I've heard this idea crop up from time to time in the community. But rather than throw up my hands and decide it's impossible to RP a dude with INT 20+, I'd like to brainstorm a few ways to convincingly play an egg-head.
So the question for the board: How do you convincingly portray a very smart character?
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Hmm... That's a very good question. So is with a character than is wiser and/or more charismatic than yourself. Something a GM might have to deal with quite often.
For myself, I don't see Intelligence as a measure of being 'smart'. I simply treat it as a capacity for learning. Wisdom basically boils down to having common sense (or instinct) on matters. And Charisma is simply the ability for a character to impose their presence (ie, taking control on the conversation, leader rather than follower, etc). These are very vague and loose terminology, so don't go making assumptions about the definitions being universally applied in all circumstances.
So, playing a character than has a (assumed) higher intelligence than myself, I simply let the character tap more into my player knowledge (ie, potential meta-game/fourth wall breaking) in small parts, enough to let them grasp at things they have no real right to know but might be able to piece together and form connections based on their own reasoning skill. In actual roleplay... I don't think having a higher intelligence really matters one way or another. Smart people do a lot of stupid stuff all the time.
So, playing a character than has a (assumed) higher intelligence than myself, I simply let the character tap more into my player knowledge (ie, potential meta-game/fourth wall breaking) in small parts, enough to let them grasp at things they have no real right to know but might be able to piece together and form connections based on their own reasoning skill.
Ooh... I dig it!
I remember coming into a group halfway through the adventure once upon a time. They were looking for some macguffin or other, but had come up empty on the Perception checks.
There were "strangely lifelike statues" in one of the rooms. So my INT-based character drew the logical conclusion. We de-petrified the flesh-to-stone victim and got the maguffin out of his pocket. Easy peasy.
Is that the kind of meta-knowledge you're describing? It was the "strangely lifelike" bit that clued me in, and honing in on that was more about the player than the characters.
Is that the kind of meta-knowledge you're describing? It was the "strangely lifelike" bit that clued me in, and honing in on that was more about the player than the characters.
Pretty much spot on, actually. As a GM, I often slip little clues to players that control characters that have high intelligence and wisdom scores, because their characters would just pic up on things a bit easier than those without the same scores.
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I usually find that planning things out ahead of time and acting like it's off the cuff helps convey the illusion of great, intelligence.
There's something to be said about playing up the character's weaknesses, too. One of our characters from a while back had Int17 and Cha6. He would regularly deliver facts in an incredibly insensitive and calloused manner, "I predict this endeavor will result in no more than two casualties on our side. You have a 60% chance of being one of those two. Deviation from your normal, erm, 'tactical decisions' could possibly lower that percentage to as low as 30%."
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An interesting conundrum, I don't think it's ever come up.
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Seriously though, I think the main thing is "Don't neglect your knowledge skills". If your character is getting useful knowledge it doesn't matter who makes a plan out of it, you still provided the catalyst for the plan.
Another thing I've thought about for this kind of thing is attributing most smart ideas at the table to the smarter characters. If I come up with a goid plan, rather than having my 7 INT Paladin break it down for everyone I'll tell the other PLAYERS and then have the smartest CHARACTER be the one who thinks it up in-game.
I've never really done this in practice because I usually play INT-based characters (so it'd seem kinda self-serving), but I think it can help the feel of the game.
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Having a character that has higher mental stats than the player is pretty common. What I do it to cut the player some slack when dealing with situations covered by the higher stat.
For Characters with a high INT I will generally give them more time to think things through. Typically a higher INT means a person can think fast on their feet. I also allow them more leeway when planning things out. For example the high INT character would be allowed to count out the squares to figure the best place to center a spell.
For a high WIS character I will often point out things that the player may have missed or discounted. Another thing I will do is to ask the player if they really want to do something that looks likely to blow up in their face. WIS requires less intervention than INT because the skills perception and sense motive often cover this. Often the best way to give the player a break is to call for the player to make one of those skills.
Since CHA only comes into play while dealing with other characters it usually requires the least amount of GM intervention. Giving the character more time to think of how they are going to phrase what they say is an easy way to cut the lower CHA player some slack. Occasionally I may allow the player to rephrase how they say something if it did not come out the way they intended.
I once read an article that suggested the player's response was timed. A character with high intelligence would be given longer to consider and could revise their statement after it had left their lips, perhaps even getting feedback off of the GM before committing to an action. A low int character had to respond quickly and had to do the first thing the player said.
With Charisma, I ask the player what they intend to say or do and judge how they are received based on what was intended and the character's charisma.
With Wisdom being characterised as perception and common sense in the game, that really is about dropping hints to the player based on their wisdom score and may possibly include advice to take back dumb statements before they are taken as having happened.
As a GM, I often give intelligent characters intelligence rolls if they're about to do something ill advised. It works out quite well, actually.
Latest example was a wizard trying to cast a cold spell on an undead who was obviously cold resistant.
How do you convincingly portray a very smart character?
In general:
Gets excited over academic details, like a previously unknown dialect of a language few people actually speak.
Uses unnecessary refined wording.
Refuses to execute a solution once it's known, because it's trivial in comparison to finding the solution. So someone else would have to open the left door once it has been figured out it's more promising than the right door. Beware that this one can get toxic when the smart*** blocks the adventure flow with refusing doing things only he can do.
Sees connections nobody else would consider, like "Ah, this puzzle of three switches was obviously inspired by the third, fourth and sixth revolution in Galt".
When combined with low Wis:
Doesn't get that not everyone cares for his special interests. Still doesn't get it after months / years of knowing each other.
Recommends education and mental exercises to creatures who clearly have short-term problems they need to settle urgently (like hunger or being poisoned).
Doesn't see the simple, straight-forward solution, instead makes up something complicated.
Is puzzled that nobody else came to the same "obvious" conclusion as him.
Speaks extra slow, but still complicated with creatures he considers dumb.
Personally I think the combination with low Wis is more interesting RP, and the success of the Big Bang Theory show seems to support that.
As a GM, I often give intelligent characters intelligence rolls if they're about to do something ill advised. It works out quite well, actually.
Latest example was a wizard trying to cast a cold spell on an undead who was obviously cold resistant.
I appreciate the roll here. Very often I just throw in a "you would know not to do that" and let 'em retcon. But the roll specifically points out that it's the character's intelligence that acts as the saving grace.