RPing very high intelligence or wisdom

[AC81]

About to start a new PC who will finish with a very high intelligence and it occurred to me I've only ever played characters whose intelligence reaches 12-14. How would you RP a character with 30 intelligence for example, or 34, or 36? Is there a significant difference between those higher levels? How do you RP someone who is much smarter than you are as a player!
Any tips would be welcome.

[Tsidkenu]

Do your lore work is all I can advise. Figure out which areas of expertise your character has and research them OOCly as much as you can. Take notes if you have to and store useful tidbits in your IC journal. Note that while 30 INT puts your char beyond genius intelligence, it does not make your character omniscient. Having a decent pool of OOC knowledge means you can pick and choose what you want -your- character to actually know, even though as a player you have far more meta-knowledge of lore/server history/campaign setting history etc.

By way of example, Aeili has 34 INT and 18 WIS. I RP her knowledge of magic as supreme, supported by reading sourcebooks like Magic of Faerun, Volo's Guide to all things Magical, as well as the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting & Player's Guide to Faerun and then adapt the knowledge to the character's unique background & also the timeline (1353 DR).

I supplemented that lore with Elves of Evermeet, Faiths & Avatars(2nd ed.), Faith's & Pantheons (3.5 ed.) to go along with with Aeili's specialised focii: Lore Arcana, Lore Religion, Lore Planes. So I did additional reading of the Planescape setting as it pertains to the Forgotten Realms and I am able to adapt that as I see fit.

Aeili's high wisdom score means she doesn't just -know- stuff but is also able to apply it effectively in a given situation. I see wisdom score also as a marker of your character's penchant for risk-taking behaviours. The lower your wisdom, the more likely your character will make brash, hasty decisions with little consideration of their possible consequences. The higher the wisdom, the more cautious they will be in their decision-making process based on the knowledge (intelligence) they have.

Also, high intelligence means an impressive ability to scheme. The effectiveness of scheming will depend on your wisdom score, as the following video attempts to illustrate:



Good luck!

[AC81]

Thanks mate, I better brush up on my UD lore then!

[Hrafnar]

Depending on how RL you want to get - I've met ridiculously intelligent people that have an in-depth understanding of a small variety of fields but seem very naive about things most people take for granted. This is where wisdom comes in, I guess. Wisdom represents intuition, experience, the ability to read situations. Intelligence represents problem-solving, comprehension of new information and memory.

Charisma could be the ability to communicate these concepts thus a very charismatic individual can come across as much smarter or wiser than they actually are, and vice versa.

Personally I would be surprised if a character reached 28+ intelligence without some degree of social awkwardness. Their brains are operating on such a different level they could almost be a different species. This does not mean they always make good decisions, however.

Just my take on it, I usually RP salt of the earth types.

[Flasmix]

High intelligence is the ability to come up with multiple solutions to a problem.

High wisdom is the ability to pick which of those solutions is best.

[CleverUsername123]

(deleted)

[izzul]

Charismatic = Captain America

intelligence = Professor Xavier

intelligence + wisdom = Gandalf

strength + intelligence + dexterity = Batman

dexterity + decent charisma(beauty) = Black Widow/ Hawke

Strength + Constitution + decent charisma = Thor

Strength + Constitution + low charisma = Hulk

//just my opinion and subject to correction, idea, and criticism

[Hrafnar]

Hehe that's good. I reckon Xavier develops wisdom as he levels whereas Magneto invests in charisma. Cap also probably has straight 18s in str, dex and con. Hate to see what his int and wis look like.

I guess you can have a high intelligence low charisma character that still invests in diplomacy or bluff. This could be the manipulator type, if that's what you wanted.

Alignment is also a consideration. I would think that 30 Int would manifest very differently in a LN character than a CE one, for example.

[chad878262]

I just RP my natural self.

But you said you aren't really a gnome!

[AC81]

I just RP my natural self.

lol, some of us aren't so lucky Chambo!

[Sun Wukong]

How do you RP someone who is much smarter than you are as a player!
Any tips would be welcome.

Grow a beard, keep stroking it, and chuckle occasionally. It is basically all you need to do to appear smarter than everyone else involved in some form of campfire RP.

Edit: And you know, point out mistakes after they happen, and if someone calls you out on it... For example, why didn't you advice otherwise. Well, just have your character state that he is a bit of a gambling man, and how hard it is to get a mule to walk without the right carrot. Followed by some beard strokes and bemused chuckles.

