These polls which are asking whether you or your kids are above average or not reminded me of a lost thread idea. In D & D, there are 6 main abilities (see the link for further details):
Average has traditionally been 10, with a low of 3 and a high of 18 (traditionally you rolled 3 6-sided dice, or variations thereof).
So, given free reign to toot your own horn, what would be your scores be then?
Strength: 8 (while I’m a fairly big guy, I don’t hit the weights like I should)
Dexterity: 9 (my fingers are almost completely hopeless, and I tend to trip over my own two feet. However, the dexterity in my hands is pretty good).
Constitution: 15 (rarely get sick or anything-just fought off a cold this week in fact. To in terms of sheer physical toughness, see above.)
Intelligence: 16 (there’s smarter people on this very board-but I can hold my own)
Wisdom: 16 now (but in my youth would have been a 5 or so.)
Charisma: Two part score-with kids it’s 15 or so, adults around 7. (I just relate much more readily to the former, which helps in my job natch, and is something my bosses value highly.)
I have no way of objectively measuring, however at some justifiable guess…
Strength: 13 (stronger than the average person, but weaker than my size would let on.)
Dexterity: 8 or 12 (8, because I can’t use my left index finger effectively, but 12 because I’m completely ambidextrous and well coordinated.)
Constitution: 9 (Slightly below average, I rarely get sick, but when I do it’s Mono or some other random and not quick-to-cure ailment.)
Intelligence: 16 (I don’t have the greatest array of knowledge, but I catch on to new subjects with ridiculous ease.)
Wisdom: 6 (Higher than the average 19 year old, lower than your average individual.)
Charisma: What’s that? I donno, maybe like 2?
Strength: 12 - I don’t work out, but my extra mass allows me to use my weight to my advantage
Dexterity: 8 - I’m clumsy and tend do fairly poor at sports
Constitution: 10 for physical exercise and a 14 for resisting sickness/poison
Intelligence: 13 - I’m smart enough to teach a calculus class
Wisdom: 15 - How does one measure wisdom? “He who thinks he is wise is a fool.”
Charisma: 9 - Fairly forgettable but not ugly. I’ve been president of student clubs, but that’s more to do with intelligence, wisdom, and hard work than charisma. I use my younger brother as a comparison because he’s a charmer. I’m the honest, straightforward type.
Strength: 6 (I have no muscles to speak of.)
Dexterity: 8 (With a bonus when it comes to dancing, maybe - in most aspects of life I am apt to drop it and then step on it, but I’ve always been okay with dancing.)
Constitution: 8 (I don’t necessarily get sick easily, but I have no stamina to speak of.)
Intelligence: 14 (Although it would depend on the area; penalty applies when numbers are involved.)
Wisdom: 10 (Penalty when it comes to something that requires rational thinking. Or would that be more of an Int thing?)
Charisma: 12 (With a big bonus for students - I do pride myself on being a good teacher.)
Wow. I’m like a really clumsy Elf. Or an intelligent Orc?
Strength - 9.
Dexterity - 12. I’d put my fine dexterity at a 14 or 15, and gross dexterity around a 10, so I’ll split the difference.
Constitution - 10.
Intelligence - 18. Based on where my IQ falls on the bell curve, plus excellent, effortless academic achievement.
Wisdom - 15. Very good willpower and awareness.
Charisma - 12. I can sometimes influence people without having tried to do so.
Strength 11 (high end of average)
Dexterity 11 (same)
Constitution 11 (same)
Intelligence 13 (above average, but not significantly)
Wisdom 10
Charisma 9 (average looks, but I’m sarcastic and pessimistic)
Strength: 7. I’m stronger than the average human, but weaker than the average male my age.
Dexterity: 15. Monkey fingers FTW!
Constitution: 4. I’m asthmatic and whiny. Also, I smoke.
Intelligence: 13. Smarter than your average bear.
Wisdom: 13. You’ll never save vs. my spells!
Charisma: 14. I’m loud and funny. Most people like me. A few people hate me.
Strength: 15-I workout with weights and hit 'em hard.
Dexterity: 8-Does not play well with fiddly bits.
Constitution: 18-Survived an accident that everyone thought should have killed me.
Intelligence: 12- bit above average but nothing special.
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 3-Only because there are no dice with negative numbers.
Strength: 6 - I’m a lover, not a fighter.
Dexterity: 8 - I can fiddle with stuff fairly well.
Constitution: 10 - It used to be higher, but as I age…
Intelligence: 16 - I’m very intelligent (Not often very smart, but I got’s me some fair book-learnin’.)
Wisdom: 16 - I married my wife.
Charisma: 11 (+5 against students)
Luckily I don’t mind being a cleric or magic-user. Let the thieves and fighters trigger all the traps!
