How Do you Roleplay Your Stats?

[Vixsor Lumin]

I recently rolled up a warforged for a campaign. I rolled very poorly on a few stats and after assigning them places I wound up with DEX 9 and CHA 7 my question is how do I RP this? I intend for him to be an artist so I don't want him to be clumsy, and I don't want to play him as a jerk to the rest of the group. Saying he's ugly feels like cheating especially when he's a "genderless" hunk of living stone and metal.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Low charisma is not the same as being a jerk. Someone with 22 charisma could be the biggest jerk in the world and be perfectly acceptable application of his charisma (if not an annoying one). Charisma is the force of personality. A low charisma simply means your words and presence do not effect others very well. Making him introverted, soft spoken, and generally silent could easily portray his pitifully low charisma. A low charisma jerk is simply a nusance that many ignore, a high charisma jerk is a severe distraction and messes up peoples concentration.

Likewise, have a less than 10 dex does not make him a klutz. If he had a dex of 2, then yes don't trust him with the fragile macguffin. But a 9 simply means where others could achieve easily, you fail occasionally. Maybe he stumbles every once in a while. While painting, occasionally makes a stroke too wide or thin our out of place.

I must remind you that Painting would be based off of charisma so he (it?) won't be a greater painter. But that shouldn't stop you from making him a painter.

[FatJose]

I recently rolled up a warforged for a campaign. I rolled very poorly on a few stats and after assigning them places I wound up with DEX 9 and CHA 7 my question is how do I RP this? I intend for him to be an artist so I don't want him to be clumsy, and I don't want to play him as a jerk to the rest of the group. Saying he's ugly feels like cheating especially when he's a "genderless" hunk of living stone and metal.

If he has decent/okay Wisdom (or even if not) you can rp him as the stoic type that slowly works at his craft. An artist only needs to be graceful if his craft requires it. Low dex could be explained as him being a slower clunkier model. For low cha, maybe in his past he was mostly a laborer in the style of an automated factory machine. He never was built or really had the chance to develop basic communication skills. Maybe he expresses himself through his art?

[Vixsor Lumin]

Low charisma is not the same as being a jerk. Someone with 22 charisma could be the biggest jerk in the world and be perfectly acceptable application of his charisma (if not an annoying one). Charisma is the force of personality. A low charisma simply means your words and presence do not effect others very well. Making him introverted, soft spoken, and generally silent could easily portray his pitifully low charisma. A low charisma jerk is simply a nusance that many ignore, a high charisma jerk is a severe distraction and messes up peoples concentration.

Likewise, have a less than 10 dex does not make him a klutz. If he had a dex of 2, then yes don't trust him with the fragile macguffin. But a 9 simply means where others could achieve easily, you fail occasionally. Maybe he stumbles every once in a while. While painting, occasionally makes a stroke too wide or thin our out of place.

I must remind you that Painting would be based off of charisma so he (it?) won't be a greater painter. But that shouldn't stop you from making him a painter.

If he has decent/okay Wisdom (or even if not) you can rp him as the stoic type that slowly works at his craft. An artist only needs to be graceful if his craft requires it. Low dex could be explained as him being a slower clunkier model. For low cha, maybe in his past he was mostly a laborer in the style of an automated factory machine. He never was built or really had the chance to develop basic communication skills. Maybe he expresses himself through his art?

Thank you for the help! I think I'm going to go with an unobtrusive personality, I never thought of it that way. And I should clarify, by artist I meant specifically a sculpter. Craft is based off INT which he has a decent score in.

