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AttilaTheGeek
2014-07-08, 12:03 PM
I see myself as a 17-INT kind of guy, but in two different games I'm playing an 8-INT monk and a 30+ INT Wizard. What methods does the playground use to play characters whose intelligence greatly differs for your own?

In the first case, an 8 in Intelligence is statistically only in the bottom third or so of the population, but since intelligence is such a rare dump stat, any characters with a negative modifier are often treated like idiots. It is easy in theory to roleplay being less intelligent- I just have to say "my character wouldn't have thought of this"- but how can I know what it's reasonable for a character with 8 INT to think of?

However, the second case is much more difficult. How can I roleplay someone whose intelligence is that far beyond a human's? In a PbP game, I can take lots of real time to consider every solution to a problem and say the character thought of it in a second, but there are still plenty of things that I'd never think of that a 30-INT character would. And how can I roleplay being that fantastically intelligent when I'm sitting around a table?

BWR
2014-07-08, 12:09 PM
I see myself as a 17-INT kind of guy,
Don't we all?

AttilaTheGeek
2014-07-08, 12:47 PM
Don't we all?

Which is why everyone should be able to empathize :smallamused:

Airk
2014-07-08, 01:43 PM
Playing someone you know is smarter than you is hard; It usually just involves asking the GM a lot of "Can I make an int check to try to figure out..." sort of stuff, or just having really big bonuses on knowledge skills, which is boring. It is a rare gaming group than can really handle this well.

Playing someone less intelligent than yourself is much easier; The best way to go about it is to think about WHY your character has a low int score. Not in the "He was dropped on his head as a child." sense, but in the "This character thinks really slowly, so he's incapable of fast adaptive planning." or "This character has a really bad memory, and frequently won't recall any details of conversations or places." or "This character routinely makes illogical rational leaps." All of these are more interesting and generally more representative of a "below average" int score than just being some sort of bland dullard.

Sith_Happens
2014-07-08, 02:10 PM
One option if you have a cooperative group is to crowdsource your character's ideas. Four to six people working together can figure out a lot of things that one person wouldn't, which you then take sole in-character credit for.

jedipotter
2014-07-08, 05:27 PM
Intelligence is one of thoes vague things. You really can't say that ''someone is so smart that they are ''anything''. It's not like intelligent people don't make mistakes. Just as someone has an ''INT 18'' does not make them perfect, you can't give them a puzzel or problem and have them solve it in seconds.

Less intelligent is easy: Be the Hulk. Be just about any cartoon character, even more so ''goofy kid ones''. Pick any ''less intelligent'' character: Joey from Friends, Homer Simson, Peter Griffon, Eric Cartman, the list goes on and on. Just try and think ''what would Homer do?''

More intelligence is hard. After all you can't pretend to be smarter directly. Often this is where you will need to ask the DM for help. They might let you keep the rule book open. Maybe they will give you index cards or PMs. They might even have you roll for things.


For heavy role playing games, as DM, I will give ''smarter'' characters more detailed information, even a bit ''god-like reader'' information. This works fairly well.

hifidelity2
2014-07-09, 07:09 AM
I had fun playing a low INT char – we were using GURPS so he had a low INT but Eidetic Memory (Level 2). That meant that he remembered everything

I played him as being a very slow thinker who liked a lot of time to ponder things but he(as I was playing a security officer) knew the law.

This was often played out as the party would come up with an idea and then start implementing it I would come up with an idea 5 mins later – sometimes too late to implement and of course with the benefit of hindsight

The GM let me quote random codes “e.g. Under Navel Regulations 4958 Section 5 Paragraph C you are guilty of....etc” and so long as it was not something directly against the plot would let it stand.

