Canonfire!

Sun Jul 18, 2004 8:58 pm Experience Level : Fame Ratio

I was thinking about my next campaign and here is a short excerpt from a handout I came up with:

Character Levels
Character level is often a direct measure of that character’s standing in society and the influence they wield. During 1st-4th level, you are a beginner, just starting your career. By 5th-8th you are a minor player in the grand scheme of things and probably a local hero. Once you reach between 9th-14th levels you are most likely known to the entire kingdom or at least beyond your home province. Once you have reached 15th you are most definitely among the elite and beyond 15th you are the stuff of legend and known throughout the world along with personalities such as Mordenkainen, Bigby, and Robilar.

I was wondering if A) the level : amount of fame seems right and B) if you guys do this too. Note that I don't have the ELH so I've excluded mortals from going higher than 20th level.
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-Matt

Sun Jul 18, 2004 9:25 pm re. Fame / Level

Seems about right to me. The only thing I would really add is
that in that 5-8 range, depending on what the PCs do in the game
world, they can really become famous (or infamous) quickly.

Fame really depends on how the PCs interact in your campaign
and what your campaign setting ends up being. If the PCs
start getting involved in local politics early, and righting (or creating)
wrongs throughout the coutnryside, they could really get noticed.

On the other hand, if they basically spend all their time below ground,
and come up occasionally to resupply, folks may not really be aware of
them.

my $.02

Sun Jul 18, 2004 11:01 pm Definitely

Yeah, I know my PC's will probably become (in)famous quite a bit quicker since the campaign focuses on the local politics in their area (southern Nyrond). I'm just trying to give them some guidelines so I followed the level : fame system I use for NPCs.
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-Matt

Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:54 am

CP that is an interesting topic. I guess i've always known level: fame but never said it so plainly like you did. IMC some players like to keep a low profile, in fact in my Epic campaign some are extremely popular to the point the 15-20th level personages are ruefully jealous. Reverse fame!

Also I run an east-west sort of campaign where some of my best players' characters would take on different identities and thus different levels of fame when they are in GHC as opposed to far flung Ull in the west.

Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:38 am

No matter what my PCs have done or accomplished I keep them feeling like ants...

I want them to know the world is larger than they are and despite their achievements they are a grain of sand in the wash up of Greyhawk.
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Kneel before me, or you shall be KNELT!

Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:50 am

Mon Jul 19, 2004 2:31 pm

I must admit that IMC (I'm running a mix of RttToEE and a variety of other stuff to break it up - the PCs have just reached 8th level) they aren't really well known at all. It's not that they haven't been doing things, but the things they have been doing are not at the top of the list of people's attention.

For example, they were given the oppotunity to get involved in solving some murders in Verbobonc and instead decided to head off to Hommlet instead. Even there (after cleaning out the moathouse) they didn't hang around and headed off immediately to other things.

They basically haven't been anywhere long enough to be spreading the word of their exploits. Even the bard - who gives performances - hasn't attempted to spread tales or the party's adventures beyond that.

Personally, while they might be known in a couple of small villages they certainly wouldn't be considered minor players or local heroes; more a group of travellers who did a village a favour (and ruined the local economy by spreading all that gold around Laughing

)