I'm proud to say that I seem to be the only one to have got sub-human results in the test, except for my constitution (15) and intelligence (13).
I would like to say I'm a xvart or a gibberling, but I would require higher strength and dexterity. So, attending to the test, I'll say I'm closer to a rabid chicken from the poultry store.
My profession is in fitness, so I pride myself on my physical ability.
Dexterity - 11
I wouldn't say I have great reflexes, to be honest. I wouldn't say I'm great with my hands, either. This stat is pretty average for me.
Constitution - 18
Again, my profession is in fitness, so I have to be in great shape. I've never been to the hospital for anything major in my adult life, and I make absolutely sure the chance of ever needing to in the next 20 years is unlikely.
Intelligence - 15
I don't want to say too much here because it seems like I'm bragging. All I can say is the only people I know that are smarter than I am are wealthy because of it.
Wisdom - 11
I'm still young enough to do pretty stupid and ill-advised things, and I haven't yet made the most out of my life and the people in it because of some of my poor choices.
Charisma - 14
Above average, definitely. Despite the fact that I do put a lot of value on my alone time, I get along very well with people, for the most part. What lets me down in this area is I can be vocal at the wrong times when I voice my unpopular opinions.
Class: Bard
I'm quite poetic and philosophical
Alignment: True Neutral
I believe morality is a gray area, and that my opinion is only swayed by objectivity. I do like seeing people do what many would deem as "good", but I see that as their objective in life, not mine. Maybe I will do more "good" things in the future, but for now, I'm more concerned with my life and the people around me.
Race: Human
It seems boring, I know. It would just suit my physicality to be human if I was in the Forgotten Realms. I'm 5'11" and weigh 195lbs, and relatively muscular. It wouldn't make sense to be anything else.
Proficiencies:
Warhammer * Mace *
And just for fun, my special ability is "Song Writing"
Ok, I've gone through the test again, slowly, realizing I missed two stupid questions on the intelligence bit. So here we go:
As you know, I am Winterisle.
STR: 11 I don't work out at all. Not worth it. I would only do it if a didn't like my own body or I needed to be strong. Not the case. I live slow, bro.
DEX: 14 This is toooo high. I should get, maybe, a bit more than strength, but not so much. I'm a fast runner, quite flexible because of practicing yoga and other stuff like that. I consider that I have reasonably good reflexes, but they aren't good enough to work in a circus. So as I said, I think 14 is too high. I would say 12 or 13 might be right.
CON: 16 I don't care about cold or pain really. I enjoy walking and trekking in the mountains. One of my favorite routes is a 9 hour walk up one of the tallest mountains in the place where I live. I'm pretty resistant to drugs and booze sometimes, though in the last few years not so much...
INT: 13-17 I'm a psychologist. I studied for about 6 years, did a few months practical work in a psychiatric hospital and worked for an IT company as a counselor for a guy who was building an app with a purpose related to psychotherapy. I did some meta-investigation with the psycho-social effects of methadone in an ex-heroine user's day to day life. Later on, I specialized in Mindfulness and emotional inteligence. So yeah, I have to study people and shit like that, so I can't (always) be extremelly stupid.
WIS: 12 I always thought that wisdom, in BG, was about spirituality and knowing one's self, nature and life itself. I think that's the main thing of being a cleric or a druid: deep knowledge of the Truth. So I must say I did not really enjoy this part of the test. I suppose that practicing mindful meditation for the last 2 or 3 years could have let me gain SOME wisdom. I suppose I still have a lot to learn...
CHA: 12 I don't know what to say here. I'm not a total asshole, and I think I'm a sociable person and quite a nice guy most of the time.
RACE: Gnome I'm quite short, and every once in a while I grow a beard (but not one of those huge hipster/dwarf ones!!). My nose isn't very small either. I like nature, animals and calmness. I consider myself a very curious person. And most of all, I love GNOMES.
CLASS: Illusionist or Illusionist/thief Yep, it couldn't be any other way. As a psychologist, I've studied perception, psychosis, hipnosis and everything related to cognitive psychology. So I work a lot with "illusions": ideas and beliefs created by one self that sometimes get a bit out of hand.
ALIGNMENT: True Neutral In my mindfulness training one of the main things I learnt is non-judgement. So "good" and "evil" are only judgements we make on other people's behaviors that are based on our own principles, those that we have learnt during our existence and that probably differ to the ones of many other people. I understand "evil" actions as a lack of knowledge (to not understand the damage done, or to not emphathize with someone hurt by ones actions). In other words, there is no good or evil. Only Wisdom or Ignorance.
I really love this discussion and all the different things that people have posted about this. Thank you all so much, I have laughed quite a bit.
I have been a D&D players since I was a 8 years old. Having been a D&D player for most of my life, I have given a lot of subconscious thought to this, often in judging myself and judging others. I sometimes say to myself in a totally nerdy inner dialogue, "That guy obviously has a low intelligence score", or "that blonde over there may be book-smart, but her wisdom leaves a lot to be desired".
But the problem is that it is so impossible to compare a person to just 6 stats. Strength is measured in many different ways, not just your ability to bend bars or maximum press. Intelligence and Wisdom is even harder to measure, especially in a modern society which introduces such a varied amount of possible career paths that require completely different skill sets. It's not at all similar to an AD&D setting where your options as a commoner amount to basically farmer, merchant, or thug. Most of our modern civilization's career choices require a great amount of knowledge and intuition that is not possessed by people who are in a different career path.
I don't trust those websites that say they can measure your real life D&D stats. They won't necessarily tell you what they really think of your abilities because they want you to visit their site again.
I have often thought about what my stats would be in an AD&D world, and I have tried to use some of the minimum stat requirements to measure my own personal stats in the most honest way that I can. When I was a teenager, I thought I was 18 in, like, almost everything, and 19 or 20 in the rest, but told my fellow-nerd D&D players I was only 16 in most, 15 in others, because, well, I didn't want to brag or nuffin'. Since I've become an adult and entered the career field, got married, and started a family, I think I see myself a little more clearly, and I realize that you can't measure yourself or anyone else against the stats of a game which over-simplifies the human condition in the name of P&P and Doritos.
