How do you roleplay low wisdom?
DJKajuru
Member Posts: 3,300
Heya!
Guys , I was wondering : how do you roleplay a character who's got a low (9 or below) wisdom score?
I've been thinking about the BG npc's who are unwise (Shar Teel, Minsc, Nalia..) and I could make out that they have a misconstructed view of reality .
Minsc usually sees reason through Boo's advice, but he is the only one who apparently understands the hamster .
Shar teel is blinded by her hatred and childhood traumas.
Nalia is well intentioned but is unfortunately trying to help a people that she does not really understand while being attached to the paradigms of a noblewoman.
Wise characters are misunderstood by common because they actually see beyond menial problems and have the ability to understand what's really going on . Xzar may be quite a loon but his deeper understanding of life and death gave him the ability to specialize in necromancy, a dangerous school for the unwise.
By following this logic, are unwise characters misunderstood because they actually can't understand basic principles? Shar teel despises all men, her past will always twist her feelings and she is most likely to respond with violence even if it weren't necessary to do so.
What about your own characters? How do you roleplay lack of wisdom?
Guys , I was wondering : how do you roleplay a character who's got a low (9 or below) wisdom score?
I've been thinking about the BG npc's who are unwise (Shar Teel, Minsc, Nalia..) and I could make out that they have a misconstructed view of reality .
Minsc usually sees reason through Boo's advice, but he is the only one who apparently understands the hamster .
Shar teel is blinded by her hatred and childhood traumas.
Nalia is well intentioned but is unfortunately trying to help a people that she does not really understand while being attached to the paradigms of a noblewoman.
Wise characters are misunderstood by common because they actually see beyond menial problems and have the ability to understand what's really going on . Xzar may be quite a loon but his deeper understanding of life and death gave him the ability to specialize in necromancy, a dangerous school for the unwise.
By following this logic, are unwise characters misunderstood because they actually can't understand basic principles? Shar teel despises all men, her past will always twist her feelings and she is most likely to respond with violence even if it weren't necessary to do so.
What about your own characters? How do you roleplay lack of wisdom?
Post edited by DJKajuru on
6
Comments
Basically, playing the game.
What's weird about Baldur's Gate are the high wisdom characters, like Cernd, who would seem to behave more like they have a wisdom of 3.
You wandered into Uncle Fralin's Bedroom even though you had already been through the nightmare which was Uncle Fralin's Tool Shed. You poor, deluded fool.
* If it's a lawful person with low wisdom I RP that they follow their law/code blindly without hesitating or pondering about the validity and rational behind the law/code.
* If it's a chaotic person they are impulsive, never stopping to think before they act. Chaotic neutral being the perfect epitome of this person of course.
* Good, neutral, evil scale doesn't change that much. Low wis and evil can be combined with low Int to play the classic achetype of a stupid brute/bully. if high INT, it depends in the law/chaos scare as mentioned above.
I've also read that WIS can sometimes be interpreted to measure perception, thus a low WIS can also make you unreceptive towards other people's behaviour. So, you are probably either gullible or got a touch of Aspberger's.
Low Con - you're constantly sick and get tired easily. Think Raistlin from Dragonlance
Low Int - I think this one is quite evident. You have difficulty understanding facts even when they are explained to you.
Low Str - You're physically weak. Maybe you had no time to exercise while you mastered your main skill. Maybe you just don't like it.
Low Dex - You're clumsy and have bad hand/eye coordination. Plenty of opportunities here.
Low Cha - Do you know that famous stereotype about the bad humored dwarf who is always complaining and will enter a fight over anything? Maybe you're the source of that one
"Me will crush you! Crush you to GOO!"
"You mess with me, you mess with YOU!"
Uncle Fralin's Bedroom is populated with Things Man Was Not Meant to Know and Things Man Was Not Meant to See. You should expect to lose at least half to two-thirds of your very high-level party there.
Groovy!
More important, IMHO, is acting according to your alignment: No stealing or killing peaceful creatures if you are LG. Unfortunately the game engine doesn't give you a penalty if you act against your alignment, e.g. decreasing your luck for a certain amount of time.