Roleplaying wildly differing Int/Wis/Cha scores

[Wonton]

Just something that came to mind since I rolled a character with 18 Int, 10 Wis, and 18 Cha, and was thinking about how to roleplay him. I would guess that a character with those stats is the type who can come up with a really clever plan, but rarely does so. His (relative) lack of common sense is good at getting himself into dumb situations, but his intelligence and charm are really good at getting him out of them. He doesn't think too deeply about things like "good and evil", or complex political issues, but he probably knows a lot of facts many people don't, and has a good sense of humour.

So, any thoughts on how to roleplay a character with high Int, low Wis*, and high Cha? What about any of the other combinations? Even just using a simple "High/Low" dichotomy, there's 6 combinations we can come up with. We can add even more nuance by adding in "Very Low" or "Very High". What are your thoughts on some of these?

*I know 10 Wis isn't actually that low, but I usually like to exaggerate my characters' weaknesses. Being bad at something is more fun than being average at it from an RP perspective.

[stanprollyright]

He's basically every sitcom character. Successful at whatever he chooses to do (without really trying), good at coming up with complicated-yet-harebrained ideas and then acting (efficiently) on them (literal or figurative Rube Goldberg devices), easily convinces others to go along with crazy well-thought-out-but-not-thought-about plans, has basically no willpower, takes everything other people say at face value, tends to gloss over key details in pursuit of the big picture (or vice versa - missing the forest for the trees), acts on impulse or emotion and then justifies it later, thinks he understands other people but is often very wrong about what they really want, often self-destructive or unintentionally self-sabotaging as he doesn't really understand his own needs either...

[Âmesang]

This thread is relevant to my interests! :smallbiggrin:

I've a similar character, 16 Int, 9 Wis, 27 Cha, along the chaotic-evil side of things (at least every time I took Wizards' alignment test (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20001222b)) whom I see as being atrociously vain, conceited, self centered, proud… probably has delusions of grandeur… lost in her own little world ("Unfortunately I have to share it with everyone else!"), and I can definitely agree with the idea of "not-thought-about plans" (like seeking to uncover the secrets of the Invoked Devastation withouth fully realizing the repercussions), yada yada… very glamorous with a sharp intellect, maybe a keen wit?, yet with a very "empty" personality, I'm thinking, though paradoxically possessing an iron will due to class combinations.

Style over substance; or all fluff, no crunch, to put it into a D&D sort of way. :smalltongue:

[Spore]

Intelligence is not the stat you look for when describing a clever character. I feel the smartest ploys are made by High Int/Wis characters (actually smart ideas that work!). Intelligence with humble Wisdom is recalling the color of a bar patron's eyes you met 4 years ago. It's remembering what tidbit the 3. edition of Arcanum Draconis said about the favorite pastime of Flametooth the Great.

Intelligent and charismatic characters are great leaders if their plans are met with an advisor. It's usually the young and energetic king whose brilliant plans are tempered with the knowledge of his wise elderly advisor. It's the charismatic thief who has a genius plan to break into the wizard's college to steal the most valuables but forgetting to create an escape plan or one who finds that the only valuable item is a gigantic teleportation circle unable to be stolen because he didn't research the site beforehand.

Intelligence: You have 1001 ideas, you know over 9000 facts from books.
Wisdom: You plans are often lacking in very mundane details. But who cares. The world is only the boundary for your imagination.
Charisma: You are so smooth one could easily spread you on his piece of toast. And they try regularly.

My Int/Cha focussed Lore Oracle was a middle aged Half Elf so caught up in his job he forgets the real world sometimes. He is the mouthpiece of a secret organization but with a cover identity as a member of the royal wizard's academy and later on as a member of a heroic group (because following a travelling agent is harder than spying on a guy sitting in a wizard's academy). He is incredibly relatable and has a sharp mind for the past and history. He often however forgets that his body is facing the present. He often zones out (partly due to his class features requiring him several rounds to remember things with an insane bonus) and then snaps back into reality with long forgotten lore he could not possibly know himself.