D&D General You Were Rolling Up a New Character, and Just Rolled a 3. What Is Your Reaction?

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Time to pick a character than can deal with a dump stat, I suppose? Probably Charisma, probably Fighter or Wizard maybe?

 

[Swarmkeeper]

No rule. just a matter of sportsmanship.


More to the point: With an Int of 3, multiple animals are measurably brighter than you are.

From the 5e PHB, for reference:

Intelligence
Measures: Mental acuity, information recall, analytical skill

A character with high Intelligence might be highly inquisitive and studious, while a character with low Intelligence might speak simply or easily forget details.


Assuming no applicable proficiencies for the PC, a giant ape has a 10% better chance of succeeding at an INT ability check whereas a giant eagle has a 15% better chance. Is that "measurably brighter"? I suppose. Is that something that will be noticeable during gameplay? I personally doubt it as the swinginess of the d20 will cause more angst regardless of scores - YMMV.

Most Beasts, even with slightly higher INT than the INT 3 PC, cannot speak or understand language. The INT 3 PC can speak and understand language in 5e (and 1e) - how does that figure in to being "measurably brighter"?

 

[Deset Gled]

From the 5e PHB, for reference:

Intelligence
Measures: Mental acuity, information recall, analytical skill
...
Most Beasts, even with slightly higher INT than the INT 3 PC, cannot speak or understand language. The INT 3 PC can speak and understand language in 5e (and 1e) - how does that figure in to being "measurably brighter"?

If we're going to go for full rules reference, we may as well also note that this is a D&D General thread. So, here's the relevant 3.5e text:

"Intelligence (Int)
Intelligence determines how well your character learns and reasons. This ability is important for wizards because it affects how many spells they can cast, how hard their spells are to resist, and how powerful their spells can be. It’s also important for any character who wants to have a wide assortment of skills.

You apply your character’s Intelligence modifier to:

• The number of languages your character knows at the start of the game.
• The number of skill points gained each level. (But your character always gets at least 1 skill point per level.)
• Appraise, Craft, Decipher Script, Disable Device, Forgery, Knowledge, Search, and Spellcraft checks. These are the skills that have Intelligence as th,eir key ability.

A wizard gains bonus spells based on her Intelligence score. The minimum Intelligence score needed to cast a wizard spell is 10 + the spell’s level.

An animal has an Intelligence score of 1 or 2. A creature of humanlike intelligence has a score of at least 3."

In this edition, there are a lot more ways that a INT 3 will affect you character. The skill points thing is a big one, and a major mechanic showing how low intelligence will be a factor beyond basic ability checks. It's not just that you start stupider, it's that you will learn so much less as you level up.

I had a kobold with STR 4 in a 3.5e game (due to ability modifiers, not rolls, but that's a different discussion). He was a summoning based cleric. It was a pain to deal with his low carrying capacity, but a lot better than dealing with a low INT. And overall pretty fun.

 

[AlViking]

From the 5e PHB, for reference:

Intelligence
Measures: Mental acuity, information recall, analytical skill

A character with high Intelligence might be highly inquisitive and studious, while a character with low Intelligence might speak simply or easily forget details.


Assuming no applicable proficiencies for the PC, a giant ape has a 10% better chance of succeeding at an INT ability check whereas a giant eagle has a 15% better chance. Is that "measurably brighter"? I suppose. Is that something that will be noticeable during gameplay? I personally doubt it as the swinginess of the d20 will cause more angst regardless of scores - YMMV.

Most Beasts, even with slightly higher INT than the INT 3 PC, cannot speak or understand language. The INT 3 PC can speak and understand language in 5e (and 1e) - how does that figure in to being "measurably brighter"?

Going with the whole "Low intelligence doesn't really matter"? Most dogs can understand dozens of words (I suspect cats can as well, they just don't care) and understand fairly simple concepts. They can't talk because they don't have the correct physical structures. But complex plans? Hold a real conversation? Those should be beyond them. Someone with a 3 intelligence would have the mental capacity of your typical 2 year old.

