How do you justify/roleplay your dump stats?

[Arc-Royal]

My halfling monk has 10 INT and 8 CHA. As an escaped slave/experimental test subject, I've rationalized the 8 CHA as not having a good bearing on social norms and nuance as a result of growing up in captivity (therefore she's bad at deception/intimidation/persuasion, as well as general social graces), and while the 10 INT is "average" (going by the old stat standards), I have that rationalized as not having a proper education, but still having learned a bit here and there from other slaves and the like (plus, it's how she figured out that she'd be considered "expendable" soon and was likely going to be killed).

How about you? What stats have you dumped and how have you worked them into your character?

[Iguanodon]

I once played a Wild Magic sorcerer with a low Wisdom. His whole character was based around the idea that he thought he was just a really special snowflake, so it made sense for him to never admit any wrongdoing. This is a lot of fun when coupled with Wis saves against illusions. Many almost-TPK's were had; it was awesome.

[EscherEnigma]

Poorly.

My current PC is a bard (16, 12, 14, 8, 10, 16 in order at level 3) that has int for his dump stat, and when I roleplay him I try to drum up the "pretty but dumb" bit. But because of player dynamics I end up being both the face and planner.

Then again, in only one of our five sessions has he not dropped to (or below) 0 hit points, so maybe he is pretty dumb for continuing this line of work.

[mer.c]

Using a die roll method, I recently rolled a Tiefling Paladin. I figured she probably took up the vocation as a reaction to being treated as a pariah all of her life. Sort of in an "OK, I'll show you asshats!" kind of way.

That was all part of the plan. What I didn't plan on was ending up with a whopping 6 Wisdom! So, I I quickly decided that her flaw would be not knowing herself. Now she's starting to wonder if maybe she isn't as committed to good and valor as she likes to pretend, and if it's all been (and remains) an act. Which, being a Paladin, could be really perilous.

I'm glad I rolled those stats, because that's a way more interesting character than I would have come up with on my own. Sometimes a nice dump stat can really define your character.

[Flashy]

Playing an 8 wisdom warlock has been pretty fun. I treat him as just totally, utterly oblivious to everything happening around him.

[VoxRationis]

My dump stat is almost always Constitution (not considered optimal, I know, but I hate dumping mental stats or Dex, so...), and it usually comes down to "how tough do you expect a character who has done nothing but read books in a tower to be, anyway?"

[Laserlight]

DEX 8: shaky hands, must ask others to handle delicate tasks like calligraphy or sewing.
DEX 5: doesn't have a sense of where he is in relation to what's around him, so he stumbles over rugs, bang into cabinets, misses a stair, etc.

INT 8: normal intelligence but needs a couple extra seconds to remember things. A little less educated than normal.
INT 5: limited vocabulary, doesn't understand jokes or anything complicated

WIS 8: gives in to peer pressure; doesn't pay much attention to inconsistencies
WIS 5: gullible and oblivious

CHA 8: foreign or yokel accent, unfamiliar with local etiquette or dialect, or a little shy
CHA 5: harsh voice, loud, uncouth, does not notice people's reaction to him, afraid of people

Note that some of these can apply to higher stats. My paladin Junior took CHA as his secondary stat rather than primary; I explained that he was charming and everyone liked him, but he had a dribble of chewing tobacco down the front of his breastplate, spoke with a thick hillbilly accent, and was blunt instead of diplomatic.

[Inevitability]

Two stories with mixed results.

6 charisma rogue. I played him as being a socially awkward medic who got easily pushed around by others. The party pretty much intimidated him into joining them on their adventure because they needed a healer (OOC everyone was fine with this).

Also, a 5 wisdom rogue. I planned to have him a swashbuckler who simply desired adventure, a bit of an act-before-thinking type. When it turned out the other players had built similar reckless, chaotic characters, my PC actually ended up being the most reasonable person in the group.

[hymer]

Not exactly 'dumped', but as low as you can get them with point buy. Whether they get dumped for mechanical reasons (the druid) or they got that score for thematic reasons (the rogue), I like to make a little nod towards their weak points.

