How do you roleplay a 7 intelligence? [Archive] - Wizards Community

How do you roleplay a 7 intelligence? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Richard_the_Garrulous
09-21-06, 11:23 PM In a campaign I'm in, I'm playing a druid with a 7 intelligence. He is mildly mentally retarded because his mother was an alcoholic when he was deveoping. Because it makes sense in a "Medieval" setting, his mother pretty much threw him out as soon as he was old enough for his "deformity" to be noticable. Since then he's been living in the wild near his village. He has an ameable friendship with some of the other villagers who live on the edges of society/town, so he can speak.

What I want to know is how to roleplay his intelligence. I don't want to just play a drooling moron, and I don't want to be offensive to people who really are mentally retarded. What I was hoping to achieve is a sense of innoccence and ignorance of the world. He is around twelve years old if that helps. I'm hoping for some specific suggestions like mannerisms and phrases, as well as what might interest him.
Nived
09-22-06, 01:18 AM Well he's a druid so he's wise. He's aware of what's going on around him and he's not an idiot. He just isn't very good at anything (skills), and doesn't grasp complex concepts well.
JulesCARV
09-22-06, 01:48 AM My ideas:

First, keep it in perspective: if 14 intelligence is rather smart, 7 intelligence is rather stupid (10.5 being the D&D "standard" for ability scores). However, 14 intelligence isn't really genius-level, and 7 intelligence isn't seriously disabled.

For somewhat complicated subjects, you might try asking people to explain it to you twice, especially in unfamiliar settings. For example, if you're in an urban setting, where most (though certainly not all) druids would feel uncomfortable anyway, and you're trying to find your way to the courthouse, and someone says, "you go two blocks down Salsberger Street, then take a left at the Queen's Head tavern onto Bhloodaxe Avenue, then go four blocks down until you arrive at St. Cuthbert's Place, and the courthouse will be the brick building on your right," then you might have to have it repeated to you a few times, ask someone else to guide you, or draw a map, if you find the directions incomprehensible.

Try to avoid coming up with brilliant new ideas out of the blue. You can have ideas, even well-thought out philosophical/theological positions (druids are a sort of priest, after all, and theological thought isn't totally alien to them), but these ideas are probably things you've heard from other people, such as other druids, and memorized, not things you've come up with yourself.

Since a high-wisdom character probably recognizes his own failings, he should know he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. In a lot of inter-party debates outside his area of expertise, he might remain silent, and if asked, might say "I'm not qualified to have an opinion on this one." While he'd rather avoid making decisions he knows need intelligence to decide, though, he's willing to be a tie-breaker, more to avoid stalemate and inaction than because of any confidence in his own faculties.
Candide
09-22-06, 02:10 AM there's a question, I believe in the FAQ that talks about roleplaying intelligence. The question assumes the character has an Int score of 3. 10 points of IQ per point of Int. So your Int 7 character would be as intelligent as Forrest Gump.

Intelligence affects memory, logic. So your guy wouldn't have a head for facts, and figures.
Richard_the_Garrulous
09-22-06, 05:14 PM Since the character has a high wisdom and a decent charisma, I was thinking of having him be emotionally stable, and fairly absentminded unless he finds the topic pertinent. Also, even though he wouldn't understand anything happening around him, he would still take things in stride with some phrase about how "the sky is blue because nature wills it."
Reversefigure4
09-22-06, 08:19 PM Wait, he's still 12 years old? Easy as pie, then. Just RP him as a child (possibly of a few years younger). He's naive as doesn't understand why the world works like it does. Civilised concepts like economics and the value of an education not only go over his head, he sees them as totally irrelevant.

Just think about how you looked at the world at age 10 or so, and go from there.
Book5
10-04-06, 10:09 PM I had a low int high wis/cha character once. I played him like a "Blithe idiot" basically he was "smart" enough to get around, buy things, and generally keep himself safe.. but he spoke somewhat shortly.. and made int checks to figure out certain things that I would decide were too "complicated" - the directions thing.. definitely. I in fact RPed that he simply couldn't follow directions without a map or assistance.

