Dump stats, roleplaying, and you. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Dump stats, roleplaying, and you. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sakaki22
11-30-07, 07:44 AM I've played people with negative ability scores, particularly Charisma, in the past. I just played them as emotionally meek; soft spoken, can't get others to listen to them very well. That did really well with a Charisma of 9.

My latest character, a Thri-kreen Psychic Warrior, has a Charisma score of 5.

He's already set to be eccentric, as a Thri-kreen, but any ideas to push that score as a roleplayer?
BigGus
11-30-07, 07:49 AM Not sure what you mean by "push this score", but if you're asking "how do I roleplay a character with CHA 5?", check out this thread;

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=956693
VulcanStormwrath
11-30-07, 06:51 PM Your ways are alien to mas humanoids as theirs are to you. Do weird or unsettling things as part of your daily routine. Voice your disgust at something everyone takes for granted. Comment on what they "allow" their women to "parade around" in. In character you'll be the guy nobody really wants to talk to.
Count Arioch the 28th
11-30-07, 11:36 PM Comment on what they "allow" their women to "parade around" in.

Yeah, because everyone knows that thri-kreen are particular about how humanoid females dress.

Personally, I don't think the average thri-kreen would be able to tell the difference between a male and female human at all.
CryoSilver
12-01-07, 12:04 AM Sure it could. Males are gamier than females, and females go better with gravy.

A Cha 5 character either has an unattractive personality (you could be rude, or thoughtless) or has very little personality (don't talk much, don't express opinions. Be a real wallflower. Wallbug. Wallflowerbug.)
The_Shaman
12-02-07, 01:55 PM I think Cryosilver's second suggestion is the key: low charisma means your character has the personal magnetism of a bedbug. They're not even properly repulsive or frightening, because that means you are noticed and actually means having good charisma (i.e. mind flayers).

Generally, I'd expect charisma of 5 to mean you're so introvert that it's close to a mental condition. You either don't talk or, for all it takes, you don't need to - you are so tedious and boring that no one pays attention anyway.
Krusk
12-02-07, 02:55 PM The PHB says cha of 5 means you have the force of personality of a "dire rat, weasle, chuul, or donkey".

How pursuasive is the average donkey?

If your walking around a petting zoo, do you pay paticular note to the donkey sleeping under that tree, or do you run over to the sheep and ducks. -i know i go to the the emu myself-

Basically your about as pursuasive as a barnyard work animal. People generally ignore you, unless they need you to do something specific that they can't do. If you both can do it, they will probably do it themselves instead of asking you, just because they dont remember you can do it.
unrepentantweed
12-06-07, 05:19 PM Thri kreen are alien beings too us. Play that angle up. Little things like not needing to sleep, regarding humanoids as dinner (elves yum), thinking in terms of clutches and treating most foes as potential meals.

If the PC also has a low wisdom you might make the character utterly innocent. The Kreen have very short lives and the character will be young.

Alternatively the kreen might be very impulsive and aggressive, and irritating. There would be no real force of personality, simply impulse. Be rude in a thoughtless way.
CryoSilver
12-08-07, 03:31 AM Keep asking your companions why they spend half their lives comatose, when they could be feasting on tasty, tasty elf flesh.

I'm a bit of an insomniac, and I ask my friends that question all the time.
Ecalsneerg
12-08-07, 04:17 PM Keep looking at people and working food into the conversation. "Those goblins will be toast, and all the loot is just gravy. Oh, you have goblin meat on your fat meaty shoulder, let me take it." *chew food*
TheScapegoat
12-08-07, 05:07 PM Alternatively if you where human and ate happily ate the goblin meat off your friends shoulder that would easily be within the realm of 5 charisma. Probably lower. :D
Elsydeon
12-08-07, 06:02 PM People think of stats in a funny way. Look at the mechanical impact they have to judge the severity. 5 Cha is a -3 to social skills and UMD, effectively. Play it like a character with a -3 diplomacy, not a '5' Charisma. They're the same thing, but people blow stats out of proportion.

Definitely play up the alien culture angle though. That's just good RP.
eamon
12-09-07, 11:49 AM People think of stats in a funny way. Look at the mechanical impact they have to judge the severity. 5 Cha is a -3 to social skills and UMD, effectively. Play it like a character with a -3 diplomacy, not a '5' Charisma. They're the same thing, but people blow stats out of proportion.