Str 8 druid: She is quite small for her kind, and while nimble and in quite good health overall, she has had no reason to develop her upper body strength. As a consequence, she can't carry as much, and has more trouble swimming. I can't really explain why she's so bad at jumping and climbing. Being so light and in good circulatory physical shape (hard to get without having strong legs), she should be able to jump and climb about as well as most people.

Int 8 rogue: Uneducated tramp/vagrant, he got by mostly on being stealthy and persistent than by smarts. He has particular trouble with bureaucracies of all kinds, failing to understand the bigger concept as well as the details. And he reads slowly and with difficulty, much preferring to leave it to others. Tends to get put off or intimidated by people using big words.

Cha 8 wizard: Quite introverted. He prefers books to conversation, characters to people, and math to relationships. Speaks in a low voice, and prefers to just wander off rather than try to assert himself. Grew up with a much more forceful brother, and is desperately attracted to strong women that show any interest in him.

[djreynolds]

My halfling monk has 10 INT and 8 CHA. As an escaped slave/experimental test subject, I've rationalized the 8 CHA as not having a good bearing on social norms and nuance as a result of growing up in captivity (therefore she's bad at deception/intimidation/persuasion, as well as general social graces), and while the 10 INT is "average" (going by the old stat standards), I have that rationalized as not having a proper education, but still having learned a bit here and there from other slaves and the like (plus, it's how she figured out that she'd be considered "expendable" soon and was likely going to be killed).

How about you? What stats have you dumped and how have you worked them into your character?

If you play in the AL, then you get 15/14/13/12/10/8, no choice. So for me, and you as well just to keep our sanity, just see it as average.

A barbarian with an 8 con has 11 hit points, same as a wizard with a 20 con, has 11 hit points. How?

Most people in Faerun are malnourished and uneducated, yet live and flourish and farm and get by. Just play these as normal. We assume 10 is average because it has no negative modifier, but that's it, it just has no negative modifier. It doesn't mean its average. A rogue with athletic proficiency and an 8 str can do the same stuff a fighter with a 20 strength. How?

Now in the AL since 8 is the lowest you can start off with, than the average dwarf would always have a 10 in constitution, and the elf always would have a 10 in dex, after all of them adding their racial modifiers. These would be average. A non-variant human's lowest score would actually be a 9, as he gets +1 to all stats.

So really a 9 is the average lowest stat for a human. And its minus -1.

I use great weapon master on every attack and its -5, still gonna use it and its not an average feat.

I know I run about an 8 in every stat in real life, doing fine.

[Khutef]

I currently play a gnome warlock with strength 7. Reason for low strength is that during his youth he got trampled by a dragon and that crushed his collar bone and shoulder blade. His left arm is basically crippled and cannot use it properly. Much problems were had when our dwarf cleric and half-orc barbarian were unconscious and needed to be physically evacuated hastily by my gnome and an elf druid (strentgh 13).

[djreynolds]

Playing an 8 wisdom warlock has been pretty fun. I treat him as just totally, utterly oblivious to everything happening around him.

Or he could have a 20 in wisdom.

[Guran]

I don't. In my groups stats are merely numbers on paper used for rolls in the game. When we want to decide how intelligent or charismatic our characters are, we write it up in our backgrounds and discuss it with our DM. Then we try to roleplay it to the best of our abilities.

[Lines]

I don't. 8 is barely sub average, I don't think the difference between 8, 10 and 12 in a stat is noticeable enough to make a difference in almost any scenario.

If an int 8 character and an int 12 character make an opposed intellect check, the int 13 character will win a little under 60% of the time - enough for someone paying close attention to detect a difference, but close enough that I can't see a reason to roleplay say a cha 8 character any different than a cha 10 one.

[Sitri]

I somewhat recently finished a game where I played a child warlock (ported some pathfinder adjustments for children). His intelligence was....childlike. Super fun character.

I would make decisions based on what seemed familiar to me or just go along with people I trusted the most. I didn't even know my familiar (Imp skinned as a Lovecraftian Mi-Go for Great Old One patron) even existed. I thought that everything my invisible familiar did was the result of my doll (arcane focus).

Occasionally I would need to work something smart into the game, and I would relay it as my doll telling me this needed to happen.

