I've put together a new warpriest and done my most radical stat dumping to date. Not only does the poor guy worship Pazuzu, he has an Int and Cha of 7.
I'm trying to figure out what's the best way to RP such a character. My initial thought is that even if I, the player, have a good idea about how to deal with a situation and/or interact with a NPC, I should just bit my tongue because my PC wouldn't be likely to come up with many clever plans or eloquent speeches.
I'm curious how others RP characters with such low mental stats. To what degree is it OK to play stupid, or at least not play smart, or is that just another way to annoy the other players at the table?
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My basic rule is that when it starts getting annoying for anyone (yourself included), it is better to reduce the RP part.
That said, various GMs have highly differing opinions of what should be done to properly roleplay such a character, so check with your GM first.
At my table, whatever is fun for everybody goes and I think the penalties defined by the RAW are enough already
We had some lengthy discussion about playing low Cha lately, and there were different takes on it. Being rather quiet is one option, being awkward is another.
I'd play low Int as: The PC is easily overwhelmed with complex plans and forgets most things fast. Accordingly, he doesn't believe in patience and learning - maybe he admires the smart wizard (maybe not), but he doesn't consider reading a book an option for himself. He might still come up with a straight-forward (but good) idea that the rest of the party overlooks.
Now the warpriest still has significant Wis, so he has some intuitive understanding of people, animals and the environment. He might easily notice an NPC is a liar, but can't figure out why they lie. Also he might see someone watching the party carefully, but mistake it as not relevant - and forget about it.
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One way to play the 7 INT is to filter everything through what you know. Anything outside what you know is stupid and you ignore it. Since you are a warpriest you should probably focus on your religion. Everything you do should have a religious justification or you don’t do it. Since your deity is chaotic evil and you have a low INT many of your religious reason may be inconsistent and even bizarre but find something. You may be making up religious justification or completely misinterpreting what your religion says but you still stick with it.
For the low CHA play your character as arrogant and pushy. If people agree with you they are smart and wise. If not they are dumb and ignorant. Be outspoken on your religion and bring it up all the time. Everything resolves around your religion even thing that really have nothing to do with it. When someone brings up something that does not fit into your religious justification bring the conversation back to your religion.
The character would be a bit like an animal.
Here is what I would ask first: Why do you want to play the village idiot? Is there a real RP reason for it, or are you just trying to get a mechanical advantage for those low stats?
Now, I am an unapologetic Min/Maxer, but the concept of the character should be first and foremost, what is the concept? How do the attributes pull into the concept?
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With a character like that, you could always try the Looney Toons "Lenny Small" schtick.
The character would be a bit like an animal.
Thanks for all the thoughts and the questions.
I plead guilty to wanting a 19 Dex and 14s in Str, Con and Wis for an archer warpriest, something I've never done.
That said, I'm seeing him as a "rebel without a clue" from Cheliax and with paladins for parents. This is for PFS, so he's CN rather than CE, and I'm not sure how much he really understands that demons are evil. He mainly thinks they're cool, and that worshiping one which annoys his parents and the Thrune regime is doubly cool.
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Don't let your character's limitations limit your own fun though. Just because your character isn't smart, doesn't mean that you the player must act so. You should still participate in out of character conversations and the such as normal, but you can just give the credit for your good ideas to the other characters instead of your own. This is a social and cooperative game after all, and you, the player, shouldn't be removed from such elements just because of some numbers on your character sheet.
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I sort of like the "see into the truth of things" (high Wis), but can't ever express that to others the way it sounds in his head (low Int and Cha).
Maybe speak slowly and deliberately, and running everything through the religion filter makes sense, as that is likely how such a character would view and understand the world.
As your are CN and worship ol' Paz, maybe be easily distracted by interesting or shiny things, carry a small hoard of "holy baubles", maybe even act a bit bird like (again, ol' Paz is DEEP in your brain...er soul, yeah, that sounds better ;P )
But really, do what is fun, and as long as it is does not violate "don't be a jerk" let the weird crazy and a bit dim flow!
Sounds like a blast actually.
