Dump Stats and Roleplaying

[Sapphire]

Jan 17, 2015 6:02:38 GMT -5 Trollfiend said:

Jan 16, 2015 21:10:19 GMT -5 FlyingMidget said:

I once had a level 5 half-orc barbarian who could crit for 80. Strength alone isn't what decides your damage in this game. It's also about the weapon.

My barbarian could actually one hit the mummies in the bottom of the crypt in GG with his non-magical greataxe.

Actually I said NON CRITICAL hits ... So you using a greataxe gives x4 bonus ... thus a non critical hit in this example you give is only really 20 damage if you take away the crit hit bonus of the weapon...

[Charon's Claw]

Greataxe is X3. Additionally, getting 70-80 on a non crit at even a high level is quite farfetched.

Greataxe is 1d12 base, with a 1.5 str modifier addition. So, let's say someone has 40 strength (which is quite a bit), which gives a 22.5 str mod boost. Let's round up to 23 to be generous. Toss in a +5 enhancement, which is max here. Toss in improved (+10), toss in elemental damage (1d6, or 2d4 is weapon already has an element), as well as epic specialization (+6 when you include normal specialization's damage which stacks) which is only possible in epic levels.

That's 1d12 + 29 physical + 10 physical + 5 slashing +2d4 random element = a max of 59 damage pre critical, with an epic level. So I'm gonna have to call shenanigans.

[Sapphire]

Sorry Lich Bait I disagree with you there simply on the basis that my elf has not had the human contact or interaction with the common language throughout her 120 or so years and simply does her best to try communicate through speaking common if she must do so to talk to other races... What your saying in this respect is akin to what Hollywood film industry used to say back in the 50's. And all of Faerun is not common language usage, indeed there are many places where the human population factor is under 5% of the population in that region.

[Charon's Claw]

Precisely, you disagree with me there. ((You'll also notice I said in most instances, or you chose to ignore it but that's neither here nor there.)) Thus showing that not everyone will have the same standard of RP without actually getting to know the character in the background. Can you see how you seem out of line for expecting this of other people, when at least one person thinks otherwise about you? I'm not trying to ram my ideals down your throat, I would think that you could show others the same courtesy.

[Kiyohime 🐍]

Maybe that elf that speaks flawless common is 73837 years old and has had a lot of contact with different cultures other than his own.

Another advice:

Stop assuming things about other characters.

[Trollfiend]

Jan 17, 2015 7:27:21 GMT -5 Sapphire said:

Whilst I appreciate what most have responded here in this thread... The main thing I was drawing to was the misuse on an RP server to not even try to represent the character race specifics/traits... In that an half-orc talking fluently in English is not realistic in RP terms... My character for instance an Elf with an INT base score of 14 speaks broken English as she has until now not had much contact with humans and others races. She will say things like "human tongue nay good" use other words slightly out of context. Think of it this way if you were Polish in real life but came to live in England your speech would not be perfect English and added to that there would be a underlying Polish accent too. Again my elf when speaking common misuses words even stumbbles on them or even claims through her speech such as "ermmm... what right word be" and like uses words like "spoke" instead of what she means is "speak" as would a foreigner visiting another country.

Sure I have high RP standards, but someone playing a race other than human or maybe dwarf to be able to speak fluently in what is their effectively new 2nd language is a bit far fetched to say the least. And mostly my objection is to powergamers and metagamers that think they can play any race no matter that they only have an INT score of 6 or at best 8 and think they can RP as if that stat didn't matter or count for anything in their attempts to RP. Or even to hold a conversation with another character of a different race and converse so fluently in an adopted language.

According to Advanced 3rd Edition, you only need a 10 in Intelligence in order to have perfect speech in both regional and racial.

This means that according to the rule book, a half-orc with 10 intelligence can speak perfect Common and Orcish. That's the rules. You don't have to like it, but it is true. Now that being said, an orc could still have trouble with common with a 10 intelligence, but that's up to the player, not anyone else.

[Sapphire]

Again sorry even I am not trying to ram my way of playing on anyone else, what am trying to express here is that some people ( I emphasise on some) actually try putting more thought into things like their background as well as their stat distribution. Also Lich Bait you said it was WORSE RP to not speak common fluently effectively hence implying that we should all look the same and be the same. This game of NWN would have died long ago from boredom if you could only play human race characters because their language much like the Hollywood vision of the late 50's and early 60's film studio's promoter's insisting on the likes of Leonard Nimoy being sacked because he wore plastic pointy ears, or that Bruce Lee looked too Chinese in The Green Hornet. I mean how far do you want this to go before it becomes a joke. Everyone playing a human race character everyone speaking common/English just because it is the worlds prime language. I think not, it would get very stale fast.