By the end I had gone from Security Guard to Head of Security to Captain of the ship by having all of those above me removed from office, court marshalled and locked up / executed

Lycoris
2014-07-09, 08:48 AM
Crowd-sourcing answers to puzzles/riddles/etc. is a good way to start, at least in terms of the mechanics of a high Int character. Beyond that, it's a matter of how you feel a character's intelligence effects their personality, and how to play off of it. To me, it's less about "How do I picture a character with 18+ INT?", but rather "How do I picture a character with 18+ Int, 12 Wis, and 9 Cha?", or any such combination of stats.

A character with high intelligence but noticeably lower wisdom may jump to conclusions more often, and will aim to approach things from a more logical standpoint; perhaps ignoring or simply not understanding the social ramifications of his actions.

A character with high intelligence but noticeably lower charisma may flaunt their intelligence in front of others, and may disregard others' points of view or refuse to explain how he came to his conclusions under assumptions that it should be obvious; or that people should assume his answers to be correct.

Characters with above average mental stats across the board might be gregarious and well spoken teachers, or view themselves as a soft-spoken mentor figure; able to dole out information and wisdom when needed, but also knowing how to get people to think for themselves and assert their own opinions.

As well, there's nothing wrong with doing a bit of character study. Think about some intelligent fictional characters you know of, and see what makes them unique amongst characters in their stories; or what similarities they have with other intelligent characters. You may even allow this to affect your character build, since extra Int = extra skill points. Have them put some training in numerous skills, including cross-class skills. Have them speak to other PCs about the skills or languages they've learned, and seek to learn about them yourself; or scoff at them as inferior skill sets when compared to your areas of expertise.

Your physical stats can/should also play a role in your PC's personality. If they low roll Str/Con (classic wizard archetype), they might scoff at the idea of physical labor as either inefficient or below themselves. They might value the precision work and swiftness that comes of those with high Dex. If they have decent Str/Con (rough and tumble rogues, savvy bards/swashbucklers, analytically minded rangers/scouts, etc.), they see the value of having both a strong body and mind, or wish to try their hands at everything that comes their way.

Hopefully this helps you get the ball rolling for ideas for your high Int characters. :smallsmile:

Frozen_Feet
2014-07-09, 10:16 AM
As far as playing characters smarter than yourself goes, my advice would be to avoid it if at all possible. It's too easy to fall into the trap of "my character should've seen that one coming" and get upset when the GM pulls a fast one on you. Besides getting mechanical bonuses to die rolls or extra hints from the GM, the two most useful ways of mimicking higher intelligence are taking more time to plan your actions, and asking a friend.

Many roleplayers make the mistake of approaching their characters like they were protagonists in a book or movie, while forgetting one crucial thing: book authors and scriptwriters usually have much more time to think of a plausible, cunning solution. The smart solutions you seen in a story or on the screen may have taken days, weeks or even months to come up with.

At a table, where other players are waiting for their turn, you just don't have that kind of time. Because of this, all choices you make reflect your own problem-solving ability much more.

So, if you have to do this, take your time, ask your GM, ask your friends and utilize every mechanical bonus you can to fake it. But I won't guarantee it's going to be much fun.

Now, playing stupider character is much easier. Most people just tend to overdo it, turning mildly slow people (Int 8 in D&D) into comical retards. The better way to do this is simply pick the obvious and simple solutions. Pick your actions quickly, on a whim, planning very little and utilizing least amount of metagame information as possible.

Fiery Diamond
2014-07-09, 11:20 AM
People say RPing a less intelligent character is easier, but either they are simply more skilled at that then I am or they actually mean "more feasible to accomplish." RPing a character with significantly different intelligence levels than myself is hard, either direction. Quite possibly the best advice on doing lower intelligence characters in this thread is Airk's.

Higher Int? Ehhh... DM assistance? It's much easier to DM NPCs with higher intelligence (simply give them access to more knowledge or update their knowledge and choices on the fly, depending on how high Int we're talking about) than PCs. Mostly I think of a way to characterize them, and then just try to stay at the top of my game when playing. There's nothing wrong with having an Int 30 character act like an Int 14 character simply because the player is only Int 14-equivalent.

