As the title says; I'm still new to D&D so if I'm in the wrong place then please just point me in the right direction.
I'm starting a Curse of Strahd campaign and we rolled for stats specifically until we rolled two 16s or higher.
Which is how I ended up with a lvl3 Kalashtar Twilight Cleric of Selune with 8 Intelligence and 20 Wisdom.
I'm still new to roleplaying in general and I find myself at a bit of a loss on how to play her. So I was wondering if anyone had any tips? Or any characters from other media I could base her off of personality wise. I'm still working on her backstory, apart from her being an orphan raised as an acolyte I haven't cemented anything for her so all ideas are welcomed.
There's some advice on this kind of thing in the 2024 Player's Handbook's section on describing a character's personality, where it offers a set of suggested qualities/adjectives for high and low versions of each ability score. Suggestions for high Wisdom include serene, considerate, attentive, and wary, while the suggestions for low Intelligence include artless, illogical, uninformed, and frivolous.
"Serene" I think works particularly well with how the Kalashtar are usually described. Maybe this character is always very calm and collected, intuitive and quick to understand and relate to people, but on the flip side lacks formal education and so is ignorant in areas other people would consider obvious.
Another thing to think about is the skills associated with each ability score. Wisdom skills include Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, and Survival. These are things this character will always be good at. Intelligence skills include Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, and Religion; these are things she'll usually be bad at. A Cleric who's bad at Religion checks offers a lot of opportunities for hilarity.
I played a Kalashtar Twilight Cleric of Selune in a Frost Maiden's campaign and had a blast! (I played her pretending to be mute due to her shyness, and only communicated telepathically with those she trusted)
That character had a high WIS (16 to start, ending with a 20 I believe by the end of the campaign), and a low INT (8) because she lived a sheltered life in hiding and knew nothing of the outside world; yet was very perceptive and empathic which I attributed to her telepathy and the way the DM was going to handle the spirit residing in her as a result of her being a Kalashtar. I basically played her not as dumb, but as unworldly. Everything and everyone she encountered was new to her and she sometimes had to learn of them the hard way, meanwhile she was quite wise and often offered insights and solutions to problems that others had not considered due to her unique perspective. (while everyone else is trying to figure out how to get past the big heavy locked doors that they failed to pick the lock of (by bashing it, chopping it, prying it, disassembling it), she suggests climbing through that open window a few feet away from it)
An intelligent person can tell you that it is raining, and why it rains, how it forms, etc.
A wise person will tell you to get out of the rain to avoid getting wet.
Think of an orphan boy that grew up in the streets, or a Barbarian that lives in the wilds. They know all the tricks to stay alive, they know how to look out for dangers, they know their own craft to perfection. But they never went to school. They don't know who the king is. They don't know the scientific name of different animals, but they do know which one is more dangerous. They don't know why mixing two plants together makes for a lethal poison, but they know how to prepare it. https://vshare****/
Wisdom can be practical knowledge acquired through experience and everyday life. Intelligence is theoretical knowledge you can only pick up in books and school.
A Cleric who's bad at Religion checks offers a lot of opportunities for hilarity.
A lot of that depends on the DM.
A would expect a low intelligence cleric (without Thaumaturge) to be someone who serves and knows their god but has little knowledge of anything else. As DM I would not ask a cleric of Helm to roll for any information about Helm unless it is very obscure but they might struggle to remember who Bane is or recognise a symbol of Tyr.
Think of a Chisrian minister who knows nothing about Islam, Buddhism etc.
As the title says; I'm still new to D&D so if I'm in the wrong place then please just point me in the right direction.
I'm starting a Curse of Strahd campaign and we rolled for stats specifically until we rolled two 16s or higher.
Which is how I ended up with a lvl3 Kalashtar Twilight Cleric of Selune with 8 Intelligence and 20 Wisdom.
I'm still new to roleplaying in general and I find myself at a bit of a loss on how to play her. So I was wondering if anyone had any tips? Or any characters from other media I could base her off of personality wise. I'm still working on her backstory, apart from her being an orphan raised as an acolyte I haven't cemented anything for her so all ideas are welcomed.
There's some advice on this kind of thing in the 2024 Player's Handbook's section on describing a character's personality, where it offers a set of suggested qualities/adjectives for high and low versions of each ability score. Suggestions for high Wisdom include serene, considerate, attentive, and wary, while the suggestions for low Intelligence include artless, illogical, uninformed, and frivolous.
"Serene" I think works particularly well with how the Kalashtar are usually described. Maybe this character is always very calm and collected, intuitive and quick to understand and relate to people, but on the flip side lacks formal education and so is ignorant in areas other people would consider obvious.
Another thing to think about is the skills associated with each ability score. Wisdom skills include Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, and Survival. These are things this character will always be good at. Intelligence skills include Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, and Religion; these are things she'll usually be bad at. A Cleric who's bad at Religion checks offers a lot of opportunities for hilarity.
pronouns: he/she/they
I played a Kalashtar Twilight Cleric of Selune in a Frost Maiden's campaign and had a blast! (I played her pretending to be mute due to her shyness, and only communicated telepathically with those she trusted)
That character had a high WIS (16 to start, ending with a 20 I believe by the end of the campaign), and a low INT (8) because she lived a sheltered life in hiding and knew nothing of the outside world; yet was very perceptive and empathic which I attributed to her telepathy and the way the DM was going to handle the spirit residing in her as a result of her being a Kalashtar. I basically played her not as dumb, but as unworldly. Everything and everyone she encountered was new to her and she sometimes had to learn of them the hard way, meanwhile she was quite wise and often offered insights and solutions to problems that others had not considered due to her unique perspective. (while everyone else is trying to figure out how to get past the big heavy locked doors that they failed to pick the lock of (by bashing it, chopping it, prying it, disassembling it), she suggests climbing through that open window a few feet away from it)
An intelligent person can tell you that it is raining, and why it rains, how it forms, etc.
A wise person will tell you to get out of the rain to avoid getting wet.
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
Think of an orphan boy that grew up in the streets, or a Barbarian that lives in the wilds. They know all the tricks to stay alive, they know how to look out for dangers, they know their own craft to perfection. But they never went to school. They don't know who the king is. They don't know the scientific name of different animals, but they do know which one is more dangerous. They don't know why mixing two plants together makes for a lethal poison, but they know how to prepare it. https://vshare****/
Wisdom can be practical knowledge acquired through experience and everyday life. Intelligence is theoretical knowledge you can only pick up in books and school.
A lot of that depends on the DM.
A would expect a low intelligence cleric (without Thaumaturge) to be someone who serves and knows their god but has little knowledge of anything else. As DM I would not ask a cleric of Helm to roll for any information about Helm unless it is very obscure but they might struggle to remember who Bane is or recognise a symbol of Tyr.
Think of a Chisrian minister who knows nothing about Islam, Buddhism etc.