How to roleplay high wisdom, low int and cha?

[gadren]

So, I was thinking about playing a character that has 20 wisdom, but only 7 intelligence and 5 charisma. What would be some different ways to roleplay someone like that?

A lot of the ways I would express being wise would run counter to low intelligence and charisma.

[cobaltstarfire]

Try playing him like Columbo?

I mean he's charming to watch and certainly tries his best to be courteous, but imagine meeting someone like him, unkempt, rather awkward and prone to rambling. Likes to crack boiled eggs pulled out of his pockets to crack on the nearest hard thing. Sharply observant.

Columbo could be either high int, and just likes to toy with the murderer, or not very high int, but as he says works very hard to get to the bottom of things cause his keen sense of observation quickly tells him something just doesn't quite add up even if he's not sure why at first.

[CantigThimble]

He could instead be quick and brutal with his criticisms of others. He's uneducated and tactless but an excellent judge of character and can't help but tell people their flaws and how they should change. If he was walking by a wedding while the vows were being recited he'd tell one they were just marrying for money and the other they were just marrying for looks and move on.

[Âmesang]

I'm sort of picturing a very gruff, no-nonsense, country fellow of sorts. Rough around the edges, not one for book smarts, but a lot of "street smarts," a lot of common sense.

You don't need to be an electrical engineer to know that sticking a fork in an electric socket's a bad idea.

[Mastikator]

Someone who's very observant and down to Earth but not very clever.
Low charisma could either be roleplayed as rude/insensitive or low key.

Someone who can see through people but can't get through basic calculus.

[Faily]

I could see a Tarzan-esque character; high senses (Spot & Listen uses Wisdom), but dumber than average because he simply hasn't encountered this sort of thing before (and lacks communication and understanding of many things), and low charisma because of inability to properly communicate outside of grunts and crude words.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I'm getting a bit of a caveman/druid/mister Miyagi mix in my head now. Very "in tune" with everything. Great senses as well as all those "sixth senses". Picks up on social situations, good with animals, can easily find his way around the city without a map. But give him or her a map and they might be completely lost trying to point out where they are. They register as weird to other people. There's something off about them, but it's hard to say what it is. Kind of like that neighbor where you always wonder what he could be hiding in his basement, or I guess how semi-autistic people sometimes come across to "normal" folks, or all Tom Cruises villainous roles where he looks just slightly different than in Mission Impossible but you don't notice it's in how he has his hair parted the other way and he's doing everything left handed. That, but a bit stronger, stopping just short of "get away" alarm bells in peoples heads. The high wisdom only adds to the weirdness, because here's a person you totally should be comfortable with, as naturally as he fits into the world and picks up on everything. The (semi-)low intelligence means that it will be harder for this character to work around that. He doesn't understand why he has a hard time interacting with people. He'll probably know by their reaction that they think he's weird, but he can't figure out what's weird about him, even less so than other people. He doesn't have much conversational skill to help smooth peoples' feathers, he's kind of lost. The world seems to always tell him how to handle everything, except complex problems, and peoples' reaction to himself.

There are lots of ways to roleplay any combination, but this is one of them.

[LnGrrrR]

Another possible way is an "idiot savant" type. He may not know how to read or do math, but he has a predilection for medicine, or some other wisdom based skills.

[CharonsHelper]

I'd just play him as very unobtrusive - and slow to come up with new thoughts. But he watches everything, especially people, and generally knows the intent behind things that people do.

Remember - 7 INT isnt' THAT low - probably an IQ of 85-90. (going by the 3d6 bell-curve)

[Malifice]

So, I was thinking about playing a character that has 20 wisdom, but only 7 intelligence and 5 charisma. What would be some different ways to roleplay someone like that?

A lot of the ways I would express being wise would run counter to low intelligence and charisma.

I'm thinking someone with the sagacity of Alan Watts, yet with no formal education and who can barely write his own name.

He cant help but use his insight and perception about people to troll the hell out of them, even when he knows he shouldnt. Its not that he's unaware that he does it; its just that he feels he gets the best insight into a person when they're off guard and angry at him.

In essence, his wisdom is because of his low charisma and vice versa.

[Joe the Rat]

"Mongo just pawn in game of life."

I almost used that quote in a parallel thread, but is far more relevant here. Low Intelligence limits knowledge and deep structure. Low Charisma limits being articulate. Wisdom allows deep insights, said crudely. Everyone thinks you're a bit of an idiot, and rarely listens to what you say, unless they know that your mind has bypassed all that higher order nonsense to wrap itself around the thrum of the tapestry of the world, and feel the deep meanings and hidden wisdoms.

Or rather: "[character name] not big on words. [character name] prefer to do, not think. talky teacher man call it zen. but [character name] can count higher than that."

[Mastikator]

I'd just play him as very unobtrusive - and slow to come up with new thoughts. But he watches everything, especially people, and generally knows the intent behind things that people do.

Remember - 7 INT isnt' THAT low - probably an IQ of 85-90. (going by the 3d6 bell-curve)

It's not something others would notice unless you're specifically doing something that requires a high level cognition like math. Avoid sayings things like "talky teacher man", a 7 probably doesn't know what photosynthesis is but he does know what zen is (because it gets it).

[holywhippet]

I'm thinking it is someone who relies a lot on instincts and observation rather than training and education. They might realize there is danger nearby because they've noticed old blood stains or carrion eating creatures nearby rather than knowing the ruins they are in are famous for traps and monsters.

[Icewraith]

So sort of a Yogi Berra? Low Cha might just be in the delivery.

[Steampunkette]

Play a cat.

[Kalirren]

Make good decisions for simple reasons and be obnoxiously insistent upon your worldview.

[8BitNinja]

Wisdom is not exactly knowing how to do complex tasks, wisdom is knowing how to live you life

Wise people can give some pretty good advice about life, while smart people can teach you how to build a computer from scratch

In my opinion, wisdom is far better than knowledge

[Chronos]

The druid I played a while back had decent Int, but was otherwise like what you're describing (incredible Wis, terrible Cha). I played him as speaking only cryptically: Think Yoda or Ambassador Kosh (sadly, I never got a chance to use "The avalanche has started; it is too late for the pebbles to vote"). He always just assumed that everyone else understood exactly what he meant, and if I couldn't figure out a way to say something cryptically, I said nothing at all. He had deep insights because of his Wis, but terrible communication skills because of his Cha.

Occasionally they figured it out ("When I change my skin, I will need help changing my skin" meant that he'd need someone to put his barding on him when he wildshaped, and when someone asked if he could turn into an eagle to scout, he said "Sun becomes moon before hand becomes wing" to indicate that he was out of daily uses). Most of the time, though, I think everyone had an easier time understanding him when he was wildshaped and limited to just grunts and paw-gestures.

[Sian]

Might run Adrian Monk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_%28TV_series%29)

[Segev]

The way this thread has me thinking about it, I'd say the most obvious way is to have him be the gruff type who expresses simple truths and rules with certainty, but can't and doesn't bother to explain them. He couldn't win an argument over WHY what he says is right, but he knows it firmly and, when all is said and done, he's usually proven out. His advice is solid, and his intuition excellent, but don't ask him to explain it. And you probably won't enjoy hearing it, either, as he'll just give it to you straight, even if it's hurtful or rude.

[Kane0]

So like most characters in British comedies?