Similarly, I don't really see anything wrong with an Int 10 character acting like an Int 16 character simply because the player is Int 16-equivalent: in fact, this is really hard to avoid without deliberately dumbing down a character (often resulting in insulting levels of "comic" stupidity) OR (better choice) following Airk's advice, simply because more intelligent people often have difficulty understanding why and where less intelligent people have trouble that they, personally, don't. We all tend to be the standard for ourselves, after all. We're our own "average," so to speak.

For what it's worth, I tend to think of myself as Int 14 or so, with two siblings about five points in each direction.

Segev
2014-07-09, 02:06 PM
If you're already able to keep up in high-intellectual conversations with everybody in your group, the aspects of intelligence that you're likely going to want to emulate "beyond your real ability" are things like calculation power, logic, and reasoning.

The first can be helped by simply using a calculator and assuming your PC did it in his head.

The other two are actually quite doable for people of significantly below-average intelligence, with the right guidance or enough time and patience. When playing somebody significantly smarter than you, therefore, take time to try to come up with your responses. Ask the DM for a little time and maybe help from your fellow players to think of answers to things that a smarter person could come up with on his own in the heat of the moment.

Finally, memory. It really is, in many ways, a function of intelligence. You technically don't "forget" anything; you lose the "pointers" in your head that trigger the memories. Higher intelligence means faster search time and better reliability on those pointers...at least when you're trying to recall things. It means easier and better connections between stimuli and memory, so relevant thoughts come forth more readily. If you've got a ludicrously big Int score, your PC's memory is better than yours. Keep notes and don't be afraid to ask the DM if you can roll an Int check to see if you remember anything relevant when you feel stumped. It's mostly his call, but he might know something (due to knowing the plot) that your character should remember that you do not.

Prince Raven
2014-07-10, 07:13 AM
Having played both higher and lower INT scores than myself, the things I did were:
Higher - Kept detailed notes of the campaign and NPCs that I could reference, came in very handy when figuring out political plots. I also metagamed a little bit, by introducing some degree of player knowledge into your character's decisions you can make them seem more intelligent.
Lower - I avoided acting on logical leaps I didn't think my character would be capable of (and passed notes to the player with the high INT character). There were also times when I'd figure something out, but have my character fall just short of figuring it out, getting not quite the right answer.

I also played a low WIS character which was pretty fun, I just kept on making bad decisions :)

sideswipe
2014-07-10, 08:12 AM
Eric Cartman,

what? hes not the smartest kid in the whole universe?

im not being sarcastic either.

just watch scott tenermen must die and you will understand.

Sith_Happens
2014-07-10, 10:48 PM
(and passed notes to the player with the high INT character)

This is a useful thing to do, and sort of goes back to my crowdsourcing suggestion. Any time you have an idea you don't think your character would have, tell it to someone whose character you think would come up with it.

MrBright01
2014-07-11, 01:03 PM
Also worth note, Intellect is logic and puzzle solving, not necessarily the practical application of such. Sherlock Holmes does not roll his Deduction skill with an Int bonus, but a Wis bonus. An Intelligent character will know about Baum's Magical Theorem, but that does not mean they will automatically and instinctively know when to apply it.

The reverse applies. A low Intelligence character is not a grunting moron, but they just do not have the raw knowledge to always know what to do.

That said, a few tricks I use to roleplay either direction.

Low IQ:

Use general words, not specific ones. Ex: "Thing" instead of "lever/wand/whatever the thing is." This can and has toead to some HILARIOUS and intellect appropriate mishaps.
Act confused. Not raging angry confused, just mistified at intellectual things. When the high IQ caster explains how his spell works, ask him to simplfy it, repeatedly, until it reaches an appropriate level.
Try to apply non-IQ skills to potential IQ tasks. "Everything is is a nail when all you have is a hammer." Try lifting the gate with brute strenght. When it does not work, shrug at the other players and say, "Well, I'm out of ideas."
Use small words for big concepts. "It's a thinking thing" is lower then "It's a mental thing" is lower then "It's a psionic thing."
Brute force > Careful Planning. This does not mean "Charge Recklessly," but any plans you come up with should be simple and direct.