Also his back story had him in a factory for awhile so I think that ill use that an explanation for his lack of charisma, thank you both! This was incrediblly helpful

[Serpentine]

There's a whole lot of different ways you can roleplay all the stats (though maybe Str has the fewest...).
Here's what I came up (not exhaustive, I'm sure) with previously for the mental abilities:

Charisma
Sense of self
Self-worth
Self-confidence
Self-respect
Physical appearance
Grooming
Build
Posture
How one holds oneself
How one presents oneself
Likeability
Ability to read others
Empathy
Ability to relate to others
Communication skills
General social skills
Ability to manipulate others
Ability to convince others
Strength of presence
Strength of personality
Ability to read and act correctly upon social cues
Knowledge of unwritten social rules

Wisdom
Keenness of senses
Awareness of surroundings
Instincts
Self-awareness (as in... Can't think of the word for it, but the sort of thing that tells you where to touch your nose and what your limbs are doing and that distinguishes "self" from "everything else")
Empathy
Common sense
Hunches
Intuition
Strength of mind
Understanding
Innate talent
Prudence
Sense of self-preservation

Intelligence
Logic
Reasoning
Planning
Ability to learn
Problem-solving
Abstract thought
Articulated...ness
Tactical and strategic ability
Clarity of thought
Memory
Processing of information
Retention of knowledge


In your case... Perhaps your character has no natural aptitude, no innately delicate hand. But (and this works particularly well with high Wisdom) he has an artists soul, a connection to the world around him and beautiful images swirling around in his head he's desperate to show to others. So through sheer force of will and determination, he tames his inelegant hand, focuses all his being on his art. In everything else, he may be clumsy, loutish and uncivilised, but in front of a canvas he creates beauty itself.

In mechanical terms: represent your artistic ability through skill points, and maybe see if your DM will allow you to use Wisdom instead of Charisma for your painting checks.

In character development terms: Maybe to start off with your character is terrible at painting, but he really really wants to be good at it, so he keeps on practicing and practicing (i.e. adding skill points) until eventually he's great, despite his lack of natural aptitude.

edit: Oh, sculpture. Eh, same thing.

[Zerter]

You don't roleplay your stats, it's a trap. They have in-game effects that help make your character who it is, but the D&D stats system is nowhere near realistic enough to base roleplaying on them.

[Civil War Man]

Low Charisma doesn't just mean ugly or a jerk. Maybe your Warforged is shy. Or groups make it uncomfortable. Or it acts robotic. Or it doesn't know much about the social mores of biological entities, so it's prone to say inappropriate things.

[Caphi]

Are you asking whether or not you're allowed to roleplay an artist?

Of course you can roleplay an artist. Declare you're arting at appropriate scenes. Describe the results during downtime. You don't even need the skill points, it's not like the BBEG is going to challenge you to a pottery-off. And if another player complains that you're breaking the game by trying to be an artist without tossing skill points away at it, tell them off.

Honestly...

[Serpentine]

You don't roleplay your stats, it's a trap. They have in-game effects that help make your character who it is, but the D&D stats system is nowhere near realistic enough to base roleplaying on them.

I disagree - in fact, I would be very suspicious of any player in one of my games who wasn't incorporating their stats into their roleplaying. The trap lies in thinking such-and-such a stat must be played so-and-so a way.

[Thinker]

I don't roleplay my stats I let my stats roleplay me.

[Totally Guy]

Stats are self fulfilling to an extent. If you have low charisma or dexterity it means that you'll fail more regularly when using it. Gambling your success on those abilities is less favourable as a strategy. Making that choice is roleplaying to an extent too.

So it's not as hard to mess up as you perhaps expect. It's all cool.

[Ajadea]

Anywhere from 8-12 is a perfectly reasonable score for anyone to have, so don't worry too much about Dex. Mechanical joints tend to have certain limitations, that's all.

7 Charisma? Maybe he has trouble relating to the fleshy-people. Maybe he's still trying to form a personal identity. His art could reflect that easily. Perhaps he tries lots of different styles in an effort to find one that works for him.

[Yora]

I think with a Dex penalty, art styles that are rough and blocky would suit the character more than something fine and delicate. Like a sculptor who makes blocky figures out of stone or wood, or a painter who doesn't even attempt to make the images photorealistic.
I think to paint like Picasso, you really don't need dexterity, yet he's one of the most famous painters and sculptors of our age.

