[3.X] How to: Roleplay a Wizard.

[Yael]

Okay, this might sound arkward, but how the hell I'm supposed to roleplay a 18 Intelligence character if in the RG I wouldn't bypass the 11 or 12.
Also, I don't really know how to roleplay this kind of character, I've only played Rogues and Fighters before, and even tho I know how the Wizard's mechanics are, I don't really know how to act (in game) as a know-it-all 18 Int Elven Wizard.

Halp pls.

[Isamu Dyson]

First step: use a thesaurus :smallredface:.

[ArcturusV]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6TQ7ljcsjk

I would use that as a basis for behavior. Vizenni there would probably fit the 18 int. Though low Wisdom. Spout off random facts, plan to be a master planner (Doesn't mean you always have to be right, but you always have a plan), you look down on others and think that you can trick anyone else, etc.

[ryu]

Okay, this might sound arkward, but how the hell I'm supposed to roleplay a 18 Intelligence character if in the RG I wouldn't bypass the 11 or 12.
Also, I don't really know how to roleplay this kind of character, I've only played Rogues and Fighters before, and even tho I know how the Wizard's mechanics are, I don't really know how to act (in game) as a know-it-all 18 Int Elven Wizard.

Halp pls.

Attempt to literally plan for as many possibilities as you can, and be horribly paranoid about every little way those plans could be defeated. To help with this get the spontaneous divination ACF to help with predicting the future at low cost, and just generally focus on spells with as broad of a set of applications as you can. Prime candidates come from Conjuration, Transmutation, And secondaries from illusion and abjuration. Divination is your planning button, and the other schools have the occasion nice thing, but aren't really strong to focus on in terms of versatility. Also craft contingent spell is your best wizard friend ever if you're willing to get creative.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

I prefer using trivia that hinges on my out of game knowledge of the setting. Eagerly explaining the difference between different races of fiends, knowing and recommending spells, stuff like that.

[INoKnowNames]

You should be triggering this kind of response from your other party members. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsPheErBj8) :smalltongue:

Seriously though, at least to me, it's probably easier to roleplay higher Int than any other mental stat. It seems like it's easier to actuall know information than it is to have common sense or a rapier-wit and personality. Trivia, especially when backed up by your abundant Knowledge Skills, should help convey the fact that YOU KNOW THINGS! And making proper use of profound and grandiose vocabulary should also assist you in getting your point across; you should indeed consult a thesaurus.

[Knightofvictory]

You don't have to be smart or even act smart to play a wizard. 18 INT doesn't mean you are necessarily a philosopher or master orator (though you can be). Plenty of powerful wizards act like 'normal' characters. Lots of precedent.

Gandalf from The Hobbit (not so much LoTR)
Bumbling, short tempered old man with a tendency to never be around when you need him. Likes to insult party members, and offer sarcastic remarks whenever people complain about him not using his magic for everything. You KNOW he has powers and he can be scary when he wants, but most of the time he is just grumpy.

Aes Sedai from Wheel of Time

Mysterious, sheltered, petty, and at times completely bereft of any common sense. Long hours reading books and weaving magic makes for great magical power, but doesn't necessarily translate into acting intelligent. May spend centuries trying to guide a plan into fruition only to be suddenly and anticlimactically outsmarted by teenagers.

Ged from Earthsea novels

Stoic, well traveled and worldly, nothing phases him or surprises him anymore. Comes across as humble and friendly. He lives in harmony with the world and is at his very core a peaceful person. Hard to tell he even is a wizard until he casts a spell

[Ortesk]

first off, realize that intelligence is a linear idea, its based off the world around us. So us statted out in dnd, majority would be 10 int with some 12 and 14's in there, the rare once in a generation 16. In dnd, its mid evil times. That means the vast population knows enough math to not get bamboozled, and can write most words with poor grammar and be slow at it. The real life knowledge you have would pass for 16-18 in that time frame. You can do long division in RL, most dnd people would have stare at you if you asked them to do that. You can spell most words correctly, again the dnd world would have no clue how to do these. You see a city with no sewage system getting sick, they would say the gods hate them. You would know the sewage in the streets cause the sickness. With a low charisma you would be arrogant about it, with a low wisdom you may try to help them but cause it to be worse. But if you take the average mans high school education into the dnd world, that time frame, you would pass for a 16-18 Int. Someone with an IQ of 160 would be a tippy wizard

[Craft (Cheese)]

Answer: However you want. (Heresy!)

Using big words or having half-baked plans for everything will allow you to roleplay a caricature of a highly intelligent person, but that only counts for so much. Fact of the matter is, "how do I roleplay my stats" is often a wrong question because the mental stats don't cleanly translate to real personality traits. Like, at all. Mental stats (in roleplaying terms) have the same problem as alignment: An 18 INT only means whatever you and your DM decide it means.

[PersonMan]

An 18 INT only means whatever you and your DM decide it means.

And being smart doesn't mean you have to always show it.

I'm playing a wizard right now who is incredibly lazy - she learned magic because she was absurdly talented at it, and because for her the effort to learn Unseen Servant was 'less work' that just doing the work like a normal person.

So, even though she's crazy smart, you generally don't even notice, because she spends most of her time napping or half-asleep and doesn't like to put much effort into thought.

Someone else may have realized that other people just aren't like them early on in life, and learned to keep quiet with the 'oh, how does that work? [complex explanation nobody else understands]' stuff and simplify things for other people. So instead of saying "arcanobabble demon planar rift cranial Evil Lobe" they'd say "oh yeah the demon from the hole to the Abyss has a thing in its head that shoots out evil".