High IQ (mostly inverted):

Use VERY specific words. A wrench becomes a "Rotational adjusting torque device." Be as specific as possible.
Never act confused. If you are, you're not lost, you're "pondering." When surprised, focus more on how you SHOULD have predicted it (in character) then the actual surprise.
Google: With DM permission, have a smartphone and Google ready for anything you could possibly know. Do a quick read when a subject comes up you should know, and then fake being an expert.
Overthink, in character. Make elaborate plans or statements about said plans when possible. When you have no hammer, even nails must be carefully considered.
The bigger the words, the better.
Careful planning > Brute force. This does not mean "avoid combat," but instead that tactics should be considered carefully.


Truthfully, I am generally considered intelligent by my fellow gamers in real life, and tend to stick to intelligent characters just to avoid this specific problem, otherwise I eventually slip either into "Ugh Smash" or "Sudden, surprising intellect" with my less intelligent critters. If uncomfortable, simply play according to what you really think you are.

Jay R
2014-07-11, 03:12 PM
First, the best way to play a character whose intelligence is very different from yours is to play the kind of character that isn't about his intelligence. A brainy nerd's actions are all about his intelligence. A brainy actor's or athlete's actions are not.

Whenever the mechanics let the roll handle the situation, the problem is not difficult.

You think your character should have solved the problem that you can't solve? No problem. It's simply not true that the higher INT person always finds the answer. He was distracted, or simply didn't come up with it this time. I've known any number of highly intelligent people who were impractical, and couldn't come up with a good plan, even though they were making As in school.

It's not a serious problem except when you believe that the plan you've come up with is not one the character would have been able to invent. The simple solution is to give it an origin other than his own intelligence. You're playing a bard of average intelligence, and you want him to suggest sneaking into the besieged city? Have him say he got the idea from the Trojan horse. A dumb soldier has an idea? The situation reminded him of something a sergeant once told him.

elliott20
2014-07-11, 04:26 PM
Spirits of the Century solved this problem in a very handy way.

In SotC, some characters have the ability to retroactively change things so that it's as if they had prepared for this all along. Doing so costs character resources (fate points, mostly), but it basically allows you to retroactively say, "aha! I knew you'd do that, this is why I prepared THIS *reveal*"

Jeff the Green
2014-07-11, 06:21 PM
Don't we all?

Nope, I see myself as an Int 18 kind of guy. :smalltongue:

Anyway, I primarily play PbP, so I have a certain luxury when playing hyper-intelligent characters: I crowd source. If the DM gives me a code or puzzle I can't personally solve, I make a thread and ask for help. You can sort of do the same thing in real-time games by discussing OOC and having the answer come out of the mouth of the smartest character. Techno-/magicobabble works well too.

High Wisdom is what I find hard to roleplay, probably because my own is in the single digits.

Mastikator
2014-07-12, 01:53 AM
Being intelligent IMO (and in D&D) means you know several languages, have lots of academic knowledge, you're good at solving puzzles. All of this is solved in most cases by game mechanic rather than roleplaying (how do you roleplay puzzle solving?)
Being curious is the only trait I can think of that I'd genuinely affiliate with intelligence.

Seeming intelligent, of course, isn't the same as being intelligent, but it's quite easy, just have a social status that indicates intelligence, dress nicely, only speak when you have something to say, think of clever things to say before hand, take notes of stuff so it seems like your character doesn't forget.

Being less intelligent could just be having a smaller vocabulary, probably only speak one language, never bothered with academic knowledge, can't figure out a simple puzzle. You can roleplay it by being sensitive about people calling you stupid and having disdain for people with formal education I suppose.

