Basing character's personality on stats

[Ogre Mage]

I originally posted this at the 3rd edition site and got some interesting responses. So I thought I'd do it here. This is my low-level female human cleric with the domains travel and war. What kind of a person/personality do you envision when you see these statistics?

STR 15
DEX 12
CON 14
INT 9
WIS 18
CHA 14

 

[rkanodia]

I see her as slightly awkward, at least in a social sense. People want to respect her (good charisma), but every time she opens her mouth (low intelligence), her enlightened ideas (high wisdom) come out sounding like fortune cookies at best, New Age buzzword gibberish at worse. Her considerable burliness/athleticism (high strength and constitution, good dexterity) doesn't do anything to dispel anyone's idea of her as a well-meaning musclehead.

 

[Carnifex]

I don't think she'd come across as awkward. Intelligence 9 is in the 9-11 *average* Int bracket. She's not stupid, though not quite as bright as most of her peers.

With a decent Cha and high Wis I think she'd do quite well as a party spokesman, pretty perceptive to what's going on around her. Down-to-earth and practical, with the high Wis and slightly sub-par Int.

 

[fba827]

I was going to say "the motherly type" very soothing and comforting. not to mention perceptive to knowing when someone does need comforting...

however, the domain choices: war and travel do require a certain personality of their own and I do not see motherly falling into that very easily...

I would say that her combat tactics are not usually based on "what has worked in the past" but more so impromptu assessments of the here and now (that whole high wisdom / perceptiveness aspect). That is to say, the decision to cross the bridge and attack from behind isn't because the great general BoBo did just that and won several times but because it seems the best at the moment. She is fully aware of her own capabilities and generally knows which way works best for herself (i.e. strong arm or glib tongue, etc.)


How about some other input:
alignment?
Feats?
Skill points?

some of these would also offer some other insights...

 

[Red Baron]

Incidentally (please pardon me for blowing my own horn here), have you read this article? (It's in three parts, and the first two in particular deal with exactly this topic.)

http://www.fierydragon.com/DB/DB_MAR19_2003.htm

http://www.fierydragon.com/DB/DB_MAR26_2003.htm

http://www.fierydragon.com/DB/DB_APR02_2003.htm

Cheers,

 

[Harlock]

however, the domain choices: war and travel do require a certain personality of their own and I do not see motherly falling into that very easily...

You obviously never pissed my mom off by yelling from another room of the house. She'd Travel in there and wage War in no time.

War works for an insightful compassionate person very easily. Perhaps she is so empathetic that she really gets angry and blows up on those that molest her charges, be they her party members or followers of her deity. Even if she's evil or neutral she can be very loving and motherly to a particular group (see Scarred Lands' hags for insight). Travel could be necessary in order to get to those charges quickly should the need arise. The reason I'm defending motherly is because I felt it fit well. Wisdom for insight and compassion would be a good base for the Charisma (our cleric is so sweet, it's hard not to like her!) and the Strength, Dex and Con could just be a part of being very active and wanting to be a war cleric.

 

[Al]

Down-to-earth and straightforward, this character could easily be a leader of low-level military types. She doesn't have the brains to invent cunning strategems and schemes, so she's unlikely to reach high office, though she has the respect of her troops and tends to act well on impulse in a battlefield situation. She's friendly enough and the common troops often come to her for advice about all manner of issues, particularly personal type problems, where her experience of the world will help them. She's always eager to lend a kind ear, listens well to people and gives usually good home-spun advice.

My interpretation, at least.

 

[diaglo]

you forgot to mention her alignment

 

[Henry]

Female human cleric with the domains travel and war
STR 15
DEX 12
CON 14
INT 9
WIS 18
CHA 14

How about this interpretation:

Filled with Wanderlust - she left home at an early age because she led a very sheltered life as a youth. The sheltering meant that she did not have as much "book-learning" as her siblings or others in her family, but she was always the one in the family who counseled her siblings about affairs of the heart, or kept them out of trouble with the parents. She learned to appreciate combat early in life because of a strong warrior father who taught her well, but she felt a calling one day from her god (or goddess).

 

[Ogre Mage]

Alignment

you forgot to mention her alignment

Sorry. Her alignment is Neutral Good.

Main skills are Concentration, Knowledge: Religion and Heal (she got bonus skill points in heal due to a campaign world rule) She also has a few points in Spellcraft, but isn't very good at it.

Feats: Power Attack, Spellcasting Prodigy, Extra Turning. (Our DM uses a lot of undead). Because of the war domain, she also has Weapon Focus: Heavy Mace. Her patron also granted her the Endurance feat as a bonus.