How do you play a hyper-intelligent character?

[betrayor]

So lets say thas as a dm you have a super-intelligen wizard with stat over 20.....
How do you think you should play him since he is way smarter than you(even a genius is Int 18).....
Do you think you should cheat a little to compensate for his superior inteligence?
For example maybe allow him to cast some spells that you didn;t think to prepare before hand but the character could have though to?
What is your opinion?

[Jackinthegreen]

There are some ways within the rules to help out.  Divinations will help a character prepare.  With Alacritous Cogitation, a wizard could leave a spell slot open to fill and use later on when more information was obtained.

A DM is in a unique position though.  He's able to not only observe the players at all times, he's also able to literally create the world around the PC's.  The rules actually encourage "cheating" in the form of metagaming.  After all, how would the DM put forth an adequate challenge for the group if he didn't know such things as their classes, levels, and tactics?  A DM playing a high-int character doesn't really need to do much in my eyes.

[kitep]

I wouldn't.  It feels too much like a "deus ex machina" for my tastes.

But the important thing is to have fun.  Try playing both ways and see which works for you.

I have a similar problem playing high CHA characters -- no matter what the score is on the character sheet, so often it comes down to what actually comes out of my mouth

[brainpiercing]

I think this is a problem that fiction has yet to find an answer for. Short of meta-predicting as the GM (or author) - i.e. using ooc knowledge for your villain, there is no real way to portray a person that is much more intelligent than yourself. It doesn't get easier as a player, hell, try playing an epic wizard with 50+ intelligence... you might as well make "I predicted this a long time ago..." your tagline, but that won't change anything. You'll still feel stupid becuase the GMs human-intelligence level intricate scenario is just too intricate for you . So short of allowing Int rolls for plot hints there isn't a (good) way to incorporate this.

This is a common problem in movies, the super intelligent guys aren't actually that smart...

Super Cha in roleplaying is definitely easier: Just force an outcome with dice. So the PCs don't want to befriend the super-charismatic evil sorceror? Just roll it, but make some sensible house rules first. On the other hand, diplomancers don't make it any easier on the GM. As I said, house rule these things, then roll them. A good roleplayer will try to go along with the dice, and play fair.

[SneeR]

Smart people aren't necessarily tactical geniuses. Wisdom is the score for reading people and guessing what they plan to do. Intelligence is more for guessing what will generally happen, and from learning from one's mistakes. Guidelines are these:

-always prepared for what has happened to him in the past (past experience)
-same trick never works twice on him
-defended against common threat: physical attacks, blinding, tanglefoot bags, fire damage, etc.
-ALWAYS prepared to retreat
-does everything efficiently: even the layout of his lair should suggest minimal effort for maximum efficiency in how room are arranged and traps employed
-wants to make a contract for collaboration in order to not get suckered
-paranoid to DM's taste

Smart people try to get the greatest bang for their buck, so to say. Even stupid decisions should have a reason behind them. As long as the characters can tell that this guy operates on foreseeable cause and effect, they will consider him intelligent.

[kitep]

Another thing the DM can do, if he has time to prepare in advance, is to post the wizard to the min/max forum asking for ideas.  There's a reason this place is known as "BRILLIANT gameologists"  (ok, ok, that reason is because that's the name the owners picked.  But there's still some pretty smart people here.  Especially as a group)

[Tiltowait]

Time. A stupid person needs minutes to do what a smart person can in seconds. A smart person needs minutes to do what a superhuman person can in seconds. Take plenty of time to run through as many scenarios as possible and determine his reaction and countermeasures.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Consider it like dealing with:
a) ... Einstein - Physics Prof
b) ... Weber - Sociology Prof
c) ... Smokey Yunich - the best nascar mechanic ever

Each of them could be considered above max Human intelligence.
Older editions of d&d had an 18 Int = 180 I.Q.
These guys would be way over that (perhaps - we don't know for sure / this is fantasy anyway).

Einstein is a Wizard, but won't bother with trying to explain how birth rates should go up/down.
Weber is an Archivist, and can do the birth rates thing, and hangs out with clerics (real life too).
Smokey is a Factotum, he can build Einstein's goodies, even if Einstein can't.

But ask any of them, what D&D 3.X rules are, they know nothing ... 
Or if a Knowledge Local check can help certain negotiations. Sorry no ranks = who are the Huns?
Barring a decent divination to these boards, eh.

Int of 20 doesn't make you demi-god-like,
it makes you really good at what you do,
and not really good at all sorts of other stuff.

Dude with a college Math teacher degree, is miles
better at math, than 7th grade pre-algebra students.
But not a genius, and not necessarily "smarter" than the Drama teacher (HA !!).

Wizard 10 with Int of 20, is miles better than apprentice Wizards with Int of 14.
No ranks in 3.0e scrying and no magic ball = no fun divs.
etc ...