So once again, grow a beard, and stroke it! Hey, it worked for Gandalf, and if you think about it that guy stumbled through one mistake after another!

[Steve]

Hope the below helps you figure it out, AC81. See below the quote for my own opinion on Abilities:

Strength

1 (–5): Morbidly weak, has significant trouble lifting own limbs
2-3 (–4): Needs help to stand, can be knocked over by strong breezes
4-5 (–3): Knocked off balance by swinging something dense
6-7 (–2): Difficulty pushing an object of their weight
8-9 (–1): Has trouble even lifting heavy objects
10-11 (0): Can literally pull their own weight
12-13 (1): Carries heavy objects for short distances
14-15 (2): Visibly toned, throws small objects for long distances
16-17 (3): Carries heavy objects with one arm
18-19 (4): Can break objects like wood with bare hands
20-21 (5): Able to out-wrestle a work animal or catch a falling person
22-23 (6): Can pull very heavy objects at appreciable speeds
24-25 (7): Pinnacle of brawn, able to out-lift several people

Dexterity

1 (–5): Barely mobile, probably significantly paralyzed
2-3 (–4): Incapable of moving without noticeable effort or pain
4-5 (–3): Visible paralysis or physical difficulty
6-7 (–2): Significant klutz or very slow to react
8-9 (–1): Somewhat slow, occasionally trips over own feet
10-11 (0): Capable of usually catching a small tossed object
12-13 (1): Able to often hit large targets
14-15 (2): Can catch or dodge a medium-speed surprise projectile
16-17 (3): Able to often hit small targets
18-19 (4): Light on feet, able to often hit small moving targets
20-21 (5): Graceful, able to flow from one action into another easily
22-23 (6): Very graceful, capable of dodging a number of thrown objects
24-25 (7): Moves like water, reacting to all situations with almost no effort

Constitution

1 (–5): Minimal immune system, body reacts violently to anything foreign
2-3 (–4): Frail, suffers frequent broken bones
4-5 (–3): Bruises very easily, knocked out by a light punch
6-7 (–2): Unusually prone to disease and infection
8-9 (–1): Easily winded, incapable of a full day’s hard labor
10-11 (0): Occasionally contracts mild sicknesses
12-13 (1): Can take a few hits before being knocked unconscious
14-15 (2): Able to labor for twelve hours most days
16-17 (3): Easily shrugs off most illnesses
18-19 (4): Able to stay awake for days on end
20-21 (5): Very difficult to wear down, almost never feels fatigue
22-23 (6): Never gets sick, even to the most virulent diseases
24-25 (7): Tireless paragon of physical endurance

Intelligence

1 (–5): Animalistic, no longer capable of logic or reason
2-3 (–4): Barely able to function, very limited speech and knowledge
4-5 (–3): Often resorts to charades to express thoughts
6-7 (–2): Often misuses and mispronounces words
8-9 (–1): Has trouble following trains of thought, forgets most unimportant things
10-11 (0): Knows what they need to know to get by
12-13 (1): Knows a bit more than is necessary, fairly logical
14-15 (2): Able to do math or solve logic puzzles mentally with reasonable accuracy
16-17 (3): Fairly intelligent, able to understand new tasks quickly
18-19 (4): Very intelligent, may invent new processes or uses for knowledge
20-21 (5): Highly knowledgeable, probably the smartest person many people know
22-23 (6): Able to make Holmesian leaps of logic
24-25 (7): Famous as a sage and genius

Wisdom

1 (–5): Seemingly incapable of thought, barely aware
2-3 (–4): Rarely notices important or prominent items, people, or occurrences
4-5 (–3): Seemingly incapable of forethought
6-7 (–2): Often fails to exert common sense
8-9 (–1): Forgets or opts not to consider options before taking action
10-11 (0): Makes reasoned decisions most of the time
12-13 (1): Able to tell when a person is upset
14-15 (2): Can get hunches about a situation that doesn’t feel right
16-17 (3): Reads people and situations fairly well
18-19 (4): Often used as a source of wisdom or decider of actions
20-21 (5): Reads people and situations very well, almost unconsciously
22-23 (6): Can tell minute differences among many situations
24-25 (7): Nearly prescient, able to reason far beyond logic

