising living standards, so has general intelligence.

There are thoughtful and reasonable scholars trying to understand these phenomena. Try for example, looking up an academic review article about the state of intelligence research--like any academic subfield, there are many differing but reasonable evidence-based views.

That's not to say it can't also be true that political actors use this research to advance an agenda.

Right, which illuminates the underlying issue of the socially constructed idea of “intelligence” as an inherent quality of someone’s brain functionality that can be be described with a single number and rated on a bell curve. It’s inaccurate nonsense in D&D and in real life. Don’t worry about “roleplaying your character’s intelligence,” give your character traits that you want to play, and let the system math do its thing.

Intelligence in D&D is about your ability to memorize facts and a character with an 8 Int has a marginally worse ability to do so.

Inaccurate nonsense in D&D, I'd completely agree.

The intelligence ability score governs arcana, history, investigation, nature, and religion checks, wizard and artificer spellcasting, and saves against a rare and not especially coherent grab bag spells and monster abilities. It is just as well to think of it as an abstraction of book-learning, rather than anything else.

 

[ReshiIRE]

Again, don't portray someone as 'stupid'.

Just don't.

That's the whole point.

Yes, I agree entirely.