Transferring (sorta) 3.5-based character to another medium: stats problem

[Shadowcaster]

Some time ago I spent quite a bit of time playing on neverwinter 2 (roleplaying) server and made character there I liked (then I quit, but that's another story). Neverwinter 2 runs on "sorta" 3.5 rules with couple of adjustment.

The thing is right now I'd like to transfer that character concept (and several others) into another medium (story/comic/etc), and I have a bit of problem portraying some of the stats. So I would appreciate some ideas on that.

At the end of the career (level 30) original character was a
Lawful Evil tiefling Fighter(4)/Weapon Master(7)/Blackguard(5)/Warrior of Darkness (remaining levels).
Weapon of choice: Falchion.

The stats were something like:
Str(21)/Cha(21)/Dex(14)/Int(14)/Wis(8 or 10)/Con(10).

Also, character had maxed out intimidation skill with epic skill focus in it.

The thing is I have trouble thinking about how to portray average constitution and average or slightly below it wisdom coupled with massive strength and charisma.

In the nwn2 engine such character had big issues with defense (two handed weapon) due to being "non-optimal" for the server settings and could go down fairly quickly if surrounded by powerful opponents. Char also had to rely on magical potions, scrolls and magical items, but attempts to activite even Mage Armor scroll had significant chance of failure.

Anyway, aside from poor defense and going kamikaze in the fight I don't really know how to portray the constitution stat. This kind of character needs a huge weakness somewhere, and con/wis stats looks like they're it. Without a weakness it becomes overpowered and uninteresting.

Does anyone have any suggestions on that? Or maybe some thoughts?

[Khedrac]

Someone with a low concentration is likely to be prone to colds and doesn't recover from injuries quickly unaided. They may also be generally unfit - after a short fight they will take some time to get their breath back, a long fight will give them problems.
Average constitution is the same but less so, probably best shown by comparison to the high con character who is virtually never ill and after a short fight has yet to start breathing heavily ("you're not even out of breath...")
Low wisdom will be a character making choices that are fairly obviously unwise, something that seems to be a common trait of a lot of story protagonists. For someone likely to win fights very easily this won't be walking down alleys in the bad parts of town - he knows he is likely to beat any attackers, but it might be talking about crimes he has committed in front of town guards, or boasting to the servant of a prospective employer how he cheated his last employer (with his charisma he may get hired anyway when he convinces them that it was because the chap tried to cheat him - no effect beyond forcing him to go to extra effort). He is also likely to be gullible - falling victim to scams, possibly several times.

[Shadowcaster]

Someone with a low concentration is likely to be prone to colds and doesn't recover from injuries quickly unaided. They may also be generally unfit - after a short fight they will take some time to get their breath back, a long fight will give them problems.
Average constitution is the same but less so, probably best shown by comparison to the high con character who is virtually never ill and after a short fight has yet to start breathing heavily ("you're not even out of breath...")
I assume you meant "constitution", not "concentration".
That's an interesting idea, thanks.

So in case of this character I would probably get someone who will want to finish fight very quickly by delivering massive damage but most likely will get tired if the fights drags on for too long. And since Warrior of Darkness class requires basic alchemy knowledge, he/she might try creating something to deal with fatigue.

However, I'm not quite sure how average con (10) would work together with enormous strength (21). I mean, light load for such strength should be around 70kg.



Low wisdom will be a character making choices that are fairly obviously unwise, something that seems to be a common trait of a lot of story protagonists. For someone likely to win fights very easily this won't be walking down alleys in the bad parts of town - he knows he is likely to beat any attackers, but it might be talking about crimes he has committed in front of town guards, or boasting to the servant of a prospective employer how he cheated his last employer (with his charisma he may get hired anyway when he convinces them that it was because the chap tried to cheat him - no effect beyond forcing him to go to extra effort). He is also likely to be gullible - falling victim to scams, possibly several times.
I wonder if unquestioning loyalty would be perfectly compatible with average or below average wisdom.

[Uncle Pine]

If you have played a character up to 30th level on a rp server you should have little problems converting your charactet to another medium: just take your time and think about your background and all the situations you've found yourself over the months/years you played. Think about what you did in those situation and especially why you acted the way you did. Think about you described yourself and how others reacted to you, your action and your appearance. You'll see that you've already done most of the work just by playing your character.

