I'm thinking of doing something like the following, have a look at see what you think- rip, tear, shred...
What have I missed, forgotte, or just got plain wrong?
Cheers Goonalan
Each PC has a degree of Fame &/or Notoriety, actually they don't have to have both but many times Fame equates to Notoriety and vice-versa. This applies particularly to adventurers whose actions (past successes, famed battles etc.) speak for themselves- ease the way in various transactions as it were. Some characters, again particularly adventurers, are liked by the populace for the things they have done- they're famous; other characters are feared by the populace, again for the things they have done- they're notorious. Often adventurers straddle the two; famous for their deeds but a little notorious for their violence, predilection for setting people on fire, destruction of person and property etc.
Fame and notoriety is more prevalent in social settings- cities, towns, settlements etc. In the monsters lair your fame or notoriety is not going to help you any... unless the monsters in question are intelligent and aware of you and your deeds- which will apply more as you attempt to reach Epic Levels.
Some questions answered-
How do you gain fame and notoriety?
Easy, accomplish tasks in the public eye, or else out of the public eye but let it be known to the public that you were responsible for such actions- sometimes your actions have repercussions and the public get to know about it anyway. Other times people in power get to hear about your deeds and want to be associated with you- this too will increase your fame and/or notoriety- depending on your actions.
Examples-
A house is on fire, you rescue the family from the flames- there are people around to see, your fame increases.
You destroy a band of villains on the road between Fallcrest and Winterhaven, there are no witnesses- you return to claim the reward, you have proof of your deeds- word gets out, your fame increases and you're given an audience with someone important perhaps, maybe your fame increases some more.
You rescue a secret magic item from a ruined town (sound familiar), there are very few witnesses; until the story breaks, or is leaked, then you gain no fame- to an extent you can try to control your reputation. That's not to say in this example another party that learns of your success doesn't call on you to congratulate you, and in doing so word gets out, and increases your fame.
Last example, re-read the the first example above, and now add to the facts that it is later discovered that you started the fire in the first place with a misplaced Scorching Burst, your fame is unaltered but you gain notoriety.
So, it can be seen there are ways of increasing fame- laying claim to deeds done; controlling your fame- not letting information come to light; and/or falsifying fame- laying claim to deeds done by someone else. The above also apply the same for notoriety, although it needs to be said notoriety is , at times, easier to gain and harder to lose, mud tends to stick.
Your friendly DM is the arbiter of what works and what doesn't work, he will also hand out fame and notoriety.
What use is fame or notoriety?
Simply put both are a measure of your stature, in day-to-day situations the most famous person in the bar gets the comfiest seat, a few free drinks and plenty of people to chat to. The most notorious person in the bar may get the same treatment, but for entirely different reasons (usually fear), or else they may be ostracised and/or thrown out of the bar and told to mend their wanton ways.
That said fame and notoriety points can be spent, each point counts as a +1% bonus, it doesn't sound much I know but your fame & notoriety points refill every day, so you can use them afresh every day. You can apply the +1% bonuses in situations in which you can justify your use of fame and/or notoriety, these are mostly social interactions, for example-
At the height of his fame Rock has 150 fame points and 20 notoriety points, this after being part of the group of adventurers that saved the city of Fallcrest, rescued the slaves etc. etc. Note the notoriety comes from the tales told about the violent Dwarf whispered (perhaps) to be a deadly killing machine (no really, a 'machine'). Regardless the above is just an example.
Rock wants to negotiate prices to buy the Blue Moon Alehouse, the DM decides that a Skill Challenge will be used to simulate the transaction, Rock has a massive stock of fame he can use, remember each fame and/or notoriety point counts as a +1% increase, that being the case-
5 Fame or Notoriety Points = +5% = +1 on any D20 roll to which Fame/Notoriety can be applied.
Having said this Rock (or anyone else for that matter) can only gain half his level in bonuses in this manner (Minimum +1), in this example lets say that Rock is 10th level, therefore he can only gain a maximum of +5 on any single D20 roll, a +5 would mean him spending 25 fame or notoriety points.
So continuing with our example, Rock enters negotiations for the bar- the Skill Challenge involves lots of social skills- Bluff, Diplomacy etc. something Rock is not famed for, however by spending his Fame points (and perhaps his Notoriety- using Intimidate, not recommended) then he can continue to gain +5 to his rolls until his Fame (and/or Notoriety) points are spent for the day.
