What is YOUR level?

[Toj]

It does depend on how you view stats, as to how you rate yourself.

I am like some others who have posted, in that I look at ability scores with the view that 1 in 216 people will have an 18.

Me and my friends actually just did up our real-life selves in order to play in a modern game.... of course we get to change and become super cool during the game.

The method we used for converting our real life into ability scores was have someone else do it. There was very little self-assessment.

With that in mind, here is what I was rated (By the way, this is an average of everyone's guess, but it was interesting that most people picked the same score when evaluating someone)

Str: 14
Dex: 20
Con: 13
Int: 16
Wis: 15
Chr: 12

These are my stats now, which of course means I have added some points to some scores already.

I am sure many people will look at this and just laugh or assume it's BS, but that's ok.

As a defense of myself, I'll post a little background like some others have.

I did lots of sports in highschool, including football, basketball, gymnastics, and wrestling.

I also trained in martial arts and continue to do so.... and no, it isn't sportive martial arts.

After highschool I went into the Marines. I spent 4 years there, and during that time I had a really high constitution, but sense then it has dropped.

During my time in the Marines I was inducted into the Marital Arts Hall of Fame, for Fighter of the Year. I don't claim to be Bruce Lee, or even Chuck Norris, but martial arts is something I am good at. I think it comes from being relatively short, the youngest of 5 sons, and having wrestling and gymnastics in my background.

After the Marines I went to school and got a BS in Computer Science, but I really didn't enjoy it too much so started working in procurement.

After 3 years I decided I missed the military and went back into the Air Force.

Oh yeah... for those who know what the ASVAB is and how it works, I scored a 99% on it. I am sure some people will just say that it's a military test so.... I tend to agree, but I thought I would throw that out there.

In the Air Force I do contracting, which is the governments word for purchasing. I also have just completed my 2nd degree in Business.

So that's my history and those are the stats I was given by those in my social group.

I almost forgot levels!

8th level Fighter (specifically Martial Artist) / 2nd level Expert

I am also of the view that Captain America has a +25 BAB, so maybe that will help you understand a little more where I am coming from.

 

[Sixchan]

You have some cool friends then.

That's an excellent point. Although a 15 point pb sounds very low (the lowest I've ever seen used is 25), it does start to mangle the bell-curve system. Even worse, because the d20 is completely random (rather than a GURPS 3d6 for any given roll) it's rather hard to say that the bell curve is correct.

I'm not sure about the nature of heroes vs. non-heroes--it was always my understanding that 10 in a score was average no matter who you were.

Part of the problem of course is that asking people to tell you which standards they used for determining their scores would make their posts three times as long.

Basicly, my point is exactly what you just said. I'm using PB almost exclusively now, so I'm still inclined to stand by my IQ/10 since it breaks the bell curve, really. But hey, if I were to use it, I feel a lot better knowing I have an 18-19 INT. However, another thing to consider is to look at very important figures in D&D for reference. At this point, I'm putting a note in that the only good book for exeptional stats I have on me right now is the 1e Deities and Demigods. But since it was the same Bell Curve then, its not so important, is it?
Now, there must be a few people on Earth then that have a 25 intelligence. Only a few, mind.
But Coyote, Native American god of Knowledge has a 24 INT. Oghma, Celtic god of Knowledge has a 25 INT, as do Thoth (Egyptian, Knowledge) and Tvashtri (Indian, Science)
Many other gods have lower intelligences in the low 20s.
Who is willing to truthfully say they (or anyone else) can outsmart gods of Knowledge?

 

[S'mon]

I note that noone is claiming stats like STR 8, DEX 8, CON 8, INT 14, WIS 8, CHR 8 even though experience has lead me to believe that such stats are not at all unreasonable for average RPer's (geeks). Or maybe the only people brave enough to claim stats are those that are proud of them.

Check my earlier post.

One slight problem is that D&D doesn't model the real world very well anyway - eg real-world toughness is largely determined by muscle mass, yet D&D hit points are determined by STR not CON.

 

[LazarusLong42]

Now, there must be a few people on Earth then that have a 25 intelligence. Only a few, mind.
But Coyote, Native American god of Knowledge has a 24 INT. Oghma, Celtic god of Knowledge has a 25 INT, as do Thoth (Egyptian, Knowledge) and Tvashtri (Indian, Science)
Many other gods have lower intelligences in the low 20s.
Who is willing to truthfully say they (or anyone else) can outsmart gods of Knowledge?