If you still have doubts on how to translate your stats into a character:
- Str 21 means you are strong. Are you a red fiber guy or a white fiber one? Are you an intimidating tower of muscles or a bundleshapthin yet flexible and resistant killing material?
- Dex 14 means you either have good reflexes or are really agile, or both. Take your pick and remember that being able to react fast to danger is an immensely useful ability in a faux medieval setting like d&d and will shape how the character approaches to the world: a particularly carefree person could throw himself in tricky situation more eagerly knowing that he can react fast enough to take his leave unscathed.
- Con 10 means you're average. Have you ever hurt yourself with a knife? It hurts. Don't get stabbed if you can: you might have exceptional resilience from other sources, but you feel pain like the average Joe down the street.
- Int 14 means you have a good brain. Were you born with it, meaning that your Int score represents how smart and cunning you are? Were you educated on a variety of subjects, meaning that you're reasonably knowleadgeable on a variety of subjects? Or are you just the curious type who reads a book once in a while during his free time?
- Wis 8 might mean a lot of things: you could be a hot-headed fellow who acts before he thinks or simply a fool. Maybe both. Or maybe you're simply hearing impaired and near sighted and this occasionally cause you to lose yourself in your thoughts, without paying much attention to your surroundings.
- Cha 21 is as subjective as Wisdom above. You could play as the stunningly charming demon who's so handsome people faint when you walk down the street, or your Cha could be the representation of the power of your soul. Remember that Charisma =/= appearence: even an ugly guy can know how to effectively use words to reach his goals, and many powerful outsiders with humongous Cha scores are ugly as filth. In the end, how you depict your Cha score is probably the only thing entirely dependant on your rp experience.

[Hal0Badger]

First of all, eliminate the concept of Hit Points. Hp only works for "game mechanics", and starts to collapse as soon as you apply some reality to it. Since CON gives bonus to hp in mechanics, I can understand why it seems hard for you to imagine a character like that. But aside from HP, CON is basically how much stamina your character has. Check out strong man competitions, they are strong (very strong), but you won't be seeing them running like 5000 metre runners, or doing cardio exercises with ease. Strongman is the definition of very high STR, and average CON at best (exceptions may be there). If you make a comparison to a total athlete, lets say a basketball player like Lebron James; a strongman has 20+ strength (easily), 10-12 dex (maybe even lower) and 10-12 con (not lower than this), while LBJ has around 15 str, 15-16 dex, 15-16 con. These are not absolutes, but guidelines to shape the physic and characteristic of your character in your mind.

Your character, is basically a "Strongman" while being somewhat "nimble", he may suprise his enemies with a quick weapon trick, or unexpected agility from his figure, while doing destructive amount of damage with each hit(high str, low con, above average dexterity).He has a very charismatic figure. He is not a dumb brute, he is something people look with awe, when he talks, he talks deliberately and effectively(high charisma). However he follows his desires rather than reason, and he does with cunning plans (low wisdom, above average int).

For the physical apperance, imagine someone like Letho (https://youtu.be/YJ_KtvVvolY?t=131) from Witcher franchise, with less stamina (since he is a witcher). As you can see he is quite agile for his size, but you won't see him doing back-flips or something. This should describe how he moves when he fights.

I hope this helps.

[Shadowcaster]

If you have played a character up to 30th level on a rp server you should have little problems converting your charactet to another medium: just take your time and think about your background and all the situations you've found yourself over the months/years you played. Think about what you did in those situation and especially why you acted the way you did. Think about you described yourself and how others reacted to you, your action and your appearance. You'll see that you've already done most of the work just by playing your character.


--snip--
Thanks for the input, it was really helpful.

Character does have detailed background and as far as I know it was quite well written and well described. It is just that at some point I sorta remembered the stats, and started to have minor doubts.That's why I asked the question.



--snip--
I hope this helps.
It does. Thanks.

Anyway, the replies gave me plenty of things to think about, so thanks for that.

[Tvtyrant]

It sounds like he is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. High strength, high charisma, medium int, poor wisdom.

As a specimen yes I'm intimidating. Boy what a giy that Gaston!~

[Shadowcaster]

It sounds like he is Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. High strength, high charisma, medium int, poor wisdom.

As a specimen yes I'm intimidating. Boy what a giy that Gaston!~
I see why you would think about gaston, but wasn't he of average int? IIRC 14 int is someone who can speak 3 languages (common and two bonus ones that's in addition to racial language), which is above average.