Reputation

Arrasia is filled with all manner of individuals, from great heroes to feared foes, whose reputation has been built over the years upon their exploits and adventures. In The Kyngdoms campaign setting, every character gains a reputation of one sort or another as their career progresses, expressed as a reputation bonus. While a character might try to take advantage of his reputation from time to time, usually the character's reputation precedes him - whether he wants it to or not.

Reputation enhances noncombat interaction between characters by providing bonuses to certain skill checks. Those who recognize a character are more likely to help them do what they ask, provided the character's reputation is a positive influence on the NPC or monster that recognizes them. A high reputation bonus makes it difficult for a character to mask their identity, which can be a problem if they're trying not to be noticed.

Fame or Infamy

What a character's reputation represents lies in the character's interaction with the NPCs or monsters. Most characters with a high reputation bonus (+4 or higher) are considered well known within their profession or social circle. Whether this notoriety has a positive or negative effect depends on the point of view of the person who recognizes the character.

Nom de Plumes and Secret Identities

If a character successfully uses the Disguise skill or illusion magic to mask his identity, then what he accomplishes while disguised doesn't affect his reputation score for good or ill.

A character may adopt a nom de plume (as Robin Hood did) or wear a mask or other costume (as Zorro did) during his adventures. If so, the character tracks reputation separately from his real identity and his alter ego. If the Masked Cat Thief of Karnish needs to sneak out of town after a particularly high profile job, what better way to do so than by simply removing his mask, hiding his weapons, and departing under the anonymity of his actual self?

Reputation Checks

Most of the time, a character doesn't decide to use their reputation. The GM decides when a character's reputation is relevant to a scene or encounter. At the moment it becomes pertinent, the GM makes a reputation check for an NPC or monster that might be influenced in some fashion due to the character's notoriety.

A reputation check is equal to 1d20 + the character's reputation bonus + the NPC or monster's Int modifier. The GM may substitute a Knowledge skill bonus for the Int modifier if he decides the characters past activities apply to a particular field. For example, if the character were a cleric, Knowledge (religion) might be appropriate. Additional modifiers that might apply include the following.

The standard DC of a reputation check is 25. If the NPC or monster succeeds on the reputation check, he or she recognizes the character. That recognition grants a bonus, or penalty, on certain subsequent skill checks, depending on how the NPC or monster reacts to the character.

Skill Checks

When a NPC or monster with an Intelligence score of 5 or higher has a positive opinion of a character's reputation, the character gains a bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Perform checks equal to their reputation bonus.

When an NPC or monster with an Intelligence of 5 or higher has a negative opinion of a character's reputation, the character gains a penalty on Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate and Perform checks equal to their reputation bonus.

The bonus or penalty on these skill checks applies only when a character is interacting with an NPC or monster that recognizes the character. Others present in the encounter are unaffected by the character's reputation

NPC Reputations

Players decide how their characters act. Sometimes, however, it's appropriate for a GM to call for a skill check using an interaction skill affected by reputation. For example, an NPC might use Bluff to lie to player characters who, in turn, use Sense Motive to detect the lie. If an NPC tries to intimidate a player character, the GM can use the NPC's Intimidate check to determine which characters see the NPC as intimidating and which don't. Similarly, a Diplomacy check can tell the GM which characters find an NPC persuasive and which do not. At other times, players may want to know if their characters recognize a particular NPC or monster. A reputation check can help GMs in these situations.

The reputation check to see if a player character recognizes an NPC or monster is the same as described above. However, the GM should make the skill check privately and keep the actual result secret. Doing this prevents players from using reputation checks as a form of radar for measuring the importance of every NPC they encounter.

Modify the results of the NPCs' and monsters' interaction skill checks by their reputation bonuses when they interact with characters who recognize them.

Calculating Reputation

A player character has a reputation score based on their class levels; Table 2-1, below, summarizes this information for the eleven character classes in the PHB and the five NPC classes from the DMG.

A multiclass character has a reputation according to their class level in each of their classes, regardless of what their character level is. For example, an 7th-level barbarian/6th-level cleric has a reputation score of +3 (+1 from their barbarian levels, +2 from their cleric levels). Their score increases to +4 when they reach 14th level if they take 8th level in barbarian, but not if they take a 7th level of cleric.

For a class not mentioned on this table, determine the associate reputation score by assigning the class to a column with classes of a similar sort. (For instance, the assassin class probably has the same reputation score as the rogue, and the blackguard would be equivalent to the paladin.)