So my latest character is a scourge samurai with an entertainer background and to say my roll for her intelligence was bad is an understatement. She rolled 3. Luckily her wisdom was pretty decent at a 13. The problem is that I have no idea how to play a character with such low int. Anyone with some tips or ideas?
Three intelligence is unplayable. It means your character has the cognative ability of a dog. No exaggeration, that's the same Int and Wis scores as a dog. It means your character would have only the most rudimentary of language ability: they can recognize simple words and phrases but can't speak full sentences. Their ability to understand math is knowing the difference between "bigger" and "smaller" at most. They are nearly incapable of deductive reasoning or learning. They would not be able to learn the complexities necessary to become a samurai or pretty much any other character class. Do not play a character with a stat that low, your GM should let you reroll it.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
1: Your ability scores are abstractions of your attributes. Intelligence 3 can be merely not very bright, and completely lacking any education of any sort. It doesn't mean it's incapable of thought, just that the character is mechanically 20% worse at Intelligence-based checks than a person of average intelligence. Having an above average wisdom means the character has good perception and common sense. Maybe something like Grog from Critical Role's first series. Probably don't be making the plans, and have fun doing dumb things that produce interesting encounters for the party.
2: Accepting that an ability score of three is ridiculous, your DM should be Ok with you re-rolling ability scores.
Don't roll ability scores. Rolling ability scores is unbalanced and can lead to bad results like yours. I would use the standard spread or point buy if I were you.
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Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
That's an incredible roll, and it would feel like a waste not to use it. Going off the dog comment, consider... Maybe your character used to be a dog, before a wizard hit him with a True Polymorph. Maybe the wizard was your master, and wanted you to live as long as he would. Maybe he died soon after. Sort of a reverse John Wick scenario, lol.
3 int is not very playable at all. I would ask your dm if you could reroll it
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Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
Any DM worth their salt would have already told you to reroll. 3 is an unplayable stat no matter where it is put. As your Int stat you are basically a completely helpless child, unable to even understand the concept of not defacating or urinating in your pants. Unable to undestand more than a handful of words such as mamma, dadda, etc. No skill or tool use, no understanding of melee or ranged combat - not even throwing a rock as you nee a basic level of intelligence to understand range and cover etc. Completely incapable of being a functional part of an adventure. There is no way an adventuring party would take you on a mission as you would be an utter liability needing constant supervision.
Embrace the dog brain. If your DM didnt tell you to reroll it have fun with it! I could see an honorable samurai doggo. Dogs are WAY smarter than most give them credit for and dumb characters are tons of fun.
His wisdom is passable, better than average, so just make him extremely book-dumb. No reading, maybe bad language skills depending on his CHA. Nothing is unplayable if you want to make it work enough. Now if its not FUN for you, then that is a different story.
I agree with those above. Use point buy so this doesn't happen. Int 8 is actually playable.
I dunno about INT 8 being unplayable (or did you mean INT 3?), I've played a couple of characters with -1 for their INT modifier and it was fine. But with INT 3 the first intellect devourer you come across, you're going to need a new character.
I'm with Panda_Wat that you should never use rolled stats; most of the time it just means an unbalanced party where some characters are much better and others are worse and it's for absolutely no reason, and if you're one of the players stuck with bad rolls then it's harder to have a good time unless you wanted to play an incompetent character (which isn't going to be most players).
I dislike that they used rolled stats on Critical Role season 2, as some of the characters just did not start out with good stats as a result, and you could tell they were having to burn all of their Ability Score Increases into their stats to correct it, meanwhile the ones who rolled well were picking up feats instead.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
At Int 3 you're basically just a big gorilla that happened to pick up a sword. That would actually be hilarious... I'm almost picturing a "Chicken Boo" situation where you just play as literally an animal in a suit that, for no logical reason, everyone just treats like a real person.
Other than that, though... there's almost no way to RP a character with 3 INT without it just becoming annoying long-term. Although on a plus side I believe there are some spells that outright don't work on creatures with such low INT, so that's kind of funny.