I'd say three things here:

(1) It's around 1700 people with INT 25+ if you use the bell curve;

(2) If I were DM and were actually going to use one of those gods in my campaign, they would have INT of at least 40.

I mean, a character, even in a low PB system, can start with a 16 INT. Add 5 during his 20 levels, that's 21. As a 20th level wizard, he can easily create a Tome of Clear Thought +3 (24) and a Headband of Intellect +6 (30).

That's without going to Epic levels. Even Epic characters shouldn't have Intelligences rivaling gods

 

[Sixchan]

I'd say three things here:

(1) It's around 1700 people with INT 25+ if you use the bell curve;

So yeah, only a few.

(2) If I were DM and were actually going to use one of those gods in my campaign, they would have INT of at least 40.

If I were using a bell-curve, I'd probably do the same thing, but since we're applying the rule of Dice curve = IQ curve to D&D instead of the other way round, we should be making revisions to our rule here.

I mean, a character, even in a low PB system, can start with a 16 INT. Add 5 during his 20 levels, that's 21. As a 20th level wizard, he can easily create a Tome of Clear Thought +3 (24) and a Headband of Intellect +6 (30).

That's without going to Epic levels. Even Epic characters shouldn't have Intelligences rivaling gods

I must say I agree here, but would point out that I have a feeling the standard end for a campaign that goes that high is an ascencion to Godhood, so when the characters are rivaling Gods, they almost are Gods.

 

[orbitalfreak]

Just in my own defense here (and please note, I have absolutely no hard feelings towards anyone...) Also, some of this is probably gonna sound egotistical, but I prefer being honest over modest.

Caution: Long-winded autobiography follows. Please ignore if uninterested.

High School:
Went to high school in a rural area, so didn't have a lot of opportunities for big-time acheivements. Never had the chance to get on Teen Jeapordy, but I think I could have done decent . I could have graduated by 15, but decided to have fun with life and went the full time, no grade-skipping for me.

I was Saludatorian with a 3.8-ish GPA; it would have been a 4.0 if I hadn't slacked off. Scored a 31 on the ACT, and was asked to consider placement in classes at the local university (Southeastern Louisiana University), studying there during high school, though I declined.

College education:
Current GPA is about 3.6 or so (again, laziness and procrastination. Trying to work on that, though ).

Was awarded several scholarships; everything for school is paid for, and I am awarded about $3000/semester on top of that. I have actually met the maximum amount of financial award that the University can offer, and that doesn't account for all my scholarships.

Will be graduating next Spring with a bachelor's in Mathematics (that will have been 3 years in college), and will go on to grad school from there (not sure where, yet, looking at teaching math on a college level). Several professors have recommended that I attend MIT, Harvard, or other major universities for grad school.

College extracurricular:
I receive $750/semester in grant money for undergraduate mathematics research. Competition for this is tough, because only 20-30 out of 15,000+ students are able to receive these funds, due to the amount of money the program is allowed. I have presented my research to the Mathematical Association of America, taking 3rd place in an Undergraduate Research Competition. I plan to continue this college-funded research until I graduate.

Everyday Life:
I have a large vocabulary, from casually reading the dictionary when I was in 3rd grade. I am a storehouse of useless knowledge and worthless trivia, and constantly annoy my family displaying this "extraordinary" talent (It's fun to aggravate them) ! My entire family has a wide base of knowledge in various fields (science, space, biology, history, most of which is Discovery/History channel level stuff).

My IQ has been rated anywhere from 145-155, depending on the specific test administered, so I usually claim an IQ of 150.

I almost never do what most people term "studying" for tests. Paying attention to lecture, working a few examples on my own, and glancing over the text and my notes 15mins before a test is all I do to prepare for exams. In many classes, since High School and into college, I wind up acting almost as a second teacher, or tutor, aiding classmates with their work and understanding.

However, I am not always super-quick to catch on to things. Physics, for example, thwarts me. I have to struggle to pull a "B" in those courses, and this is coming from a guy who's used to flying through schoolwork with A's. While calculus comes easily to me, Linear Algebra (matrices, etc.) is a little difficult, mostly due to me being unfamiliar with the style of the mathematics involved. The whole matrix notation seems alien to me, though I am improving.

Sometimes, I get thick-skulled and can't for the life of me understand something, requiring several explanations to finally grasp the concept.

Why haven't I won the Nobel Prize yet? Well, for one, they don't offer one for Mathematics , but it's not like I've tried to do it either. Why haven't I developed some amazing and world-altering superinvention or mathematical formula? Well, I don't know everything, only what I've been taught, and information doesn't just spontaneously appear in my brain.

