What do you do when roleplay and stats contradict?

Vallmyr

Hello once again my fated forum friends! So I've spent a good 12 days now trying to decide my party of IWD:EE on my iPhone. Being it's on my iPhone I have no mods and such available like I did on my PC run of the game. Anyway, I had an idea for a really airheaded Cleric character. Like they are intelligent and such but are devoted to Talos, God of Storms. The character is chaotic neutral and I'm going to RP them as a sort-of nature caster. Granted the character is a gnome so I can't make them a druid. Anyway, I imagine the char stats to be something like 15 str, 16 dex, 16 Con, 14 int, 9 wis, 14 cha. The only issue is the 9 wis. Wisdom is the Cleric's primary casting stat. . . fortunately they aren't a mage or they wouldn't be able to cast high level arcane spells. Anyway, should I sacrifice my RP idea for the char and raise their wis or keep it low in line with their personality?

semiticgoddess

I'd say a cleric with low Wisdom is perfectly acceptable if there's an RP reason behind it.

You're the DM. It's up to you.

elminster

Should Tiax be rejected because he only has 13 wisdom? (which deprives him of most wisdom benefits for additional spells)

Of course not. In fact Tiax rules all!

I say you should treat your character no differently

Vallmyr

Welp, Tiax is one of the best characters I have yet to use. . . actually, going to use him on my documented run now that you mention him. . . Thanks! XD

Gnome Cleric with 9 wisdom it is! I'm also considering raising int and lowering cha because of a lack in social skills as well. Thanks, guys n_n.

DJKajuru

It is perfectly plausible - after all, gods act in misterious ways. ;D

Vallmyr

It's also moments like this I'm glad in 2nd edition Wisdom only gives bonus spells to Clerics as opposed to also deciding the cap spell level they can cast.

elminster

Vallmyr said:

It's also moments like this I'm glad in 2nd edition Wisdom only gives bonus spells to Clerics as opposed to also deciding the cap spell level they can cast.

Well technically in 2nd edition you'd normally have a spellcasting failure rate based on your wisdom (and if you have high wisdom you would benefit from other things like magic defence adjustment and immunity to certain mind affecting spells). The infinity engine games never implemented that though. But in your case since you have 9 wisdom you'd have a 20% chance of spell failure in 2nd edition pnp.

Vallmyr

elminster said:

Vallmyr said:

It's also moments like this I'm glad in 2nd edition Wisdom only gives bonus spells to Clerics as opposed to also deciding the cap spell level they can cast.

Well technically in 2nd edition you'd normally have a spellcasting failure rate based on your wisdom (and other things like magic defence adjustment and immunity to certain mind affecting spells). The infinity engine games never implemented that though. But in your case since you have 9 wisdom you'd have a 20% chance of spell failure in 2nd edition pnp.

At first I was like, "Oh, ouch!"

But then again I imagine this character trying to do a prayer and failing the words/chant horribly.
So it fits. XD

DreadKhan

Well, if you RP this seriously, you could use either a d10 or a random number generatoe whenever you cast in 'stressful circumstances', and if you fail, you can deliberately flub the spell. This would be awfully Method-ey, but could be entertaining for you.

Stressful imho would be 'in a battle that is challenging', ie vs named enemies and other tough opponents. Not a good solo idea maybe, but fine in a party. I would think out of battle casting could be left alone, since checking for EVERY SPELL would suck and be boring.

Vallmyr

DreadKhan said:

Well, if you RP this seriously, you could use either a d10 or a random number generatoe whenever you cast in 'stressful circumstances', and if you fail, you can deliberately flub the spell. This would be awfully Method-ey, but could be entertaining for you.

Stressful imho would be 'in a battle that is challenging', ie vs named enemies and other tough opponents. Not a good solo idea maybe, but fine in a party. I would think out of battle casting could be left alone, since checking for EVERY SPELL would suck and be boring.

Ohhh thanks for the suggestion!
/goes and grabs a 1d10 from my dice bag.

SharGuidesMyHand

Vallmyr said:

Anyway, should I sacrifice my RP idea for the char and raise their wis or keep it low in line with their personality?

The game is often more interesting when you create an unusual or "weakened" character for RP reasons.