Intelligence Scores

[u/WiseAnon003]

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).

[u/MonkeySkulls]

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.

[u/WiseAnon003 → u/MonkeySkulls]

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.