RPing low str or dex or Con seems fairly straight up..
I've recently made a test character though with both low str and dex though but with a relatively high Con and all 3 mental stats fairly high. I'm stuck though on how to effectively Rp being weak and clumsy yet completely- if not abnormally- healthy. (14 con).
RPing low strength is a simple matter of.. well.. being weak. He's a gnome with a 7 strength so its not like he'll be lifting any great weights- in fact he can only carry his normal gear with the Ant Haul spell (his mount carries most of it, actually, the Ant Haul spell is a back-up).
Rping low Dex is a matter of being clumsy for the most part. It helps that he has the lame curse as an oracle- so he'll also be extremely slow. (20 for being small, -5 for being Lame). I've purposefully Not taken any feats or traits to boost his initiative, or magical items to boost his speed as that just seems like a cheesy way to get around taking a low dex. One of the mysteries already gives him his Cha to Ref saves and AC instead of Dex.
Rp wise- the part I can't get my mind around is being both weak and clumsy yet.. healthy. Do I just hand-waive the healthy part and "ignore" it when I'm RPing? Most Pc's don't RP their Con anyway unless they are extremely frail. and there aren't many low-con PC's running around. At least not past level 1 or 2.
So.. Thoughts?
And if your thought is "its cheesy dumping str and dex" please- keep it to yourself. The character is a thought experiment I've been contemplating, i've just run aground in the RP aspect of it.
-S
The best way i can answer this is to do a brief characterization
Drugo is a student he has never been athletic, in fact he is fairly tubby, and does not enjoy running and climbing let alone jumping or swimming . He is also somewhat clumsy droping his books and such more often than most however he likes nothing more than reading into the early hours of the morning seldom seeming to need more than a few hours rest each night.
Fat, but does cardio.
Humbly,
Yawar
Con is basically your endurance. Here's one, think of a Sumo Wrestler (I know, strong, but work with me here). They are not what one would think of as healthy or dextrous with those builds, but they are. The build is not entirely the reason for high con.
A weak/clumsy person who is otherwise healthy could just be someone who's lazy and inherently clumsy, but has exceptional genes otherwise. So, play him like that. He may not be strong or dextrous, but he doesn't get tired easily either (think of a professional programmer, most of us are not strong or dextrous, but god can we program for 35 hours straight).
A different option would be to play him as having a nerve disorder. This accounts for the clumsiness and the lack of strength (a person close to me has this exact disorder, and it makes them clumsy and affects their strength).
The books aren't heavy but he does a lot of reps :D
Umm, think skinny nerd who never gets sick.
He can take abuse and recovers fairly quickly but he can't put up much of a fight because most of the time he can't hit his opponent and even if he did manage to land a hit, it wouldn't hurt much.
He's the kind of guy who gets pushed around and all he can do is take it so that's what he does.
Just an example of high con with low str/dex.
I didn't include mental stats in that description.
Being an old-school "Wizards should be like Raistlin" type of guy, I've never been fond of the high-Con 3E builds, which probably goes double for gnomes. But having said that, it's not too hard to find a justification for it. Considering that your Wisdom ain't too shabby either, you can just jot it down to a copious amount of willpower. He just won't give up. Doesn't even need to be very "fit" for that, it's just a simple case of mind over matter.
Or take a hint from the Discworld, where wizards etc. are the best runners anyway, both long and short distance. Real-life marathon guys most of the time aren't muscly beasts, and it doesn't require undue amounts of coordination, either.
You could have him be like peppy and energetic but careless and clumsy. Low strength could be easily roleplayed with small size.
I got the image of a cheerful gnome hobbling around in a study.
-Now where's that book I need.
*hobbles over to the bookshelf*
-There it is, third shelf.
*reaches up with his cane and wiggles the book out*
The big book comes down on his head bringing with it some other books and papers flying around.
-Ouch. *rubs his head, then wraps his belt around the book to get a good grip*
The gnome drags the book to the table and wrestles it up on it with hands and shoulders, some other stuff falls off the other side of the table clattering.
-There. *climbs on the chair to notice that the table is too high for him to read from the normal sized chair*
The gnome gives a quiet sigh and hobbles off to find a cart to move over a taller chair. Stack of books, a lamp and a pot flower topple over as the gnome pulls a cart out from the closet and heads off to find a taller chair.
So basically he is always on the move, energetic. Doesn't mind little setbacks but rolls up his sleeves and gets going.
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Professor X, during the wheel chair days, was about as weak as you can get but healthy as a horse. Few heroes are clumsy. They're not truly tied; while in real life a good diet and workout regime = good health (so Str and Con are semi-tied), you can be weak and clumsy but never get sick (as many vegans are... Their diet is low in cals/high in nutrients, but they don't really take the time or calories needed to build muscle or balance).
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Being an old-school "Wizards should be like Raistlin" type of guy, I've never been fond of the high-Con 3E builds,
Silence, you simpering twit, i'm perf*cough*ectly *gasp* healthy! *cough*cough*hack* I have all the constitution in the world. *wheeze* Caramon, you oaf, stop your blathering and get my tea.
Thanks for the input guys.
The actual "playable" version of him has a 12 str, but since I was fiddling around with it I also made a version with 7 str and dex just for grins and it got me thinking about how one would RP someone with that low a pair of physical scores yet was still extremely healthy.
I rather like the Geek/programmer example.. it tends to fit the character build mechanically. (lore/lame oracle so knowledges and languares are through the roof).
Again, thanks for the input.
-S
Mr. Fishy likes this idea similar to the geek programer.
Drinks coffee and blinks owlishly, complains of insominia and shakes uncontrollably. Shaking=Low dex. High con his heart hasn't exploded.
Muscle wasting disease could account for the low strength. The disease was beaten but the damage was permanent.