D&D 5E Intelligence Ratings

[Xeviat]

"Book smarts" is more about Skill proficiencies than it is about the Int stat itself. Because Intelligence is related to the knowledge skills and investigation, the Intelligence stat is clearly memory and the ability to infer things from incomplete knowledge. Someone with the max rolled starting Intelligence of 18 is going to have the same bonus to knowledge type stats as a level 1 trained person with an Int 14. The Int 18 person has no training in this knowledge skill, but has remembered enough and can make logical guesses to be correct as often as a quite bright person who has actually studied.

On reflection, I'm not sure IQ tests are measuring Wisdom as D&D defines it. I've never administered IQ tests, though, so I may have to acquiesce to the expert here. I just think that Wisdom's Perception, Insight, and Handle Animal skills show more of an attachment to instinct than to memory. I feel like reasoning is Int, instinct is Wis.


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[Caliban]

For instance, if generic people follow the 3d6 bell curve, then about 1 in 8 is INT 7 or less and about 1 in 20 is INT 5 or less. I don't think we'd say 1 in 20 people are best described as "semi-intelligent".

Must...resist...political...comment...

 

[Blue]

Just because it's the type of geek I am, I mapped the 3d6 bell curve probabilities to IQ distribution in the population.

I've seen the same distribution several places, so I'll assume this is legit:


That first standard distribution of 85 to 115 is 68% of the results. That maps out quite nicely to the 8 to 13 on 3d6 (67.78%). One standard distribution isn't particularly wide, so these people all pass as normal, though some are a big slower or faster.

The second standard distribution is where you have more noticeable differences. These are the people you'd notice as dumb or smart. It's 14% on either side, say 5-7 and 14-16 which are each 14.35%.

"Gifted" starts around 130, which equates to starting around a 16. On the other side (and I'm saying this clinically) mild retardation is 50 to 70, so a 5 is the most functional part of "mild retardation" - still able to function in society. So playing an 8 like you are dim and a 6 as extremely stupid isn't really supported.

The next 2% on either side get you down to 55 or up to 145. 3-4 and 17-18 are 1.85% which is as close as we're going to get. The bottom end of the scale - INT 3 - is still in the population distribution for the lower end of "mildly retarted", but still well above moderate, severe or profound. In other words, INT 3 should be able to function in society with some help. Yeah, I always think of INT 3 as drooling idiots, but in the population, 1 in 216 on the low side is only mildly impaired.

The top end is not quite to genius, at 150. 3d6 isn't granular enough to actually show genius, it's less frequent then 1 in 216. But we can safely assume INT 19-20 will get there. However for those we're into bonuses and outside 3d6 distribution so it's outside this analysis.

So for those looking for a "easy IQ conversion", IQ of 50 + 5*INT gives a rough fit that's about as good as you can get with that simple of a formula. (Okay, 47.5 * 5*INT, but really, evenly divisible by 5 is nicer.)

In play:
3-4 mildly impaired (-4)
5-7 slow (-3 to -2)
8-13 - average joe (-1 to +1)
14-16 bright (+2 to +3)
17-18 gifted (+4)
19-20 genius (+5)

 

[Xeviat]

...

Good stuff. Humans have +1 to all ability scores, though, so everything would get ticked up by one.


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[Blue]

Good stuff. Humans have +1 to all ability scores, though, so everything would get ticked up by one.

You know, shifting everything by one, but then having most of the other races using the now lower portion means that as a race, humans find just about every other race to be a little bit slow. The magical High Elves are on par, and those dang Gnomes are quick witted, but everyone else isn't so bright.

 

[BoldItalic]

Good stuff. Humans have +1 to all ability scores, though, so everything would get ticked up by one.

Only if you are making a PC, or a PC-like NPC, and they are exceptional. Grunt Commoners (as per MM) have an Int of 10 (+0), as do Acolytes, Bandits, Cultists, Cult Fanatics, Gladiators, Guards, Thugs and Veterans.

 

[jgsugden]

A more useful tool would be assigning intelligence scores to tv and movie characters that most people know.

 

[Hriston]

Humans have +1 to all ability scores, though, so everything would get ticked up by one.

I've edited the OP to reflect an average human INT of 11.5. Racial ability score bonuses do indeed apply to general characters as well as exceptional characters. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Whenever the question has come up in just about any game group I've been a part of, just multiply your INT by 10 to get your character's IQ. Pretty rough and ready, especially at the high end, but it is easy to use.

The math surrounding it has already been discussed to death, but I find the more fundamental problem with this rule of thumb is that it doesn't help because people don't have an intuitive understanding of what "IQ 80" or "IQ 120" actually looks like. Think of the smart people you know -- are they IQ 120 smart, IQ 150 smart, or IQ 180 smart? If you know, you know your friends' test scores better than I do mine, because I have no idea. It's not like height, where you know exactly how tall 6'5" is because it's a direct analog measure. (And this isn't even getting to the part where intelligence can manifest in many, many different ways.)

 

[Oofta]

Since PCs will regularly get a 20 Intelligence, I'd hesitate to call them "godlike". Wizards are already too hoity toity. So I agree more with [MENTION=20564]Blue[/MENTION] on this, that a 19-20 is "genius".

Of course trying to equate IQ to Int is always going to be limited - after all Wisdom is probably also considered a type of intelligence for a lot of people. Skills (such as History) on the other hand reflect book learning.

How to describe intelligence at the low end? Personally I look at what the designers thought.

Orcs have a 6 intelligence. They're usually represented as slow learners, but not necessarily imbeciles (reflected by their 11 wisdom). Not exactly book smart, more driven by instinct.

Ogres have a 5 intelligence and have a hard time counting to 11 without getting arrested for indecent exposure. Their use of language is limited and generally only use simple weapons.

A baboon is a 4 intelligence, and most animals are a 2-3.