Just a few questions regarding roleplaying of above- and below-average attributes. It seems its quite easy for me to do some or most below-average. Curious as to how our other players do so:
* how do you 'react' to someone's presence other than their appearance or behaviour? (Specifically, heroism or leadership qualities? Is that still covered in Charisma?)
* I have no problem playing 'dumb', but how do I portray my character smarter than I, the player, am?
* Do we portray our attributes when shifted/shapechanged/wildshaped as they are reflected on our character sheets (including, for that matter, boosts from spells and/or items)? If so, is it correct to say that someone is 'dumber' or 'more clever' when in a given shape or form that presents such attribute-wise?
Smarter than you are is hard. Logical memory usually is swingable with logs/notebooks stuff, that your character has seen heard, take lots of notes.
_________________ Dwagin [Duh-wa-GIN] N. - 1a. Small and cute thingum, particularly fond of four legged scaled creatures of the metalic and chromatic varieties.
Your starting attributes are how you should act initially, as they define your character without any magical influence. However, when taking into consideration such things as potions, scrolls, equipment and any other kind of magical boost or demerit regarding such things, you could simply more offputting. That is to say, some kind of item that drains your charisma, would make you less likeable and thus you may say things in a manner that you wouldn't normally. Likewise when weilding a weapon or bracer or the like that grants additional strength, possibly even to the bounds of being on level with Hercules in terms of sheer demi-godlike physical strength, but being left strained and exhausted when deprived of them.
If all else fails, empty intelligence and dump it all into strength. Problem solved.
RPing stats above the 18 mark is nigh impossible as we are then talking super-human abilities. I take the easy road: anything above 10 I RP as better than average, and anything below 10 I see as below average. Physical stats are easy enough, but mental ones, especially charisma, can be very difficult. I doubt there are any good definitive answers.
_________________ "Edwin do this, Edwin do that. Somebody get this jerk a banana!" - Edwin, BG II
Valygar 'Stonesnake' Stark -Human Ranger Garret Smith - Archer and peddler of deity-statuettes Dáin Saltbeard - Dwarven sailor and fencer. No, I'm not joking.
To my knowledge for base stats: 8 = commoner/average. 10 = Above average. 18 = Normal maximal human ability. (Think Olympic Athlete/Genius etc)
_________________ Dwagin [Duh-wa-GIN] N. - 1a. Small and cute thingum, particularly fond of four legged scaled creatures of the metalic and chromatic varieties.
-Extraordinarily ordinary in the mostest of ways.
Last edited by Dwagin on Sat, Jun 04 2011, 2:53 AM, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Location: The downeaster "Alexa"
Dwagin wrote:
I am unable to find the old thread which covered something like this.. a year or two ago. But I do remember one example from it I used: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--4pQX-jnX0 For 18 dex.
I'd like to add though that dex is more than just flexibility as well. It's overall quickness and readiness towards motion. How good does your body follow the things you want it to do, in other words. People in the field I deal with would call them "fast-twitch muscles" and such.
Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Location: The downeaster "Alexa"
Generally, yes, that's why they're called Epic.
But when I said 20+, I meant someone with 20 or more points of constitution. As in being able to fall flat on their face from a great height, hurt, bur relatively undamaged in terms of functionality. Least that's how it was with my barby in a DM event years ago. ^^
_________________ Dwagin [Duh-wa-GIN] N. - 1a. Small and cute thingum, particularly fond of four legged scaled creatures of the metalic and chromatic varieties.
There really is no correct answer to the TC's question. You RP the stats to the best of your ability, but even then there are exceptions.
A 6 wis space cadet will realize after burning his hand on the oven that you shouldn't touch the oven. Similarly, the 6 int half orc probably recognizes that sparkle-squishy-man can cast that one mystic whatsits that makes his weapon ON FIRE and ask for it in a reasonably knowledgable statement, even if it comes out as "Urrr... you make fire on choppa'?"
When it comes to "superhuman" statistics, borrow from what exists. For wizards, it's easy to appear intelligent. Use good grammar, have very long "chat entries" instead of rapid fire. Less contractions also tends to give off an "intellectual" feel. Use your journal. All these things when combined in text give the feel of a deliberate, well to do, slow spoken man. Don't be afraid to google things to look smarter than you are!
On the opposite spectrum, very short lines entered rapid fast give the idea of a chatty person, rambling on and on and on. If you're a very fast typist, you can combine it with the above and be REALLY chatty with block after block of text.
Charisma is probaby the hardest. No amount of googling or typing will give you the ability to be inspiring, pr charismatic, or dig up a cult of personality, or whatever via text if you just don't have it. That's not a bad thing though: Just do the best you can. DMs will understand and I bet PCs will too.
Physical stats can largely be done by borrowing from action films, or comic books, or other fantasy fare. Just make sure that your particular flavor of "over the top" is allowable, of course. DMs are helpful in this because we can apply the reaction to your superhuman powers to the environment without you needing to worry about if it's alright or not. See: Dwagin's signature, where super strength has him busting down walls with his hands.
I rambled on about nothing. If you read past the first line, congrats. If you didn't, it's fine, that was the main message anyways.
_________________ Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham
Keep in mind that dexterity is stupid. It makes no sense whatsoever. It is a dumb abstraction that flipflops back and forth between different concepts with wishy-washy context sensitivity.
Example: strength. Strength is literally your muscular capacity. It is how hard you hit, how much you can lift, and how well you can fight. Every punch, kick, jump, whatever, depends on your strength. This is perfectly understandable and workable.