Basically at int 7 you are perfectly conversatable, if somewhat less than loquacious, but the real "key" is not RPing any brilliant schemes, or even being able to remember things like the nameof the bar you stayed at one time. Can't count to well, certainly no physicist/geometrician. He will not be calculating the supplies cost for the caravan trip, and he will not know the answer to any history questions.. he may not even be able to tell you what city is the capitol of his home country.. (or may mistake his home country for the larger empire...)

ya know.. "D student" not "special ed"
Richard_the_Garrulous
10-06-06, 11:43 PM What I'm also thinking of doing, is because of his background, he's just now learning the finer points of common. This means half the time I'll have to roll and intelligence check just to know the word for something like "spoon" or "chair." I really agree with the idea of being a D student, not retarded, because I played an extremely stupid barbarian once and it got monotinous after a while.
MagnaSecuris
10-09-06, 07:41 PM Yeah. People can have Int scores as low as 3 and still be considered playable characters. I've always said that having a 10 means your character graduated from high school. An eleven means he did well there. Nine means he dropped out to pursue a career. Eight means he flunked out. Seven means he didn't go at all.

That's using real-world ideas of relative intelligence to describe a fantasy world where high school doesn't exist, though.
benma
10-10-06, 09:15 PM See here for detailed examination of the Int = IQ/10 Fallacy.

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=715500

As to the relationship between Int and Wis, disregarding the age of the PC, you can start, as people on these boards often recommend you do, by looking at the Skill list. Whether the PC ever puts ranks in them or not, he or she will always naturally be better at Spot, Listen, and Sense Motive than at Appraise, Knowledge, Search, or Decipher Script. Better, in other words, at passive application of mental power than at active. So such a character would, for example, very seldom come up with good plans, but would frequently spot bad ones. And would seldom have the answers, but would frequently ask very profitable questions. He or she would also be aware of his or her limitations, and would likely, as is the wiser thing to do, use his or her limited skill points to max out one or two skills, instead of spreading them around; and then once the character had established one or two things to be really good at, would try to limit his or her contributions to those things.

Roleplaying personality can negate any or all of the above, of course, but it's a good baseline to start from.
Richard_the_Garrulous
10-10-06, 09:56 PM Excelent. I can probably convince my DM that I'm not a drooling bufoon now.
Gerik_the_Twinblade
10-10-06, 11:00 PM One very good thing is that you have created a good back story to this character. I'm not 100% sure here but I'm guessing that since his mother was an alcoholic that he is a human (I would say dwarf but there are not many dwarven druids that I can name, no offense to any dwarves out there.) Humans don't reach adulthood until the age of 16 so for a child of the age of 12 he will not be very intelligent. Because he was kicked out of the home early he never had a chance to recieve teachings so there is yet another reason why he is not too intelectual.
Having high wisdom though ina way cancels out his low intelligence. You truly only nee done or the other to survive but without either you are as useless as a steed with no legs. So when I think of a person (especially a druid and love rof nature) with high wisdom and low intelligence I think of someone who is more intereste din the arts than in sciences and who may even go on to write. Of course they would not be intelectual books but more along the lines of pure nature stories.
And to tell you the truth, between having low wisdom and high intelligence or high wisdom and low intelligence, I would take the latter every time.
Torp
10-11-06, 07:35 PM See here for detailed examination of the Int = IQ/10 Fallacy.

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=715500

As to the relationship between Int and Wis, disregarding the age of the PC, you can start, as people on these boards often recommend you do, by looking at the Skill list. Whether the PC ever puts ranks in them or not, he or she will always naturally be better at Spot, Listen, and Sense Motive than at Appraise, Knowledge, Search, or Decipher Script. Better, in other words, at passive application of mental power than at active. So such a character would, for example, very seldom come up with good plans, but would frequently spot bad ones. And would seldom have the answers, but would frequently ask very profitable questions. He or she would also be aware of his or her limitations, and would likely, as is the wiser thing to do, use his or her limited skill points to max out one or two skills, instead of spreading them around; and then once the character had established one or two things to be really good at, would try to limit his or her contributions to those things.

Roleplaying personality can negate any or all of the above, of course, but it's a good baseline to start from.

That's actually one of the better ways I've seen the difference between Int and Wis defined. My hat off to you.

