So, you have your character… some extremely talented wizard with maxed-out Intelligence.   18 or 19 is pretty high, right?  And their name is… Grandalf (true story).  You’re boppin along with your merry band of fellow adventurers when you come across a puzzle inside a dungeon.  The gamemaster must have put a lot of effort into this thing because this puzzle looks particularly puzzling.  Hieroglyphs, numbers, and weird color patterns.  It’s not a trap, it’s a puzzle, and nobody can figure it out.  Not even you, and you’re the smartest gamer you know.

The gamemaster looks at you and says, “You know, any wizard of even a 16 Intelligence can figure this out.  If you as a player can’t do that, I’m going to have to lower your character’s Intelligence, or reward you with less experience this session.  Perhaps you should play some other character, one that isn’t supposed to be so smart?  Because you’re just not really playing to your character’s ability score.“

“But-but-but… of course I’m not as intelligent as my character; they have a 19 Intelligence!  My character is practically Einstein.  I should get a roll to figure this out, or maybe a clue!

“Sorry, this is a roleplaying game.  Do you even know what that is?

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Gentle reader… if you find the above statement from the gamemaster to be true and fair, then this article is not for you.  If you find it ridiculous, then read on (because I have a further point to make).

So, you find it ridiculous.  Great!  Now let me flip it…

Bob is playing Gronk, a 7 Intelligence fighter.  Bob says, “I know, it’s a simple picto-puzzle.  Just turn the hieroglyphs until they match the color patterns on this side.  See?”

—

I have heard of many gamemasters turning to Bob and saying something like, “Sorry, Bob, your character is too dumb to figure something like this out.  You should play dumb.”  I may have even done this decades ago, when I first started playing.

Do you see my point?  It’s ridiculous to penalize a player because they can’t play as smart as their character actually is, so why should we penalize a player for not playing as dumb as their character seems on paper?

How intelligent is a high Intelligence?  The difference between 10 and 19 is 9.  That’s a big difference, but nobody ever berates a player for not playing like Einstein.  How dumb is low Intelligence?  The difference between 7 and 10 is a mere 3 points, but people are so quick to jump on such a player for devising a plan, or solving a puzzle.

At what point is a dumb fighter with a 7 Intelligence allowed to solve a puzzle without condemnation? Do they need an 8 in Intelligence?  or a 9?  Does it have to be a baseline 10, where there are no penalties to rolls?

On most character sheets, abilities typically provide modifiers that specifically affect ability rolls, skill rolls, and saving throws.  The intelligent wizard tries to solve the puzzle and gets a bonus, while the not-so-intelligent fighter probably gets a penalty.  That’s it.  That’s all you need.  Roleplay it however you want, but the roll is the mechanical effect only if needed.  Our characters don’t gain experience on how well we interpret what a 12 Wisdom means, they gain experience from overcoming challenges and progressing the story.

Bob may play a 7 Intelligence fighter who is bad at math, or just can’t read.  Kelly may play a 7 Intelligence fighter who is simply a bit forgetful.  However, Mike may play a 7 Intelligence fighter just like himself… a normal dude who can’t seem to think straight when under pressure (taking the penalty of -2 on Intelligence-related rolls).

It just isn’t necessary to judge anyone on how “well” they play to their character’s mental stats, as everyone has their own interpretations… for their character.

So no, you’re not roleplaying wrong; there’s practically no wrong way in this regard.

Nobody goes to the table because they want to be judged on how well they roleplay their character’s ability scores; we go to the table for a shared and enjoyable gaming experience.  Don’t try to change others; just continue to improve your own game and you’ll simply continue to have more and more fun.

I know what you’re thinking, “what a dick.”

The PCs were tasked with escorting a rich historian and his bodyguard into a known dungeon.  Every decade or so the dungeon gets infested with new simple monsters and every so often it gets cleared out.  This particular historian wanted to walk around the dungeon and map it out, but he needed a group or mercs/adventurers to clear it .  Really, though, he was looking for an imprisoned wizard and the wizard’s MacGuffin artifact, but that’s beside the point.

As the PCs go from room to room, level to level, the historian’s bodyguard (Helen) only occasionally helps out in the fights–she’s there to protect the historian, after all.  However, she’s helped out occasionally, and she has always fought as a rogue/fighter type, and quite capable (at least on par with the PCs).

Anyway, this dungeon crawl has taken up about eight gaming sessions, and I’ve always played up Helen as sometimes helpful, and sometimes a little short with everyone.  One PC in particular (Shastina’s rogue) took the bait and ran with it.  The two began a little bit of a rivalry, and Shastina never quite knew what to make of this secretive bodyguard.

Then, about halfway through the dungeon crawl, Shastina’s daughter came into town and sat at our gaming table for one session.  I let he play Helen because that seemed like the best fit, and boy was it!  Shastina and her daughter played the rivalry of these two characters to the extreme, throwing insults (in character) and always trying to one-up each other with combat moves against monsters.  It was fantastic.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and the whole dungeon crawl climaxed with the entire PC group fighting a suddenly more powerful and evil Helen (like I always planned).  It was awesome.  I knew this fight was coming, and the players may have suspected a little bit, so it was a good culmination.  What made it even better was when Helen specifically went after Shastina’s character…

Sure, the big bad evil girl is fighting a bunch of PCs, and many DMs might spread the attacks around so not too much damage is done to a single character, but Helen focused on Shastina’s rogue and took her down after two rounds.  Someone then healed Shastina’s rogue, but then Helen took her down again, and with several attacks per round, she ended up killing her outright.  With her last attack, she sliced the head right off and lifted it high.  It was GLORIOUS.

I know what you’re thinking, “what a dick.”

But, I am not normally one to kill player characters.  This was the first death in six months, and it honestly felt great.  Now, I can say that because everyone at the table knows I’m not there to kill PCs, and they prefer to let the chips fall as they may.  This fight didn’t have to start at this time; the PCs could have waited and gotten stronger, but they pushed for it.  They knew I would not be pulling any punches, and everyone was satisfied with how it played out.

So, don’t be afraid to kill PCs, especially if they’re ready for it.  What I mean is, let the story progress naturally, and don’t be afraid to let your inner demon come out–your story just may get that much richer.