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”.
Butcher	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.
Sociopath	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).
Protector	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).
Hero	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.
Powerful	7	A member of the royal family.
Majestic	8	A ruling royal.
Majestic	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.
Wealthy	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.
Rich	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.
Blackguard	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.
Wicked	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.

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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.