Now, that being said, it is still a lot of fun to try!
I started with strength as a baseline and then went from there with all the other stats.
Strength: The minimum strength required to wear 70lbs of steel strapped to your whole body (full plate) for 8-16 hours a day under heavy exertion, which consists of frequent hand-to-hand combat and hiking all over freaking heck-&-gone is 15.
15!!!!!
This is the MINIMUM strength required to do that while carrying your life around on your back, swinging a greatsword accurately, and hiking a mountain all at the same time for 8-16 consecutive hours (with only a few minor breaks because you're being chased by a dragon). Now, I have to ask myself, can I do that? No, I am pretty sure that I can't. I would imagine that something like that would be difficult for even a battle-hardened marine veteran. But because a battle-hardened marine veteran trudging through a war-zone is the closest thing that we have to a fighter wearing full-plate, let's go with a battle-hardened marine veteran having a strength of 15 or 16, because if his strength was a few points higher (+percentiles) he would be able to carry two marines worth of weight on his shoulders whilst fighting terrorists.
Now to evaluate my strength compared to that standard...
I can do push-ups and sit-ups but I don't. I don't work out and I don't go to the gym. I am pretty strong for my size, but I am pretty small. I have good endurance, but I don't test it very often. I am definitely far below average, but not for my size, and I am not fat. In comparing myself to a marine with 15 strength as being amazing, and 9 strength as being average, I'm going with....
Strength: 7. That's being very generous.
Using 15 as a standard minimum for the most physically difficult profession I can imagine in the marine analogy, I will measure my dexterity against that of an average but still good professional baseball player assuming 15 Dex, perhaps Zach Britton. (Pitcher, Baltimore Orioles, ever heard of him?)
Dexterity: 8. I am slightly less clumsy than I am strong, but I still have the "dropsies" (dropping stuff when you're nervous or pressured), so it balances out to not that much of an advantage. Considering that 9 is your average commoner/citizen, this is also very generous.
Continuing the analogy of a marine needing to have 15 strength to do his job, let's say hypothetically he also would benefit from or even require a minimum constitution of 15 for his job. Although I am very pain tolerant, I have a very serious medical condition. I eat healthily, and I avoid sugar, so I am not quite dead yet by AD&D standards. We are going with:
Constitution: 6.
Now, intelligence is very difficult to measure. I think most people here have been confusing Intelligence (the ability to learn) with knowledge (how much they have learned) or skill (how good that they are at doing something). Knowledge and skill is gained by study and experience. Although intelligence can be learned with practice, it is more like a quality you possess that makes it easier for you to obtain knowledge and skill; I would also describe it as a measure of your potential to learn something before you learn it. Knowledge or skill would be more like your experience level, and intelligence is more like your potential to succeed in a given field should you choose to apply yourself. (Its all way more complicated than this, but bear with me, this is all just my opinion.)
A 20th level mage may have an intelligence of 11, but he can still cast all kinds of spells up to 5th level. Contrast that to a 1st level mage with an intelligence of 16 who can only cast a few 1st level spells. A 20th level kindergarten teacher (LOL), with an intelligence of 11 would know more about and be better at her job than a 1st level kindergarten teacher straight out of college with an intelligence of 16. The second teacher certainly has the potential to become better than the first with experience and time, but just because she's smart doesn't mean she's any good yet. In contrast, the first teacher may know more and be better at her job because she's been doing it for so long, but that doesn't mean that the second teacher has nothing valuable to contribute.
Now, to measure my own intelligence...
I have been working with electricity for 10 years, and have a vast array of experience ranging from residential to industrial installations. I have been involved in intricate restoration projects of 200yr old houses to installing power distribution substations for windmill farms. My job consists of troubleshooting the electrical systems of complex manufacturing equipment. I am the guy that everyone calls when they can't figure out "why it won't work". I work on robots, automated product delivery systems, sterilization equipment, and over a hundred completely different manufacturing processes. I have been able to solve a significant number of problems that my co-workers with the same job position are unable to solve.
If we are going by AD&D standards of "A very intelligent person (Int 11 or 12) picks up new ideas quickly and learns easily," then I can say that there is only one thing certain in my life:
The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know.
Intelligence: 10. although I pick up new ideas quickly, it can be very challenging for me. I'm not quite VERY intelligent, just plain, old normal intelligent.
Wisdom is also a difficult one to measure. I like to believe that I have made good choices in my life in comparison to the average person. But I also realize that I haven't always made good choices. I have been a good study of faith of all types of religion. I spent years in the past serving for my church 16hrs/day, 7days/wk, 360days/yr, without any other job or commitments, and that taught me a lot about the dark side of the world, and how very cruel people can be to each other. I also learned a lot about how kindness can be found inside of anyone. I would like to say that my ability to solve all sorts of problems is my greatest strength, and I believe that I am intuitive and perceptive. It is a conundrum, because when you think you are self-aware, someone points out a fault or trait about yourself that you were not aware of! There are so many difficulties to judging your own wisdom: am I honest, or am I just proud? am I being honest with myself, or do I just have low self-esteem? am I truly being honest with myself AND being humble at the same time, or am I just trying to convince myself or trying to make myself appear more humble than I really am?
I truly believe that I am accurate when I say that I am above average in this area, but I still realize that the more I learn, the less I actually know.
Wisdom: 11
Finally, charisma, easily my worst stat. I was constantly picked on as a child, and even now I believe I am respected in my profession more because of what I am capable of rather than because I am a people magnet. Although people do what I say, I fear they do it because they think they should, rather than because they want to. I don't have a lot of friends, just a few very dear ones that I would give my life for. I think I am more bossy than natural leadership material. I have been given many leadership roles by necessity, but they always feel awkward and unnatural. I find myself unintentionally offending people, or accidentally appearing as stand-offish. Although I do my best to be kind and friendly, I always make a horrible first impression. I come off as more of a know-it-all without any knowledge to back it up, and people are surprised when they find out that I actually DO have a significant amount of knowledge and experience when I say that I do; actually, people are usually surprised that I know anything at all.