As for roleplaying an Int of 7, well, at that point you're starting to get pretty unintelligent. You're not exactly an idiot savant, though. Just dim-witted and maybe not very creative (creativity being, in my opinion, a part of intelligence rather than wisdom). With a high wisdom, you still have a very good understanding of how things work, and are able to spot flaws and problems before most. In essence, you're good at spotting the problems, but not at finding the optimal solution.

I've also always had a tendency to think of wisdom as "street-smarts" and intelligence as "book-smarts", for lack of better terms. Keep that in the back of your mind as well.
Melee_Strongfist
10-12-06, 04:01 PM the one thing to have to remember is that you dont start getting stupied Untell about 5 int Becaes meany Rats Bats and Bug are that way
Melichor
10-12-06, 08:04 PM Sounds like Pikel Bouldershoulder:
Pikel is one of the only shield dwarf druids known in Faerūn. He is about the same size as his brother Ivan, but is more round shouldered. His hair and beard are dyed green, and his beard is parted at the middle and pulled back over his ears and braided. He sports a cooking pot for a helmet. His one weapon is a 4-foot-long polished smooth bark tree limb. At its widest end it is 1 foot in diameter, and leather loops are at the narrow end at various intervals so Pikel can use it in a variety of ways in battle. One of his favorite tactics is to whirl around in a circle to take out numerous enemies, although this often makes him so dizzy that he falls down. For fighting undead, Pikel has a waterskin with a nozzle on it, and he thoroughly enjoys squirting holy water on them.

Pikel is easily excitable and, when happy, bounces around and titters with joy. Unfortunately, Pikel appears to have a language disability. While he understands when others speak and he can read well, Pikel's own ability to express himself appears to be limited to a dozen or so sounds (such as "oo oi," which usually means yes) or mispronounced words (such as "doo-dad," which means druid). To communicate more effectively, Pikel combines these "words" with the inflection of his voice, expression on his face, and gesticulations. The combined effect generally works well, but is often frustrating to both Pikel and those around him. Fortunately, Ivan seems to understand Pikel as if he were speaking in complete sentences and can communicate for him in more complicated situations.
Alac_Gane
10-16-06, 08:30 AM That's actually one of the better ways I've seen the difference between Int and Wis defined. My hat off to you.

As for roleplaying an Int of 7, well, at that point you're starting to get pretty unintelligent. You're not exactly an idiot savant, though. Just dim-witted and maybe not very creative (creativity being, in my opinion, a part of intelligence rather than wisdom). With a high wisdom, you still have a very good understanding of how things work, and are able to spot flaws and problems before most. In essence, you're good at spotting the problems, but not at finding the optimal solution.

I've also always had a tendency to think of wisdom as "street-smarts" and intelligence as "book-smarts", for lack of better terms. Keep that in the back of your mind as well.

Bingo for both of these guys.

Intelligence represents understanding, reasoning, and learning capacity. Wisdom represents 'common sense,' willpower, and intuition.

"While Intelligence represents one's ability to analyze information, Wisdom represents being in tune with and aware of one's surroundings."

However, opposed to Mel, perhaps you SHOULD think at least a little towards savant. This guy is going to be good at just a few things, and they'll probably be Wis-based skills... however, he might not be so hot at remembering things [Knowledge is an Int skill], nor will he be very good at things that require a long string of rules or patterns [crafting might be a good example, unless he practiced a lot and focused ONLY on that, pushing other ideas aside].

This type of person might possibly be considered autistic or something similar in a modern sense, in my eyes [people from Medieval or even Renn times would just think they weren't too bright or were forgetful]. They are very in-tune with what they are interested in, and perhaps simply don't want much to do with things they don't understand, in fear of ridicule that their wisdom warns them of from an early age, perhaps. Either that, or he tries to think of something... and just sort of 'blanks out.' That happens to me sometimes if I get overwhelmed .

Your character, depending on what skills you invest in, may be very good at the profession he chooses, since he can keep in mind some strings of info with what intelligence he has and stores it as a basic need, so to speak. He needs to work in order to feed himself, right? It's even better if it's a survival-type skill, since it feeds right off of the basic human instincts. He may not have even gone to school and just hopped right into a profession, which suggests a broad range of less specific knowledge than, say, a Craft skill - he may have began his life as a deck watch at sea, and watched other, more experienced sailors as they fixed sails and taught your character simple knots.

