Strength based characters. pros and cons

[Persell]

My gaming group has been playing long enough that most of us are pretty well acquainted with our characters. However, my Stength based character seems to be lacking in the roleplaying department, as I can't really expect a character of his intelligence to come up with brilliant ideas. I'd like to hear some of the user's ideas on what makes a strength based character great and not so great. I'd love to hear some great combos and character stories to. This is my first post here.


p.s. I do plan on working up his mentalities, but i've been busy working on what I thought to get him in the beggining. We're at 118 total exp. and my character can blow about 40 motes in one turn for his boss killer move called "i'll take that" which combines strength based lightning stroke attack and first strength excellency (Lunar) to be used while he is in Relentless Lunar fury. His strength in War form is 7. During our last gaming session he used that combo for the first time. It did 37 raw damage and killed Philial Wisdom.


Post Script Note - That is a big Post Script...

 

[Kyeudo]

The problem with Strength-based characters is they can't use their massive strength if they can't hit, so you need either the Brutal Strike merit or a high Dexterity to back it up. Further, without that high Dexterity, their DVs suffer, so they need some sort of soak-based defense that isn't really that good compared to dodge or parry based defenses.

 

[Yakumo]

As to the main point you bring up- RP and intelligence. Just because he has a one intelligence doesn't mean he can't come up with the good ideas. Even if you want to match mechanics, remember it's attr + skill. Even if he can't be very cerebral, he's a better tactician and even strategist with a war 5 compared to some with Int 3 but low/no war (extreme example). With high sail, he'll know or figure out how to improve routes, safe storage and even some comfort on ship. With high craft(earth) or occult, he can figure that the feng shui of an area is off and that may be why the animals are restless.


Sure, long term intelligence rolls he may be gimped. But basic stuff for his skills shouldn't be an issue. I guess part of it is to keep in mind experience of the character- life experience, not xp. Low intelligence does not mean he's ignored life lessons, so find some you'd expect him to have over other characters that give him that insight that seems brilliant to those completely outside his point of view.


Of course, the character of simple thoughts can be interesting too. One character that comes to mind is Gerard from the Chronicles of Amber. A more well known character is Porthos from Dumas' D'Artangan Romances. He's actually pretty good for both being the comically simple in some things, but rather intelligent in others (though even then his friends play with him a bit).


You didn't bring up dex or combat concerns, so I'm guessing you didn't scrimp on dex, but if that's even an issue, I assume you are quite ready to use the grapple rules. Stunting to keep your immediate opponent between you and other enemies can get you a couple of defense dice as well.

 

[Persell]

Or there's always figuring out why your character keeps himself in such good shape. Is he really strong cause he wants to protect people, cause he like brawling, got picked on lots? Just because you aren't going to come up with the best ideas doesn't mean you can't ham it up a bit on the rp side. If you have a decent charisma you could always become a leader of sorts, try to convince the mortals to keep themselves strong in order to survive. And some times it's really amusing to have a wrong idea about how things work and have your character do things that are either unproductive or comical. (like think the road gods like you to walk on as much of the road as possible so you hop from side to side while walking)

 

[Virjigorm]

I agree with what Yakumo said about allowing your abilities to make up for raw intellect. Your abilities represent your training in specific areas, and are at least as valuable as the attribute for judging what your character knows about a topic. You might consider picking up an Intelligence excellency if you are worried about making rolls. You only need one dot to qualify, and it will get more valuable later as you raise the attribute. After all, plugging your weak points with Essence is how the Exalted do business!

 

[AceOfFools]

I played a Fire-aspect DB like this once.


I favored Perform with a specialty in musical theater and took Appearance 4.


His approach to life was quite simple:


Can I solve this problem with my Daiklaive?


If not, can I solve this problem by seducing someone?


If not, can I solve this problem by singing, dancing or putting on a play?


If not, can I solve this problem by threatening some one?


If not, stand next to whoever can solve this problem and make sure nothing hurts them.


"Obvious & politically powerful villain" starts a speech? Grab an un-Exalted guest and have sex in the other room so I'm not there when he finishes whatever social attack he's going to do.


"Need to spy on the crowd using a demon-detecting artifact" write & perform a play of the groups own exploits that involves wearing the artifact as a "prop".


"Cunning puzzle in a solar tomb has the sorcerer stumped?" try dancing.


Sure you always do the same couple of things, the fun is looking for the opportunities to solve your problems with them.