The same goes for all the other stats. Constitution is your ability to resist and endure afflictions, be they natural or magical. Intelligence is just that, your mental ability. Charisma is your force of personality, your soul of sorts, and wisdom is your oneness with the universe. Wisdom is your tie to the planes and its various deities and such.
But dexterity? Dexterity is dumb. Dexterity measures your ability to wiggle, tumble, tickle, and generally work things with your fingers. But it is commonly used for speed and quickness as well. The same physical ability score that lets you safely trigger a trap, disable it, the one that lets you fire a bow accurately, is the same ability that lets you roll around like an idiot. If it were just that sort of context in which dexterity were used--both by mechanics and roleplaying--maybe it would be better, but then you get feats like Blinding Speed (even if no one takes it) and every DEX-heavy person around thinks they're the fucking Flash.
Just remember this: if you ever try to pick a fight with a weapon master or barbarian, your dexterity is only good for dodging and tumbling away, maybe poking at their eyes for effect. They have the musculature and endurance to outpace you over any distance. They will catch you, and when they do, they will kill you.
Joined: 17 Feb 2007 Location: Patrollink ze borderz! Wo ist das Hahn!?
I approve of Colapops... I also approve of the Morrowind Attribute system. Your Dexterity can suck mah knockdown biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeetch.
_________________ 'Ze Cock! Ze Cock ist shtill aut der!! Kapitulation feiern - NEIN DANKE!'
* how do you 'react' to someone's presence other than their appearance or behaviour? (Specifically, heroism or leadership qualities? Is that still covered in Charisma?)
Chiefly, the presence must be roleplayed, but without CHA it shouldn't be roleplayed. Specifically heroism and leadership qualities.
Quote:
* I have no problem playing 'dumb', but how do I portray my character smarter than I, the player, am?
Good grammar, posh scientific words, less vulgarities, do not prate too much (maths is all about making it short and simple, many genious minds adopt this). It's not possible for the character to be smarter than you, of course, but do your best![/quote]
Quote:
* Do we portray our attributes when shifted/shapechanged/wildshaped[...]
To my knowledge the attributes WIS, INT and CHA always remain the same when shifted and thus should be played so.
On the opposite spectrum, very short lines entered rapid fast give the idea of a chatty person, rambling on and on and on. If you're a very fast typist, you can combine it with the above and be REALLY chatty with block after block of text.
Kammy to a T.
/nod
_________________ Dwagin [Duh-wa-GIN] N. - 1a. Small and cute thingum, particularly fond of four legged scaled creatures of the metalic and chromatic varieties.
Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Location: Victoria, BC, Canada
Colapops wrote:
Just remember this: if you ever try to pick a fight with a weapon master or barbarian, your dexterity is only good for dodging and tumbling away, maybe poking at their eyes for effect. They have the musculature and endurance to outpace you over any distance. They will catch you, and when they do, they will kill you.
Nooo, it is also good for Hiding and crippling strike! Hiding, and selective stabbing, yeah dexers!
Joined: 29 Dec 2009 Location: A beautiful fowl house in A'dam
For faked intelligence, troll through a synonym dictionary and pick out fancy-sounding or rarely used words to use in normal conversation. Be sure to spell correctly, and go for "I will" instead of "I'll" etc. Capitalise, check grammar and use punctuation. I wouldn't go for scientific terms picked from random articles, though. You're trying to create an illusion of intelligence and that illusion is broken when another player realises you really have no clue what you're talking about, even if it's your character using the terms. That's the most common failure of faked smartness, people who do know the terms in detail will immediately lose the critical "suspension of disbelief", which is what all this comes down to.
Made up fancy words to, for example, discuss a magical theory work better. Just work out a few beforehand, with some reasoning behind your "theory". It doesn't have to be correct or even actually logical, as long as you have some BS to back it up. Then go and discuss this theory in RP and if you're challenged go for the offensive and point at the lack of evidence from your debate partner, or point out flaws in their theory, or ask them to disprove you.
Here's a good link for further reading on the techniques:
Wisdom is probably far harder to play properly than Intelligence. Ever seen a movie with a 'genius' character? They tend to like maths and formulas that the screen never quite shows properly. So basically, at the very least you can make up some nonsense formulas and just avoid Yurell. Forever.
Second option, choose someone smart from history and COPY.
_________________ Wyjyn: Loving all of you (and above all Disco) since 11 Jan 2007.
rubix cubes are easy once you learn how they work. solve for the center brick for each side.
_________________ Dwagin [Duh-wa-GIN] N. - 1a. Small and cute thingum, particularly fond of four legged scaled creatures of the metalic and chromatic varieties.
if you mean by smart, a wizard or something with epic INT, just learn all the keywords and try to improve as you go icly
ie: circle = level of magic, you scoff at being called mage instead of evoker, etc.
and before long you'll be anouncing yourself as 'insert name here' the great, archmagi of the nth circle.
I don't always do this for all my characters, but look for a pnp prestige class and work toward something like that. goals, you always need a goal, and epic knowledge is a good start...loremaster anyone?
I guess don't be afraid to be wrong either, playing a dippy character is doable aswell, it doesn't mean your dumb, it mean you 'appear to be' like how someone could tell you what five thousand divided by another large number and then the square root, in their heads, but can't tell a wrench from a hammer.
ed: regarding shifters and stuff, languages no unless you learned it icly or know it, and only three of the 6 stats change when you shift...personally I remain IC with a hint of the new shape. (or in the case of wildshape I do not speak, emotes or 'howwwl!' ...we've all see the poly potions go wrong and peoples natural reation is either 'buck buck' or 'moo!' you know >_> it can be more descriptive of course.)
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like how someone could tell you what five thousand divided by another large number and then the square root, in their heads, but can't tell a wrench from a hammer.