Exactly how dumb is a 7 Int?

[Al]

Lenny from Of Mice and Men

Lenny is probably a poor example, as he would arguably have a low Wisdom as well, and certainly not have a Wisdom in the exceptional range.

Low Int + High Wis to me implies a very solid grasp of 'common sense'. You don't understand why things work, but you do understand what works. Academic tutelage is probably lousy- if you are literate, the spelling is poor and your reading capacity is limited. Mental arithmetic is woefully slow. Abilities to reason and follow logical patterns are hampered.

Yet, you understand what to do. You can get by in life, just doing the same thing and perhaps adapting it to the situation as you see fit.

Essentially, you understand the what, but neither the how nor the why.

 

[megamania]

Int of 7, easy to confuse and redirect. May forget the instructions on how to reach the stables from the market. This dosen't mean he is a complete idiot. He is just slow on the uptake. In the same token, he may excel at his "talent" (think Rainman the movie) and be a great combat strategist or have a good gut feeling for traveling in the woods or dungeons.

Simple but not an idiot.

 

[der_kluge]

The way I play it is to take the Int score, multiply by 10, and that gets you the IQ. So, an Int of 20 would be an IQ of 200.

And, likewise, and Int of 7, would be an IQ of 70. Forrest Gumps IQ was supposed to be borderline, which I think in the movie was 75. 70 is retarded.

 

[Arravis]

As per my first post... that logic falls apart if you look at the statistics of average IQ's and you look at the amount of variaty of stat differences in D&D... By that logic alone, the average peasant has an average IQ of 90, while the average IQ is actually 97-100. A considerable difference.

Btw, everyone thanks for the input and keep them coming .

 

[Voadam]

roleplaying tips:

"Right." Slaps visor down. "Charge!"

 

[Henry]

I have to dsiagree with those posters who say a low INT but high WIS would indicate lack of patience, or easily confused. On the contrary, patience and understanding are the HALLMARKS of a high wisdom.

What WOULD suffer, is analytical deduction, and rote memorization. Such a character would NOT be gullible: In fact, high INT, low WIS people are gullible all the time. But he would probably not adapt to new situations well, and would apply past wisdom where it wouldn't necessarily hold true.

As for confusion and lack of patience, this character would have all the patience in the world; in fact, more so than a hot-tempered but brilliant instructor, who would bang their heads against a desk in frustration that their dense pupil just isn't getting it.

So, Tom Hanks' interpretation of Forrest Gump is an EXCELLENT example of a character with not a lot of "book smarts", but with people smarts. Forrest understood people, at their cores - to see the person they really were, and what they were capable of, no matter their current bad states. He used his mother's wisdom to make up for his lack of quick wit and insight. This is the kind of person who a low INT, high WIS, high CHA character would be.

Just leave out the "box of chocolates" and the "shrimp" references, and you should get a general idea of the type of person this character would be.

 

[Cedric]

Jack Burton!

Now sure, he had more then a 7 int, but you could also play the character this way more or less.

Lot's of advice, some attitude, charisma, some great sayings and such...but definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Cedric

 

[cptg1481]

Bell Curve

Whip out the bell curve and see how many standard deviations a 7 is away from the 10-11 "Average.

Then find the bell curve for IQ and see what the range is of an IQ the same number of deviations as the 7 score. I think it'll be like 2 STD dev which if I remember is like below 80 but higher than 75 I am guessing since I don't have my stuff but this should get you straight.

A person with an IQ of 75 is officially considered a Moron. Slow but functional.

 

[mooby]

I've played a Paladin with a 7 or 8 INT (can't remember) and a WIS of 13.

Played him just like Buzz Lightyear. The guy does the right thing, but he's just DUMB!

 

[Hand of Evil]

Well, I don't think he would make plans more complex than, you open the door and I rush in but he would be wise enough to know that someone else is smarter than he is.

Now his Wisdom would give him a lot of common knowledge he would have those catch phases to guide him in life.

I also think he would attach himself to at least one party member that he sees as smart/leader, this would be his achor and have some catch phase for it.