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Old 05-03-2018, 08:38 PM   #1
tanksoldier
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Default High Wis Low Int character?

So, I've been an D&D player since 1979. I've stuck with v3.5 for all these years but the group I play other games with uses 5e so our next game will be using that system.

Since it's a new game and a new system I decided to switch up my usual charcter types (some version of a ranger/ cleric or paladin) and play a fairly straight forward half-orc Fighter-Champion/ Outlander.

He was taken in by a temple at some point and trained as a warrior to assist and defend officials of the faith on missions for the Church... his Bond to another member of the party.

After die rolls and race modifiers I end up with the following stats:

Str-20, Dex-14, Con-16, Int-6, Wis-16, Cha-12

I don't want to play the stereotypical low- Cha half orc, and high-Int/ low Wis is the typical "book learning but no common sense" character, which seems wrong for this race/ background.... and which I've played in the past and found cliche'... but what is the low Int/ high Wis + decent Cha character?

I'm not planning to play him as _really_ stupid, just uneducated and ignorant of certain things. The proficiencies where he has problems are things like History and Religion... book learning topics.

He excels in the proficiencies that align with his class and background: Athletics, Survival, Perception, Insight... and Intimidation. He's even a decent healer.

So, what examples of low-Int/ high Wis characters can anyone think of?

In particular he is very perceptive and insightful... +5 in each.

I have some ideas myself but I'm curious what others think.

Last edited by tanksoldier; 05-03-2018 at 08:47 PM.
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Old 05-03-2018, 10:00 PM   #2
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Default Re: High Wis Low Int character?

The first thing that pops into my mind is something kind of like Forrest Gump. Strong willed and perceptive, but has difficulty understanding things on any but the most straightforward level.
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Old 05-03-2018, 11:39 PM   #3
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Default Re: High Wis Low Int character?

I would argue that at least in D&D, religion goes with Wis. Clerics are the Wis class, not the Int class, after all. So not very good at listing what book which quote is from, but very good at explaining what's the right way to behave to please the gods and why.

Also, this isn't what you're going for, but I'm also imagining a monk who's on the dim side, but solves all the koans on a snap.
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Old 05-04-2018, 12:01 AM   #4
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Default Re: High Wis Low Int character?

One version of this is the "street smart" guy. He's not much for book learning, and doesn't do complicated reasoning; but he's aware of what's going on around him, he's not easily fooled, he picks up on it if something's not right, and he's probably fairly good at talking to people at an emotional or common sense level.
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Old 05-04-2018, 04:47 AM   #5
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Default Re: High Wis Low Int character?

I think of an old farmer who's never left his town, hates to read, uses his fingers to slowly calculate change on a sale, but knows life well, has a good sense for people, and has an eye for detail.

Though such folks tend to come across as uneducated rather than unintelligent. They generally know themselves and don't pretend to stuff they don't know.
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Old 05-04-2018, 05:05 AM   #6
Michael Cule
 
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Default Re: High Wis Low Int character?

A Holy Fool.

Doesn't get any of the intellectual stuff but understands right and wrong, people and their needs, situations and what they imply.

Great people skills but no book-larnin'.
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Old 05-04-2018, 06:35 PM   #7
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Default Re: High Wis Low Int character?

"Top predator" or "naive savage" - WIS is the stat of Perception and Survival, the skills of tracking and wilderness survival. Lacking in INT is lacking in the skills of civilization.
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Old 05-04-2018, 07:51 PM   #8
tanksoldier
 
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Default Re: High Wis Low Int character?

Thanks for all the suggestions.

The DM thinks Int 6 is getting out of the “ uneducated” and into “ mentally retarded” areas so we agreed to lower Con to 14 and increase Int to 8.

Gromm’s role in the Church is to travel with members of the clergy and other important individuals and keep them alive on missions of importance to the Church. Since most priests and so on live a cloistered life and know somewhat less about the real world than others might this is an important job. Aside from being an incredible melee fighter, his ability to find his way, and find sustenance, on the road is particularly important.

I plan to play him the way I played experienced NCO to new, booklearned 2nd Lieutenants in the Army. Their concern is the ‘what”, Gromm’s concern is the “how”.

This is going to be fun I think, I haven’t looked forward to the start of a game like this in a while.

Last edited by tanksoldier; 05-04-2018 at 07:56 PM.
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Old 05-10-2018, 12:05 PM   #9
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Default Re: High Wis Low Int character?

Well, he was already very perceptive and insightful from the high Wisdom (since perception was moved from INT to WIS), so adding in a proficency bonus on top of that makes him amazing at these sort of things.
If you're suggesting that he's not actually stupid, just uneducated, maybe a funny gimmick might be that he's a half-orc Sherlock Holmes, though maybe he jumps to the wrong conclusions most of the time but stubbornly refuses to accept when he is wrong about his conclusions?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tanksoldier View Post

After die rolls and race modifiers I end up with the following stats:

Str-20, Dex-14, Con-16, Int-6, Wis-16, Cha-12

I don't want to play the stereotypical low- Cha half orc, and high-Int/ low Wis is the typical "book learning but no common sense" character, which seems wrong for this race/ background.... and which I've played in the past and found cliche'... but what is the low Int/ high Wis + decent Cha character?

I'm not planning to play him as _really_ stupid, just uneducated and ignorant of certain things. The proficiencies where he has problems are things like History and Religion... book learning topics.

He excels in the proficiencies that align with his class and background: Athletics, Survival, Perception, Insight... and Intimidation. He's even a decent healer.

So, what examples of low-Int/ high Wis characters can anyone think of?

In particular he is very perceptive and insightful... +5 in each.

I have some ideas myself but I'm curious what others think.
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Old 05-10-2018, 09:52 PM   #10
DouglasCole
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Default Re: High Wis Low Int character?

Quote:
Originally Posted by tanksoldier View Post
The DM thinks Int 6 is getting out of the “ uneducated” and into “ mentally retarded” areas so we agreed to lower Con to 14 and increase Int to 8.
For what it's worth, I wound up pegging IQ7 the minimum needed to have something recognizable as "civilization." Cats and Dogs are, i believe, IQ4-5. You can have particularly talented animals at IQ6. So I'm with you both that IQ7-8 is good PC "don't do less than this" point.
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