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View Full Version : Ideas on Reputation Mechanic?



genmoose
2016-10-16, 09:19 PM
Folks,

I'm working on a long lasting campaign for my group and I wanted to incorporate a Reputation mechanic to encourage them to think about their actions and their long term effects as they move through the world. I'm curious if anyone else has ever implemented anything similar and how you might have handled the mechanics.

Background: 3.0E, Forgotten Realms and mostly going up and down the Sword Coast.

So I've played a lot of games like BG and Mass Effect and I really like the idea of developing fame/infamy. I'm trying to come up with a mechanic and my first gut reaction was to just use the numbers from BG but they seem a bit much (http://baldursgate.wikia.com/wiki/Reputation). Very quickly a party can get a reputation of 20 and claim a 50% discount at shops which seems a little unbalancing.

I'm thinking switching to a -20 to 20 scale and start them at 0. As they do good deeds they move up the scale and would take a hit when they do horrible things. I'll play the numbers pretty slow so they don't become overnight heroes but still give them a sense of building.

0 - Nothing
1 - Nothing
2 - +1 diplomacy with good, -1 diplomacy with evil, +1 intimidate Evil, -1 intimidate Good
3 - 5% merchant discount
4 - +2 diplomacy with good and intimidate evil, -2 diplomacy with evil and intimidate good
5 - 10% merchant discount
6 - +3 diplomacy with good and intimidate evil, -3 diplomacy with evil and intimidate good
7 - +15% merchant discount
8 - +4 diplomacy with good and intimidate evil, -4 diplomacy with evil and intimidate good
9 - 5% per day chance of being attacked by evil bounty hunters/assassins
10 - +5 diplomacy with good and intimidate evil, -5 diplomacy with evil and intimidate good
11 - 20% merchant discount
12 - +6 diplomacy with good and intimidate evil, -6 diplomacy with evil and intimidate good
13 - 5% per day chance of being aided by someone that will approach the party with helpful information or some minor bauble
14 - +7 diplomacy with good and intimidate evil, -7 diplomacy with evil and intimidate good
15 - 10% per day chance of being attacked by evil bounty hunters/assassins
16 - +8 diplomacy with good and intimidate evil, -8 diplomacy with evil and intimidate good
17 - 10% per day chance of being aided by someone that will approach the party with helpful information or some minor bauble
18 - +9 diplomacy with good and intimidate evil, -9 diplomacy with evil and intimidate good
19 - The party gains a nemesis that has somehow been wronged by them and seeks to destroy their reputation
20 - +10 diplomacy with good and intimidate evil, -10 diplomacy with evil and intimidate good


To me this made a bit more sense by focusing on roleplaying mechanics rather than just a simple discount at stores.

I imagine the list would offer inverted statistics for the negative size of the scale but I don't think my party will head down that road.

What do you guys think? Am I giving away too much or is this underplaying the opportunity an epic hero might have.

Thanks in advance.

Keltest
2016-10-16, 10:22 PM
How widespread are they going to be traveling? Even in just Baldur's Gate there are several different groups of people who would look on actions differently. Instead of a binary Fame/Infamy system, you could have a faction system, where they gain a reputation with different groups (ie the citizenry, the Flaming Fist, various mercantile organizations, etc...) Same principal, just instead of good/evil, make it based on membership in a group or rival group. For example, the citizens might love a vigilante who hunts down criminals, while the guards and criminals both dislike them. However, being loved by the citizenry means the guards cant act against them overtly no matter how much they dislike them.

Jomo
2016-10-17, 09:34 PM
What Keltest described is very similar to the Renown system in the D&D 5th edition DM Guide. You gain a renown point with an organization for advancing that organization's goals, and two renown points if you accomplished a mission the organization requested you to accomplish. When you get several renown points, at the DM's discretion, the organization will do favors for you. It seems like a good system.
Genmoose, your idea also seems like a good system. I can tell you put thought into it.