If you invest in Sense Motive, on the other hand, he may be paranoid... watching everyone's face from the background when the party speaks to them, trying to read their true motives while leaving some of the words they say out.

On another hand, if you choose a some other abilities to base your best skills off of [e.g.; Str/Dex, with Cha as a bit of a reach], this could also reflect your character's inner ability of perception: he simply wishes to avoid danger by keeping his body physically away from harm rather than trying to resist it when it comes at him [Reflex vs Will?]. For example, he may have kept in mind the best ideas for hiding places at a young age and can pick them out without really having to think about reasons why [it might just be the darkest/smallest place to go] - not exactly the hardest thing to remember from one's childhood... you just kind of [i]do it.

Have him be focused - even determined - to learn what he can and try and subsist off it. It will show that even if your character is a little oafish, perhaps he's trying not to seem that way. However, with very large words or complex ideas [especially if they have to do with magic], attempt to speak the word/idea if questioning about it, but make up some mumbo-jumbo afterwards so that at least the person you're asking has some idea what you're talking about:

"I'm not sure why there was a magical anomaly - I guess we really ARE on the Shadow Plane."
[b]"Anoma-who on the Shadow-wha?"
"My daylight spell didn't go as planned... the Shadow that mirrors our world would supress my magic."
"Well, I'm not sure what you're talking about, but shadows hold no light, and it sure is dark... So I guess that does make sense, right?"

Lastly, to sum up how you can avoid making your character play as the stereotypical orc:

Your character speaks softly, and perhaps carries something more. Think of a wise chieftan in all those cowboy movies who says stuff about wolves and whatnot, but has some innate meaning to it... something he may have kept in mind that has helped in situations in the past. Write up some insightful anecdotes, or at least research some sayings or 'golden rules' that help in many situations, even if they are in somewhat broken tongue.

