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*Dungeons & Dragons
Making Intelligence Less of a Dump Stat
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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 7316642" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>I'm in the camp to say: Don't make any rule changes, but worry about it because the current rules encourage you to pay heed to ability scores.</p><p></p><p>Each stat has a significance. A low intelligence should be limiting for a PC, and a low intelligence across a party should be limiting for the party. </p><p></p><p>They just don't know how to do things. There are a number of skills people use to do things that players mistake for knowledge skills. Healing and survival are common examples. These skills are aimed at your ability to do something, not your knowledge surrounding the topics they cover. Don't tell players knowledge when they try to use these skills - only give them results of processes. They have to use other skills to get knowledge.</p><p></p><p>For example: Tracking. If a low intelligence PC is tracking an enemy, I'll give them different information than I'd give a high intelligence PC. I'd tell the low intelligence PC that there are big tracks. The high intelligence PC would learn the shape of the foot that made the tracks - as well as whether there was a tail involved, etc... I'll tell the low intelligence PC that the tracks were made recently. I'll tell the high intelligence PC that the tracks were made recently - certainly before that last bit of rain. Give the players with more intelligence more knowledge when they use these skills.</p><p></p><p>The low intelligence PCs just don't know who the important people/facts are and don't retain information. To simulate this - just don't give them the information in the first place. Even if they have a high perception, they don't know what to do with the information they perceive and won't recall it later - so you shouldn't tell the player too much about the details.</p><p></p><p>For example, a high wisdom and high perception, but low intelligence character may receive descriptions like these:</p><p></p><p>* The wall is covered by with a tapestry depicting people fighting. There are lots of different people fighting and they cover a few different races. The depiction of the carnage is beautifully crafted, but some of the gore is so excessive... it makes you sad.</p><p></p><p>The significance of the tapestry is unknown. That PC would not walk away knowing much about the tapestry, but might think there was some significance.</p><p></p><p>However, a high intelligence, but low wisdom/perception PC might get the following description:</p><p></p><p>* There is a tapestry on the wall depicting the Battle of Kas-dal. That battle took place nearly 3000 years ago in a valley nearby. Allied armies of elves, dwarves and human of the region had come together to drive back an orcish invasion, but when they encountered the orcs they discovered that a vast army of demons was supporting the orc clans. The allied nations had to decide whether to retreat and regroup, or stand their ground. They fled. However, the slow moving dwarves were not able to outrun the orcs and had to turn and face the overwhelming odds. Rather than fight alongside them, the elves and humans left the dwarves to slow down the enemy, making their escape at the cost of the dwarven lives. They reunited with additional troops from all three nations, as well as a brigade of Celestials, and returned to destroy the orcs and demons. However, the dwarves of the region thought that the elves and humans that fled had thrown away the lives of their clansmen, and a great rift grew between the races. Many scholars say that the dwarven slaughter was the most significant factor in several wars and millennia of racial strife.</p><p></p><p>Notice something about that description? It isn't a description of what is on the tapestry. It is a description of the depicted battle. A high intelligence person lacking in perception might recognize something but fail to take in the details, filling in the gaps with their knowledge rather than looking to what they are observing to see what can be gleaned from it. </p><p></p><p>You can tailor the information you give PCs to their attributes to reflect their attributes and make it a fun experience.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 7316642, member: 2629"] I'm in the camp to say: Don't make any rule changes, but worry about it because the current rules encourage you to pay heed to ability scores. Each stat has a significance. A low intelligence should be limiting for a PC, and a low intelligence across a party should be limiting for the party. They just don't know how to do things. There are a number of skills people use to do things that players mistake for knowledge skills. Healing and survival are common examples. These skills are aimed at your ability to do something, not your knowledge surrounding the topics they cover. Don't tell players knowledge when they try to use these skills - only give them results of processes. They have to use other skills to get knowledge. For example: Tracking. If a low intelligence PC is tracking an enemy, I'll give them different information than I'd give a high intelligence PC. I'd tell the low intelligence PC that there are big tracks. The high intelligence PC would learn the shape of the foot that made the tracks - as well as whether there was a tail involved, etc... I'll tell the low intelligence PC that the tracks were made recently. I'll tell the high intelligence PC that the tracks were made recently - certainly before that last bit of rain. Give the players with more intelligence more knowledge when they use these skills. The low intelligence PCs just don't know who the important people/facts are and don't retain information. To simulate this - just don't give them the information in the first place. Even if they have a high perception, they don't know what to do with the information they perceive and won't recall it later - so you shouldn't tell the player too much about the details. For example, a high wisdom and high perception, but low intelligence character may receive descriptions like these: * The wall is covered by with a tapestry depicting people fighting. There are lots of different people fighting and they cover a few different races. The depiction of the carnage is beautifully crafted, but some of the gore is so excessive... it makes you sad. The significance of the tapestry is unknown. That PC would not walk away knowing much about the tapestry, but might think there was some significance. However, a high intelligence, but low wisdom/perception PC might get the following description: * There is a tapestry on the wall depicting the Battle of Kas-dal. That battle took place nearly 3000 years ago in a valley nearby. Allied armies of elves, dwarves and human of the region had come together to drive back an orcish invasion, but when they encountered the orcs they discovered that a vast army of demons was supporting the orc clans. The allied nations had to decide whether to retreat and regroup, or stand their ground. They fled. However, the slow moving dwarves were not able to outrun the orcs and had to turn and face the overwhelming odds. Rather than fight alongside them, the elves and humans left the dwarves to slow down the enemy, making their escape at the cost of the dwarven lives. They reunited with additional troops from all three nations, as well as a brigade of Celestials, and returned to destroy the orcs and demons. However, the dwarves of the region thought that the elves and humans that fled had thrown away the lives of their clansmen, and a great rift grew between the races. Many scholars say that the dwarven slaughter was the most significant factor in several wars and millennia of racial strife. Notice something about that description? It isn't a description of what is on the tapestry. It is a description of the depicted battle. A high intelligence person lacking in perception might recognize something but fail to take in the details, filling in the gaps with their knowledge rather than looking to what they are observing to see what can be gleaned from it. You can tailor the information you give PCs to their attributes to reflect their attributes and make it a fun experience. [/QUOTE]
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