With 150 Fame Points (which let me tell you is a massive amount) then he can influence six D20 rolls gaining a +5 bonus each time, that should be enough to get a good price for the bar (however see later).
Other uses could be to gain bonuses in any instance when social skills are being used, although that's not the only time you can use these bonuses, however they will almost never be of benefit in combat encounters (ie To Hit/Damage etc.). Creatively employed they can however be applied to many situations- you need to be able to justify their use, I'll give you an example which doesn't involve the use of a social skill-
I flex my muscles, lift away the burning debris, grab the child from the burning building and storm back out knocking aside falling masonry as I go, I return the child to the crowd of onlookers having barely broken sweat. The kindly DM relents and allows the player to add some of his fame bonus to his Athletics, Acrobatics and/or Endurance checks. Good play.
Note fame and notoriety will almost always be spent on enhancing Skill Checks.
Another example would be-
I do a triple somersault, vault the open pit and land on the other side with my dagger out and pressed against the Thugs throat, there follows an Acrobatics check, with added Notoriety bonus, even an audience of one (the Thug) appreciates that Lucan is not someone to be messed with.
Obviously the reason for fame and notoriety is to give you the odd bonus here and there in social situations, particularly for those PCs that are lacking those skills- they can also be used (as described in the above examples) to enhance the skills of less dexterous or athletic individuals to enhance their under-developed skills. Again, you need to have an audience, someone to impress- whether it be the child in the burning building, the crowd outside or the lone Thug; someone needs to be present and observing your actions.
Note the DM's ruling is (almost) always right.
What use are three fame points?
Or any other number that is less than the five points needed to gain a +1 on a D20 roll, the same goes for the remainder, so if you have nine fame points and you spend five to gain a +1 on a Skill Check then what use is the four points left, the actual answer is less than a +1 on a Skill Check. The commonest use would be to influence a financial transaction, once again the DM will set the limit on this, for example.
Lucan is selling an item he knows is worth 100gp, he spends four fame points enhancing the items value, after all he owned the item once (and he's famous), and besides there's a story behind how he came across the item, and the story makes the Merchant laugh a little. The Merchant initially was going to offer 90gp for the item, however he likes Lucan and the story he tells- he ups his price to 94gp (4% of total value), and that's his final offer. Note this can be an effective way of selling items in town without having to go through Skill Challenges and/or Haggle checks etc.
Now 4gp maybe small change for Lucan, but if he were buying a Magic Item, or an Inn (like Rock earlier) then an extra 4% discount may be a significant amount of money. However you can only spend a maximum of half-your-level (as above) adjusting a price.
Back to the Rock example above- he roleplays out the Skill Challenge for the Inn, initial price 10,000gp, using 145 Fame points in the Skill Challenge (and no Notoriety points- he's a good guy remember), he ends up with six successes and one failure- the DM (being a kindly soul) decides that this is worth a 15% reduction in the price (and some XP), the Inn is now 8500gp to purchase. Rock then smooth talks his way to another 5% discount (his last 5 Fame points for the day) by telling a tale about the time he defended the Blue Moon Alehouse from a group of Goblins and Hobgoblins that attacked the City of Fallcrest many moons ago. Result, another automatic 5% discount (remember maximum half his level), and the Inn is now 8000gp- a bargain.
Some may think this disproportionate, after all Rock spent 145 fame points to generate a 15% discount on the Inn, and a further five points for an additional 5% discount. The reasoning is this, all adventurers have stories to tell, and even at first level (and with a few fame and/or notoriety points) they can generate discount, and remember you can only use half-your-level points (Minimum 1) to alter the price of an item, for example.
Neb, 2nd Level Wizard with 6 Fame points and 1 Notoriety point is buying a Wand, the wand is 1000gp. He uses 5 Fame points gain a +1 on a D20 Haggle check (Social Skill Check- his choice), and is successful, the seller decides a 5% discount is in order, he then uses his last point of fame (or perhaps of notoriety) to tell a story about how he saved someone famous, or for notoriety how he exploded five Goblins with a single use of his Scorching Burst- the creatures scorched and shattered bodies flung to the four corners of the room, the smell of... The Magic Item seller decides another 1% discount is in order- result total discount 6%, bargain price 940gp. Note he can only get a 1% direct discount maximum remember (half his level).
Does Fame/Notoriety last?
