Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kethka 03-08-04, 07:15 PM	As the name implies, I am having trouble playing my character's mental stats as well as I would like. I'm aware that there are plenty of similar threads on this board, but I wanted to ask about my character specifically, so please don't tell me to do a search. Anyway, to the point, my character is a wood elf fighter from Mulrhandi (Probably not spelled exactly like that, but I don't have the book handy). For those of you who don't know, that is a region from forgotten realms that has pharonic dieties (Mine is Anhur). My character has very high physical stats but almost no mental stats: STR: 20 DEX: 12 CON: 14 (Pretty good for an elf!) INT: 6 WIS: 8 CHA: 6 His backstory, in a nutshell, is this: He was a slave for a goodly number of years in his youth, performing difficult labour. During this time, his physical prowess improved a good deal (He was already unnaturally strong). Unfortunately, he also suffered rather severe head trauma at some point during his servitude, resulting in his very poor mental prowess. During a particularly difficult battle, the city he was located in was in dire need of help, so they sent many of the slaves into combat. Long story short, he made a particularly good fighter and so the army purchased him for use in combat. Oh, he is 4'10" and weighs 100 lb. (I figured that since I was an elf, it would be good to get away from the massive fighters that people generally like to make) Anyway, back to my original question... how should he be played? Ive been using the whole "me smash" mindset generally reserved for half-orc barbarians, but I want to give him more personality than that. I think that's everything... if anyone wants more info just ask and I'll do my best! Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
Dawnspeaker 03-09-04, 09:00 AM	Well this will be up to your DM if allows this. I would say low Int doesn't mean stupid, but you could play as more simple. Innocent if you will. Maybe he just has no knowledge of the world or even how to interact. You could actually play him almost like a small incredibly strong child. (with that strength on that note I'd add about another 50lbs of muscle) THe low charisma could be becasue he is shy, the low wisdom because he doesn't think things through. Low Int just have him grin and do his own thing alot.
SlainByLich 03-09-04, 10:29 PM	Hmm.... INT: 6 WIS: 8 CHA: 6 You could play him as sort of dependant on his superiors. ("I dont know sir, what do you think?" or "But my orders didnt tell me too..." and such.) He isnt bright, but he will follow orders when given and with his low wisdom he will have trouble improvising. His low charisma means that he follows his superiors and does not object, weak force of personality leads to him being easily ordered around. Just keep "Sir, what should i do now, sir?" in your mind. I think that might be a good starting place. He's a simple soldier, and was a slave to boot, so taking orders is what he is used to. Perhaps if he is without his superiors, or if he is caught alone he would be concerned or somewhat frightened; following orders all your life makes it difficult to think on your own when given the chance. Of course that is just my opinion, make of it what you will.
Serric Ral 03-10-04, 12:03 AM	On a related note on this character… I’m playing in the same campaign with him, and I have a very special dilemma. My character is a female star elf that is currently cross-dressing as a man. Her reasoning behind it is that she was always hit on by men, so she figured that she should turn the tables. In any case, I took off my disguise just to see if I could convince them that I was wearing a disguise, and his character was too dumb to believe it as a diguise. I was showing off my new ‘disguise’ to the wizard and decided seduce the original posters character into bed right in front of the wizard (who thinks that I'm gay) to see if he would protect him from his ignorance. Well, he didn’t, and I figured I might as well go along with my seduction and take the fighter to bed. Well, now I’m stuck with him. I want to continue hitting on other men to annoy them, but I also don’t want him to go and pound them into oblivion when he gets jealous, and my character would like to be able to see other men. Despite how she runs around deceiving people, she is a very good hearted girl whom doesn’t really want to hurt anyone on an emotional level. She wont just cheat on him, despite how ridiculously easy that would be. I’m the Star Elf: Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 19 Stuck with the Wood Elf: Int 6, Wis 8, Cha 6 How do I get unstuck?
Dawnspeaker 03-10-04, 09:02 AM	Buy him a puppy...he'll forget all about you.
SlainByLich 03-10-04, 10:24 AM	Poison, a dagger in the chest, specially prepared pit trap... Disguise yourself. ;-)
Dawnspeaker 03-10-04, 11:12 AM	Tell him you really are a dude and abuse him with a dagger hilt! He'll just wimper in the corner for weeks.
BaronVonStevie 03-10-04, 04:50 PM	those stats suck dude! this is why my group uses a point system.
nick012000 03-11-04, 04:11 AM	Why? It's a 28-point buy.
LiXinjian 03-11-04, 08:38 AM	I like the "sir, what should I do next, sir?" attitude. Really great potential there. Imagine how utterly lost your fighter is when left alone. Imagine how desperate your friends feel when you are their only hope at salvaging their characters from the jailhouse. Kinda like in the movies, when they resort to sending a dog with a message back to the police station. No way in hell this is gonna work, they think. Heh. Well, since Mulhorand is governed by the clerics of Horus-Re and those view Anhur's clergy as an enemy (even though both gods are good), there might be an edge there you could exploit. Perhaps your character can't tell Anhur from Horus-Re? Perhaps he listens equally to clerics from either of the two religions? I don't know. I'm just pointing at something you could perhaps incorporate into your character, at some point or another... maybe... if you want to. Other than that, I suggest reading Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck. Lenny's a very strong man, but with the IQ of a child. You could also watch the movie if you're more lazy, but the book's so short anyways it probably wouldn't be quicker. Perhaps a bit too dumb for your liking, though.