[mucco]

I had my DM rule "drawing" as an Int check, because he was seeing it as a Craft (picture) check. Put some ranks in Craft (paintings) or Profession (painter) and voila, your check will be on Int or Wis instead of Cha. Might be less romantic, but still. We do say that great artists are geniuses, and they do require great ideas to stand out. So, Intelligence makes just as much sense as Charisma.

[Grelna the Blue]

Regarding Charisma, other people have said what I'd have said.

Regarding Dexterity, a 9 isn't too bad. Just occasionally toss out something along the line of, "Oops, sorry, don't always know my own strength." When he's being careful, he's mostly fine (except with Stealth rolls, where I imagine he snaps a lot of twigs underfoot). If he's running through the street in hot pursuit of some miscreant (unless he IS the miscreant), he strikes sparks off cobblestones and brick buildings when making sharp turns and occasionally breaks the odd awning or hanging shop sign.

[Anderlith]

Charisma is how open you are to people. Play him as an introspective closed off individual. Or go as Spock with all of his "logical" talk. As for Dex, you're not clumsy just a bit "mechanical", a bit stiff. Your stats reflect your robotic-ness so jump on it.

[Dr. Yes]

Visual art definitely seems like some combination of dexterity and intelligence. You need to understand what you're making and be able to plan, and use the right techniques in the right places, but you also need to be able to physically execute those techniques or else your work will come out rough and shabby looking.

[Serpentine]

Charisma is... Play him as...

This is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about :/

Nothing personal, Anderlith. Your roleplay suggestions are fine, it's just your phrasing is a particularly good example of what I consider the trap of stat roleplaying.

[Tengu_temp]

There is wisdom in all posts Serpentine wrote here. Listen to her.

[Dr. Yes]

There is wisdom in all posts Serpentine wrote here. Listen to her.

Seconded, except for one minor nit-pick.

Self-awareness (as in... Can't think of the word for it, but the sort of thing that tells you where to touch your nose and what your limbs are doing and that distinguishes "self" from "everything else")

Proprioception is the sense you're looking for, and in D&D terms it would fall squarely under Dexterity.

[Serpentine]

Yeah, someone pointed that out to me last time. However, although that's part of it, it doesn't quite cover everything I'm thinking of there. It's... well, I've only read about it in the context of the effects of certain drugs. They do something along the lines of disrupting the brain's perception of where the "self" ends and "everything else" starts. It's not just physical "my X is here", it's "my physical being is distinct from all the other physical stuff". If I were to stat out that sort of drug, I'd make that Charisma and/or Wisdom damage.
However, part of the point of my list (which is lost here) is that they can overlap, as well. So I'd say that proprioception could be represented by both Dexterity and Wisdom.

[Anderlith]

This is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about :/

Nothing personal, Anderlith. Your roleplay suggestions are fine, it's just your phrasing is a particularly good example of what I consider the trap of stat roleplaying.

I'm not saying that is the only way to play, or the best way. It's just a suggestion. That's how I would play him. I usually don't build my character's personality on stats to begin with. I choose a personality & try to have my stats arranged to reflect that. (kind of the opposite of the OP)

[Serpentine]

Like I said, there's nothing wrong with your roleplaying suggestions. It's just that your phrasing is exactly what I'm talking about here:

The trap lies in thinking such-and-such a stat must be played so-and-so a way.

Sorry, it's just that your "Charisma is X, play it Y" just perfectly demonstrated my point

(I do it that way too)

[Zerter]

.I disagree - in fact, I would be very suspicious of any player in one of my games who wasn't incorporating their stats into their roleplaying. The trap lies in thinking such-and-such a stat must be played so-and-so a way.

