character smarter than player.

[robertbevan]

how do you play a character that is smarter than yourself?

for example... i think that in d&d terms, my intelligence would be something like a 14 or 15. (fortunately, modesty isn't an ability score)

but if i were to play a character whose intelligence is 21... well, i could see some problems happening.


on the flip side, for the DM... does a player ever say "i want to ______", and you say "no, you don't want to do that, because your character isn't as stupid as you are."

[Seatbelt]

I occasionally have to remind players of abilities or suggest a course of action. "Hey, you know you could use this spell you always prepare here and it would be SUPER helpful."


But only if the party is starting to get trounced. Or that player is having spotlight problems.

[Salanmander]

In the DM case you can sometimes do this: "I want to do this." and the DM says "Roll an int check." If they succeed you phrase it as adding extra information ("Consider the fact that the air smells like methane before you light that torch.") rather than driving character actions ("Your character decides not to light that torch because the air smells like methane.") They generally arrive at the same result, but the former doesn't feel nearly as domineering.

[INoKnowNames]

how do you play a character that is smarter than yourself?

for example... i think that in d&d terms, my intelligence would be something like a 14 or 15. (fortunately, modesty isn't an ability score)

but if i were to play a character whose intelligence is 21... well, i could see some problems happening.


on the flip side, for the DM... does a player ever say "i want to ______", and you say "no, you don't want to do that, because your character isn't as stupid as you are."

I've known a player with a similar mindset.

It's a very hard area, and I don't think it would be unfair for tips on how much you would know in character and in the world to be given to you out of character.

Part of it still might depend on the type of smarts, as well as the person's upbringing. You could have brutish people that were raised amazingly well and know a significantly large amount of information that the average person wouldn't know, let alone would expect this person to know.... or you could essentially be as wise as a *good* Teacher. Or a Professor.

D&D gives you a lot of freedom to do whatever you want. I'm sure you'll find something that fits. Think about the smart people you know, or have at least heard of, and try to see which ones have a personality that fits the character you're looking at.

[Telonius]

Most of the time, you won't actually need to demonstrate the ability to recall facts or solve equations in-game. Just remember that your character can do those things; he knows he's the smartest guy in the room. You might try asking yourself how that affects him, and how it affects his views of other people. (Is he aloof? Does he feel alone? Is he trying to help other people improve, or shoving it in their faces? Is he annoyed by dumb people, or does he feel compassion for them?)

If you're looking for some more inspiration, check out the movie "A Beautiful Mind." In that performance, Russell Crowe was able to convincingly play somebody a whole lot smarter than he is. (He's probably a really smart guy, but he's not John Nash-level genius). He did this by focusing on the character's personality, not by using big words or having an exhaustive understanding of the equations the set-designers put on the walls for him.

[Raimun]

You have to remember intelligence is not entirely synonymous with the ability to make judgement calls. Even a super genius (Int 20+) might elect to do something really stupid out of arrogance, wrath, lack of compassion or even ignorance. Those are just examples.

How many times have you read stories where the super intelligent people say things like: "Bah! Such concerns are beneath me!"? Basically, the folly of the highly intelligent is usually the assumption that the high intelligence will always warn them to avoid the stupid stuff. Guess what? :smallamused:

[jaybird]

Intelligence is knowing tomatoes are fruit. Wisdom is knowing that tomatoes do not belong in fruit salad. A good reminder of what each stat represents, and exactly why you should be afraid of the Int 20 Wis 7 blaster Wizard.

[NM020110]

Intelligence is knowing how to turn three fork-lifts into an impromptu elevator. Wisdom is knowing that doing so would be a rather bad idea. Charisma is convincing someone else to do it anyway.

Just because your character is smart enough to figure out how to do something, doesn't mean that they will realize the consequences of doing so. The smarter they are, and thus the less effort they need to figure something out, the less likely it is that they will catch themselves.

Just one way of looking at it, of course.

[deuxhero]

Intelligence is knowing tomatoes are fruit. Wisdom is knowing that tomatoes do not belong in fruit salad. A good reminder of what each stat represents, and exactly why you should be afraid of the Int 20 Wis 7 blaster Wizard.

Isn't "vegetable" a culinary term and not a biological one?

[Waker]

Isn't "vegetable" a culinary term and not a biological one?
Yes, but you know that particular "fact" is unlikely to be abandoned any time soon.

Anyways, in addition to the many posts made by others, I would also suggest that when dealing with a character who is smarter than a player, you might allow the pooling together of player smarts. Let other players make suggestions to the smart character's player to represent a broader understanding or a different mindset.

[sreservoir]

Isn't "vegetable" a culinary term and not a biological one?

culinary fruits are defined somewhat differently from botanical fruits; but in any case, a tomato is a botanical fruit but usually isn't considered a culinary fruit.