D&D 5E Reputation System 5e

[miggyG777]

I am currently working on a reputation system for 5e. Here is the idea:

A 7 tiered system that is coupled to numerical modifiers as following:

• -9 to -7 Hostile
• -6 to -4 Hated
• -3 to -1 Disliked
• 0 Neutral
• 1 to 3 Liked
• 4 to 6 Loved
• 7 to 9 Exalted

EDIT, after gathering feedback from you guys, @dave2008 suggestion is probably easier to manage and should achieve the same goal, he suggests to simplify the modifiers as such:

• -10 Hostile
• -5 Hated
• -2 Disliked
• 0 Neutral
• 2 Liked
• 5 Loved
• 10 Exalted

The numerical modifiers are applied to persuasion checks, while the descriptions of the reputation score serve as a guideline for general interactions with NPCs, such as pricing of wares or offered favors for instance.

The party can earn or lose these reputation points due to their actions at the DMs discretion.

Example: The party is hated (-5) by the local populace but wants to trade. The trader offers wares at a 150% increased price for the party because he hates them.
The parties talker, tries to haggle for a better price. The particular vendor is not very hard to convince under normal circumstances, so the check would have the DC class of "Moderate" aka. 15. Since the parties reputation is at -5 however, the penalty applies to the persuasion check effectively raising the "Moderate" DC to a "Hard" DC of 20.

What do you guys think about this idea? Have you ever thought of adding a reputation system in your games?

 

[jasper]

I do it ad hoc. But the problem of a group rep.
Peter Parker The Purple Paladin of Pittsburgh, "WHIMPER WHINE WHIMPER WHINE. WHY DO I HAVE -5 to buy stuff."
JAY JONAH JETSON the BARBARAIN, " Could be I stole your armour last week and burned down the Cheese Cake factory!"

 

[miggyG777]

I do it ad hoc. But the problem of a group rep.
Peter Parker The Purple Paladin of Pittsburgh, "WHIMPER WHINE WHIMPER WHINE. WHY DO I HAVE -5 to buy stuff."
JAY JONAH JETSON the BARBARAIN, " Could be I stole your armour last week and burned down the Cheese Cake factory!"

That actually is something I find to be a good thing. It helps to keep players in line better, if they know that they risk the parties reputation when they harass NPCs or steal stuff.

 

[Oofta]

While reputation matters, I don't boil it down to a system like you did. I simply adjust the target DC based on the perspective of the NPC. One group or faction may think the world of the PCs while another despises it. Goes everywhere from automatically aid as much as possible to attack on sight.

It's never been worth coming up with details though, it's just a general feel. In part that's because I keep the number of factions fairly low - a half a dozen at most and often only 3-4. More than that and things tend to get muddled.

What the PCs do and say certainly has an effect, but there are also times when there are things out of their control. If for example, if a certain PC gained a nemesis during downtime that may affect their chance to purchase items. Or maybe there's something I want to develop as part of a future plot hook.

So it's just something I make notes on and adjust as I see fit.

 

[dave2008]

I like the concept, but I would simplify the modifiers. Maybe: -10/-5/-2/0/+2/+5/+10

 

[LordEntrails]

I just use faction rules and then add any modifiers to social interactions by feel rather than specific modifiers. Too much book keeping to worry about specific numbers for me.

 

[matskralc]

What do you guys think about this idea? Have you ever thought of adding a reputation system in your games?

I haven't. This strikes me as being fiddly and doesn't really add much to the game other than grinding roleplaying situations to a halt while charts are checked and cross-referenced.

It's probably better to make such adjustments on the fly, and only when it's going to matter. PCs in 5E already don't have much to spend their gold on, so why does it matter if this set of rations costs them a couple extra?

 

[jayoungr]

I like the concept, but I would simplify the modifiers. Maybe: -10/-5/-2/0/+2/+5/+10

That's basically the attitude track from Star Wars Saga Edition, which is one of my favorite things about that system. I like the way it turns social negotiations into a process rather than a single roll: someone starts out hostile to you, so you have large penalties to your attempts to persuade or impress them, but you can slowly bring them around to a more favorable viewpoint. And conversely, you can lose someone's good opinion and then have to work hard to bring it back around.

A -10 modifier might be prohibitively large for 5E, though.

 

[Fenris-77]

I'd just treat it like a 7th stat, same as the DMG does for honor. That system in the DMG actually makes a fine reputation system with a little tweaking.

 

[miggyG777]

While reputation matters, I don't boil it down to a system like you did. I simply adjust the target DC based on the perspective of the NPC. One group or faction may think the world of the PCs while another despises it. Goes everywhere from automatically aid as much as possible to attack on sight.

It's never been worth coming up with details though, it's just a general feel. In part that's because I keep the number of factions fairly low - a half a dozen at most and often only 3-4. More than that and things tend to get muddled.

What the PCs do and say certainly has an effect, but there are also times when there are things out of their control. If for example, if a certain PC gained a nemesis during downtime that may affect their chance to purchase items. Or maybe there's something I want to develop as part of a future plot hook.

So it's just something I make notes on and adjust as I see fit.

I feel that giving the players more feedback in terms of where they are standing in reputation is a good idea. It might seem a little more gamey, but I have a feeling that players like to see the numbers go up or down depending on their actions. I believe it incentivizes better reflection upon their deeds as they seem to matter in a more tangible way rather than "the DM making it up".