Who knows? Maybe you'll get an item that will kick you up a few bars. :D

:twocents:
JulesCARV
10-16-06, 08:03 PM I think that autistic people, in D&D terms, generally have low wisdom and charisma, and frequently high intelligence.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Richard_the_Garrulous 09-21-06, 11:23 PM	In a campaign I'm in, I'm playing a druid with a 7 intelligence. He is mildly mentally retarded because his mother was an alcoholic when he was deveoping. Because it makes sense in a "Medieval" setting, his mother pretty much threw him out as soon as he was old enough for his "deformity" to be noticable. Since then he's been living in the wild near his village. He has an ameable friendship with some of the other villagers who live on the edges of society/town, so he can speak. What I want to know is how to roleplay his intelligence. I don't want to just play a drooling moron, and I don't want to be offensive to people who really are mentally retarded. What I was hoping to achieve is a sense of innoccence and ignorance of the world. He is around twelve years old if that helps. I'm hoping for some specific suggestions like mannerisms and phrases, as well as what might interest him.
Nived 09-22-06, 01:18 AM	Well he's a druid so he's wise. He's aware of what's going on around him and he's not an idiot. He just isn't very good at anything (skills), and doesn't grasp complex concepts well.
JulesCARV 09-22-06, 01:48 AM	My ideas: First, keep it in perspective: if 14 intelligence is rather smart, 7 intelligence is rather stupid (10.5 being the D&D "standard" for ability scores). However, 14 intelligence isn't really genius-level, and 7 intelligence isn't seriously disabled. For somewhat complicated subjects, you might try asking people to explain it to you twice, especially in unfamiliar settings. For example, if you're in an urban setting, where most (though certainly not all) druids would feel uncomfortable anyway, and you're trying to find your way to the courthouse, and someone says, "you go two blocks down Salsberger Street, then take a left at the Queen's Head tavern onto Bhloodaxe Avenue, then go four blocks down until you arrive at St. Cuthbert's Place, and the courthouse will be the brick building on your right," then you might have to have it repeated to you a few times, ask someone else to guide you, or draw a map, if you find the directions incomprehensible. Try to avoid coming up with brilliant new ideas out of the blue. You can have ideas, even well-thought out philosophical/theological positions (druids are a sort of priest, after all, and theological thought isn't totally alien to them), but these ideas are probably things you've heard from other people, such as other druids, and memorized, not things you've come up with yourself. Since a high-wisdom character probably recognizes his own failings, he should know he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. In a lot of inter-party debates outside his area of expertise, he might remain silent, and if asked, might say "I'm not qualified to have an opinion on this one." While he'd rather avoid making decisions he knows need intelligence to decide, though, he's willing to be a tie-breaker, more to avoid stalemate and inaction than because of any confidence in his own faculties.
Candide 09-22-06, 02:10 AM	there's a question, I believe in the FAQ that talks about roleplaying intelligence. The question assumes the character has an Int score of 3. 10 points of IQ per point of Int. So your Int 7 character would be as intelligent as Forrest Gump. Intelligence affects memory, logic. So your guy wouldn't have a head for facts, and figures.
Richard_the_Garrulous 09-22-06, 05:14 PM	Since the character has a high wisdom and a decent charisma, I was thinking of having him be emotionally stable, and fairly absentminded unless he finds the topic pertinent. Also, even though he wouldn't understand anything happening around him, he would still take things in stride with some phrase about how "the sky is blue because nature wills it."
Reversefigure4 09-22-06, 08:19 PM	Wait, he's still 12 years old? Easy as pie, then. Just RP him as a child (possibly of a few years younger). He's naive as doesn't understand why the world works like it does. Civilised concepts like economics and the value of an education not only go over his head, he sees them as totally irrelevant. Just think about how you looked at the world at age 10 or so, and go from there.
Book5 10-04-06, 10:09 PM	I had a low int high wis/cha character once. I played him like a "Blithe idiot" basically he was "smart" enough to get around, buy things, and generally keep himself safe.. but he spoke somewhat shortly.. and made int checks to figure out certain things that I would decide were too "complicated" - the directions thing.. definitely. I in fact RPed that he simply couldn't follow directions without a map or assistance. Basically at int 7 you are perfectly conversatable, if somewhat less than loquacious, but the real "key" is not RPing any brilliant schemes, or even being able to remember things like the nameof the bar you stayed at one time. Can't count to well, certainly no physicist/geometrician. He will not be calculating the supplies cost for the caravan trip, and he will not know the answer to any history questions.. he may not even be able to tell you what city is the capitol of his home country.. (or may mistake his home country for the larger empire...) ya know.. "D student" not "special ed"
Richard_the_Garrulous 10-06-06, 11:43 PM	What I'm also thinking of doing, is because of his background, he's just now learning the finer points of common. This means half the time I'll have to roll and intelligence check just to know the word for something like "spoon" or "chair." I really agree with the idea of being a D student, not retarded, because I played an extremely stupid barbarian once and it got monotinous after a while.
