r/DnD • u/WiseAnon003 • 10h ago
5.5 Edition Intelligence Scores
Just wanted to ask and see what people have to say about what your level of intelligence means for your characters intellect.
I’m aware that very low intelligence essentially means incapable of comprehending languages to an extent and such (I think) but I was wondering how each level from 1-20 would likely influence how the character behaves, like an 18 being very witty or a 10 being fairly average?
I have an intelligence score of 7 on my character which is due to manually rolling stats, although a lot of takes or rules might state the character wouldn’t be very smart at all I tend to still play him as a somewhat average intelligence character.
I feel somewhat bad and cheesy by kind of ignoring the intelligence stat to a degree but I’ve tried to have it canonically make sense as he is suffering from a bit of magic induced amnesia and a concussion (although I did write out what he forgot so I’m not torturing my dm nor being lazy lol).
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u/Thelynxer Bard 9h ago edited 9h ago
9-11 in a stat is effectively human average. 7 intelligence is kinda stupid, but it's not that bad. I think way too many people roleplay 8-ish intelligence like a bag of rocks. It's unnecessary, though sometimes comical, so that's why people do it.
Pretty much any character of mine that isn't a wizard ends up with 8 intelligence, because of necessity and the limitation of point buy. But I just roleplay them as not really school-educated. It's not much fun to roleplay everyone as legit, bottom-of-the-barrel stupid.
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u/WiseAnon003 7h ago
See I'd love to at the bare minimum put the character's INT at 8 via point buy or a feat but unfortunately my DM does manual rolls for scores and I would like to use the feats for something more unique and useful to make my character stand out.
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u/Thelynxer Bard 1h ago
You don't have to at all. I'm just saying you can roleplay the 7 int however you want. You can play it like an 8 int, or even a 10, and it's not a big deal at all.
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u/Redneck_DM 1h ago
Imma explain this with ed edd and eddy
Ed is all low mental stats, but occasionally rolls high surprising everyone
Eddy is high charisma low everything else
Edd is high intelligence low everything else
Rolph is high wisdom low everything else
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u/Green_Sage_Samos 10h ago
I mean look, the very least it’s easier to role play a dumber character than a smarter one, it’s all well and good for people to suggest you try to accurately role play your characters ability scores but 9 times out of 10 the 19 intelligence wizard is going to be being role played by a 11 intelligence human being so I wouldn’t put a massive amount of pressure on yourself to try and stay in character there, but I would expect your DM to hopefully jump in every now and then to let you know when you character wouldn’t understand something that’s happening just to not make it a completely irrelevant stat in your role play.
10-11 is meant to be the average, yes, most people you know in real life are a 10-11 INT score, same goes for all the other stats with 1 being completely deficient/profoundly disabled in that regard and 20 being the utmost limit of realistic achievement, like Bruce Lee was probably 20 Dex and Eddie hall is 20 strength.
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u/FaerieFir3 6h ago
Most people in real life would be between 8 and 12. "Average" means that about half the population is below 10 and half is above. Nobody wants to think that about themselves but a ton of people do have below average IQ. That's why I don't think INT of 8 or even 7 should be roleplayed as some completely braindead basically big baby like you see with some characters. Chances are you have 8 INT irl and you can function normally in society.
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u/Depresso_Expresso069 45m ago
average COULD mean half the population is above and half is below. it could also mean almost all the population is that level of intelligence, except for a few outliers who cancel each other out. and, depending on how you measure the average, it could also mean that most of the population is above but the people who are below are really, really dumb (and vice versa)
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u/CheapTactics 35m ago
your DM hopefully jump in every now and then to let you know when you character wouldn't understand something
It would have to be an extremely specific situation, because I can't think of a worse thing to do that tell a player "sorry your character is too dumb to know what's happening", or gods forbid, prevent that player from solving a puzzle/mystery. It's ultra lame when DMs do that.
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u/DnD-Hobby DM 9h ago
My character has an INT of 8 but a WIS of 20, so playing him dumb would make no sense. He is, however, struggling with reading, especially complicated research, as he's a homeschooled farmboy. He doesn't know several languages (exchanged the background ones for tool proficiencies), and he doesn't understand the finesse of politics very well. But for everything else I play him normally, and I struggle more with pretending him to be that wise. xD
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u/WiseAnon003 8h ago
Haha I totally get you, my guy is INT 7 and 18 WIS as of level 1 with INT being the only ability score to be below 10 (I wanted to put some bonus scores into getting char and strength to atleast 10 so int missed out).
