.You can use your character's Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores to guide you in roleplaying your character. Here is some background (just guidelines) about what these scores can mean.
A smart character (one with high Intelligence) is curious, knowledgeable, and prone to using big words. A character with a high intelligence but low Wisdom may be smart but absentminded, or knowledgeable but lacking in common sense. A character with high Intelligence by low Charisma may be a know-it-all or a reclusive scholar. A smart character lacking in both Wisdom and Charisma may put her foot in her mouth often.
A character with low intelligence mispronounces and misuses words, has trouble following directions, or fails to get he joke.
A character with high Wisdom may be sensible, serene, "in tune," alert, or centered. A character with high Wisdom but low intelligence may be aware, but simple. A character with high Wisdom but low Charisma knows enough to speak carefully and may become an advisor (or "power behind the throne") rather than a leader. The wise character lacking both Intelligence and Charisma is uncouth and unsophisticated.
A character with a low Wisdom score may be rash, imprudent, irresponsible, or "out of it."
A character with high Charisma may be attractive, striking, personable, and confident. A character with high Charisma but low Intelligence can usually pas herself of as knowledgeable, until she meets a true expert. A charismatic character with low Wisdom may be popular, but she doesn't know who her real friends are. A charismatic character lacking both Intelligent and Wisdom is likely to be shallow and unaware of others' feelings.
A character with low Charisma may be reserved, gruff, rude, fawning, or simply nondescript.
Other things to remember:
- There are various methods of assigning ability scores, but throwing dice to determine the total number of ability points (or worse still, plucking the number of points out of thin air), and then spreading these points across abilities however you like is not one of them. The one that seems the most flesible is throwing six sets of 3D6 (three times six-sided dice) and assigning the six resulting scores to the abilities in whichever order you like.
- Because ability scores are determined by 3D6, it's therefore quite unlikely you'll get anything more than 15 or 16 in even one ability, let alone multiple abilities.
- 3D6 works out as 3-18, the average being 10.5, thus 10 is what most "regular humans" in D&D are considered to have. Even 11 is considered to be above average for an ability score.
Edited by NiGHTMARE, 12 July 2004 - 05:19 AM.