For the most part though, your intelligence does not define you as a person, if you're impulsive, empathic, greedy, generous, stoic, flamboyant, angry, happy, peaceful, bored, etc, you can be smart or dumb and all of those.

Azel
2014-07-12, 06:04 AM
Well, considering that INT 18 is the pinnacle of human intelligence, you are probably not an INT 17 guy but thats besides the point.

You can't roleplay an INT 30 character, as such a high intelligence is beyond the capacity of a human to comprehend, you and I are too stupid to understand or recognize how such an intelligent being would behave. You can at best resort to gimmicks that others have mentioned, such as long sentences, overly flowerly language, metagaming ect, all of which have no relation to high INT but are commonly perceived as signs of high INT.

For the low INT, other suggestions in the thread are alright.

Tengu_temp
2014-07-12, 08:18 AM
The best way to play a character who's much smarter than you is to prepare. Look up information about various stuff beforehand. As for planning, I'd say that spending a few minutes thinking of the best thing to do in the current situation, when your character only has several seconds to react, already works well when it comes to simulating someone very smart!

Playing less intelligent characters is easy, just don't think too much about various things. In general, from my experience, people who go "I just can't play a character who has less than 12/14/other above average intelligence, I just can't connect to them" has a bunch of other problems: merely, arrogance, and overestimating their own intelligence.


Well, considering that INT 18 is the pinnacle of human intelligence, you are probably not an INT 17 guy but thats besides the point.

It's also not accurate. 18 is not the absolute peak in intelligence (or any other ability score), it's top 0.5%. Still very high, but not the pinnacle. It can go beyond that.

Jay R
2014-07-12, 08:34 AM
Well, considering that INT 18 is the pinnacle of human intelligence, you are probably not an INT 17 guy but thats besides the point.

Based on the original 3d6 rolled once assumption, INT 17 is the top 2%, so it corresponds to Mensa. INT 18 represents the top 1/2%. With 7 billion people in the world, that includes 35,000,000 people today. That's an awfully broad pinnacle.

In any event, it stopped being the pinnacle when the rules changed to allow INT 19.


You can at best resort to gimmicks that others have mentioned, such as long sentences, overly flowerly language, metagaming ect, all of which have no relation to high INT but are commonly perceived as signs of high INT.

Of course, that makes them useless. Long sentences and overly flowery language are not common at colloquia, think tanks, or other meetings of the super-intelligent. Precise use of relevant technical jargon is common there, of course, but deliberately flowery language and convoluted sentences are the mark of people attempting to sound smarter than they are. (Which, to be fair, is exactly what those gamers are doing.)

Mastikator
2014-07-12, 10:54 AM
Based on the original 3d6 rolled once assumption, INT 17 is the top 2%, so it corresponds to Mensa. INT 18 represents the top 1/2%. With 7 billion people in the world, that includes 35,000,000 people today. That's an awfully broad pinnacle.

In any event, it stopped being the pinnacle when the rules changed to allow INT 19.

Doesn't really matter what the pinnacle is, like how strength is easily determined by how much you can lift above your head (max weight over your head = exact measurement of how strong you are), an exact measurement of how intelligent you are allowed to call yourself is the number of languages you speak. Everything else is vague, but each 2 points above 10 gives 1 free language, so if you only speak 2 then you can't claim to be above 13. (because at 14 you would've spoken 3).
Just like you can't say you have a strength score of 18 unless you can lift 300 lbs above your head. The hard question is, do you even lift bro, do you even speak bro?

Jay R
2014-07-12, 12:10 PM
... an exact measurement of how intelligent you are allowed to call yourself is the number of languages you speak.

The number of languages you could learn how to speak. Somebody who hasn't been exposed to more than one language is not inherently dumb, and somebody who lives where three are routinely spoken is not inherently smart.