Definitely play up the alien culture angle though. That's just good RP.

That's true on the one hand. On the other, if two people are arm-wrestling IRL, almost always the stronger one will win. The d20 system exaggerates the randomness of many simple activities.

Or consider dexterity. A dexterity of 0, which indicates a helpless person, is just a - 5 modifier, and if you use an uninformed, basic d20 check, then a helpless, immobile creature will actually win an opposed dexterity check against an average human slightly more than a quarter of the time!

Similarly, a cow will outsmart an average human using an int check a quarter of the time.

Clearly, the core-mechanic should just be used in times of reasonable uncertainty, and for "normal" occurences, it vastly underestimates the importance of your stats and vastly overestimates random chance

So, whereas in d20 a -3 to diplomacy seems like an OK estimation of a charisma score of 5, normally it's not. Normally you really should be an unshaven oaf, stepping on everyones toes, with a bad case of halitosis, and universally disliked. In "everyday" life you always lose out in questions of charisma

Nevertheless, if you're dealing with the fey court, perhaps you have a 1/3 chance of winning some negotiation against a normal human - that's not because you're a better negotiator, but because that particular fairy likes asymmetry (and boy, do you have an asymmetric face), or because the duration in seconds your plea was a prime number and this fairy thought that amusing, or because of any of a number of unpredictable factors which cause events to unfold in an unpredictable fashion.

In summary: In everyday situations, a charisma score of 8 should be a very noticable impediment compared to one of 10. A person with a score of 5 should essentially never outshine one with a score of 10. But when things go haywire... pick up that d20!
Cuaglar
12-09-07, 12:46 PM Last time I had a dump stat, playing a Cleric of Kelemvor, I thought everything except Dexterity was important. So I played a sensitive, ingenious, slightly menacing champion of the faith who was clumsier than a three-legged tipsy spider (Dexterity 6.) To make things worse, our paladin lady had a Dexterity of 5. Rather haphazard.
unrepentantweed
12-09-07, 11:26 PM Cha more than any other stat has role playing implications.

