Best RPGs For Low Intelligence Builds

Besides exploring a world of adventure, danger, and fascinating characters, roleplaying games allow players to step out of their shoes and embody another life. Some choose mighty warriors, others silver-tongued rogues or diplomats. While it may not have the same immediate appeal as the more common archetypes, running around as a smooth-brained nincompoop can bring much joy to players, especially in subsequent runs.

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One way to immerse players in the role is through "Dumb dialogue." In the few RPGs that use it, it is usually unlocked by a character with a particularly low intelligence stat. While low intelligence might be seen as a flat disadvantage, that isn't always the case, as these characters can have more to offer than hilarious moments of incompetence. While it takes a lot of extra time and energy (and, therefore, money) to rewrite dialogue to accommodate the cretin-character connoisseurs of the gaming world, the following games should exemplify exactly why doing so is worthwhile.

Fallout 1, 2, & New Vegas

Ain't That A Kick In The Head

• Taking a low intelligence score completely overhauls the gameplay experience in the original Fallout and its direct sequel, and partly in New Vegas
• Low-intelligence dialogue will sometimes benefit the player in specific circumstances

The original Fallout is credited as the first RPG to provide roleplaying dialogue options for characters with sub-optimal mental prowess (an intelligence score equal to or lower than 2). It ticks all the roleplaying boxes in terms of gameplay changes: dynamic NPC reactivity, completely changed player response options, and an occasional advantage to having an IQ roughly equal to a number that West Coast vault dwellers might have stitched onto their jumpsuit.

Fallout 2 continued this tradition, offering the same upsides and downsides for this type of character. Unfortunately, Bethesda's Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 did not carry on this tradition. However, Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas did, if with a smaller scope than the original two (which should be unsurprising given their extremely short 18-month production deadline).

Disco Elysium

Good Cop, Bad Cop, Oaf Cop

• Players aren't as harshly punished for their failings, and that goes for sub-optimal intelligence, too
• Because of his trauma and cataclysmic hangover, the cop protagonist is prone to delivering some legendarily imbecilic lines

The player character (the cop) of Disco Elysium may be a unique case even among RPG protagonists. Although he can be customized extensively from the beginning of the game, he comes packaged with certain immutable traits (thanks to a fractured psyche) that permit him (if the player wishes) to say some pretty idiotic things to certain characters regardless of his build. Disco was tailor-made to accommodate the kinds of players who wanted their characters to deliver the most absurd, lizard-brained utterances.

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Of course, for a game that explores failure as one of its central themes, it makes sense that failed mental skill checks should not lead directly to a game-over screen but are, in some instances, advantageous, or, in just about every other instance, side-splitting. Given the unique way that Disco Elysium divides skills, it is also possible to roleplay a sophisticated, scholarly law enforcer who suffers from inept social skills and vice versa. Thankfully, because of the authority granted to a police detective and the backup of his partner, it is very difficult to get locked out of conversations or content by way of a faux pas.

The Outer Worlds

In Orbit Of The Dimmest Star In The Galaxy

• Dumb dialogue is unlocked by choosing "below average" intelligence during character creation
• Using dumb dialogue is optional throughout the game but can often lead to beneficial outcomes

Choosing less-than-average intelligence during The Outer World's character creation unlocks special dialogue during conversations. Players are free to play normally or indulge in a little numbskullery should they so wish, but they are rarely locked out from content for their cranial fold quality. However, occasionally, some of the more insightful options will not appear. Since the people of Halcyon have been subjected to a poor education for the most part, a below-average intelligence player character will mostly fit in. However, speaking to educated denizens tends to reveal more "dumb dialogue" options.

Dumb dialogue isn't just well-written and hilarious, as it can occasionally help the player bypass tricky skill checks or situations. For example, the player can sidestep blame for killing a potential companion's boss, gung-ho murder-hobo style, by saying that they "just get things confused," after which the NPC agrees to follow them if only to make sure they are never left unattended again. A secret ending involves the player character insisting to the onboard computer that they pilot a spaceship themselves, resulting in the ship and all its inhabitants skip-smashing onto the surface of the sun.

Neverwinter Nights (Original Campaign)

Neverwinter And Never The Wiser

• Although having low intelligence can be quite a hurdle due to its skill point association, it does dumb down the player's speech in an entertaining way
• Because it added a huge workload for the writers, low-intelligence roleplay and dialogue are only offered in the original story campaign

Highly intelligent characters in Neverwinter Nights gain an advantage both in terms of conversations and progression, as they will gain access to more "insights" than their baseline contemporaries and more skill points. On the other hand, characters with an intelligence stat of 9 or lower will find it challenging to glean any information, subtly delivered or otherwise, and will also struggle to improve their abilities. However, every word that makes it out of their mouths is deliciously labored.

Unfortunately, dumb speak is restricted to Neverwinter Nights's original campaign and only a handful of other modules. It's no wonder why, as scripted conversations catering to ignoramus enjoyers would effectively have to be written twice over, at least for the player character's side of the dialogue. Low intelligence doesn't offer any advantages to the player, but the sheer word count that Bioware's writers produced is dumbfoundingly impressive. The experience probably put the legendary RPG studio off including such a feature in their later games.

Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura

Rejecting Technology, Magic, And Common Sense

• Low Intelligence speech is given to player characters with five points or less in intelligence or with specific backgrounds
• The player character's dialogue remains impressively consistent throughout the game, and many NPCs will react appropriately

Most games tended by the hand of veteran game developer Tim Cain tend to come with some kind of twist for player characters with low INT, and Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is no different. Most players will probably be tempted to go for clever avatars because of the game's main selling point of being "a Tolkien-esque world undergoing an industrial revolution," with gunslinger engineers and old-world magician archetypes jumping out from the get-go.

But should they choose to go down the smooth-brained route, fastidious fool fans should find their chosen roleplaying preferences well-cosseted during their adventures. Almost all player character dialogue is written with a grunty twang, and NPCs will react accordingly. Those who wish to experience the unique reactions and dialogue of a dim character but with exceptional intelligence can take the "Idiot Savant" background, the only downsides being a hit to charisma and some difficulty learning from skill-increasing literature.

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