No, simply put, every week (or so) your Fame and Notoriety wanes- your DM will adjust the scores and tell you when he has done so. Note, notoriety is harder to throw off than fame, if you're bad once than that story tends to get told every time someone says something good about you- which is a lot like the real thing. For every great shot, hole in one, or competition win Tiger Woods gets the story of his infidelities does the rounds again- he's a sex-fiend... and a great golfer. In the same way as Lucan is a socio-path misanthrope who slept with a Princess who turned out to be a twenty foot long sea-slug, and was part of a group of adventurers that saved the City of Fallcrest, again- like Tiger, Lucan is a sex-fiend.
So a week or so in the city and you've not done anything of note and your fame takes a knock, a week or so in a smelly dungeon and your fame drops-
'Neb who?'
'Oh yeah- you mean “Mister Magic Missile”, I heard he was dead.'
A couple of months away from the city and your nobody (subject to minimums as above), however if on your return from the smelly dungeon it turns out you have fought and killed a dragon, found its hoard and rescued a princess, then back comes the fame- it's a fickle mistress fame.
Is there a maximum amount of Fame and/or Notoriety?
Yes, and no. Confusing I know, generally at each level advance the maximum fame total available to you increases, so to start you off, as a first level PC you will very rarely get any more than 10 fame points (total). There are obviously exceptions-a 1st Level Paladin who also happens to be the son of the Lord of Markelhay is one such exception- the point being circumstances dictate (particularly birthright). If you're already famous for something else (like being born with two-heads, or the son or daughter of royalty) then the limits are different for you.
That said there are also minimum scores (for fame only), the minimum is... you guessed it- half-your-level (minimum 0), so the minimum fame for Rock (10th level remember) would be 5- the memories fade of his past deeds but once his name is mentioned, someone remembers the story.
Is Fame and/or Notoriety local?
Yes.
In your home city (the place you do your work- note you may in the course of your career have multiple 'home' cities) people know you, in the rest of the region people know you less well (your fame score does not alter, only your fame functions less well- again the DM will adjudicate). Outside of the region- who are you? At least that's the case for Heroic Level PCs.
At Paragon Level your fame and notoriety has spread even further, possibly beyond the region of the world you have explored- travellers tell tales of you, you are an example of justice, honesty, endurance, strength, mental prowess, or indeed a terrifying murderous swine... at Epic Level, well the sky (and other skies on other planes of existence) are the limit.
What have I missed, forgotte, or just got plain wrong?
Cheers Goonalan
Fame & Notoriety
The Rules
The Rules
Each PC has a degree of Fame &/or Notoriety, actually they don't have to have both but many times Fame equates to Notoriety and vice-versa. This applies particularly to adventurers whose actions (past successes, famed battles etc.) speak for themselves- ease the way in various transactions as it were. Some characters, again particularly adventurers, are liked by the populace for the things they have done- they're famous; other characters are feared by the populace, again for the things they have done- they're notorious. Often adventurers straddle the two; famous for their deeds but a little notorious for their violence, predilection for setting people on fire, destruction of person and property etc.
Fame and notoriety is more prevalent in social settings- cities, towns, settlements etc. In the monsters lair your fame or notoriety is not going to help you any... unless the monsters in question are intelligent and aware of you and your deeds- which will apply more as you attempt to reach Epic Levels.
Some questions answered-
How do you gain fame and notoriety?
Easy, accomplish tasks in the public eye, or else out of the public eye but let it be known to the public that you were responsible for such actions- sometimes your actions have repercussions and the public get to know about it anyway. Other times people in power get to hear about your deeds and want to be associated with you- this too will increase your fame and/or notoriety- depending on your actions.
Examples-
A house is on fire, you rescue the family from the flames- there are people around to see, your fame increases.
You destroy a band of villains on the road between Fallcrest and Winterhaven, there are no witnesses- you return to claim the reward, you have proof of your deeds- word gets out, your fame increases and you're given an audience with someone important perhaps, maybe your fame increases some more.
You rescue a secret magic item from a ruined town (sound familiar), there are very few witnesses; until the story breaks, or is leaked, then you gain no fame- to an extent you can try to control your reputation. That's not to say in this example another party that learns of your success doesn't call on you to congratulate you, and in doing so word gets out, and increases your fame.
Last example, re-read the the first example above, and now add to the facts that it is later discovered that you started the fire in the first place with a misplaced Scorching Burst, your fame is unaltered but you gain notoriety.
So, it can be seen there are ways of increasing fame- laying claim to deeds done; controlling your fame- not letting information come to light; and/or falsifying fame- laying claim to deeds done by someone else. The above also apply the same for notoriety, although it needs to be said notoriety is , at times, easier to gain and harder to lose, mud tends to stick.