At Int 3 you're basically just a big gorilla that happened to pick up a sword. That would actually be hilarious... I'm almost picturing a "Chicken Boo" situation where you just play as literally an animal in a suit that, for no logical reason, everyone just treats like a real person.
Other than that, though... there's almost no way to RP a character with 3 INT without it just becoming annoying long-term. Although on a plus side I believe there are some spells that outright don't work on creatures with such low INT, so that's kind of funny.
Int 3 is what, half as intelligent as a 5E gorilla?
Personally I like to consult this overview explaining different ability scores. If one were to go with what it says, the character would be rather animalistic but capable of simple plans, while still being able to tell when a person is upset.
You could also play this character as completely lacking logic. They were perhaps exposed to the madness of fairies or other fey at a young age and have no belief in cause and effect. Life is random and rules don’t matter. Everything in my environment is meaningful and has portents. Very superstitious: “that leaf moved when you said “gold” so the ancestor spirits think it is a good plan the will make us rich. It is known”. Just endless confidence in their ability to read meaning in random events.
You could also play this character as completely lacking logic. They were perhaps exposed to the madness of fairies or other fey at a young age and have no belief in cause and effect. Life is random and rules don’t matter. Everything in my environment is meaningful and has portents. Very superstitious: “that leaf moved when you said “gold” so the ancestor spirits think it is a good plan the will make us rich. It is known”. Just endless confidence in their ability to read meaning in random events.
That's more correct for a character with average intelligence mixed with low wisdom.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
My personal favorite that I came up with a few years ago is 2d4+7 x 6. I like this because it gives a range of values in line with what is possible with point buy (9 - 15) and generally speaking will create characters on the same level as point buy, but will have a little bit of variation (6 15s is technically possible, but even that isn't horribly broken).
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Founding Member of the High Roller Society.(Currently trying to roll max on 4d6)
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So my latest character is a scourge samurai with an entertainer background and to say my roll for her intelligence was bad is an understatement. She rolled 3. Luckily her wisdom was pretty decent at a 13. The problem is that I have no idea how to play a character with such low int. Anyone with some tips or ideas?
Three intelligence is unplayable. It means your character has the cognative ability of a dog. No exaggeration, that's the same Int and Wis scores as a dog. It means your character would have only the most rudimentary of language ability: they can recognize simple words and phrases but can't speak full sentences. Their ability to understand math is knowing the difference between "bigger" and "smaller" at most. They are nearly incapable of deductive reasoning or learning. They would not be able to learn the complexities necessary to become a samurai or pretty much any other character class. Do not play a character with a stat that low, your GM should let you reroll it.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
There are two simple solutions.
1: Your ability scores are abstractions of your attributes. Intelligence 3 can be merely not very bright, and completely lacking any education of any sort. It doesn't mean it's incapable of thought, just that the character is mechanically 20% worse at Intelligence-based checks than a person of average intelligence. Having an above average wisdom means the character has good perception and common sense. Maybe something like Grog from Critical Role's first series. Probably don't be making the plans, and have fun doing dumb things that produce interesting encounters for the party.
2: Accepting that an ability score of three is ridiculous, your DM should be Ok with you re-rolling ability scores.
Don't roll ability scores. Rolling ability scores is unbalanced and can lead to bad results like yours. I would use the standard spread or point buy if I were you.
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
I agree with those above. Use point buy so this doesn't happen. Int 8 is actually playable.
When I hear low int high wis, I think forest gump. Your wis here isn’t all that high, but that general direction can work.
That's an incredible roll, and it would feel like a waste not to use it. Going off the dog comment, consider... Maybe your character used to be a dog, before a wizard hit him with a True Polymorph. Maybe the wizard was your master, and wanted you to live as long as he would. Maybe he died soon after. Sort of a reverse John Wick scenario, lol.
