Opinions on how to play high Int/Wis, low Cha

[SageCassius]

I have a character that I have made, who I am having a bit of trouble figuring out how to roleplay.
He will have 16's in both Intelligence and Wisdom, and a 9 in Charisma. That is the main thing.
If it changes anything, he's a Cleric of the Knowledge domain, and I imagine him to be Neutral Good or Chaotic Good.

[Ravens_cry]

I have a character that I have made, who I am having a bit of trouble figuring out how to roleplay.
He will have 16's in both Intelligence and Wisdom, and a 9 in Charisma. That is the main thing.
If it changes anything, he's a Cleric of the Knowledge domain, and I imagine him to be Neutral Good or Chaotic Good.

9 isn't that low. It's below average, but it's not 'completely misunderstands social cues/face that had a run in with a woodchipper' level. I'd play him as both knowledgeable and insightful, but not very good in social situations. Maybe he's a little quiet, tends to blend into the background, letting others do the talking before he brings up an important point, or maybe he's too loud, saying things in a blunt, too honest way that puts people off a little, despite their fundamental good sense.

[Mastikator]

I have a simple three step guide on how to roleplay your stats
Step 1 don't roleplay your stats
Step 2 pick at three or four character traits, in addition a couple of *beliefs (these should not contradict your race/alignment/class/stats).
Step 3 roleplay that instead


*googling "personal belief list" came up nothing but self help so I'll do the hard thing and just write out a few examples of what I mean.

• equality
• might makes right
• protect the weak
• everyone for themselves
• always respect property rights
• santa claus
• never tell lies even if it hurts people
• assume the worst from people
• everyone has a destiny and purpose
• there is no meaning to life
• etc

[Geddy2112]

Second the above advice, as for my 2 coppers:

Being a cleric of knowledge with above average intelligence and wisdom likely makes him an academic, or somebody who would be at home in an academic setting. The character likely has little experience interacting with large groups and if they had to present to a group, it would be like minded academics. Interactions at this level are a lot of technical debates, using logic and reason over charm and moxie. Their charisma is not incredibly low either, just slightly below average, enough to blend in as an average person, maybe a little soft spoken, meek, reserved, but certainly not an oblivious callous oaf.

I think playing most of the tropes that come with being a nerd who worships the super nerd of the pantheon cleric of a knowledge deity will solve out your stats perfectly fine.

[Shalist]

I'll 2nd the wallflower bit; their intelligence means they may still have above-average social skills, but they're more comfortable in situations that don't require them.

I also associate low charisma with being less ambitious / passionate / self-driven. That is, more likely to be a follower (or passive unless reacting to events) than a leader (or someone who's often driving events).

Not that 9 is particularly low, mind you. Someone who's reasonably content with where they're currently at, merely needing a bit more of a nudge to venture outside their comfort zone.

[gkathellar]

Ravens_cry gives good advice, so I’ll just wax philosophic a bit.

This depends on how you want to interpret Charisma, and to some degree the other mental stats. These days, the common view of Charisma is that it describes, “force of personality.” Tthere are some issues with this model when you examine it too closely, but it’s coherent enough for most intents and purposes. In this view, a character with low Charisma lacks that special oomph that allows them to get people interested in their opinion, perhaps because they’re too shy or too inwardly focused to make the effort, or they come across as untrustworthy or unlikable or distant, or they put their doubts and uncertainties in full display. There are many ways to play a low Charisma, because all it really tells you is, “this person has a harder time getting people to care about than is the norm.” The question you have to address is what that looks like.

[oudeis]

Low charisma does not inherently equate to meek or mild; it means the person is uncharismatic, i.e., unable to convince or compel cooperation or belief by their personality. D&D orcs and half-orcs have charisma penalties. Do you honestly think they are a bunch of mumbling shoe-gazers? Their problem isn't diffidence, it's belligerence. Low-charisma people can be mean, cold, unfeeling, aggressive, abusive, smug, arrogant, carping, angry, self-pitying, ungenerous, or any one of the long list of off-putting negative behaviors you could name. I can think of a whole list of people I've met who made their way into my bad books and very few of them did so because I found them too self-effacing.

[AceOfFools]

There's the "Durkon-like" option of being aware of social cues but just not that assertive.

There's the "I am very smart" smug, arrogant prat option, who flaunts knowledge and insight so much that even their friends kinda wants to punch them in the face.

There's the "Varsusivus-like" option of holding a sufficiently high opinion of yourself that your simply apathetic about people or their opinions right up until the moment their behavior starts impacting your goals, and even then struggle with people who have emotional responses that don't match your own.

There's the "if you actually pay attention to what he says, and ignore all the collaqualisms that make them seem way dumber than they are" option. Imagine a doctor of nuclear physicist talking either like a valley girl or a dudebro. You wouldn't take them seriously no matter how smart they are. (Aside, when I was getting my PhD, we actually spent time on maintaining an academic tone--particularly in publishing papers--specifically to avoid this problem).

[Darth Ultron]

For role play the stat numbers do not have much meaning. It's not like X ability means X or anything like that. Strength is really the only one that can be numbered, and really that is only for pure lifting. You can say a character that can lift 100 pounds is stronger then one that can lift 50 pounds....but, it is still vague. A runner or swimmer can have a very high strength, but still not be able to 'lift' much.

Also 9 is not ''low'', it is average....so you can ''play" that charisma as just any normal person.

In any case, you really just want to make a personality for your character, separate from the ability stats. The vast majority of the way you role play a character has nothing to do with the ability stats.

Like for example, take a character that ''always acts as if they know everything". To act that way can be any intelligence from 6 to 18. Anyone of most any intelligence can act that way. Though, sure, when it comes down to something real(and more so in the rules) that character might show their ''true self" . The ''know it all" of a Int 8, will likely fail a hard check...and be revealed as ''not knowing it all", but the Int 18 character will.

[House Greyjoy]

Jumping on the "9 is average" bandwagon. There's no need to try and shoehorn a social weakness that you don't want to play. If you're looking for an excuse to be less than charismatic, go with that you always think you're right (reflecting high Int/Wis), and you're not afraid to let others know it.

[denthor]

He a has a bald spot very young.
His nose is dripping.
Got an out of place tattoo when he was younger.
Slight stutter.
Teeth are not straight.
Little shorter then average
Talks with an accent from a district not well liked.


Any of the above can be used for a one point variant.

[Mordar]

To be perfectly honest, when I saw the thread title my first thought was "Look at most of the gamers around you. They are likely higher than normal Int and most will be of average Cha. Use what you see, just don't choose the mouth-breather-est or the most engaging person you see."

Average charisma, so average social power. They won't be hideous or beautiful, won't be the funniest or most off-putting guy in the room, won't be the one shunned or the one everyone flocks to see.

- M

[Jay R]

His social skills start out 20% less effective than his mental skills. So he probably hasn't worked on them. He is the clever, perceptive character who is quietly in the background listening and forming plans when the others are talking.