Your friendly DM is the arbiter of what works and what doesn't work, he will also hand out fame and notoriety.
What use is fame or notoriety?
Simply put both are a measure of your stature, in day-to-day situations the most famous person in the bar gets the comfiest seat, a few free drinks and plenty of people to chat to. The most notorious person in the bar may get the same treatment, but for entirely different reasons (usually fear), or else they may be ostracised and/or thrown out of the bar and told to mend their wanton ways.
That said fame and notoriety points can be spent, each point counts as a +1% bonus, it doesn't sound much I know but your fame & notoriety points refill every day, so you can use them afresh every day. You can apply the +1% bonuses in situations in which you can justify your use of fame and/or notoriety, these are mostly social interactions, for example-
At the height of his fame Rock has 150 fame points and 20 notoriety points, this after being part of the group of adventurers that saved the city of Fallcrest, rescued the slaves etc. etc. Note the notoriety comes from the tales told about the violent Dwarf whispered (perhaps) to be a deadly killing machine (no really, a 'machine'). Regardless the above is just an example.
Rock wants to negotiate prices to buy the Blue Moon Alehouse, the DM decides that a Skill Challenge will be used to simulate the transaction, Rock has a massive stock of fame he can use, remember each fame and/or notoriety point counts as a +1% increase, that being the case-
5 Fame or Notoriety Points = +5% = +1 on any D20 roll to which Fame/Notoriety can be applied.
Having said this Rock (or anyone else for that matter) can only gain half his level in bonuses in this manner (Minimum +1), in this example lets say that Rock is 10th level, therefore he can only gain a maximum of +5 on any single D20 roll, a +5 would mean him spending 25 fame or notoriety points.
So continuing with our example, Rock enters negotiations for the bar- the Skill Challenge involves lots of social skills- Bluff, Diplomacy etc. something Rock is not famed for, however by spending his Fame points (and perhaps his Notoriety- using Intimidate, not recommended) then he can continue to gain +5 to his rolls until his Fame (and/or Notoriety) points are spent for the day.
With 150 Fame Points (which let me tell you is a massive amount) then he can influence six D20 rolls gaining a +5 bonus each time, that should be enough to get a good price for the bar (however see later).
Other uses could be to gain bonuses in any instance when social skills are being used, although that's not the only time you can use these bonuses, however they will almost never be of benefit in combat encounters (ie To Hit/Damage etc.). Creatively employed they can however be applied to many situations- you need to be able to justify their use, I'll give you an example which doesn't involve the use of a social skill-
I flex my muscles, lift away the burning debris, grab the child from the burning building and storm back out knocking aside falling masonry as I go, I return the child to the crowd of onlookers having barely broken sweat. The kindly DM relents and allows the player to add some of his fame bonus to his Athletics, Acrobatics and/or Endurance checks. Good play.
Note fame and notoriety will almost always be spent on enhancing Skill Checks.
Another example would be-
I do a triple somersault, vault the open pit and land on the other side with my dagger out and pressed against the Thugs throat, there follows an Acrobatics check, with added Notoriety bonus, even an audience of one (the Thug) appreciates that Lucan is not someone to be messed with.
Obviously the reason for fame and notoriety is to give you the odd bonus here and there in social situations, particularly for those PCs that are lacking those skills- they can also be used (as described in the above examples) to enhance the skills of less dexterous or athletic individuals to enhance their under-developed skills. Again, you need to have an audience, someone to impress- whether it be the child in the burning building, the crowd outside or the lone Thug; someone needs to be present and observing your actions.
Note the DM's ruling is (almost) always right.
What use are three fame points?
Or any other number that is less than the five points needed to gain a +1 on a D20 roll, the same goes for the remainder, so if you have nine fame points and you spend five to gain a +1 on a Skill Check then what use is the four points left, the actual answer is less than a +1 on a Skill Check. The commonest use would be to influence a financial transaction, once again the DM will set the limit on this, for example.
Lucan is selling an item he knows is worth 100gp, he spends four fame points enhancing the items value, after all he owned the item once (and he's famous), and besides there's a story behind how he came across the item, and the story makes the Merchant laugh a little. The Merchant initially was going to offer 90gp for the item, however he likes Lucan and the story he tells- he ups his price to 94gp (4% of total value), and that's his final offer. Note this can be an effective way of selling items in town without having to go through Skill Challenges and/or Haggle checks etc.