Are you familiar with the show Boy Meets World. Probably higher charisma, but dumb and wise defines Eric from it
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Even worse for a follower of Pazuzu, a demon lord might be recognizable enough and it's a big worry. It's not like the Green Mother whose religious signs may be less obvious and is NE which is a little less worrisome.
He's a total Pazuzu fanboy, so everyone knows his affiliation. In fact, I think this is one thing that contributes to his low Cha. Other people get sick of listening to him go on and on about the coolness of Pazuzu.
FWIW as a player, I don't subscribe to the idea that CE is "worse" than NE or LE. They're all evil. All the evil outsiders want to do terrible, terrible things to us. I think Asmodeus's control of Cheliax is in some ways worse than the Worldwound, because Asmodeus has humans voluntarily doing his bidding.
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Considering you are worshiping a Demon Lord, you might be interested in a Recondite Holy Symbol. This is an obscure holy symbol which requires a DC15 religion check to identify (so people need to be trained in that skill to know about it). This allows you to roleplay the character without sudden "hey, it's a Demon Worshipper!" reactions if you get an overzealous GM. You can also implement the symbol into your backstory, seeing as your character is not really smart and might not know what worshiping Pazuzu might actually entail.
Also, if your character thinks Pazuzu is cool (not evil, just cool), he might also know about the Empyreal Lord Ylimancha. This Goddess is regularly at war with Pazuzu over the "flying creatures" part of their areas of concern. He could treat worshipers of that deity as the rival frat club or something. Or constantly trying to figure out whose side the birds are on between the two deities, and trying to convert them.
For inspiration, watch The Hound from Game of Thrones.
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I would play the CHA 7 INT 7 character as someone who is pretty sheepish and really gullible. Not actually "Thog am good smasher" just someone who is inclined to follow more or less any idea offered without much ability to discern between the good ones and the bad ones, who is not quick to offer their own ideas.
Not quite, low charisma could be sheepish though it could also represent a lack of drive or leadership could also be poor interpersonal relations/habits. However, low intelligence doesn't mean gullible. The character would be wise, especially as a Warpriest. So they do not need to make poor decisions based on others suggestions (at least without failing a wis roll or a sense motive check). Low int just means dumb, unlearned, or overly focused like a savant.
One of my favorite characters was a wise but idiot Ninja by the name of Phriggle. He was a special lad, but was quite keen on knowing when someone was lying to him or trying to get him to act against his own self interest. He could open doors and disarm traps like nobodies business but had a hard time tying his own shoes. He's probably my all time favorite PC just due to the fun of playing him. Low stats can lead to awesome characters if you know how to play them. Though two low mental stats is really tough, one can be made up by the others but lacking two makes it hard to not suffer in a social context.
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Assuming a high wisdom, and points in perception and sense motive, your character could be like Columbo pretends to be. He knows something is wrong, or important, but can't quite get to why.
LOL nice Daw!
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http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/ability-scores/
Str 14: "Visibly toned, throws small objects for long distances"
Dex 19: "Light on feet, able to often hit small moving targets at a distance"
Con 14: "Able to labor for twelve hours most days"
Int 7: "Dull-witted or slow, often misuses and mispronounces words"
Wis 14: "Can get hunches about a situation that doesn’t feel right"
Cha 7: "Uninteresting, rude, boorish, and generally unpleasant to be around"
Pazuzu: "Unlike most other demon lords who work their evil on the world through cultists and demonic minions, Pazuzu is fond of taking direct action on the Material Plane. His favoured method of influencing the mortal world is through possession. It is said that just saying Pazuzu's name is enough to invite the demon lord's unfriendly attention. Through possession, Pazuzu has shaped many terrible events in the world, from huge calamities, like the formation of the Worldwound, to more minor atrocities, such as the recent Chopper murders in the Varisian town of Sandpoint...."