Stats affect roleplaying by default, if you have high intelligence you're gonna have a lot of skills and high knowledge checks, if you have high charisma you're gonna be better at social interaction. This affects the way you play.

Roleplaying your stats is setting yourself up for failure. I have never seen anyone consistently roleplay differently after for example picking up a headband of intellect +6 or a cloak of charisma +6. Of course it is possible to do so, but you're limiting yourself in an extreme way for no reason as well as this: the way the d&d stats system is made any stat above 18 is really above what is in real life humanly possible and I've never seen a player with an intelligence of 20 written down actually reasoning with a beyond human intelligence.

I hear that you're supposed to roleplay your stats at the gaming table every now and then. Coming from players that play Half-Orcs that have low intelligence and are dumb when it suits them only to have flashes of insight when they need to solve a puzzle to survive. Coming from players that play Wizards without making a single intelligent decision throughout the game. I rather just make a background for my character, play it intellectually consistent and have character growth throughout the campaign come naturally. Charisma representing confidence makes no sense whatsoever because when my character's confidence grows my DM is not gonna come to me and tell me to add another two points and neither is he gonna forbid me from being more confident with the argument that my charisma has not changed.

[Tengu_temp]

I have no problem with people who roleplay their stats too low - it's okay, just because your character is required to be a super-genius to be effective doesn't mean you have to be one in order to play a wizard. Just put some token effort into playing those high stats and I'm fine with that.

However!

What I do have a problem with is people who roleplay their stats too high. If you want to roleplay an smart character, buy at least above-average intelligence. If you want to be a leader, buy at least decent charisma. It doesn't cost too much to put stats on a decent level in most games, so it's not like you lose a lot of power by doing so. If you're a min-maxer who dumped intelligence because his build doesn't need it, then suffer the consequences and play a dumb character.

[Serpentine]

I have never seen anyone consistently roleplay differently after for example picking up a headband of intellect +6 or a cloak of charisma +6.

I've done so.

the way the d&d stats system is made any stat above 18 is really above what is in real life humanly possible and I've never seen a player with an intelligence of 20 written down actually reasoning with a beyond human intelligence.

This is, of course, a natural limitation, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't even try. Moreover, there are ways to get by this: for super-human intelligence, for example, the whole group might work together to come up with a plan, and the super-intelligent party member will "come up with it" in-character. There's plenty of other possibilities. More to the point, I don't expect a player's representation to be perfect, just as good as they're able to manage.

Coming from players that play Half-Orcs that have low intelligence and are dumb when it suits them only to have flashes of insight when they need to solve a puzzle to survive.

A legitimate way of playing it, although I'd probably talk to them about the "when it suits them" part.

Coming from players that play Wizards without making a single intelligent decision throughout the game.

It's possible that they were playing a different type of intelligence (see my list, above), or maybe the player's not too bright and not willing to seek the sort of help I suggested above, or maybe they're just a bad roleplayer. None of these oppose my point.

I rather just make a background for my character, play it intellectually consistent and have character growth throughout the campaign come naturally.

"Roleplay your stats" != "ONLY roleplay your stats".

Charisma representing confidence makes no sense whatsoever because when my character's confidence grows my DM is not gonna come to me and tell me to add another two points and neither is he gonna forbid me from being more confident with the argument that my charisma has not changed.

Again, see my list above. If you think that if you have high Charisma, you must have lots of confidence, then in my opinion you're doing it wrong.
If you do think that a significant portion of your character's Charisma comes from its relative lack or plentitude of confidence, and in game your character gains so much confidence that you think it's enough to be represented by a higher Charisma score, then maybe you should consider adding your point to it when you get that chance.
Personally, as a DM, that's exactly the sort of thing I'd love to grant a player in exchange for the Cool Points they accumulate.


