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Old 10-10-2018, 02:43 PM   #33
platimus
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: behind you
Default Re: Conan the wizard, Groo the Genius.

Quote:
Originally Posted by trag View Post
Too late for my input to be useful to the update...

But I think this is a problem that is easily fixed by role playing.

I had a character who was your basic strong, dumb, fighter. Ultimately, he reached the point where his strength was high enough to wield a Great Sword one handed. He ended up with a middlin' high IQ (around 17, IIRC) in order to have the talents he needed for all the weapons skills and such he had picked up during play.

But I didn't play him as a genius. I argued that in his case, a high IQ was more indicative of a sort of high animal cunning, rather than intellectual achievement.

Most of these stat issues in ITL can be "fixed" with role playing. The character isn't his stats. The character is what you role play.
I actually agree with that viewpoint. In reality, a character is only as smart as his player. But I am curious...When "The Rock" had to roll against IQ to notice traps, detect lies, disbelieve, etc. did he roll against 17? Whether did or didn't, I can see good arguments for either case.

You mentioned "animal cunning" which sounds very good. From the few Conan stories I've read, Conan had this "high animal cunning" even though he wasn't a "learned man". My dog is somehow very good at detecting my attempts to trick or trap her. Then again, any human that knows me will tell you I'm a terrible liar. Animals are smarter than most people think. The problem is, they have severe physical handicaps in a world designed for humans. Plus, they pretty much suffer from severe ADHD. I've seen arguments that opposable thumbs and language are what sets humans apart from animals. I think it's really more basic than that. Animals can't formulate long-term goals/plans and stick to them. They pretty much live in the moment.
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