How smart is a 3 INT in d20?

[spigadang]

I want to know In game how smart would a 3 int be? For a 30 iq is not playable and want some real tips not just auggh me hurt you.

 

[Kilmore]

A character can have a 3 intelligence and be quite cunning, if not articulate. The low intelligence means that the character is unable to understand why things happen. He would not be able to understand abstract concepts like philosophy, his vocabulary will suffer, often resulting in childish renderings of moderately complicated words like "hopsitall" for "hospital", and complete bafflement at more verbose jargon. He is unlikely to remember his own events of yesterday, much less any sort of history.

However, if his wisdom is adequate, the character may be cunning and quick to observe the environment around him. He will know that he is not thinking on the same level as his companions and will generally know when it is a good idea to keep quiet and defer to his companions who may be more able to grasp the situation at hand.

 

[Sejs]

Int doesn't equal IQ. Not even Int x10. The two just don't relate properly.

A low int person is simple. Straight forward. They don't use big words or make long-reaching plans. They think about the here and now rather than the future, because the future is a complete mystery. Their tastes and preferences would be for whatever they're familiar with, be it steak and potatoes or caviar; they like what they're used to. They would like straight forward humor and slap-stick over subtle word play or black comedy. It takes them a while to learn or 'get' something. They're uncomplicated.

It's important to note that an Int 3 is not just a lumbering 'graah, me smash yoo' idiot. You can have an Int of 3 and a Wis and Cha of 18. An Int 3 person can have buckets of common sense and great instincts - that's all handled by wis. An Int 3 person, upon seeing ogres attacking the town would know to go get help as soon as possible if they had even an average wis. Don't fight, don't hide, go get help.

Don't play someone with just a low int as if they were a mentally retarded person - the d20 equivalent of mental retardation would be a low int, wis and charisma all. A low int just means a character isn't what we'd considder to be "book-smart".



Forest Gump would be a good example of a character with a low int, but average wisdom and charisma.

 

[random user]

While I'm not sure it would work (I have no idea, just a thought came to me), but to roleplay this character you can do one or both of the following:

1. when you listen to other people, ignore all words past the third or fourth word.

2. when you listen to other people, ignore every other sentence.

If you do this, then people who say, "Hey go look at the door and see if anyone is there" will be like they said just said "hey go look" and you can react accordingly.

As stated above, if your wis is adequate, you can instinctively know that perhaps doing some stuff is bad, but your ability to articulate it might suffer.

 

[reason]

the computer hardware analogy

I've used the computer hardware analogy before - INT is a measure of some combination of RAM/chip speed, while WIS is a measure of hard drive size.

A low INT-high WIS character gets there in the end, just without the speed and sophistication that a high INT-high WIS character is capable of. And so forth.

Reason

 

[WayneLigon]

I'd still say you'd be barely functional as a person; you'd probably have to be looked after in a large city. With a '3', they're only one point above a bright animal. They would act almost purely on instinct; some of the things they'd do might even look intelligent but they would be more the result of chained behavoirs trained into them, like you would a chimpanzee.

They're not retarded like a human with a 30 IQ would be. They'd have some language skills but probably not be able to read without some amazingly gifted instructors; they could recognize some symbols, but that really only puts them on par with most of the illiterate populace. They'd be able to recognize friends, foes, etc; they'd have some short-term and long-term memory, but not a lot and they'd be easily fooled in some tasks. They could certainly be cunning: a wolf can be cunning, and it's significantly stupider than a person with a '3'.

I guess the best way to put it, esp. if the character has an average or above-average wisdom and/or charisma, is that they are remarkably.. uncluttered. Their thinking is very pure and simple. Things are pretty black and white. I am full or I am not. This person is kind to me, or he is not.

 

[random user]

I've used the computer hardware analogy before - INT is a measure of some combination of RAM/chip speed, while WIS is a measure of hard drive size.

A low INT-high WIS character gets there in the end, just without the speed and sophistication that a high INT-high WIS character is capable of. And so forth.

Reason

Using this analogy I think there is another aspect. At very low intelligence, I would equate this to signal degradation and data correction. I think if your intelligence is low enough, your ability to correct data corruption is impaired, which may cause you to fail no matter how wise you are.

To use the ogre example above, a person may be wise enough to know "run from danger" but not intelligent enough to realize that "ogre = danger." A wise but non-intelligent person who has the right data will still get there in the end, but low intelligence makes it harder to get correct data.

Just my 2cp

 

[Umbran]

To use the ogre example above, a person may be wise enough to know "run from danger" but not intelligent enough to realize that "ogre = danger."

Got to be careful here. Wisdom also covers comon sense and intuition. A person with even average wisdom will be able to get the idea that a large, belligerent humanoid can be dangerous. It doesn't take calculation to see that. Common sense will do.

A decent Wisdom means you collect data well (decent perception). It means that common sense judgements on that data will be easy. A low Int, however, will mean the character cannot analyze data well. If it requires a chain of logic to get from point A to point B, the low Int character won't get there, or will get there only very slowly. Such a character has problems making deductions based upon the facts.

A low Int character cannot create a cunning plan. A high Wisdom character will be able to tell you if a supposedly cunning plan is outrageously dumb, but may not be able to say exactly why. He'd just have a feeling that it would not go well...

 

[trancejeremy]

Basically, you find email offers from people in Nigeria to very very intriguing.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Got to be careful here. Wisdom also covers comon sense and intuition. A person with even average wisdom will be able to get the idea that a large, belligerent humanoid can be dangerous. It doesn't take calculation to see that. Common sense will do.

On the other hand, unless the person has seen an ogre and it did harm to himself, chances are they wouldn't know. On the other hand, said person might be afraid of all elves because on hurt them. An average-wisdom character might be able to make the leap that if the rampaging ogre is hitting other humans, it might hit him too, or that just because one elf hit him doesn't mean all will. But if they've never seen one before, they have no reason to fear it. Even if they're told what one is, they won't make the connection that ogre=danger until some sort of physical stimulus.