You can ignore that of course but for those of us who do not want to ignore the effects stats outside of a random check here and there it does.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Going with the whole "Low intelligence doesn't really matter"? Most dogs can understand dozens of words (I suspect cats can as well, they just don't care) and understand fairly simple concepts. They can't talk because they don't have the correct physical structures. But complex plans? Hold a real conversation? Those should be beyond them. Someone with a 3 intelligence would have the mental capacity of your typical 2 year old.

In no way do the 5e rules say that (or the 1e rules as far as I can tell). Are you making inferences based on your preferences or is it spelled out in some other edition?

You are spot on about cats though. They are infuriating in how they pretend not to understand simple concepts most of the time but they are also cute and funny so we put up with that.

You can ignore that of course but for those of us who do not want to ignore the effects stats outside of a random check here and there it does.

Out of curiosity, does the DM at your table police ability scores? Meaning, for example, that if a low INT character came up with a plan, the DM could veto it on the basis that they don’t have the wherewithal to do so.
And/or is it that no one plays characters with low scores so it doesn’t really come up?

 

[Lanefan]

Sure, at your table. At our table, roleplay how you like - I don't want to put myself in a situation where I'm policing how players should roleplay their PCs (under the guise that they're somehow "cheating" if they cross some arbitrary line?). I've got enough on my plate and, regardless, the 5e rules do not tell me I should do so. Telling a player that "your character wouldn't try/say/think that" is anathema to fun for us. That said, the smart play is usually to avoid PC actions that could potentially trigger the DM to call for a roll that involves your bad stat. The dice are not your friend.

Ideally the players are self-policing on this as a simple aspect of playing with integrity. If one isn't, then that's a player I might not have back next time.

 

[DammitVictor]

That is, my stats will, nearly without fail, be either so garbage even the GM will be like "...okay yeah please reroll that", or they will be so stupidly good that at least one other player's envy is likely.

Misread this at first! While we're talking about the  sportsmanship of players who want to roll stats as long as they always roll above average-- and my preference for high stats not withstanding, I agree-- can we talk about the DMs that want to insist on random rolls, insist on players rolling in front of them because of "cheating", and then make players reroll anything that's "overpowered"?

I insist on players rolling in front of me, but... it's not because I give a damn about cheating. On the narrative side, I want the players to make their PCs together; on the dice rolling side, if we're gambling then there's no sense gambling without an audience.

 

[AlViking]

In no way do the 5e rules say that (or the 1e rules as far as I can tell). Are you making inferences based on your preferences or is it spelled out in some other edition?

If you have an intelligence of 3 you have the same intelligence as a dog or cat.

You are spot on about cats though. They are infuriating in how they pretend not to understand simple concepts most of the time but they are also cute and funny so we put up with that.



Out of curiosity, does the DM at your table police ability scores? Meaning, for example, that if a low INT character came up with a plan, the DM could veto it on the basis that they don’t have the wherewithal to do so.
And/or is it that no one plays characters with low scores so it doesn’t really come up?

We always use point buy and have in any game I've played for a long time now so it doesn't come up.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Ideally the players are self-policing on this as a simple aspect of playing with integrity. If one isn't, then that's a player I might not have back next time.

Careful, as one might interpret that as saying the players at my table have no integrity because they don’t follow your roleplaying rules.

Does anyone ever slip up at your table, perhaps acting in a particular scenario like, for example, INT 13 instead of INT 8? How is that handled?

 

[DammitVictor]

I'm pretty sure in my 40 years of rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest I've never seen someone roll 4 ones.

Yeah. I've rolled a handful of 6s over the years, but never a 3. One time, on 4d6k3, I managed to roll a character whose high score was an 8, literally unplayable, because it didn't qualify for any player class.

Instead of giving me a mulligan, the DM bumped the 8 to a 9, so I could qualify for one class. I declined the game.