Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
howandwhy99 said:
Someone attempting to portray a 24 Intelligence can always use OOC help
-Hyp.
"Grunk too dumb to know how to win"
- Thread starter howandwhy99
- Start date
Someone attempting to portray a 24 Intelligence can always use OOC help
-Hyp.
Voadam
Legend
I don't think so.
Assuming you are going for the roleplay to your stats mode of roleplaying:
1. Present ideas in the most straightforward way you can. "Grunk say smash idol."
2 Examine exactly what the stats are that you are trying to portray so you don't have to handicap yourself more than you need to.
From the SRD:
Intelligence determines how well your character learns and reasons.
Wisdom describes a character’s willpower, common sense, perception, and intuition.
These are composites, so if you have low willpower, common sense, and perception, your intuition can still be good if you have a low wisdom.
Remember that a 6 int half orc is double the int of the smartest animal. Animals can be quite intelligent and do complex behaviors. Think of a pack of wolves and pack tactics.
3. Do, don't say. Instinctive battle tactics do not have to be the result of conscious thought.
4. Look at how the stats affect skills and roleplay off that
Portray your lack of intelligence as being horrible at complex skilled things or not having a lot of skills. "Damnit Jim! I'm a cleric not a planar lorekeeper!"
Portray your low wisdom as just being physically unobservant. The low will power actually mostly takes care of itself through will save mechanics, though you can also allow yourself to be convinced by others. You can also play as though you are never sure about others' motives, making you constantly paranoid (not a bad thing in D&D) or very trusting, or confused ("Was that a joke your highness?").
Assuming you are going for the roleplay to your stats mode of roleplaying:
1. Present ideas in the most straightforward way you can. "Grunk say smash idol."
2 Examine exactly what the stats are that you are trying to portray so you don't have to handicap yourself more than you need to.
From the SRD:
Intelligence determines how well your character learns and reasons.
Wisdom describes a character’s willpower, common sense, perception, and intuition.
These are composites, so if you have low willpower, common sense, and perception, your intuition can still be good if you have a low wisdom.
Remember that a 6 int half orc is double the int of the smartest animal. Animals can be quite intelligent and do complex behaviors. Think of a pack of wolves and pack tactics.
3. Do, don't say. Instinctive battle tactics do not have to be the result of conscious thought.
4. Look at how the stats affect skills and roleplay off that
Portray your lack of intelligence as being horrible at complex skilled things or not having a lot of skills. "Damnit Jim! I'm a cleric not a planar lorekeeper!"
Portray your low wisdom as just being physically unobservant. The low will power actually mostly takes care of itself through will save mechanics, though you can also allow yourself to be convinced by others. You can also play as though you are never sure about others' motives, making you constantly paranoid (not a bad thing in D&D) or very trusting, or confused ("Was that a joke your highness?").
Wraith-Hunter
First Post
Just because the dumb character is dumb does NOT mean that they can never come up with a great idea. In character they may not be able to articulate it well, but sometimes being dumb and not having a bunch of thoughts in your head means you have room for a good idea.
How many exceptionally intellegent people do you know who work for morons? I am in the IT field and have been surrounded by brilliant people managed by morons. Yet who is driving the porshe and is still at a high paying job and needs help sending email and how many tech people are dying to get that job that pays 30g's for 60 hrs a week of work?
I think the advice do don't say is good. Or if you have to talk about it phrase it like a kid would, don't call a spell by name. "You make big fire, I hit him"
Also I think that each person has a different view of how dumb is played. Watch some shows and movies with less than smart characters. Jayne, Forest Gump, Rain Man, etc. are good inspiration.
How many exceptionally intellegent people do you know who work for morons? I am in the IT field and have been surrounded by brilliant people managed by morons. Yet who is driving the porshe and is still at a high paying job and needs help sending email and how many tech people are dying to get that job that pays 30g's for 60 hrs a week of work?