[Oramac]

Personally, I have a really hard time playing a dumb character, so unless it's requested, I'll typically play it as "average-ish".

Meaning if I have an 8 Int, I'll say the character is of average Intelligence (10), but he's not that good at applying his intelligence, thus the -1 on ability rolls.

[Nerd-o-rama]

I'd consider a dump stat in the d20 attributes to be a 6-8. 8 is "somewhat below average" and 6 is Pretty Bad, but it's mostly a matter of degree.

6-8 Strength: Has trouble lifting heavy objects (and generally uses magic or other people to do that for them), almost always has someone or something else to carry their gear, tends to get in slap-fights rather than melee combat, unless they have Weapon Finesse.
6-8 Dexterity: Clumsy, occasionally walks into walls (especially if large), occasionally drops small objects
6-8 Constitution: Why the hell would you be an adventurer with Con as your dump stat? That said, hypothetically, tires easily, complains about long days, gets sick easily.
6-8 Intelligence: Book dumb, not aware of what many things are bears live in caves, emotional rather than logical
6-8 Wisdom: Oblivious and inattentive or hotheaded to a dangerous level, impatient
6-8 Charisma: Standoffish and quiet or a yes man, a follower rather than a leader

[CoggieRagabash]

My high elf cleric/wizard's Strength of 8 isn't hard to justify, that's one of the easier ones by any account. She's a bookish little thing.

The trickier one for me has been her Charisma of 10. This wouldn't be too difficult except for the character's strange history: in the first part of the campaign she was a wild magic sorcerer. After that story concluded, we had permission to change our characters around within reason, and I got permission to change the wild magic sorcerer to a cleric/wizard under the explanation that a combination of study and divine guidance allowed her to gain control over her chaotic magic.

So in the first part of the campaign, she had a high Charisma, though this was mostly because it was necessary to play the concept I wanted (dignified snooty high elf academic who became magically incontinent). In reality she was always fairly distant and even though she had the stats to back it up she wasn't ever asked to be a face for the party. But suddenly her Charisma went from 16 to 10 due to mechanical issues. By then she had gotten a reputation for being attractive based on how townsfolk acted around her, so I was stuck with that.

Ultimately I've decided her Charisma 10 is a blend of her being attractive and having some social savvy when she cares to employ it (Persuasion proficiency comes into play there), but by default she's rather stoical and unapproachable due to how she carries herself so it averages out to a wash.

Frankly the real question is how I justify string bean little scholarly high elf's Con score of 14.

[Belac93]

Well, I once rolled a 4 on my wisdom for a wild magic lightfoot halfling sorcerer. The DM took a look at it and said 'Are you sure?'

Fun times were had. I basically played him as a character with no control whatsoever. It was pretty awesome, because I also rolled 18, 18, 15, 14, 14, 12 for my other abilities.

[JumboWheat01]

I always use the standard array, and only end up with three stats I routinely 'dump.'

STR8 (Wizards, Sorcerers): The former is definetly because of his studious, rather than athletic past, while the latter is more along the lines of 'If I can smash it with more raw magic than a barbarian has muscles, why should I use an actual weapon?' Both are more apt to use magic rather than their own muscles if something needs some strength.

DEX8 (Heavy Armor Clerics, Paladins): Divine grace doesn't mean actual grace. They rely on their ability to 'weather the storm' rather than get out of its way, usually to protect someone else. The also tend to break things accidentally.

CHA8 (Pretty much any class that doesn't NEED CHA): They tend to stay away from the front of the pack and are only really talkative to their comrades. The lone exception would be the need for STR Intimidation checks.

Their are times, though that I edit the standard array by turring the 12 to a 10 and upping the 8 to a 10. Not often though, having a flaw like a low stat helps build depth of character. In my books, anyway.

[MaxWilson]

How about you? What stats have you dumped and how have you worked them into your character?

My favorite so far, on an NPC I have not yet actually gotten to play yet but am eager to, is an NPC with all stats below 7. IIRC Int 7 Wis 5 Cha 6, and he's a Necromancer.

I declared him a self-pitying, rage-filled little tyrant with a huge sense of entitlement and a grudge against the world, an virtual Napoleon complex, and a familiar name: Giuseppe Zangara.