[10d10]

Dunno is this is the point awaken_D_M_golem triet to put but a high intelligent person wouldn't (couldn't) know everything about anything. I see a high-Int wizard as a guy who knows WAY TOO MUCH about their own craft and a few peripheral topics, but he's not, in any way, Omniscient. He may be able to see what would happen if Evol MacMagus uses his delayed fireball on this and that, and maybe he's able to come up with 347 possible outcomes for the battle, but he'll have to stick with one.

One of my DMs just see whats fit for the wizard to know based on their background. A guy who spent his whole life in a tower studying will easily know what those ancient runes tell, but not what would happen when you try to catch a pig on fire.... The same way she would see if the worldly military wizard knows about those tactical issues, but really, those ancient runes are too hermetic to him.

[sirpercival]

Intelligence is not just prior knowledge, though -- there's also the question of how the character thinks on their feet, adapting their strategies appropriately to changing circumstances.

Being able to play that well is partly a question of system mastery and how well you know the character and their usual tactics (which is a matter of experience), and it's partly a question of creativity (which is not really possible to teach)... as a DM it's a little easier because you can adjust things on the fly. But if you're not comfortable doing that, then it can definitely be a problem.

[10d10]

Oh and as for actual roleplaying... if I don't know fancy stuff that could pass as a "high intelligent speech" we just assume that my "I have a plan, it goes like this..." sounded like "Fellow adventurers, fret not! for I have come up with a miraculous, yet useful plan..." etc etc

[phaedrusxy]

I just act normal, instead of holding back.  I can't believe I'm the first one to reply with that...

[sirpercival]

I just act normal, instead of holding back.  I can't believe I'm the first one to reply with that...

 

[RobbyPants]

2E Combat & Tactics had an interesting way to deal with it. Back then, you had to announce your actions and stick to them before you acted (you could change in some circumstances, but it might incur penalties). So, the DM would decide in secret, then the players would announce their actions, the DM would be on his word to stick to his own actions, and they'd all get resolved in order of initiative.

If you had an Int of 21+ (this was designated as "godlike" back then, with a hard cap of 25), you could wait until everyone announced their actions and then you could choose your own afterward. The idea was you could quickly make complete judgments form incomplete information.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

I just act normal, instead of holding back.  I can't believe I'm the first one to reply with that...

(hubby hollering to the next room):
Honey ... I let the spambot out again 

[phaedrusxy]

2E Combat & Tactics had an interesting way to deal with it. Back then, you had to announce your actions and stick to them before you acted (you could change in some circumstances, but it might incur penalties). So, the DM would decide in secret, then the players would announce their actions, the DM would be on his word to stick to his own actions, and they'd all get resolved in order of initiative.

If you had an Int of 21+ (this was designated as "godlike" back then, with a hard cap of 25), you could wait until everyone announced their actions and then you could choose your own afterward. The idea was you could quickly make complete judgments form incomplete information.

This is a really nice suggestion. Coupled with the Uncanny Forethought feat, you could really get that "I knew you'd do that... which is why I prepared THIS!" vibe going quite well.

[brainpiercing]

This is a really nice suggestion. Coupled with the Uncanny Forethought feat, you could really get that "I knew you'd do that... which is why I prepared THIS!" vibe going quite well.

Ok, so how do you do it as player? Int 20+ is basically standard of wizards, I mean hell, you can start with 20 easily, and it just goes "downhill" from there.
Which is why it's so funny when the idiot player plays a wizard.... (yeah, we had sessions where we would basically do little else except laugh at him. Harsh, maybe, but.... there was just no way you couldn't.)

[RobbyPants]

Ok, so how do you do it as player? Int 20+ is basically standard of wizards, I mean hell, you can start with 20 easily, and it just goes "downhill" from there.
Which is why it's so funny when the idiot player plays a wizard.... (yeah, we had sessions where we would basically do little else except laugh at him. Harsh, maybe, but.... there was just no way you couldn't.)

Well, back then, an Int of 21+ was pretty much unattainable by PCs, at least until extremely high levels. There was very little available in the way of adjusting scores back then except for Strength.

A closer analog to this would probably be an Int of 30+ in 3E. Something that could happen, but only after extreme investment.

[brainpiercing]

Well, back then, an Int of 21+ was pretty much unattainable by PCs, at least until extremely high levels. There was very little available in the way of adjusting scores back then except for Strength.

A closer analog to this would probably be an Int of 30+ in 3E. Something that could happen, but only after extreme investment.

I don't know 3E, but if Neverwinter nights is anything like it, then it's really easy. As it is you can easily reach 26 by lvl 4 or so...

[betrayor]

Well in 3.x you can easily have over 30 Int before level 15.....
Beggining with 18+2 from race +3 from leveling +6 from item+2 or more from a tome=31+
Boosting your stats is quite easy ,I am sure you could boost them more with some opimization....