Reputation & Favor
Reputation & Favor is a system for tracking social influence and standing within regions and factions. Your exploits — both overt and covert — affect how you are perceived, granting benefits or imposing penalties as your reputation rises or falls. This system provides mechanical weight to the social consequences of a character's actions.
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Reputation
Your reputation is a measurement of your social influence and success, identifying how well known you are in a given region or within a given faction. Your exploits, both overt and covert, can affect your overall reputation, possibly spilling into neighboring regions or factions. Most often, you will start with a reputation of 0 in every region or faction, unless the GM determines otherwise.
Reputation can be earned for the actions you take, the actions you condone, and the individuals you socialize with. The benefits therein should be reflected by what the region or faction values most.
As a general rule, you cannot increase or decrease your reputation score by more than 1 point per day or action, but your GM might rule that something you do is so influential that your score might increase by 2 or more points or is so disgraceful that your score might decrease by 2 or more points. Unobserved actions should not change your reputation, but if consistently working in a region or with a faction, rumors have a way of spreading.
Reputation Decreases
Reputation decreases should represent negative or unlawful actions taken against a given region or faction. These have an equal and opposite effect toward opposing regions and factions when applicable. For instance, performing a deed for the queen provides an increase in reputation among those who favor the queen and a decrease in reputation for those who oppose the queen.
- Fail at a quest in some way that resulted in less than ideal outcomes.
- Found guilty of crime or corruption, especially if publicly punished or fined.
- Increase public corruption, or rob the community of anything deemed as part of the betterment of the public good.
- Any act that draws shame upon yourself, the region, or as deemed appropriate by the GM.
- When you spend your reputation for indulgences, cooperation, or boons on your behalf.
Reputation Increases
Reputation increases should represent positive or lawful actions taken for a given region or faction. These have an equal and opposite effect toward opposing regions and factions when applicable.
- Perform a public service, usually in the form of quests.
- Expose crime, corruption, or ne'er-do-wells to the public.
- Provide significant donations to the community, such as coin, food, or public services.
- Other actions as deemed appropriate by the GM.
Status
Your status reflects the total amount of reputation you have earned within a given region.
| Score | Status | Reception | Discounts | Other Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <0 | Pariah | Rejected | Negative | Pariah |
| 0 | Unknown / Unproven | None | None | None |
| 5 | Recognized / Questionable | Friendly / Unfriendly | 5% | Friendly Recognition |
| 10 | Familiar / Disreputable | Public Guest / Avoided | 10% | Private Recognition |
| 20 | Well-Known / Notorious | Special Treatment / Antagonistic | 15% | Public Recognition |
| 40 | Influential / Nefarious | Noble Guest / Hated | 20% | Favors and Admirers |
| 60 | Famous / Infamous | Guest of Honor / Hunted | 25% | Command Audience |
Positive Reception
Positive Reception reflects the recognition and respect earned by your deeds within a region or faction. Charisma checks can influence your standing by one step at most, as going beyond your station is difficult.
None. People are indifferent to your presence, neither helping nor hindering you without reason. Vendors charge standard rates, but you should not expect any extra effort or kindness from anyone.
Friendly. You are greeted warmly by those who know you. Discounts or a free drink may be offered from time to time. Those who recognize you from your past deeds are particularly courteous.
Public Guest. Establishments are pleased to see you and make sure you are comfortable upon arrival. You are likely to receive courtesy discounts, along with prompt service and perhaps a small freebie or two. Your reputation usually precedes you, and locals are eager to treat you with respect, hoping you will speak well of them in return.
Special Treatment. You are regarded with respect and appreciation. Tavern owners eagerly offer you free meals and drink, and local artisans occasionally provide small gifts. You are well-known, and people go out of their way to ensure you feel welcomed, often expressing admiration for your deeds. Those seeking your favor may even offer their services at reduced rates or present you with tokens of gratitude, hoping to secure your goodwill.
Noble Guest. You are included on the guest list of most soirées and regularly receive gifts from people from all stations. If you enter any common locale, you are nearly always met by a fawning owner. You have come to expect others to behave in an obsequious manner, willing to offer any but the most expensive items freely, and those at a discount.
Guest of Honor. If you are offered an invitation, it is because the affair is in your honor. You generally cannot go out in public without being swarmed by the masses and must rely on your underlings to do your errands for you. You receive gifts nearly daily, along with poetry, songs, and various gaudy art meant to depict your strength and authority.
Negative Reception
Negative Reception is a measure of the fear or disdain people harbor for you within a region or faction. Charisma checks may improve your standing by one step, but only with substantial effort, as even simple gains are difficult to achieve.
Rejected. You may be refused access to a region, faction, or the amenities found therein. It is also possible that you are treated in an Unfriendly manner, Avoided, treated in an Antagonistic or Hateful fashion, or actively Hunted.
Unfriendly. People eye you warily or outright ignore you. Service and assistance comes begrudgingly and often out of obligation. Prices may be slightly inflated and information and services are often delayed. You are not actively disliked, but locals take no pleasure in your company.
Avoided. People deliberately distance themselves, giving you a wide berth and avoiding eye contact. If they must interact with you, they are cautious, guarded, and speak only in clipped tones. Services are given at a premium, and no kindnesses are extended — any favors or requests are denied or come at an increased cost.
Antagonistic. The mere sight of you inspires glares, murmurs of discontent, and thinly veiled threats. You are tolerated only out of necessity or fear, and any interactions are strained and hostile. Prices for goods or services are inflated, and even those willing to deal with you do so with resentment. Should you cause the slightest disturbance, the locals may band together to run you out, if not outright attack you.
Hated. Your presence immediately draws ire. People spit at your feet or cross the street to avoid you. Shops will lock their doors, and inns will refuse you entry. Prices for services or goods, if offered at all, are exorbitantly high. Open hostility is common, and the local authorities may be alerted the moment you are spotted, and bounty hunters or thugs may come seeking retribution or reward.
Hunted. You are actively pursued by those who want to see you dead or imprisoned. You cannot show your face in public without risking your life. Mercenaries, assassins, and hunters seek you out, and local authorities are more than happy to cooperate in your capture. People do not simply avoid you — they report your whereabouts or even try to detain you themselves.
Discounts
Once per week, you can receive a discount in a given region based upon the amount of reputation you have earned. Your discount only applies to purchases in gp less than the value indicated on the table below. This discount, when chosen, can be used automatically without incurring a penalty to your favor. Additionally, you can attempt to sell items in a similar way, where the maximum value of an item remains the same, but the selling price is only equal to half of your normal discount.
You can also attempt to either increase the discount or increase the gp value by expending reputation. Utilizing the discount benefit more than once per week will also cost reputation.
If you are considered a Pariah in a given region or among a given faction, you will experience a mark up on all goods and services proportional to your negative Favor. It is also possible that you may be denied services altogether.
| Favor | Max GP Value | Max Discount |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 500 gp | 25 gp |
| 10 | 1,000 gp | 100 gp |
| 15 | 3,000 gp | 300 gp |
| 20 | 5,000 gp | 750 gp |
| 25 | 7,500 gp | 1,125 gp |
| 30 | 10,000 gp | 1,500 gp |
| 35 | 15,000 gp | 2,250 gp |
| 40 | 20,000 gp | 4,000 gp |
| 45 | 25,000 gp | 5,000 gp |
| 50 | 30,000 gp | 6,000 gp |
| 55 | 35,000 gp | 7,000 gp |
| 60 | 40,000 gp | 10,000 gp |
Other Benefits
Other benefits pertain to your sway over other people in the region. Your specific relationship with any individual always comes into play, but the examples below largely serve as a guideline to how your requests or demands are met.
Pariah. You are generally disliked or distrusted even among those you would consider friends. Your motives are questioned, you are barred entry, and you must offer something tangible in return to have any hope of aid.
None. You gain no specific benefits from your standing. Assurances and possibly more are required to gain assistance in your endeavors.
Friendly Recognition. Allies, friends, and family are impressed by your achievements. They are more willing to go out on a limb to help you in your endeavors with fewer questions or concerns about your intentions.
Private Recognition. Your equals and your betters are impressed by your achievements. They are more willing to go out on a limb to help you in your endeavors with fewer questions or concerns about your intentions. You can achieve higher salaries when applicable.
Public Recognition. The public is impressed by your achievements. Citizens with no definitive connection to you are more willing to go out on a limb to help you in your endeavors with fewer questions or concerns about your intentions.
Favors and Admirers. You gain followers, underlings, and admirers who are interested in currying your favor whenever they can with few if any reservations about your intentions.
Command Audience. You are capable of arriving at nearly any noble house within the region and be granted an immediate audience, or you can request nearly any individual in the region, noble or otherwise, to come to your home at an appointed date and time.