"...Pazuzu has declared himself the King of Wind Demons and patron of all that is evil and flies. While this is a grandiose claim, it is far from unfounded arrogance. Pazuzu is worshiped by a wide variety of evil flying creatures, his most fervent followers are the vrock demons, harpies, and the kuchrima lamia[2]—though these also pay worship to the demon lord Nocticula. While he has no specific doctrine or edict for his followers, Pazuzu's cults are nonetheless present across the world, if only in the shadows. Pazuzu is in constant conflict with the more popular, full-fledged demon goddess Lamashtu. This feud has been going on for eons, since before Lamashtu's ascension to godhood when she was just another demon lord. Pazuzu also covets Lamashtu's position as goddess of beasts and desperately wishes to usurp her dominion over them"
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My advice? You are visible toned, and nimble. You don't have any sort of formal education, nor are you interested in one. You aren't very imaginative, don't remember details very well, and aren't familiar with most big words. You are also fairly uncharismatic, given that you are a priest of a demon lord.
Take the Fate's Favored trait, of course. When you cast divine favor, do so by calling out Pazuzu's name. For the duration of the spell, play out being possessed by the demon lord.
However...it isn't fun to play someone who can't do *anything* face related. So also take...Cunning Liar.
http://www.archivesofnethys.com/TraitDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Cunning%20Liar
This lets you use Wisdom for Bluff checks. So if you do need to talk to someone, you can lie your way out of the situation.
You could even play a character who is a serial liar. Whose instinct is to always lie, even when telling the truth would be better. Could be pretty interesting to RP.
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Intelligence is the ability to know if something is possible, and judge probabilities (as well as just knowing things.) With a 7 Int, your character should be attempting checks that have near-impossible DCs, just because you don't know any better.
Add that to 7 Cha, and you will also be attempting to make social checks, totally oblivious to how bad your reasoning is, and how boorish you come across.
Wisdom, on the other hand, is knowing how important things are. You are a man of faith with a well-defined philosophy. So, you aren't going to be distracted by shiny toys or yummy cake, because you know your life mission and you are steadfast in your resolve to achieve it. You will just try to go about things in a completely unrealistic way.
IMO, it doesn't really matter if you're CHA 7 INT 7 , just play the character how you want. Mechanical benefits or drawbacks will encourage you to play it correctly because you're not going to be the guy passing knowledge checks or successfully convincing many people of things. Remember: Nat 20s aren't successes.
Play the character how you imagine it, and that's it. Anyone who tells you "you can't do that! Your CHA is too low!" is either talking about something specific (your ability to learn a Cha-based skill) or is adding rules to the game that don't exist.
There is a myth of Character Player separation that really adds an entire layer of rules that not only don't exist, but just enforce awkward unintentional baggage.
What's more; you can totally be a Cha7 player with 23 ranks in Diplomacy and who's going to tell you that your 23 ranks don't mean that you're good at it? The same people who tell you how to act based on your stats.
Long story short: Play how you want to play the character, and ignore everyone who tells you otherwise. The game will attempt to make you play the character correctly via the mechanics. If it can't do it with the mechanics that's a failing of an RP system, not the player.
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Additionally, IMO being able to dictate the stat by the approach of the character (as in, Strength sometimes being a stand in for Cha during Intimidate checks) it'll allow a muscle head or a cocky dagger-flipping guy to embrace their good stat in other situations, really reducing their other stat by playing around that it's bad.
Some could argue that this makes Cha even more of a dump stat; but it means that you could potentially use Cha in cases where you shouldn't be able to as well. Example: Sense Motive could rely on your extensive social background; Escape artist (against someone who you can speak to) could be that you give them some kind of distraction with your quick wit.
However...it isn't fun to play someone who can't do *anything* face related. So also take...Cunning Liar.
http://www.archivesofnethys.com/TraitDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Cunning%20Liar
This lets you use Wisdom for Bluff checks. So if you do need to talk to someone, you can lie your way out of the situation.
You could even play a character who is a serial liar. Whose instinct is to always lie, even when telling the truth would be better. Could be pretty interesting to RP.
I like the idea of being a serial liar. I'm even tempted to go one step further. He believes his own lies but generally tells them so badly that no one else does, sort of like Jon Lovitz's SNL character.
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