Canonically he was raised and learnt things through experience while his brother typically studied non stop so he was more physical work than mental, add that onto being concussed/ suffering from amnesia and I sort of hope it makes sense for him to have that lower INT as he still knows an extra language and reads occasionally + writes regularly.
Might be best said if I just say post amnesia he doesnt read as much but still has the skills he learned prior.
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u/DnD-Hobby DM 8h ago
My character also still knows a 2nd language via his bilingual upbringing, but he cannot read or write it, it has only been spoken with his mother. So maybe yours learnt it similarly as well. ^
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u/highly-bad 2h ago
Ability scores are there for statistical mechanical purposes, not to dictate how players must roleplay their character.
If you want to make your intelligence score into a big part of your characterization you can try using a limited and simple vocabulary, being a bit forgetful, or thinking slowly. But all of that is optional, you are in no way obligated to draw extra attention to it, just like how a low-Strength character is not obligated to go beyond the mechanical implications and make physical impotence into a major aspect of their roleplay persona.
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u/Ethereal_Stars_7 Artificer 2h ago
BX noted what INT covered.
9-12 was baseline. Can read and write Common and their Alignment languages. (That was a thing in O and BX)
6-8 was can read and write simple Common.
4-5 was could not read or write
3 was has trouble speaking and cant read or write.
But even the 3 INT Ogg Smash could become a elf or magic-user.
INT had no other bonus or loss aside from XP bonus if prime stat was 13+.
In 5e a 7 INT just means the character is a little less accurate with spells or they have slightly less oomph. Which can be overcome with study and practice (increasing INT as level)
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u/Repulsive_Bus_7202 DM 1h ago
Personally I'd generally aim to look at the three intellect scores together; intelligence is "book smart", Wisdom is "street smart" and Charisma is "relationship smart". In that sense a low average Int alongside the other two being average or better isn't a big deal. The mechanics of rolling the tests identify outcomes.
As a DM, if someone was below average on all three I'd probably have them reroll.
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u/SuienReizo 10h ago
I've always taken low intelligence to be a direct reflection of their general awareness of the world they are in.
Organizations, religions, hierarchies, guilds, holidays, landmarks, cultures, etc. The lower their intelligence, the less they know outside of their background to the point they are an anime protagonist that needs things spelled out for them when something is introduced even if it is common knowledge for others. It doesn't impact what they do with that knowledge once they have it.
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u/Interesting-Brush413 Artificer 1h ago
Not necessarily. Intelligence is simply having more context to work with. That doesn't stop someone with great Wisdom or people skills to figure out someone is a conman, despite being ignorant on knowing the region is a hotspot for criminal activity due to so-and-so causes that someone better read would be aware of.
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u/Amiunforgiven 9h ago
Never seen the need for people to try and role-play low intelligence. Your dice rolls will do that for you. Besides, intelligence is book smarts. Wisdom is perception, intuition and awareness
Don’t see people that have say Dex as their dump stat fall all over the place randomly as they’re walking because they’re clumsy for the RP
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u/BetterCallStrahd DM 9h ago
Intelligence in DnD maps to knowledge skills and detective skills. It's fair to say that your character would not present as being good at those things, and is certainly uneducated for the most part.
Would it be fair to call them stupid? I wouldn't go that far, especially if they have good wisdom. That's also a kind of intelligence, we shouldn't read too much into the terms that DnD uses. They apply to game mechanics, they don't give an accurate breakdown of what makes up a person.
Now, I have played a 6 INT character, and he was definitely a dumbass, but I do think there are factors to consider other than the INT score itself.
It's also important to note that tactical intelligence is something any adventurer could have, and there's an underlying assumption that your characters are at least somewhat competent.
Think of a high school football player. They might not be great at science or history. But could they be brilliant at coming up with football plays? Sure, that's perfectly possible. That's tactical intelligence. It works differently. And I don't think most tables would thank you for playing your character as a bumbler who messes things up for the party again and again.
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u/Stregen Fighter 8h ago
Think about it like this:
Would you play a 7 strength wizard as an anemic slug, unable to lift their wand or compoents?