MagnaSecuris 10-09-06, 07:41 PM	Yeah. People can have Int scores as low as 3 and still be considered playable characters. I've always said that having a 10 means your character graduated from high school. An eleven means he did well there. Nine means he dropped out to pursue a career. Eight means he flunked out. Seven means he didn't go at all. That's using real-world ideas of relative intelligence to describe a fantasy world where high school doesn't exist, though.
benma 10-10-06, 09:15 PM	See here for detailed examination of the Int = IQ/10 Fallacy. http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=715500 As to the relationship between Int and Wis, disregarding the age of the PC, you can start, as people on these boards often recommend you do, by looking at the Skill list. Whether the PC ever puts ranks in them or not, he or she will always naturally be better at Spot, Listen, and Sense Motive than at Appraise, Knowledge, Search, or Decipher Script. Better, in other words, at passive application of mental power than at active. So such a character would, for example, very seldom come up with good plans, but would frequently spot bad ones. And would seldom have the answers, but would frequently ask very profitable questions. He or she would also be aware of his or her limitations, and would likely, as is the wiser thing to do, use his or her limited skill points to max out one or two skills, instead of spreading them around; and then once the character had established one or two things to be really good at, would try to limit his or her contributions to those things. Roleplaying personality can negate any or all of the above, of course, but it's a good baseline to start from.
Richard_the_Garrulous 10-10-06, 09:56 PM	Excelent. I can probably convince my DM that I'm not a drooling bufoon now.
Gerik_the_Twinblade 10-10-06, 11:00 PM	One very good thing is that you have created a good back story to this character. I'm not 100% sure here but I'm guessing that since his mother was an alcoholic that he is a human (I would say dwarf but there are not many dwarven druids that I can name, no offense to any dwarves out there.) Humans don't reach adulthood until the age of 16 so for a child of the age of 12 he will not be very intelligent. Because he was kicked out of the home early he never had a chance to recieve teachings so there is yet another reason why he is not too intelectual. Having high wisdom though ina way cancels out his low intelligence. You truly only nee done or the other to survive but without either you are as useless as a steed with no legs. So when I think of a person (especially a druid and love rof nature) with high wisdom and low intelligence I think of someone who is more intereste din the arts than in sciences and who may even go on to write. Of course they would not be intelectual books but more along the lines of pure nature stories. And to tell you the truth, between having low wisdom and high intelligence or high wisdom and low intelligence, I would take the latter every time.
Torp 10-11-06, 07:35 PM	See here for detailed examination of the Int = IQ/10 Fallacy. http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=715500 As to the relationship between Int and Wis, disregarding the age of the PC, you can start, as people on these boards often recommend you do, by looking at the Skill list. Whether the PC ever puts ranks in them or not, he or she will always naturally be better at Spot, Listen, and Sense Motive than at Appraise, Knowledge, Search, or Decipher Script. Better, in other words, at passive application of mental power than at active. So such a character would, for example, very seldom come up with good plans, but would frequently spot bad ones. And would seldom have the answers, but would frequently ask very profitable questions. He or she would also be aware of his or her limitations, and would likely, as is the wiser thing to do, use his or her limited skill points to max out one or two skills, instead of spreading them around; and then once the character had established one or two things to be really good at, would try to limit his or her contributions to those things. Roleplaying personality can negate any or all of the above, of course, but it's a good baseline to start from. That's actually one of the better ways I've seen the difference between Int and Wis defined. My hat off to you. As for roleplaying an Int of 7, well, at that point you're starting to get pretty unintelligent. You're not exactly an idiot savant, though. Just dim-witted and maybe not very creative (creativity being, in my opinion, a part of intelligence rather than wisdom). With a high wisdom, you still have a very good understanding of how things work, and are able to spot flaws and problems before most. In essence, you're good at spotting the problems, but not at finding the optimal solution. I've also always had a tendency to think of wisdom as "street-smarts" and intelligence as "book-smarts", for lack of better terms. Keep that in the back of your mind as well.
Melee_Strongfist 10-12-06, 04:01 PM	the one thing to have to remember is that you dont start getting stupied Untell about 5 int Becaes meany Rats Bats and Bug are that way
Melichor 10-12-06, 08:04 PM	Sounds like Pikel Bouldershoulder: Pikel is one of the only shield dwarf druids known in Faerūn. He is about the same size as his brother Ivan, but is more round shouldered. His hair and beard are dyed green, and his beard is parted at the middle and pulled back over his ears and braided. He sports a cooking pot for a helmet. His one weapon is a 4-foot-long polished smooth bark tree limb. At its widest end it is 1 foot in diameter, and leather loops are at the narrow end at various intervals so Pikel can use it in a variety of ways in battle. One of his favorite tactics is to whirl around in a circle to take out numerous enemies, although this often makes him so dizzy that he falls down. For fighting undead, Pikel has a waterskin with a nozzle on it, and he thoroughly enjoys squirting holy water on them. Pikel is easily excitable and, when happy, bounces around and titters with joy. Unfortunately, Pikel appears to have a language disability. While he understands when others speak and he can read well, Pikel's own ability to express himself appears to be limited to a dozen or so sounds (such as "oo oi," which usually means yes) or mispronounced words (such as "doo-dad," which means druid). To communicate more effectively, Pikel combines these "words" with the inflection of his voice, expression on his face, and gesticulations. The combined effect generally works well, but is often frustrating to both Pikel and those around him. Fortunately, Ivan seems to understand Pikel as if he were speaking in complete sentences and can communicate for him in more complicated situations.