Charisma

1 (–5): Barely conscious, probably acts heavily autistic
2-3 (–4): Minimal independent thought, relies heavily on others to think instead
4-5 (–3): Has trouble thinking of others as people
6-7 (–2): Terribly reticent, uninteresting, or rude
8-9 (–1): Something of a bore or makes people mildly uncomfortable
10-11 (0): Capable of polite conversation
12-13 (1): Mildly interesting, knows what to say to the right people
14-15 (2): Interesting, knows what to say to most people
16-17 (3): Popular, receives greetings and conversations on the street
18-19 (4): Immediately likeable by many people, subject of favorable talk
20-21 (5): Life of the party, able to keep people entertained for hours
22-23 (6): Immediately likeable by almost everybody
24-25 (7): Renowned for wit, personality, and/or looks

I feel it is impossible to actually RP Abilities as they are represented by a numerical number that can increase to god-like ability.

So what I do, when RPing my characters, through their entire life, is RP their Abilities as they are at Character creation.

With an INT-based Character then, if I started her at 16 INT, she would be "16-17 (3): Fairly intelligent, able to understand new tasks quickly." If I made a Character starting at 18 INT, then she would be "18-19 (4): Very intelligent, may invent new processes or uses for knowledge." Now, some races can be started at Ability X at 20, which means, there is possibility for having a Character that I would RP as "20-21 (5): Highly knowledgeable, probably the smartest person many people know."

So why do I do this? Because 1) it makes my life easier, because trying to RP something I have no capacity to actually understand, is well...not my cup of tea; 2) I don't have to wait until Level 30 in order to "be the Character I want it to be"—they can be that over-analytical smarty-pants from day one, until Day of Death.

And do I honor the Sheet, when in reality, the INT does continue to climb? Yes, I do...by RPing the Character to have simply been training their natural abilities to the utmost potential possible. So, my initial INT 20 PC may reach INT 30 in their "lifetime of experience," but those last 30 points are really the lifetime of training and development, not any sort of actually brain size increase, or something like that.

What I wrote above, I believe, can be translated to any of the Abilities of a PC. And, can quickly give you a way to invest in the personality of the Character, instead of getting hung up on the "how the hellz does a super smart nerd wizard think?"

Cheers.

[ZestyDragon]

I feel it is impossible to actually RP Abilities as they are represented by a numerical number that can increase to god-like ability.

I agree with this right here, My character currently has 40 wisdom that is two more then Selune his goddess. Now its entirely unrealistic to play that for two reasons, Firstly i am not even close to the wisdom of a god IRL and secondly neither is he IC. My suggestion would be to ignore the actual number and just use it as an indicator for high, average or low intelligence. Then just do your best to portray it without getting concerned or strung up on not achieving the exactly level.

[thids]

This ties back into the "what effective level are our characters actually?" IMO. You usually get most of your attribute point increases in epic levels through epic feats. Take those away, 2 extra points from 24 and 28 and treat that as the base intelligence/wisdom of your character. Mind you it is still difficult to RP even an 18 intelligence/wisdom character, but at least it is not otherwordly.

[Calen]

I've always found this an interesting subject in D&D.

In my opinion , you simply can't and shouldn't be bothered by it.
The moment you restrict your D&D char to your RL limitations it might end up sucking out the fun of it.
\

Intelligence: Not being able to comprehend what you aren't yourself, is what comes to mind when I think of intelligence.
A genius mind is something eccentric but also vastly different in terms of thinking, capturing the true essence of that in RP is a difficult task since chances are you can't think like that.
Being able to memorize large amounts of information doesn't always equal high intelligence, but for RP it will make your character appear 'smart'.


On the other hand you can imagine what a high intelligent wizard would do in his lab.
You could RP a socially awkward wizard, perhaps ask your self the question' why would a high int wizard be socially awkward?'
Than go from there.



Wisdom: Unlike intelligence wisdom is something that can be obtained through life experience and exploration.
However wisdom requires self reflection and cognitive/emotional empathy which usually ends up with being patient and foresight, if you lack some in RL chances are you will struggle with rping a character with a lot of it.
Though I wouldn't take it black and white when it comes to wisdom, even wise people can be impulsive and irrational from time to time.


Charisma:

Natural charisma is something you have or don't have and cannot be taught.
If you have it you will be aware of it since people will be drawn too you.
Charisma can be taught up to some extend though but here is the catch.
You could make a 8 charisma half orc, if you are in RL naturally charismatic people will still be drawn too you aka you are a powergamer.


What I'm trying to say is well, enjoy the game and don't let it restrict you.
At best it is a fun way to explore yourself while rping.