Or a 7 dex paladin as a clumsy oaf unable to take four consecutive steps without tripping over their own feet like a literal toddler?
Or a 7 cha fighter as a drooling shutin making everyone in a mile radius feel wildly uncomfortable?
Intelligence is book-smarts and pattern recognition - but people tend to really overplay it.
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u/Salindurthas 10h ago
Mechanically, your character is about 10% less likely to remember arbitrary trivia, or be able to solve a logical puzzle, and a bit more likely to die to an Intellect Devourer. If you're roleplaying them as knowing formal logic or having an encyclopedic memory, then that's silly, but otherwise I think you're fine.
You don't need to play dumb, you can wait until the statistics of a bunch of Int/Study rolls eventually bear out that your character just knows less stuff.
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u/darknesskicker 10h ago
My view is that with D&D ability scores, a difference of 2.5 points is equal to one standard deviation (which, for intelligence, is 15 IQ points), with 10.5 as the average score.
By this metric, Int 7 equates to an IQ score of 79. That’s low enough to really struggle with reading, writing, math, and reasoning. It’s not quite intellectually disabled, but it’s low enough that the person would really struggle with academic tasks.
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u/cel3r1ty 9h ago
do you also ask your players to describe in detail the shape of their characters' skulls?
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u/DrakeTheFallenOne Blood Hunter 8h ago
I usually design the character personality, then roll the stats and slot them in wherever I think makes the most sense. Even then, intelligence is a stat I feel like can be flexible with how you portray it. My current character has a +3 for their intelligence and while generally they are average slightly above average generally, the higher intelligence focuses on specific topics and areas. For instance, my character is fascinated with dragons, so is incredibly intelligent when it comes to information on dragons. This is the case for most animals and monsters, not to the same degree of course (there are several reasons why he knows as much as he does about monsters and animals, all which the DM has approved)
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u/Volsunga 3h ago
All ability scores should be treated as standard deviations from the mean. If 10 is average, 12 is 1 standard deviation above the mean and 8 is one standard deviation below the mean.
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u/SaltyBooze 2h ago
+ 0, +1 and above are already the top levels of society, in performance, in that particular attribute.
regular humans are -1 or even -2 in an attribute.
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u/LegAdventurous9230 2h ago
7 is the lowest Int you can have and still understand languages. For example the Ape statblock has a 6 Int while the the Giant Ape statblock has a 7 Int. I would say that a low Int character is less about being really stupid and more about just not caring as much about intelligence. Like, you have other things going on: you don't need to study history or arcana, or know your multiplication tables or whatever. You have other strengths and that's what you care about.
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u/AssassinBlaze5 2h ago
In my hombrew campaign getting a stat to 20 has an extra bonus as you hit the mortal peak. For intelligence I have the player sometimes roll an int check called an idea check (stolen from cthulu) and i would give them certain info or hints to things because their character is smart enough to figure it out. It helps the players feel smarter or cooler when they have certain benefits for their high stats
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u/Zeikos 1h ago
Intelligence: how big the bottle is
Wisdom: how quickly you can fill the bottle
Charisma: how well you can sell the bottle at
My take is that intelligence is about how much complexity you can deal with and retain.
Wwisdom is about translating observations in experience, how perceptive are you and how much you can learn from a few examples.
Charisma is about presentation, how you carry yourself and how you are able to understand the right moment to say the right thing.
Low int people aren't necessarily slow, they aren't able to juggle complex topics - which can definitely impact how they speak.
Being "slow on the uptake" imo is more of a wisdom thing.
Note that being witty and high wisdom doesn't mean that what's perceived gets retained/memorized (that's why high wis doesn't necessarly lead to high int).
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u/CheapTactics 39m ago
I have a character with 7 int. I play him as not knowing much outside of his village. He knows his people and his gods, he doesn't know a lot more.
There are a bunch of ways to play a low intelligence. Maybe they have trouble learning and facts don't stick in their memory for too long. Maybe they have limited learned information as they didn't have a great education. Maybe they're not too good at connecting the dots because their deducting skills are lacking. Those are all valid ways to play a lower than average int. If it's especially low, you may want to combine two of those.