Charisma: 5.
I am small, and love to work with machines, have facial hair, love humor, and I have a very dangerous job. We're going with...
Race: Tinker Gnome. Definitely tinker gnome. Not because I am proud of that, but because that is the closest, I would much prefer to be a brooding dark elf, or a sassy half-elf. Heck, I'd even go with a tough and gruff dwarf. Oh well. Maybe that's why most of my Charnames tend to be elvish.
Class: Cleric/Mage. Mage, because people who don't understand electricity seem to think it is magic, and Cleric, because I try to be a devout church-goer and servant of God, even though I have my own weaknesses, temptations, and shortcomings. I am experienced in my chosen field, but because I am continually exposed to such new, innovate, and absolutely amazing pieces of technology, I know that there are much smarter and more experienced people out there. Level: 4
I am definitely Lawful Good. I believe in obeying the law (aside from my weakness of speeding) and my company policies, and I obey people in authority over me, even when I question them. I serve strangers and friends as best I can without seeking any sort of reward or glory (aside from the vain glory of anonymously telling strangers in this wonderful baldur's gate community who will never know that I am not actually a pile of mashed potatoes--hey, we all have our sins, right?). Oh, and I love Baldur's Gate, which definitely makes me good.
(Sorry for the wall of text and thanks for reading if you did)
@mashedtaters , Based on how you think and write, I think you rate yourself far too low all around, because you value humility as a character trait.
I really like your extended analysis of the meaning of each ability area. Your insight and thoughtfulness are indicative of much higher INT and WIS than you give yourself credit for.
I would, at least you are honest and humble (maybe too much with cha, 5 is incredibly low).
Thanks, @Daevelon. But if Charisma is a measure of your ability to convince someone to believe in you, then I failed to convince you that my Charisma is 5. Hah!
@mashedtaters , Based on how you think and write, I think you rate yourself far too low all around, because you value humility as a character trait.
I really like your extended analysis of the meaning of each ability area. Your insight and thoughtfulness are indicative of much higher INT and WIS than you give yourself credit for.
Thank you, too @BelgarathMTH. Maybe I am low-balling myself, but I also don't think that there is anything wrong or bad with having "low stats in real life". As I said in my self-description, it is impossible to measure anyone by 6 generic stats, and I don't believe that such "stats" could be any sort of measurement of someone's worth. Don't think I'm down on myself about it or anything, I just wouldn't advise bringing me along if your goal is to hunt down a torturous psychopath in a mostly barbaric and uncivilized society. I'm not hero material and won't pretend to be.
There is no perfect way to judge anyone, including yourself. When you do, I believe that what a person does with his life is a better way to judge, not the body and brain they were born with. I feel that my accomplishments in life, despite my disability, many shortcomings, and other disadvantages, speak well for who I am.
I am learning in my adulthood that being a bowl of @mashedtaters isn't actually a bad thing, even though I may have believed the @chocolatecake and the @ribeyesteak bullies when I was younger (y'know, just having been mixed with @butterandmilkandsaltandpepper to taste, I was pretty susceptible to negative influence).
If anyone here is down on themselves because they are not the Charnames they envision, then don't be down anymore! It's better to be happy with yourself, because you can't change what you are. You can change what you do and what you feel about who you are.
I would definately use you as a NPC, M/Cs are fantastic! If you could find another good and somewhat law abiding gnome with thief skills then me, you and him/her would cruise through BG2 vanilla!
I too find it impossible to be fair in a BG setting stat discussion about real life people. But I think the game itself has a hard time sticking to the rules. Keldorn for example has 17 charisma and good wisdom and still might very well come to blows with a neutral character the first time you meet him, in fact every paladin needs 17 charisma. Are they really that socially gifted? Or are they just really really pretty?
When discussing strength I find it hard not to think of jaheira, she has a pretty high score. Would you rate her higher than almost every man you know? How many women do you know irl that are stronger than most men who visits the gym on a regular basis? Are half-elves stronger than normal humans? Aren't elves in general supposed to be a little on the frail side?
The description of int that ppl quote from the rulebooks is a lost cause pretty much, I try to view it as the regular bell curve distribution. Maybe not strictly correct according to DnD, but again the game shows you quite a few NPCs with 16+ int scores that at least don't strike me as something special. At the same time our beloved Jan invents all kinds of OP gadgets at a measly 16... And I never use Edvin since he is evil, but with an average wis and charisma and his stellar int, should he really be messing with tomes he knows nothing about for example? I know I wouldn't.
Judging YOUR rl stats according to a wall of text in a thread about bg2 is ofc impossible. But from your reasoning I would at least put your wis a bit higher. But maybe you're prone to a lot of really stupid and rash decision irl, I wouldnt know. I also didn't think charisma could be that low on someone who is even barely tolerated in society... Int, as previously mentioned, seems to be measured very differently by different ppl.
@Otherguy I agree with you %100, and have always wondered why Paladins, who are supposed to be the most likable, self-sacrificing people in D&D are so frequently portrayed as self-serving, pompous jerks. But that aside, there are some pretty scummy people out there who have a lot of followers, so maybe I'm just interpreting the stats wrong.
I really like what you have to say. I never thought about BG and AD&D itself not sticking to the rules. Maybe I should reconsider some of my stats.
My nerdy brain just loves thinking about these kind of D&D to real-life comparisons. And I definitely agree @semiticgod that if you subtracted at least 2 (maybe more depending on the npc) from every joinable npc stat, it would be much closer to how I interpret what the stats are supposed to represent.
But then in order to survive the game, you might have to subract 2 from every enemy as well. Then it would all be the same in the end, I don't know.
