Hey there folks. I'd like to talk today about one of my favourite, if not my favourite game. Dungeons and Dragons. Specifically I'd like to delve into the subject of playing characters with low mental stats - that is either Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma or any combination of the above. These three abilities are often the ones that really hold the most sway over your character's personality, and yet it seems that unless you're playing a caster, they are often overlooked and not much thought is put into them.
Now, personally I like to play characters that have decent mental stats wherever possible, even if they don't necessarily need them for the character to be functional as a combatant. Our group also tends to favour higher powered campaigns, so generally negative ability scores are rare, unless there's either a bad roll, racial modifier, or for point buy, a deliberate gimping of that score. This is not always the case, and sometimes you are forced to dump on an ability in order to get what you need elswhere, and usually this ability is one of the ones I've mentioned above.
So lets talk about Intelligence first. This ability score represents your "book smarts" and your general ability to learn skills. Intelligence is a really handy ability as it can give you bonus skill points, which are always nice to have. Playing a character with low Int means that you're going to have less skill points, and you're generally not going to be overly helpful in solving most puzzles. The main thing that I see people doing when they play a low Intelligence character is acting really really stupid constantly. This might not always be the case. A person with only slightly below average Intelligence is still going to be functional, and may even be able to keep up when the technical talk comes along, to a point. Depending on their Wisdom, they also might act with greater clarity then a high Intelligence character in matters of day to day living. I've known many people who were not academically inclined (possibly low Intelligence), but are still generally considered smart by most folks. Now obviously, if you have an exceptionally low Intelligence you might start to have a hard time grasping anything more than basic concepts, but I think that's more the exception than the norm.
Next up is Wisdom. This is the ability that I have the hardest time with, as its a little vaguely described in my opinion. Generally, it equates to "street smarts", that is, your ability to survive in the world. A character with a high Wisdom is less likely to be swindled or lied to, and also less likely to get themselves hopelessly lost somewhere. Conversely, a low Wisdom character might find themselves misdirected by con-men, or lost in the woods if they don't have a buddy to help them out. This ability is also probably the most tied up in metagaming. Often you'll see someone playing a low Wisdom character deliberately proceeding more cautiously then they normally would because they were forced to make some sort of check that did not yield any results. Consequently, many people end up playing such a character as a very cautious character in town, but otherwise brave and bold. While a mildly low Wisdom might only mean that you're just a little naive, or inattentive, a very low Wisdom can see you having to make decisions that no rational person would make, and often you might have to put your character in danger, even against your own better judgement.
Thirdly is Charisma. This is the one that you'll see getting dumped on most frequently, and also the one I see being played the most one-dimensionally more often. A Charismatic character is a social butterfly. Someone that people want to be around and who can sway others to do things they might not otherwise do. Generally they are likeable and friendly, and often they are good-looking people. The way I see most low Charisma characters being played is a grumpy, surly jerk. Usually this character is ugly, rude and sometimes outright mean. While this is a sometimes accurate take on it, it need not be the only way to play low Charisma. Low Charisma can also mean that an otherwise friendly, or loveable but they might be socially hampered in some way. Maybe they're super awkward and just say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Maybe they have an embarrassing tick or speech impediment. Maybe they're of a Race that thinks drastically different from the norm, or has very strange philosophies that turn other people off. They could even just be kinda creepy. There are myriad reasons that someone could be unlikeable, or that you might not want to be around a person, and I think its a real wasted opportunity to do something fun and different when you see the same grumpy, dickish Dwarf, or drunken tavern slob over and over.
So next time you build a character, try and take into consideration your mental abilities and the influence they will undoubtedly have on your character's personality. Also try and consider interesting ways that you can do things differently with your character's "handicap". Hopefully it'll make that character more fun to play, and really memorable.
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