If real-life had D&D stats, what would yours look like? Would you focus new points on any in particular?
Let's assume 10 is an average person and 30 is world class
Str - 9.
Dex - 7.
Con - 12.
Int - 16.
Wis - 14.
Cha - 12.
It doesn't matter because I already have 3 points of exhaustion. 🫨
The same as a random villager NPC from 3e.
Even a level 1 PC is like 3 times better than a non-adventuring NPC.
Hard to tell, but with 30 as world class, I think a lot of people are underestimating what they are capable of.
As for what I would focus new points into; I should take the +1dex class someone suggested, stretching and yoga are good for you; Cha boosts would give me an outsized advantage in a lot of situations....so Charisma it is.
Str 17 Dex 7 Con 6 Int 15 Wis 6 Cha 13
Starting stats. I'm a large guy and just naturally strong. Low dex, I can't do any activity involving balance other than ride a bike. Con is low, I get sick and when I donit hits hard. Pretty high Int, computer science and gifted. But sabotaged by failing out of college more than once. Cha is ok, I'm an introvert who be engaging when he wants.
Now in my in my 50s Str is down. Int is down, or maybe my Wis has come up enough to realize my Int isn't as high as I thought.
I threatened to run this as a booth at a gaming convention once. Set up 6-12 basic challenges and then print certificates with your "real life stats block"
I thought about running a stretching class called +1dex.
Sounds hilarious. Can’t wait for my 6 8s.
10 is an average human, so all of us would be 10 or lower for all stats unless we are appreciably above the mean.
Body builders probably would have str around 15 or something.
A PhD scholar would probably have int and wis around there too.
If 10 is average then anyone above the mean is above 10? Strongmen, Olympic lifters etc. are close to 30 str, since that is "world class".
I would guess that a lot of "ordinary" people have at least one stat where they are above average, just based on how low "average" is for a lot of stats, and how most people are decently good at something.
Edit: This depends on the distribution of course, but stuff like strength, IQ, etc. are typically close to normally distributed, in which case about half the population is above average in any given stat.
I suppose? I quite like the way World of Darkness did it. There wasn't as much gradation, but the average human was 2/5, and if you were kind of good at something, or you took a community college course, or something, you could justify a 3. The qualifications in the book were a scale the average person in real life was familiar with and probably even had few of (so my EMT license was a 2 in medicine, my Eagle scout was a 1 in survival, and so forth).
It really made you feel unique, rather than promote this "NPC" shit.
(i think this depends a lot on how you imagine the average person)
Hmmm. If 10 is average and 30 is world-class...
All in all, my D&D stats would be pretty decent. Nothing anywhere near the peak of human potential, but not bad.
That tallness modifier is more real for me than I ever realized growing up. Wish I had made better us of that earlier in life. The 4-eyes bonus helped my INT too.
Rated by me:
How I expect my friends would rate me:
I've been working really hard the last few years to put new points into Charisma, and I've been building constitution and strength through long brutal bike rides with massive hills regardless of weather.
17 str. 10 dex. 10 con. 17 int. 10 wis. 6 cha.
In my 20s i realized I had to spend a feat getting persuade proficiency to make up for my "maybe on the spectrum" social abilities.
In my mind, charisma is easily the hardest one to improve. The rest you can grind out or get better with age but Charisma is tough
I got my strength from going to the gym 3 hours per week for years.
If I joined an amateur theatre group or something similar that practiced 3 hours per week I'm sure it would improve after a few years.
sure buddy
This is the perfect reply to someone with a 6 charisma.
10 STR - Used to be 14 when I worked out.
12 DEX - Used to be 16, but I've kind of stiffened up with age.
10 CON - Average. Always has been.
12 INT - I wouldn't be able to get paid loads for the occasional perl hack if I wasn't. However, see below.
8 WIS - See below.
8 CHA - See below.
Int and wis might be the other way around. My experiences leads me to conclude that I'm reasonably smart, but still prone to stupid decisions. I'm not sure if I have wisdom that makes up for lack of int, or if lack of wisdom sabotaged my int. My will save is awful, though.
As for charisma, I am OK looking, but I severely lack social skills. I have what you'd call charisn'tma.
charisn’tma
well put. and I feel this.
I have absolutely mediocre stats, but the player is using slightly loaded dice. Not enough that everything is a 20, but enough that I have very few 1s.
I think mine would be around average in most:
I would probably focus on Intelligence and Wisdom, but I think having a higher charisma would be also be very nice
D&D characters are capable of superhuman feats even with standard stats, so I'd estimate mine pretty low.
I'd wish to reroll my stats or at least try a different build
I have always said if I could pick my stats I'd like to be as dumb as a box of rocks with charisma through the roof. It's like a god damn super power.
• Strength 16 (only because I have abnormally strong legs)
• Dexterity 14
• Constitution 2
• Intelligence 8
• Wisdom 20
• Charisma 16
Think of the default model that appears in character creators.
No luck stat? Because we all tend to underestimate how much luck plays into everything.
I'd love to re-spec. Take away some dexterity and wisdom and put some in charisma
So on a scale of 1-30? Not 1-18?
Okay then:
For justification:
I can't lift most things people can, in many ways im less strong than comparable in terms of height cis women. I'm a clutz but can occasionally display dexterity like dodging out of the way of something or catching a difficult casual throw of some object.
I recovered from surgery about 2 months ahead of schedule, I frequently just ignore the fact food is expired and eat it and I'm fine most of the time, never been seriously sick or broke a bone and have put my body through absolute hell in terms of circumstances and drugs and am fine.
I wouldn't say I'm smart but I do work in cybersecurity and am learning hacking which requires a lot of brain effort, so I suppose being able to keep up with that must mean I'm fairly above average.
Wisdom I'd say I'm pretty high on, I can connect between disparate ideas and cross-domain knowledge fairly easily and intuitively.
My charisma is okay when I am dunking and roasting people, I have a good sense of humour, but I'm not very convincing, I'm a critic.
My group did a multi-shot where we played ourselves, and we each set each other's stats. Each of us took a turn being DM so we could each play ourselves.
Mine was something like 8, 9, 8, 14, 12, 8
I'd have to dig up that ancient sheet to know for sure.
Then I spent a decent chunk of the campaign trying to build a phone charger out of random things you'd find in Chult.
I always thought it would be funny to do that except then I feel like I would have made enemies of everyone.
Hmm well not sure but I'll try:
STR 6
DEX 12
CON 10
INT 12
WIS 12
CHA 8
Or perhaps more accurately would be to lower wisdom and dexterity and give myself expertise/proficiency on a few skills, namely, Perception, Nature, Animal Handling, Medicine, Insight, Sleight of Hand, Investigation.
Follow up question: You say that 10 is average and 30 is world class, but what kind of distribution are we talking about, and what is the variance?
If I'm the strongest guy in a randomly selected group of 100, I'm far above average, but still miles away from being world class, but does that put my strength at closer to 15 or closer to 20? (Please note: I would not be the strongest in a random group of 100, unless all the other 99 happen to have severe muscle atrophy)
Pretty boring tbh, I don't get sick very often at all and can forrest gump it for ages. My Cha at 21 would probably be 11 but I do think I've developed a decent amount just through life experience/learning how to build rapport quickly with new colleagues and acquaintances who have become friends