@Skatan started this post wondering how we percieve our own AD&D stats and character classes. The above summary of my stats are how I perceived them to be before I considered that AD&D doesn't stick to their own rules. I probably low-balled myself, but it was still fun.
Whether or not they are accurate is another matter that is impossible to determine regardless of if anyone here knew me in real life (or anyone else for that matter). Who knows? Maybe my confidence is too blame (see my description of wisdom). I do currently believe that my physical stats are as accurate as I can get them, because they are at least measurable to some extent. The other 3 mental stats are open to interpretation and may be completely wrong. It is true that 5 cha is only 2 points above being able to just barely distinguish yourself from other human beings.
I will have to think about this some more (yay, more fun!).
I also never even considered what you had to say about Jaheira, @Otherguy. That is a really great point. Hmm... I will have to think about that some more, too (I forgot to mention it in what I just posted).
Maybe I should DM a D&D game with character who all have normal stats. That actually sounds pretty fun and challenging.
I would have to find the right people to play with, though. I can hear it now: "WHAT?! My wizard only gets 12 intelligence??!!" "That's right, he's very intelligent." "'Very intelligent'?? I'll give YOU 'very intelligent'!!"
Even the stats in baldurs gate aren't that important. Perfectly possible to complete the game with completely average characters.
Also, one of the less tangible stats here is wisdom. I think it was Aristotle who wrote a considerable amount about wisdom and was always of the opinion that those who define themselves as wise were not generally and were instead missing the point that only when you're smart enough to begin noticing how little you actually know are you approaching anywhere near "wise", which I think he meant to be a paradox!
Race: Half-Elf I am, simply put, a weirdo. I don't quite fit in anywhere, no matter how hard I try. I'm just kind of there.
Alignment: Neutral Good I believe sincerely in "good for the sake of good" and my attitude towards rules is context-based. Rules can either help or harm, depending on the situation, and I usually use the question "Does this make the world a better place?" to decide one way or the other.
Class: Mage/Thief I'm an extremely bookish person who spends most of her time either at school or locked in her room, engaging in nerdy pursuits. Such is also the way of the mage. Since I grew up in a very strict household, my stealth skills are A+, so I'd make a good thief. Seriously, my Move Silently score would be phenomenal.
The following stats are taken from my results in the online test. (Side note: I just realized that "stats" is a palindrome. Neat. Okay, carry on.)
Strength: 6 This is unsurprising. I'm a weakling, a noodle. I do have an abnormally strong grip, but I can't do sit-ups to save my life.
Dexterity: 14 Avoiding things is kind of my modus operandi, so this is accurate. I've also been known to do some interesting contortions to reach for things, like effectively wrapping myself around a chair so that I can grab something off the floor behind me without getting up.
Constitution: 4 Never has there been a finer truth. I am perpetually wrecked. Would probably have 1 HP at lvl 1.
Intelligence: 16 (14/17 average) I was careful with this, because I wanted as accurate a score as possible and was somewhat shocked, since I pegged myself as a 12 at best. I guess this finally explains how I was miraculously able to pass that course in symbolic logic I took last semester.
Wisdom: 13 This is probably a good averaging of my strengths and weaknesses. I'm great at philosophizing, but I have a reputation for naivete.
Charisma: 13 This score inspired expletives, because by my estimation, there is no way I could have a CHA score above 6. I get hounded every shift at work for being too quiet and the people closest to me frequently forget I exist. I'm not at all pretty either, so I submit that the test calculated this badly.
Proficiencies: Dagger * Shortsword *
In summary, I would be a terrible NPC companion. I'd be somewhat useful for identifying objects and scouting ahead, but that is literally it. I would just be constantly dying and I'd be useless as a pack rat for anything other than scrolls. I probably wouldn't even have great banter and my quest would be a crappy mage edition of Anomen's.
Svar, me (gnome F/M) you and mashedtaters (gnome M/C) would cruise through BG2 even with SCS. You might wanna consider standing in the background or shadows til we get the con belt though. Your strength isn't really much of an issue between str spell and the glove/belts.
You wouldnt consider changing into gnome though? All the real weirdos are gnomes after all!
@Svar Actually, you underestimate the power of scouting. You are nimble and quiet, so you would be great at infiltration. Your role would be something of a spy. Definitely invaluable
I can't believe so many people here are coming out with such low CON scores
Svar, me (gnome F/M) you and mashedtaters (gnome M/C) would cruise through BG2 even with SCS. You might wanna consider standing in the background or shadows til we get the con belt though. Your strength isn't really much of an issue between str spell and the glove/belts.
You wouldnt consider changing into gnome though? All the real weirdos are gnomes after all!
Now I kinda want to start up a multiplayer playthrough just to see how that would pan out.
I'm too tall and lanky to think of myself as a gnome, haha. Besides, gnomes have a society and culture to belong to, whereas half-elves don't fully belong anywhere, really, and elves even have a number of slurs for half-elves, which is an unpleasantness I can relate to.
@Svar Actually, you underestimate the power of scouting. You are nimble and quiet, so you would be great at infiltration. Your role would be something of a spy. Definitely invaluable
I can't believe so many people here are coming out with such low CON scores
I suppose. I could also do typical mage things, like stand way in the back and spam Magic Missile and accidentally singe my companions with Fireball, haha.
@Svar@Otherguy We will be like the B-team of baldur's gate: the back-up plan after Charname, Minsc, and Jaheira all kick the bucket. Instead of reloading when the bhaalspawn dies, you have to try to finish the game with a silly group made up of gnomes and a half-elf.
Strength: 13 This seems about right. I go to the gym quite a bit and while people tell me the weights I can lift are pretty good, I don't think I'm that far above the norm.
Dexterity: 11 Again, fairly accurate. I have pretty fast hands and am quite surefooted but I'm not anything to phone home about.
Constitution: 15 I'm very rarely sick, I eat well, exercise, and focus a lot on my health so I can agree with this. I have two sleeves of tattoos and my artist even commented that my pain tolerance was high.