Strength - 3: If pressed, I could probably lift and hold 35lbs, maybe 40. 50 is genuinely doubtful.
Dexterity - 15: I’m your go-to guy for picking apart knots and grabbing things that are just out of reach. Monkey-limbs represent, RNATB!
Constitution - 10: I’ve always got something that’s falling apart, but in general, I’m fairly sturdy.
Intelligence - 12: I used to think I was pretty smart. Now I know better.
Wisdom - 15: See above.
Charisma - 17: If I have a strong suit, this is it. I’m a freakin’ charmer. I rarely encounter anyone who doesn’t take a liking to me, and I can talk my way into or out of almost anything.
Strength -(Physical or Character?)- small, borderline underweight, but wiry, 8
Dexterity - (Mind or Body?) - sometimes clumsy, 8
Constitution - iron stomach, but aging now, 14
Intelligence - no dummy, but I’ve seen smarter, 10
Wisdom - we all have blind spots, but life experience adds up, 14
Charisma - not my strongest suit, too honest, 7
STR: 10 (very average)
DEX: 14 (what I lack in strength I make up for in speed and balance :D)
CON: 12 (I rarely get sick and my wounds heal fast. It would be higher if I didn’t smoke)
INT: 15 (I’ve been able to teach myself anything I’ve set my mind to learning)
WIS: 9 (“So I was reading Plato’s Apologia and… oooooh, shiny bus!”)
CHA: 8 (my dump stat – I like people, but don’t always deal with them well)
Based on this, I’d make a good… Thief, I guess? If you need me, I’ll be at the gym.
I don’t know any of you, but when you are grading yourself on a 3 - 18 scale versus the population as a whole, you should consider what the scores really mean. This table states where you would rank, in percentile terms, to the rest of the population.
03 - 0.46% (99.54% of the population is better than you)
04 - 1.85%
05 - 4.63%
06 - 9.26%
07 - 16.20%
08 - 25.93%
09 - 37.50%
10 - 50%
11 - 62.50%
12 - 74.07%
13 - 83.80%
14 - 90.74%
15 - 95.37%
16 - 98.15%
17 - 99.54%
18 - 100% (Nobody is better than you, and a rare few can equal your prowess)
Now, I’m smarter than the average bear, but looking at the actual numbers, I wonder if I’m smarter than 84% of the bears out there. Maybe I am (I always tested in the mid-90s percentiles when in school decades ago, but I don’t think that is fully indicative) - I’m definitely comfortable saying I’m better than 74%. I’m comfortable saying my physicality is at 62%. I used to play competitive racquetball and volleyball and ranked higher at the time. Age is taking its toll, but I haven’t lost everything. I don’t think I’m overly wise (although seeing the scores people are giving themselves, I wonder if I’m selling myself short), and I averaged my looks (maybe 11 at best) versus my personality (somewhere between an 8 and 9) for Charisma.
Does this board really have so many people in the 95th+ percentiles? Or are egos running rampant. I think the latter.
P.S. I welcome corrections to my math if it is off.
Using your math, I was being quite humble giving myself a 16, rather than a 17.5 on the “Intelligence” section.
I have a borderline eidetic memory and there’s never been a topic which I couldn’t thoroughly understand within a few days of study. I spent two weeks at the beginning of each school year reading the next books assigned to use (even math) and never opened them again. I never did any homework, and still managed to pass every test I was given, despite the fact that I rarely even showed up in class.
My IQ puts me closer to the 100% mark than the 99.54% mark, so by rounding perhaps I should’ve gone with 18, rather than 16?
(If you’re thinking to yourself, “Well, if todderbob is so intelligent, why is he such an ignorant bastard?” It’s because he’s lazy. He doesn’t like to be guided in teaching, and so only studies things that interest him. And he likes talking in the third person, which gets confusing.)
What D_Odds said. Nobody on the SDMB is an 18 in anything. A 17 is very unlikely; an 18 INT would mean you are a Grade A genius of the first order, a person whose intelligence is not measurably suprassed by any living human. An 18 INT is someone who compares with Newton, Galileo, or Voltaire. An 17 or 18 in Dexterity makes you Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordan. A 17 or 18 in Charisma is George Clooney in looks and charm. An 18 Constitution means you’re a three-time Olympic marathon champion who once fell out of an airplane at 30,000 feet and lived to tell the tale after sawing off your own leg with the calcified cancerous tumour that sprouted out of your left ear in order to free yourself from being pinned underneath the M1 tank someone accidentally parked on your body after you’d fallen out of the airplane.
Whenever we have a thread about IQ scores I’d estimate the average claimed score is 20 to 30 points higher than what we’d find if we actually got the posters together and did a properly administered IQ test. This thread will be more of the same.