Why am I not ranked with Newton, Einstein, and Hawking? Well, those guys are 20th level or higher (I'd say definitely epic!). We're talking about INT 18 base, +5 level up, plus Inherent bonuses (studying "tomes of understanding," like libraries full of scientific texts), and a few epic feats to raise their score, not to mention the bonus points from aging. We're looking at 25-30+ INT here, way out of my league.

One of my major downfalls, and why people tend to slightly underestimate my intelligence, is my lack of dedication and motivation, my laziness, and my procrastination tend to get in the way of my academic acheivements.



Well, this has been long, but I think it's better that it has been brought to light. If I'm gonna claim a 19 INT, I might as well be ready to defend it.

Hopefully, others will have the WIS to avoid flaming me!

 

[Sixchan]

I need filling in. What is a 'GPA', and how does it work?

 

[shadow]

Well, last time I tried to determine my real life stats I used the GURPS system. I was about a 10pt character! Compared to my alter-egos in games, I'm pretty mundane. If I had to assign D&D stats to myself, I would say that I probably around a 3rd level expert with some ranks in speak language and knowledge(linguistics). My ability scores are all around pretty much average, except for INT which might be slightly higher. I would probably give myself the Dead Man Walking andJaded feats from the Ravenloft campaign setting.

 

[Sixchan]

Hmm...after all this talk about over estimation, I feel a need to justify my stats.

Str 8
I have below average stength. I have a feeling it might even be a 7.

Dex 14
Okay, so I am using Video Games to justify this partly. I'm good at lightgun games, meaning I must have a bonus to my BAB, but also I can run pretty fast, and tend not to be hit by thrown object very easily (I've had a lot thrown at me). I also have very good balance when it comes to walking and standing and tripping up, but I can't ride a bike...

Con 8
I may be underestimating here. I'm suseptible to various mild diseases such as colds and flus, I wouldn't guess I have high hitpoints, although I do have the stamina to run quite a few miles.

Int 14
This is continuing along the IQ/10 idea, as I still don't feel comfortable giving myself an 18 when I believe that you really do need to be a hero to get something like that. Above 18 and I consider it supernatural, usually (so the world's strongest man would have 18 strength, and 18/00 in 1e). But a 140 IQ is all the justification I need here.

Wis 9
This is hard because Wisdom is really 'Wisdom & Perception'. I have very low wisdom, but tend to notice things others don't. But since the stat is called wisdom, I gave wisdom priority.

Cha 11
Here also I find it difficult. I'm a really great friend, and I have tons of them, but not one has any romantic feelings for me. Which is hell for me incidently, because there's one I really like...
I am a good speaker, and can usually get my point across with feeling and emotion, so that goe in my favour, pulling it up, IMO to an 11.

I'm just staring at it now, but I think that makes everything 10, so I'm a 12-point character. Ouch.

 

[orbitalfreak]

I need filling in. What is a 'GPA', and how does it work?

GPA: Grade Point Average.

Based on what grades you receive in courses, you get differing amounts of points.
A: 4
B: 3
C: 2
D: 1
F: 0

In High School, every course I had (not sure if all schools use this method) was equally weighted. So, given a semester in which my grades were: A, B, B, A, C, D, F, this would total 17 points. Divide by seven (number of courses taken) gives 2.429 GPA. Overall, this means you have midway betwen B and C grade academic acheivement.

In college, each score is multiplied by the number of credit-hours earned for the course, so some courses are weighted heavier than others. The total of HOURS*GRADE_VALUE is called quality points. GPA is calculated from QP and credit hours. For instance, consider this:

--Course--    -Credit Hours- -Grade- -Grade Value- *Quality Points*
Calculus I       5 hours        A          4              20
History 101      3 hours        B          3              9
Biology 151      3 hours        B          3              9
Bio. Lab 153     1 hour         A          4              4
English 101      3 hours        C          2              6

Quality points total = 48. Divide this by the number of credit hours, not courses, to determine your GPA, which in this case is 48/15 = 3.2, slightly more than a B average. Note that even though an A was earned in Biology Lab, the course didn't count for a lot, and didn't affect the average much. However, calculus counts for almost two entire "normal" courses, so can influence the grade point average much more easily.

In fact, the difference between an A and a B in a standard 3-credit hour course is the same as the difference in an A and a D in a 1-hour Lab course, at least in terms of overall GPA.