Me In D&D (Danger! Navel-Gazing Geekery Ahead!)

So taking a tangential cue from Dork Tower, the really quite funny gamer/geek comic which I've recently finished reading (I got the whole set of graphic novels as a freebie from work…woo! Sometimes my job does have unexpected perks), I was thinking about myself in D&D terms tonight. Yeah, that's D&D as in "Dungeons & Dragons", thankyouverymuch. Those of you who either don't know or don't care about D&D can just stop reading now, as the sheer geekery of this entry will either cause you to shake your head in "tsk-tsk, kids these days" wonderment or possibly make you nauseous. I claim no responsibility either way.

Anyway, what I was specifically thinking about was not so much the simplistic "what kind of D&D character are you" LJ quiz meme type of thing (though if you're curious I'd have to say most likely I'm a Halfling Bard), but more specifically I was thought-riffing about what my own personal stats might be if they were translated into D&D terms. I wasn't thinking so much about actual numbers (though I could take a flying guess), but more about "hmmm what would I have high scores in and what would I have low scores in?" Here's what I came up with (and feel free to debate with me, if you can keep up with the geekness):

Strength: this would definitely be my lowest stat--I'm a lover, not a fighter. I'd give myself maybe a 9 or 10 in this--I'm not a delicate flower, exactly, and if I trained my lazy fat body hard enough, I might be able to raise this, but as it stands now, I'm generally a weakling. If you arm-wrestled me, you'd most likely win. Although I can heft a 26 pound kid (and sometimes a 45 pound kid) pretty well when needed, I usually pay for it with sore muscles and joints the next day.

Dexterity: although not exactly an acrobat these days (or, um, ever), I would say I have a pretty decent score in this, maybe a 13 or 14. I've got good balance (I always did like the balance beam in gymnastics, and I can usually pull off Tree Pose in yoga), and pretty decent hand-eye coordination (have I ever told you that I won awards in rifle shooting when I was a teenager at summer camp? Bizarre, I know…but there it is. If I were the NRA type I'd be stoked, but frankly that was the last and so far only time in my life I ever handled a weapon that was remotely gun-like. Who knows how good I'd be at sharp-shootin' if I'd kept practicing.) My reflexes are decent too--and again they'd be a lot better if I actually practiced.

Constitution: this one is kind of a difficult one. On the one hand, I think I've got pretty damn good stamina, but it's more the mental type than the physical type. I bounce back fairly quickly when I'm sick or injured, and overall my health has been fairly hearty, except for the fact that, oh yeah, I had cancer. And as I get older (I know, 37 is not really that old, but I *feel* old now) I feel like I'm falling apart more and more. Of course, much of that feeling could be due to lifestyle (raising two young kids while working full time leaps to mind), but generally I think my constitution score is slowly decreasing over time. Bummer. I give myself a somewhat overly generous 9 here.

Intelligence: Ok, I'm no Physics Ph.D., but I like to think that this is one of my higher scores, maybe even a 16 or so. There was a time in my life where I thought lots of lofty theoretical thoughts (yes, that would be grad school, thanks for asking), and I still enjoy doing so from time to time. I do like learning new things, and I feel like I can learn just about anything I put my mind to--assuming I’m interested in it in the first place. And I can be pretty logical and sharp with the analytical/critical thinking when I want to. (Sometimes it's more fun not to, right, Dr. McCoy?)

Wisdom: I think I've got this one in spades (not that I'm the Dalai Lama or anything). Willpower? Check. Goddamn it takes willpower to live the Gold-Medal-Mama lifestyle. Being aware of and in tune with one's surroundings? Check. In fact it's something I pride myself on, and it's come in handy as a writer. Common sense, intuition, perception? Checkedy check check. Maybe it's just that I've trained myself well in this skill during my lifetime (studying sociology and psychology helped with this, as have), but nonetheless, I think I've bumped this score up to around a 16 as well. (I'd give myself a higher score but then, I'm no psychic.)

Charisma: well since this is often shorthand for describing how physically attractive a character is, I'd have to give myself an 18 here. Ok, I'm kidding. If that were all this ability described I'd be well towards the 8 or 9 side of the range, but luckily for me this also describes one's general "people skills" (leadership, charm, persuasiveness), which I believe I've been generally more blessed with than classic good looks. Whether I like it or not, I'm a pretty good salesperson when I want to be--I can charm most people without too much effort and even sometimes get other people (especially the ones that are NOT my kids) to do what I want. I give myself a 14 here--good but not great (I'm no politician, though I did at one point want to be an actress and I'm still a ham whenever I get the chance to be. That should tell you something.) I probably could train this one up another point or two if I tried hard enough--but who has the time?

Ok, I could go on and on with all this but I think I’m all geeked out now. Time for bed so I can get enough sleep to stay up late tomorrow night playing actual D&D with my gaming buddies. (Now that might be the subject of a whoooooooole 'nother geeky post.)