Smartest creatures ranked by INT

[Philip]

I think it's expected that anything with intelligence higher then 35 = can't be played properly, and should always win.

Player: I.....

DM: No, It thought of that.

Player: But.....

DM: And that. Your dead.

Which sucks.

On the contrary, it might not realize how/when to apply his brilliant insights. Int 35 and Wis 5 might make for an opponent who's is constantly thinking of yet another winning stratagem but never executing.

An Int 35 Cha 5 opponent might know exactly what to do, but when someone tells him his idea is stupid he lacks confidence to disagree and follow through.

 

[moritheil]

btw, you do know that 31 Int etc, is a pretty god damn genious.. Einstein probably had 14 if he's lucky.. just to put things in perspective..

Swearing on the boards aside, Einstein is usually pegged at around 18. Why would you suggest he's around 14 at most?

 

[moritheil]

I think it's expected that anything with intelligence higher then 35 = can't be played properly, and should always win.

Player: I.....

DM: No, It thought of that.

Player: But.....

DM: And that. Your dead.

Which sucks.

I generally make anything with that much intelligence disgustingly arrogant, and it will prefer to control and manipulate creatures rather than destroying them - even when it is much harder to do so. After all, it relishes the challenge.

 

[Al]

Why do you need to be that intelligent? Unless you've achieved Nobel Prizes in every discipline available whilst becoming world chess champion and learning every language in the world, I am sure that an Int 31 ethergaunt is more than capable of cooking up plans in his coffee break that you could scarcely dream of. Frankly, anything about Int 30 is all pretty blurred - the difference between supra-supra-genius and supra-supra-supra-genius is fairly negligible as far as we mere mortals are concerned

 

[nothing to see here]

Why do you need to be that intelligent? Unless you've achieved Nobel Prizes in every discipline available whilst becoming world chess champion and learning every language in the world, I am sure that an Int 31 ethergaunt is more than capable of cooking up plans in his coffee break that you could scarcely dream of. Frankly, anything about Int 30 is all pretty blurred - the difference between supra-supra-genius and supra-supra-supra-genius is fairly negligible as far as we mere mortals are concerned

That's the problem with the mental stats -- lacking any physical manifestation of high-range scores, they lose relevance. It's easy to compare a dumb person to a smart one...however the comparison of a super-genius to a mega-genius...breaks down as we have no point of reference to compare the gap. Conversely -- with physical scores...players can always envision the difference. STR means you can lift more...DEX means you can move faster etc...

It requires some really good DM'ing to make these super INT's hit home...as for players with really high INT's...I wouldn't know where to begin.

I once started working on some simple little charts for super high INT BBEG...basically, as circumstances changed during an encounter or adventure, I made secret INT checks with increasingly difficult DC's...if the BBEG made the check, I would adjust the presumptions of the adventure to the BBEG's favour -- though never so much as to completely frustrate the players mind you(i.e. the secret map the characters discovered becomes an intentionally planted counterfeit...the ally working with the characters I suddenly switch to an evil imposter...etc etc.) ...

I only tried the system once, for a high level Illiithid...and despite the free will of the players it helped capture the "damn...he thought of everything, he's still one step ahead" kind of feel that super INT creatures should engender.

Being the oxymorinic type, I called it open-ended railroading.