high wis low int characters

[aaron22]

i find it fairly challenging to RP a character with very high wisdom (>20) but very low int (<8). complicating this is also a very low cha so what ever this would be must also be annoying and/or bothersome.

i generally RP him as being disciplined and hard working, but with very very low perception. that he works harder than everyone else or is more disciplined than anyone else is because he is pretty self-centered. he would be too wise to be a babbling idoit. so i play him as he thinks he is smarter than he actually is and has 100% confidence that he is correct even when he is completely wrong. which he is more often than not.

sound about right?

[burbles]

High Wis = High Perception, good after-the-fact understanding.
Low Int = Low processing power, weak reasoning and slow learning.
Low Cha = Low Presence, basicaly.

[ZestyDragon]

so i play him as he thinks he is smarter than he actually is and has 100% confidence that he is correct even when he is completely wrong. which he is more often than not.

While that would be a low int, i wouldn't consider that wise. Self aware, experienced, willing to listen and accept advice from people who know more then you. Are all traits of a wise man.

Intelligence on the other hand is basically how much information you can retain and recall. I would play him as trying to learn but struggling to understand or easy to forget. Ask everyone a million questions and drive them up the wall. For low charisma? Go watch big bang theory and take Sheldons social skills, combo that with the forgetfulness and million questions and you have it down.

[Storm Munin]

Basically Dory in Finding Nemo?

[aaron22]

ok.. so allow me to complicate this some... he's lawful and disciplined by class.

[aaron22]

the constant questions doesnt feel very disciplined....

[Storm Munin]

Dory in Finding Nemo, with a splash of the jailers in Life of Brian?

Slow learning curb, interesting awkward social behaviour but very dutiful and loyal at heart?



Id say the ending is maybe off for what you are after, but that could work to.


OT: Some prison guards at work actually has the play of the last scene down to an art, even if they dont overdo it that much when they dont want to be involved in that extra something I am obviously about to ask of them. It can be hilarious if frustrating to be a supervisor at times.

[Hoihe]

so i play him as he thinks he is smarter than he actually is and has 100% confidence that he is correct even when he is completely wrong. which he is more often than not.

While that would be a low int, i wouldn't consider that wise. Self aware, experienced, willing to listen and accept advice from people who know more then you. Are all traits of a wise man.

Intelligence on the other hand is basically how much information you can retain and recall. I would play him as trying to learn but struggling to understand or easy to forget. Ask everyone a million questions and drive them up the wall. For low charisma? Go watch big bang theory and take Sheldons social skills, combo that with the forgetfulness and million questions and you have it down.

I wouldn't put forgetfulness to intelligence, unless we consider absent-minded and forgetfullness different.

I always approached low wisdom as having trouble keeping track of minute details that end up slipping by their attention, or pay attention to the wrong things.

High wisdom would be a very high attention to detail without being blinded by the tree. Seeing both the forest and the tree.

Low intelligence would mean the character has difficulties actually building on their perceptions.

[chad878262]

Aren't most adventurers low WIS? I mean, of course there are the Rangers, Paladins, Druids, and Clerics of the world with high WIS, but that still go out and risk their lives for the greater good, a place at their deities side, balance, or whatever.... But I would say most adventurers, even exceedingly intelligent ones are not all that wise... I mean, you can come up with a brilliant strategy to fight an Ancient White Wyrm, but that does not make it WISE to attempt to execute said strategy!

[Sokolsky]

I'm a fan of goodreads quotes

About intelligence:

Any fool can know. The point is to understand.

About wisdom:

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

I guess the latter is especially applicable for the low int / high wis character.

[aaron22]

ok so with all your input i have worked through some guidelines to use. of course race and backstory are gonna fill the model out, but here are my ideas.

High Wis: Knows things that are visible and tangible in his world. has developed a sense of understanding and reacts well to situations in his normal conditions. has a sense of perception that goes further than himself and those he finds in his travels. understands the world is a big place and the small can have an effect on the large and visa versa. observations provide input that can be used to reference past experiences.

Low Int: does not adapt quickly to new situations. is unlikely to know why or how. will not have a complete grasp of details and variables that provide different results. can handle only a few instructions at one time. sorting mental processes will be challenging. understands the limits to his abilities but often doesn't know how to grow beyond them in ways he is unfamiliar and must be instructed several times to find these advantages.

Low Cha w/ High Wis and Low Int: Understands that everyone is not the same but doesn't always feel this is acceptable. knows well himself but unable to accurately express self. becomes frustrated easily when confused by new inputs. carries the experiences that he was able to learn from and applies them to situations that are close but not necessarily the same.

Lawful w/ Low Cha, Low Int and High Wis: follows a strict set of rules without complete understanding of every detail and unable to apply the generalizations in many situations. often confuses what the rules imply above what he experiences. understands that results of these rules may take time and effort to show. understands that while he is benefited by these rules that not everyone would get the same results from such rules but thinks that he is better for it and that his dedication and growth have placed him in a higher stature than others that do not. does not know why he gets results from following these rules even when it seems obvious. ex. running to exhaustion everyday results in him being able to run further and faster through better O2 efficiency and muscle growth and composition. prefers a hierarchy and how it operates, but wouldn't see himself being manipulated inside of such structure. although, he might get "a feeling" something isn't right just cannot put his finger on it.

how does this sound?