I have only last night seen the exact opposite in another player playing a Half-Orc from what I have said in this thread and it was wonderful to see and I'd praise that player to the ends of the earth for his thoughtful and well played RP. He made himself a colourful representation of what and how a Half-Orc should be played. And not like those whom have or are merely playing that race for the stat bonuses. He spoke in broken common/English referred to himself not by his name but by his image in the first person as "Mountain comes" or "Mountain goes now" ... overall this player has completely fleshed out a story and a background for that character and thus is totally believable and one would not question his stat distribution.

Basically think of it this way if you equate in modern terms that an INT score of 6 equals what today is a mature adult human beings IQ score of say 45 would such a person be even able to speak fluently in their native language. Common sense says no, therefore the only reason behind someone playing a Half-Orc race character and speaking fluently not in their own race language as well, is just playing that race for that stat bonus particularly STR.

I would just like to see these (some) actually think of what their character is about beyond being able to hit monsters more often and do more damage than others can. Its fine to play an intelligent Half-Orc if you want but the stats should be inline with that INT base level (ie at 12 or better at creation of that character so that the -2 leaves you with at least a score of 10 on INT) Better still trying playing your Half-Orc as a pure Wizard, that I'd like to see someone try that here...

[Pedantry INC]

On topic: (dumpstats!)

+ Language and intelligence are connected, but not always entirely dependent.
- A 10 int provides no bonus languages. A -8 doesn't restrict langauges, however, that is when we would likely see detriments to ones ability to communicate.
- If we use the "substat" system (a roleplaying tool from 2nd ed, described "here:link", an 8 int could represent 10 knowledge with 6 reason, or 6 knowledge with 10 reason. Or even scores in both. 10 knowledge and he can probably communicate but with so little reason he is likely to misunderstand a great deal of things. With 6 knowledge, well, yes, I would expect him to have issues.


Edit:
+ We don't know how each others characters stats are arranged, and how each individual chooses to represent his statistics, so long as they are within reason, shouldn't be assumed 'wrong'. If you really think that there is something mis-represented it's best to either ask the player -politely- if they could explain, or if you are concerned that it might be a matter of contention or breaking the rules (on FRC you are expected to RP your stats), talk to a dm and ask them to talk to the player if they believe it necessary.
:/Edit


Off topic:

+ In the Core Rulebooks, when making characters, one will note that 'all pc characters automatically start with common'. (paraphrased - I can dig it up if it's really necessary)
- Some choose, for roleplay, to mix this up, and not speak common. However that is the exception, not the rule.

+ Adventurers are diverse, weird, crazy people. They are almost always against the grain one way or the other. They are never what you'd expect. That's why they aren't commoners, after all!


Off topic:

+ Half-orcs can indeed be intelligent. Not every half orc is a slobbering idiot. It all depends on how the statistics are distributed by the player or dm, and what equipment the character is wearing.

+ Elves are born speaking elven fluently. They have plenty of time to learn another language, especially one as easy and proliferated as common.


Off topic:

One of the most accidental forms of poor roleplaying is putting words in others mouths, or 'assumptive' play that assumes success without giving the participant a chance. I am a strong advocate of using 'attempts' rather than 'achieves' in my emotes. Rather than *she kisses his cheek* or *she smacks his arm* I aim for *she attempts to [x]*. It might seem like a very small thing, but what if the pc I was interacting with didn't like to be touched? It isn't fair to put him in the position to respond to a 'success', is it?

Edit:
From that I would go on to say that while we might believe how another will behave, it's entirely possible that we're wrong. Not only should we never assume that we are successful, we should never attempt to decide for anyone else how their character is acting or would respond to our own actions.
:/Edit

The best part about is that we're not just telling stories for ourselves, but we're participating in a form of improv theater with a diverse cast of characters that we cannot predict. Assuming that x is x simply because it's how you'd play it doesn't make it so.



"Honor is honesty to what is, not blind duty to what you wish to be."



Now, remember, have fun, and game on.

o/

[Dakarizon (Shroud)]

The best thing you can do is focus on your own character's personality and traits. Role play to your abilities and focus on your character development. If you meet characters that you don't approve of, simply ignore them. You'll find some meaningful RP somewhere and get more enjoyment then posting complaints on the forums. Honestly there are some things I agree with from both sides (RP your traits/NEVER emote someone else's characters!)But complaining about another player should be left in private please.(DM/Player advocate tells and msgs)

[Sadistic Hobo]

Keep in mind that if the big chunky tank you just met is rolling around acting like he has the INT score of a rational and intelligent person, it's probably because he does. It's good to be careful when assuming what other PC stats are, and probably better not to think much about it until you have some character interactions with them to work with. You could just as easily be completely wrong about what the numbers you're judging actually are, if it's even necessary to do so. I think we all do this here and there. That's only human. It's not a healthy thing to focus on though, especially since you can so easily be wrong on the first step.

[Pithirendar]

If you're having issues with someone's RP, rather than publicly bashing them on the forums you could contact a PA, DM, simply avoid them and get on with your own rp or offer positive encouragement/tips/advice to other members of the community.