Depends on your other abilities, though. Int 18, Wis 8, Cha 8 is different from Int 18, Wis 11, Cha 16.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Sir Meatshield: We need to destroy those damn demons!

Fizzlewit: Well, actually, these are not demons. They are qlippoth, a close relative. While Demons and Qlippoth do share a home in the Abyss, the Qlippoth are a much more primal force, while Demons exist as embodiments of sin-

Sir Meatshield: SHUT UP! What kills them?

Fizzlewit: Same things as demons.

Sir Meatshield: ... Then what's the difference!?

Fizzlewit: They are not demons.

[Story]

I don't think pulling out a thesaurus is good advice. Smart people don't just use big words for the heck of it.

[Daftendirekt]

Ged from Earthsea novels

Stoic, well traveled and worldly, nothing phases him or surprises him anymore. Comes across as humble and friendly. He lives in harmony with the world and is at his very core a peaceful person. Hard to tell he even is a wizard until he casts a spell

Too few Earthsea fans out there. I really love that world.

[AMFV]

I don't think pulling out a thesaurus is good advice. Smart people don't just use big words for the heck of it.

Some smart people do it's mostly a matter of taste and personality. Smart people are just as capable of being show-offs as dumb people.

I would recommend figuring out what sort of person your wizard is. Then add the intellect later, for example say I'm a freedom fighter who fights to defend the innocent, then say what would that be like for somebody who is very bright, if it would make a difference then allow it to.

[Flickerdart]

Roleplaying is a cooperative effort. If your party likes to plan things out of character, then your wizard can be the one to enact them in-character, since the 8 Int fighter is obviously not smart enough to come up with plans (but his player might be more than capable).

A number of feats (Uncanny Forethought, Alacritous Cogitation, Craft Contingent Spell), class features (Spontaneous Divination, the Magelord's spontaneous conversion abilities, the Mage of the Arcane Order's spellpool), spells (Contingency, Mnemonic Enhancer, various divinations) can work too. Your character is literally so smart that he could predict what would happen and take the right tool for the job along. A demon shoots a fireball at your party? Ha! You knew that would happen and cast a protection from fire spell ahead of time (actually, it was a Contingency keyed to Limited Wish). The demon used Bestow Curse on your cleric? No big deal, you knew that would happen and prepared a Remove Curse ahead of time (actually, Alacritous Cogitation let you use an open slot to cast it). Be sure to mention how you knew he'd do it because the smudges of coal and smell of brimstone in the area meant that this particular type of demon would be nearby, scorch marks on vegetation showed that they had already used their fireball power for the day (or, if they fireball you, that they clearly favour that ability), and so on.

Alternatively, just buy or make a bunch of scrolls and when it comes in handy, rant about how you had foreseen this.

[Captnq]

No Problem.

Actually, that's your mantra. "NO PROBLEM."

You want to Role-Play an 18 Int Wizard, the first thing you need to have is confidence. Unlimited confidence. Pure Confidence. Swimming in confidence. They never see you sweat. They are lucky if they get to see you smirk before they die.

You are an arch. You get stronger the more weight is heaped upon you. You work best under pressure. You LOVE disasters. They aren't problems, they are opportunities to learn. Puzzles to be solved. Combat is nothing more then pieces on a chessboard being moved around. You? You know when the game is won or lost before the first pawn takes E4.

And if you are wrong, if you don't know what's going on, it doesn't bother you. It doesn't scare you. It makes you happy. You were WRONG! How wonderful! Another opportunity to learn the way the world works.

How do you pull this off?

SHUT. UP.

Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought of as a fool, then to open it and remove all doubt. Conserve your speech. Your words are as valuable as gold. You only speak when requested, then you use as few words as possible. The only time you speak at great length is when you speak to idiots. Then it's slowly and slightly louder then normal.

And like an arch, you have a weakness. When you are not needed. When there is nothing to be done. When you have no weight to bare, you fall apart at the touch of the slightest breeze.

When everything is normal, dull, and boring, you simply don't know what to do with yourself. Social situations that are "fun" terrify you. Why waste time at a dance when you could be learning a new spell? Dating is for people who don't have time to become the master of the very underpinnings of reality! Social lives are for people who have TIME to be social.

You measure everything.

Gold is but tiny chunks of magic waiting to be turned into something useful.
XP is but fuel for your spells and creations.
Time is a finite commodity that is forever slipping through your fingers.

Everything has a price. Everything has a return. Every breath. Every step. Every coin. Every smile. Everything must be measured. Because everything is connected to everything else.


That isn't a table, that is cover that you can take behind should a fight break out between those three arguing men in the corner.
This isn't a beautiful jeweled necklace, it's the material you need to power your homunculi that will craft scrolls for you while you adventure.
That isn't a bunch orcs ambushing you, it's an assortment of future un-beings, charging towards to and volenteering to supply you with the bones you need for your latest necromatic experiments.



Now, play anyway you want. But you want to play a stock, average, typical, 18 int wizard, that should do.

[AzureKnight]

Have fun with it, base the mage off of either Sheldon, Leonard, or another person from big bang theory. Just because they are smart, doesnt mean you cant have fun with their personalities.

That sounds good, Concentrate more on personality than the score itself. After all a mage that studied at a wizard collage, lacks real world experiences so he or she may be a socially challenged person.

[Flickerdart]

That sounds good, Concentrate more on personality than the score itself. After all a mage that studied at a wizard collage, lacks real world experiences so he or she may be a socially challenged person.
Surely wizarding colleges offer internships with adventuring companies. In fact, unpaid interns are a great way to pad your Follower count. :smallamused: