longetalos writes "This article provides a system to assist the Game Master in figuring out the notoriety (fame and reputation) of the characters in their campaign. This will help determine the reaction of NPCs to the PCs.
By Richard “Longetalos” Di Ioia
This guide is to help a GM manage the reactions of the NPCs
to a PC. It has two sections; Reputation and Fame. Reputation is based on the
PCs actions that have been witnessed and/or “believed” to be true. Fame is how
far from the center of the PCs activities their Reputation has spread.
Reputation
Individual’s Reputation Scorecard
Each individual has six traits that describe their Reputation.
These are Awe, Brutality, Heroism, Respect, Resources, and Villainy. Each
traits has ten levels (plus a 0 level value).
AWE
This is how personally powerful and
tough the individual is perceived to be. Awe increases by accomplishing
dangerous quests, defeating powerful creatures, etc.
Single-handedly defeating a
creature, with witnesses, gives you an Awe factor equal to the toughness (Power
Rating) of the creature. Alternatively, single-handedly defeating a group of
four creatures at the same time of one step lower toughness gives you a +1 Awe
factor.
Example: Defeating a single creature of PR5 or four creatures
of PR4 gives you an Awe factor of 5.
BRUTALITY
This is how quick you are perceived to resort to violence,
and hence a driver in the amount of fear and trepidation people have when interacting
with you. Violence increases by enacting revenge, killing foes, torturing
people, etc.
|
Title
|
Level
|
Situation
examples
|
|
Average
|
0
|
Has never
resorted to any violent behavior.
|
|
1
|
Resorts to
non-lethal violence if pushed.
|
|
2
|
Resorts to non-lethal
violence with little incentive (i.e. has a quick temper).
|
|
Killer
|
3
|
Resorts to
maiming, such as breaking bones and gauging eyes.
Has
forcefully interrogated a victim using psychological torture and temporary
physical pain.
Resorted to
lethal violence and has killed a sentient victim in self-defence.
|
|
4
|
Has killed
several sentient beings to protect a village or others.
|
|
5
|
Has killed
several sentient being on multiple occasions who have crossed the individual.
|
|
Butcher
|
6
|
Has been the
aggressor and killed sentient beings by going to their lair and slaughtering
them unprovoked or “pre-emptively”.
|
|
7
|
Has resorted
to damaging friends and families of a target.
Has resorted
to extreme torture and permanent disfigurement of a victim.
|
|
Sociopath
|
8
|
Has killed
innocent bystanders to get at their target or complete a goal. Lots of
collateral damage.
|
|
9
|
Has committed
genocide on a settlement.
|
|
Psychopath
|
10
|
Killing
brings fulfillment.
|
HEROISM
This is how heroic people think
you are. Heroism increases by helping people, by defeating evil creatures, etc.
|
Title
|
Level
|
Situation
examples
|
|
Average
|
0
|
Keeps to
themselves.
|
|
1
|
Helped
friends and family with small favors.
|
|
2
|
Helped
friends and family with large favors.
|
|
Champion
|
3
|
Helped
strangers with small favors.
|
|
4
|
Helped
strangers with large favors.
|
|
5
|
Has taken
wounds to protect friends and family.
|
|
Protector
|
6
|
Has taken
wounds to protect strangers.
Hs died to
save friends and family.
Has saved a
small settlement from certain destruction (between 100 and 1000 total
population).
|
|
7
|
Has died to
save strangers.
Has saved a
large settlement from certain destruction (between 1000 and 10,000 total
population).
|
|
Hero
|
8
|
Has saved a
city from certain destruction (anything over 10,000 total population).
|
|
9
|
Has saved a
kingdom or country from certain destruction.
|
|
Martyr
|
10
|
Has
sacrificed themselves to save the known world.
|
RESPECT
This is how respected you are in
the community. Respect is gained by climbing the social ladder, becoming part
of the community, having a leadership position in the community.
|
Title
|
Level
|
Situation
examples
|
|
Average
|
0
|
Average
commoner.
|
|
1
|
Professional
that has a small influence on nearby residents. This can include the village
blacksmith, the innkeeper, etc.
|
|
2
|
Neighborhood
or community leader.
|
|
Respected
|
3
|
Guild leader with
a small number of members.
A member of
the minor nobility but not a ruling noble.
|
|
4
|
Guild leader with
a large number of members.
Religious
leader representing a religion with a small number of members in the nearby
area.
A ruling
member of a minor nobility.
|
|
5
|
Religious
leader representing a religion with a large number of members in the nearby
area.
Has friends
and connections in the lower levels of the government hierarchy and among the
community leaders.
A non-ruling
member of the major nobility.
|
|
Powerful
|
6
|
Has friends
and connections in the higher levels of the government hierarchy and among
the community leaders.
A ruling
member of the major nobility.
|
|
7
|
A member of
the royal family.
|
|
Majestic
|
8
|
A ruling
royal.
|
|
9
|
An emperor.
|
|
Divine
|
10
|
A deity.
|
RESOURCES
This is a measure of the
resources (coin, manpower, and material) you can bring to bear.
|
Title
|
Level
|
Situation
examples
|
|
Average
|
0
|
Serf. Owns
nothing, and after clothing and food makes a dozen cp a month in
discretionary funds.
|
|
1
|
Freeman
Peasant farmer. Owns a small plot of land with a simple cob house on it, and
after clothing and food makes around 40 cp a month in discretionary funds.
|
|
2
|
Professional
(carpenter, blacksmith). Owns a small shop or house, and after clothing and
food makes around 150 cp a month in discretionary funds.
|
|
Prosperous
|
3
|
Elite
professional (weaponsmith, jeweler). Owns a small shop or house, and after
clothing and food makes around 500 cp a month in discretionary funds.
|
|
4
|
Least noble
(lesser manorial lord). Runs a fiefdom with around 500 population (100
households), has one servant and a single man-at-arms working for them. After
clothing, food and general expenses makes around 2000 cp a month in
discretionary funds.
|
|
5
|
Minor noble
(greater manorial lord). Runs a fiefdom with around 3000 population (600
households), has a half-dozen servants and twenty men-at-arms working for
them. After clothing, food and general expenses makes around 7000 cp a month
in discretionary funds.
|
|
Wealthy
|
6
|
Major noble
(Baron). Runs a fiefdom with around 25,000 population (5,000 households),
has two dozen servants and seventy
men-at-arms working for them. After clothing, food and general expenses makes
around 25,000 cp a month in discretionary funds.
|
|
7
|
Greater noble
(Duke). Runs a fiefdom with around 230,000 population (46,000 households),
has fifty servants and a hundred and sixty men-at-arms working for them.
After clothing, food and general expenses makes around 75,000 cp a month in
discretionary funds.
|
|
Rich
|
8
|
Lesser Ruler.
Is a king of a nation with a population between 300,000 and a million
inhabitants.
|
|
9
|
Greater
Ruler. Is a king of a nation between one and three million inhabitants.
|
|
Limitless
|
10
|
Emperor.
Rules multiple kingdoms with a total population over five million
inhabitants.
|
VILLAINY
This is how villainous and evil
people think you are. Villainy is increased by being self-centered, performing
evil deeds, corrupting innocents, etc.
|
Title
|
Level
|
Situation examples
|
|
Average
|
0
|
Has never
committed a crime.
|
|
1
|
Has committed
some minor offenses without harming anybody else. This includes defrauding
the government, avoiding taxes or fees.
|
|
2
|
Has stolen or
committed a crime without resorting to any violence.
Has looted
the bodies of foes that have been laid to rest.
|
|
Knave
|
3
|
Has resorted
to threats or non-lethal violence to steal or commit a crime.
Has
desecrated the bodies of foes.
|
|
4
|
Has resorted
to lethal violence to steal or commit a crime.
Has looted
the bodies of allied races that have been laid to rest.
|
|
5
|
Has used
psychological torture and minor physical torture (no lasting effects).
Has
desecrated the bodies of allies.
|
|
Blackguard
|
6
|
Has raped or
maimed a victim.
Has made
deals with evil undead.
|
|
7
|
Has made
deals with fiends.
Has used
physical torture that leaves the victim maimed.
|
|
Wicked
|
8
|
Has
sacrificed a sentient being to a dark deity.
|
|
9
|
Is a fiend.
|
|
Arch-Villain
|
10
|
Is an evil
quasi-deity.
|
Reaction effects to a PC’s Reputation
The reaction depends on the Trait
and the Level of the particular trait. Although the GM is to adjudicate in each
particular circumstance, the following guideline can be used.
Between 0 and 2 Levels in a Trait: Average individual, no effect on the
perceiver.
Between 3 and 5 Levels in a Trait: The perceiver will pause and give
some thought on the reputation of the individual. They will make some minor
modifications to their behavior based on the trait(s) in question.
Between 6 and 7 Levels in a Trait: The perceiver will instantly react
to the individual’s reputation and make major modifications to their behavior
based on the trait(s) in question.
Between 8 and 9 Levels in a Trait: The perceiver will make huge and obvious
changes to their behavior.
Level 10 in a Trait: The GM to adjudicate but the behavioral changes
will be extreme.
------------------------------
Fame
This is a measure of how far the PCs Reputation has spread.
Fame value
A PC’s fame is based on the following factors.
|
Action
|
Fame Points
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on an individual or household.
|
+2
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on a hamlet (up to 400 population).
|
+10
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on a village (up to 1000 population).
|
+25
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on a small town (up to 2000 population).
|
+50
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on a large town (up to 5000 population).
|
+100
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on a small city (up to 12,000 population).
|
+250
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on a large city (up to 25,000 population).
|
+500
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on a metropolis (up to 60,000 population).
|
+1,000
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on a province (up to 250,000 population).
|
+2,500
|
|
Doing an
activity that has a major impact on a country.
|
+5,000
|
Area of effect
As a simplified mechanism, the GM selects a central point
from where the PCs adventure. As the PC move away from their center of
activity, their effective Fame decreases. As a guideline Fame decreases by 1
point for every km away from the center of the PCs activities. This reduction
in Fame can be mitigated by using “marketing” methods to spread the word of a
PC’s deeds.
-
Can be increased with advertising.
-
Bards
-
Criers
-
Organizations and Guilds.
"