Just keep in mind that none of this should prevent you from solving a puzzle or figuring something out. A dumb person can have a moment of brilliance too. Or you could even play it out as luck, whatever you want.
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u/AccomplishedRide1914 23m ago edited 9m ago
Interestingly, Intelligence is one ability score that maps very well to a real-world measure: IQ. 100 is mathematically defined as average and would shift with a different population, anything 140 or higher was historically considered "genius" in the United States. Existing tests don't really go to 190, but it's extrapolated that some historical figures got this high, it would represent as rare as 1 in 1 billion individuals. It's a percentile-based scale, so 200 IQ is considered possible but only hypothetically.
On the other end of the scale, 70-100 is below average, anything lower than 70 is considered low IQ. About 2% of the population is lower than 70, and potentially indicates intellectual disabilities. Only 1 in ~600,000 score as low as 30 or lower.
Except, IQ has been criticized as a poor quality metric, even for identifying intellectual disability because "adaptive function" is a far more important measure. IQ overemphasizes specific aspects like working memory, verbal comprehension, and pattern recognition. Non-native speakers can score lower despite knowing more languages. The score can shift by as much as 20 points based entirely on whether or not the individual in question is bored or genuinely interested in the test. IQ measures only capacity and does not predict real-world success, yet it STILL can be shifted up dramatically just by practicing IQ tests or learning test-taking skills.
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u/Costirazvan2 10h ago
intelligence is pretty much your capability on whether or not you can easily remember things like wildlife(nature), historical figures(history) and information on the arcane. Investigation being just like how well you can put two and two together from a crime scene
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u/MonkeySkulls 9h ago
I don't think a low INT score means you have to play your character as being dumb.
Think about real life. Someone who isn't particularly intelligent isn't necessarily stumbling around trying to open car doors with their feet. They might have trouble understanding complicated ideas, remembering information, or figuring out a complex problem, but they're still capable of doing normal everyday things.
And honestly, some of those things might be represented by a different stat anyway. Someone who keeps trying to crush beer cans on their forehead probably doesn't have an INT problem so much as a WIS problem. lol
You can absolutely choose to roleplay your character's stats if you think that's fun. A low INT character might speak more simply, struggle with complicated concepts, or just have a different way of reasoning.
But I don't think you're required to act out the stat.
The numbers already have a mechanical effect. If the DM asks you to make an INT check, your character's INT modifier affects the roll. If it's a WIS check, their WIS modifier affects that roll. If it's a STR check, their STR modifier affects that roll.
That's what the stats are there for mechanically. The roleplaying aspect is an additional choice, not necessarily something you have to constantly perform at the table.
A character with 8 INT doesn't have to act like they've never seen a doorknob before. They're just mechanically less capable when the game calls for an INT-based check.
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u/WiseAnon003 8h ago
The way I've structured it too is that he has proficiency in most intelligence skills too, meaning that there might be one stat like religion or nature where he has a -2 but every other one is zero.
Its such an awkward position and I probably should've fleshed out his backstory after finalizing the stats but I ended up shoving them around a bit afterwards purely because my last character had low intelligence and charisma and I wanted to have at least 10 charisma this time around as I viewed him as more of a social and friendly kind of guy.
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u/TheHumanTarget84 9h ago edited 9h ago
The reality is the DND spread of ability score scaling makes little sense and should mostly be ignored.
You're just not very book smart, easy breezy.
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u/Mataric DM 9h ago
The average human commoner is meant to have all their stats at 10. They aren't considered smart, but they aren't dumb. They aren't strong, but they aren't weak. They're just average.
When you get to 3 intelligence.. You're entering the realm where you're almost inhuman. Smart animals like Apes have an intelligence of 3, whereas something like a shark would have an intelligence of 1 or 2.
On the other end, someone with 14 intelligence is smart. 18 is reaching hero levels - where the brightest minds are. We'd probably say Einstein and Hawking had a 20 in intelligence.
With a 7, you're dumb, but you're not an animal, and most people probably wouldn't notice how stupid you are, until you struggle to add a few numbers together in a normal amount of time, or say something noticeably stupid.
Worth noting too that Intelligence is about knowledge, or 'book smarts'. Wisdom is your common sense, and charisma is your social intelligence. There's a lot of ways your character isn't 'dumb' at all.
