Hi, ive wanted to ask for a while now how to roleplay around the 3 spellcasting abilities. Like, if my character has a high INT, a high WIS or a high CHA then naturally the roleplay should come across as a smart, a wise and a charismatic character respectively. The question is how do i do that? Im into the roleplaying but since i cant do good voice acting i kinda just speak in my normal voice but use words i normally wouldnt. But i still end up roleplaying as "me" in the game world instead of what my image of my character was. But i dont know how much INT is low to the point of being an idiot or mildy dumb. Same with wisdom, how do you roleplay being a wise person or an unwise person if your wis stat is low. Just having trouble translating stat numbers to roleplay
#Tips on roleplaying around stats
fiery hinge
elder juniper
Hi, ive wanted to ask for a while now how to roleplay around the 3 spellcasting ...
A good reference is that a common human has a 10 in each stat
If you have say a 8 or a 9 in int it wouldnt be bad to act like your a bit more stupid than average
A 6 or a 7 i would recommend traits like being illiterate or something along those lines
Its also important to know the difference between wisdom and intelligence, if you have trouble with that feel free to ask
fiery hinge
i do have trouble with that
what separates a wise person from a smart person
relative to like game mechanics
elder juniper
Intelligence is book smarts, think of the skills that use int, history, religion, arcana, these are skills about knowing things
Wisdom is closer to being aware of the world around you, think of the skills, insight, perception, survival, these are skills relating to noticing things around you
Think of that one teacher you had that was blind(literally or figuratively) to the world around them, they would be high int low wis
@fiery hinge
fiery hinge
so if 10 is average INT
12 is you are somewhat well educated
14 is you are most definitely well educated
16 you are a prodigy and 18 you are entering genius territory?
young oracle
Hi, ive wanted to ask for a while now how to roleplay around the 3 spellcasting ...
Alright, so, quick reminder: Flavour is free. Mechanically you might have 20 intelligence, but you can always play your wizard as a bumbling, dim-witted moron who just has occasional moments of brilliance when they roll well on int-based skill checks.
With that out of the way...
Intelligence is your reasoning ability.
Wisdom is your experiential knowledge.
Charisma is your ability to sway others.
Intelligence is being able to identify a poison based on its chemical properties.
Wisdom is being able to see that the person giving you the poison is being shifty and untrustworthy about it.
Charisma is being able to convince someone else to drink the poison and believe it to be wine.
elder juniper
Alright, so, quick reminder: Flavour is free. Mechanically you might have 20 int...
You could even have your dumb barb roll high on a int check and have a rare moment of brilliance followed by the usual stupidity if you feel so inclined, it might also make sense for a character to know more about a certain subject than being generally smart, rangers and druids fall nicely into that category
fiery hinge
i understand flavor is free but im just trying to figure out how to roleplay better and not just default into playing as me irl in the game
and i figured using stats to have some kinda like
base on how to act would help
young oracle
so if 10 is average INT
10 is roughly average, but stats are also very relative; a wolf has 12 wisdom, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's wiser than a commoner in the practical sense of what wisdom means and entails.
This is where the roleplaying part of roleplaying game comes into play: You glance at the stat and then hazard a very rough guess based on the context of the situation you find yourself in. A wolf has 12 wis because it fights in a pack and is relatively wise for an animal. A commoner has 10 wis because they're bog standard average for a person.
This might sound overwhelming, but it's actually quite liberating; it means almost any answer you can give is not wrong, just different. 😉
fiery hinge
because im playing as an 8 int paladin rn but if i make a connection in the story i kinda just immediately talk about it
instead of pondering would my character make this connection
young oracle
instead of pondering *would my character make this connection*
Think about who they are as a person. If you don't believe they would know something, don't make the check unless the DM asks you to. If they pass a check and you're not sure how they would know something, just say they learned it in passing; in a distant conversation, from a book they read once. Maybe they just got it on intuition. Maybe god threw them a bone and gave them a vibe check that helped them to understand it.
The wonderful thing about D&D is any reason is basically valid. lol
fiery hinge
i think i struggle with like the opposite ends of the spectrum
what would a low wis character sound like
elder juniper
i think i struggle with like the opposite ends of the spectrum
You mean like the extremes?
fiery hinge
or a low cha
yeah like INT is very straight forward
big number smart, low number dumb
wis and cha make sense when they are above average or just average
but i wouldnt know how it translates to make low wis or low cha character
is a low wis character just a naive person
is a low cha character just a cringey person
or a quiet person
young oracle
Low Wisdom: You're naive. You believe everyone at face value. Going into a dark alleyway late at night? Sounds like fun!
Low Cha: It's difficult to get anyone to do what you want. Maybe it's because you have all the social grace of a brick. Maybe it's because you're nervous and stumble over yourself. Maybe it's because you think everyone's an idiot and don't keep that to yourself. Maybe you just don't have a trustworthy face, no matter how hard you try. Any answer valid, really.
fiery hinge
mmm i see
those are good starting points
again i know the stats dont have to reflect the roleplay
young oracle
Oh yeah no worries. Take your time, figure it out, and have fun doing it. 
fiery hinge
i would just like it if they do, since i like it in games
i remember playing fallout 2, low int basically gave you an entirely different experience
people treated you like an idiot
and your dialogue options got changed entirely
i like that
and i would like to be able to roleplay stuff like that but i dont know how lmao
elder juniper
One of my more fun ideas was to flavor a high con stat as a high pain tolerance, hes not the typical build of high con(rather the opposite) but he cant really feel much, theres trauma dont worry about it
fiery hinge
One of my more fun ideas was to flavor a high con stat as a high pain tolerance,...
thats pretty cool actually
elder juniper
thats pretty cool actually
He was also a bit of a masochist, he once put his hand into the campfire to see if he could feel it, he couldnt, the resident cleric pulled it out of course
Note that he did take fire damage, he just didnt feel it