City Supplements - What do we like?

[Fenris-77]

So a related topic is things like Reputation mechanics and catch-all skills like Streetwise. I like the former and cordially detest the latter.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So a related topic is things like Reputation mechanics and catch-all skills like Streetwise. I like the former and cordially detest the latter.

I do like having a way to signify that some characters know their way around an environment, whether that's academia, the church hierarchy or the streets, but I think skill points are a pretty blunt tool for that. I think Shadowdark's backgrounds more than cover that (and maybe the Thief class, for street smarts).

I have been thinking about reputation mechanics recently. My first instinct would just be advantage/disadvantage to Charisma rolls, but that's probably not fine-grained enough to differentiate between a legendary figure in a community and someone who has just done a few quests for them.

 

[Fenris-77]

I do like having a way to signify that some characters know their way around an environment, whether that's academia, the church hierarchy or the streets, but I think skill points are a pretty blunt tool for that. I think Shadowdark's backgrounds more than cover that (and maybe the Thief class, for street smarts).

I have been thinking about reputation mechanics recently. My first instinct would just be advantage/disadvantage to Charisma rolls, but that's probably not fine-grained enough to differentiate between a legendary figure in a community and someone who has just done a few quests for them.

My current thought, which I'll actually be working on this evening once I'm done marking, is to begin with a two-level reputation tracker. Reputation can be gained (and lost) on a ward by ward basis. When you help the ward and its inhabitants you get rep, and when you hurt them you lose it (GM discretion). Probably a 1-5 track for the positive side. That Rep acts as a positive mod for social interactions with the inhabitants of that ward. Reputation is also fungible, you can burn a point of rep to get advantage, which would then stack with whatever remaining positive mod you have left. This lets the players play the Do you know who I am? card, which is always fun.

There is also city-wide reputation, which is gained by doing beneficial things for the city as a whole and also for the city-wide factions like the ruler (or lost). This also acts as a positive mod for social interaction but applies in every ward. It can also be burned for advantage for interactions with city-wide factions. A PC would apply either the ward rep of city rep, whichever is higher in a given situation.

The city watch is a city-wide faction, and active in every ward, and doesn't care about your ward rep at all.

The inspiration here is the faction rules from Blades, but shifted to focus on wards rather than specific factions. IDK if it will end up being what I want, but this is where I'm going to start.

I'm undecided about any kind of streetwise equivalent, but I'm leaning to no (for PCs anyway). I want them to actually learn that stuff. I do have some ideas about how to give NPCs levels of ward familiarity that would make them useful as hirelings.

 

[Fenris-77]

Hmm. So the renown in CS6 is per PC, not group based. I'm not sure I want to do renown on an individual basis. I like the Blades version where it applies to the adventuring group. I'm going to have to noodle on this a while.

 

[Brendan Byrd]

Perhaps an adjustment to the reputation bonus within a ward if the PC’s are active in the ward, sort of a home-field advantage?
(Location: maintain a residence, workplace, hideout. Activity: memberships, allegiances… )

Then reputation outside the ward is based on the score with relevant modifiers (acts, faction / guild / social class / known to be from a certain ward…)

In my house rules, I added a modified version of the Alignment and Legal Status from The Principalities of Glantri (Gaz3) to Reputation, for descriptive nuance.
Reputation scores apply to both individuals and groups.

Two Alignments Allegiances (Belligerent, Dissuasive, Mercantile, Philosophical, Political, Scientific, Social)
Legal Status (Legal, Semi-legal, Illegal, Underground).

I like the burn a point to influence idea.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The Shadowrun 1st edition Seattle Sourcebook was really great with the BBS posts under the different establishments. I still have my notes of the various plot hooks littered throughout the book. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to do in a fantasy setting with a narrator or commenter in the margins. In fact I dimly remember some Earthdawn sourcebooks being written with an in world PoV narrator.....

The way the Shadowrun books used that commentary to add an additional layer to their books really helped make the world feel alive. You could have a pistol with standard stats, but then a bunch of posts from people complaining about it breaking all the time. It was no longer just a generic option, and you can bet no PC was going to touch that weapon, despite it on-paper having nothing wrong with it.

 

[Fenris-77]

Perhaps an adjustment to the reputation bonus within a ward if the PC’s are active in the ward, sort of a home-field advantage?
(Location: maintain a residence, workplace, hideout. Activity: memberships, allegiances… )

Then reputation outside the ward is based on the score with relevant modifiers (acts, faction / guild / social class / known to be from a certain ward…)

In my house rules, I added a modified version the Alignment and Legal Status from The Principalities of Glantri (Gaz3) to Reputation, for descriptive nuance.
Reputation scores apply to both individuals and groups.

Two Alignments Allegiances (Belligerent, Dissuasive, Mercantile, Philosophical, Political, Scientific, Social)
Legal Status (Legal, Semi-legal, Illegal, Underground).

I like the burn a point to influence idea.

I don't want to overcomplicate the mechanic either. The CS version focuses on carousing and reaction rolls. and I think there's some juice there. I may leverage reactions over social interaction to better meld with the core SD rules.

In terms of outside, I was thinking about a 1:5 ratio approach. 5 rep in a ward translates to 1 city-wide rep. No exchanges, it just does double duty (but can't be burned for ADSV on. There's also GM discretion to manage cross-ward actions and achievements.

 

[Brendan Byrd]

Random thought:
If reputation by ward is an important part of game play, consider putting a tiny city map on the character sheet so that the scores/modifier can be written on the individual wards.

 

[Fenris-77]

Random thought:
If reputation by ward is an important part of game play, consider putting a tiny city map on the character sheet so that the scores/modifier can be written on the individual wards.

Oh yes, there will be a sheet for tracking. This is not my first Peaky Blinders rodeo. It will probably not have wee maps though - if it's a ward-based mechanic then it works in the ward. Easy-peasy.

 

[Brendan Byrd]

Ah, well then.
I shall trouble your thoughts no further.