Now 4gp maybe small change for Lucan, but if he were buying a Magic Item, or an Inn (like Rock earlier) then an extra 4% discount may be a significant amount of money. However you can only spend a maximum of half-your-level (as above) adjusting a price.
Back to the Rock example above- he roleplays out the Skill Challenge for the Inn, initial price 10,000gp, using 145 Fame points in the Skill Challenge (and no Notoriety points- he's a good guy remember), he ends up with six successes and one failure- the DM (being a kindly soul) decides that this is worth a 15% reduction in the price (and some XP), the Inn is now 8500gp to purchase. Rock then smooth talks his way to another 5% discount (his last 5 Fame points for the day) by telling a tale about the time he defended the Blue Moon Alehouse from a group of Goblins and Hobgoblins that attacked the City of Fallcrest many moons ago. Result, another automatic 5% discount (remember maximum half his level), and the Inn is now 8000gp- a bargain.
Some may think this disproportionate, after all Rock spent 145 fame points to generate a 15% discount on the Inn, and a further five points for an additional 5% discount. The reasoning is this, all adventurers have stories to tell, and even at first level (and with a few fame and/or notoriety points) they can generate discount, and remember you can only use half-your-level points (Minimum 1) to alter the price of an item, for example.
Neb, 2nd Level Wizard with 6 Fame points and 1 Notoriety point is buying a Wand, the wand is 1000gp. He uses 5 Fame points gain a +1 on a D20 Haggle check (Social Skill Check- his choice), and is successful, the seller decides a 5% discount is in order, he then uses his last point of fame (or perhaps of notoriety) to tell a story about how he saved someone famous, or for notoriety how he exploded five Goblins with a single use of his Scorching Burst- the creatures scorched and shattered bodies flung to the four corners of the room, the smell of... The Magic Item seller decides another 1% discount is in order- result total discount 6%, bargain price 940gp. Note he can only get a 1% direct discount maximum remember (half his level).
Does Fame/Notoriety last?
No, simply put, every week (or so) your Fame and Notoriety wanes- your DM will adjust the scores and tell you when he has done so. Note, notoriety is harder to throw off than fame, if you're bad once than that story tends to get told every time someone says something good about you- which is a lot like the real thing. For every great shot, hole in one, or competition win Tiger Woods gets the story of his infidelities does the rounds again- he's a sex-fiend... and a great golfer. In the same way as Lucan is a socio-path misanthrope who slept with a Princess who turned out to be a twenty foot long sea-slug, and was part of a group of adventurers that saved the City of Fallcrest, again- like Tiger, Lucan is a sex-fiend.
So a week or so in the city and you've not done anything of note and your fame takes a knock, a week or so in a smelly dungeon and your fame drops-
'Neb who?'
'Oh yeah- you mean “Mister Magic Missile”, I heard he was dead.'
A couple of months away from the city and your nobody (subject to minimums as above), however if on your return from the smelly dungeon it turns out you have fought and killed a dragon, found its hoard and rescued a princess, then back comes the fame- it's a fickle mistress fame.
Is there a maximum amount of Fame and/or Notoriety?
Yes, and no. Confusing I know, generally at each level advance the maximum fame total available to you increases, so to start you off, as a first level PC you will very rarely get any more than 10 fame points (total). There are obviously exceptions-a 1st Level Paladin who also happens to be the son of the Lord of Markelhay is one such exception- the point being circumstances dictate (particularly birthright). If you're already famous for something else (like being born with two-heads, or the son or daughter of royalty) then the limits are different for you.
That said there are also minimum scores (for fame only), the minimum is... you guessed it- half-your-level (minimum 0), so the minimum fame for Rock (10th level remember) would be 5- the memories fade of his past deeds but once his name is mentioned, someone remembers the story.
Is Fame and/or Notoriety local?
Yes.
In your home city (the place you do your work- note you may in the course of your career have multiple 'home' cities) people know you, in the rest of the region people know you less well (your fame score does not alter, only your fame functions less well- again the DM will adjudicate). Outside of the region- who are you? At least that's the case for Heroic Level PCs.
At Paragon Level your fame and notoriety has spread even further, possibly beyond the region of the world you have explored- travellers tell tales of you, you are an example of justice, honesty, endurance, strength, mental prowess, or indeed a terrifying murderous swine... at Epic Level, well the sky (and other skies on other planes of existence) are the limit.