Intelligence: 11/10 = 11 This surprises me. I've typically performed quite well in school and, particularly in liberal arts university classes, get told I grasp advanced concepts quickly. I've moved into a mathier (that's a word, right?) major and I'm still doing ok.
Wisdom: 12 Again, this surprises me. I'm literally the guy everyone goes to advice for. I very rarely make rash decisions and I've been described as mature since I was 13.
Charisma: 15 I've never thought of myself as charismatic. In small groups or one-on-one sessions I do well, but I don't make friends quickly or easily. I tend to just be really polite and generally nice to get by.
I've always thought of myself as an elf (a little arrogant but not mean, someone who appreciates art and music, and a person who loves nature.) As far as classes go, I've had people tell me I'm empathetic and I know I have a good sense of right and wrong. Ideally I'd be a druid, kind of like Jaheira, who participates both in the wild and civilized worlds. As a back up, I think I'd make a good cleric.
So, who would take me as a party member? I suppose if I ended up as a meatshield you could just give me the dex gauntlets and I'd be an ok tank.
(Apart from gnomes loving turnips. We all know that's true.)
Actually turnips are pretty freaking good, if they are prepared right. (Insert nonsensical gibberish that sounds smart but really isn't, and makes your eyes hurt reading it: blah blah blah blah, more blah)
Comments
I would like to say I'm a xvart or a gibberling, but I would require higher strength and dexterity. So, attending to the test, I'll say I'm closer to a rabid chicken from the poultry store.
My profession is in fitness, so I pride myself on my physical ability.
Dexterity - 11
I wouldn't say I have great reflexes, to be honest. I wouldn't say I'm great with my hands, either. This stat is pretty average for me.
Constitution - 18
Again, my profession is in fitness, so I have to be in great shape. I've never been to the hospital for anything major in my adult life, and I make absolutely sure the chance of ever needing to in the next 20 years is unlikely.
Intelligence - 15
I don't want to say too much here because it seems like I'm bragging. All I can say is the only people I know that are smarter than I am are wealthy because of it.
Wisdom - 11
I'm still young enough to do pretty stupid and ill-advised things, and I haven't yet made the most out of my life and the people in it because of some of my poor choices.
Charisma - 14
Above average, definitely. Despite the fact that I do put a lot of value on my alone time, I get along very well with people, for the most part. What lets me down in this area is I can be vocal at the wrong times when I voice my unpopular opinions.
Class: Bard
I'm quite poetic and philosophical
Alignment: True Neutral
I believe morality is a gray area, and that my opinion is only swayed by objectivity. I do like seeing people do what many would deem as "good", but I see that as their objective in life, not mine. Maybe I will do more "good" things in the future, but for now, I'm more concerned with my life and the people around me.
Race: Human
It seems boring, I know. It would just suit my physicality to be human if I was in the Forgotten Realms. I'm 5'11" and weigh 195lbs, and relatively muscular. It wouldn't make sense to be anything else.
Proficiencies:
Warhammer *
Mace *
And just for fun, my special ability is "Song Writing"
This must mean something!
Your wisdom score must be 25, because that is easily the most insightful and applicable post I have ever read.
I think I work with a guy or two who may actually be able to be clinically diagnosed with that problem.
dex 8
con 7
int 15/13 =14
wis 13
cha 12
Wow I suck.
As you know, I am Winterisle.
STR: 11
I don't work out at all. Not worth it. I would only do it if a didn't like my own body or I needed to be strong. Not the case. I live slow, bro.
DEX: 14
This is toooo high. I should get, maybe, a bit more than strength, but not so much. I'm a fast runner, quite flexible because of practicing yoga and other stuff like that. I consider that I have reasonably good reflexes, but they aren't good enough to work in a circus. So as I said, I think 14 is too high. I would say 12 or 13 might be right.
CON: 16
I don't care about cold or pain really. I enjoy walking and trekking in the mountains. One of my favorite routes is a 9 hour walk up one of the tallest mountains in the place where I live. I'm pretty resistant to drugs and booze sometimes, though in the last few years not so much...
INT: 13-17
I'm a psychologist. I studied for about 6 years, did a few months practical work in a psychiatric hospital and worked for an IT company as a counselor for a guy who was building an app with a purpose related to psychotherapy. I did some meta-investigation with the psycho-social effects of methadone in an ex-heroine user's day to day life. Later on, I specialized in Mindfulness and emotional inteligence. So yeah, I have to study people and shit like that, so I can't (always) be extremelly stupid.
WIS: 12
I always thought that wisdom, in BG, was about spirituality and knowing one's self, nature and life itself. I think that's the main thing of being a cleric or a druid: deep knowledge of the Truth. So I must say I did not really enjoy this part of the test. I suppose that practicing mindful meditation for the last 2 or 3 years could have let me gain SOME wisdom. I suppose I still have a lot to learn...
CHA: 12
I don't know what to say here. I'm not a total asshole, and I think I'm a sociable person and quite a nice guy most of the time.
RACE: Gnome
I'm quite short, and every once in a while I grow a beard (but not one of those huge hipster/dwarf ones!!). My nose isn't very small either. I like nature, animals and calmness. I consider myself a very curious person. And most of all, I love GNOMES.
CLASS: Illusionist or Illusionist/thief
Yep, it couldn't be any other way. As a psychologist, I've studied perception, psychosis, hipnosis and everything related to cognitive psychology. So I work a lot with "illusions": ideas and beliefs created by one self that sometimes get a bit out of hand.
ALIGNMENT: True Neutral
In my mindfulness training one of the main things I learnt is non-judgement. So "good" and "evil" are only judgements we make on other people's behaviors that are based on our own principles, those that we have learnt during our existence and that probably differ to the ones of many other people.
I understand "evil" actions as a lack of knowledge (to not understand the damage done, or to not emphathize with someone hurt by ones actions). In other words, there is no good or evil. Only Wisdom or Ignorance.
Night night...
