I have been GMing the Gold Edition since it came out, so I should know this already. But I don’t.
My players are starting to gain some cool reputations (Elf-friend, Savior of the Shire, Emissary to Khazad-dum). So, from the book it looks like these are only useful in Circles tests to find somebody?
For some reason I thought they were – I dunno – broader. Like, you could somehow FoRK (though I know it’s not a skill) an infamous reputation into an Intimidate test, or maybe your Savior of the Shire into Haggling when you’re trying to get that meat pie for cheaper from the local Halfling baker. Something like that.
Am I just making stuff up? It’s more than possible. I do it all the time.
Yeah, you technically can’t FoRK, but you totally can ask for an advantage die because of a relevant Reputation. There’s also good role-play ques for NPCs. If someone has the rep of “Elf-Friend” elves he meets may know him already. And people who hate elves will know him too . . .
You can also, of course, use Circles as a linked test. Note that you can’t test directly to see if an NPC already in the scene knows you by repute, but you can test to see if you know someone he knows, or even if he’s heard someone talking about you. “I want to intimidate him, but first I want to see if his best friend has heard of ‘The Man With The Blood On His Hands’ and might have mentioned me to him over beers last week.”
My players keep thinking this too, for some reason.
Another fun use is for the GM, have NPCs recognize PCs by their reputations. I can’t recall whose idea this was, but it makes total sense and the few times I’ve done it, it worked really well. In a game about maximizing the significance of player choice, reputations are like the hangovers of choices past, so bringing them to the fore really makes it feel like the players have had an effect on the world.
I’ve been using a little ad-hoc system where I roll the reputation dice of the character to see if his interlocutor recognizes him. So the gunslinger, John Cole, has a 2D reputation. When I want to see if an NPC recognizes him I roll 2D. If any of the dice come up successes, the NPC recognizes him. If not, they’ve never heard of John Cole.
It’s not canon, but it’s a fun little way to use the reputation dice.
Nice. Think I’ll use that in our game, Ten. Keep forgetting how Marienne’s rep should be getting her in trouble…
Could also have a Rep give an Ob penalty in any situation where it could be detrimental. Wouldn’t necessarily have to only concern Circles tests. Like, say you had a 2D reputation as a liar and a thief in downtown London. Any sort of social test in downtown London could possibly put you up against an Ob penalty. I wouldn’t apply it every time though. Maybe use Ten’s suggestion, and have any dice that turn up successes act as penalty or advantage dice for social tests, if the situation warrants.