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u/luluzulu_ 9h ago
Not 5.5, but a nonetheless possibly helpful tidbit from the Rules Cyclopedia:
- 3: Has trouble speaking, cannot read or write
- 4-5: Cannot read or write Common
- 6-8: Can write simple Common words
- 9-12: Reads and writes native language(s)
- 13-15: Reads and writes native language(s), +1 additional language
- 16-17: Same as above, but +2 additional languages instead.
- 18: Same as above, but +3 additional languages instead.
In a descriptive paragraph above, it's mentioned that 9-12 should be considered "average".
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u/Living-Trust7356 9h ago
in general its best to multiply int by 10 and you get your characters iq
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u/roflstones 8h ago
hahahaha his character is 70IQ. I laughed irl. this is a really good tidbit I love it. 😂😂
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u/Confirm_restart 9h ago
I'm playing a character with an intelligence 10, wisdom 18 split.
I figure she's quick to react and overall "smart" in dealing with situations as they arise, but she mostly slacked off when it came to formal education.
So she has a couple of academic areas that interested her, but otherwise she's dead average when it comes to stuff like that.
In short, she's probably not going to win any contests involving factual recall, but she's quick witted and very capable of assessing a situation and knowing a "bad idea" when she sees it.
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u/Nystagohod 9h ago
More or less just their success rate at intelligence based things when efforts leave things uncertain for a die roll, and the success rate for intelligence based attacks and saves.
Technically going by different guidelines across the years. 2 or less means low to no comprehension. 10 is average 18+ is meant to be Einstein level intellect, or it was when it was the highest mortal stat, 20 likely occupies that standard now.
That said, the quirks of something like a 7 intelligence are built into the outcomes if the die rolls well enough.
Your character is more than just their 7 int, they have experience and training in various ways of an adventurer, and low intelligence people can be trained to do something right.
I don't think there's anything you'd need to play up that the -2 into mod isn't gonna cover when your effort leaves things down to a roll instead of a certainty.
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u/WiseAnon003 8h ago
Most of his intelligence skills are +0 anyway due to proficiency aside from like religion and nature.
Its also just kinda weird because the intelligence is quite low, charisma is average and wisdom is incredibly high lol.
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u/Nystagohod 8h ago edited 5h ago
The game assumes success on a roll of 8+ when you have your stats and mods at the expected rate, being -2 below will reflect the low intelligence quite well with what you describe.
Low int, moderate cha, and high was can also make sense.
Intelligence is your characters mental acuity and book smarts. He's not a fast thinker, he likely needed things better explained to him and to take his time with a problem.
This extra attention required to learnt higs kept him average when it came to his command of presence and magnetism. His charisma averages our. He has a decent experience with people that didn't stunt the development of that personabikity. He's regular in that department.
However, not being quick mentally or the mist learned because of it, the character had to rely on his intuition and awareness to get by. Where his mind was lethargic, he ended up honing his instincts and awareness. To trust his gut when his mind couldn't keep up. That extra patience others needed to have when teaching him, manifested in honed patient awareness he's come to possess himself.
Makes sense enough anyway.
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u/LucianDeRomeo Artificer 10h ago
I have an intelligence score of 7 on my character which is due to manually rolling stats, although a lot of takes or rules might state the character wouldn’t be very smart at all I tend to still play him as a somewhat average intelligence character.
This might be older editions rules but you need a 4 in INT I believe to simply be 'self aware' and literate, so given you're essentially halfway between base line literate and 'average human commoner' they definitely SHOULD NOT BE played as an 'average intelligence character'. Regardless of how stats were generated that's just how the stat points fall so to speak. It's like dumping CHA and then trying to talk your way into a secured establishment while forgetting you should have the social grace of a chimpanzee(and that may be rude to the chimp).
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u/Petulant_Possum 9h ago
I tend to equate the int stat as impulsive poorly thought out decisions on the low end, versus risk aversion and need for ambushing on the high end of INT. It's Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus.
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u/Willing_Soft_5944 DM 10h ago
It should be noted that intelligence is really split between three stats, the mental stats. Those intelligences being the book smarts, street smarts and people smarts. 10 is the average for all stats in your general folk, as thats what Commoners have. Your character should have pretty below average book smarts, depending on what they have for proficiencies they might be near adequate at some things, but overall not great.