I have been a D&D players since I was a 8 years old. Having been a D&D player for most of my life, I have given a lot of subconscious thought to this, often in judging myself and judging others. I sometimes say to myself in a totally nerdy inner dialogue, "That guy obviously has a low intelligence score", or "that blonde over there may be book-smart, but her wisdom leaves a lot to be desired".
But the problem is that it is so impossible to compare a person to just 6 stats. Strength is measured in many different ways, not just your ability to bend bars or maximum press. Intelligence and Wisdom is even harder to measure, especially in a modern society which introduces such a varied amount of possible career paths that require completely different skill sets. It's not at all similar to an AD&D setting where your options as a commoner amount to basically farmer, merchant, or thug. Most of our modern civilization's career choices require a great amount of knowledge and intuition that is not possessed by people who are in a different career path.
I don't trust those websites that say they can measure your real life D&D stats. They won't necessarily tell you what they really think of your abilities because they want you to visit their site again.
I have often thought about what my stats would be in an AD&D world, and I have tried to use some of the minimum stat requirements to measure my own personal stats in the most honest way that I can. When I was a teenager, I thought I was 18 in, like, almost everything, and 19 or 20 in the rest, but told my fellow-nerd D&D players I was only 16 in most, 15 in others, because, well, I didn't want to brag or nuffin'. Since I've become an adult and entered the career field, got married, and started a family, I think I see myself a little more clearly, and I realize that you can't measure yourself or anyone else against the stats of a game which over-simplifies the human condition in the name of P&P and Doritos.
Now, that being said, it is still a lot of fun to try!
I started with strength as a baseline and then went from there with all the other stats.
Strength: The minimum strength required to wear 70lbs of steel strapped to your whole body (full plate) for 8-16 hours a day under heavy exertion, which consists of frequent hand-to-hand combat and hiking all over freaking heck-&-gone is 15.
15!!!!!
This is the MINIMUM strength required to do that while carrying your life around on your back, swinging a greatsword accurately, and hiking a mountain all at the same time for 8-16 consecutive hours (with only a few minor breaks because you're being chased by a dragon).
Now, I have to ask myself, can I do that?
No, I am pretty sure that I can't. I would imagine that something like that would be difficult for even a battle-hardened marine veteran. But because a battle-hardened marine veteran trudging through a war-zone is the closest thing that we have to a fighter wearing full-plate, let's go with a battle-hardened marine veteran having a strength of 15 or 16, because if his strength was a few points higher (+percentiles) he would be able to carry two marines worth of weight on his shoulders whilst fighting terrorists.
Now to evaluate my strength compared to that standard...
I can do push-ups and sit-ups but I don't. I don't work out and I don't go to the gym. I am pretty strong for my size, but I am pretty small. I have good endurance, but I don't test it very often. I am definitely far below average, but not for my size, and I am not fat. In comparing myself to a marine with 15 strength as being amazing, and 9 strength as being average, I'm going with....
Strength: 7. That's being very generous.
Using 15 as a standard minimum for the most physically difficult profession I can imagine in the marine analogy, I will measure my dexterity against that of an average but still good professional baseball player assuming 15 Dex, perhaps Zach Britton. (Pitcher, Baltimore Orioles, ever heard of him?)
Dexterity: 8. I am slightly less clumsy than I am strong, but I still have the "dropsies" (dropping stuff when you're nervous or pressured), so it balances out to not that much of an advantage. Considering that 9 is your average commoner/citizen, this is also very generous.
Continuing the analogy of a marine needing to have 15 strength to do his job, let's say hypothetically he also would benefit from or even require a minimum constitution of 15 for his job. Although I am very pain tolerant, I have a very serious medical condition. I eat healthily, and I avoid sugar, so I am not quite dead yet by AD&D standards. We are going with:
Constitution: 6.
Now, intelligence is very difficult to measure. I think most people here have been confusing Intelligence (the ability to learn) with knowledge (how much they have learned) or skill (how good that they are at doing something). Knowledge and skill is gained by study and experience. Although intelligence can be learned with practice, it is more like a quality you possess that makes it easier for you to obtain knowledge and skill; I would also describe it as a measure of your potential to learn something before you learn it. Knowledge or skill would be more like your experience level, and intelligence is more like your potential to succeed in a given field should you choose to apply yourself. (Its all way more complicated than this, but bear with me, this is all just my opinion.)
A 20th level mage may have an intelligence of 11, but he can still cast all kinds of spells up to 5th level. Contrast that to a 1st level mage with an intelligence of 16 who can only cast a few 1st level spells. A 20th level kindergarten teacher (LOL), with an intelligence of 11 would know more about and be better at her job than a 1st level kindergarten teacher straight out of college with an intelligence of 16. The second teacher certainly has the potential to become better than the first with experience and time, but just because she's smart doesn't mean she's any good yet. In contrast, the first teacher may know more and be better at her job because she's been doing it for so long, but that doesn't mean that the second teacher has nothing valuable to contribute.
Now, to measure my own intelligence...
I have been working with electricity for 10 years, and have a vast array of experience ranging from residential to industrial installations. I have been involved in intricate restoration projects of 200yr old houses to installing power distribution substations for windmill farms. My job consists of troubleshooting the electrical systems of complex manufacturing equipment. I am the guy that everyone calls when they can't figure out "why it won't work". I work on robots, automated product delivery systems, sterilization equipment, and over a hundred completely different manufacturing processes. I have been able to solve a significant number of problems that my co-workers with the same job position are unable to solve.
If we are going by AD&D standards of "A very intelligent person (Int 11 or 12) picks up new ideas
quickly and learns easily," then I can say that there is only one thing certain in my life:
The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know.
Intelligence: 10. although I pick up new ideas quickly, it can be very challenging for me. I'm not quite VERY intelligent, just plain, old normal intelligent.