When I played a type 1 driod with an Int of 20+ and Cha of 5 I had great fun being more annoying than C3PO. It was a lot of fun being a know it all when you are in fact a know it all.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sakaki22 11-30-07, 07:44 AM	I've played people with negative ability scores, particularly Charisma, in the past. I just played them as emotionally meek; soft spoken, can't get others to listen to them very well. That did really well with a Charisma of 9. My latest character, a Thri-kreen Psychic Warrior, has a Charisma score of 5. He's already set to be eccentric, as a Thri-kreen, but any ideas to push that score as a roleplayer?
BigGus 11-30-07, 07:49 AM	Not sure what you mean by "push this score", but if you're asking "how do I roleplay a character with CHA 5?", check out this thread; http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=956693
VulcanStormwrath 11-30-07, 06:51 PM	Your ways are alien to mas humanoids as theirs are to you. Do weird or unsettling things as part of your daily routine. Voice your disgust at something everyone takes for granted. Comment on what they "allow" their women to "parade around" in. In character you'll be the guy nobody really wants to talk to.
Count Arioch the 28th 11-30-07, 11:36 PM	Comment on what they "allow" their women to "parade around" in. Yeah, because everyone knows that thri-kreen are particular about how humanoid females dress. Personally, I don't think the average thri-kreen would be able to tell the difference between a male and female human at all.
CryoSilver 12-01-07, 12:04 AM	Sure it could. Males are gamier than females, and females go better with gravy. A Cha 5 character either has an unattractive personality (you could be rude, or thoughtless) or has very little personality (don't talk much, don't express opinions. Be a real wallflower. Wallbug. Wallflowerbug.)
The_Shaman 12-02-07, 01:55 PM	I think Cryosilver's second suggestion is the key: low charisma means your character has the personal magnetism of a bedbug. They're not even properly repulsive or frightening, because that means you are noticed and actually means having good charisma (i.e. mind flayers). Generally, I'd expect charisma of 5 to mean you're so introvert that it's close to a mental condition. You either don't talk or, for all it takes, you don't need to - you are so tedious and boring that no one pays attention anyway.
Krusk 12-02-07, 02:55 PM	The PHB says cha of 5 means you have the force of personality of a "dire rat, weasle, chuul, or donkey". How pursuasive is the average donkey? If your walking around a petting zoo, do you pay paticular note to the donkey sleeping under that tree, or do you run over to the sheep and ducks. -i know i go to the the emu myself- Basically your about as pursuasive as a barnyard work animal. People generally ignore you, unless they need you to do something specific that they can't do. If you both can do it, they will probably do it themselves instead of asking you, just because they dont remember you can do it.
unrepentantweed 12-06-07, 05:19 PM	Thri kreen are alien beings too us. Play that angle up. Little things like not needing to sleep, regarding humanoids as dinner (elves yum), thinking in terms of clutches and treating most foes as potential meals. If the PC also has a low wisdom you might make the character utterly innocent. The Kreen have very short lives and the character will be young. Alternatively the kreen might be very impulsive and aggressive, and irritating. There would be no real force of personality, simply impulse. Be rude in a thoughtless way.
CryoSilver 12-08-07, 03:31 AM	Keep asking your companions why they spend half their lives comatose, when they could be feasting on tasty, tasty elf flesh. I'm a bit of an insomniac, and I ask my friends that question all the time.
Ecalsneerg 12-08-07, 04:17 PM	Keep looking at people and working food into the conversation. "Those goblins will be toast, and all the loot is just gravy. Oh, you have goblin meat on your fat meaty shoulder, let me take it." chew food
TheScapegoat 12-08-07, 05:07 PM	Alternatively if you where human and ate happily ate the goblin meat off your friends shoulder that would easily be within the realm of 5 charisma. Probably lower. :D
Elsydeon 12-08-07, 06:02 PM	People think of stats in a funny way. Look at the mechanical impact they have to judge the severity. 5 Cha is a -3 to social skills and UMD, effectively. Play it like a character with a -3 diplomacy, not a '5' Charisma. They're the same thing, but people blow stats out of proportion. Definitely play up the alien culture angle though. That's just good RP.
eamon 12-09-07, 11:49 AM	People think of stats in a funny way. Look at the mechanical impact they have to judge the severity. 5 Cha is a -3 to social skills and UMD, effectively. Play it like a character with a -3 diplomacy, not a '5' Charisma. They're the same thing, but people blow stats out of proportion. Definitely play up the alien culture angle though. That's just good RP. That's true on the one hand. On the other, if two people are arm-wrestling IRL, almost always the stronger one will win. The d20 system exaggerates the randomness of many simple activities. Or consider dexterity. A dexterity of 0, which indicates a helpless person, is just a - 5 modifier, and if you use an uninformed, basic d20 check, then a helpless, immobile creature will actually win an opposed dexterity check against an average human slightly more than a quarter of the time! Similarly, a cow will outsmart an average human using an int check a quarter of the time. Clearly, the core-mechanic should just be used in times of reasonable uncertainty, and for "normal" occurences, it vastly underestimates the importance of your stats and vastly overestimates random chance So, whereas in d20 a -3 to diplomacy seems like an OK estimation of a charisma score of 5, normally it's not. Normally you really should be an unshaven oaf, stepping on everyones toes, with a bad case of halitosis, and universally disliked. In "everyday" life you always lose out in questions of charisma Nevertheless, if you're dealing with the fey court, perhaps you have a 1/3 chance of winning some negotiation against a normal human - that's not because you're a better negotiator, but because that particular fairy likes asymmetry (and boy, do you have an asymmetric face), or because the duration in seconds your plea was a prime number and this fairy thought that amusing, or because of any of a number of unpredictable factors which cause events to unfold in an unpredictable fashion. In summary: In everyday situations, a charisma score of 8 should be a very noticable impediment compared to one of 10. A person with a score of 5 should essentially never outshine one with a score of 10. But when things go haywire... pick up that d20!
Cuaglar 12-09-07, 12:46 PM	Last time I had a dump stat, playing a Cleric of Kelemvor, I thought everything except Dexterity was important. So I played a sensitive, ingenious, slightly menacing champion of the faith who was clumsier than a three-legged tipsy spider (Dexterity 6.) To make things worse, our paladin lady had a Dexterity of 5. Rather haphazard.
unrepentantweed 12-09-07, 11:26 PM	Cha more than any other stat has role playing implications. When I played a type 1 driod with an Int of 20+ and Cha of 5 I had great fun being more annoying than C3PO. It was a lot of fun being a know it all when you are in fact a know it all.