I think the advice do don't say is good. Or if you have to talk about it phrase it like a kid would, don't call a spell by name. "You make big fire, I hit him"
Also I think that each person has a different view of how dumb is played. Watch some shows and movies with less than smart characters. Jayne, Forest Gump, Rain Man, etc. are good inspiration.
Dross
Explorer
Wraith-Hunter said:
QFT.
If you as a player often have good ideas and want to tell the others, then make sure that you also have the PC come up with a lot of bad ideas and let the others decide what will work.
Edit: Or leave out steps that are important so others can "fill the holes" of your plan.
pawsplay
Hero
There is nothing about straight 6s in Int, Wis, and Cha that precludes making and suggesting good strategies. Such characters simply lack skills and brilliant analytical skills, intuitive gifts that allow them to succeed at certain tasks, or force of personality. They could still be cunning, likeable, and full of practical advice. They just can't learn calculus, read a room, or incite a riot. They can flank, judiciously prepare, and so forth. Whether a character is foolish or incompetent is purely a roleplaying choice.
A character with a high BAB is, by definition, very accomplished at what they do.
You can read the description of Int a million times and it won't say "knows how to flank" or "doesn't attack with ineffective weapons." Similarly, the description of Wis doesn't say "characters with low Wis don't have good ideas."
A character with a high BAB is, by definition, very accomplished at what they do.
You can read the description of Int a million times and it won't say "knows how to flank" or "doesn't attack with ineffective weapons." Similarly, the description of Wis doesn't say "characters with low Wis don't have good ideas."
Shadowslayer
Explorer
I think its also important to point out that sometimes good battle tactics can be written off as instinctive and unrelated to ability score. Even the dumbest guy knows that its easier to hit someone from behind while he's engaged with someone else than it is to go toe to toe with him.
Besides, I see game stats as purely mechanical things that affect your dice rolls whenever you try to do something, nothing more and nothing less. Never saw them as something to guage my roleplaying against. Play your character the way you want to play it.
It is. it doesn't make you a better player. It might make you a better actor...and if that's why you play D&D then knock yourself out, but it still won't make you a better player. No one ever said you had to play a 6 int as being really dumb. (that gets old real fast anyway, especially for the people around you) All a 6 int means is that he has minuses to attempt things requiring intelligence.
Besides, I see game stats as purely mechanical things that affect your dice rolls whenever you try to do something, nothing more and nothing less. Never saw them as something to guage my roleplaying against. Play your character the way you want to play it.
It is. it doesn't make you a better player. It might make you a better actor...and if that's why you play D&D then knock yourself out, but it still won't make you a better player. No one ever said you had to play a 6 int as being really dumb. (that gets old real fast anyway, especially for the people around you) All a 6 int means is that he has minuses to attempt things requiring intelligence.
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
Dross said:
Phase 1: Collect underpants...
pawsplay said:
This puts me in mind of Bog the Club, from Piers Anthony's Battle Circle: Sos the Rope. Bog was huge, strong, and stupid, and tended to win every fight just by smashing his opponent really hard with a club.
When Sos spent some time with him and paid attention, though, he realised that there was actually a lot more subtlety to Bog's fighting style than one noticed at first. He wasn't any brighter than he appeared... but he had a knack for combat.
-Hyp.
An animal with INT 2 can use tactics that defeat human beings. I wouldn't regard WIS 6 as more mentally crippled than that standard.
A player whose character has low mental stats might try consciously not to come up with exact and detailed feats of memory or complex chains of reasoning, which just means a highly intellectual player has to take a little extra time to find different wording or a way that his dumb character might have stumbled on the same conclusion. It's called roleplaying.
A player whose character has low mental stats might try consciously not to come up with exact and detailed feats of memory or complex chains of reasoning, which just means a highly intellectual player has to take a little extra time to find different wording or a way that his dumb character might have stumbled on the same conclusion. It's called roleplaying.
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