How to roleplay a low Intelligence score // D&D #shorts

There are lots of ways to play a character with a low Intelligence score! Here are some of them. #Shorts

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[adamnaameeazim]

My cousin very recently played his first D&D character, a low-int barbarian. But instead of the typical "uhhh me not know words" he played a character who had decent wisdom but just wasn't very well educated. He also had never seen any animals that weren't goats, so he just assumed that everything else was a goat.

Snake? Long skinny goat. Horse? Tall, buff goat. Dragonborn? Fur-less goat lady that walks on two legs. Historically accurate T-Rex? Giant feathery goat.

[EMbrokehp]

Dice: "Here's an 18 for your Strength, a 16 for your Charisma, and a 3 for your Intelligence."
Himbo lovers: "My time has come."

[terak]

The old meme:
Strength is being able to crush a tomato in your hand.
Dexterity is being able to dodge a tomato thrown at you.
Constitution is being able to eat a bad tomato and not get sick.
Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is knowing not to put a tomato in a fruit salad.
Charisma is successfully selling a tomato-based fruit salad.

And yes, technically that last one could just be called salsa.

[justingibbons]

I have a low intelligence dragonborn ranger, my way of showing it is that even though he's the navigator, he only remembers 'it's this way then that way' never remembering town/road names and often mistaking his left and rights.

[evildumdum]

Me and my partner played a pair of (married) goblins that both had int 6. We played it as having no idea that we were being given quests. Every time we went to a dungeon we were convinced the party and lovely quest givers were helping us find a potential home to settle down and start an infestation together (we made sure there was always an issue, but we were SURE that next time would be the one). The DM was wanting a serious campaign and was despairing as we waddled through the dungeon as if we were on a real estate tour.

[darkness_visible]

I love playing a low INT character. I have a tendency to over-analyse things so it's real helpful for me to have an IC reminder to disengage.
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The way I see it, INT isn't just a measure of how smart your character is. It also takes into account things such as their education and their memory.

Your character may actually be relatively smart - if they have a high WIS score they may actually have quite a quick mind - but they might not have had the benefit of an education. Slum dwellers, farmers, outcasts etc. They may, as you say, struggle with fancier words or metaphors. It might take them a second of counting on their fingers to work out how much a round of drinks cost. They may need to mutter under their breath while following each word with their finger when reading.

They may well not be a problem solver...or they could be an avid investigator, just a bad one. They may be keen to get involved in solving puzzles but get locked on to specific (often wrong) ideas and be unable or unwilling to think outside the box once they get locked on to something. They might be the sort of person who spends 30 minutes hunting for the spare key to their contact's house, certain that is must be under one of those peculiar potted plants, without thinking to knock.

Or to remember that their friend said the door would be unlocked and they were to just make themselves at home. Their memory might be hazy, forgetting or misremembering names or details of a plan. A well-meaning innkeeper forgetting to pass on the wizard's letter to the halflings.

I also use the fact that Int is tired to the Knowledge skills to inform how much my character would just know about the world they are in. Obviously we have those skill checks to determine some things, but using a low Int score as a guideline is useful too. An uneducated commoner simply may not know much about the world outside their own little hamlet. An low Int noble may have a very poor idea of how much things are actually worth in the real world. You might not recognise the names of larger towns, of prominent figures or even the the more common monsters. They may assume bits of world history are fiction, if they know of it at all. Or they may assume folk-lore their nan told them is very real. If your character is faithful, as a recent one of mine was, they may Believe very strongly in their deity without actually knowing any of the official scripture or how He fits into the wider pantheon.

[Mac-qtuw]

My group has a particularly low intelligence character. We destroyed a lab and she stole a lab coat, which really didn't fit her. Kind of hulked out in it. But my character off-handed mentioned that it probably had an intelligence boosting effect (it didn't) so she thought she was suddenly smarter! Now she's always messing around with shit she shouldn't be because she's "Doing science!" 🤣

[AcurelyObtuse]

Was playing an orc paladin with an int of 5!. He was raised by his half orc paladin grandfather so he learned a lot of bigger words (because im loquacious). My DM and her bf told me about a convo they had about possibly forcing me to speak monosyllabic. They didnt, but it made me so mad that they thought about it!

He used big words in wrong ways, misunderstood other cultures' intentions, took people litterally including thinking an escort wanted him to stand near her when she said "I've never been with an orc before" responding with "but we're all together right now"

[Neutral_Tired]

Here's a fun idea, how to play an old character. Races like Elves and Firbolgs can live for hundreds of years, that's gotta have some effect on your behaviour

[krikorajemian]

A long time ago I briefly played a low Int character. The scene I remember most was the prince of the city explaining what he wanted me to do and I just said "Huh?" DM (as prince) let out an exasperated sigh and explained it again, slower and with smaller words. Totally reminded me of the "stay here and make sure he doesn't leave" scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[DnVTubers]

I play a low intelligence carefree bard and she walks directly into every single trap and my DM loves it because we get to see all the content she planned for us

[minaly]

My character has 9 int. He also happens to be a "Reborn", who's backstory mentioned having woke up in a coffin and actually doesn't need air to survive. So I've basically attributed his low int as having parts of his brain rotten, and lacking oxygen. He speaks intelligently and can use complex words, but here is where the 'quirk' kicks in: he suddenly stops mid-sentence and twitches like he has a seizure when he starts to sound too smart.

[Lumenai-]

My favorite character had low int. She was so precious. She was a tiefling that looked like a fawn, and true to the druid in her, she drank creek water. Because of her high con saves, she was always fine afterwards.

[vn]

I take cues from the skills related to the particular stat. There's alot of highly specialized knowledge under INT that requires study and memorization, things that are not related to common sense, survival, or socialization.

Intelligence as a stat refers to how well studied the individual is. How much they've retained from formal education and to what degree their education reached. One doesn't need to be well studied to hold a proper conversation... But it helps if the conversation turns into a discussion about a somewhat obscure literary work of a particularly accomplished bard a couple centuries ago.

[oakbridge]

The thing to remember about Int scores 9 and 8 is that they're just slightly below average. Statistically you had several classmates in school with these scores and you probably didn't find them dumb at all or even that slow. They just weren't the fastest learners or, for example, good at mental math or creative problem solving.

[Strix]

I had a half-elf ranger with an intelligence of 7 who really wanted everyone to think he was smart. He very frequently tried to use complicated words only to completely mangle them into malapropisms.

[casiealsept]

"I have an intelligence of 6, I think I know what I'm doing." -Grog

[Maninawig]

I love the "if you learn three things about something, you might forget some of them" and combining it with "you'd pick the simplest solution" to make the Master Planner!

That is, someone who makes a complex plan but forgetting key elements, like the enemies might be in their barracks.

[jetvulcan]

"Hello Bees" great shirt. love the advice especially the end find a balance that doesn't make you insufferable

[seanmcgcostumes]

Oh, I am SO looking forward to a low Charisma short! I love this little series, it's such a handy jumping off point.