Wisdom is also a difficult one to measure. I like to believe that I have made good choices in my life in comparison to the average person. But I also realize that I haven't always made good choices. I have been a good study of faith of all types of religion. I spent years in the past serving for my church 16hrs/day, 7days/wk, 360days/yr, without any other job or commitments, and that taught me a lot about the dark side of the world, and how very cruel people can be to each other. I also learned a lot about how kindness can be found inside of anyone. I would like to say that my ability to solve all sorts of problems is my greatest strength, and I believe that I am intuitive and perceptive. It is a conundrum, because when you think you are self-aware, someone points out a fault or trait about yourself that you were not aware of! There are so many difficulties to judging your own wisdom: am I honest, or am I just proud? am I being honest with myself, or do I just have low self-esteem? am I truly being honest with myself AND being humble at the same time, or am I just trying to convince myself or trying to make myself appear more humble than I really am?
I truly believe that I am accurate when I say that I am above average in this area, but I still realize that the more I learn, the less I actually know.
Wisdom: 11
Finally, charisma, easily my worst stat. I was constantly picked on as a child, and even now I believe I am respected in my profession more because of what I am capable of rather than because I am a people magnet. Although people do what I say, I fear they do it because they think they should, rather than because they want to. I don't have a lot of friends, just a few very dear ones that I would give my life for. I think I am more bossy than natural leadership material. I have been given many leadership roles by necessity, but they always feel awkward and unnatural. I find myself unintentionally offending people, or accidentally appearing as stand-offish. Although I do my best to be kind and friendly, I always make a horrible first impression. I come off as more of a know-it-all without any knowledge to back it up, and people are surprised when they find out that I actually DO have a significant amount of knowledge and experience when I say that I do; actually, people are usually surprised that I know anything at all.
Charisma: 5.
I am small, and love to work with machines, have facial hair, love humor, and I have a very dangerous job. We're going with...
Race: Tinker Gnome. Definitely tinker gnome. Not because I am proud of that, but because that is the closest, I would much prefer to be a brooding dark elf, or a sassy half-elf. Heck, I'd even go with a tough and gruff dwarf. Oh well. Maybe that's why most of my Charnames tend to be elvish.
Class: Cleric/Mage. Mage, because people who don't understand electricity seem to think it is magic, and Cleric, because I try to be a devout church-goer and servant of God, even though I have my own weaknesses, temptations, and shortcomings. I am experienced in my chosen field, but because I am continually exposed to such new, innovate, and absolutely amazing pieces of technology, I know that there are much smarter and more experienced people out there. Level: 4
I am definitely Lawful Good. I believe in obeying the law (aside from my weakness of speeding) and my company policies, and I obey people in authority over me, even when I question them. I serve strangers and friends as best I can without seeking any sort of reward or glory (aside from the vain glory of anonymously telling strangers in this wonderful baldur's gate community who will never know that I am not actually a pile of mashed potatoes--hey, we all have our sins, right?). Oh, and I love Baldur's Gate, which definitely makes me good.
(Sorry for the wall of text and thanks for reading if you did)
Summary
@mashedtaters
Tinkerer Gnome
Level 4 Cleric/Mage
Str 7
Dex 8
Con 6
Int 10
Wis 11
Cha 5
Would you pick me up as an NPC?
I wouldn't.
I really like your extended analysis of the meaning of each ability area. Your insight and thoughtfulness are indicative of much higher INT and WIS than you give yourself credit for.
There is no perfect way to judge anyone, including yourself. When you do, I believe that what a person does with his life is a better way to judge, not the body and brain they were born with. I feel that my accomplishments in life, despite my disability, many shortcomings, and other disadvantages, speak well for who I am.
I am learning in my adulthood that being a bowl of @mashedtaters isn't actually a bad thing, even though I may have believed the @chocolatecake and the @ribeyesteak bullies when I was younger (y'know, just having been mixed with @butterandmilkandsaltandpepper to taste, I was pretty susceptible to negative influence).
If anyone here is down on themselves because they are not the Charnames they envision, then don't be down anymore! It's better to be happy with yourself, because you can't change what you are. You can change what you do and what you feel about who you are.
Bring on the low-stat Charnames!
I too find it impossible to be fair in a BG setting stat discussion about real life people. But I think the game itself has a hard time sticking to the rules. Keldorn for example has 17 charisma and good wisdom and still might very well come to blows with a neutral character the first time you meet him, in fact every paladin needs 17 charisma. Are they really that socially gifted? Or are they just really really pretty?
When discussing strength I find it hard not to think of jaheira, she has a pretty high score. Would you rate her higher than almost every man you know? How many women do you know irl that are stronger than most men who visits the gym on a regular basis? Are half-elves stronger than normal humans? Aren't elves in general supposed to be a little on the frail side?
The description of int that ppl quote from the rulebooks is a lost cause pretty much, I try to view it as the regular bell curve distribution. Maybe not strictly correct according to DnD, but again the game shows you quite a few NPCs with 16+ int scores that at least don't strike me as something special. At the same time our beloved Jan invents all kinds of OP gadgets at a measly 16... And I never use Edvin since he is evil, but with an average wis and charisma and his stellar int, should he really be messing with tomes he knows nothing about for example? I know I wouldn't.
Judging YOUR rl stats according to a wall of text in a thread about bg2 is ofc impossible. But from your reasoning I would at least put your wis a bit higher. But maybe you're prone to a lot of really stupid and rash decision irl, I wouldnt know. I also didn't think charisma could be that low on someone who is even barely tolerated in society... Int, as previously mentioned, seems to be measured very differently by different ppl.
I agree with you %100, and have always wondered why Paladins, who are supposed to be the most likable, self-sacrificing people in D&D are so frequently portrayed as self-serving, pompous jerks. But that aside, there are some pretty scummy people out there who have a lot of followers, so maybe I'm just interpreting the stats wrong.
I really like what you have to say. I never thought about BG and AD&D itself not sticking to the rules. Maybe I should reconsider some of my stats.
My nerdy brain just loves thinking about these kind of D&D to real-life comparisons. And I definitely agree @semiticgod that if you subtracted at least 2 (maybe more depending on the npc) from every joinable npc stat, it would be much closer to how I interpret what the stats are supposed to represent.