[MaxWilson]

Ultimately I've decided her Charisma 10 is a blend of her being attractive and having some social savvy when she cares to employ it (Persuasion proficiency comes into play there), but by default she's rather stoical and unapproachable due to how she carries herself so it averages out to a wash.

Frankly the real question is how I justify string bean little scholarly high elf's Con score of 14.

In real life, physical attractiveness is basically Con, not Cha, so Cha 10 Con 14 makes perfect sense for a gorgeous-but-not-charismatic scholar. E.g. Bones.

[Flashy]

In real life, physical attractiveness is basically Con, not Cha, so Cha 10 Con 14 makes perfect sense for a gorgeous-but-not-charismatic scholar. E.g. Bones.

Wait, which Bones are you talking about? Surely not this Bones, right?

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/4/40/Last_word.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20061219214636&path-prefix=en

[JumboWheat01]

Wait, which Bones are you talking about? Surely not this Bones, right?

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/4/40/Last_word.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20061219214636&path-prefix=en

They're talking about the female lead of the series also called Bones. Definitely easy on the eyes though about as socially adept as a rock.

Th ol' Bones of Star Trek days is still a ruggedly handsome beast, also not the best at parties.

Hmm...

[CoggieRagabash]

In real life, physical attractiveness is basically Con, not Cha, so Cha 10 Con 14 makes perfect sense for a gorgeous-but-not-charismatic scholar. E.g. Bones.

Generally I'd agree but then, especially in fiction, you have your consumptive beauties of either gender too. In her case the Con = Attractiveness concept works - she's not strong but she is of sound health and that counts for something. I'm not sweating the details too much - charisma's association with attractiveness in D&D is a long and troubled one by any account.


Wait, which Bones are you talking about? Surely not this Bones, right?

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/4/40/Last_word.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20061219214636&path-prefix=en

Look at that hunk of man, lemme jump his, er...him.

Edit: Grammar, clarity, brevity.

[Flashy]

They're talking about the female lead of the series also called Bones. Definitely easy on the eyes though about as socially adept as a rock.

That makes SO much more sense.

[Madbox]

I actually try to avoid dumping as much as possible. It's silly, but I'll usually use the point buy system, and avoid 8s at all costs, and maybe use race to bump a 9 up to a 10 for my worst stat.

That being said, my first character, a human battlemaster, was made with the standard point spread and had a 8 in INT. I played him as being good at the sort of thinking a fighter would need, but bad at other planning. You know, stuff like thinking buying a silver weapon ASAP was a good idea (smart at fighter stuff), but then thinking that rolling around on a fire on our ship to put it out was a good idea (dumb at other stuff). Also, he was very paranoid about magic. "I can't see where it's coming from, it makes no sense to me, and it doesn't use muscle. It can't be any good!"

[Oramac]

Also, he was very paranoid about magic. "I can't see where it's coming from, it makes no sense to me, and it doesn't use muscle. It can't be any good!"

Now that I like! I might just borrow that for Bronan the Barbellian. (a caricature of all those Gym Bro memes out there).

[JakOfAllTirades]

My Tiefling Warlock (Fey/Blade) dumped STR and WIS, and aside from not being terribly athletic, and sometimes a bit lazy, he is extremely brash, always charging in where someone wiser would know better. But he's chaotic good, so at least he means well.


And we're not even going to talk about that incident with the succubus....

[Anonymouswizard]

My current character is a half elf Wizard with 7 Wisdom (and 20 Intelligence, because the GM had us roll 7d20, reroll any under 7 once, and drop the lowest). She has 10 strength because she spent a lot of time running while with her tribe, as she sometimes had to go to far away areas. The same is the reason for her 16 Dex and 12 Con. She has 12 Charisma because, although she doesn't follow the local customs, wears strange clothes, doesn't worship a single deity, and is of a different ethnicity to the rest of the setting, but she is actually rather polite and pretty.

The 7 Wisdom is because she isn't primarily focused on the physical world, but on the spirit world (not that she can naturally see it, unless I can blag getting that in exchange for something else, probably a paralysed hand or a curse). So she just isn't paying attention most of the time, instead working out what spirits to appease next time she casts a spell.