Attributes Should Be a Guideline for Personality

[MGibster]

In the early 90s, there was a little magazine published for Cyberpunk 2020 called Interface. It was a quarterly magazine that introduced new cyberware, weapons, drugs, NPCs, organizations, etc., etc. to use in your Cyberpunk game. In 1991, Peter Christian wrote an article for Interface called "Getting Along: Interpersonal Relationships in Cyberpunk," and what prompted him to write it was encountering Cyberpunk GMs and players who treated Empathy as little more than a stat to be used to purchase as much cyberware as possible without going cyberpsycho. Christian believed a character's attributes should shape their personality to a degree.

Every attribute a character has influences how effectively he deals with people. Three attributes are especially important: Empathy, Cool, and Appearance. A character's relationship with people around him largely depends on the relative value of these three attributes.

In Cyberpunk, Christian argues a low Empathy low Cool individual is a social outcast. They lack the ability to connect with other people and lacks the self-control to refrain from acting in an inappropriate manner. Whereas someone with a high Cool and Empathy are born leaders, people who have self-control and the ability to motivate others because they understand people.

This is an article that's stuck with me for nearly thirty-four years, and I still think of it when I make an NPC or a player character. I consider their attributes and how it would affect their personality. I can't be the only person who does this. Do you incorporate a player's attributes into their personalities at all? How? Which games do you do this? How would you play a D&D character with a low Wisdom but high Intelligence? In Savage Worlds, what does it mean to have a low Spirit and high Intelligence?

 

[Jd Smith1]

IME, players have a personality in mind, and just use the stats as mechanics.

Frankly, most players, again IME, tend to play the same personality in all their PCs.

Which is why I am largely uninterested in races in a given setting, because few players actually portray the 'different race' aspect.

YRMV

 

[payn]

Do you incorporate a player's attributes into their personalities at all?

Yeah.

How?

Usually in how they approach problem solving. The three pillar lens of Social, exploration, and combat is how I generally tend to look at it. Each game leans in different ways, but often thats the spread.

Which games do you do this?

As many as I can. Games that lack numerous attributes and skills I tend to not find much interest in.

How would you play a D&D character with a low Wisdom but high Intelligence?

Clever in mechanical and tangible ways, clueless in reading situations in high context manner.

In Savage Worlds, what does it mean to have a low Spirit and high Intelligence?

I'd view it similar to my take on the D&D character. Obviously, adjusting with whatever flavor of SW the table is using.

While I like this exercise in theory, I tend to caution against telling people what their stats mean about their characters. The above is what the character means to me, but perhaps the others at the table see it differently. I let the mechanics do the judging. I know some folks are worried about the min/maxer who dumps charisma but claims to be a super model, but when im in the GM seat, they get no mechanical benefit for declaring such. That hasnt been a problem in a very long time.

 

[ART!]

Literally tinkering with something along these lines right now. It currently goes something like this:

ABILITY	I do things…	Value I admire…	Goal I want…	Flaw I’m kept from this Goal by…
STR	forcefully	directness, power, force
DEX	adroitly	deftness, coordination
CON	doggedly	stamina, persistence, doggedness
INT	cleverly	intellect, knowledge, cleverness
WIS	carefully	experience, patience
CHA	charmingly	influence, likability

 

[Theory of Games]

Do you incorporate a player's attributes into their personalities at all? How? Which games do you do this? How would you play a D&D character with a low Wisdom but high Intelligence? In Savage Worlds, what does it mean to have a low Spirit and high Intelligence?

I usually roleplay above-average charisma as the character being amicable, in most games that have the trait. Roleplaying high INT but low WIS usually presents as a character who lacks the insight to get the most out of being smart (the MCU's Iron Man comes to mind). I haven't played SW enough to comment.

Great thread

 

[aco175]

I think race, class and regions you grow up in affect things more than stats. A strong person might view a lot of situations from using Strength, but if they are an elf or dwarf vs a human might affect this more if they are all strong. Where the PC grows up might value restraint or value strength and they might crack their knuckles before a 'negotiation' with others.