Mastikator
2014-07-12, 12:56 PM
The number of languages you could learn how to speak. Somebody who hasn't been exposed to more than one language is not inherently dumb, and somebody who lives where three are routinely spoken is not inherently smart.
"The number of languages your character knows at the start of the game."
"You start at 1st level knowing one or two languages (based on your race), plus an additional number of languages equal to your starting Intelligence bonus."
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#intelligenceInt
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/speakLanguage.htm
http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/basics.html

The system clearly and explicitly stipulates you get 1 extra language for free for every modifier. So if you only speak 2 languages you can at most have 13 int. If you had 14 you'd speak 3 languages.

Of course, you can know 2 languages without having above 10, but you can't not know be 12 int if you only know 1.

Fiery Diamond
2014-07-12, 01:42 PM
"The number of languages your character knows at the start of the game."
"You start at 1st level knowing one or two languages (based on your race), plus an additional number of languages equal to your starting Intelligence bonus."
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#intelligenceInt
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/speakLanguage.htm
http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/basics.html

The system clearly and explicitly stipulates you get 1 extra language for free for every modifier. So if you only speak 2 languages you can at most have 13 int. If you had 14 you'd speak 3 languages.

Of course, you can know 2 languages without having above 10, but you can't not know be 12 int if you only know 1.

And so, since in D&D you are given free languages that you don't ever need the opportunity to study to learn, real life people should have their approximate intelligence estimated based on how many languages they know.

...

Are you for real?

Requiem_Jeer
2014-07-12, 02:47 PM
My best advice (as someone who sees himself as a int 15 kind of guy) for playing someone who is less intelligent then you is to rush. A good short-hand that writers can use to emulate high intelligence is to take a long time considering all the angles and having the smart character come up with that plan in seconds or minutes. A roleplayer doesn't usually have the luxury of that time, but it works very well in reverse.

Make snap decisions with limited information, and stick to those guns. If you spend more then six seconds coming up with something, you've spent too much time thinking. You realize that your decision was bad five seconds after you make it? Stick to it. Odds are small it's actually going to get you killed, so suck up the pain you've brought on yourself. If you're as smart as you think you are, you can come up with half-decent plans even while rushed. Actively avoid thinking your actions through. Playing drunk may be advisable.

Azel
2014-07-12, 04:41 PM
My best advice (as someone who sees himself as a int 15 kind of guy) for playing someone who is less intelligent then you is to rush. A good short-hand that writers can use to emulate high intelligence is to take a long time considering all the angles and having the smart character come up with that plan in seconds or minutes. A roleplayer doesn't usually have the luxury of that time, but it works very well in reverse.

Make snap decisions with limited information, and stick to those guns. If you spend more then six seconds coming up with something, you've spent too much time thinking. You realize that your decision was bad five seconds after you make it? Stick to it. Odds are small it's actually going to get you killed, so suck up the pain you've brought on yourself. If you're as smart as you think you are, you can come up with half-decent plans even while rushed. Actively avoid thinking your actions through. Playing drunk may be advisable.

That's a brilliant Idea!

Would it work the other way though? If you timed all players, and gave low int less time, but high int more time?
Although it would be one more thing to keep track of.

Jeff the Green
2014-07-12, 07:00 PM
That's a brilliant Idea!

Would it work the other way though? If you timed all players, and gave low int less time, but high int more time?
Although it would be one more thing to keep track of.

It would also be a problem if your players have discrepancies in their real-life intelligence or ability to think under pressure.

Sith_Happens
2014-07-12, 07:07 PM
It's also not accurate. 18 is not the absolute peak in intelligence (or any other ability score), it's top 0.5%. Still very high, but not the pinnacle. It can go beyond that.

The pinnacle is 23 (venerable Prodigy of Intelligence), 24 if we're letting people gain a few levels.

Requiem_Jeer
2014-07-14, 03:06 AM
That's a brilliant Idea!

