Opinion on a character concept?

[legomaster00156]

One of my best friends will be running the Pathfinder module "Rise of the Runelords" (which I know nothing about, so I'm going in blind). I've created my character, which he has approved.
He's an orc masochist worshipping Zon-Kuthon, the god of pain and torture. He has a whopping 20 STR and 16 CON due to some good rolls, and an unfortunate 3 INT due to a single really bad roll. He wields a falchion. He wears a hideous mask that nets him a bonus to Intimidate. He ritually scars himself in service to his patron god.
Oh, yeah. He's the party spellcaster, and he's Good-aligned. In truth, this terrifying facade is just that: a facade. He's a Scarred Witch Doctor/Hedge Witch combination. He firmly believes that without suffering, no healing can be made. He chooses to direct the suffering at himself, and use the healing on others.
So, what's your opinion, Playground? Any way to improve this character?

[Wise Green Bean]

If you can pick up some more CON, it would help. If your group is even medium OP, all primary casters should probably max out their casting stat. Especially if you're planning to use that falchion, d6 HD won't carry you far.
Any idea on the backstory? A good orc is already unusual. Also, consider what kind of personality would create someone who likes to scare and mislead people. Is he kind of a jerk/prankster sort of guy(good is not necessarily nice). Prankster is a little hard to pull of with barely enough INT to be considered sentient...
If you can change races, I'd look at half orc. That would help explain the tendency towards distrust, the taking pleasure in messing with people, while still being protective(depending how you spin it, of course). Plus, not being a crushing idiot(really, your chap is practically mentally retarded) opens up a lot of possibilities for role play, losing the orc INT penalty will be a boon for you.

[legomaster00156]

1. I DID max out my CON. I rolled two 16's, and as an Orc, my STR happened to get a +4 boost.
2. I can't change my race, not even to Half-Orc. Scarred Witch Doctor is an Orc-only archetype. Plus, I kind of like the idea of a healing-based, Good-aligned Orc.
3. Yes, I have a backstory. It's nothing too spectacular (I suck at backstories), but basically, he rebuked the standard Orc way of life after seeing his own tribe pillage a small town. He was, of course, kicked out the tribe and left to die on his own. Thing is, he didn't die, and found a cult of Zon-Kuthon who taught him to embrace and draw power from pain.
4. Personality: He is obviously quite slow on the uptake of things due to his crushing INT score (in fact, if I can convince my DM to let me keep the falchion proficiency, I'm taking the Feral RAF and making him lose all languages).
He realizes he's quite the frightening presence, especially with his mask on, so he keeps it off while within settlements. In battle, he fends off foes with his terrifying, barbarian-like appearance while tending to his comrades.

[Almaseti]

That sounds like a fun character to play, though I think introducing him to the group would be a little tricky. Unless it's an evil group, and they assume he's evil, and he's not quite smart enough to realize they're evil, and hijinks ensue. Though that might not be a good long-term strategy. Probably him saving their lives after they got the crap beaten out of them by something would be a better approach.

He'd definitely be memorable.

[The Redwolf]

2. I can't change my race, not even to Half-Orc. Scarred Witch Doctor is an Orc-only archetype. Plus, I kind of like the idea of a healing-based, Good-aligned Orc.

Pretty sure being a half-orc automatically qualifies you for anything that requires you to be an orc, so you can in fact take that as a half-orc.

[Invader]

With a 3 intelligence wouldn't your character be borderline retarded and barely able to function in any mental capacity?

[legomaster00156]

1. Half-Orc is counted as Orc for any effects relating to race. There are quite a few places that specifically mention Orc or Half-Orc as a prerequisite, and this is one of them.
2. Yes, he is extremely dim-witted. He can register emotions, though, just as any animal can. He recognizes fear, anger, joy, etc.

[Gavinfoxx]

3 int? 3 int? Yea, I would scrap those rolls, 'Yea, there is no way I am playing a character with a 3 anything. It just doesn't make any sense, and I don't think I could roleplay it successfully. I need a reroll of that stat in order to participate in this game.'