Example character: I once had a character who was a 1/4 succubus, 3/4 elf who had spent her teenage years kidnapped for the Blood Wars in the Hells. So she was absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous (18 Cha worth, easy), but she also had severe mental problems, PTSD, difficulty trusting others, and an extremely short temper that bordered on mild but dangerous insanity.
Her actual Charisma was about 14. I considered that a compromise between her natural stunning looks, her reasonable likeability when she was in a good state of mind, and her unpredictability and hostility when she was not; her sultry and flirtation manner, countered by her cracked sense of self.
I never did, but if I were to give her an item that increased Charisma, I might say that it soothed her cracks, helped soften the memories of her horrific past, generally helped her to keep a grip, keep her temper, and generally keep the "good side" on top more often and more consistently.

Put it this way: to me, it doesn't matter how, exactly, you interpret your stats for roleplaying. It only matters that you do it.

[Anderlith]

This is exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about :/

Nothing personal, Anderlith. Your roleplay suggestions are fine, it's just your phrasing is a particularly good example of what I consider the trap of stat roleplaying.

I'm not saying that is the only way to play, or the best way. It's just a suggestion. That's how I would play him. I usually don't build my character's personality on stats to begin with. I choose a personality & try to have my stats arranged to reflect that. (kind of the opposite of the OP)

[Grelna the Blue]

Stats affect roleplaying by default, if you have high intelligence you're gonna have a lot of skills and high knowledge checks, if you have high charisma you're gonna be better at social interaction. This affects the way you play.

Roleplaying your stats is setting yourself up for failure. I have never seen anyone consistently roleplay differently after for example picking up a headband of intellect +6 or a cloak of charisma +6. Of course it is possible to do so, but you're limiting yourself in an extreme way for no reason as well as this: the way the d&d stats system is made any stat above 18 is really above what is in real life humanly possible and I've never seen a player with an intelligence of 20 written down actually reasoning with a beyond human intelligence.

To a certain extent, I agree with you. Roleplaying high mental stats we don't actually possess is difficult if not impossible. In the case of Intelligence, the extra skill points do tend to reflect some of the difference without too much need for additional roleplay. However, it's not easy to act a lot wiser or more charismatic than we are when, if we knew how to do that, we would probably BE wiser and more charismatic than we are. Nonetheless, almost anyone can roleplay LOWER mental stats and as long as you've got at least one reasonably good mental stat, you can still hang your character's personality on that, although if your only good mental stat is Charisma your character should probably make a lot of poor decisions that you may actually manage to get others to emulate. I find that last frustrating, myself, which is why I prefer my characters to have at least one of Wisdom and Intelligence higher than average.

Physical stats don't really need roleplay at all, whether high or low, given that they don't determine personality and your abilities and limitations are reflected in your stats, but you can always throw in a little color if you feel like it, and some people do. The real Doc Holliday had no need to roleplay his tuberculosis (low Con score) because he actually had it, but a player with a Doc Holliday type of PC might wish to occasionally mention his character coughing into a blood-spotted hankerchief. The player with the clumsy warforged may occasionally break or damage things or accidentally shake hands a bit too hard. The player with the weakly wizard may emphasize that he's not going to carry that heavy whatsit--that's for the less valuable members of the party who cultivated their biceps rather than their brains.

Stats don't determine a PC's personality, but they do shape it, and there is no harm in allowing them to influence the way you roleplay the PC's personality and noncritical actions. Put another way, the fact that a low Strength PC is generally going to be bad at Climbing, Swimming, and melee combat automatically influences the game but doesn't automatically say anything about how you describe or roleplay the PC in non-Strength situations for which die rolls are not required. That doesn't mean you can't take it into account.

[Serpentine]

I'm not saying that is the only way to play, or the best way. It's just a suggestion. That's how I would play him. I usually don't build my character's personality on stats to begin with. I choose a personality & try to have my stats arranged to reflect that. (kind of the opposite of the OP)

Uh... Accidental repost?

[Anderlith]

Uh... Accidental repost?

Yeah, I only submitted once, but the site crashed... I dunno.