There are the typical stereotypes at least in D&D about the smart-bookish wizard or the aloof elf and such. I tend to play NPCs more towards these and let the PCs be anything they want.

 

[Umbran]

Do you incorporate a player's attributes into their personalities at all? How?

I don't find most games to have stats give sufficient granularity to determine personality, and there are many factors other than stats that impact personality.

So, generally, I try to make sure the personality I am considering is consistent with the stats I have for the character.

Which games do you do this?

Pretty much any game.

How would you play a D&D character with a low Wisdom but high Intelligence?

As above - the stats alone are not sufficient to fix personality - there's many personalities consistent with that combination.

In Savage Worlds, what does it mean to have a low Spirit and high Intelligence?

The typical impact of low Spirit would be the inability to keep it together under pressure. But that's still broad, and doesn't fix a personality - you could be an archetypal coward, or you can be full of bluff and macho but seize up in a clinch, or maybe you might faint at the sight of blood, and so on. Not enough information.

 

[John Dallman]

I consider their attributes and how it would affect their personality. I can't be the only person who does this. Do you incorporate a player's attributes into their personalities at all? How? Which games do you do this? How would you play a D&D character with a low Wisdom but high Intelligence?

A few D&D characters I saw played back in the early eighties, in a group where you were expected o do this:

• Fay was a talented magician with INT 18, but had WIS 3. This mostly showed in her complete lack of critical thinking. You could talk her into anything.
• Hoyou the barbarian had INT 3 and WIS 17. He could barely talk (we never knew his original name, because he didn't, "Hoyou" simply being a worn-down version of "Hey! You!") and could not follow any plan more complicated than "charge in and hit it," but he had great instincts. He never did anything that was obviously stupid, although he often couldn't decide what he should do if the situation was at all complicated.
• Vistaz was a cloud giantess who'd been thrown out of her family for fairly obvious reasons, having INT 4, WIS 5 and CHA 2. Her most characteristic moment came when the party was lost in the wilderness, and trying to figure out where they were. After a while they started looking for anyone or anything they could ask where they were. DM rolls for wandering monsters "There's a red dragon flying past over there, taking no notice of you." Vistaz "I wave my cloak at it to attract its attention." "What's your cloak made of?" "Err, red dragon hide?" After the rest of the party had run away, come back and raised her, they started looking for less tough things to ask directions from...

 

[Tonguez]

Yes I tend to translate the Attributes into Descriptors that can be used to guide personality formation

Strength
High: Robust, Athletic, Hearty, Burly, Powerful
Low: Fragile, Delicate, Meek, Scrawny

​

Dexterity
High: Nimble, Graceful, Quick, Precise, Slick
Low: Clumsy, Sluggish, Awkward, Stiff, Ungainly

​

Constitution
High: Hardy, Resilient, Tough, Enduring, Stoic
Low: Flimsy, Sickly, Delicate, Unfocussed

Intelligence
High: Clever, Analytical, Studious, Insightful, Inventive
Low: Dull, Forgetful, Stupid, Uninformed, Dense

Wisdom
High: Perceptive, Intuitive, Thoughtful, Mindful, Spiritual
Low: Oblivious, Gullible, Naïve, Impulsive, Distracted

Charisma
High: Charming, Persuasive, Confident, Magnetic, Commanding
Low: Shy, Blunt, Abrasive, Withdrawn, Awkward

 

[MGibster]

I don't find most games to have stats give sufficient granularity to determine personality, and there are many factors other than stats that impact personality.

I would agree, which is why I would never argue attributes alone should determine personality. I was asking if people incorporate their character's attributes into their personalities, and if so, how?

So, generally, I try to make sure the personality I am considering is consistent with the stats I have for the character.

Bingo. This is what I was curious about. And of course there's no single right answer. You could have three characters with an 8 Charisma in D&D and that might manifest itself in a multitude of ways. Maybe PC #1 is just shy, maybe PC #2 is surly, and maybe PC #3 has a habit of picking their nose and ears at the dinner table.

Fay was a talented magician with INT 18, but had WIS 3. This mostly showed in her complete lack of critical thinking. You could talk her into anything.

How does someone even get an attribute of 3 in D&D short of a curse or something odd?