[Tvtyrant]

I would take a flaw which makes me mute, and then pick up some form of primitive sign language. Then instead of being forced to interject blather into the game, you simply remain silent and sign your agreement with other people's plans. :smallwink:

[TuggyNE]

1. Half-Orc is counted as Orc for any effects relating to race. There are quite a few places that specifically mention Orc or Half-Orc as a prerequisite, and this is one of them.
2. Yes, he is extremely dim-witted. He can register emotions, though, just as any animal can. He recognizes fear, anger, joy, etc.

More precisely, Int 3 is more sophisticated than an animal intellect, so he's not just limited to quite that small a range. Buuuut it's still gonna be tough to role-play that.

[Invader]

How does one get a 3 int anyway? Isn't there a rule that says you can't start with less than a 8 in a score and even after the racial it should still be 6 which would be doable.

[Susano-wo]

I just gotta say this. Roleplay a 3INT as really dumb. You don't gotta worry about "is this dumb enough for 3 INT?" unless you've got someone with, like, 6INT running around. The whole animals are all 1 or 2 intelligence thing is silly anyway. Horses, for instance have the cognitive ability of a child (in other words, significantly higher than 3), and dolphins are at least almost as smart as humans. http://news.discovery.com/animals/dolphins-smarter-brain-function.html

Which maybe is more a critique of the applacation of intelligence to animals in Dnd, but still. Do you think anyone at your table will be bothered if you play him really dumb, but functional?

EDIT: RE min sat, there is no rule in the RAW that says you have to have X minimum, no, aside from 3 being minimum sentient INT

[Invader]

I just gotta say this. Roleplay a 3INT as really dumb. You don't gotta worry about "is this dumb enough for 3 INT?" unless you've got someone with, like, 6INT running around. The whole animals are all 1 or 2 intelligence thing is silly anyway. Horses, for instance have the cognitive ability of a child (in other words, significantly higher than 3), and dolphins are at least almost as smart as humans. http://news.discovery.com/animals/dolphins-smarter-brain-function.html

Which maybe is more a critique of the applacation of intelligence to animals in Dnd, but still. Do you think anyone at your table will be bothered if you play him really dumb, but functional?

EDIT: RE min sat, there is no rule in the RAW that says you have to have X minimum, no, aside from 3 being minimum sentient INT

I don't want to get off topic but dolphins while extremely intelligent in terms of being an animal are hardly "almost as smart as humans" :smallamused:

[legomaster00156]

1. I DID reroll, and you know what I got? A 4, rather than a 3. Thing is, I rerolled the entire set, and the net result put this as the better set.
2. I'll ask about using a sign language.
3. There is no rule saying that it must be 8 or higher when it comes to rolled stats, which is what we are using.
4. No, the table would not mind me playing him as "dumb, but functional". We're all friends here.

[Gavinfoxx]

What rolling method were you all using?

[Kelb_Panthera]

Seems like an interesting character concept. Roleplaying that intelligence score is going to be a bear, but otherwise I'd roll with it.

[legomaster00156]

We're all using the standard "4d6, drop lowest" system. I rolled two sets, and this was the better one.

[TuggyNE]

How does one get a 3 int anyway? Isn't there a rule that says you can't start with less than a 8 in a score and even after the racial it should still be 6 which would be doable.

There isn't. Point buy generally has a minimum assignment (and even there, PF changes it up some), but rolling has no such rule. As mentioned, the only minimum scores required for play is Int 3 (a PC), Wis 1/Cha 1 (i.e. a creature not an object).

[legomaster00156]

Alright, I'll be going along with my little brother, who is playing a Demonspawn Tiefling Barbarian (Wild Rager archetype). Our characters are friends from the cult. For his build, he has more INT than me (6 vs. 3), and just to be funny, he took a rank in Knowledge (arcana) so that he knows more about arcane magic than my Witch. Our STR is matched, though I have much more CON.
So, basically, the raging barbarian is the source of arcane knowledge for the witch, while the witch can function as a secondary wall of meat for the barbarian.