Alac_Gane 10-16-06, 08:30 AM	That's actually one of the better ways I've seen the difference between Int and Wis defined. My hat off to you. As for roleplaying an Int of 7, well, at that point you're starting to get pretty unintelligent. You're not exactly an idiot savant, though. Just dim-witted and maybe not very creative (creativity being, in my opinion, a part of intelligence rather than wisdom). With a high wisdom, you still have a very good understanding of how things work, and are able to spot flaws and problems before most. In essence, you're good at spotting the problems, but not at finding the optimal solution. I've also always had a tendency to think of wisdom as "street-smarts" and intelligence as "book-smarts", for lack of better terms. Keep that in the back of your mind as well. Bingo for both of these guys. Intelligence represents understanding, reasoning, and learning capacity. Wisdom represents 'common sense,' willpower, and intuition. "While Intelligence represents one's ability to analyze information, Wisdom represents being in tune with and aware of one's surroundings." However, opposed to Mel, perhaps you SHOULD think at least a little towards savant. This guy is going to be good at just a few things, and they'll probably be Wis-based skills... however, he might not be so hot at remembering things [Knowledge is an Int skill], nor will he be very good at things that require a long string of rules or patterns [crafting might be a good example, unless he practiced a lot and focused ONLY on that, pushing other ideas aside]. This type of person might possibly be considered autistic or something similar in a modern sense, in my eyes [people from Medieval or even Renn times would just think they weren't too bright or were forgetful]. They are very in-tune with what they are interested in, and perhaps simply don't want much to do with things they don't understand, in fear of ridicule that their wisdom warns them of from an early age, perhaps. Either that, or he tries to think of something... and just sort of 'blanks out.' That happens to me sometimes if I get overwhelmed . Your character, depending on what skills you invest in, may be very good at the profession he chooses, since he can keep in mind some strings of info with what intelligence he has and stores it as a basic need, so to speak. He needs to work in order to feed himself, right? It's even better if it's a survival-type skill, since it feeds right off of the basic human instincts. He may not have even gone to school and just hopped right into a profession, which suggests a broad range of less specific knowledge than, say, a Craft skill - he may have began his life as a deck watch at sea, and watched other, more experienced sailors as they fixed sails and taught your character simple knots. If you invest in Sense Motive, on the other hand, he may be paranoid... watching everyone's face from the background when the party speaks to them, trying to read their true motives while leaving some of the words they say out. On another hand, if you choose a some other abilities to base your best skills off of [e.g.; Str/Dex, with Cha as a bit of a reach], this could also reflect your character's inner ability of perception: he simply wishes to avoid danger by keeping his body physically away from harm rather than trying to resist it when it comes at him [Reflex vs Will?]. For example, he may have kept in mind the best ideas for hiding places at a young age and can pick them out without really having to think about reasons why [it might just be the darkest/smallest place to go] - not exactly the hardest thing to remember from one's childhood... you just kind of [i]do it. Have him be focused - even determined - to learn what he can and try and subsist off it. It will show that even if your character is a little oafish, perhaps he's trying not to seem that way. However, with very large words or complex ideas [especially if they have to do with magic], attempt to speak the word/idea if questioning about it, but make up some mumbo-jumbo afterwards so that at least the person you're asking has some idea what you're talking about: "I'm not sure why there was a magical anomaly - I guess we really ARE on the Shadow Plane." [b]"Anoma-who on the Shadow-wha?" "My daylight spell didn't go as planned... the Shadow that mirrors our world would supress my magic." "Well, I'm not sure what you're talking about, but shadows hold no light, and it sure is dark... So I guess that does make sense, right?" Lastly, to sum up how you can avoid making your character play as the stereotypical orc: Your character speaks softly, and perhaps carries something more. Think of a wise chieftan in all those cowboy movies who says stuff about wolves and whatnot, but has some innate meaning to it... something he may have kept in mind that has helped in situations in the past. Write up some insightful anecdotes, or at least research some sayings or 'golden rules' that help in many situations, even if they are in somewhat broken tongue. Who knows? Maybe you'll get an item that will kick you up a few bars. :D :twocents:
JulesCARV 10-16-06, 08:03 PM	I think that autistic people, in D&D terms, generally have low wisdom and charisma, and frequently high intelligence.