[BloodRiot]

High Wis, Low Int and Cha.... isn't that basically Forrest Gump?

Edit:
(oh great.. replied to a thread whose previous reply is near one month old... Guess my perception stats are on display.)

[Calodan]

Take a gander at a movie called the 10th Kingdom. In it Virginia joins a competition where they need a dog. They have a dog but he is turned to gold. The wishing well idiot tells em they got a dog........Low INT High WIS. Straight up. Says some of the most idiotic shit but for some reason it is right..........

[Flasmix]

I've always thought the explanation found here explains it well.
http://www.gamegrene.com/node/385

In game systems with both intelligence and wisdom as ability scores, the player is presented with several challenges. First and foremost among these is the challenge of playing a character with a higher intelligence or wisdom than the player. Personally, I don't know the answer to this question. But I have a few ideas about the second most important question, "How do I roleplay a discernable difference between the two abilities?"
As has been expressed in other articles, everything in a roleplaying game can be boiled down to a problem. This is true from a trap, a monster, or an NPC. I will attempt to explain my perception of the difference between intelligence and wisdom by describing a scene where four characters approach a trap and try to decide the best way around the problem. The four characters in the party have varying levels of intelligence and wisdom; low intelligence and low wisdom (in this example, the Fighter), high intelligence and low wisdom (the Thief), low intelligence and high wisdom (the Priest), and high intelligence and high wisdom (the Wizard).
So, our party of four noble heroes is traveling in the woods. Suddenly the thief spots a trip wire across the path."Everyone stop where you are, there's a tripwire across the path." Okay, so the point here isn't the dialogue. The thief goes on to explore and reveals the tripwire leads to a primitive trap that could seriously wound commoners but not do much damage to powerful people such as themselves.
The fighter approaches the trap and comes up with three options, bash the trap, go around the trap, or set off the trap (figuring they'll all be fine). The fighter's low intelligence is reflected in the limited number of options he can come up with to deal with the practical dimension of the trap. His low intelligence is reflected in his lack of care for the reason the trap is there, the purpose of the trap, or the trap's connection to the party, if any. In general, his low wisdom prevents him from making connections between the object of his attention and larger contexts. Secondly, his low wisdom prevents him from considering the consequences of each option. Thus he does not consider bashing the trap might set it off, and he does not consider the possibility they would all be 'fine' by setting it off.

Now when the thief approaches the trap, he sees several options immediately. In addition to the three presented by the fighter, he comes up with some additional non-mechanical options: including going back the way they came and lying in wait for the owner of the trap. His higher intelligence, without consideration of his skill with traps, allows him a couple of more options than those presented by the Fighter. I mention these options to demonstrate intelligence is a dimension independent of skill. With intelligence and skill, the thief presents a variety of additional options, including setting the trap off in a way that won't hurt anyone, disable the trap in a subtle way that won't look like sabotage, trap the trap so the owner is nabbed when she comes to maintain or check it, et cetera... you get the idea. These ideas involve understanding of the mechanism, cunning, and ingenuity. There is more awareness of the trap being in a context since some of these plans involve the understanding that someone set the trap. Extremely high intelligence might peer into the broader contexts of time, location, interpersonal conflict to discern the nature of the trap. However, even these broader contexts will only present options for dealing with the trap; they will not assist in discerning the best course of action. Intelligence presents ways of solving problems, wisdom helps discern how or if to solve a problem and why. Let's move on to the Priest to see this principle in action.
The cleric in our example has high wisdom but low intelligence. He sees the same options for dealing with the trap the fighter sees. But, he isn't really concerned about these options. He figures the thief will come up with more options than he does. The cleric's mind starts seeking the meaning of the trap immediately. At first this might be in the form of questions: "Who set this trap? Why did they place it here? Is it intended for us or for someone else? Is the trap's purpose to delay / kill / capture / distract?" In order to answer these questions, the cleric considers the information available to him. It is crude, so it probably wasn't their nemesis Morta, as he would try more elaborate and deadly traps. It's able is to wound several weaker people, so this is set with malicious intent. We are traveling on a road used very often, so it probably isn't for us specifically. In the end, the cleric decides this trap's context indicates it is probably set to ambush a random group of travelers. But he still doesn't have a clue on what to do about the trap!
Now enter the wizard, in this example the only one in the party with both a high wisdom and a high intelligence. He makes all of the assessments of the others, but goes further: the wizard finds the best way of tying both the need for a solution to the trap and an understanding of the context. He decides, based on the information provided by the thief that they should leave and return in disguise a little later. When they return, they will set off the trap, make it look like it wounded them and wait for the trapper(s), to teach them a lesson.
In the end, the group follows the wizard's plan and everyone's skills are used: the thief's in finding and setting off the trap, the fighter's in dealing with the trapper(s), the cleric's defensive spells and healing are used when the dust settles, and the wizard's both for the plan and a few flashes to make sure the battle tips in the right direction.
In conclusion, when roleplaying wisdom and intelligence, here are my handy rules of thumb, paraphrased from a professor of mine: "Intelligence tells you what the problem is and how to solve it, wisdom tells you whether or not you should." Here's another one for good measure: "Intelligence asks, 'What?' Wisdom asks, 'Why?'"