3 int is not very playable at all. I would ask your dm if you could reroll it
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
Any DM worth their salt would have already told you to reroll. 3 is an unplayable stat no matter where it is put. As your Int stat you are basically a completely helpless child, unable to even understand the concept of not defacating or urinating in your pants. Unable to undestand more than a handful of words such as mamma, dadda, etc. No skill or tool use, no understanding of melee or ranged combat - not even throwing a rock as you nee a basic level of intelligence to understand range and cover etc. Completely incapable of being a functional part of an adventure. There is no way an adventuring party would take you on a mission as you would be an utter liability needing constant supervision.
Embrace the dog brain. If your DM didnt tell you to reroll it have fun with it! I could see an honorable samurai doggo. Dogs are WAY smarter than most give them credit for and dumb characters are tons of fun.
His wisdom is passable, better than average, so just make him extremely book-dumb. No reading, maybe bad language skills depending on his CHA. Nothing is unplayable if you want to make it work enough. Now if its not FUN for you, then that is a different story.
I
dunno about INT 8 being unplayable (or did you mean INT 3?), I've played a couple of characters with -1 for their INT modifier and it was fine. Butwith INT 3 the first intellect devourer you come across, you're going to need a new character.I'm with Panda_Wat that you should never use rolled stats; most of the time it just means an unbalanced party where some characters are much better and others are worse and it's for absolutely no reason, and if you're one of the players stuck with bad rolls then it's harder to have a good time unless you wanted to play an incompetent character (which isn't going to be most players).
I dislike that they used rolled stats on Critical Role season 2, as some of the characters just did not start out with good stats as a result, and you could tell they were having to burn all of their Ability Score Increases into their stats to correct it, meanwhile the ones who rolled well were picking up feats instead.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Re-read the quote you quoted.
I would say screw it and play Int 3.
Rules for Int 3:
Never do math. Ask party help to sell or buy.
Do stupid stuff .... that works out. Because a Wisdom of 13 is good enough to make sure you do not screw things up.
Examples of Int 3/Wis 13 behavior:
KILL BIG GUY.
What is lie-cense? No need lie-cense, need big arm to carry sword.
Here is 5 bags of 7 gold more than your 4 platinum , now give me SWORD
Prayer man, why give me two forks at dinner? Oh, one for each hand!
At Int 3 you're basically just a big gorilla that happened to pick up a sword. That would actually be hilarious... I'm almost picturing a "Chicken Boo" situation where you just play as literally an animal in a suit that, for no logical reason, everyone just treats like a real person.
Other than that, though... there's almost no way to RP a character with 3 INT without it just becoming annoying long-term. Although on a plus side I believe there are some spells that outright don't work on creatures with such low INT, so that's kind of funny.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Int 3 is what, half as intelligent as a 5E gorilla?
I have underestimated the noble gorilla.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Personally I like to consult this overview explaining different ability scores. If one were to go with what it says, the character would be rather animalistic but capable of simple plans, while still being able to tell when a person is upset.
You could also play this character as completely lacking logic. They were perhaps exposed to the madness of fairies or other fey at a young age and have no belief in cause and effect. Life is random and rules don’t matter. Everything in my environment is meaningful and has portents. Very superstitious: “that leaf moved when you said “gold” so the ancestor spirits think it is a good plan the will make us rich. It is known”. Just endless confidence in their ability to read meaning in random events.
That's more correct for a character with average intelligence mixed with low wisdom.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
If you like the randomness of rolling convince your GM to change up the stat determiniation roll...flat 3d6 is just no good for rolling stats.
There are a lot of stat generation algorithms out there...
The 9d6 tic tac toe method
The 4d6dL x 9 tic tac toe method
18d6rr1
24d6ro1
4d6dLro1 x 6
4d6dLrr1 x 6
My personal favorite that I came up with a few years ago is 2d4+7 x 6. I like this because it gives a range of values in line with what is possible with point buy (9 - 15) and generally speaking will create characters on the same level as point buy, but will have a little bit of variation (6 15s is technically possible, but even that isn't horribly broken).
Founding Member of the High Roller Society. (Currently trying to roll max on 4d6)