Celebrim
Legend
Corwin: You are complaining that the character is not a stereotype?
"Wouldn't a Bureaucrat like this benefit greatly from an above average Charisma, since a lot of what he/she does every day involves speaking and selling ideas to other bureaucrats and town-folk?"
Sure, he'd benefit from it. So? This character belongs to the lower middle echelon of my NPC's. He is leveled and skilled, but his attributes (+1 total bonus) are essentially that of an average person. In fact, I dare say that Str 8, Dex 9, Con 9, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 8 is a fairly average intellectual. Maybe he is a bit more composed and alert than most, but this is only to be expected of a guy whose job is essentially managing the police department (He is the secretary to the Counstable, who got his job through rank, not competance. He is a skilled fighter - but not shrewd and not really interested in the job beyond the position it offers in court. They are intended to be an interesting pair.)
The NPC is not intended to be earth shatteringly cool, with a wide range of abilities that meet or exceed what the PC's have. He is intended to be competent and memorable. He is intended to have attributes that belong to a believable range of human achievement. I made him wise because ultimately, I want him to be a somewhat sympathetic character despite his slightly low charisma.
In play, I try to make this character well spoken, but snearing and arrogant to underlyings and obsequious towards his superiors. It's clear he has no tolerence for fools or foolishness. It's clear that he thinks that most people are stupid. It's not that he couldn't be more charming, but its clear that he doesn't (yet) think well enough of the characters to bother - so his natural personality comes through. His behavoir with people that he looks up or which have earned is respect is sincerely different.
Dropping his WIS would make him more of a familiar Polonius type character, sure, but why make everything fit into narrow molds?
"Wouldn't a Bureaucrat like this benefit greatly from an above average Charisma, since a lot of what he/she does every day involves speaking and selling ideas to other bureaucrats and town-folk?"
Sure, he'd benefit from it. So? This character belongs to the lower middle echelon of my NPC's. He is leveled and skilled, but his attributes (+1 total bonus) are essentially that of an average person. In fact, I dare say that Str 8, Dex 9, Con 9, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 8 is a fairly average intellectual. Maybe he is a bit more composed and alert than most, but this is only to be expected of a guy whose job is essentially managing the police department (He is the secretary to the Counstable, who got his job through rank, not competance. He is a skilled fighter - but not shrewd and not really interested in the job beyond the position it offers in court. They are intended to be an interesting pair.)
The NPC is not intended to be earth shatteringly cool, with a wide range of abilities that meet or exceed what the PC's have. He is intended to be competent and memorable. He is intended to have attributes that belong to a believable range of human achievement. I made him wise because ultimately, I want him to be a somewhat sympathetic character despite his slightly low charisma.
In play, I try to make this character well spoken, but snearing and arrogant to underlyings and obsequious towards his superiors. It's clear he has no tolerence for fools or foolishness. It's clear that he thinks that most people are stupid. It's not that he couldn't be more charming, but its clear that he doesn't (yet) think well enough of the characters to bother - so his natural personality comes through. His behavoir with people that he looks up or which have earned is respect is sincerely different.
Dropping his WIS would make him more of a familiar Polonius type character, sure, but why make everything fit into narrow molds?