Would it work the other way though? If you timed all players, and gave low int less time, but high int more time?
Although it would be one more thing to keep track of.

I would very much advise you to NOT enforce this. It is a good way to roleplay someone less intelligent then yourself. It is an awful rule. It can and will ruin your game if enforced.

aberratio ictus
2014-07-14, 12:26 PM
Playing less intelligent characters is easy, just don't think too much about various things. In general, from my experience, people who go "I just can't play a character who has less than 12/14/other above average intelligence, I just can't connect to them" has a bunch of other problems: merely, arrogance, and overestimating their own intelligence.

Very well said, and quoted for truth.

From my experience, the truth is... the differences aren't that big to begin with. In the higher numbers, differences become so subtle they're extremely hard to spot in your usual roleplaying session, and if the plot has some extreme intellectual challenge, as others have said, crowdsourcing is a viable option.

In the lower numbers - honestly, int 8 isn't that low and would probably be undistinguishable from Int 10 in day-to-day or usual adventure situations.
Focus on roleplaying your character traits, and nobody will call you out for "not playing your intelligence." Even a Int 8 person can be very well-spoken, and a Int 18 person can be so implusive as to appear dumb to spectators.
Intelligence is a vague, abstract concept, and you probably shouldn't worry too much about it.

Anonymouswizard
2014-07-14, 12:54 PM
"The number of languages your character knows at the start of the game."
"You start at 1st level knowing one or two languages (based on your race), plus an additional number of languages equal to your starting Intelligence bonus."
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#intelligenceInt
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/speakLanguage.htm
http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/basics.html

The system clearly and explicitly stipulates you get 1 extra language for free for every modifier. So if you only speak 2 languages you can at most have 13 int. If you had 14 you'd speak 3 languages.

Of course, you can know 2 languages without having above 10, but you can't not know be 12 int if you only know 1.

Think about real life for a second. How many people at my University do you think fluently speak multiple languages. The majority of those who can are international students, who wouldn't be able to study at my University if they didn't speak English fluently.

My best friend is Chinese, speaks near-perfect English, and has nearly completed her master's degree. I've given up trying to convince her she's just as intelligent as I am, and I have problems speaking (I pause in really odd places), can barely remember any of my German, and I only know the very basics off Mandarin.

Also, I prefer how 2e does it, where if you use Non-weapon proficiencies than you gain bonus proficiencies (weapon or non-) instead of bonus languages. It allows you to build characters such as the 18 INT wizard who only speaks common.

Setting the language issue aside, I regularly play characters more intelligent than myself. I'd place myself somewhere around 13/14 on the INT scale (I am in theory in the top 10% of the population academics wise, but know a lot of people around or above my level of intelligence), but play characters who would generally have a point or two above that.One of the things you have to realise here is that you don't have to know everything your character knows, especially if a 'knowledge' type skill can substitute for it. On the roleplaying side, you want to use the most efficient words, but remember that intelligent does not equal common sense. I'm currently playing a game of All Flesh Must be Eaten, where my character has the highest intelligence of the group, but comes up with rubbish plans. However, he was the first one in the group to think of the idea of dissecting zombies to find out more about them, and is able to design electronic circuits in his head.

Although I've never specifically made a character with below average intelligence, I will say that 'comical' or 'hulk smash' stupidity is a very bad way to do it. When my Unknown armies character temporarily lost 50 points of Mind he didn't start acting weird, but rather became both single-focused and incredible distracted (also unable to speak, but that came from the other two). If a character is INT 8, maybe he just isn't as good at academia as some people, maybe he has a slightly fuzzy memory, maybe that INT 5 character is just so single minded he has trouble dealing with multiple variables, or has dyslexia or dyscalcula. Treat intelligence the same way as the other stats, as it should be easy to imagine someone with 13 CHA from being witty, or the dyspraxic with 8 DEX.