POLL: Is how you Roleplay influenced by your character’s mental stats?

[bloodtide]

I go all in for the Role Play, and I will craft the character I want in all stats. And I could care less about the 'numbers game' where players are trying to 'win the game with math'. If my character has a low attribute and gets less of X, I don't care.

Most players I've seen demand they have high stats to get whatever mechanical benefits and don't care about the role play. Then too, most players just Play Themselves too.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

The D&D Int stat is basically multiplied by 10 for an IQ score. A 10 is average in the game and 100 IQ is average in real life, with an overall average range of 85-115, or say 8-12 Int in-game. So even though 8 and 9 have a negative modifier in 5E, I would not treat that as slow or impaired for roleplaying. Also, when I DM, I don't allow PCs to start with any stats lower than 8, so I don't have to worry about players stereotyping their roleplay or being offensive. I also won't play a character with any stats less than 8, so I don't have to worry about being accidentally offensive either.

 

[Andvari]

I use them partially, but there's a lot more to a character's personality than what can be summed up by a few numbers.

 

[James Gasik]

Player knowledge is seen as 'cheating', I think. I know the elemental weaknesses of demons and devils, but my character sure doesn't.

Player ability is more of a 'skill of play' thing. Though it definitely comes up--I don't play high-Charisma characters because I don't think I could, really.

It might be cheating now, but there was a time when this was simply how things were. Also, see puzzles and riddles in D&D.

 

[pemerton]

This thread seems to be in General, rather than D&D.

In my group, it depends on system. In 4e D&D, the stats are mechanical modifiers. But in Classic Traveller, we also treat them as descriptors. The other systems we play don't really have D&D-style stats.

 

[TwoSix]

For modern D&D, I would say how I roleplay is determined by my concept. When I assign my stats and skills, I'm also basing that on my concept, and on what checks I would expect my concept to either excel or be middling at. So I'm not extrapolating from my stats for my roleplay; how I roleplay the results of a passed or failed check is always filtered through my concept.

You can play a 6 Int character as slow, or you can also just play this as unlettered and unread, or simply uninterested in academic pursuits. For modern D&D, I reject the idea that stats are a "base layer" of natural ability, upon which your character than chooses a class to pursue. It's the overall concept that matters, and class and background and stats are the tools we use to express that concept in game mechanical terms.

 

[Umbran]

I don't see how a character's personality can be completely determined by the numbers on the sheet.

Say, for example, a character has a low intelligence. None of the numbers will tell us how they react to being called stupid. There is no number for that, but it is informed by personality.

I certainly use character stats to inform roleplay. For example, my low-Int, decent Wisdom barbarian was fine with coming up with good strategy and tactics that were elegant in their simplicity, but complicated plans with many moving parts weren't his bag.

 

[Maxperson]

I voted "partially." The reason for that is that the first option which states that stats determine personality is just incorrect. You can have 20 people with an int of 13, wis of 11, cha of 17 that all have different personalities. Stats don't determine personality.

Stats do influence roleplay, though. An 8 int, regardless of anyone's justifications, is just factually in the game a dumb character. The 3 intelligence genius arguments are bupkis. The game rules state what int represents and a low int = low mental acuity, low accuracy of recall and low ability to reason. The same goes for every stat. They all mean something and low numbers mean you are not as good at that something, where high numbers mean that you excel at it.

That said, I have noticed in life that intelligence is primarily processing speed. One of the guys I used to play D&D with back in junior high and high school was probably at an 8 or 9 intelligence. What would take me seconds to figure out, would sometimes take him minutes to days(he would think of things during the down time in-between games) to figure out. It took him a while, but he usually got there. So when I play a low int PC, I will often roleplay him as unable to think of the solution to a situation, especially if there are external pressures that make concentration difficult. Sometimes, though, he has a flash of inspiration or the situation takes long enough for him to reason through to a solution.

 

[John Dallman]

So when I play a low int PC, I will often roleplay him as unable to think of the solution to a situation, especially if there are external pressures that make concentration difficult.

I'm somewhat similar. The character I'm playing most at present has INT 10, WIS 18. He vary rarely does anything silly, but it takes him a while to reach conclusions. He occasionally spots things that are too simple for the smarter party members.

 

[Maxperson]

I'm somewhat similar. The character I'm playing most at present has INT 10, WIS 18. He vary rarely does anything silly, but it takes him a while to reach conclusions. He occasionally spots things that are too simple for the smarter party members.

My feeling both as a player and DM is that someone of average intelligence can figure stuff out a fair amount of the time. Most people are average. I'm not going to tone myself down for anything 10 and above. We probably can't recognize if it's a bit more or less than it would really be anyway once you get to average.

It's the 9 and lower than I will go out of my way to roleplay as slower.