But then in order to survive the game, you might have to subract 2 from every enemy as well. Then it would all be the same in the end, I don't know.
@Skatan started this post wondering how we percieve our own AD&D stats and character classes. The above summary of my stats are how I perceived them to be before I considered that AD&D doesn't stick to their own rules. I probably low-balled myself, but it was still fun.
Whether or not they are accurate is another matter that is impossible to determine regardless of if anyone here knew me in real life (or anyone else for that matter). Who knows? Maybe my confidence is too blame (see my description of wisdom). I do currently believe that my physical stats are as accurate as I can get them, because they are at least measurable to some extent. The other 3 mental stats are open to interpretation and may be completely wrong. It is true that 5 cha is only 2 points above being able to just barely distinguish yourself from other human beings.
I will have to think about this some more (yay, more fun!).
Maybe I should DM a D&D game with character who all have normal stats. That actually sounds pretty fun and challenging.
I would have to find the right people to play with, though. I can hear it now: "WHAT?! My wizard only gets 12 intelligence??!!" "That's right, he's very intelligent." "'Very intelligent'?? I'll give YOU 'very intelligent'!!"
Also, one of the less tangible stats here is wisdom. I think it was Aristotle who wrote a considerable amount about wisdom and was always of the opinion that those who define themselves as wise were not generally and were instead missing the point that only when you're smart enough to begin noticing how little you actually know are you approaching anywhere near "wise", which I think he meant to be a paradox!
I am, simply put, a weirdo. I don't quite fit in anywhere, no matter how hard I try. I'm just kind of there.
Alignment: Neutral Good
I believe sincerely in "good for the sake of good" and my attitude towards rules is context-based. Rules can either help or harm, depending on the situation, and I usually use the question "Does this make the world a better place?" to decide one way or the other.
Class: Mage/Thief
I'm an extremely bookish person who spends most of her time either at school or locked in her room, engaging in nerdy pursuits. Such is also the way of the mage. Since I grew up in a very strict household, my stealth skills are A+, so I'd make a good thief. Seriously, my Move Silently score would be phenomenal.
The following stats are taken from my results in the online test. (Side note: I just realized that "stats" is a palindrome. Neat. Okay, carry on.)
Strength: 6
This is unsurprising. I'm a weakling, a noodle. I do have an abnormally strong grip, but I can't do sit-ups to save my life.
Dexterity: 14
Avoiding things is kind of my modus operandi, so this is accurate. I've also been known to do some interesting contortions to reach for things, like effectively wrapping myself around a chair so that I can grab something off the floor behind me without getting up.
Constitution: 4
Never has there been a finer truth. I am perpetually wrecked. Would probably have 1 HP at lvl 1.
Intelligence: 16 (14/17 average)
I was careful with this, because I wanted as accurate a score as possible and was somewhat shocked, since I pegged myself as a 12 at best. I guess this finally explains how I was miraculously able to pass that course in symbolic logic I took last semester.
Wisdom: 13
This is probably a good averaging of my strengths and weaknesses. I'm great at philosophizing, but I have a reputation for naivete.
Charisma: 13
This score inspired expletives, because by my estimation, there is no way I could have a CHA score above 6. I get hounded every shift at work for being too quiet and the people closest to me frequently forget I exist. I'm not at all pretty either, so I submit that the test calculated this badly.
Proficiencies:
Dagger *
Shortsword *
In summary, I would be a terrible NPC companion. I'd be somewhat useful for identifying objects and scouting ahead, but that is literally it. I would just be constantly dying and I'd be useless as a pack rat for anything other than scrolls. I probably wouldn't even have great banter and my quest would be a crappy mage edition of Anomen's.
You wouldnt consider changing into gnome though? All the real weirdos are gnomes after all!
I can't believe so many people here are coming out with such low CON scores
I'm too tall and lanky to think of myself as a gnome, haha. Besides, gnomes have a society and culture to belong to, whereas half-elves don't fully belong anywhere, really, and elves even have a number of slurs for half-elves, which is an unpleasantness I can relate to. I suppose. I could also do typical mage things, like stand way in the back and spam Magic Missile and accidentally singe my companions with Fireball, haha.
We will be like the B-team of baldur's gate: the back-up plan after Charname, Minsc, and Jaheira all kick the bucket. Instead of reloading when the bhaalspawn dies, you have to try to finish the game with a silly group made up of gnomes and a half-elf.
Strength: 13
This seems about right. I go to the gym quite a bit and while people tell me the weights I can lift are pretty good, I don't think I'm that far above the norm.
Dexterity: 11
Again, fairly accurate. I have pretty fast hands and am quite surefooted but I'm not anything to phone home about.
Constitution: 15
I'm very rarely sick, I eat well, exercise, and focus a lot on my health so I can agree with this. I have two sleeves of tattoos and my artist even commented that my pain tolerance was high.
Intelligence: 11/10 = 11
This surprises me. I've typically performed quite well in school and, particularly in liberal arts university classes, get told I grasp advanced concepts quickly. I've moved into a mathier (that's a word, right?) major and I'm still doing ok.
Wisdom: 12
Again, this surprises me. I'm literally the guy everyone goes to advice for. I very rarely make rash decisions and I've been described as mature since I was 13.
Charisma: 15
I've never thought of myself as charismatic. In small groups or one-on-one sessions I do well, but I don't make friends quickly or easily. I tend to just be really polite and generally nice to get by.
I've always thought of myself as an elf (a little arrogant but not mean, someone who appreciates art and music, and a person who loves nature.) As far as classes go, I've had people tell me I'm empathetic and I know I have a good sense of right and wrong. Ideally I'd be a druid, kind of like Jaheira, who participates both in the wild and civilized worlds. As a back up, I think I'd make a good cleric.
So, who would take me as a party member? I suppose if I ended up as a meatshield you could just give me the dex gauntlets and I'd be an ok tank.
Edit: Never mind the Khalid comment I had made.
(Apart from gnomes loving turnips. We all know that's true.)