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Old 06-15-2013, 09:31 PM   #1
dark acacia
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 263
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Roleplaying to stats?

Is it always a good idea to stick to your character's stats when roleplaying? I always thought so and have done my best to keep this policy, but over the years I've found that playing a character with deficiencies in certain stats don't always make characters endearing enough for others to want to associate with regularly. This isn't intended to be a criticism of people who ignore some or all of their stats, and I don't intend to say that one way is better than the other.

From what I've seen, the most common deterrent based on stat score seems to be when a character has an intelligence score at either the really smart or really dumb ends of that spectrum. Obviously the big dumb axe-for-brains orc "ME SMASH THINGS GOODLY" type is a little trite, but there are other ways of playing a character who isn't too bright. I recently played a character with a low wisdom and reasoning score by having the character require having new or complicated things explained two or three times. This often frustrated others, occasionally to the point of open hostility, and once it was established that the character was the village idiot, the character slowly became a pariah.

Charisma seems to be the other stat which gets overlooked by some for the sake of getting along, or which a low charisma turns people off. Now, to be sure, a low charisma score is supposed to make a character less likeable (and in some games, a low or negative score will make NPCs attack). In a roleplay-enforced game, however, where interaction between players is key, is it at all wise to stick to roleplaying with a low charisma score? On one hand, a player may want to choose to play to stats, but on the other, being left out in the cold all the time while others are involved in the game's drama is no fun.

Strength, dexterity, and constitution are the common stats which usually do not seem to have any effect on roleplay if someone chooses to play to stats.
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